"Here you go, brat. This is the full 100,000J reward for the job. I will handle the follow up with the mayor myself. You can take a good two day rest."
Kabe took the money from the Master and practically bounced away, happily counting the thick stack of bills as he went back to his friends.
He peeled off fifty thousand and shoved it toward Erza, satisfaction written all over his face.
"This is your share. Normally a part of every request has to be handed over to the guild, but Master said this was my first job, so he waived it for me."
Erza did not turn down the pay he offered.
In Fairy Tail, whenever you completed a team request, everyone would usually just split the reward evenly by headcount. That was how it had always been.
Now that he finally had money in his hands, Kabe was not stingy at all. He immediately dragged the three of them out to a dessert shop, treating them to a little feast as his way of thanking them for looking after him all month.
They sat together in the shop. Cana chewed on the tip of her spoon and stared at the tiny piece of chocolate cake in front of Kabe, which was nowhere near enough to fill the gaps between his teeth, and could not help worrying.
"Since you have started taking jobs now, the guild probably canceled your food and lodging subsidy, right, Kabe? Are you sure you will be okay? With your appetite, this little bit of job money is not going to be enough, is it?"
"It is fine, it is fine. Meals are pretty cheap at the guild. If I take jobs often enough, I can still afford it. Worst case, there is prey in the East Forest and fish in the lake behind the guild. I at least will not starve."
The three of them thought that over and felt it made sense. No matter what, the guild would never let its own members starve to death. And if all else failed, Master would probably open the back door for Kabe anyway.
Kabe stuffed the last bite of his cake into his mouth, then stood up and waved at them.
"The bill is paid already. Take your time eating, I am going back to grab a job."
"So soon? You just finished a job."
All three of them were shocked and tried to talk him into resting for a day.
But Kabe already had his plan laid out. At this point, he could read almost all of the writing in this world. It was time to start earning a living properly while leveling up his training at the same time.
So he ignored their persuasion, waved goodbye, and hurried off.
After he left, Gray suddenly sped up, shoveling the last of his macarons into his mouth in a few bites. He stood up too, eyes burning.
"I am going to train too. If that guy Kabe is working this hard, I, as the senior, cannot let him leave me too far behind."
He did not rush to go. Instead he turned to look at Erza expectantly.
She did not let him down. After savoring the final bite of her strawberry cake, she dabbed her lips with a napkin like a proper lady and nodded.
"Let us go together. I am not planning to lose either."
Since the two of them had already made up their minds, Cana could only sigh and jump in as well.
"If you are all saying that, then I will come too. But let me be clear, I am not like you monsters. Forget physical training. I am just going to practice magic."
So, under Kabe's "inspiration," the three children all started doubling down on their own training with competitive fire in their eyes.
...
Meanwhile, Kabe jogged all the way back to the guild and went straight for Makarov again.
"Master, are there any jobs I can handle right now, preferably subjugation type requests?"
Seeing the kid who had only finished his very first job a few hours ago already back to ask for another, Makarov was both moved and worried.
"Brat, being diligent is good, but you cannot get too obsessed with jobs. Fifty thousand J is enough for you to spend, eh... enough for you to eat for a few meals. Wait until the day after tomorrow. I will introduce a job for you then."
Kabe knew the Master meant well, but he did not accept it.
He ran over to the request board instead and scanned it roughly. Soon, he pulled down a subjugation job worth 90,000J.
He took the request back to Makarov to report.
"This one, Master. The difficulty is not high, please approve it."
"This one..."
Makarov read the details and saw that it was indeed a low difficulty beast driving job. His resolve wavered.
He also understood Kabe's situation very well. Those "pitiful" eyes staring straight at him made the old man's heart soften.
"Fine, I will make an exception this once. But the job location is a bit far. Do you know how to buy a magic carriage ticket?"
Kabe happily shoved the request slip into his pack, then took out a map of the Kingdom of Fiore and the compass Nate had sold him. He grinned.
"It is alright. I will run there. I can count it as training."
He said goodbye to Makarov, then shot out of the guild like an arrow.
He kicked into full speed in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, his figure shrank into a tiny dot at the edge of their vision.
Only then did Makarov belatedly react.
"Oh, running there, that is fine then... fine your head!"
He hopped down from the tabletop and stomped it furiously, glaring in the direction Kabe had vanished.
"You little brat, do you have any idea how far it is from Magnolia to that job location? By the time you get there, even cold leftovers will be gone!"
After yelling, Makarov grabbed his few remaining strands of hair with both hands in despair.
"Damn it, I should never have gone soft and agreed to that brat. This is bad. I have to think about how to write a letter apologizing to the employer."
Evie leaned forward on the bar, half her body over the counter. She watched Kabe's figure shrink away like a magic four wheeler at full speed, then turned around, eyes wide with admiration, and patted Makarov's back to console him.
"Do not be upset, Master. Since little Kabe already made up his mind, he must be confident. That child will not cause trouble for the guild."
"You really are the best, little Evie."
Makarov raised his head with a pitiful look and gazed at the gentle, beautiful Evie. With a sniffle, he lunged, clearly intending to throw himself into her arms.
Before his plan could succeed, Evie's face darkened. She planted a fist squarely in his face.
"Drop dead, you dirty old man."
She huffed, flicked her long hair, and stomped away from the bar in a puff of anger.
Heart and body both shattered, Makarov toppled backward off the bar with two bloody streams running from his nose.
His sorry state immediately drew laughter from some of the guild members.
"Shut it, you lot who only know how to drink and cause trouble all day. Even little Kabe knows how to work hard, and then look at you. You are not even as good as a child."
Makarov, furious and humiliated, pointed at them and vented every bit of his pent up anger.
Once he was done dumping everything on their heads, the entire guild exploded with indignation.
Soon enough, angry words turned into heated arguments and shoving matches, which then escalated into a full blown brawl that spread through the entire hall.