Capítulo 12: Chapter 12: The Magic Encyclopedia
After watching yet another close-quarters duel between mages, Rhodes fortunately returned unharmed.
Cana had already left hugging a wine barrel, leaving behind on the counter a Plue sleeping soundly on its back, and Makarov sitting cross-legged with a snot bubble hanging from his nose.
Rhodes turned Plue over, but couldn't wake him. He waved his hand in front of Makarov's eyes, but there was no reaction.
"Why are they both sleeping so soundly?"
Mirajane covered her mouth and laughed. "They were both made drunk by Cana."
Rhodes glanced at the woman who was hugging a wine barrel and looking for Macao to taste wine. "So ruthless?"
"Hehe, actually, Cana she..."
Mirajane wanted to reveal a bit about Cana's true nature to Rhodes to avoid any misunderstandings, but then thought it wouldn't be fun, so she changed her words at the last moment.
"She's a very good person."
"...Probably," Rhodes tried his best to believe Mirajane's words.
"By the way, is there any magic in this world that can instantly strip off clothes?"
"Yes, Requip Magic," Mirajane said. "Many girls can use basic Requip Magic; it's very convenient for changing clothes when out and about."
"However, if you're talking about someone who is most proficient in Requip Magic, who can even instantly change magical armor and weapons during battle..."
"It must be Gray, right?" Rhodes interjected. He remembered that Gray was part of the main team, so he must have some specialties.
Just now, he had witnessed Gray's disappearing shirt trick, so the one proficient in Requip Magic, who can even use it in battle, must be Gray.
Rhodes felt his analysis was reasonable.
But Mirajane denied it. "No, it's Erza."
"Huh?"
"Gray is an Ice-Make Mage; taking off his clothes is just a bad habit he developed while learning magic in the past."
Another "Make" magic? Ice-Make? Making ice sculptures for fun?
"Erza uses Requip Magic... Speaking of which, Erza should be coming back soon."
Mirajane continued, "By the way, Erza is the strongest female mage in the guild, and she's also very beautiful. Look forward to it."
"Also, if you want to try pursuing her, I have some information." Mirajane's words suddenly increased. "The last person in the guild who tried to pursue Erza was Loki; as a result, he was beaten half to death. Maybe you're just her type..."
"Spare me." Rhodes showed a helpless expression.
Miss Mirajane, your mischievousness seems to be getting less concealed. And do you perhaps have a penchant for gossip?
The work of a waiter is both peaceful and noisy, and occasionally a bit thrilling.
If you don't react in time, you might get caught up in others' brawls. But as long as you dodge in time, there's always some excitement to watch.
Of course, when watching the fun, you also have to be wary of flying wine bottles, tables, chairs, and the like that might come your way at any moment.
At noon, Rhodes unlocked a small perk of being a waiter—free lunch.
Today's main dish was Fairy Tail's special Cassoulet Casserole.
Rhodes had never heard of this dish before and didn't know how it tasted, but the moment the lid was lifted, his nostrils and salivary glands had already made a judgment.
"So fragrant..."
So fragrant that even Plue, who was made drunk by Cana, opened his eyes and followed the scent to beg for food.
Chicken legs, pork, sausages, white beans, and other ingredients were arranged orderly in the thick soup, with a layer of crispy golden crust on top that looked deliciously crunchy and aromatic.
When Laki and Mirajane sat down and signaled to start eating, Rhodes couldn't wait to pick up the spoon and first tasted a sip of the soup.
The fresh and thick soup entered his mouth, and Rhodes couldn't help but slap the table in praise. "This... if used to mix with rice, would be absolutely divine!"
"Wow, this chicken leg meat has a crispy and sweet outer skin; the inside is tender and smooth, and it tastes even better with some soup..."
"Wow, this pork tastes great too... How come even the beans are so delicious!"
Rhodes turned into an exclaiming machine; every ingredient he tasted made him want to say a lot, but he felt that talking would affect his eating efficiency.
After some hesitation, he decided to enjoy eating first!
Twenty minutes later, Rhodes and Plue both had their bellies round, simultaneously letting out a satisfied sigh.
Rhodes pointed to the empty casserole. "Is this really an employee meal? It feels like making this dish is very troublesome, right?"
Mirajane thought for a moment and said, "It's not very complicated. Just use white beans, onions, carrots, tomatoes, thyme, and pork skin to boil a thick soup.
"Meanwhile, fry the chicken legs, pork, and sausages.
"Then layer the various ingredients into the casserole, pour over the thick soup, bake it for a while, and it's ready to serve."
This is called not very complicated? Rhodes placed Plue on his lap and petted him, feeling that the current scene had a déjà vu of Wang Xifeng introducing "fried stuffed eggplant" to Granny Liu.
Well... Granny Liu is Granny Liu then. Recalling the delicious food just now, Rhodes shamelessly said, "Mirajane, I want to be a waiter here forever."
Laki laughed and said, "Looks like Rhodes is very satisfied with the contents that filled his stomach this time."
Filled his stomach? Contents? Rhodes thought for a second. Is that how you express being full after eating?
Mirajane noticed his confusion and quickly waved her hand, saying, "No, please don't learn common language from Laki."
"Mirajane~" Laki pouted. "That's so mean; my way of expression is obviously very poetic."
"Yes, yes~" Mirajane appeased, "But Rhodes' language level hasn't reached the stage to learn your poetic expressions yet; spare him."
"Really." Laki pouted and started clearing the dishes.
In the afternoon, Rhodes had a break and planned to follow the guild master's advice to go to the library to read.
Previously, Elfman had taken Rhodes to tour the guild's library.
The lighting inside was a bit dim, with rows of bookshelves taller than people standing in the room. Next to the bookshelves were movable ladders for people to use to retrieve books.
In the afternoon, the library was as quiet as usual, the air filled with the unique scent of books.
"Whirr..." Plue seemed not to like it here.
"Shh..."
Rhodes made a quiet gesture to Plue, then picked him up and placed him on his shoulder, unconsciously lightening his steps.
Following the signs hanging on the bookshelves, Rhodes found the magic section and started looking for relevant books one by one by their titles.
Unfortunately, there was no book titled "Celestial Spirit Magic."
"The guild master said there are relevant materials in the library..." Rhodes thought. "Maybe it's included in some category along with other magic?"
He went back and found a book called The Magic Encyclopedia.
He opened the table of contents, which clearly divided magic into two major categories: Caster-Type and Holder-Type.
Simply put, one relies on oneself to use magic, somewhat like superpowers.
The other, to a certain extent, relies on magical tools, somewhat like relying on technology.
According to the guild master, Rhodes' magic belongs to the Holder-Type and is very similar to Celestial Spirit Magic. So he just needs to find Celestial Spirit Magic in the Holder-Type directory.
But before that, Rhodes followed the standard procedure of reading a book—randomly flipping open a page to see what's written.
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