"When will you two get married?" This was Mira asking Alzack and Bisca.
Of course, the response was two bright red faces.
"Still... still a long way to go." Alzack turned his face away.
Although he had been officially dating Bisca for almost two months, he still couldn't be as open as Rhode and Mira.
Every time they were asked, they would blush.
Bisca tried to change the topic, "And you and Rhode?"
"Soon~ no more than two months at most." Mira glanced at Rhode, who was sorting out the accounts beside her, much more composed than them.
"That's nice..." Bisca sighed, her eyes full of envy.
"Alright." Mira handed them the task sheet, "Be careful on the road, good luck."
"Thank you."
"Bye-bye."
The two bid farewell to Mira and left the guild, naturally teaming up to go on a task.
Mira propped her chin and watched them leave side by side, a gentle expression in her eyes, lost in thought.
With a snap, Rhode set down his pen, stretched lazily: "It's done. After work today, I'll finish off the last bit, and we can issue the salaries tomorrow."
Mira turned her head to look at him, smiled, and said, "You've worked hard."
Rhode looked at her, "Is it just a 'you've worked hard'?"
Laki shouted, "Sister Mira, we need beer over here!"
"Coming!" Mira left the counter, tossed him a line, "Yeah, just a 'you've worked hard'."
Then she ran off, giggling.
"I'm back." This time Kana returned sober, not a trace of drunkenness.
She slapped the task sheet in front of Rhode and complained, "It's done, such troublesome bandits, they even dig tunnels, almost made me miss catching their boss."
"As long as it's resolved, nothing unexpected happened, right?" Rhode would inevitably ask this.
Many guildmates would say there's a 'little' accident, adding one more review the President needed to write.
Luckily, this time Kana was quite smooth, "Of course not, the bandits were taken down in one swoop, nothing extra was damaged, and no drinking caused trouble."
"So you know yourself that drinking causes trouble and damages extra stuff." Rhode registered her task and then asked, "What do you want to drink?"
"Anything." Kana leaned against the counter, her gaze traversing the guild, unable to find the person she wanted.
When she turned back, she found that Rhode had poured her a glass of juice.
"..." Kana suspected Rhode did it intentionally, "I wanted alcohol, alcohol!"
Rhode chuckled and said, "You said 'anything' yourself."
"Anything alcoholic!"
"Alright, alright, this one's on me. Drink it up and I'll give you the booze."
Kana reluctantly picked up the glass, sipping it slowly.
She couldn't even taste what flavor the juice was, just drank half and casually remarked, "On my way back, I seemed to hear someone say... Kildas is back?"
"Yeah, he came back yesterday morning. Hasn't shown up today, probably resting at home." Rhode said indifferently, "Are you and he close?"
"Hmm... he's okay." Kana downed the rest of the juice in one shot, "Just give me the most ordinary beer, not really in the mood to get drunk today."
"Alright." Rhode glanced at her; not even drinking alcohol, surely something's on her mind.
Mira returned with several empty glasses, greeting, "Kana, welcome back, was your task smooth?"
"Hmm, it was okay." Kana asked, "How about your matters?"
"A bit troublesome, but it's fine."
Finding a house wasn't going smoothly, but Mira didn't mind. She had already agreed with Rhode that if something wasn't found within half a month, they'd skip this step and first go see wedding dresses and rings.
At that time, it wouldn't matter if they rent a place or live at her house.
"Oh, Kana, about yesterday..."
"I already know." Kana stood up with her glass, waved her hand, "Alright then, I won't disturb you anymore, I'll sit over there for a bit."
Rhode stared at Kana's back for a while, "Kana seems strange."
"Does she?"
Rhode looked back at Mira, "You're acting strange too."
"Nonsense." Mira picked up a tray from the kitchen, and before leaving, reminded, "Remember to buy a few chickens later."
"Got it."
...
In the afternoon, Rhode saw Kildas in person for the second time.
After all, having been gone for three years, everyone became aware as soon as he came, attracting attention as soon as he entered.
Macao, Wakaba, and many others greeted him enthusiastically. Kildas responded with hearty laughter, signaling he'd chat with them about the customs of the Northern Continent in a while.
Natsu seemed to be sulking with Kildas, ignoring him, while Hapi happily perched on his shoulder, only to fly off to chat with Carla shortly after.
Gray cheerfully exchanged words with Kildas, with Jubia fidgeting beside him like a little wife meeting the in-laws for the first time.
Kildas, being an experienced man, could easily see through Jubia's thoughts. He nudged Gray with his elbow and raised his eyebrows, "Not bad, the little boy who likes taking off his clothes is popular with kids too."
"Who said I love taking off clothes?" Gray, shirtless, retorted with his hands on his hips.
Jubia cupped her face, "Gray-sama... your clothes..."
Marcus squeezed to the front, curiously asking, "Kildas, what exactly was that task?"
"Task details are confidential. Wait till you're S-Class, and you can go up to the second floor and see for yourself."
Kildas seemed particularly popular among the younger generation, surrounded by more and more people.
Even Reby, Jet, and Troy squeezed in to inquire about his three-year experience.
Kana sat quietly a short distance away, considering getting up to greet him, but quickly reset herself and downed her glass of beer.
"Yo, Kana, still such a fan of drinking?" Kildas casually greeted, his tone no different than with others.
"..." Kana had many words stuck in her throat, "Want a drink?"
Right after speaking, Kana thought of smacking herself, what gibberish was she spewing?
"Hahaha, my stomach's empty, I'll grab some food first, drink with you later." Kildas laughed heartily, soon wrapped up again in others' inquiries.
Rhode sighed, "That guy's quite popular indeed."
"Because in the guild, he plays the role of a 'father figure'." Mira, linking her arm with Rhode's, prepared to introduce her fiancé.
But when Kildas reached the counter, he delivered a line that nearly made Mira's hair stand on end.
"You're Rhode, right? The rumored fiancé of Mira?" Without hesitation, he hooked Rhode's neck, pressing their heads together, asking mysteriously, "Hey, quietly tell me, did you propose because you couldn't beat her?"
At this moment, as a fiancé, Rhode should protect Mira's image, but the opponent had almost watched Mira grow up...
Rhode guffawed ungraciously; Mira's temperamental reputation must be embedded deeply!
After laughing, Rhode finally said, "Mira is very kind and gentle. I couldn't resist my liking for her, that's why I proposed."
Mira's face turned from cloudy to clear.
Yet, Kildas wouldn't stop, questioning, "Really? You're into that kind of woman?"
Saying so, this uncle even made a fierce expression, gesturing devil horns over his head.
Mira stood there, arms akimbo, pouting, "Kildas!"
Others might cower at her tone, but Kildas didn't flinch, casually pointing at Mira, then thumping Rhode's back, laughing, "Hahaha... you saw that, right!"