Leaving the village happened the next morning.
Chita was still lying in bed and couldn't come out, so Panser and Sino came out to see them off.
The little girl, Claudie, ran back from outside, holding a big bunch of wildflowers to give them.
She had picked them early in the morning, and a bit of moisture still clung to the petals.
It's not safe for children to run around so early...
Rhode didn't say anything to ruin the mood, just accepted it with a smile and advised her to listen to her mom.
The implication being that her dad isn't reliable, so listening to mom might be better.
The village gate stood open, and from time to time farmers would drive carts laden with tools out of the village, warmly greeting Rhode and the others as they passed.
"Quack~ Quack~"
Some geese wandered by, and the honking startled Rhode, even making him step back.
It took him a moment to realize he's now a mage, not the kid whose fighting strength was less than 0.5 geese.
"Hahaha... So Rhode is afraid of geese!" Natsu spent the entire journey looking for Rhode's weakness and finally had his breakthrough upon departure.
"No, I'm not afraid."
Hapi chimed in with laughter: "Pfft! Rhode is scared of geese."
"I said I'm not afraid..."
"Hahaha..." Natsu and Hapi laughed heartily.
Rhode had no options left, fearful or not—bring geese if you dare, see if I won't stew them.
Two minutes later, Natsu couldn't laugh anymore.
Because they boarded the carriage for the return journey.
Rhode pulled at Natsu's face and ruffled Natsu's hair, chuckling as he said, "Come on, Natsu, say it with me: Rhode's afraid of geese."
Natsu slumped lifelessly against the carriage wall: "Feels awful..."
Hapi joined Rhode in playfully messing with Natsu with no regard.
"So miserable... Rhode, call crabs to help..."
"No way, actually, besides geese, I'm also scared of crabs."
"Liar... Let me off the carriage, sob... I want to walk back..."
"No way, walking solo—what if you get lost? We're a team, gotta bring you back safely."
"Let me~ get~ off~ "
...
Driving the carriage that returned Rhode and the others were Bit and Mastiff.
Rhode got Natsu off the carriage before noon so they could make it back before dark.
With the remaining journey being short, they could ride River Crab back, a little sun exposure was no big deal.
Natsu regained his energy before entering Magnolia.
Upon seeing the guild, Rhode truly relaxed, unable to suppress a smile.
But before he could savor the moment, Natsu already kicked the door open: "I'm back!"
"Oh!"
"Oh~ It's Natsu who's back!"
"What did you destroy this time?"
"Heard you teamed up with Rhode, surely gave him a lot of trouble?"
"Rhode? Isn't that our guild's strongest newcomer?"
Rhode entered the guild just as talk about the strongest newcomer was circulating.
A quick calculation showed that yesterday was Wednesday, which meant the new "Sosala" edition was out, possibly even an anniversary special.
Was that news really accepted?
Natsu was arguing with his comrades about perfectly completing the task this time.
Hapi quietly spread the word about Rhode's fear of big geese.
Rhode greeted everyone with a smile, telling them the magazine writes nonsense.
Then without pause, he walked straight to the counter.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back." Mira greeted her returning companion with her usual smile, "Was the mission successful?"
Rhode handed the mission completion slip to her: "There were some small surprises, but it turned out pretty well."
"Surprises?"
"Yeah... Anyway, resolved smoothly. I'll tell you more later."
"Ah, now I'm even more curious."
Mira completed the final registration, "But glad you're back safely, I was worried you wouldn't get along with Natsu."
"Natsu... can be a bit of a headache at times, but he's reliable."
Besides being a bit reckless, Rhode discovered many of Natsu's strengths this trip.
Such as unwavering belief, keen battle instincts, and being considerate of others' feelings.
As a companion, his reliability seems to overshadow his troublemaking ability... right?
Rhode, without turning, caught half a bench flying from behind—Natsu was fighting someone again for reasons unknown.
He threw the bench aside, turned back, and leaned on the counter with his elbow:
"Hmm... What mindset was I in to say Natsu was reliable just now?"
Mira laughed: "Well done."
Rhode turned his head to look at her; before coming back, he was debating how to face her, yet it came naturally just as always once he returned.
"What is it?" Mira noticed his gaze and remembered what Laki told her before Rhode's departure, subconsciously fiddling with her hair.
"Nothing, is the president around?"
"The president? Probably upstairs writing an apology."
"Again, who caused trouble this time?"
Among Fairy Tail guild's classic scenarios—'the president writing an apology' as iconic as 'Nabu reviewing the bulletin board'.
"This time, it was Elfman." Mira looked a bit embarrassed, "It seems during a protection mission, he attacked the target that needed protection."
"What?" Rhode almost couldn't react, "The target to protect, not the target to defeat?"
"Yes, the one to protect." Mira said, "Because during a conversation, the other guy said the most important thing for a man is knowledge..."
"Man!" In the tavern, Elfman shouted his mantra and punched Natsu, only to be punched back.
The sister watched the brother fight, "Any man-related topic gets Elfman fired up."
"Haha... No wonder, it's just like him." Rhode chuckled awkwardly, contemplating that Elfman might have turned out this way because of Lisana.
Mira looked up at the railing on the second floor: "Strange, with all this commotion downstairs, the president should've come down by now."
Yet, not until Nabu was mysteriously knocked into the second-floor railing did a big hand emerge, mercilessly tossing him down.
"Didn't you all cause enough trouble already!?" The president stepped onto the railing, scanning the scene, instantly identifying the culprit,
"Natsu, can't you just come back quietly once?"
"Hehe!" Natsu, chest out and hands on hips, wore a triumphant expression.
"Wait, wait..." The president jumped straight down from the second floor, landing steadily, "Making that face, what did you cause this time?"
The president sighed somberly: "Tell me now, I'll write both apology letters at once."
Rhode suddenly felt bad for the president.
"Guess wrong, old man!" Natsu proudly declared, "We executed the task flawlessly this time!"
"How could—" The president suddenly slapped his forehead and realized, "I see, this time you teamed up with Rhode!"
"Hey, old man!" Natsu felt that the president and Hapi were both overreacting, as if he couldn't be trusted not to cause trouble when unsupervised.
The president ignored him, extending his arms swiftly to pull Rhode over, moved to tears and snot:
"Rhode, you did a brilliant job! And, it must've been tough for you, truly our strongest newcomer!"
"Even you know about this, huh?" Rhode felt a bit embarrassed, also,
"President, could you not wipe your snot on me!"