Splitting the Money

Erza had not expected the first thing Qi Yan would do after waking up was ask for payment. Still, this was the first time she had encountered such a hefty reward.

"You're right. We've been delayed here for a long time. It's time to head back. If we're any later, the guild master will start worrying."

The two of them headed for the royal palace hall together.

At this moment, inside the royal palace hall.

The king was handling official affairs. Demon Dragon Alazam's sudden attack had caught him completely off guard, and the entire city had suffered severe damage. Fortunately, the citizens had not suffered many casualties, and the kingdom's reconstruction was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Most importantly, with the threat of Demon Dragon Alazam gone, the kingdom no longer had anything to worry about and could focus on developing and expanding its existing resources.

Just then, a minister came to report, "Your Majesty! Mr. Qi Yan and Miss Erza have arrived."

The king's eyes lit up. "Mr. Qi Yan is here! Quickly, show them in!"

Before long, Qi Yan and Erza arrived at the royal palace hall once more.

"Mr. Qi Yan! You're finally awake!"

The king immediately came forward to welcome Qi Yan warmly.

"Sorry to have worried Your Majesty. I merely exhausted too much magic power. A few days of rest were enough for me to recover."

"It's good that you've recovered! Good!"

"Your Majesty, we've been away for quite some time, and our rest delayed us further. We came to bid you farewell."

"Farewell? So soon?! You could stay a while longer!"

Erza said, "No, Your Majesty. If we stay any longer, everyone at the guild will start worrying."

"I see!"

After hesitating for a moment, the king said, "Mr. Qi Yan, Miss Erza, would you be willing to remain in the Sobeia Kingdom? If you stay, I can appoint Mr. Qi Yan as president of the Swordsman Guild and Miss Erza as vice president."

Qi Yan and Erza were both experts, especially Qi Yan, who possessed the strength to slay a Giant Dragon. If he remained in the Sobeia Kingdom, he would be like a pillar holding the kingdom steady.

The king's meaning was obvious. If Qi Yan and Erza remained in the Sobeia Kingdom, wealth, status, and fame would all be within easy reach.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I'm a mage of Fairy Tail."

Qi Yan refused outright. He was bound to the Fairy Tail Guild. Forget one hundred million—even one billion or ten billion would not make him stay.

This experience had also taught him that in this world, strength was far more important than money.

"That truly is a shame!"

Although he had already guessed the outcome, the king still felt regretful.

"Guards! Bring the things in!"

Soon, several chests were carried over.

When the chests were opened, they revealed stacks upon stacks of money.

Qi Yan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. This... how much money was this?

"This is one hundred million J. I know it is not enough to repay the contributions you two have made to the Sobeia Kingdom, but with the royal capital about to be rebuilt, this is all we can pay for now."

Erza was also stunned when she heard there was one hundred million J. She had become a mage long ago and had worked diligently over the years, yet all the rewards she had earned combined did not amount to one hundred million J.

"No, no, no, this is too much. My champion's prize was twenty million J, and the SS-Rank Quest reward was thirty million J. That makes fifty million J in total. Half of this is enough."

"If everything had gone according to the original plan, then yes, it would have been fifty million J. But then the monster horde appeared, followed by the Demon Dragon. That was already far beyond the level of an SS-Rank Quest. Compared to the difficulty of the quest, this reward is already very low."

The king was not speaking nonsense. The mere mention of a Giant Dragon was enough to classify this quest as a Ten-Year Quest. Ten-Year Quests started at a minimum reward of five hundred million J, so one hundred million was truly not much. More importantly, almost no guild mage dared accept a Ten-Year Quest. Just like this time, even one of the Ten Wizard Saints would have died if they had come.

Qi Yan shook his head and insisted, "Since we already accepted the quest, its terms cannot be changed. The later developments were part of the risks involved, so I can't accept the extra money."

"Qi Yan is right. The moment we accepted the quest, its terms were set. Taking additional payment would violate our guild's rules." Erza agreed with Qi Yan's view.

Hearing the two of them say this, the king no longer insisted and had someone bring Qi Yan the chest containing fifty million J in payment.

Qi Yan accepted the chest and felt its satisfying weight, his heart brimming with excitement.

Working himself to the bone had been exhausting, but the moment he received the money, all his troubles vanished.

"Your Majesty, with this matter settled, we should return to the guild."

Seeing that Qi Yan and Erza had made up their minds to leave, the king knew it would be inappropriate to keep pressing them. He laughed heartily. "In that case, I won't keep you any longer. I have already ordered a carriage prepared to see you off. You are also welcome to visit the Sobeia Kingdom anytime. The gates of the Sobeia Kingdom will always be open to you, and you will always be our most honored guests."

"Your Majesty is too kind. If there's work like this in the future, please let me know. I can give you a twenty percent discount for private jobs."

Qi Yan said it jokingly.

"Pfft—!!! Hahahahaha!!"

The king immediately burst into laughter when he heard Qi Yan's words. With that promise from Qi Yan, he knew his preparations had not been in vain.

"Good, good, good! If there's work like this again, I'll definitely let you know!"

The two arrived at the entrance of the royal palace hall, where a luxurious carriage had long been waiting.

The king personally saw Qi Yan and Erza into the carriage, leaving them both a little flattered. In Qi Yan's previous life, it would have been like a head of state seeing him into a car.

"Mr. Qi Yan, Miss Erza, once the royal capital has been rebuilt, you must come visit!"

"Alright!"

"Hyah!"

The coachman urged the carriage onward.

After they left the royal palace.

"That's Mr. Qi Yan and Miss Erza's carriage!!"

"Mr. Qi Yan!!"

"Miss Erza!"...

Qi Yan and Erza pulled open the curtains and looked outside, only to see dense crowds standing on both sides of the street. They were the citizens of the royal capital.

What Qi Yan and Erza did not know was that although everyone had been in the arena, the citizens had witnessed their performances throughout the battle.

Originally, it had been meant to show everyone the heroic sight of swordsmen fighting monsters, but in the end, it became Qi Yan's personal showcase.

They had also seen on the magic screens that Qi Yan was Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

Qi Yan was the hero who had saved their Sobeia Kingdom.

Qi Yan and Erza waved at the people lining the street, drawing a wave of cheers.

The crowd escorted them all the way to the city gates before stopping.

"Mr. Qi Yan, Miss Erza, you must come visit Sword City again when you have the chance."

Arthur looked at the two of them as he spoke.

"Definitely, definitely!"

Only after saying goodbye to everyone did Qi Yan and Erza sit back down inside the carriage.

Erza looked at Qi Yan and smiled. "How does it feel to be a hero?"

"It feels pretty good, but it would be better if they weren't quite so enthusiastic. I'm actually pretty socially anxious."

"..."

Erza was speechless. She had not seen even the slightest trace of social anxiety from him during the Swordsmanship Tournament.

"Alright, now that no one's around, let's split the money! Split the money!"