Chapter 70: Village Defense
"There's a beast horde coming. Judging by the bell ringing pattern, there must be a lot of them."
The village chief explained the meaning behind the bell sound calmly. "However, our village walls are quite sturdy, so there's no need to worry."
"No, defeating the beasts and protecting the village is our mission. We can't just ignore them when they're attacking," Natsu said, standing up, his fists meeting each other. "I'm all fired up, Happy!"
"Aye!"
Happy understood, wings growing from his back as he grabbed Natsu and flew out.
While airborne, Natsu yelled, "We'll go on ahead. If you're late, you'll miss out, Rhodes!"
Rhodes couldn't be bothered to respond. I actually wouldn't mind missing out. It's exhausting, providing mounts and cleaning up after you all the time.
"Mr. Rhodes, the beast horde is dangerous. Your companion..."
"Don't worry, Natsu is strong," Rhodes replied. "I'll head out as well."
"Please, wait!" The village chief worried that Rhodes would suddenly fly away, hurriedly asking, "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Actually, there is one thing." Rhodes felt ashamed that he needed the chief's reminder—it was careless of him, almost letting Natsu's recklessness rub off on him.