"Without a doubt, that's a very high-quality magical item."
Makarov could tell at a glance whether the pendant was a magical item, as magic power doesn't lie.
Perhaps Rhode survived that beast tide precisely because of this pendant—even though he himself didn't know how to use it.
Rhode took off the necklace, the delicate metal chain piled into a heap, the pendant resting quietly in his palm, its golden letters and blue circular base reflecting tiny specks of natural light.
He turned it over and over, looking at it several times, but aside from it being strangely beautiful, he couldn't understand anything special about it.
"That guy Da Ye, he didn't give me an instruction manual back then!" Rhode blurted out in his native tongue.
Makarov and Mirajane looked at him in confusion.
Rhode handed the necklace to Makarov and asked, "Master, do you know how to make the best use of this thing?"
"Using a magical item doesn't necessarily require understanding magic, but when you can use it, you can be considered a Magician."
Makarov took the necklace and spoke a string of words that sounded like a tongue twister.
Rhode pondered the logic within, and then he saw the seemingly ordinary necklace in his hand begin to glow in the other's hand.
"So that's it, it's an item similar to a Star Spirit Key; this pendant can only be used by you."
"Star Spirit Key?" Rhode didn't understand, what was that?
Mirajane thoughtfully helped explain, even using a light pen to draw a diagram for Rhode:
"Star Spirit Magic is magic that involves signing a contract with Star Spirits and summoning them from the Star Spirit Realm to help. Those who use Star Spirit Magic need to possess special keys; it's a type of holder magic."
Mirajane's drawing skills were a bit poor, one could say abstract compared to Liddas.
This meant Rhode couldn't understand what kind of creature a Star Spirit was, but he could roughly grasp what kind of magic it was.
He used a term he could understand: "Summoner?"
"That's pretty much the idea." Makarov returned the necklace to Rhode.
"I will teach you the basic knowledge of magic power, and I will also tell you the tricks of Star Spirit Magic that I know.
Additionally, the guild's library also has information about Star Spirit Magic… How about it, do you want to learn this magic?"
"Yes, I do." Rhode nodded.
A Summoner, huh? Rhode could already pretty much guess what this LOL game icon-shaped pendant could be used to summon.
With over a hundred heroes, if he could just get a few powerful ones, he'd probably be invincible, right?
"Then it's settled; I'll teach you magic later. For now, let's talk about some practical matters."
"Practical matters?"
—
Rhode was kicked out.
His injuries had mostly healed, so he needed to move out and couldn't keep occupying the infirmary.
Rhode was somewhat apprehensive about finding a place to live on his own in a strange city, or rather, a strange world.
Fortunately, the Master helped him find a house not far from the guild, less than a kilometer in a straight line.
Rhode had already seen it; it was probably a street-front commercial building, with the first floor used as a shop and the second floor for living.
The landlord was Goodman Reil, a young man in his late twenties.
He used to live there a few years ago, but after getting married, he moved out and only came over during the day to open the shop.
The house had a complete kitchen, toilet, and bathroom, and the bathroom even had a bathtub. The bedroom wasn't large, but it was more than enough for one person.
The rent was 80,000 J per month. Rhode wasn't very sensitive to the local currency yet, but according to Mirajane, this price was considered very cheap in Magnolia.
For this price, the landlord's reason was that the second floor was idle anyway, and having a Magician live there could even enhance security.
Rhode felt the other party might be giving face to the Master; it was said that he occasionally went to the guild's tavern to drink.
However, even with the not-so-high rent, Rhode couldn't afford it.
The money for the rent was borrowed from the Master, a total of 150,000 J, with the remaining 70,000 for his food expenses and some daily necessities.
150,000 J, just hearing the number felt huge, but after seeing the denominations of the banknotes, Rhode felt much more at ease.
These thousand-J notes and ten-thousand-J notes… their actual value was probably much lower than RMB.
But it was only by borrowing money that Rhode realized he hadn't paid for the meals and medicine he had consumed these past few days.
Especially those medicines, with such good effects, their price must not have been cheap.
And then there was the remuneration for Mr. Hibiki, who helped him learn the language; logically, that should also have been paid by him.
It was just that he didn't understand anything at the time and his mind was in a mess, so he forgot to ask how much it would cost.
"How can someone just transmigrate and immediately be in so much debt…"
With mixed feelings, Rhode went to a nearby shop to buy toiletries like towels, and also a few changes of clothes.
Then he discovered that the money didn't seem to last long.
A slightly thicker towel cost 500J, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and cup set was 1000J, soap 100J, shampoo 500J…
Adding necessities like toilet paper, bed sheets, pillows, and blankets, he easily spent almost 20,000.
"Is the remaining 50,000 J enough for a month's food expenses?"
Rhode recalled that Natsu's flame set meal seemed to cost over 1000 J, and ordinary food probably wasn't that expensive. If worst came to worst, he could cook himself.
Spending another 20,000 J or so on a few clothes should be about right… Or maybe halve that, and keep an extra 10,000 just in case.
"Fortunately, it's summer now." Rhode felt relieved for a second, then suddenly realized he might also need to buy a mosquito net.
His wealth shrank again.
After being busy for half the day, Rhode finally bought everything he needed and took it back.
Before it got dark, Rhode decided to go to the guild for dinner.
There weren't as many people in the guild as during the day.
Most of the remaining people, like Rhode, intended to have dinner there.
A smaller portion were drunk, some snoring loudly, others arguing about something with red faces, looking like they were about to fight at any moment.
Natsu, who had been chasing Rhode earlier wanting to ask questions, wasn't there either; he must have gotten his answers from the Master.
Mirajane placed the plates and cups from the tray onto a guest table, then looked at Rhode: "Rhode, you're back. Have you finished moving?"
"Mostly. I plan to have dinner here, is that alright?"
"Of course. What would you like to eat?"
Rhode thought for a moment: "I'll have the same as that person just now, it looked really delicious."
"Alright, one Super Devil Spicy Curry Rice." Mirajane gave him a look of admiration, even clenching her fist to cheer him on, "You have to finish what you ordered, okay."
"Wait, wait a minute!" Rhode quickly stopped her, "You know my common language isn't very good. I think I just heard some alarming words. What kind of dish is that?"
Mirajane blinked, innocently saying, "Curry rice."
"What about the adjectives before it?"
"It's just 'Super Devil Spicy'."
Rhode raised a hand: "I don't think 'just' and 'only' are used that way."
Mirajane pointed to the person who ordered earlier: "It's fine, look, isn't he eating it with great relish?"
Rhode collapsed: "He's breathing fire!"
"Oh~~ I thought Rhode would like this kind."
"I earnestly, absolutely, definitely request that you change it to something normal for me."
"What a pity, I thought I'd see an interesting expression. Also, for what you just said, you only needed to say 'definitely'."
Mirajane chuckled and left, not even forgetting to correct Rhode's language habits.
Rhode couldn't figure out if this girl was truly ill-tempered or just liked watching a spectacle.
She wasn't like this yesterday…
Was it because he no longer needed to be taken care of?
Rhode's feelings were complex; please bring back that gentle and considerate Mirajane…