"Lucas? Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
Makarov asked Lucas. Of the four S-Class quests, this one had the highest danger level. For an entire kingdom to be helpless and forced to seek aid from a mage guild showed just how terrifying this Dark Magic Cult was.
The listed rank was S, but the actual danger level was bordering on SS.
Even for a true S-Class Mage, he wouldn't recommend taking this on lightly. He had placed this request here partly to test the judgment of the exam participants.
Lucas shook his head. "No need. I'll take this one."
Makarov nodded. "Very well. Since you've accepted the quest, depart immediately. The time limit is one month. If you fail to complete it within a month, it will be considered a failure of the exam."
"One month? I don't need that long. I can finish my quest in a week," Laxus said confidently, glancing at Lucas with a smirk. "Unlike some people who overestimate themselves."
"Whether I overestimate myself or not isn't your concern. Mind your own business."
Even in front of Makarov, Lucas didn't spoil Laxus one bit.
"We are guildmates. Isn't it right for me to worry about you?"
"If that's the case, I think I should be even more worried about you."
Laxus narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Kid, be glad this S-Class exam isn't combat-based. Otherwise, I'd definitely teach you a lesson about my power."
"Yeah, I am glad. If I accidentally broke you, I really wouldn't know how to explain it to the Master."
"..."
Laxus really wanted to act now and teach Lucas a lesson, but his grandfather and Gildarts were both present.
"Hmph! Let's see if you can complete the quest then. Let's go."
Laxus left with Freed.
Lucas stuck his tongue out at Laxus's retreating back.
"Let's head out too."
He then prepared to leave with Erza.
Gildarts chuckled heartily. "Haha, the young people in the guild these days are really energetic!"
Makarov sighed helplessly. "Laxus's temperament is getting more and more extreme. He's becoming so different from when he was a child. I really worry that one day he'll do something..."
Gildarts comforted Makarov, "Don't worry, Master. I watched Laxus grow up. He's a child of Fairy Tail. He's a bit rebellious now, but a person's nature isn't so easily changed. He'll understand eventually."
"I hope so!"
Soon, Lucas and Erza boarded the train, which slowly began to move.
Erza asked, "Lucas, why did you choose that quest?"
"Why? Because the reward is high!"
"But you're in the middle of an S-Class promotion exam. Naturally, you should choose a quest with lower difficulty to increase your chances of success."
"Aren't they all S-Class quests? The difficulty should be about the same. I don't think this one is that hard; it suits me fine."
Lucas had an indifferent expression on his face.
But Erza wasn't a fool. She knew Lucas must have chosen this quest because of her.
Erza's expression shifted. Clearly, she was struggling internally, hesitating whether to confess everything to Lucas.
"Alright! We've already taken the quest; it's too late to regret it now. We might as well focus on completing it. I don't want to go back and see Laxus's smug face every day."
Hearing Lucas say this, Erza couldn't help but chuckle.
Indeed, with Laxus's personality, if they failed the quest, he would definitely mock them daily.
Erza swore secretly in her heart: Don't worry, I will definitely help you become an S-Class Mage.
After a three-day journey, Lucas and Erza finally arrived in the Kingdom of Avaro.
"You are the mages sent by Fairy Tail to complete the request?"
In the royal palace, the King of Avaro and his ministers looked at Lucas and Erza with suspicion.
"Yes."
Lucas and Erza were used to this. Every time they went on a mission, employers would look down on them because of their age.
A minister spoke somewhat angrily, "I issued an S-Class request, and Fairy Tail sent two children? Are you looking down on my Kingdom of Avaro?"
Lucas waved his hand calmly. "Don't be so agitated. We're here to do a job. If we complete it, you pay. If we fail, you naturally don't have to pay. Whether we succeed or fail, you lose nothing, right?"
"Besides, do you think we want the mission to fail?"
"You have to remember, you're only paying money. We're paying with our lives."
Hearing this, everyone felt it made sense.
"Alright, no time to waste. Tell us all the intelligence you have."
A middle-aged man in armor, responsible for the military, stepped forward. "I don't know much either. I only know they are a Dark Magic Cult that worships Zeref. They appeared within our borders last month, and as soon as they appeared, they attacked towns."
"They took everyone—men, women, old, young. We don't know what they intend to do."
"Within a month, they attacked three towns in succession, and over ten thousand people have been abducted."
Erza couldn't help but ask, "Did you not send the army to rescue them?"
A man in his fifties wearing a mage robe spoke up. "No. I sent the kingdom's elite magic unit, but the enemy was too strong. Everyone in the deployed unit was wiped out."
"It was only out of desperation that I chose to issue a request to the mage guild."
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