Erza was just like that—although what she said might sound far-fetched, she absolutely believed in it herself.
Mira chuckled. "Maybe Erza thinks the reason she passed the S-Class exam was purely due to her determination."
"That's exactly right!" Erza nodded decisively, then asked with a bit of confusion, "Mira, weren't you like that back then too?"
"Ah, maybe I was." Mira no longer minded bringing up the past and smiled as she agreed with Erza.
To Rhodes, Mira's expression seemed to be saying, "Erza is so adorably naive."
However, Cana didn't find it amusing. She hadn't picked up her barrel for a while but now did so, gulping down a few mouthfuls before staggering over to slump against the counter.
"I... want to leave the guild," Cana mumbled, her face full of dejection, hiccupping between her words.
Seeing Cana's expression, even Erza couldn't bring herself to scold her, merely saying softly, "Cana, no matter what, saying you want to leave is too much."
"But... I've failed three times in a row." Cana extended her fingers, pointing at them one by one. "Erza, Mira, and then Mystogan—why do I always have to run into you monsters..."
"Please don't point at me when mentioning Mystogan," Rhodes corrected, then tried to console her. "Look on the bright side. This year, none of those 'monsters' are participating. If you get selected, it might be the most promising year yet."
Cana, half sobered up, seemed to realize that might be true.
The most difficult opponents had all 'graduated.' Maybe this time, she could finally succeed!
Cana made a quick decision. "Mira, I want to take a mission!"
Mira smiled. "That's fine, but only after you sober up."
"I'm already sober!"
...
Elfman wasn't among the group that rushed to take missions. Tonight, he still trained with Mira and Rhodes.
He hadn't forgotten about the fight he mentioned earlier—it was still going to happen.
Mira was both referee and coach.
Rhodes didn't have to worry about going too hard and making Mira angry. Instead, she would correct him if his strikes were too light or hesitant.
Elfman, on the other hand, didn't need such reminders—he had no such issues.
Both siblings took training seriously.
Mira attempted to use Take-Over magic again, but unfortunately, it just ended in the waste of her magic power.
But this time, she didn't have to worry about collapsing from exhaustion, because Rhodes could summon the Azure Crest Golem to cast "Crown of Insight" on her.
Elfman was stunned. "Is this... your new summoned creature?"
Size could somewhat represent strength, and this glowing stone monster had a massive size that made Elfman feel a pressure akin to that of the Beast King.
Had Rhodes grown this strong already?
Maybe in Rhodes' view, a powerful monster was different from personal power.
But to others, this was his magic—it represented his strength.
Mira, meanwhile, was experiencing the effect of the Crown of Insight. She could feel her magic power quickly recovering. "This is a magic that can restore someone's magic energy... Isn't this supposed to be something only Sky Magic can do?"
"Isn't that a Lost Magic? That's... manly!" Elfman wasn't familiar with Wendy but had heard about the Sky Magic classification.
Rhodes patted the golem's ankle—reaching higher was tough for him. "This big guy was only successfully summoned today. The Crown of Insight on you is a special kind of auxiliary magic, or so the Master says."
"What a great effect." Mira looked at the blue light patterns encircling her. "It feels like more and more people will want to team up with you."
"That's a good thing." Rhodes smiled. "By the way, Elfman, would you like to take on a mission together? I recently bought a lot of winter supplies, and I need to earn some money."
"Team up? With me?" It seemed Mira hadn't told him about her plans yet.
Luckily, Rhodes had a good excuse. "Lately, everyone's been trying to work solo. Finding a suitable partner is pretty tough, so just consider it doing me a favor."
Mira shot a glare at Rhodes, but with her nose scrunched up a bit, it didn't show the slightest hint of annoyance.
Maybe a term like "playfully chiding" would be more appropriate for her expression.
"I mean, I could... but weren't you supposed to help Sister..."
"It's alright, Elfman." Mira smiled. "Today was the busiest day. Things won't be as hectic after this."
"Exactly. And if it gets tough, we can always drag the Master into helping out." Rhodes realized that Elfman was actually trying to persuade him to stay.
Was it because they had gotten closer lately?
All the more reason to go on a few missions together—to build a closer bond.
Mira stood on her toes to adjust his collar. "Go on, pick a suitable mission tomorrow, and treat it like a nice outing."
Rhodes said, "At worst, we'll pick a short-distance mission, one where we can be back the same day or the next."
"Alright." Elfman nodded, completely at the mercy of their arrangement.
...
The next morning, Rhodes and Nab stood side by side in front of the notice board.
Nab, who never took any missions, was here right on time again.
After everyone's frantic 'sweeping' the previous day, there were now several empty patches on the notice board.
If you looked closely, there were even some torn corners of request forms left behind.
Low-difficulty but well-paying missions had almost all been taken. Finding a mission with a good "cost-effectiveness" that wasn't too far away was difficult.
Thinking it over, Rhodes returned behind the counter, resting his chin on his hand as he stared at Mira.
Mira glanced at him curiously. "What's wrong? Weren't you looking for a suitable mission?"
"I've checked them all. Everyone has such sharp eyes." Rhodes sighed. "So I thought I might as well wait for you to sort the new requests, and snatch one up."
"Well, if that's what you wanted, you could have just said so." Mira closed the account book and took out a stack of documents.
Just as she was about to hand them over, she paused, recalling something. "But by someone's logic, wouldn't this be considered an abuse of authority?"
That someone conveniently pretended that he wasn't that someone, waving it off. "No worries! I'm the Master's assistant's assistant. I can help you put them up on the board, then immediately take one as Wizard Rhodes—that's completely by the book.
"Plus, to improve work efficiency, it's totally reasonable to skip... I mean, optimize unnecessary procedures. So taking it directly from you makes perfect sense."
With a smiling face, Mira organized the documents on hand and picked out the ones that fit the criteria to give to Rhodes.
Those that didn't meet the requirements, she made some minor modifications or even rewrote completely—mainly focusing on things like time, place, reward, the client, and the brief content of the task.
As Rhodes went through the requests, he shook his head with a sigh. "I've fallen, corrupted by the dark forces of Miss Mirajane Strauss, once an upright wizard named Rhodes."
Mira stepped on his toes lightly.