The next morning, after Takeshi and the others woke up, they prepared to return to Fairy Tail.
The village chief and the villagers saw them off.
"Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, we might have remained in a state of confusion, fearing the end of days. Here is the agreed-upon quest reward."
Moka handed a box to Takeshi, who reached out and took it. He wouldn't be polite about the reward, it was what he deserved for his work.
Takeshi said, "No need to be polite. This was just our quest, and compared to the reward, we even feel this quest was a bit too simple."
Moka shook his head. "It might be simple for you, but for us, it was basically impossible."
"If there's ever another job like this, please contact Fairy Tail anytime. Next time, I'll give you a twenty percent discount."
Takeshi uttered his classic line for attracting repeat customers.
Everyone was momentarily stunned.
Moka smiled and said, "If there's a next time, we'll look for you."
"Hahahahaha."
All the villagers couldn't help but laugh when they heard this.
They knew Takeshi was joking, but who could guarantee perpetual safety? If they could establish a connection with such a powerful mage, it would be like having a trump card.
Bobo said, "Then let me take you back to Hargeon."
Takeshi waved his hand and said, "No. As Mages, we can go back ourselves. With good luck, we might even catch the early bus to Magnolia."
Bobo's eyes widened. "Early bus? There's only about an hour until the early bus departs, and it takes at least four hours by boat from here to Hargeon."
Takeshi glanced at Gray, who immediately understood.
Ice-Make: Boat!
Gray immediately created a sparkling ice boat that floated on the sea.
"Wow! An ice boat!"
"So beautiful!"
"Let's go! Get on board!"
The few of them boarded the boat one after another, and the boat slowly left the shore and moved forward.
"Thank you all! Fairy Tail!"
"Keep up the good work! Come visit anytime in the future!"
"Let's dance the Demon Dance together again sometime!"
"Take care!"
...
"Money!"
After the boat had sailed far away, Takeshi shouted.
Upon hearing this, the others immediately brightened up and gathered around.
Takeshi opened the box, and 7 million Jewels plus a key were laid inside.
"So much money!"
Looking at the 7 million, everyone's eyes involuntarily showed greed.
"I've never seen so much money before."
Gray's hands trembled. Although he had been a Mage for many years, he always spent what he earned and never saved any money. Most Mages in the guild were similar to him.
"Aye."
Happy calculated, "One fish is 500, ten fish are 5000, one hundred fish are 50,000. No, Lucy, I can't keep track."
Lucy said, "Idiot, just divide 700 by 500, then multiply by 10,000. That's 14,000 fish."
"14,000 fish!"
Happy felt like he was lying in an ocean of fish. 14,000 fish, when would he ever finish eating them all?
"Hmm... 6 million for me, 1 million for Gray. Distribution over."
Takeshi took out 1 million for Gray, then closed the box.
"What?!"
Happy shouted indignantly, "Takeshi... why did you give Gray so much money?! He didn't do anything and he got beaten up badly!"
Takeshi said, "What? You few who wanted to steal my quest still want a share of the money? Although Gray got beaten up, he still wasted his time coming to help, so it's only right that he gets a reward."
Gray's hand, holding the money, trembled slightly. He had long heard that Takeshi was generous. When he and Elfman did an S-Class Quest together, Elfman also did nothing but received a reward of 1 million.
At that time, they were extremely envious. He never expected that one day, such a thing would happen to him as well.
Gray said, "Takeshi! If there's ever another job like this, be sure to find me."
Gray was practically ready to become Takeshi's subordinate. Following such a generous boss, he wouldn't lose out at all.
"Takeshi, let me be your cat." Happy said, hugging Takeshi's leg.
"Me too... ugh..."
Natsu also wanted to come over but his motion sickness got the best of him.
"Natsu is useless... Disgusting! Don't come over here. You might as well swim back."
Before he could even get close, he was pushed aside by Gray.
Lucy nervously rubbed her hands and said, "Then... that... Takeshi, that key is useless to you, why don't you..."
Takeshi said, "Why don't I sell it? I heard this thing is very rare, so it should fetch a high price."
Lucy quickly said, "Don't... if you're going to sell it, sell it to me."
Takeshi asked, "Sell it to you? Do you have money?"
"Um..."
Lucy was speechless. What she lacked most right now was money.
Just then, something was thrown into her hand. Lucy looked and saw that it was the key she had always dreamed of.
"Takeshi?"
"It's for you, consider it a return gift for you treating me to a meal back then."
"This... this is too valuable..."
Lucy hadn't expected Takeshi to just give her such a precious key, simply because of one meal.
"Don't you want it? Then I'll take it back."
"I want it! I want it!"
Lucy quickly clutched the key tightly. She was just saying that, she wouldn't give away the key she had in hand.
She realized that following Takeshi was good. She also wanted to team up with Takeshi. If she and Gray swapped places, she would be the one getting 1 million. She immediately regretted it.
"Alright. The distribution is complete, it's time to return to the guild."
Takeshi activated Take Over Magic, his body rapidly transforming into Ace's appearance.
Then a small speedboat was materialized. Takeshi jumped onto it, a rope tied to the mast, the other end tied to the bow of the ice boat.
"What is this?"
"A small boat? Don't we already have a boat?"
Lucy and Happy were a bit confused.
Gray, however, warned with a serious expression, "Don't ask, hold on tight."
Saying that, Gray immediately used his magic to secure several safety locks for the others, then sat down with a tense expression.
"Hold tight, we're off!"
Boom!
A violent flame erupted from the thruster.
Lucy and the others immediately felt a terrifying thrust and the entire boat seemed to fly.
"Kyaaahhhh!!!"
All of them screamed in fright.
In less than twenty minutes, the group arrived at Hargeon Port.
"Ugh..."
This time, it wasn't just Natsu. The others also got seasick.