After spending most of the day on the road, the three women finally arrived in HilosCity. They didn't stop to rest once they got off the carriage, heading straight for the meeting place they'd arranged with the client.
Standing in front of a mansion that practically gleamed with wealth, Lucy started fantasizing before they'd even gone through the door.
"Anyone who can afford a place like this has to be seriously rich. Maybe our reward will end up even higher than we thought."
The words had barely left her mouth when Meredy doused her enthusiasm.
"The job flyer said we have to go in through the back door specifically. What kind of person makes visitors use the back door instead of the front, when there's nothing stopping them from doing otherwise?"
"Huh, I guess that's true."
The more Lucy thought about it, the more it made sense, and she immediately grew a little suspicious of their client.
"Don't overthink it. We'll know soon enough once we meet the client."
Sorano cut off their idle speculation and led them around to the back of the mansion, where they found a small door, probably meant for the servants.
"Is anyone actually going to hear us if we knock here?"
Doubtful as she was, Sorano still stepped up and rapped on the door.
Thud, thud.
One second. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
Just as Sorano was starting to think no one would answer, a flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded from the other side. Then came a man's voice, wary and hoarse.
"Who's there?"
"Fairy Tail mages, here to see Mr. Kabi, who posted a job with us."
"Fairy Tail? You're finally here."
The man's voice turned excited all at once, and a moment later came the clatter of the latch being worked loose and the door swinging open. A middle-aged man with gray hair and a scruffy beard opened the door a crack first, his eyes darting quickly over the three of them. Only once his gaze landed on the Fairy Tail emblem on the back of Lucy's hand did he finally relax and pull the door open the rest of the way, stepping aside to let them in.
"I'm Kabi, the one who posted the job. Please, come in."
Sorano gave him a second look before nodding and walking in, with Meredy and Lucy close behind. Just before stepping through the door, Lucy couldn't help muttering under her breath, unable to shake her suspicion:
"Why do I feel like we're a bunch of criminals meeting a contact?"
Once he'd shown all three of them inside, Kabi enthusiastically led them to the living room and introduced them to his wife. After exchanging pleasantries, everyone settled onto the sofas.
"Enough small talk. Let's get straight to business. I only have one request. I need you to get into Duke Ebar's residence, retrieve a book called Sunrise, or failing that, destroy it on the spot. Once the job's done, I'll hand over a reward of two million J on the spot."
"Wait, how much? Two million J?"
Even though she'd guessed the client might be generous, Lucy hadn't expected him to multiply the reward by ten just like that. Watching Lucy practically float off the couch with excitement, Meredy hurriedly tugged at the hem of her skirt to calm her down.
Beside them, Sorano narrowed her eyes at Kabi and said flatly:
"Mr. Kabi, I need to confirm this with you again. You're sure the reward is two million?"
"I'm sure. This job's been posted for a long time and no one would take it, so I figured I'd raise the reward a bit to make it more appealing."
Kabi explained his reasoning, but as he spoke, his gaze kept drifting away, never quite meeting Sorano's serious stare. Seeing that he still wasn't willing to take the out she'd offered him, Sorano hardened her resolve as well.
"Don't talk big. You can't actually produce two million J, can you?"
"Wha... what do you mean? I'm plenty wealthy, I live in a house this big, why would I be short two million?"
"Are you sure? Lying to a client, or a client refusing to pay out a promised reward, both break the Kingdom's law. You could end up in prison for it. If you keep insisting, then we'll leave now, complete the job, and come back to collect."
"That, that's... I..."
At the mention of possibly going to jail, Kabi's guilty conscience got the better of him, and he could no longer sit still, stammering. His wife gripped his arm tightly with both hands, her expression full of worry. Finally, after a moment of visible internal struggle, Kabi gave up the act and confessed.
"Fine. The truth is I can't come up with that much money at all. I even borrowed this house from a friend."
"Huh? Borrowed?"
Lucy felt like she was about to crack in half. The two million J that had seemed so close was drifting further and further away before her eyes.
"But don't worry, two million might have been an exaggeration, but two hundred thousand, I can grit my teeth and manage that much."
Afraid they'd refuse to take the job over this, Kabi hurried to salvage the situation.
"Hmph. It had better be. If you can't even come up with two hundred thousand, I'll go straight to the local authorities and report you for falsifying a reward and posting a job in bad faith."