บท 71: Chapter 71: Strange Movements of the Beasts

"Mr. Rhodes, the torches have been prepared as you asked, but..." Bit looked at the scene of the ongoing battle, as if questioning whether they were still needed.

Rhodes, however, said, "Just in time. Throw all the torches outside the gate."

Bit nodded. "Understood, are they for attacking the remaining beasts?"

"No, throw them all toward Natsu."

"Huh?"

"Just do it quickly." Rhodes urged. The battle was almost over; if they didn't throw them now, it would have all been a waste.

"Yes, sir!" Bit directed the villagers to throw the torches outside, though none dared aim directly at Natsu.

The villagers didn't understand what Rhodes meant, but Happy understood perfectly. He flew over the wall and yelled, "Natsu! Food incoming!"

Natsu turned his head to see dozens of torches flying through the air.

"Oh~~~ amazing!" Natsu jumped up eagerly to grab the torches in midair, opening his mouth to inhale the flames as they got close.

Two torches that were out of reach were simply snatched by his hand.

As Natsu landed, his cheeks were already puffed up, and after a few bites and a swallow, the flames were gone.

Rhodes couldn't understand why flames needed to be chewed—was he worried there were "fire bones" in them?

"He ate them!"

"He really ate the fire!"

"So, fire wizards can eat fire?"

The villagers all looked at Rhodes. If fire wizards ate fire, then what about this beast-controlling wizard...?

More strange "knowledge" added itself to their understanding.

No wonder they dared to take on this kind of mission with only two people!

Natsu then put the torches in his hand into his mouth like lollipops, chomping down on them before tossing the sticks away.

"Thanks for the meal!" He wiped his mouth, his entire body suddenly enveloped in flames. "I feel the power surging through me after eating!"

Natsu took a deep breath, spewing out a large amount of flame like a dragon's breath: "Fire Dragon's... Roar!"

The raging flames engulfed all the remaining beasts, rendering them incapable of further battle.

It almost scorched two of the small Crimson Beak Birds as well.

Rhodes slapped the railing of the watchtower in anger, yelling, "Natsu! Watch out for our allies!"

"Ahahahaha..." Natsu scratched his pink hair, apologizing carelessly, "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't see well in the dark. It got a bit overboard, but they're unharmed, aren't they?"

Rhodes didn't believe him. This guy definitely knew beforehand that the summoned creatures wouldn't die, which was why he was so reckless.

Otherwise, Happy, who had been by his side for years, would have already been roasted.

Happy shivered slightly. "Rhodes, I feel like you're thinking something scary."

Rhodes denied it, "Nothing of the sort."

"That was such a quick victory! The wizards are amazing!"

The villagers were surprised by the wizards' prowess, with some even unconsciously adding honorifics.

Bit seemed a bit dumbfounded—so those torches were for that purpose. "Um, Mr. Rhodes, what do we do now?"

"Open the gates and put out the fire," Rhodes said. "Didn't I tell you to prepare supplies earlier? Otherwise, the flames will reach the walls soon."

"Oh, yes, of course!" Bit quickly shouted, "Open the gates, put out the fire, protect the walls!"

"Oh!!"

Fortunately, the main battle took place on the main road, and the flames didn't spread far, nor were they particularly large, otherwise, it would have been a busy night.

The villagers used the winch to raise the gate, carrying buckets of water and carts of sand outside to extinguish the flames.

It was much safer to do this than to directly face a beast horde when the fire was small.

Rhodes used the Crab's sight to survey the area around the village and noticed a few other beasts passing by in a different direction.

However, they didn't seem to be heading for the village—just passing through.

The village chief didn't stay home waiting obediently. Instead, he had come to the village entrance with his cane. "Everyone, well done. Did anyone get hurt?"

"Chief! Thanks to the wizards, no one got hurt at all."

Natsu walked in through the gate, and Rhodes, with Happy in tow, jumped down from the watchtower.

The village chief expressed gratitude on behalf of the villagers.

"It's our mission, after all," Rhodes said, "There's something I'd like to confirm with you—is there any other village nearby?"

The chief shook his head. "No, the nearest village is dozens of kilometers away."

Then that's strange. Where were those beasts headed?

Were they just randomly wandering?

Rhodes had no choice but to retract the other creatures and send a Crab to track them.

"You three have worked hard, coming all this way and joining the battle right away," said the village chief. "There shouldn't be any more trouble tonight, so please, come rest at my place."

"Thank you, we'll accept your offer." Rhodes was not one to refuse, and besides, he was truly starving.

Natsu had a somewhat reckless suggestion. "Rhodes, why don't we just take out all the beasts in the mountain in one go?"

"Don't be ridiculous. The mountain stretches dozens of kilometers, and we wouldn't cover it all even if we stayed up all night." Rhodes cautioned, suddenly suspicious, "You're not thinking of setting the mountain on fire, are you?"

"Of course not! If I wanted to burn the mountain, there wouldn't be a need for a mission request." Natsu denied it flatly, "I just want to solve this quickly."

Rhodes nodded. "Oh, well, then why don't you go ahead and do it alone?

Happy and I will have a delicious dinner, take a nice bath, and sleep comfortably. Tomorrow, we'll come up the mountain and bring you a cold breakfast."

Happy agreed. "Aye!"

"You two..." Natsu muttered under his breath, but obediently followed them.

Rhodes seemed to have found a new way to communicate with Natsu.

The dinner at the village chief's house was lavish—they even killed three chickens to entertain them.

In fact, the meat from those defeated beasts earlier would have sufficed. There was certainly enough.

But the chief might have thought it impolite, so he used his own supplies to treat his guests.

While eating, Rhodes kept an eye on those few wandering beasts, realizing that they seemed to be wandering aimlessly.

They even split up along the way.

Weird.

That night, Rhodes, Natsu, and Happy stayed in the same room on the second floor.

It wasn't that the chief's house lacked rooms; Rhodes just thought it'd be safer to stay together.

He was a light sleeper in unfamiliar places, and it'd also help keep Natsu from sneaking out to cause trouble in the middle of the night.

Before bed, Rhodes held a strategy meeting with Natsu and Happy.

"Tomorrow, I'll first send the Shadow Wolves and Swift Crabs up the mountain to scout and search for the Beast King. No one is allowed to act on their own until then."

"Ugh, it's such a hassle. Can't we just head up the mountain to look?"

"No, the villagers couldn't assess the Beast King's power and couldn't provide information, so we need to figure it out ourselves."

Rhodes said seriously, "If it's beyond what we can handle, I'll abandon the mission and request help from the guild."

"Rhodes, how can we just…"

"Aye, I agree with Rhodes."

"Happy, even you?!"

"Because Rhodes makes sense."

Happy patted the small green bag on his back, which had a fish Rhodes secretly gave him.

"We're a team of three, so it's two against one. You listen to me," Rhodes said. "Now let's all get some good sleep and regain our energy."

Natsu grudgingly lay down.

Actually, Happy knew a more effective way to persuade Natsu, but he didn't want to mention it—deciding things like this through playful squabbling was just fine.