On this day, the Adventurer's Guild in Axel was unusually lively.
Nearly every adventurer affiliated with Axel had gathered in the guild, crowding every corner and focusing their attention entirely forward.
There, led by Luna, the entire staff of the Adventurer's Guild stood in a line, facing Fang Li and his group.
"Adventurer, Fang Li San,"
As the apparent representative of the Guild, Luna took a step forward and showed Fang Li a flawless smile as she made the following announcement:
"Congratulations on defeating the Demon King Army's general, the headless knight Beldia! On behalf of Axel and the countless citizens of the Belzerg Kingdom who've suffered under the Demon King's threat, we extend our sincerest thanks to you and your party!"
As Luna said this, the entire guild staff, following her lead, bowed deeply to Fang Li and his group in a show of the highest respect.
"Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, !!"
At almost the exact same moment, an ear-splitting cheer erupted throughout the guild. The booming roar shook the surroundings and nearly lifted the roof.
Bathed in the thunderous applause and the grandeur of the scene, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness all blushed deeply, clearly enjoying the attention.
"I'm finally making a name for myself… This is the kind of treatment someone summoned to another world should be getting…" Kazuma said, nearly tearing up.
"So everyone has finally recognized the greatness of me, the Goddess?" Aqua said smugly.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph… As the Crimson Demon Clan's unrivaled Archmage, this is the scene I was always meant to be in." Megumin said, pressing down on her hat in a showy fashion.
"If… if people threw rocks at me or spat on me right now, it would be the ultimate pleasure…" Darkness said, fidgeting with barely concealed excitement.
Even with all this going on, the people in the Adventurer's Guild continued cheering and showering the group with admiration.
Amidst this rowdy celebration, Luna stepped forward once more and took out a sack that looked extremely heavy.
"Since the generals of the Demon King Army all have bounties on their heads, we are now awarding Fang Li San the bounty for the headless knight Beldia. Additionally, the Adventurer's Guild is giving a special bonus and temporary commission. In total: one billion Eris. Please accept it."
With those words, Luna handed over the heavy money bag to Fang Li.
Everyone else was stunned.
"One Billion Eris?!" Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness, who were already flushed, turned crimson on the spot.
They had probably never seen that much money in their lives. For Kazuma, Aqua, and Megumin, who were always broke, it was unimaginable. Even Darkness, a rich noble lady, had her eyes wide open in shock.
Only Fang Li remained calm as he stepped forward and accepted the money bag stuffed with a fortune from Luna.
Then, with a smile, Luna said to Fang Li: "The Adventurer's Guild has already reported this matter to the Royal Capital. We believe the Royal Capital will soon send someone to formally commend you all, so please be mentally prepared."
Thus, news that a rookie team in Axel had taken down a Demon King Army general spread rapidly.
It wouldn't be long before countries all over the world heard that one of the long-feared leaders of the Demon King's army had been defeated.
Back home…
…
"WHY?!" As soon as they sat down, Aqua's protest erupted, loud and dramatic, as usual.
"Why can't we split the reward money?!" And this time, even Kazuma joined in the protest.
"Even if you deduct the money we owe you, this is still way too much, isn't it?!"
Kazuma banged on the table repeatedly, loudly protesting. "We finally have a chance to escape a life of poverty, and you're doing this to us?!"
With Kazuma and Aqua's protests ringing out, Megumin and Darkness exchanged looks.
"Well, no matter how you look at it… this doesn't really seem fair, right?"
"We're a team, after all… This just doesn't feel right."
It was obvious that everyone was unhappy, at least to some extent, about Fang Li planning to keep the reward all to himself. In the face of everyone's dissatisfaction, Fang Li simply narrowed his eyes and smiled calmly as he said:
"If I'm not mistaken… back when I first suggested taking on the Demon King Army's general, weren't there two people who were absolutely refusing to go?"
At those words, Kazuma and Aqua flinched slightly.
Fang Li continued nonchalantly, as if he hadn't noticed: "And, if I'm still not mistaken… during the exploration of the ancient castle, there were also two people who didn't even manage to defeat a single undead, right?"
This time, it was Megumin and Darkness who flinched.
Then, Fang Li swept his gaze across all of them and added: "Finally, if I recall correctly, I was the one who defeated Beldia, wasn't I? The rest of you were just standing at the gate, weren't you?"
That one line caused Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness to all visibly tremble at the same time.
Fang Li, acting as if he hadn't seen their reactions, continued speaking casually.
"Of course, I won't deny your contributions. In this operation, you were actually useful for once, not just causing trouble like before. Based on that alone, I should be sharing the reward with you."
Then, Fang Li's tone shifted.
"But let me just ask, who wrote this thing?"
With that, he tossed a stack of parchment onto the table.
The top sheet bore the title:
---"Plan for the Use of One Billion Eris",
'No matter what, I want to use this money to live out the rest of my life in peace, free from the dangers of adventuring.'
'No matter what, I want to use this money to build a huge number of Axis cult churches to spread the glory of the great Goddess of Water.'
'No matter what, I want to buy every potion that increases or restores magic power, so I can upgrade "an explosion a day" to "ten explosions a day."'
'No matter what, I want to hire all the unemployed and have them class-change into bandits and mountain thieves, and have them ambush naïve female knights, no, they must ambush them.'
"Therefore--" Fang Li declared with a completely expressionless face: "Don't even think about getting a single cent of this reward."
With that, Fang Li turned to leave.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness all simultaneously threw themselves onto Fang Li, sobbing uncontrollably.
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395
PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter (Current-37)! (Resets Every Week on Monday)"