Setting Off, a New Job! (Two-in-One)

Peaceful times were pleasant and relaxing, but they had a way of slipping by unnoticed.

Quite some time had passed since Yuri returned to the guild, and the year was now X778.

Inside the Fairy Tail guild.

Though it was called a guild, it looked more like a tavern.

With the drinking tables in the hall, the drunkards competing to outdrink one another, and the frequent brawls, the raucous atmosphere would have made it hard to believe this was a legitimate mages' guild rather than a gathering place for thugs or gangsters, if not for the job request board by the front desk.

Yet amid all the noise, a young man was inexplicably slumped over the bar like a salted fish.

His eyes were vacant, his surroundings gray and gloomy, and his whole body seemed petrified as his soul slowly floated out of his head...

"What happened to Yuri?"

Natsu, Gray, and Erza came over to the bar together. Looking at Yuri, who seemed to have lost his dreams, they asked in puzzlement.

"Nothing much. His landlord just kicked him out," Cana explained with a shrug.

After spending the past few months together, the handful of guild members around the same age had all grown much closer.

Cana, Gray, and Yuri had known each other for a long time and had gotten along well even before Yuri began traveling around.

Erza and Yuri had fought side by side. Though they hadn't spent much time together, their relationship was fairly "pleasant." Still, it would have been better if Yuri could get her name right.

As for Natsu, though he had known Yuri for the shortest time, he was also the clingiest. He pestered Yuri for a duel all day long, and no amount of beating could scare him off.

There was also something about him that felt inexplicably familiar to Yuri, so their relationship had progressed fairly well too.

"I see. That's pretty rough."

Gray's expression remained calm at Yuri's plight. Used to this sort of thing, he took a step back and retreated behind the others.

"Come to think of it, I think I'm almost out of spending money this month too."

Natsu was as carefree as ever and had yet to realize how serious the situation was.

"In that case, why don't I lend you some for now?"

Only Erza, the honest child that she was, said something extraordinary.

As soon as he heard someone was willing to lend him money, color instantly flooded back into the formerly gray-and-white Yuri. He was as invigorated as Lugu Lake caressed by a spring breeze, or Jiuzhaigou soaked by autumn rain.

He sprang up and eagerly grabbed Erza's hand. "Thank you so much, Erza! I never thought you'd be the one willing to help me when I needed it most. I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You really are my best friend..."

Yuri chattered on as he shook Erza's arm up and down, deftly holding out his other hand. With that cheeky grin on his face, he looked every bit a beggar.

"Oh... oh."

Erza had never seen anything like this. Dazed, she was about to take out her money.

Seeing this, Cana struggled to suppress the throbbing vein on her forehead, but in the end she couldn't hold back and slapped down her hand.

Smack! One slap broke up Yuri and Erza's best-friend bond.

"!!!"

Watching the cooked duck fly away, Yuri turned to Cana, shocked and bewildered. "Why, Cana? Have you betrayed me too?"

Seeing how serious he looked, Cana's mouth twitched. Her slender fingers clenched tightly into a fist, and a terrifyingly kind smile appeared on her face. "Yuri, that's enough."

"Uh... I was joking, just joking. Hehe." Yuri scratched his head awkwardly and stopped making trouble.

Cana ultimately couldn't stay angry with Yuri, so she could only put on a stern face and lecture him. "Honestly, Yuri, you've always been like this. How many times have I told you to plan your spending? You have to put some savings aside."

"I actually did have some savings, but..." Yuri was halfway through his sentence when Griffon suddenly flew out of his chest. "But he spent every last bit on pizza and strawberry sundaes! Hahahahaha!"

He mercilessly exposed Yuri's secret.

"Damn stupid bird!" Yuri immediately gritted his teeth in anger.

"Sigh..." Cana sighed helplessly. "How much are you planning to borrow this time?"

"Not much. Just 200,000J." Yuri cautiously held up two fingers.

Hearing that he wanted 200,000J, Cana, who knew exactly what he was like, rolled her eyes at him. "I don't have that much. Only 100,000."

In Magnolia, 100,000J was just about enough to pay a month's rent.

Cana had calculated that precisely and wouldn't give him a penny more.

"In that case, Erza..."

"Don't even think about it!"

Just as Yuri was about to reach his claws toward Erza, Cana moved to shield her.

"Erza has rent to pay too. She doesn't have money to lend you."

In Fairy Tail, the difference in treatment between mages capable of taking jobs and those who weren't was like night and day.

Little ones like Natsu, Gray, and Cana, who weren't yet qualified to take jobs, could live for free in the boys' and girls' dormitories the guild had specially prepared for its members, and they also received a monthly allowance.

Meanwhile, all mages qualified to take jobs had to cover every expense themselves, including dormitory rent.

That said, the only ones in the entire guild who actually enjoyed those benefits were the few orphans among them.

The dormitories were quite nice, and a room cost only 100,000J a month. Erza lived there too.

But some time ago, she had earned the master's approval to take requests, so she now had to cover all her own expenses.

On top of that, she still owed money for the armor she'd had made, so Erza's finances weren't all that comfortable either.

It was worth mentioning that Yuri had rented a place outside because he thought the guild's rent was too expensive.

"Actually, I still have a little... mmph!"

But Erza, honest child that she was, still wanted to lend a helping hand when she saw that Yuri was homeless. Unfortunately, Cana clapped a hand over her mouth.

Cana turned back and warned him, "Yuri, don't take advantage of the fact that Erza doesn't know you well to swindle her. If you really don't have money, go do a job. If I remember correctly, you haven't done a single one since you came back this time, have you?"

"A job, huh..." Yuri thought about it. It did seem as though he hadn't worked in quite a while.

He'd spent so long rushing around outside that when he suddenly stopped one day, he had gotten caught up in it without realizing... No wonder he'd been wondering why his money had gone so quickly.

"All right, it's time I got back to work." Yuri turned to head for the job request board. "Erus, we can talk about borrowing money next time."

"You're awfully pragmatic!" When he was borrowing money, she was his best friend, but now that he wasn't, he couldn't even remember her name...

After her remark, Cana rubbed her brow. She really didn't know what to do with this shameless fellow.

"Cana, why did you stop me from lending him money?" Erza asked in puzzlement after Yuri had gone.

"Because..."

"Because that guy never pays back the money he borrows," Gray cut in from the side, sitting with his legs crossed.

"He doesn't pay it back? Why? Isn't it only natural to repay your debts?"

"You should tell him that. He's always had all sorts of reasons not to pay people back," Gray said bitterly. "He hasn't been back to the guild much these past few years, so newcomers like you who've only recently joined don't really know where his moral bottom line is. That's how he's found quite a few new victims."

Quite a few of them were among the people who had teased him that day.

"Anyone who knows him knows you should never talk to him at the end of the month. Otherwise, he'll use all kinds of excuses to wheedle the money right out of your pocket."

"And you'll never! Get! It! Back!" Gray emphasized at the end.

"But Cana's still willing to lend Yuri money. Why is that?" Natsu asked innocently from the side.

"Oh, yeah! You know all about his bad habit, but you're still willing to lend him money every time. Why?" Gray froze for a moment, as though he'd only just realized it himself. Curious and puzzled, he added, "Come to think of it, you two seemed close even before I joined the guild..."

Yuri and Cana had certainly met first, but when it came to time spent together, Gray and Cana's comradeship was no less than hers and Yuri's.

After all, Yuri had spent the past few years away, and the two of them were the only ones left in the guild who were the same age.

Even so, Gray could still feel that his friendship with Cana wasn't necessarily deeper than the bond between her and Yuri.

All three turned their gazes on her at once: one innocent, one serious, and one eager for gossip.

Cana shrank back a little under their gazes, but she didn't know how to explain it.

She couldn't possibly tell them that for a long time she had thought Yuri was her older brother, only for it to turn out to be a misunderstanding.

That would be way too embarrassing...

While the group over there dug into someone's private affairs, Yuri had already reached the job request board and was choosing a job.

As everyone knew, strength and the number of jobs completed were very important criteria for ranking mages.

Yuri might have been in the guild for a long time, but the number of jobs he'd done was absurdly small.

His status as an A-Class Mage rested entirely on his strength.

If S-Class weren't a dividing line in mage ranks, with strict requirements for the number of completed jobs as well as strength, and if he didn't also have to take the S-Class Exam, Yuri might already have been promoted to S-Class.

That was also why Yuri hadn't been selected for last year's S-Class Exam.

It was worth mentioning, however, that Fairy Tail's S-Class Exam was much harder than those of other guilds. That was why, after all these years, Gildarts was the only S-Class Mage in Fairy Tail.

Yuri didn't particularly care. The only value a high-ranking mage's title held for him was that it would let him take some high-paying jobs and improve his impoverished life.

Because he'd always gone by the title of an independent mage, Yuri had only been able to pick up scattered requests to support himself over the years. That was why he was too poor even to pay rent, definitely not because he spent money recklessly.

Now that he'd decided to settle down for a while, he naturally needed to take some jobs with "value."

Yuri's gaze swept across the request board, but he either thought the pay was too low or the job too much trouble.

After looking them over again and again, none seemed ideal.

Then his eyes fell on a familiar word.

"Huh? This job..." Yuri took down the request and looked at its requirements—to slay the demon occupying a church.

Great, this was the one!

A demon hunter really ought to be hunting demons.

"Old man, I'm taking this request." Yuri handed the request to Makarov to register it.

Makarov glanced at it. "You and Erza can handle this job together."

"Okay, then I'll go now... Hey, old man, did I just hear you say a familiar name?" Yuri had been about to leave, but he sensed something was wrong and abruptly turned back.

"That's right. I want you to team up with Erza and complete this job together," Makarov admitted.

"You've got to be kidding." Yuri planted both hands on the table and scowled. "I'll let last time slide, but now you want me to babysit for you again? Do I look like a nanny?"

"That's not how it works, boy. Mages teaming up to complete jobs is quite common." Makarov took a drink without changing expression.

"Sorry, I'm used to working alone. I'm no good at cooperating with others." Yuri curled his lip, looking disdainful.

"Is that so? I was originally going to settle the payment for your last request, but I didn't expect you to be so opposed to it. In that case, I suppose I'll just have to..."

"Hey, old man, you really know how to judge people! My greatest strength is that I can get along with anyone. Even if she's a block of wood, I can make her bloom. Leave that silly girl Erza to me!" Yuri grinned and patted his chest, confidently giving his word.

"Since you put it that way, I'll leave her to you." Makarov slapped a thick stack of bills into Yuri's hand and spoke solemnly.

"I guarantee there won't be a problem." Yuri made an OK sign and turned to run toward Erza, as though afraid Makarov might change his mind.

Makarov watched Yuri go and shook his head to himself.

The boy was clearly very smart and could always pick up on other people's problems right away, yet he kept getting hung up whenever it came to his own.

Honestly... Makarov didn't know what to say about him.

Just as Makarov was deeply troubled, a sudden commotion broke out on the other side of the guild. A group of guild members had gathered in a circle, shouting loudly, and the atmosphere was lively.

At the center of the crowd were Yuri and Natsu.

"Come on, Natsu! Don't lose to him!"

"Give that guy a good beating!"

"Show him what you can do!"

The cheers from the crowd were all for Natsu. It was hard to tell whether they simply wanted to watch the excitement, were taking the chance to go after Yuri over old grievances, or both.

"All right, little fire dragon, if you want a duel, wait until I get back. For now, let us leave." Yuri held Erza's hand with his left, looking like he was in a great hurry.

"No way! Why do you get to go on a job? This time I'm going to beat you and earn the old man's approval!" Full of fighting spirit, Natsu stood in the doorway and refused to move.

Yuri was a little troubled. If reason wouldn't work, he could only let his fists do the talking.

Natsu thought the same thing. A bright flame flared in his hand, and he charged at Yuri with a shout.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Yuri had no time to fool around with him today, so he concentrated his magic in his right hand. The Devil Bringer manifested, and a magical arm stretched out.

"Go light the candles on a birthday cake, fire dragon brat!"

Natsu was slapped into the wall, unable to get back up...

With the fight over, Yuri led the still somewhat bewildered Erza through the crowd and kicked open the guild's doors.

"Let's go, Enel! We've got work to do!"

Among a cluster of volcanoes where magma flowed.

An immense figure sensed a familiar presence. Golden slit pupils snapped awake, and a voice trembled with a trace of excitement:

"Old friend, so you really... did survive?!"