Kaien excitedly opened the chest, the dazzling light from the pile of money making it hard to keep his eyes open.
He quickly counted out 20 million J.
"This is my prize from the Sword Tournament—I'll just keep this part first."
Then he counted out 15 million J and handed it to Erza.
"This is the reward for the mission. Half for you, half for me!"
"Uh… why didn't you just count out 15 million J to begin with?"
"Eh! Splitting the money is part of the joy, isn't it?"
Erza hesitated for a moment before saying, "Kaien, you did most of the work this time. You should take more."
"There we go again! Elfman said the same thing last time. What's all this about 'credit'? If we're doing a mission as a team, we split it evenly. Merit-based distribution is outdated—it doesn't work for team play!"
"..."
"Thanks."
"What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you! Thanks to you, I made a total of 35 million J this time! Thirty-five million!!"
Kaien grinned from ear to ear, no trace of insincerity in his expression. Seeing that, Erza relaxed a little too.
Kaien began calculating in his head: 'One million J is about 50,000 yuan, so 10 million J is 500,000 yuan... meaning 35 million J is 1.75 million!!'
'If this were my previous life, I could put this money in the bank and live the rest of my life lying flat.'
Luckily, this world had banks too. The interest wasn't high, but it was still 3%. Once he got back, he planned to deposit the money, and when he got old and retired, he could live off the interest. Perfect plan.
At that moment, Erza suddenly leaned in, her eyes fixed intently on him. "Kaien, I want to ask you something."
'Gulp!'
Kaien swallowed hard as he looked at Erza's beautiful face so close to his.
'Wait—could this be a confession? Does she want to date me? I wasn't ready for this!'
'Should I say yes, or yes… or yes? Ugh, such a tough choice…'
"Kaien... can I take you as my master?"
"PUH—!"
Kaien nearly spat.
'What the hell?!'
'Erza wants to become my disciple?!'
Kaien's face twitched. "W–Why?"
"To learn swordsmanship, of course! Kaien, you're the strongest swordsman I've ever seen. You even used your sword to slay a dragon—a dragon that could destroy an entire country."
"None of our attacks worked on it. Only you could injure and ultimately kill it."
"Just like you said: to those who don't understand swordsmanship, you're like a frog peeking at the moon from the bottom of a well. But to swordsmen, you're like a mayfly gazing at the heavens!"
Her eyes sparkled as she said this.
If anyone else had said such things, she wouldn't have believed them—might've even scoffed. But she had seen Kaien's swordsmanship firsthand. She knew it wasn't exaggerated. It was real.
Kaien, however, was starting to panic. 'Why did I have to act so cool in the arena…?!'
"Well… truth is, I'm actually not that good at swordsmanship..."
"Not good?! If you're not good, then who is?"
"Okay, real talk… I'm actually not that strong. Maybe only around second-tier within the guild. That swordsmanship wasn't mine—it came from the character I channeled using my magic."
"That's your Take Over Magic though, isn't it? That means it is yours."
Erza and Mirajane had fought since childhood. They were extremely familiar with Take Over Magic. She naturally understood that the sword skills Kaien used came from Yoriichi Tsugikuni, but that magic was Kaien's.
"That's true… but the consciousness was still mine. I can use those skills, but I don't know how to teach them. And besides, what suits me may not suit you. You're a swordswoman, but not purely a swordswoman. What suits you best is what's truly best."
The last thing he wanted was Erza chasing after him all day calling him "Master." That thought alone was terrifying. Best to refuse gently.
And he wasn't entirely lying. In the anime, Erza's strongest form was her all-out attack state that sacrificed defense—but even that wasn't her real magic. Her magic was Requip Magic.
"If you really want to train in swordsmanship, I can use Take Over Magic to channel Yoriichi and spar with you sometime."
"Really?! That's amazing!!"
Erza lit up with joy.
That made Kaien suspect this was her goal all along—she just wanted to fight him.
Magnolia
Fairy Tail Guild
BANG!
Makarov slammed a thick stack of newspapers down in front of Kaien and Erza. The front page was all about the events in the Kingdom of Sobea, with Kaien and Erza as the main headline. They had only just returned to the guild, but the news had already spread across the entire Ishgar Continent.
After all, a legendary dragon had appeared. And Kaien had become a dragon-slaying hero. This buzz wasn't going to die down anytime soon.
"Explain. What exactly happened?"
Kaien and Erza knelt obediently in front of Makarov.
"Uhh... Master, we were just going out on a mission. Who knew we'd have such bad luck and run into something like that?"
Kaien's tone screamed 'I'm innocent!'
"Here's what happened, Master..."
Erza quickly gave a full report, including how the king had already planned to slay the dragon and how the two of them took on an SS Rank Mission.
"Reckless!!"
"You two were completely reckless!"
"An S-Class Mission is one thing—but an SS Rank one? That was a dragon! A single dragon could wipe out a nation!!"
This time, Makarov was genuinely furious. Even from the newspaper report, he could tell how dangerous the mission was. And these two lunatics had the guts to accept it?!
Kaien cried out, "Master, it's not our fault! We hadn't even started the mission yet when the target came to us! We couldn't just stand by while innocent people died!"
"Still making excuses?! You think that's what I'm mad about?!"
SLAM! Makarov pounded the table.
Mirajane stepped in to mediate, "Calm down, Master. They made it back safe and sound. Sure, it wasn't wise to take an SS Rank mission—but it all turned out okay in the end. You two, come on—promise him it won't happen again."
She gave them a subtle wink.
The two immediately got the message. "Master! We promise! It won't happen again!"
Makarov grumbled but seemed to calm down.
"Hmph! If you ever pull this again, I'll break both your legs. Now get lost!"
"Understood!"