Eisenwald Guild – A Dark Guild
"That woman in armor—what guild is she from?"
"No idea."
"She was hot though! Damn, I should've tried talking to her."
"You? Please."
"Say that again?!"
Just then, a cold voice rang out from ahead. "Kagayaama isn't back yet?"
"That seal's not so easy to break. Give it a bit more time."
"Quit dragging your feet. The timing is perfect right now. All the old geezers are off at the regular meeting."
Magnolia – Train Station
"Hey! Isn't it kinda sketchy to sneak around and spy like this?"
Hiding behind a column, Lucy whispered under her breath.
Natsu peeked enthusiastically in Kaien's direction. "Aren't you curious? Erza invited Kaien. What could those two monsters be up to?"
Curious? Of course she was curious!
Yesterday, she'd gotten more details from the guild. That huge event that shook the entire Ishgar continent half a year ago—it was all caused by Kaien and Erza during a mission.
Then Natsu invited her to tail them and see what they were up to. That was all the push Lucy's curiosity needed to boil over.
Before she knew it, she was tagging along with Natsu and Happy.
"Wait! Erza's here!"
Happy's warning sent the trio scurrying back into hiding.
"Sorry… hope I didn't keep you waiting?"
Erza approached, dragging a massive cart full of luggage.
"…"
Kaien was speechless. Every time she traveled, she brought an absurd amount of luggage. It was almost impossible not to complain.
"No, I just got here myself."
"Let's board the train, then."
"Sure."
Kaien helped her load all the luggage into the cargo car before the two of them headed into the passenger compartment and sat down.
As they boarded, three sneaky shadows crept onto the train—Natsu, Lucy, and Happy—choosing a neighboring car to avoid being spotted.
Toot toot toot——!!
The train's whistle blew, and it began slowly pulling away from the station, gradually picking up speed.
"Ughhh~~!"
Barely had the train started moving before Natsu turned green.
"You really do get motion sick the second we board."
Lucy had gotten used to it. Ever since partnering with him, she knew how badly Natsu reacted to transportation of any kind.
"They're too far away, I can't hear what they're saying. Let's move closer."
"Aye!"
Lucy and Happy were instantly in sync.
Shuffle shuffle shuffle~!
Sneak sneak sneak~!
Girl and cat tiptoed forward seat by seat, until they finally reached the row behind Kaien and Erza. Even with all the train noise, they were now close enough to eavesdrop.
"It feels like we haven't gone on a job together in forever. The last time was half a year ago. Kind of nostalgic, huh?"
Erza looked out the window at the passing scenery. Her eyes softened with sentiment.
She'd always done missions alone ever since joining the guild. Though she had opened up over time and could now work well with others, her personality still made it hard for people to get close to her—and frankly, many feared her.
There were only a handful of people she felt truly comfortable around, and Kaien was one of them.
He was also the only man she'd ever gone on a job with. Even if it was just once, having someone beside her during a mission had felt… really nice.
"Yeah! I was still a rookie back then, and Master stuck me with you on an S-Class mission."
Erza chuckled. "You seemed really eager at the time."
"Well~! It was an S-Class job. The pay was amazing!"
Kaien grinned and rubbed his fingers together.
He couldn't exactly talk about the system—that was his secret. Sure, the gacha pulls were a nice perk, but the fat paycheck was a huge motivator too.
Who didn't like money? Kaien definitely did. In fact, he loved saving money. Seeing the number on his magic bank card go up always made him feel incredibly satisfied.
"You money-obsessed freak. How much have you saved up by now?"
Erza knew Kaien's savings obsession well. Just like her addiction to collecting beautiful weapons and armor.
"Hmm… About 100 million J, give or take."
Back during their first S-Class and SS-Class missions, he'd earned around 40 million J. He'd since completed three more S-Class missions—each worth about 10 million J. That made 70 million J. Add to that all the monster extermination jobs (which started at a million per job), plus all the odd ones—it was now close to 100 million J.
"100 million?!!"
Lucy and Happy nearly screamed. Luckily, they caught each other's mouths just in time.
They could see the shock in each other's eyes.
Happy had known Kaien was rich—but this rich?
Lucy was stunned and envious. She was still stressing over her 70,000 J monthly rent, while Kaien was basically a millionaire.
And he'd only been in the guild for what—half a year?
One hundred million in half a year.
That was the income of a top-tier mage. It was unfairly impressive.
Even Erza's eyes went wide. She knew Kaien was rich. Their one job together had earned him 35 million J. But hearing he'd saved nearly 100 million was still shocking.
"You… you… you don't spend money?!"
As an S-Class mage, Erza's income wasn't bad either. That one SS-Class mission, plus her sword tournament prize money, had earned her around 20 million J.
But most of that was gone—spent on weapons and armor. Even though she'd been working much longer, she barely had any savings.
"Spending's nothing compared to saving."
Spending made your money go away. But saving? That made it grow.
"…"
Erza was speechless. "Isn't money supposed to be spent? Why save so much?"
"What else would I save it for? Obviously—to get married."
"To… get married?!"
Erza froze. That answer caught her completely off guard.
"You don't need that much money to get married, do you?"
"Well, I'd spend it slowly. But it's not like I'd want my future wife to suffer, you know?"
"Ugh… You really are a responsible man, huh."
Suddenly, a mischievous glint flashed in Erza's eye. She smirked playfully at him.
"So… how about me? Want to marry me? I'll help you spend all that money."
"Sure!"