Everyone stared at Kael Vane and Elfman, shocked.
Kael looked at the crowd, puzzled. "Yo! Everyone's here."
"Kael?! Elfman?! Are you okay?"
"Okay? Is something wrong?"
Kael frowned. Why wouldn't they be okay?
Makarov waved his hand. "It's a good thing you're okay! Tell me you didn't actually go on that mission. That job has been changed to S-Class. I was worried you'd be reckless and do it anyway."
"Give it up? Give up what mission?"
"What do you think? The Phantom Lord mission you took!"
"Oh, that mission? We completed it."
"What did you say?!"
Everyone in the guild was stunned. They stared at Kael Vane in disbelief.
Mirajane looked at Elfman for confirmation. Elfman nodded.
Makarov's eyes went wide. "You... you really completed it? You beat the 'King of Assassins,' Kamil?"
Kael Vane nodded. "Yeah. He was pretty tough. A bit hard to handle."
"..."
Elfman didn't say anything, but he thought to himself: Yeah... so hard to handle... he beat him in one minute.
"You... how could you be so reckless! That was an S-Class mission! That was the 'King of Assassins'!"
Kael held up his hands. "I couldn't help it! We already took the job, so we couldn't just give up. And they were trying to kill my client. I couldn't just watch. That would be bad for Fairy Tail's reputation, right?"
Just then, a newsboy ran past the guild.
"Extra! Extra!"
"Infamous Phantom Lord crew all arrested!"
"Phantom Lord leader's identity revealed!"
A guild member ran out and bought a paper.
"It's true!"
"A new guy who just joined the guild completed an S-Class mission! That's amazing!"
"Yeah! No wonder he beat Natsu! This guy is a monster!"
When they saw the report, the guild members were amazed. They finally believed that Kael Vane had really done it. It was in the newspaper, after all. The article named Kael Vane outright as the Fairy Tail mage who had defeated Phantom Lord.
Makarov took a deep breath. "Report the details of the mission."
Elfman reported everything, from start to finish.
And from his report, everyone learned that Kael Vane had done it all by himself.
He had defeated all thirteen members of Phantom Lord, including the 'King of Assassins,' Kamil, all alone. It was amazing.
Makarov sighed, relieved. He looked at Kael. "We'll let it go this time. But don't you ever be so reckless again!"
"Got it! By the way, Master, since I completed an S-Class mission, can I go up to the second floor now?"
The second floor was full of S-Class jobs he wanted to do. If he could complete more, he could get more pulls. His power would skyrocket.
"Yeah!"
"Kael completed an S-Class mission, so he should be able to go up, right?"
S-Class missions were dangerous even for S-Class mages. If Kael could do one, he was qualified.
"No!"
"An S-Class mission is one thing, but the second floor is another. Only S-Class mages can go to the second floor. That's the guild rule."
Makarov refused immediately. This stubborn kid had dared to take an S-Class mission right after joining. If he let him on the second floor, there was no telling what he'd do. He might even try a 100-year quest.
He also had to stop anyone else from getting the same idea. He couldn't handle the stress if everyone started taking S-Class missions just to get to the second floor.
"Sigh! Alright. Master, how do I become an S-Class mage?"
Kael was disappointed. He thought he could go up and pick any job he wanted.
Makarov replied, "If you want to become an S-Class mage, you have to wait for the S-Class mage advancement trial at the end of the year. Only those who pass the trial can be promoted."
Kael's eyes went wide. "The end of the year?! It's only the start of the year! I have to wait that long?!"
"That's right!"
Makarov thought: You can just go do normal missions like everyone else, kid.
Soon, the guild went back to normal. Many people were excitedly talking about Kael's mission. Looking at the pictures of the destruction in the newspaper, they knew it must have been an intense fight.
Kael Vane ordered a huge table full of food. He had been poor and hungry for the half-month since he crossed over. Now that he had money, he was going to make up for it.
While he was eating, many people came over and asked him to form a permanent team. He politely refused them all, saying he wanted to work alone for now.
Teaming up had its benefits. It was safer, and you could take on harder jobs.
But that only worked if everyone was at a similar level. If the power gap was too big, a team would just slow him down.
Slowing down his work meant slowing down his progress.
Besides, his goal was S-Class. Once he got there, he would be taking S-Class missions. Having weaker teammates would just be more dangerous. It was better to refuse now than to split up later.
Kael Vane called out, "Mira! Another beer!"
"Coming!"
Mirajane quickly brought a beer to his table.
"Kael, thank you so much for this."
She had heard from Elfman that Kael had fought Phantom Lord alone, without letting Elfman help. And after the mission, he had offered to split the reward 50/50. Elfman had to insist on only taking 1,000,000 J. Even 1,000,000 J was a huge amount of money.
Kael Vane blinked. "Thank me? Why? I should thank you. You let Elfman come with me. If he hadn't protected the client, I might have finished the job and had no one to pay me."
Hearing this, Mirajane's good impression of Kael grew. "If you ever need my help with anything, just ask."
Kael thought for a moment. "Actually, there is one thing I need help with."
"What is it?"
"I want to buy a house."