"Partner? Isn't Brother Rhode going with Sister Mira?"
Rhode sighed helplessly, "I can't go with her, because she's also going to be an examiner."
Mira conjured a demon hand with a smile, "I won't go easy on you~"
"Yikes?!" Wendy recoiled in fear.
"Shoo, shoo, don't scare my partner away." Rhode pressed down Mira's hand, turned her around by the shoulders, and gently pushed her away.
Mira turned her head back to mouth silently, 'You just wait and see.'
Rhode pretended not to notice.
Wendy, worried she'd be a burden, said, "It's an important exam, right? I'm not good at fighting."
"The focus is on testing teamwork, and Wendy, aren't you great at support magic? There's no better partner in the whole guild than you."
"Then... I'll do my best!"
"Mm! I'm counting on you."
Carla, not quite assured, reminded, "Don't put too much pressure on Wendy."
Rhode assured, "No, it's okay to take a break or even quit midway if you're tired or not feeling well."
"Hey, Rhode, arm wrestle time!" Natsu shouted, "Watch me get my revenge with strength this time!"
Elfman cut in, "If it's arm wrestling, a real man will challenge you first!"
"Bring it on!"
The first night joining Fairy Tail, Wendy and Carla slept on the floor.
It's an old guild tradition; a feast always meant staying out all night.
To keep warm, Rhode placed Warm beside them, with its fluffy white fur almost wrapping them both up.
The next morning, Wendy decided to live in the girls' dormitory.
She heard a lot of girls in the guild lived there, so she thought it would be easier to bond with everyone.
Although the rent was a bit high, Wendy could afford it.
For seven years, without needing much money for food and clothing in the village, she occasionally did small tasks, saving quite a bit apart from pocket change.
Robin Lu and the others in the village were mostly self-sufficient, not earning much but not spending much either, occasionally earning a bit, and giving all to Wendy, minus what was lost drinking.
Even without mentioning that, during the last battle against demons, Wendy and Carla each received 1 million J.
So Wendy was a secretly wealthy little lady, never having to worry like Lucy about possibly missing rent every month.
Rhode sent two river crabs to help Wendy move her luggage, only needing to get it to the dormitory entrance, leaving Erza and Reby to take care of the rest.
For some reason, Reby especially liked Wendy, perhaps because there were no younger girls in the guild than her (age-wise).
Coming back to the guild meant a lot of things to handle, like...
Bam!
Makarov slammed a stack of files roughly as tall as himself onto the counter, "I've handled the most urgent work; these just need sorting by the end of the month, keep it up."
In other words, only the urgent matters were handled, and the rest were left untouched. Rhode said helplessly, "President, you really work hard."
Mira smiled gently, "Indeed, it's impressive you've finished even the urgent work."
Makarov's old face flushed with embarrassment, then he lamented, "You know the Council's up and running again, right? Those guys sent over such a thick stack of complaints, and each complaint means writing an apology letter...
"The Council was down for over a month; do you know how much trouble they stirred up in that time?"
"Of course we know, didn't we already remind you to start writing ahead?" Seeing the president like this, Rhode reminisced about procrastinating on homework the day before school started after a summer break.
Makarov's gaze drifted as he mumbled, "I thought past things were past, and I could get away with it. Who knew they'd come back to it?"
"...Hang in there."
Rhode and Mira split the large stack of documents, each taking half.
But before starting work, they first took out the recent newspapers to browse through.
The most significant news lately was about the Council resuming operations.
The newspaper listed the new councilors, unfamiliar names except for Org, the entire upper echelon overhauled.
Former councilors chose either to live secluded lives or return to their hometowns for ordinary lives after finishing their checks.
Ultear remained missing, or rather on the run.
Jellal had been handed over to the Council by the Kai Arum Kingdom, reportedly facing severe charges with a minimum of life sentence, possibly death penalty.
However, due to Jellal's special identity, an evaluation was needed to determine how much Council intelligence he leaked, requiring further detailed interrogation.
But he remained unconscious, needing skilled medical treatment before proceeding, so there was no result yet.
The Freshman Council issued a solemn reflection on the previous Council scandal of infiltrators, promising stricter future vetting to prevent similar incidents.
Flipping further, there were reports about the Local Guild Alliance sending forces to annihilate Oracion Seis.
The Council refrained from commenting, graciously acknowledging the necessity of the action and allowing the media to praise the army's decisive actions.
They also expressed willingness to help legitimate guilds shoulder any backlash from the Balram Alliance over this affair.
Compared to the complete destruction of one of the three major powers, Oracion Seis, the news of Rhode and Mira capturing Ailiger and wiping out the Black Unicorn seemed less significant.
The Mountain Sub-Dragon and Purgatory Sub-Dragon didn't make it to the papers, possibly out of the Council's adherence to promises or other considerations.
Rhode didn't mind much, knowing those who need to know will always find out.
While reading, Mira suddenly said, "How about across the canal?"
"What?"
"Strawberry Street. I heard from Qico that someone is planning to sell a house there."
"Strawberry Street..." Just discussing serious matters, and suddenly jumping back to this. But it was big news too. Rhode pondered, "Isn't that where Lucy lives now?"
"Yes, it's about 300 meters from Lucy's house," Mira said. "I think the location is pretty good, close to the commercial street, making it convenient for us to go to work..."
As she spoke, a blush crept up Mira's face. She realized she enjoyed imagining married life more and more recently.
She's considered the exciting scenarios, the calm ones, the romantic ones, and even how they'd argue.
"Let's check it out after work? If it's suitable, we can buy it soon," Rhode held Mira's hands and squeezed them gently.
Now, just holding hands wasn't as thrilling as when they first got together, but thinking the wedding day was drawing near made the feeling different.