Chương 24: Chapter 24: A Surprise in the Magazine
"Another one of those ads, huh? So annoying." Laki's attitude towards these ads was similar to how Rhodes used to feel about app pop-up ads. At first, they were novel, but seeing them over and over became a nuisance.
She leaned in mysteriously and said, "Flip a few more pages, there's a surprise~"
"A surprise?" Rhodes followed her instructions and flipped further. After the ad pages, he found the news section, which was what he wanted to see.
What Laki called a "surprise" obviously wasn't this, but Rhodes skimmed through the headlines anyway.
"Red Entertainment Company's Popular Star's Boyfriend Revealed"
The article said "revealed," but there was only a picture of two people from behind. Rhodes didn't recognize the popular star, but he did think that the rumored boyfriend looked quite similar to a certain handsome guy from the guild.
"The Council Decides to Intensify Actions Against Dark Guilds"
It seemed like an official piece, but it didn't concern Rhodes much—he had discreetly asked before, and Fairy Tail really wasn't a dark guild.
"Fairy Tail Mages Wipe Out Bandit Group in One Swoop"
The headline seemed normal, but the article mentioned, "The bandits were extremely vicious, and the battle was fierce, resulting in the pine forest on the mountainside being burned to ashes."
Laki had said this was an issue from a few weeks ago, and Rhodes couldn't even be bothered to guess who did it.
After flipping past the news section, Rhodes finally saw the "surprise" that Laki mentioned.
"This... this... isn't this...?"
Wasn't that Mira? The iconic white hair, styled just like now, with her bangs tied into a tuft at the top of her head.
But the smile in the picture was different from what he had seen—it was more alluring.
The key was that in the picture, Mira was wearing a sea-blue swimsuit, naturally posing on a beach with one hand brushing her hair back.
The top was scanty enough that Rhodes couldn't tell if it was a swimsuit or lingerie.
Even when he forced his gaze away from the more captivating areas, his eyes were still drawn to her smooth shoulders and delicate collarbone.
She wore a high-slit long skirt on the bottom—or maybe it was just a large piece of cloth tied casually around her hips—revealing a waistline that would make countless girls envious.
Mira's right leg was fully covered by the skirt, while her left leg was exposed through the slit.
—Rhodes learned for the first time that Mira's guild mark was white and located on her left thigh.
"She's beautiful, isn't she? Got a little stunned?" Laki teased.
"Uh... yeah?" Rhodes nodded subconsciously, then immediately shook his head in denial.
But that didn't feel right either—denying Mira's beauty seemed insincere.
"Really?" Laki looked regretful. "I have last year's worth of Sorcerer Weekly issues; there are over twenty with Mira's photoshoots in them... Are you sure you don't want to take a look, Rhodes?"
"No..." Embarrassment drove Rhodes to say no, but he felt he might regret it.
His face was conflicted. "I'm just trying to learn more about things here, so I wanted to borrow the magazine. But now, no matter if I borrow it or not, it feels weird!"
"Hahaha..." Laki couldn't help but laugh, holding her waist with one hand and patting the counter with the other. "Kana was right, your reactions are too funny, Rhodes!"
Unlike Natsu, who was completely clueless, or those thick-skinned lecherous uncles like Macao and Wakaba, teasing Rhodes was actually fun—he understood things but was still shy about them.
"Kana..." Rhodes thought of that drunken "bad woman"... Although Mira had said she was a good person, Rhodes felt like keeping a mental note of this.
Laki laughed for quite a while, stopping only when Rhodes was about to make his escape:
"Mira started getting invites to be a special model for Sorcerer Weekly last year, and she was well received from her first photoshoot."
"Mira's appeared on the magazine cover more times than these guys." Laki pointed to the boy band on the cover.
"By now, she's probably the best cover girl among all the mages in Fiore, and also the face of our guild."
So, she was like the "poster girl"... Rhodes felt like he had understood Mira's role better. "Mira really is impressive." Fairy Tail truly had hidden talents—the S-class mages were incredibly strong, while those like Mira were famous in other fields.
It seemed like Fairy Tail wasn't just one of the most renowned guilds in the country because of their propensity for causing trouble.
Despite the minor embarrassment, Rhodes eventually borrowed the magazine.
Sorcerer Weekly was priced at 300J per issue.
That's roughly equivalent to two of the cheapest beers. Since it came out weekly, Rhodes could afford it.
But getting past issues would be a hassle to buy, so borrowing someone else's and then buying new ones himself seemed better.
Laki had agreed to bring them over tomorrow. As she put it, "They're just sitting around anyway; I might as well make space for more of my collectibles."
She seemed to hold a bit of a grudge against this magazine.
The reason was that Sorcerer Weekly claimed to introduce the latest high-quality magical products, but she had never once seen her favorite torture device items featured in the magazine.
"Hmm, that's too much; it's basically false advertising." Since she was lending him things, Rhodes decided to agree with her.
"Exactly! False advertising." Laki nodded in full agreement. "I'll make sure to complain about them in the survey for this week's magazine!"
Seeing how serious she was, Rhodes felt he might've said the wrong thing:
"Um... maybe be a bit more tactful?"
"Tactful?" Laki thought for a moment, then nodded heavily, "No, I'll be very blunt about it! They need to know my stance!"
Rhodes: ...
Did I say the wrong thing again?
"It was just an invitation I happened to receive, so I tried it out. Later, I found it hard to refuse."
Mira herself wasn't too interested in modeling, but she didn't oppose it either.
After all, last year she and Elfman lost their younger sister, and for a long time, both were overwhelmed by grief.
They almost couldn't take on any mage jobs.
If it weren't for the income from photoshoots and some previous savings, the siblings might've ended up in debt like Rhodes.
For this reason, despite not needing the money much now, Mira didn't want to refuse the magazine's invitation.
"Putting that aside, how's your training going, Rhodes?"
"Pretty good. I think in a few days I might be able to try summoning a new monster."
"Monster?"
Rhodes nodded. "Yeah, that's my term for my summons."
Does Porro count as a monster? Well, close enough.
"Do you want to spar with someone?" Mira suggested.
"Spar? With who?"
"Well..." Mira tapped her chin with her finger. "You know there are many people in the guild who love to fight; just pick any one of them. For your first spar, choose the one you dislike most."
Considering Mira's slightly mischievous nature, Rhodes suspected she was trying to stir up trouble.
But that was fine; training alone wasn't ideal. He pointed to a handsome guy in the tavern.
"The one I find the most annoying, of course, is him! Loke!"
"Huh?" Loke, who had just been fed a drink by a beauty, looked up in confusion.
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