"Worm?"
"Yes, Worm, because it feels very warm when you hold it," Mira explained.
"Rhode said Poro lives in a very cold place, right? I hope it always feels warm when it's with you."
Rhode thought for a moment: "That sounds pretty good, don't you think?"
The little Poro's horns perked up, clearly liking it.
"As long as you like it," Mira said with a smile, "That's how Happy got his name."
Happy was the talking blue cat that always followed Natsu around; Mira had introduced him to Rhode.
She said Happy could fly and carry people while flying, but unfortunately, Rhode hadn't seen Happy fly yet.
"Then it's settled. From now on, you'll be called Worm. It's perfectly justified."
"'Perfectly justified' isn't used like that." The Master wondered if he should call Hibiki back for after-sales service.
"Woooo!" Worm pounced into Rhode's arms, rubbing his head against his chest.
Rhode held Worm, feeling its small horns poke him a little uncomfortably.
"Mira-nee, two beers over here!" Laki waved towards the counter.
"Coming!" Mira took two wooden beer mugs, filled them, and placed them on a tray. "Rhode, it's almost noon. Time to get busy!"
"Okay, I'll start working now." Rhode put Worm down and picked up the tray.
Worm looked left and right, then followed at Rhode's heels as he went to deliver the drinks.
The one who ordered the beer was a middle-aged man, smoking a pipe, with brown quiffed hair, wearing a floral shirt, capri pants, and flip-flops.
"Your drink."
"Sigh~~ Why isn't Mira-chan bringing it...?" Wakaba complained casually, but it didn't stop him from picking up his glass. "By the way, you're the one who's been sitting at the counter these past few days..."
Rhode felt he was being looked down upon, but it was normal; if it were him, he'd also prefer a beautiful woman to serve him:
"My name is Rhode. I just joined Fairy Tail and am currently working as a server in the pub. Please take care of me."
"Oh~~ A newbie! My name is Wakaba." Wakaba became interested, and a cloud of smoke shaped like a hand emerged from his pipe, gripping another glass and presenting it to Rhode.
"As you can see, I use Smoke Magic. This drink is on me. Welcome to Fairy Tail!"
"I..."
Bang! Before Rhode could speak, the person sitting opposite Wakaba slammed the table and stood up:
"Damn Wakaba, don't just give away my drink!"
This person had short purple hair, sparse stubble around his mouth, and wore a white trench coat. As he spoke, purple flames erupted from his hand.
The flames dispersed Wakaba's smoke hand and, in its place, gripped the beer glass.
"If anyone's treating, it's me!" He formally adjusted his collar. "Hello, I'm..."
"Damn Macao!" Wakaba stood up, slammed his own beer glass on the table, put one foot on the stool, and leaned forward. "You wanna fight, huh?"
"Who's afraid of you!" Macao also put one foot on the stool and leaned forward.
The two of them pressed their foreheads together across the table, confronting each other, unwilling to back down.
Thick smoke gathered above Wakaba's pipe, and the purple flames swirled back, hovering in Macao's hand.
The beer glass, which had been supported by the flames, fell. Rhode hurriedly caught it, spilling a few drops of beer: "Um..."
He wanted to intervene, but the two had already ignored him, bickering and rolling up their sleeves, ready to fight at any moment.
Rhode looked around for help, only to find that everyone nearby had an expression of watching a good show.
Some even cheered, shouting things like 'Fight!' and 'Teach him a lesson!'
Laki still held the empty beer glass she had just collected, but now she couldn't bother to return it and instead stood among the onlookers.
She didn't forget to remind him: "Rhode, if I were you, I'd get far away right now."
"Wh..."
Whoosh! A beer glass flew past Rhode's ear.
Macao and Wakaba had already jumped onto the table, gripping each other's hands and starting to arm wrestle.
Rhode touched his temple and decisively gave up on mediating. He picked up Poro Worm with one hand, the innocent beer with the other, and tucked the tray under his arm, quickly running back to the counter.
The Master's small figure gave him a great sense of security.
Rhode asked, "Master, do we not need to do anything about them?"
"Let them be." Makarov picked up the beer glass Rhode had just put down and took a sip of beer.
No one was meditating now, so there was no need to worry about anyone being disturbed. A little ruckus was fine.
Not only that, when someone started a betting pool on who, Macao or Wakaba, would fall off the table first, the old man even bet 1000J.
"I thought it was only chaotic those few days because the Master wasn't here." Rhode looked at the Master, who was gradually starting to shout encouragement, and said in despair, "Are there no normal people left in this guild?"
"Don't say that." Mira chuckled as she wiped a beer glass. "It's quite interesting this way."
The area where Macao and Wakaba were fighting clanged and clattered. The long table was quickly smashed, and the stools were overturned.
The two wrestled for a long time before finally separating. The spectators quickly grew bored and dispersed.
This brawl was only considered a minor skirmish in Fairy Tail because the two old men knew their limits and didn't involve anyone else.
"Are they both okay?" Rhode looked at the two, who were now sitting at separate tables, fuming, feeling that his presence might have contributed a little to their falling out.
"It's fine. They're always like this. They'll be sitting together and drinking again soon."
Mira wasn't worried about it at all. She said to Makarov, "Master, that beer still goes on your tab, you know."
"Huh? Macao ordered that beer!"
"You secretly drank it."
"It's..." Makarov failed to escape paying and looked dejected.
Rhode's image of a kind, benevolent, and reliable Master gradually crumbled.
This old man doesn't seem to be proper either. The guild becoming like this must be because the top beam is crooked, causing the bottom beam to be crooked, right?
He was about to ask what to do about the broken table when he saw Laki walk over and make a strange gesture with her hands:
"Wood Make: Sincere Friendship Wooden Table!"
The smashed tabletop and broken table legs moved as if they had come to life, bending and extending, then perfectly merging together, reforming into the original long table.
A buck-toothed guy nearby complained, "Why does she always use such strange names!"
Laki swept her purple hair behind her and adjusted her glasses: "Oh, are you jealous of my magic and talent?"
"Who would be jealous of that!"
Laki was immersed in her own world, cupping her face: "I truly am a sinful woman."
Rhode: "..."
He had noticed a hint of it before, but now he could pretty much confirm it: Laki was a very narcissistic person.
However, her magic was quite convenient, almost catching up to Yamato's Wood Release from the neighboring show.
No wonder everyone was so reckless about wrecking the place.
[Language Issue]
The setting is that the people in Fairy Tail speak a language from another world, not Japanese or English.
As for why it's English and Japanese in the anime, and Text Magic also has English and traditional Chinese characters, that's for the audience to understand.
This seems to be a classic and very old transmigration novel setting; there's no need to dwell on it.
When naming Poro, the meaning of Poro, which represents "warmth, happiness, and love," was considered.
So Poro is called Worm (Warm), and Happy's name is (Happy), and his catchphrase is (Love), which also fits the Fairy Tail atmosphere perfectly.
In short, all Chinese and English homophones that appear in the text should be regarded as 'faithful, expressive, and elegant' translations of the otherworld language into memes we can understand.
I specifically wrote at the beginning that the protagonist learns the language for a reason... those who know, know.
If you're going to dwell on these things, the entire novel is in Chinese anyway.