Takeshi and Elfman went next door, and the mayor greeted them warmly.
"Takeshi-san, you're awake. I want to thank you and Elfman-san for last night, otherwise I would have been killed."
Cost was very grateful to Takeshi. He had witnessed the entire battle last night. The Rune Knights looked formidable, but so many of them were wiped out by the Phantom Bandit Gang and proved to be unreliable.
Fortunately, Takeshi displayed his divine might and dealt with all of the opponents. Otherwise, he would have been torn to pieces by now.
Takeshi said, "You're welcome, Mayor-san. You are our client, and protecting clients is the primary duty of us Mages of Fairy Tail."
"What excellent Mages!"
Then Cost came to the table and placed a box of money on it.
"Takeshi-san, this is the reward for this quest. Please count it."
Takeshi's eyes lit up at the sight of so much money, and Elfman was not much better. On average, he earned just over 100,000 J for a job, and only a little over 200,000 J for more difficult ones, doing at most four or five a month.
7,000,000.
He couldn't earn that much even if he worked desperately for a year without eating or drinking.
"Mayor, you are too kind. Of course, we trust you."
Takeshi said so, but his hands were not idle. He picked up the money, and his address even changed from "Mayor-san" to "Mayor."
Cost was very happy. "Hahaha... Gentlemen, if you're not in a hurry, why not stay in this city for a few more days? I'd like to properly entertain my two saviors."
Takeshi waved his hand and said, "We appreciate your kindness, Mayor, but there's no need for entertainment. We need to hurry back to the Guild to submit the quest. If we delay too long, everyone in the Guild will worry, and with such a big incident here, you must be busy, Mayor. Next time."
"Alright then. I won't keep you two any longer. Have a safe journey."
"Then we'll be leaving. If anything like this happens again, remember to ask Fairy Tail for help."
Cost smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I don't want to encounter something like this again."
Once was enough. If it happened again, his heart couldn't take it.
—
Takeshi and Elfman left by carriage.
In the carriage, Takeshi opened the money box, and the gleaming banknotes inside were dazzling.
Both of them couldn't help but gulp, having never seen so much money before.
Takeshi took out half and placed it into Elfman's hands.
"Huh? Takeshi, what are you doing?" Elfman was a bit bewildered.
"What do you mean 'doing what'? Of course, it's splitting the money."
"S-splitting money?!"
Hearing Takeshi's words, Elfman was stunned, stuttering as he spoke.
"That's right. You came out on a quest with me, so of course, we split the reward." Takeshi said as if it were the most natural thing.
"No, that's not right. I was merely guiding a new Mage, not teaming up for a quest. Besides, I didn't do anything on this quest, you completed it all by yourself. I can't take the money."
Elfman quickly put all the money back. Guiding new Mages was an obligation for older members, and they usually didn't take rewards.
Takeshi handed the money to Elfman again. "You sacrificed your time, and you also protected the client. It's only right that you receive a reward."
"Even so, it doesn't need to be this much. I'll just take this much."
Elfman took out 100,000.
"No, that's too little. This quest was different from usual. You risked your life, so how can you only take so little?"
After some back and forth, Elfman finally took 1,000,000 Jewels. Seeing Elfman accept the money, Takeshi nodded in satisfaction.
Elfman got involved in this mess because of him, so since he risked his life, he naturally deserved a greater reward.
Elfman, however, felt the money was a bit hot to handle. After all, he hadn't done anything this time, and 1,000,000 was equivalent to several months of work.
Takeshi was too generous. Maybe he should introduce his sister to him.
—
Fairy Tail.
Mirajane routinely went to collect the Guild mail. Most of it consisted of quest requests sent by clients. Every day, she needed to organize and record them before posting them on the quest board for the Guild's Mages to accept.
"Huh?"
At this moment, Mirajane noticed a large "S" written on a file bag, indicating that it was an S-Class Quest.
S-Class Quests were rare due to their high danger level, but because of the danger, S-Class Quests also offered very generous rewards, starting at a minimum of 5,000,000 Jewels. Therefore, all Guilds placed great importance on S-Class Quests.
Mirajane tore open the S-Class Quest bag, and upon seeing the quest inside, her face immediately turned pale.
At this time, the Guild was bustling with activity, as usual.
Mirajane rushed in with an anxious expression. "This is bad! Master!"
"Hmm? What's wrong, Mira?"
"The Phantom Bandit Gang quest… it's been changed to S-Class!"
"Pfft—!"
Makarov spat out the drink he had just taken into his mouth.
"What?!"
The Guild instantly fell silent.
An S-Class Quest was a quest that only S-Class Mages were qualified to accept. Furthermore, S-Class Mages generally wouldn't easily accept such a high-difficulty quest, because even for S-Class Mages, S-Class Quests were extremely dangerous, and one misjudgment could cost them their lives.
"What exactly happened?! Why did it become an S-Class Quest?!"
Mirajane quickly handed the quest request to Makarov.
Makarov quickly read it, his expression changing dramatically. "Camille, the King of Assassins? This guy is actually the leader of the Phantom Bandit Gang."
"What?!"
"Camille, the King of Assassins?!"
Everyone in the Guild was surprised.
Camille was quite famous, having taken down countless powerful Mages to earn that title. It was said that no one targeted by him had ever survived, his power was terrifying.
"Master, what should we do now?" Mirajane was extremely anxious.
This time, besides Takeshi, her younger brother Elfman was also involved. Her younger sister Lisanna had died on an S-Class Quest, and if her younger brother also died on an S-Class Quest, leaving her alone, she didn't know how she would continue to live.
"I'll go myself."
At this time, the S-Class Mages in the Guild were all absent, and even if they were present, facing the King of Assassins carried great risks, so he prepared to go himself.
Just as Makarov was about to open the door...
Creak!
The Guild door opened, and Takeshi and Elfman appeared in the doorway.
"Takeshi!"