Meliodas and Elfman returned to the guild hall early in the morning having received their money from their last job. Despite the early hours, the guild hall was bustling with people who were already drinking and fighting each other. An empty mug flew past Meliodas's head and hit the wall behind him as he watched two guys wrestling on the ground.
"Elfman, Meliodas. Welcome back!" A voice greeted them from the side. Meliodas and Elfman turned their heads to see it was Mirajane.
"Big sis, Meliodas is a true MAN!" Elfman said enthusiastically.
"Meliodas you're covered in dry blood." Mirajane commented on Meliodas's appearance. The blood of the wolves he slain had turned his white sweater almost completely red along with patches of blood on his face.
"Oh yeah! I should probably get cleaned up. You guys got a bath here?" Meliodas asked, laughing off the fact that he was covered in blood.
"No we don't...You don't have your own place?" Mirajane asked, concerned.
"No...not yet. I'll work on getting one. In the meantime, I think I'll just use the public bath house down the road, and buy some new clothes while I'm at it." Meliodas waved goodbye as he exited the guild hall.
He looked over his danky clothing as he walked down the road. They already had some holes and were stained with wolf blood. 'No clothes, and no real place to stay. First let's take care of this clothing.'
Meliodas continued to walk down the road, with people giving him strange looks, as seeing a young boy covered in blood was quite unordinary. While walking down the road, Meliodas spotted a store that caught his attention. In big bold letters above the entrance said "Heart Kruz." The store looked very refurbished with newly painted silver paint over the bricks and the outside windows covering the clothing displays were spotless.
Meliodas walked into the store and noticed that the place was quite crowded. To his surprise a majority of the people ignored a young boy wearing blood stained clothing as they continued conversing amongst themselves.
"Hey, I want the new Heart Cruz Design!"
"Wait, I was here first!"
"Don't cut in front of me!"
'Is this a famous brand?' Meliodas thought to himself as he made his way over to the mens clothing section. As he walked over, he was greeted by a young, female store associate who shrieked when she saw his appearance.
"Hello, I would like some new clothing please." Meliodas requested, ignoring her shriek. The young lady calmed herself down for a moment. 'It's probably just juice stains. After all he is just a kid...' She thought.
"I am sorry young man, but the clothing section for kids is over there." The associate replied while pointing to a different section of the store. Meliodas shook his head.
"I am not a kid. Just show me what you have in my size."
"Are you sure, these clothes are quite expensive you know."
"Just show me." Meliodas replied impatiently. Looking like this in a new world was starting to get annoying. The associate showed Meliodas around the store to some clothes that would fit him. She instinctively pointed to clothing that was relatively cheaper before leaving him on his own.
Meliodas didn't care and picked out an outfit similar to his clothing tastes in the previous world. He bought a black vest over a full white shirt, and black pants with black leather shoes.
"I'll take all these." Meliodas said as he placed all of the clothes on the counter. The cashier raised an eyebrow looking at Meliodas's appearance and sighed.
"I don't get paid enough for this…" The cashier mumbled to himself. "The total comes out to 15,500 Jewels."
Meliodas paid the cashier and left with his new clothes, looking forward to trying them on after he cleans up.
Next, he made his way over to the bathhouse he first bathed in when he arrived. After washing himself up, he discarded his old clothing and put on the ones he had just bought. He looked at himself in the mirror before leaving. His pants and vest were a perfect fit, but his collared shirt didn't feel right. He unbuttoned his collar and rolled his sleeves up, feeling a lot more comfortable after doing so.
With clothing and bathing out of the way, Meliodas still had one more thing to do. He wanted to look for a place to rent. He couldn't keep staying at the hotel everyday. With every bit of information he collected, he needed a place to organize it.
Meliodas vaguely remembered some houses that were leasing near the guild. He walked back over to the street where he remembered it was, feeling good as he walked by people without receiving strange looks.
Meliodas approached the neighborhood. The houses were small and made of white bricks, with each house being only one story tall. However, it appeared to be well taken care of and quiet. In front of him, was a house with a sign that said "For Lease 1 Room."
Meliodas walked up to the door and knocked on it.
Several moments later, a grumpy looking old man opened the door. The old man had long gray hair parted on one side that went to his eyes and rectangular rimmed glasses and was still in his pajamas. He looked down and saw a young boy who appeared to be around 12-13 years old.
"What do you want, kid?"
"I saw that you were looking for tenants and I wish to rent a place." Meliodas replied, going straight to the point.
The old man looked at Meliodas for a moment and shook his head before preparing to close the door. Meliodas noticed his intent and quickly put his foot out in front of the door to prevent it from closing.
"Hold on gramps, why are you shutting the door?"
"Look kid, go back to your parents. I don't have time for these games."
"First of all, I am not a kid. And secondly, if you're worried about payment, don't." Meliodas said as he pulled out a stack of bills. The old man's skeptical expression turned into surprise as Meliodas pulled out the money but was quickly replaced with skepticism again.
"Listen, kid. I don't know where you got all that money from. For all I know, you could've stolen it. Renting isn't just about the money. I need some credibility from you. If you can prove to me that you did earn your money in an honest way, then I'll rent it to you.
'Man this guy is stubborn.' Meliodas thought for a moment when an idea popped into his head. He pulled up his right sleeve all the way, revealing his tricep and showed the old man the Fairy Tail emblem.
"See, I am a proper member of the Fairy Tail guild, that should count right."
The old man became startled upon seeing the insignia on Meliodas's shoulder. He cleared his throat as he regained his composure before replying.
"I suppose that should be enough. Alright I'll let you rent it for a couple months and if there are no problems because of you, then I'll continue letting you stay alright?
Meliodas nodded his head in agreement. This house was closest to the guild, and would most likely not be very expensive as he was only renting the top floor. The landlord let Meliodas in the house to begin filling in paperwork. Meliodas entered the house with the landlord and took a seat at the table. The house seemed small but comfortable. There were several file cabinets behind the table and a large house plant in the corner. On the wall directly behind the desk were two sickle weapons mounted and framed.
"What Interesting weapons..." Meliodas commented. The old man remained silent and they began filling out paperwork.
"Great. First pay the initial deposit. It'll be 50,000 Jewels and you have till the end of the month for the rent."
"Then I guess we have a deal then." Meliodas stood up from his seat and extended his hand out for a handshake. The old man stood up from his seat and shook his hand.
"Meliodas was it?" The landlord asked, remembering the name Meliodas had written on the contract. "You may call me Schneider."
Meliodas paid the man and was given a key to the house.
"If there's anything wrong inside, let me know." Schneider said.
"Thanks, I will."
Meliodas left the house and walked outside. He saw some stairs leading to the floor above and went up.
"3370." Meliodas read out loud as he looked at his key which had the numbers engraved on it. "This must be the place."
Meliodas unlocked the door and walked inside. The interior was small, but comfy. It had a bedroom, bathroom, a living room and a small kitchen space, all the necessities Meliodas needed.
The old man reminded him of the bill one more time.
"Remember kid, 100,000 Jewels at the end of the month. Meliodas shook his head as he was called a kid again.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Meliodas replied as he left the house and headed back towards the guild.