Chapter 12: Back to the Guild, Getting Taught a Lesson — Four People at Once
Three days after the stampede ended, the Council's forces finally arrived. After handing over all members of the dark guild Smiling Coffin, Ren set off on the road back home.
Sitting on the train, Ren happily counted this mission's reward. "I took this job because the base pay was high, but I didn't expect there'd really be an additional payout too—straight up 2,000,000 J. Wow… this is awesome!"
After counting the bills, Ren began reviewing what he'd gained from the battles.
"Basically, for frontal combat, Flying Thunder God plus Rasengan and monstrous strength should handle most things. But my Flying Thunder God kunai count is still too low. If I'd had enough this time, I wouldn't have needed Andrius's help at all… but forging them is so expensive… and I still have debt…"
"No. When I get back, I need to check the guild library. Maybe I can study those thought-construct techniques and figure out how to create a shadow clone and a shuriken shadow clone. Oh, and sealing arts—Minato's sealing was top-tier too. I'll see if I can come up with a few…"
After several days of travel, the train finally arrived in Magnolia. Ren got off and stretched.
"Ah, it feels better to be back. Sitting on the train that long was rough. Tch—if the distance wasn't so far, I'd have Flying Thunder God'd back already. Alright, straight to the guild."
With a golden flash, Ren appeared at the guild entrance.
"I'm back~" Ren greeted as he stepped in, but immediately felt the atmosphere was strange.
Erza and Mirajane were head-to-head in a literal contest of strength, pushing against each other while spitting insults like "armor girl," "delinquent," "unwanted," and other childish nonsense. The scene looked like two grade-schoolers arguing.
Ren calmly walked up to the bar and greeted Makarov. "I'm back, old man. Mission complete."
Makarov glanced at him. "I already got the report. You ran into a dark guild this time, huh? You did well. You wiped out the dark guild, stopped the stampede, and you didn't even get complaints about major ground damage. They even wrote to the Council praising you."
Makarov sighed heavily.
"Man… if those brats could be like you this time, that'd be great. Instead it's Council hearings every other day. Honestly…"
"Ahaha, don't say it like that, old man." Ren shrugged like it wasn't worth worrying about. "Whoever causes trouble pays for it. Worst case, you get scolded a couple times, right?"
"Then you write the reports next time? You go get scolded?" Makarov stared daggers into Ren.
Ren felt that overwhelming resentment and couldn't take it, so he changed the subject. "By the way—" He pointed at the two still ramming heads. "What's going on over there?"
"What do you think…?" Makarov looked like his head hurt. "They just looked at each other, and it turned into this. I don't understand young people these days."
"Exactly!" Natsu suddenly leaned in and joined the conversation. "And they always say I fight with Gray, but Erza fights with Mira all the time too! And when I fight Gray, it's always Gray provoking me!"
"You hangnail-eyed idiot, what nonsense are you spouting? You're the one who provokes me every time!" Gray appeared like clockwork, shoved Natsu aside, and said, "Move. You fire-breathing idiot. Ren just got back—he took down an entire dark guild. Don't let your stupidity ruin his rest."
"You ice-block idiot, you want a fight?!" Natsu, being a fire wizard, ignited instantly—especially because it was Gray.
He grabbed Gray in a chokehold and said to Ren, "Ren! You rest first. Once I deal with this droopy-eyed guy, I'll come ask you about taking down that dark guild. You better explain everything in detail—you did something huge!"
The two immediately opened a second battlefield inside the guild.
Makarov's face turned bright red with rage. Seeing that, Ren quietly slid to the side to reduce his presence.
"You little brats!! Stop right now!!"
Bonk!
Bonk!
Bonk!
Bonk!
Four crisp impacts rang out. The four troublemakers were pinned to the floor—each of them took a heavy hit to the head from Makarov. All four crouched there with tears in their eyes, holding their heads.
"Wow… that looks like it hurt." Ren crouched beside Mirajane and looked at the top of her head. "You okay, Mira? You've got a huge bump. Want me to rub it for you?"
"I'm fine… w-wait…" Mirajane suddenly processed what he'd said, her face turning bright red. "W-what are you saying?! Who wants you to rub it?! You jerk—last time you messed with me! And now you're doing it again! You looking for a fight?!"
"Hm?!" Makarov caught the keyword and glared over.
Mirajane shuddered and snapped to attention instantly.
Erza immediately said, "Master, see? Mirajane is always like this. All she thinks about is fighting."
"You should talk less too…" Makarov muttered, staring at the four troublemakers who looked calm on the surface but caused chaos the moment you blinked.
"You four—stop hanging around the guild so much. Get out and work!" Makarov chose peace through distance and ordered them to disappear from his sight.
Then Ren stepped forward and said, "Old man, this job's reward got boosted by 1,000,000 J because a dark guild was involved. Total is 2,000,000. Can I pay back 1,000,000 first? I still need the rest to buy some tools."
"No problem. Plan it however you want." Makarov's tone softened, then turned serious. "And this debt isn't really about the money. Even if you can't repay it, it doesn't matter. The real point is to make you pay attention to whether it's safe to use high-powered magic around you."
"Last time you got lucky—almost nobody got hurt. But if someone had been caught in your battle and ended up badly injured or dead…" Makarov paused, his expression hardening. "Then it wouldn't be about debt anymore. You could be wanted, and you'd never be able to live openly again."
"I understand, old man!" Ren felt genuinely moved. Makarov really was a good person—this was all for Ren's sake.
"But I will repay the debt," Ren said firmly. "It's my responsibility. I won't run from it."
Makarov nodded. "Do what you want. Handle it yourself."
"Then I'm going back to rest. I've been traveling for days." Ren waved, then turned into a streak of golden light and vanished in front of everyone.
"His magic really is convenient…" people muttered, staring at where he'd disappeared.
"Wait—his magic!" Mirajane suddenly remembered something.