"My apologies, it was my oversight. I never expected that guy to be so extreme—to actually hire people from the Dark Guild to sabotage me!" Mr. Deno spoke with a grim expression.
Clearly, he had a significant conflict with Halos, possibly even to the point of wanting the other dead.
Otherwise, Halos wouldn't have contacted the Dark Guild to target him.
"That's none of my concern, Mr. Deno," Marco shook his head, uninterested in the feud between the two people.
"I only want my reward and compensation."
Holding the bag in his hand, Marco opened it slightly to reveal the "Magic Horns" inside, showing them to Mr. Deno.
"Of course, this matter was my miscalculation. The compensation will be delivered as promised. You've worked hard, young Marco."
Upon seeing the "Magic Horns" in the bag, Mr. Deno's expression instantly brightened with joy.
His attitude towards Marco was now completely different from before, with none of his initial skepticism remaining.
Looking at the "Magic Horns" and then at the bound Mages from the Dark Guild, Marco's strength had already been proven.
At this point, youth was no longer a hindrance but proof of Fairy tail integrity.
Marco was clearly a rising star in the magical world, and building a good relationship with him was undoubtedly the right move.
Those with strength always commanded more respect.
Mr. Deno wasn't foolish enough to play any petty games with Marco.
The group entered the manor and Mr. Deno promptly had someone fetch the reward.
The transaction was completed smoothly—payment in exchange for the goods, fulfilling the commission.
"Here's 800,000 J as the reward, plus an additional 200,000 J as compensation for the unexpected trouble! Young Marco, I'd say I've been quite generous, wouldn't you?"
Mr. Deno handed over a stack of bills with a smile.
The proportion of the compensation he offered was notably high.
"You can come to me for similar tasks next time," Marco replied calmly as he took the money, though inwardly he felt a small thrill.
This was the largest rewards he had ever receive.
The rewards from previous jobs in the city had been far less substantial.
A million J might sound like a lot, but in reality, it wasn't that much—just a hundred 10,000J bills.
The currency's high denomination made it seem that way.
Converted in terms of purchasing power, a million J was roughly equivalent to 7000 USD.
Thinking about it that way, it wasn't an exorbitant sum, especially considering the distance traveled and the effort required to subdue the magical beasts.
It was a fairly demanding task.
So, Mages didn't have it easy when it came to earning money.
Risking their lives to hunt magical beasts only yielded a few thousand USD per trip.
Lower-tier Mages had to take on all sorts of odd jobs just to make ends meet—finding lost items, catching adulterers, apprehending perverts, or even helping with farm work like planting and watering.
The rewards for these tasks were mostly under 100,000 J, with some as low as a few thousand J.
These miscellaneous tasks were mostly located within the city or its surrounding areas.
Marco had done them before, and based on his personal experience, these tasks were actually the foundation that allowed a mage guild to sustain itself.
After all, exceptionally powerful mages were few and far in between.
The majority of guild members relied on these tasks to make a living.
Most mages simply didn't have the capability to complete missions like this—ones that could earn them a million J in a single trip.
At this price range, if the client were willing to grit their teeth and pay a bit more, they might even be able to hire an S-Class mage.
Although a commission needed to offer at least five million J to be officially registered as an S-Class quest on the guild's request board, S-Class mages might still take on cheaper tasks when there were no S-Class quests available.
Making money wasn't shameful—even S-Class mages occasionally wanted to earn some easy cash.
After all, the difficulty of S-Class missions matched their rewards.
After Mr. Deno received the "Magic Horn" and signed the request form, the task was officially completed.
All Marco had to do was bring the form back to the guild.
As for the guild's commission fee, it had already been paid when the client submitted the request.
No one would dare shortchange the platform.
Of course, if a task remained uncompleted or the client wished to withdraw it, the guild would refund the money.
On the continent of Ishgar, both civilians and mages adhered to a well-established legal system.
This world was far from lawless.
*****
After leaving Mr. Deno's estate, Marco didn't head straight to the theater.
Instead, he went to the Magic Council's office in Onibus.
"BOOM!"
Marco swung the rope and the "big meatball" crashed heavily at the entrance of the Magic Council's office.
Several uniformed employee rushed out—all of them are magic council staff.
"Who goes there?!"
The magic council members were on high alert.
It had been a long time since anyone dared to cause trouble at a Magic Council office!
"Hello, I'm Marco Dreyar, a mage from Fairy Tail. I've captured a few Dark Guild members."
Marco peeked out from behind the "big meatball," greeting the magic council guards with a friendly smile.
"Fairy Tail? Dreyar?"
Hearing these two keywords, the guards immediately relaxed.
As the No. 1 mage guild in the Fiore Kingdom, the renowned name of Fairy Tail was naturally well-known to them.
And the name of Makarov Dreyar, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, was even more legendary in their ears.
Although Fairy Tail's mages often caused trouble and frequently faced criticism from the Magic Council, for locals like them—those working at the Fiore Kingdom's Magic Council branch—Fairy Tail and Makarov Dreyar were still their sources of pride, representing one of Fiore's most prestigious symbols.
After leaving Fairy Tail and stepping into the wider world, Marco gained a deeper appreciation for Makarov Dreyar's reputation—no wonder Laxus felt so much pressure.
"Mr. Dreyar, please follow us."
After Marco reported his guild and name, the attitude of the guards became more polite.
They invited Marco into the office and took custody of the four Dark Guild members.
"Kagayama, Piado, Karaka, Reiyor—correct, all confirmed members of the Dark Guild Eisenwald."
After verifying the records, the identities of the four were confirmed and the Magic Council officially took them into custody.
"Mr. Dreyar, here is the reward—150,000 J. Please accept it."
To Marco's surprise, the guards actually gave him money.
Those four weaklings were actually worth 150,000 J!
Well, it wasn't exactly a fortune, but still a nice bonus.
Clearly, those four weaklings had records with the Magic Council.
As expected, there's nothing good about people from Dark Guilds.
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