Kaien and Elfman arrived next door, where the mayor greeted them warmly.
"Mr. Kaien, you're awake! If it weren't for you and Mr. Elfman last night, I would've been dead for sure."
The mayor was deeply grateful. He had witnessed the entire battle the night before. The Rune Knights from the Magic Council had seemed impressive, but in the end, they were all wiped out by the Phantom Thief Guild. Completely unreliable.
Thankfully, Kaien displayed incredible power and wiped out all the enemies. If not for him, the mayor would've been hacked into pieces by now.
Kaien responded with righteous sincerity, "There's no need to thank us, Mr. Mayor. You're our client, and protecting our clients is the top priority of any mage from the Fairy Tail guild."
"Such outstanding mages!"
The mayor then walked over to the table and placed a large box of money on it.
"Mr. Kaien, this is the reward for your mission. Please count it."
Kaien's eyes sparkled the moment he saw all that cash. Elfman wasn't faring any better—he usually earned just over 100,000 J per job, and even the tougher ones barely hit 200,000 J. At most, he could do four or five a month.
7 million J. Even if he worked non-stop for a whole year without spending a cent, he still wouldn't make that much. To earn it all at once—it was staggering.
"You're too kind, Mayor. Of course we trust you," Kaien said smoothly, though his hands were already lifting the money box. He even upgraded his form of address from "Mr. Mayor" to "Lord Mayor."
The mayor beamed. "Hahaha! You two—if you're not in a hurry, why not stay in the city a few more days? Let me properly host the heroes who saved my life!"
Kaien waved his hand. "We appreciate your kindness, Lord Mayor, but no need to trouble yourself. We need to hurry back and report the mission to the guild. If we delay too long, everyone will start worrying. Besides, now that such a big incident has happened here, you're bound to be busy. Next time, perhaps!"
"In that case, I won't keep you. Safe travels to you both."
"We'll take our leave then! And if anything like this happens again, remember to call on Fairy Tail!"
The mayor chuckled bitterly. "I hope nothing like this ever happens again."
Once was enough—his heart wouldn't survive a second time.
Kaien and Elfman left by carriage.
On the carriage, Kaien opened the money box. The bright stacks of bills were blinding.
Gulp.
Both of them instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva. They had never seen this much money before.
Kaien took out half and handed it straight to Elfman.
"Huh? Kaien, what are you doing?"
Elfman stared at the money in his arms, completely stunned.
"What do you mean 'what'? Obviously, we're splitting the money!"
"Sp-sp-splitting the money?!"
Elfman was so shocked he stuttered.
"Yeah! You came with me on this job. Now that we've been paid, of course we're splitting the reward!" Kaien said matter-of-factly.
"No, no, no! That's not right! I was just the senior bringing a newbie. We weren't officially teamed up for the job. Besides, I didn't really do anything—it was all you. I can't accept this money!"
Elfman hurriedly shoved the cash back. Senior mages usually didn't take pay when guiding rookies; it was part of the responsibility.
Kaien handed it right back. "You gave up your own time, and you protected the client. You deserve your share."
"But I don't need that much. Just this is enough."
Elfman took out 100,000 J.
"No way, that's too little. This mission was different from the usual ones. You risked your life—there's no way I'm letting you take just that."
After some back and forth, Elfman finally accepted 1 million J. Seeing him put the money away, Kaien nodded in satisfaction.
Elfman had only gotten caught up in this mess because of him. Since he had risked his life, it was only right he be rewarded properly.
Elfman, however, found the money a bit too hot to handle. After all, he hadn't done much. That 1 million J was enough to cover several months of work.
'Kaien is way too generous... Maybe I should introduce my sister to him.'
Fairy Tail Guild
As usual, Mirajane was collecting the guild's mail. Most of it consisted of request letters from clients. She had to sort and record them all before posting them on the request board for the guild mages to pick from.
"Huh?"
Just then, Mirajane noticed a large "S" stamped on one of the envelopes. That meant it was an S-Class mission.
S-Class requests were rare due to their high level of danger. But for the same reason, the rewards were incredibly generous, starting at 5 million J. Every guild took S-Class missions very seriously.
Mirajane opened the envelope, and the moment she saw the details inside, her face went pale.
Back in the guild hall, things were lively as always.
Mirajane rushed in, face full of panic. "Something terrible's happened! Master!"
"Hmm? What is it, Mira?"
"The Phantom Thief Guild mission... It's been reclassified as an S-Class mission!!"
Pfffft—!
Makarov spat out the drink he had just taken a sip of.
"What?!"
The entire guild fell silent.
An S-Class mission could only be taken by S-Class mages. Even then, they weren't accepted lightly—these missions were dangerous even for them. One wrong move, and you could die.
"What happened?! Why did it become an S-Class mission?!"
Mirajane hurriedly handed the request form to Makarov.
As he read it, his face changed dramatically. "The King of Assassins—Camille?! He's the leader of the Phantom Thief Guild?!"
"What?!"
"The King of Assassins—Camille?!"
Everyone in the guild was shaken. The name was infamous—this man had taken out countless powerful mages to earn his title. Rumor had it that no one ever survived once he targeted them. His strength was terrifying.
"Master, what do we do now?"
Mirajane was distraught. Kaien was out there, and so was her younger brother, Elfman. Her sister, Lisanna, had died during an S-Class mission. If her brother died the same way… if she was left all alone…
She didn't know how she'd go on.
"I'll go myself!"
None of the S-Class mages were in the guild at the moment. Even if they were, going up against the King of Assassins was still extremely risky. Makarov had no choice—he would go in person.
Just as Makarov reached the door—
Creeeaak—
The guild doors opened.
Kaien and Elfman stood in the entrance.
"Kaien!!"