Chapter 729: I Give Up
Rhodes and Mira noticed their friends arriving but didn’t stop. Instead, they decided to unleash one last move.
The two spread their arms wide as magic flared outward. The seawater around them surged, drawn as if by invisible hands, spiraling upward in violent streams.
More and more water gathered, rising higher and higher. The sea surface between them briefly revealed the glistening sand beneath before the tide rushed back in.
Two massive, dragon-shaped torrents of water suddenly roared upward, colliding in midair with an earth-shaking crash.
The violent impact shattered the streams, exploding them into countless massive "droplets" that rained down across the bay. Anyone splashed by one of those would feel as though they’d been slugged in the chest.
Fortunately, the onlookers had all kept a cautious distance.
After pouring out so much magic, Rhodes looked as calm as ever. Mira, though slightly breathless, enthusiastically waved at the four girls watching from above.
"Millianna, Araña, Risley, Beth, come join us!"
The four frantically shook their heads. "No, no, no!"
A few minutes later, the six of them had settled on a beach mat, playing cards together.
Araña was still shaken by the earlier spectacle as she shuffled the deck. "To fight with water like that... you two are just ridiculous."
Beth sighed. "It was practically like Water Magic."
And, truth be told, most mages starting out wouldn’t reach that level even if they trained for years.
Mira, realizing they might have disturbed the other tourists, said a bit sheepishly, "Someone suggested we should train while we played... and then we might’ve gone a little overboard."
That someone was Rhodes. He maintained his theory was perfectly reasonable, apart from, perhaps, being a little disruptive to the public.
"Actually, it’s not bad," Rhodes mused. "If the other Fairy Tail members were here..." He trailed off, then quickly rephrased before he revealed too much. "It’d be even livelier."
The Mermaid Heel girls only had a vague impression that Fairy Tail was a handful, but they couldn’t really picture it. Only Millianna laughed knowingly. "Everyone in Fairy Tail is always bursting with energy."
After a few lively rounds of cards, they were ready to move again.
Araña suggested beach volleyball.
With six people, they split into three teams of two. Even without pushing their powers too far, the athleticism of the mages made the game thrilling. Only Beth was a little outmatched, but her determination kept things exciting.
Rhodes and Mira’s team had the edge overall, though their victory never came easy, especially when balls flew every which way and no one knew who was supposed to dive for which.
By the time the sun dipped low, Rhodes had only one thought: the beach is amazing.
That evening, Mermaid Heel once again hosted them warmly for dinner. Rhodes and Mira lingered with their new friends late into the night before returning to their inn.
After washing up, they didn’t neglect their daily study and training. But soon enough, Rhodes’s patience wore thin.
Who could spend half a day surrounded by beautiful women in swimsuits, each with their own charm, and not react at all?
Mira smiled sweetly, then slipped into the bathroom to change. When she returned, she leaned against the doorframe in a sleek black swimsuit, twirling a strand of silver hair around her finger. With a playful wink, she asked no questions, her look said enough.
Rhodes swallowed hard. Restraint was impossible.
The next day, they spent the morning browsing the city’s shops, buying souvenirs and specialties to send back home. By afternoon, they were once again at the beach.
But this time, Kagura had returned.
Normally so rigid and serious, Kagura had been coaxed by her best friends into wearing a daring swimsuit. Their reasoning was simple: important guests had come, and it would be rude to meet them at the beach dressed too formally.
The logic was thin, but before Kagura realized it, she’d been dragged out the door.
"W-welcome... to Mermaid Heel," she stammered, one arm crossing her chest and the other tugging nervously at her bottoms.
The normally dignified swordswoman was red-faced and flustered.
Mira immediately grabbed her hands. "Kagura, you look beautiful! Don’t be shy, everyone’s the same at the beach."
She shot Rhodes a look. "Right?"
Rhodes nodded firmly. "Completely normal. Nothing strange at all."
His conscience whispered in relief that, for once, he’d answered correctly.
"R-really?" Kagura’s blush softened a little.
"Exactly, exactly!" Risley chimed in. "Look at me, I dress like this almost every day."
It was true. Risley’s usual outfits could easily pass for swimsuits, which had earned her the teasing nickname of "Cana, Mermaid Heel Branch."
Araña and Millianna piled on with cheerful compliments, until Kagura finally relaxed and gave up the thought of running back to change.
Mira asked curiously, "Why haven’t I seen Beth today?"
"Beth opened a vegetable garden behind the guild," Kagura explained. Her earlier shyness was slowly fading. "She spends a lot of time tending to it."
Millianna huffed. "Beth is so strange, right? She uses vegetable magic, but she still insists on growing them the old-fashioned way."
Araña shook her head. "That’s because vegetables conjured by magic don’t taste good, and they don’t have any nutrients. Only the ones grown with care are the best."
Millianna puffed out her cheeks. "Even you say that, Araña? I don’t think there’s any difference in the carrots Beth makes with magic."
Araña smirked. "That’s because you don’t eat carrots at all. No matter what kind, you always say they’re bad."
"Ehh—? Is that so?" Millianna stuck out her tongue, playing innocent. "Heh~"
Meanwhile, Kagura, having overheard earlier talk about Rhodes and Mira’s water-fight training, perked up with interest. "That method... let’s try it together."
Rhodes and Mira readily agreed. The others wanted to refuse, but since they’d already been caught slacking earlier, they had little choice but to get dragged into it.
What followed was chaos.
Rhodes, Mira, and Kagura clashed in a wild three-way "battle," their magic stirring the sea into towering waves. Within minutes, Araña, Risley, and Millianna were sprawled on the beach like three salted fish.
Watching the monstrous swells rise again offshore, Araña groaned weakly. "Those three... they aren’t sea monsters, are they?"
"Pfft!" Risley sputtered after swallowing seawater. "The busty ones totally crushed us today."
Millianna’s cat ears drooped, her tail limp. "I knew I shouldn’t have told Kagura about it..."
Another wave surged toward the shore, and Araña shrieked, "It’s... it’s coming again!"
"Ahhh!"
"Help!"
The three barely managed to survive the onslaught. By the end, they silently swore that once Rhodes and Mira left, they would never play this game with Kagura again.
Feeling guilty, Rhodes and Mira treated the three to cold drinks, promising to be more restrained in the future.
Kagura, however, crossed her arms and said sternly, "No. Your training is still lacking. You should participate more often."
Suddenly, the drinks didn’t taste so sweet anymore.
Just then, Beth came jogging over, holding an envelope. "Mr. Rhodes, you have a letter!"
Rhodes’s heart skipped. ’A letter? That serious? What trouble have my companions gotten into this time?’
But when he took the envelope and looked at the seal, relief washed over him. It wasn’t from Fairy Tail.
Still... Joya Kingdom? That name sounded a little familiar.