### Chapter 13: One Month Later
As his voice fell, the entire guild fell into silence.
"This energetic idiot brat." Hearing the commotion, Makarov poked his head out from the second floor and cursed in a low voice with black lines all over his face.
The others in the guild, after a moment of silence, all burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, Jiro brat, are you having a delusion?
If you could become the strongest in Ishgar, I would have been one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar among the Wizard Saints long ago."
"Heh, Little Jiro, if you want Big Brother to teach you how to fight, you have to ask me properly. This kind of trick won't work on me."
"Hey, idiot brat, take this 100 Jewels. Go buy a glass of milk and don't disturb Big Brother's drinking."
"Hahahaha~~~"
...
Looking at these unmoved smelly uncles, Jiro jumped up and down in anger and accused:
"Hey, you guys, don't you have any motivation at all?
This is an extremely precious opportunity to claim to be the teacher of the world's strongest, me, in front of outsiders in the future.
Are you not tempted at all?!"
However, at this time, no one in the guild paid any attention to him. They all went back to doing their own things, not taking his words to heart at all.
Beside him, Gray walked up with an expression that said he had expected this, patted his shoulder, and comforted:
"Forget it, don't count on these smelly uncles who are rotten to the core.
Follow me this afternoon, I'll take you to train."
"Gray~~" Jiro looked moved, tears flashing in his eyes.
Gray got goosebumps from his appearance.
After pushing this guy away, he turned to the waitress lady at the bar who was looking at them with a smile and called out:
"Sister Ivy, the usual, give me a Gray Special Set."
He paused, pointed his thumb at Jiro behind him, and continued:
"Also, give this guy 50 servings of food meant for humans, thanks."
"Okay, go find a seat and sit down first."
The waitress named Ivy couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth slightly when she heard the second half of Gray's sentence.
...
Half an hour later, when Jiro finished eating the food meant for all guild members for a day in one go.
Makarov, who came down from the second floor, regretted it again.
This rice bucket, this old man should have left him in the woods back then and let him fend for himself!
Jiro didn't appreciate Makarov's mood at this time at all. He hugged his round belly and let out a burp.
While picking his teeth, he casually asked Gray beside him:
"Hey, Gray, does the guild cover your meals usually?
Do you need to perform missions?
Although I've always had thick skin, I feel like eating for free all day isn't right."
Gray's mouth twitched as he stared at the guy who could eat half a month's worth of food in one meal, with a lot of complaints in his heart.
"I'm different from you guys. I'm already a qualified Mage who has mastered magic.
For an outstanding Mage like me, there is no so-called food and housing subsidy.
Daily living expenses depend entirely on doing tasks within my ability."
"Like what?" Jiro continued to ask.
Gray didn't hide anything and gave examples one by one:
"Like finding a lost pet for someone.
Or tourists from outside who need a guide familiar with the town.
Or rich kids in town who need playmates of the same age and so on.
There are many tasks like this. Like Cana, who is proficient in card divination.
From time to time, people in town will issue requests specifying Cana to help with divination."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
Jiro suddenly realized. So after all that, he was the only freeloader in the guild.
Other peers could more or less do tasks within their capabilities and didn't need the guild to spend too much.
Since that's the case...
Jiro immediately turned his head with sparkling eyes to look at Makarov at the bar.
But before he could speak, he was flatly rejected by Makarov.
"No, I don't agree."
Makarov also heard the conversation between the two, which was why he refused so decisively.
"Stop dreaming, stinky brat. Someone who has only awakened magic for a day cannot be called a Mage.
You are still early from being qualified to go out and perform missions."
Saying this, Makarov took a sip of wine triumphantly, wanting to see what kind of disappointed expression Jiro would show.
But Jiro acted as if nothing had happened, picked his nose, and said as a matter of course:
"What nonsense are you talking about, smelly old man.
How could I let go of such a good opportunity to eat and drink for free.
Don't worry, before I have the ability to protect myself, I will absolutely not leave the guild even for a step."
"Crack— Stinky brat, I shouldn't have brought you back!"
Makarov stomped his feet in anger again, but Jiro had already turned his head away and was no longer looking at him.
Actually, compared to his verbal indifference, he really wanted to experience the process of performing missions in his heart.
But since the Master didn't agree, there was no way. Instead of throwing a tantrum, rolling around, and shamelessly pestering the Master for a mission...
And finally causing losses to the guild due to lack of ability or experience.
It was better to honestly familiarize himself with his strength in the guild, and then go out to perform missions to repay the guild for taking him in when his ability was sufficient in the future.
Jiro, who had figured it out in his heart, immediately raised his hand with a smile and shouted:
"Um, give me another 20 glasses of juice, the Master is paying."
Makarov: "Who is going to pay?! Don't go too far, you stinky brat. Get out and practice your magic properly!"
Instantly, there was laughter in the guild again.
...
Like this, Jiro attended classes in the morning and exercised with Gray, Erza, and the others in the afternoon.
After the initial discomfort of the first few days, he barely settled down in this world.
...
Just like that, a whole month passed.
At noon that day, after saying goodbye to Mother Mary and Levy's trio, the group of four walked on the road back to the guild.
Suddenly, Jiro in the middle announced loudly out of the blue:
"I've decided. Today, I'm going to perform my first mission since joining the guild!"
While the three were startled by the sudden words, they all expressed surprise at his decision.
Cana spoke first, "There's no need to be so rushed, right? I only started taking missions in my third year of joining the guild."
Jiro: "That's because you were young. You are a senior who entered the guild at only six years old."
Gray: "What about me? I also started performing missions more than half a year after entering the guild."
Jiro: "Shut up, loser. You've been doing missions for so long, but I don't see any improvement."
Gray: "?!!"