Iron Forest Mage Guild
"Which guild is that armored woman from?"
"I don't know."
"She's a good woman, damn it, I should have tried to hit on her."
"You can't."
"What did you say?!"
Just then, a cold voice from the front rang out, "Has Kagayama not returned yet?"
"That seal isn't so easy to break, let's wait a bit longer."
"Don't drag your feet, the timing is perfect now, all the old men have gone to their regular meeting."
****
Magnolia Train Station
"Hey! Isn't it bad for us to sneakily follow them like this?"
Lucy whispered from behind a pillar.
Natsu, looking excitedly towards Qi Yan, secretly said, "Aren't you curious? What are Erza and Qi Yan, these two monsters, going to do together?"
Curious! Of course, she was curious! She was very curious!
Yesterday, she learned more detailed information from the guild; the big event that shook the entire Ishgar continent half a year ago was something Qi Yan and Erza did together.
After that, Natsu invited her to go see what the two of them were going to do, which instantly stirred Lucy's already curious heart.
As if possessed, she followed Natsu and Happy.
"Wait! Erza is coming!"
Happy warned, and the three of them immediately hid.
"Sorry... Have you been waiting long?"
Erza walked towards them, pulling a large cart of luggage.
...
Qi Yan was a bit speechless, but every time he saw Erza leave with such a large amount of luggage, he couldn't help but want to complain.
"No, I just arrived not long ago."
"Then let's get on the train first."
"Okay."
Qi Yan helped Erza put the luggage into the cargo carriage, and then the two of them went to a passenger carriage and sat down.
Just as the two of them boarded the train, three figures stealthily snuck onto the train, coming from an adjacent carriage to avoid being discovered.
Choo-choo-choo—!
The train's whistle blew, and then the train slowly began to move, gradually picking up speed.
"Ugh~~!"
As soon as the train started, Natsu began to get motion sickness.
"You really do get sick as soon as you get on a vehicle!"
Lucy, having teamed up with Natsu, was familiar with his problem of being helpless against any form of transportation.
"It's so far, we can't hear what they're saying, let's get closer."
"Aye!"
Lucy and Happy hit it off instantly.
Rustle rustle! Rustle rustle!
The human and the cat stealthily kept changing seats to get closer, and soon they reached the seats behind the two, where they could hear their conversation even if the train was noisy.
"It seems we haven't gone out together in a long time. The last time we went out together was half a year ago, wasn't it? I'm really a bit nostalgic."
Erza looked at the constantly receding scenery outside the window, and a nostalgic expression involuntarily appeared in her eyes.
Since she joined the guild, she had always taken on missions alone. Although she later opened her heart and could get along well with guild members.
But due to her personality, she felt that she was somewhat disliked, and many people were afraid of her. The number of people who could get along with her relatively well was few, and Qi Yan was one of them.
Moreover, Qi Yan was the only man she had ever worked with, even if only once, but the feeling of having a companion by her side while working was still very good.
"That's right! Back then, I was still a newbie, and the old man assigned me to accompany you on an S-Class mission."
Erza couldn't help but laugh when she heard this, "I think you were very willing at that time."
"Well~! After all, it was an S-Class mission, and the reward was very generous!"
Qi Yan rubbed his fingers with a smile.
He definitely couldn't talk about the system; that was his secret. Besides the system's lottery draws, the generous reward from the S-Class mission naturally accounted for part of the reason.
No one dislikes money, and Qi Yan was no exception. Not only did he like money, he especially loved to save it. Every time he saw the constantly increasing balance on his bank magic crystal card, he would feel very Happy.
"You money grubber, how much money have you saved now!"
Erza was very familiar with Qi Yan and knew he had a hobby of saving money, just as she liked to buy all kinds of beautiful clothes and armor.
"Hmm... probably about 100 million J!"
The initial S-Class and SS-Class missions alone earned him nearly 40 million J. Later, he completed three more S-Class missions, each worth approximately 10 million J, which made it 70 million J. Besides S-Class missions, the Subjugation missions he took all started from 1 million J, and adding up various other tasks, it was roughly 100 million J.
"100 million?!"
Lucy and Happy nearly shouted out the number when they heard it, but fortunately, they quickly covered each other's mouths.
Both could see the shock in each other's eyes.
Happy knew Qi Yan had money, but he didn't expect Qi Yan to be so rich.
Lucy was shocked and at the same time extremely envious. She was still worrying about her monthly rent of 70,000 J, while Qi Yan had already become a big rich man.
She heard that Qi Yan had only been in the guild for about half a year. Earning 100 million in half a year, was this the speed at which a Super Mage earned money? It was truly enviable.
Erza's eyes also widened. She knew Qi Yan had earned a lot of money, after all, that trip with her alone earned him 35 million J, but hearing that Qi Yan had saved almost 100 million J still startled her a bit.
"You... you... don't you spend money?!"
As an S-Class Mage, her earning ability was also very strong, though it paled in comparison to Qi Yan's. However, that one SS-Class mission, combined with the prize money from being a top-four finalist in the Swordsman Tournament, earned her nearly 20 million J, which was a huge profit.
But most of her money was spent on buying weapons and armor, so even though she started working very early, she didn't have much savings now.
"Spending money isn't as interesting as saving money."
Spending money means less money, but saving money means the money will keep increasing.
...
Erza was a bit speechless when she heard Qi Yan's words, "Isn't money meant to be spent? What do you save all that money for?"
"What else can it be used for? Of course, it's for marrying a wife!"
"Marry... marry a wife?!"
Erza was a bit dumbfounded, not expecting that this would be the answer she heard from Qi Yan.
"You don't need to spend that much money to marry a wife."
"I'll spend it slowly, I can't let her suffer with me, can I?"
"Uh... you really are a good, family-oriented man!"
Erza suddenly had the urge to tease Qi Yan, a playful smile on her face as she said to him, "What do you think of me? Why don't you marry me, and I'll help you spend the money."
"Okay!"