Chapter 12: I Want to Buy a House
The guild members all stared at Ren and Elfman in disbelief.
Ren was also a bit stunned to see everyone. "Hey! Everyone's here."
"Ren?! Elfman?! You're okay?"
"Okay? Why wouldn't we be?" Ren was confused. What was supposed to be wrong?
Makarov waved his hand. "It's good you're fine! Luckily, you didn't do that mission. It was upgraded to S-Class. I was worried you'd rush in and try to do it. You made the right choice abandoning it."
"Abandon the mission? Abandon what mission?"
"What else? The Phantom Marauders mission you accepted!"
"Oh, that? We completed it."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!"
Everyone in the guild was shocked, staring at Ren as if he'd grown a second head.
Mira shot a questioning look at Elfman. Elfman just nodded, confirming the answer.
Makarov's eyes went wide. "You... you really completed it? You defeated that 'King of Assassins,' Camille?"
Ren nodded. "Yeah. That guy was pretty troublesome, a bit of a pain to deal with."
"..."
Elfman didn't say anything, but he thought wryly, Yeah! A real pain. It took him a whole minute to finish the guy.
"You... Why are you so reckless! That was an S-Class mission! That was the infamous 'King of Assassins'!"
Ren spread his hands. "Couldn't be helped. I'd already accepted the job, so I couldn't just drop it, right? Besides, they were trying to kill my client. I couldn't just watch and do nothing. That would have damaged Fairy Tail's reputation."
Just then, a newsboy ran past the guild's front door.
"Extra! Extra!"
"Infamous Phantom Marauders all captured!"
"The shocking identity of the Phantom Marauders' leader!"
A guild member quickly ran out and bought a copy.
"He really did it!!"
"Ren, a brand-new member, actually completed an S-Class mission! That's insane!"
"No wonder he beat Natsu! This guy's strength is on a monster level!"
Seeing the newspaper report, the guild members finally erupted in awe. They were finally convinced that Ren had truly completed an S-Class mission. After all, it was right there in the paper. It stated clearly that Fairy Tail's mage, Ren, had defeated the Phantom Marauders.
Makarov took a deep breath. "Report the mission details."
Elfman began to debrief them, explaining the entire process from start to finish.
And, listening to Elfman's report, they realized Ren had done it all by himself.
One person had defeated all thirteen Phantom Marauders, including the "King of Assassins," Camille. That was just... too much.
Makarov let out a long sigh and looked at Ren. "I'll let it slide this time. 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 the S-Class missions he was dreaming of. If he could complete more S-Class missions, he could get more gacha pulls. His power would skyrocket!
"That's right!"
"Ren completed an S-Class mission, so he should be qualified to go up, right?"
S-Class missions were dangerous even for S-Class Mages. Since Ren had completed one, he should have the right.
"No!"
"An S-Class mission is one thing, and the second floor is another. To go to the second floor, you must become an S-Class Mage. That is the guild's rule."
Makarov refused instantly. This stubborn brat dared to take an S-Class mission right after joining. If he let this kid up to the second floor, who knows what he'd do. He'd probably be crazy enough to take on a 100-Year Quest.
He also had to quash any ideas from other members who might try to complete an S-Class mission just to get upstairs. He couldn't deal with that headache.
"Sigh! All right! Master, how do I become an S-Class Mage?" Ren was disappointed. He had really thought he'd be able to go up and pick missions freely.
Makarov replied, "If you want to become an S-Class Mage, then wait for the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial at the end of the year. Only by passing the trial can you be promoted."
Ren's eyes widened. "The end of the year?! It's barely the beginning of the year now! You mean I have to wait more than half a year?!"
"That's right!" Makarov thought, Now you'd better just go and honestly do some normal missions, you brat.
Soon, the guild returned to its usual chaos. Many members were excitedly discussing Ren's S-Class mission, pointing at the pictures of the destruction in the newspaper as proof of how intense the battle must have been.
Ren ordered a table full of food. He'd had a rough half-month since crossing over. Now that he had money, he was going to make up for all of it.
While he was eating, several guild members came over to ask him to form a permanent team, but he politely refused them all, saying he wanted to work alone for now.
Teaming up had its advantages. First, it was safer, and they could challenge harder jobs together.
But that only worked if their strength was comparable. If the power gap was too large, it would only slow down his work.
And slowing down his work meant slowing down the speed at which he got stronger.
His goal was S-Class. Once he became an S-Class Mage, he would definitely be taking S-Class missions. Teaming with people who weren't strong enough would be more dangerous for them. It was better to just say no now than to break up the team later.
Ren shouted, "Mira! Another beer!"
"Coming!"
Mira quickly brought a beer over to his table.
"Ren, thank you for this."
She had heard from Elfman how Ren had faced the Phantom Marauders alone, not letting him interfere. And how, after the mission, he had insisted on splitting the 7 million J reward evenly. Elfman had to argue just to get it down to 1 million—which was still a huge sum, the kind of reward you'd only get from a high-difficulty monster hunt.
Ren blinked. "Thank me? Why? I should be thanking you. If you hadn't sent Elfman with me, and he hadn't protected the client, I might have finished the job and had no one left to pay me."
Hearing him say that, Mira's good impression of him grew even fonder. "If you ever need my help with anything, please just ask."
Just then, Ren remembered something. "Hm, I actually do have one thing I need your help with."
"What is it?"
"I want to buy a house."