Kael Vane and Elfman went to the next room. The mayor saw them and greeted them warmly.
"Mr. Kael Vane, you're awake! Thank you so much for last night. If it weren't for you and Mr. Elfman, I would have been killed."
The mayor was very grateful. He had seen the whole fight. The Magic Council's Rune Knights looked strong, but they were all beaten by Phantom Lord. They weren't reliable at all.
Luckily, Kael Vane had shown his power and taken care of everyone. If not, he would have been cut to pieces.
Kael Vane said seriously, "You're welcome, Mr. Mayor. You are our client. Protecting our clients is the first mission of a Fairy Tail mage."
"What an excellent mage!"
The mayor went to the table and placed a box of money on it.
"Mr. Kael Vane, this is the reward for the job. Please count it."
Kael's eyes lit up when he saw all the money. Elfman wasn't much better. He usually only earned a little over 100,000 J for a job. The harder ones paid about 200,000 J, and he could only do four or five of those a month.
7,000,000 J. He couldn't earn that much money even if he worked nonstop for a year. He was shocked to see 7,000,000 J all at once.
"Mr. Mayor, you're too kind. We trust you, of course."
Kael said this, but his hands weren't idle. He picked up the money box right away. His title for him even changed from "Mr. Mayor" to "Mayor Kos."
The mayor was very happy. "Haha! If you two aren't in a hurry, why not stay in the city for a few more days? I want to properly host my two saviors."
Kael waved his hand. "We appreciate the offer, Mayor Kos, but we can't stay. We have to get back to the guild and report. If we're gone too long, everyone will worry. Besides, you must be very busy after what happened. Maybe next time!"
"Alright. I won't keep you. Have a safe trip."
"We're leaving then. If you ever have a job like this again, be sure to call Fairy Tail!"
The mayor shook his head with a bitter smile. "I hope I never have to deal with this again."
Once was enough. His heart couldn't take a second time.
Kael Vane and Elfman left on a carriage.
On the carriage, Kael Vane opened the money box. The bright bills were dazzling.
Both of them swallowed hard. They had never seen so much money.
Kael took half of the money and put it in Elfman's hands.
"Hm? Kael, what are you doing?" Elfman was stunned, holding the cash.
"What am I doing? What do you think? We're splitting the money!"
"Spl-spl-splitting the money?!"
Elfman was completely stunned and started to stutter.
"Yeah! You came out on the mission with me. Of course we split the reward!" Kael said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"No, no, no! That's not right! I was just guiding you. This wasn't a team mission. And I didn't do anything. You did it all. I can't take this money!"
Elfman quickly tried to put the money back. Guiding new members was a senior's duty and usually unpaid.
Kael pushed the money back to Elfman. "You took time away from your own jobs, and you protected the client. You deserve to be paid."
"But I don't need this much. I'll just take this," Elfman said, taking 100,000 J.
"No, that's too little. This wasn't a normal job. You risked your life. You can't just take that."
After some arguing, Elfman finally accepted 1,000,000 J. When Kael saw him take the money, he nodded, satisfied.
Elfman had gotten dragged into this mess because of him. Since he had risked his life, he deserved a larger reward.
Elfman felt like the money was burning a hole in his hand. He hadn't done anything, but he got 1,000,000 J. That was more than he could make in months.
Kael is so generous. Maybe I should introduce my sister to him...
...
At the Fairy Tail guild.
Mirajane was doing her daily routine of sorting the guild's mail. Most of it was request letters from clients. She had to organize and record them before posting them on the request board for the guild mages.
"Huh?"
She noticed a file with a big "S" on it. It meant it was an S-Class request.
S-Class requests were rare because they were so dangerous. But because of the danger, the rewards were also huge, starting at 5,000,000 J. All guilds took them very seriously.
Mirajane opened the S-Class file. After reading it, her face turned pale.
The guild was as noisy as usual.
Mirajane ran in, looking worried. "This is terrible! Master!"
"Hm? What's wrong, Mira?"
"The Phantom Lord mission... it's been changed to S-Class!"
Makarov spat out the drink he had just sipped.
"What?!"
The guild fell silent. An S-Class mission. Only S-Class mages were allowed to take those. And even S-Class mages didn't take them lightly. They were so dangerous that one wrong move could get you killed.
"What happened?! Why is it S-Class?!"
Mirajane quickly handed the request to Makarov.
Makarov read it, and his face changed. "The King of Assassins, Kamil? That guy is the leader of Phantom Lord?"
"What?!"
"The King of Assassins, Kamil?!"
Everyone in the guild looked serious. The King of Assassins was famous. He had earned that title by killing countless strong mages. It was said that no one he targeted ever survived. He was terrifying.
"Master, what do we do?" Mirajane asked, very worried. Not only was Kael out there, but so was her brother, Elfman. Her sister, Lisanna, had died on an S-Class mission. If her brother died on one too, leaving her all alone, she didn't know how she would go on.
"I'll go myself!"
None of the guild's S-Class mages were around. And even if they were, facing the King of Assassins was a huge risk. He would go himself.
Just as Makarov was about to open the door...
The guild door opened. Kael Vane and Elfman were standing in the doorway.
"Kael!!"