"Mr. Rhode, the torches you mentioned are ready, but..."
Bit looked at the scene of battle, wondering if they'd even be needed.
But Rhode said, "Perfect timing, throw all the torches outside."
Bit nodded, "Understood, are they to attack the remaining beasts?"
"No, throw them all towards Natsu."
"Huh?"
"Hurry up and do it." Rhode urged, the battle was nearly over, if they didn't throw them soon it would be a waste.
"Yes!" Bit directed the villagers to throw the torches outside, but none dared aim directly at Natsu.
No one understood Rhode's intentions, but Hapi understood completely, and he flew over the wall shouting, "Natsu! Delicious treats incoming!"
Natsu turned his head to see dozens of torches spinning through the air.
"Oh~~~ fantastic!" Natsu jumped up and lunged at the torches, opening his mouth wide to suck in the flames when close enough.
The two he couldn't eat were grabbed by his hand.
When he landed, Natsu's cheeks were puffed out, and he chewed a few times before swallowing.
Rhode couldn't understand why flames needed chewing, was he afraid there were 'fire bones' inside?
"He ate it!"
"He can actually eat flames!"
"So fire mages can eat fire?"
The villagers looked to Rhode, wondering if this beast-controlling mage could...
Their strange 'knowledge' increased.
No wonder they dared take on such a mission with just two people!
Just then Natsu shoved the torches in his hand into his mouth like lollipops, crunching noisily before discarding the sticks.
"Thanks for the treat!" He wiped his mouth, and his body was suddenly cloaked in flames, "Eating it boosts my power!"
Natsu took a deep breath, spraying a large amount of flames like a Fire Dragon roar from his mouth: "Fire Dragon's... Roar!"
The raging flames, like a whirlwind, engulfed all the remaining beasts, rendering them incapable of fighting.
Almost engulfing two Little Beaked Birds.
Rhode slapped the railing on the watchtower angrily, "Natsu! Pay attention to your own people!"
"Ahahahaha..." Natsu scratched his cherry-colored hair, apologizing nonchalantly, "Sorry, sorry, it's dark and hard to see, went a little overboard, but no one's hurt!"
Rhode didn't believe him, this fool must have known beforehand the wild monsters wouldn't die, so he was careless.
Otherwise, Hapi would have been roasted after being with him for so many years.
Hapi shuddered, "Rhode, I feel like you're thinking something scary."
Rhode denied it, "Nothing of the sort."
"They won so fast, worthy of the mage lords!"
The villagers were amazed at the mage's combat prowess, someone unconsciously added a respectful title.
Bit was in a daze, realizing this was the intended use of the torches, "Um, Mr. Rhode, now what should we do?"
Rhode said, "Open the gates, extinguish the fire. Didn't I ask you to prepare supplies to prevent the walls from burning?"
"Ah, yes!" Bit immediately shouted, "Open the gate, extinguish the fire, protect the walls!"
"Oh!!"
Luckily the main battlefield was on the road, the fire hadn't spread far, nor was it too intense, or they'd be busy today.
The villagers used a winch to raise the gate, carrying prepared water buckets and small carts of sand outside to extinguish the fire.
In a small fire situation, doing this was safer than directly facing the beast horde.
Rhode used the River Crab's vision to survey the village surroundings, discovering more beasts running in another direction.
But they didn't seem to be heading for the village, just passing through.
The village chief didn't stay waiting at home but arrived at the village entrance with a cane, "Everyone worked hard, is anyone injured?"
"Chief! Thanks to the mage lords, no one was hurt at all."
Natsu entered through the gate, and Rhode jumped down from the watchtower with Hapi.
The chief expressed gratitude on behalf of the villagers.
"It's our mission," Rhode said, "I have something to confirm with you, are there other villages nearby?"
The chief shook his head, "No, the nearest village is dozens of kilometers away."
Then where were those beasts headed?
Just aimlessly wandering?
Rhode could only recall the other wild monsters and send a River Crab to investigate.
"You three traveled far and quickly joined the battle, it's been hard," said the chief,
"There likely won't be anything tonight, please come to my home for rest."
"Then we will intrude." Rhode was completely unreserved, he was truly hungry.
Natsu made an unreliable proposal, "Rhode, why don't we just go ahead and solve all the beasts on the mountain?"
"Stop joking, the mountain stretches for dozens of kilometers, we wouldn't finish even if we didn't sleep tonight." Rhode advised, and then suddenly suspected, "You're not planning to set fire to the mountain, right?"
"How could I, if I intended to end it with fire, no need for a commission." Natsu vehemently denied, "I just want to solve it quickly."
Rhode nodded, "Oh, why don't you go ahead.
I and Hapi will first enjoy a delicious dinner, take a nice bath, and sleep well.
Tomorrow we'll find you on the mountain and give you a cold breakfast."
Hapi agreed, "Aye!"
"You two..." Natsu muttered as he begrudgingly followed.
Rhode discovered a new way to communicate with Natsu.
The chief's dinner was sumptuous, he even slaughtered three chickens to host them.
Actually, using the meat from the beasts would suffice, they'd had plenty anyway.
But the chief might have felt it impolite, so he used his own provisions to host the guests.
Rhode ate while keeping an eye on the movements of those beasts, discovering they truly seemed to be wandering aimlessly.
They even parted ways mid-route.
Peculiar.
That night, Rhode, Natsu, and Hapi rested in the same room on the second floor.
Not due to a lack of rooms, but Rhode felt it was safer together.
He slept lightly in unfamiliar places and could also guard against Natsu sneaking out at midnight.
Before sleeping, Rhode pulled Natsu and Hapi for a strategy meeting.
"Tomorrow I'll send Shadow Wolf and Swift Crab to scout the mountain and locate the Beast King, no unauthorized action before that."
"So troublesome, can't we just go straight up the mountain to find it?"
"No, villagers can't assess Beast King's power, so they can't provide intel, we must investigate ourselves."
Rhode spoke earnestly, "If it's beyond our capacity, I'll immediately abandon the mission and return to the Guild for help."
"Rhode, we can't easily..."
"Aye, I agree with Rhode's view."
"Hapi, even you say that!"
"Because, Rhode's reasoning is sound."
Hapi fondled the small green bundle on his back, hiding the fish Rhode secretly gave him inside.
"Three-person team, two against one, so follow my lead." Rhode said, "Now let's get some sleep and recover."
Natsu grudgingly lay down to sleep.
Actually, Hapi had a more effective persuasion method, but he didn't suggest it, thinking this casual decision was just fine.