"Welcome!"
The person greeting customers at the entrance of the dessert shop was a rather pretty girl.
Rhodes' assessment: Not as pretty as Mira.
"Would this table be alright for the two of you?"
The one leading them to their seats was another cute waitress.
Rhodes' assessment: Not as pretty as Mira.
As they passed the cashier, the cashier lady gave them a gentle smile.
Rhodes' assessment: Not as pretty as Mi…
Sigh~ Calm down, calm down.
Maybe it was because the shop had just opened, but business was booming.
After Rhodes and Mira sat down, the shop no longer had any empty seats.
Most of the customers were girls coming in pairs, while a small number were couples. The shop was playing soft music, and the atmosphere was lovely.
"Iced coffee, hazelnut cookies, and blueberry mousse cake…" Mira ordered two desserts, then looked a bit troubled.
Rhodes asked at the right moment, "What's wrong?"
"I want to try the cream puffs too." Mira pinched her waist under the table, where there was hardly any extra fat, "But I feel like I'll gain weight."
"Even mages have such worries?" Rhodes thought for a moment, "How about I order it, and we share?"
"Great idea!" Mira's eyes lit up. "That way, it won't take away from what you wanted…"
"You know I enjoy trying all sorts of delicious things, and I'm not worried about my figure. Ordering a few more is no problem."
It's just dessert, after all; it's all the same to him.
Given his daily exercise, Rhodes wasn't worried about the calories.
The waitress taking their order gave Mira an envious look and quickly jotted down their choices: "Please wait a moment."
"The atmosphere here is nice, no wonder it's so popular," Mira said, taking off her sunhat and placing it aside. She gathered her bangs with her hand and then used the hair tie on her wrist to tie her hair back into her usual hairstyle.
To be honest, she looked lovely with her bangs down too.
"Yeah, it's much quieter than the guild." Rhodes didn't keep his eyes on her. Instead, he scanned the couples and friends whispering to each other around the shop.
"It seems like the perfect place for afternoon tea or dates."
Mira's gossip senses were triggered. "Oh? Does Rhodes often take girls to places like this for dates?"
"I'm not like Loke," Rhodes answered firmly and decisively, as he thought this kind of question required.
"I've never had any female friends close enough to bring to a dessert shop or a café."
Before college, he wasn't brave enough to date, and during college, he was always hanging out with his bros.
Café? ×
Internet café? √
Mira blinked. "Why does that sound kind of sad?"
"Hey…"
Mira laughed. "No wonder you couldn't even look Kana in the eyes at first."
"Please forget about that." Rhodes had gotten used to it now. He could even fight her now—though he still couldn't win.
"Here are your desserts, enjoy." The waitress served two cups of iced coffee and the beautifully presented desserts.
"Oh, the cream puffs look even more delicate than I imagined. Let's try these first."
Mira reached out with her knife and fork, but Rhodes pulled the plate away. "No."
"Huh? Why?"
"I was teased, and I'm not happy."
Mira laughed, clasping her hands together, and winked her left eye gently. "How about if I apologize?"
"Hmm, you're forgiven." Rhodes nodded with a calm face, pushing the plate back towards her, while looking out the window.
That kind of charming move was just unfair—he needed to look elsewhere to calm down.
Then…
Rhodes noticed something familiar. "A statue? A little mountain?"
"What?" Mira had a piece of dessert speared on her fork but hadn't yet put it in her mouth.
She followed Rhodes' gaze and saw a small mountain of luggage and an Erza that looked like she had been petrified.
Mira put down her fork. "Erza?"
Rhodes nodded. "It seems she didn't get a seat and got stopped by the staff outside."
Mira thought for a moment. "Should we call her in? She can squeeze in with us."
Of course, he didn't want to.
But it was kind of pitiful. Just by looking at her luggage, you could tell she had come straight from a mission without even going home.
They were all companions, after all.
Rhodes sighed inwardly. "I'll go call her then."
"Wait." Mira stopped him.
"What's up?"
Mira covered her mouth, smiling. "I want to watch for a bit longer—Erza looks really cute like this."
So mischievous.
Rhodes also took a couple more looks. The normally stern Erza looking so dejected over something so small really was kind of cute—a charming contrast.
In the end, the devil in the dessert shop invited the Fairy Queen from outside.
Rhodes reminded her that there were no extra chairs inside, but Erza immediately pulled a folding chair from her mountain of luggage.
Judging by the pictures and text on it, it wasn't a regular chair—it looked more like a souvenir from somewhere.
You could tell she really wanted to have some desserts.
Rhodes and Mira still sat across from each other, while Erza sat to the side and called a waitress to order.
Strawberry cake, strawberry pudding, strawberry milkshake… She ordered over a dozen items, all strawberry-flavored.
Talk about an obvious preference.
The waitress quickly wrote down the order and left, throwing Rhodes a look like he was trash before she did.
This girl was giving him too much credit—who would dare mess with Erza?!
Mira had already started chatting with Erza. "Was the mission successful? You're back earlier than planned."
"Yeah!" Erza clenched her fist, raising her arm in excitement. "I've been looking forward to this place for a long time."
Mira said, "That's so like Erza… But since it was related to the Council, is it really okay to come back early?"
"Well… I hope it won't get the master in trouble."
Rhodes asked curiously, "What kind of mission was it that involved the Council? Is it confidential?"
Erza looked at Mira—in principle, it had to be kept confidential until the task was fully completed, even from companions.
But since it was just wrapping up, it was up to Mira.
"If Erza's work is already done, then it's fine. It'll be in the news in a few days anyway," Mira said.
"It was assisting the Council in arresting all members of the dark guild Scorpion's Tail."
"Doesn't the Council have its own enforcers?" Rhodes' common knowledge lessons had paid off.
"That's right, but the Council is a continent-wide organization, and there's only one branch in Fiore.
Scorpion's Tail was hiding in a remote location, and it wasn't easy to mobilize forces there quickly.
In situations like that, the Council usually commissions the local guild alliance for help, and then the local guild alliance assigns the task to a specific guild."
"I see. So this mission was given to our guild by the local guild alliance."
Rhodes guessed, "Is it because our guild has a high reputation within the alliance?"
Erza shook her head. "No, it's because the master has terrible luck."
"Huh?"
"These kinds of commissions usually have lower rewards compared to missions of similar difficulty, so unless it's very dangerous, the assignments are decided by drawing lots among the guild masters."
Erza sighed as she explained. "And our master…"
Mira continued with a smile. "…often draws the worst lot."
Rhodes: "…"
The guild master probably used up all his luck finding and taking in kids—each one of them ended up an S-Class.