Seeing what Natsu and Gray were carrying, several possibilities flashed through Rhode's mind.
Could it be that they really wrecked the billiards hall to the point where only two tables are left just to deal with a few punks?
"Welcome back, hope the mission wasn't too rough," Mira smiled as she greeted Lucy, "Did it go smoothly this time?"
Lucy nodded: "Well, let's just say that even though the solution was a bit different than expected, at least we've got the rent money."
"I feel like something interesting happened." Mira poured Lucy a drink.
"Watch closely, this is how you should play billiards!" Natsu's voice rang out at just the right moment, "Oh yeah!"
Bam! Splatter!
The white ball shot out by Natsu shattered the pile of colored balls, crashed through the back cushion, flew off the table, and kept its momentum to break the leg of the chair Lucy was sitting on.
"Ahh!" Lucy screamed as she fell to the floor, picking up the white ball to throw it back, "Natsu!"
"Oh, thanks, Lucy." Natsu casually caught the white ball. How considerate of Lucy, saving him the trouble of fetching the ball.
"I wasn't helping you!"
Natsu already handed the white ball to Gray: "Only broke six, Gray, it's your turn."
Hapi commented approvingly, "As expected of Natsu."
Gray argued, "Nonsense, it was only five!"
"You're playing it completely wrong!" Lucy couldn't stand these two, stomping over angrily, "You two spent days in the billiards hall and didn't learn a single rule?!"
Amid the ruckus over there, Rhode was just gazing up at the sky.
Mira placed her hands on Rhode's shoulders, leaning forward to press against him, causing Rhode's arm to be swallowed by the abyss.
With a mischievous smile, she whispered in Rhode's ear, "What color?"
"Uh... Do you think it will rain? We should put up an awning just in case, for both rain and sun." Rhode chose to play dumb, turning his head to look into Mira's big eyes that were close by, "What did you say?"
Mira had a sorrowful expression, "So, you never really listen when I talk to you."
"No, I..." Rhode started to panic.
He didn't expect this to take a twist.
Mira giggled softly, "Just kidding, no need to be like that, it's not like you looked on purpose."
Rhode was relieved, only to hear her ask again, "So, what color was it?"
"I don't know, I didn't see it."
Even if the king of heaven himself came today, he still didn't see it.
Mira finally let him off the hook; this kind of thing she didn't particularly mind, but it was fun to tease him like that.
...
Lucy, who was wronged by the unforeseen incident, originally wanted to reason with Natsu, but it was clearly a misunderstanding.
"Huh? Are you joining too, Lucy?" Gray seemed very professional as he wiped the cue tip with chalk.
"Go ahead, I'm betting with Natsu, the loser just has to take off one piece of clothing."
"No way! Why would I bet something like that? You guys don't even understand the basic rules, and you're already down to one piece of clothing!"
"Who cares about the rules, as long as we're having fun. Take this!" Gray used the same powerful shot method as Natsu.
This time, the white ball crashed through the side cushion and hit Macao's weak spot from behind.
Macao fell down with his small cart, and the stones inside scattered everywhere.
A piercingly loud cry echoed through the entire construction site, making Rhode think he heard Tom Cat's voice.
Seeing Macao's pose, a strong sense of sympathy welled up in Rhode's heart; he was even scared to the point of wanting to hug Mira.
"Oh my..." Mira covered her mouth; though she felt a bit sympathetic for Macao, she couldn't help but want to laugh.
When she saw Rhode's facial expressions crumpling up, she lightly patted his back in consolation.
If anyone dared to do something like that to Rhode… they'd find out why she's called a Demon.
Luckily, Macao was a seasoned mage, and after catching his breath, he was fine.
But anyone who was hit like that would be unable to contain their fury: "You rotten brats!"
He picked up the stones on the ground and started throwing them at Gray and Natsu, then awkwardly stepping forward to brawl.
"Run, Lucy!"
The two of them dashed away, with Natsu pulling Lucy along, not because they couldn't fight back but because they felt guilty about causing trouble.
Lucy, bewildered, was dragged by Natsu out of the construction site, only to realize afterward: "Why am I running with you?!"
Fairy Tail is always like this; even if the buildings are destroyed, as long as the guild is around, there will never be a lack of excitement.
...
Rhode might be a crow's mouth because the day he predicted rain, it really did rain that night.
Woken up by the thunderstorm at midnight, Rhode leaned on the windowsill to watch the flashes of lightning and listened to the roars of thunder for a while, then jumped out the window, transformed his hands into the wings of a Beaked Bird, and flapped vigorously towards the guild.
Luckily, enough tarps were prepared; if so much timber soaked in water, it would have caused trouble.
Flying and running, he pulled the tarp over a pile of timber, weighing it down with stones on the top and corners to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
In the midst of the busy activity, he saw more people running towards the guild.
First, it was the girls from the female dorm, like Erza, Laki, and Bisca, and then Mira, followed by careful and reliable people like Gray, Macao, and Wakaba.
Everyone unexpectedly gathered together, exchanging smiles.
No need for words in such moments, Rhode urged, "Quick, quickly!"
Everyone promptly got busy, covering everything that needed to be covered. The low pressure and muggy heat typical of a pre-storm made everyone sweat through their clothes.
The sky rumbled with another thunder, large raindrops pattered onto the tarps, and within moments it turned into a downpour.
The group huddled in the tent behind the temporary counter, looking out at the late-night rain and the pea-sized lights in the rainy night, with relaxed smiles on their faces.
Rhode draped a coat over Mira, wrapping it around her light nightgown, then pointed to a piece of cloth submerged in the mud, "Gray, doesn't that look like your shirt?"
Gray looked down at his bare torso, covering his head, "This is bad!"
"Ice-Make: Fishing Rod!"
Gray cast out a fishing rod, with a delicate ice line attached to an ice hook, successfully retrieving his shirt.
Hard to understand why such a fine ice silk wouldn't break in the heavy rain while pulling a shirt.
This might be magic, Shaping Magic.
Wakaba spoke with some headache: "Though the timber is saved, heading home soaked like this will definitely get me chewed out by my wife."
Macao suggested, "Since we're all here, how about we have a drink here, wait for the rain to lighten up before heading back?"
Bisca asked, "What if it never lets up?"
Macao waved confidently, "Then we'll drink till dawn and head straight to work!"
"What about Romeo?" Wakaba was more concerned about Macao's son.
"It's fine, he's a heavy sleeper, and it's not like he's four or five years old, not afraid of thunderstorms."
After all, Romeo is six this year, not literally four or five anymore.
The two uncles led the way in rearranging things in the tent, clearing space, and even coaxed Laki into making a makeshift table and stools.
Sitting down, they brazenly slapped the tabletop: "Rhode, looks like we're pulling an all-nighter tonight!"
"Alright, alright, I'll do it for the sake of the guild being in your hearts."
Rhode went to fetch a barrel of beer, taking out some Poro Delicacies from the Change-Out Space for snacks — they were originally Warm's food, but using it in advance and restocking tomorrow should be fine.
Everyone gathered around the table, raising their drinks together:
"To a night of rain-soaked revelry!"
"To making Rhode work overtime for the first time!"
"To the new guild!"
"Cheers!"