"You're right, we've been here long enough. It's time to head back—if we wait any longer, Master might start to worry."
The two of them headed toward the royal palace's main hall.
Inside the palace—
The king was busy handling affairs of state. The sudden attack by the magic dragon Alazham had caught him completely off guard. The entire city had suffered major damage, but fortunately, there were no civilian casualties. The kingdom had already begun organized reconstruction efforts.
More importantly, now that the threat of Alazham was eliminated, the nation finally had no lingering dangers. It could now focus on development and expansion of its existing resources.
Just then, a court official entered and announced, "Your Majesty! Kaien and Erza have arrived!"
The king's eyes lit up. "Kaien is here?! Quick, let them in!"
Soon, Kaien and Erza stepped into the palace hall once more.
"Kaien! You're finally awake!"
The king eagerly walked up to greet him.
"Forgive me for worrying you, Your Majesty. I had simply exhausted too much magical power. After a few days of rest, I've recovered completely."
"That's wonderful to hear! Truly!"
Kaien added, "Your Majesty, we've been away for quite some time, and we were delayed a bit while I recovered. We're here to take our leave."
"Already? So soon? You're more than welcome to stay a little longer, you know!"
Erza replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty, but if we stay any longer, everyone at the guild might start to worry."
"I see..."
The king hesitated, then said, "Kaien, Erza... would either of you consider staying here in the Kingdom of Sobea? If you choose to remain, I would gladly appoint you as the Guildmaster and Deputy Guildmaster of the Swordsman Guild."
Both Kaien and Erza were exceptional mages—especially Kaien, whose strength was great enough to slay a dragon. Having him remain in Sobea would be like anchoring the nation with a divine pillar.
The king's meaning was clear: If they stayed, wealth, status, and glory would all be theirs for the taking.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Kaien replied firmly. "I'm a mage of Fairy Tail."
He refused without hesitation. He was bound to the Fairy Tail Guild. Even if offered a hundred million, he wouldn't stay.
This experience had made one thing absolutely clear to him: In this world, power mattered far more than money ever could.
"That's truly a pity."
Even though the king had expected this outcome, he still felt disappointed.
"Bring the items forward!"
Soon, several chests were brought into the hall.
As they were opened, they revealed piles upon piles of cash.
Kaien's eyes went wide. 'How much money is that...?!'
"This is 100 million J. I know it doesn't fully compensate you both for what you've done for the Kingdom of Sobea. But with reconstruction underway, this is the most we can offer right now."
Erza was just as shocked when she heard the amount. She had been a mage for a long time and worked diligently all these years—yet the total earnings she'd accumulated didn't even come close to this amount.
"No, no, this is far too much. My prize money was 20 million J, and the reward for the SS Rank Mission was 30 million J—that's 50 million J in total. Half of that would be more than enough."
"If everything had gone as planned, then yes, the total would have been 50 million J. But then came the monster tide… and the dragon. That already surpasses the difficulty of an SS Rank Mission. Based on the level of danger, this reward is actually quite low."
The king wasn't exaggerating. The moment a dragon is involved, a mission would normally be classified as a Ten-Year Mission, and the baseline pay for one of those starts at 500 million J. In that light, this 100 million J was hardly excessive.
Most importantly, there were very few guilds with mages willing to even accept a Ten-Year Mission. In this case, even a Wizard Saint would have likely perished.
But Kaien shook his head and insisted, "We accepted the mission as it was. Any changes that occurred later fall under the risks we agreed to. I can't accept anything beyond that."
"Kaien is right," Erza agreed. "Once we accepted the request, the terms were locked in. Accepting extra would go against our guild's code."
Seeing how resolute they were, the king didn't push any further. He simply instructed his men to bring the chest containing the original 50 million J reward to Kaien.
Kaien took the chest, feeling the satisfying weight in his hands. His heart practically soared.
Hard work may be exhausting—but the moment you get paid, every worry vanishes.
"Your Majesty, the task is done. We'll be returning to the guild now."
Realizing that their minds were made up, the king didn't press the issue. Instead, he laughed heartily. "Then I won't keep you any longer. I've already had a carriage prepared to escort you. Please know that the doors of the Kingdom of Sobea are always open to you. You'll forever be honored guests here."
"You're too kind, Your Majesty. And hey, if you've got more jobs like this, feel free to call me up—I'll even give you a 20% discount."
Kaien joked casually.
"Pfft—!!! Hahahahahaha!!"
The king burst into laughter. He knew that with that line alone, all the preparations he made were worth it.
"Very well! If there's another mission like this, I'll be sure to contact you!"
The two of them arrived at the palace entrance, where a luxurious carriage awaited.
The king personally saw them off—an act that left them both a little overwhelmed.
'In my last life,' Kaien thought, 'this would be like the leader of an entire nation sending me off personally...'
"Kaien, Erza, once the capital's reconstruction is complete, you must come back for a visit!"
"Of course!"
"Hyah!"
The coachman urged the horses forward.
Outside the palace—
"That's Kaien and Erza's carriage!!"
"Kaien!!"
"Erza!!" ...
Kaien and Erza pulled back the curtain and peeked out. The streets were packed with citizens lining both sides.
What they didn't know was that although many had been inside the arena, the events of the war had been broadcast to the entire capital.
The original idea was to showcase the swordmasters' valor in fighting monsters—but it had turned into Kaien's solo highlight reel.
Everyone had seen it through the Magic Display Screen: Kaien was none other than Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
To them, he wasn't just strong—he was the hero who saved the Kingdom of Sobea.
As the two waved back at the crowd, thunderous cheers erupted.
The people escorted them all the way to the city gates before stopping.
"Kaien, Erza, please come back and visit Sword City – Noah when you can," Arthur said.
"Definitely!"
After saying their goodbyes, Kaien and Erza returned to their seats inside the carriage.
Erza looked over with a teasing smile. "So, how does it feel to be a hero?"
"Not bad... though I wish they weren't this enthusiastic. I'm kind of socially awkward, you know."
"..."
Erza stared blankly at him. 'You? Socially awkward? That's funny—I didn't see any of that back at the Sword Tournament.'
Kaien grinned. "Alright, now that we're finally alone... time to split the money!"