The three of them left Dewinter City the next morning.
Their next task was simple: subdue a group of bandits harassing a trade route.
"Why are there bandits everywhere?" Raizel sighed, adjusting his backpack. "Is it a career trend? 'Join the Banditry, See the World, Get Beaten Up by Mages'?"
"Probably people who learned some magic but are too lazy to work," Ultear shrugged. "Or just scum."
There might also be those who shout things like "working a normal job is impossible."
Walking along the path, Ultear silently took out 300,000 Jewels from her pouch.
Erza also produced 100,000 Jewels.
They held the money out to Raizel simultaneously.
It wasn't spontaneous; they had discussed it the night before.
After returning the stolen goods and collecting the bounty, they had a decent sum.
Makarov didn't take a cut from the mission rewards of minors, so it was all theirs.
"Huh?" Raizel blinked, looking at the money. "I said I don't want any reward. I didn't do anything except eat dust and watch you two work."
"This is to pay you back," Ultear said firmly. "For the necklace I bought for Ur and the gift for Cana. I used your money then. Now, I'm paying you back with money I earned myself."
"Me too," Erza nodded, her expression serious. "For the two magic swords you bought me in Rosemary Village. I don't like being in debt."
Raizel looked at their determined faces.
There was no point arguing; he wouldn't win.
"Alright, I'll accept it." He took the money. "Good work."
Seeing him accept, the two girls smiled at each other, relieved.
"Let's go find the client to learn about the bandit situation, Erza."
"Okay, I also want to see if there are any magic item shops in town. I want to buy or custom-order magic armor."
Speaking of which, Erza's Requip Magic is quite expensive.
She has to go after bandits or dark guilds and see if there's anything suitable among the spoils.
The reward for one of the missions they took this time was meteorite iron, a type of black metal excellent for forging armor.
The bandits they were subduing weren't very strong.
Erza and Ultear easily dealt with them together.
These bandits only stole money, gems, and accessories—no rare metals, which Erza found quite disappointing.
Ultear and Erza returned to the town center and returned the registered stolen money, gems, and accessories to the owners who had reported the theft.
As for those not reported, they didn't hand them over.
This way, besides their mission rewards, they gained a considerable amount of wealth to fill their personal savings, much more than their mission rewards.
Those who understand, understand.
Raizel had done this before too.
He didn't tell them, but it's something you can figure out on your own.
The magic shop here had a quite comprehensive selection of armor.
Erza spent all her mission rewards and the money she had gathered here.
When it wasn't enough, Ultear even covered some for her, allowing her to custom-order two sets of armor—the Heaven's Wheel Armor and the Adamantine Armor, one for offense and one for defense.
The armor can adjust in size to fit the wearer's body, but it can't expand indefinitely.
The two magic swords Raizel bought before have now been perfectly retired, but those were only meant to be temporary anyway, since each only cost 50,000J.
Raizel particularly liked the Heaven wheel Armor.
This armor typically summoned only two swords, but as her magical power increased, more swords could be summoned.
Unable to resist the shopkeeper's exaggerated praise, Erza immediately made the decision.
The Adamantite Armor possessed super defensive capabilities.
When the two shields on its arms combined, they formed an impenetrable barrier.
In the original story, Erza used this armor to block the Super Mage Convergence Cannon—Jupiter—demonstrating its formidable defense.
...
Watching Erza don the Adamantite Armor and position the shields in front of her, Raizel felt an overwhelming sense of security, reminded him of the phrase—"Stand behind Braum!"
"Ice Make: Thorns!"
Ultear slammed her hands together.
Thorny vines of ice erupted from the cliffside, weaving a net that restrained a massive Blizzard Beast mid-air.
"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!"
Erza, clad in her winged armor, hovered above.
A circle of magic swords materialized behind her.
With a wave of her hand, they launched forward, striking the beast in a rapid dance of steel.
Roar!
The Blizzard Beast shattered the ice net, it was enraged.
It crouched and flapped its wings, lunging at Ultear.
"Ice Make: Infinite Blade Leaves!"
Ultear didn't flinch.
Ice particles gathered in her hands, forming a storm of razor-sharp leaves that struck the beast directly in the face, blinding it and sending it plummeting.
"Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!"
Seizing the opportunity, Erza dove.
She traced a pentagram shape with her dual swords, slashing the beast with precision.
The monster collapsed.
"That's enough," Erza said, landing gracefully.
Their target was the beast's gallbladder, a rare ingredient for healing potions.
Erza deftly extracted it.
"Next," Erza said calmly, wiping green blood from her blade. "The Snow White Wyvern. We need its scales."
"Your demeanor is terrifying," Ultear remarked dryly, watching Erza hold the dripping organ without batting an eye.
The Snow White Wyvern was the apex predator of Mount Hakobe.
It was a massive, armored flying dragon that preyed on Blizzard Beasts.
They found it sleeping on a snowy peak.
"Ice Make: Super Freeze Arrow!"
Ultear drew a massive ice bow, channeling a significant amount of mana.
She fired a lance-sized arrow that pierced the Wyvern's thick scales from behind.
ROAR!
The Wyvern screamed, thrashing its wings to take flight.
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"
Erza intercepted it. She dashed past the Wyvern, slashing it dozens of times in a split second.
"Arc of Time: Future Flash!"
As Erza cleared the area, Ultear cast her spell.
Dozens of crystal spheres materialized around the wounded dragon.
They exploded in a chain reaction of temporal energy.
The Wyvern crashed to the ground, defeated.
"Alright, mission accomplished. Let's return to the client to report." Erza used her sword to pry off the scales from the wyvern chest beneath its neck—these were the toughest scales of the snow wyvern and the requirement for this mission.
After handing over the scales to the client and receiving their payment, they had completed six missions over the course of three weeks, including travel time.
They had also obtained the meteorite iron before coming to Mount Hakubei, which they acquired by helping a blacksmith search for a special mineral in the mountains.
Erza collected some extra for herself.
In addition to the meteorite iron, Erza received a blade from the blacksmith—the Demon Blade Crimson Cherry.
The blacksmith insisted it was perfect for her and gifted it to her, though Erza ended up paying a small amount to purchase it.
Meteorite iron alone wasn't suitable for crafting armor, so Erza planned to gather other materials before deciding what attributes the armor should have.
Her current goal was to have at least one set of armor for every attribute.
Throughout these missions, Raizel never once made a move.
He was solely responsible for keeping watch and cooking meals.
In towns, they ate at restaurants.
The tasks were entirely handled by Ultear and Erza themselves, and these two future powerhouses were already showing signs of their strength.
"Let's head back to the guild. I'm craving Magnolia's strawberry cake and soufflé, Ultear," Erza said with an eager expression.
After three weeks of eating various foods, she still found Magnolia's strawberry cake the most delicious.
Ultear nodded in agreement.
"Shall we take on more missions after resting for a few days?" Erza had become addicted to missions, especially those involving hunting down bandits and monsters.
"Sure."
It wasn't that Ultear particularly enjoyed missions, but since traveling with Raizel, she had grown fonder of going out to see the scenery.