After dealing with those guys, Moen returned to the village, carrying several boxes in his hands. These were valuable items, and spoils like this were also one of the sources of income from missions.
Of course, Moen also brought back the heads of several leaders from the bandit camp. He was meticulous in his work—after finishing a job, people needed to see the results. The bandit camp was deep in the mountains, and the villagers might not even have the courage to go check it themselves, so he brought them out directly.
Thud.
Moen tossed the heads of several bandit leaders onto the ground, then handed the task sheet to the village chief, who took it trembling.
He was genuinely a little frightened. This child, who always wore a gentle, sunny smile, had used thunderous methods the moment he made a move.
Those bandits could have been captured and imprisoned, it wasn't that it couldn't be done. Yet this child had directly chosen the ruthless approach. It wasn't that it was wrong
"A bit of contrast, right?"
Moen noticed the change in the village chief's expression and asked with a smile.
"Uh… this is fine too. It saves trouble."
The village chief wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead, hesitated for a moment, then gave an approving answer.
"That's right. It saves trouble. Waiting for someone to come arrest them would waste too much time."
Moen nodded seriously. That was exactly why he had been ruthless. Perhaps some of them didn't deserve death, but once they had already chosen to become bandits, saying things like that had no meaning anymore.
"That's how it should be, that's how it should be!"
After signing the task sheet, the village chief echoed earnestly.
He had only been startled by the scene at first, but in truth, he felt no sympathy at all for those bandits. Scum who killed and looted deserved to be killed outright.
"This is the reward for the mission, Mr. Moen. Would you like to take it now, or wait and take it together with the next one?"
The village chief had already prepared the reward, with no intention of withholding anything. This weathered middle-aged man was quite reliable, one could already see that from how he handled Juvia's situation.
"Together."
Moen declined for now and also left the seized valuables at the village chief's house. The reason he didn't put them at Juvia's place was naturally because wealth tempted the heart, if someone took a desperate gamble, it would be bad. Leaving them with the village chief was safer.
Although nervous, the village chief still agreed. After all, he couldn't let Moen carry a pile of things while helping them fight a magical beast.
"What kind of magical beast is it?"
Before leaving, Moen casually asked.
Sure enough, he saw the village chief's blank expression.
"I don't know. I only know it's a humanoid monster, very large, with sharp claws, and it likes to eat meat. Quite a few people have died in there, their bodies were badly gnawed by that thing."
The village chief shared the limited intelligence he had. Even this information had only been obtained after many people had died. They truly had no other choice but to spend money to hire a mage.
"Understood."
Moen nodded, left the village, and went off to search for the magical beast.
Before that, he deliberately went to see Juvia once more, said a few words to the girl, and soothed her emotions. During the two days he had been away, the girl had clearly begun to spiral inward again, because the rain over the village had grown heavier.
After seeing Moen and being bathed once more in his sunlight-like presence, some of the gloom in Juvia's heart was dispelled, and the rain clouds above the village also thinned slightly.
This kind of real-time feedback felt rather interesting.
Cough cough. Of course, for Juvia, it wasn't interesting at all. He still needed to find a way to help her resolve this problem as soon as possible.
Otherwise, once they returned to Fairy Tail, it wouldn't be acceptable for it to rain every day around the guild—who knows, the place might get flooded.
While thinking this, Moen entered the forest. When he came back out, he was already holding a wolf's head in his hand.
"How unlucky. It was nothing."
Muttering to himself, Moen shook his head helplessly. As expected, missions in places this remote had extremely inaccurate information. He had thought it would be some powerful magical beast, but it turned out to be just roadside trash—killed with one kick. No wonder it could coexist here with that bandit group as paired "hidden dragons and crouching phoenixes."
In his irritation, Moen casually cleared out a few more magical beasts. In such a remote place, the existence of magical beasts was indeed dangerous—just one appearing could make people's lives extremely uneasy.
However, magical beasts didn't normally leave the forest without reason. Compared to coming out to attack humans, eating animals in the forest was obviously much safer. Only when humans entered their territory would they actively attack to get a taste.
"All done. Next time, for missions like this, just find a nearby small guild. There's no need to travel so far to Fairy Tail."
After handing in the mission, Moen kindly reminded the village chief. Strictly speaking, as a member of Fairy Tail, he shouldn't have said this—after all, they did make quite a bit of money.
But Moen still gave the reminder. Fairy Tail was far away. If something really happened, it was better to find a nearby small guild. They would arrive faster, and handling small problems would be much easier.
"Uh… so that's how it is!"
The village chief was stunned. This was the first time their village had ever hired mages, and they really hadn't considered so much. They had simply gone for famous ones, like Fairy Tail or Phantom Lord.
But in reality, for large guilds, this kind of distant, low-reward job wasn't attractive at all, making it hard for someone to come immediately.
"Next time, don't run that far."
Moen nodded. Before coming, he had deliberately checked, there were Mage Guilds in the nearby cities, although they weren't very well known.
"Got it, got it."
The village chief nodded repeatedly in response. He could tell that Moen was doing this for their sake. Toward this young mage from Fairy Tail, he had a very good impression. This was a child who was both capable and kind—although he was quite ruthless toward bandits.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take Juvia and leave."
Taking the signed task sheet, Moen prepared to go. Juvia was also in the room, holding her luggage with both hands. She looked obedient and timid, and she hadn't brought much, just a small bag that didn't look like it could hold many clothes.
"Wait! Mr. Moen, this is the reward for the two missions."
Seeing Moen about to leave with Juvia, the village chief hurriedly stopped him. The reward hadn't been taken yet, he thought Moen had forgotten.
"I don't need the mission reward. You keep it. If you have time, just help take better care of Juvia's parents' graves."
Moen waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to give him the reward. His words clearly stunned both the village chief and Juvia.
"This is something I should do!"
The village chief said righteously.
If it was only for this reason, he would not accept it. Moen had helped them, there was no reason for them not to give the reward.
"Then consider it compensation for the losses Juvia caused the village over these years."
Moen smiled and continued. To be honest, he really didn't care much about this reward. Altogether it was only around three hundred thousand J. For this village, it might be a lot—after all, their lives were very hard but for him, it was too little.
Leaving this money behind could also be considered forming a good karmic tie. Juvia's parents' graves were still here, and the village chief would need to help look after them.
"…"
The village chief fell silent, then let out a sigh.
"Mr. Moen, others may not understand, but I don't believe you don't understand. What does Juvia owe the village? Clearly, it's us who owe her…"
After the sigh and silence, the village chief spoke seriously. His words made Juvia even more confused. She stood there blankly, trying hard to understand what the village chief meant.
"So you do understand."
Moen smiled. This village chief had a good heart and was also a smart man. He protected and cared for Juvia partly because of morality, and partly because he understood that it was Juvia's power that had protected the village.
"So, being able to have you solve the magical beast and bandit problems, and take Juvia away, makes me very happy. This way, we won't have to rely on Juvia to protect the village anymore, and Juvia can go to the world that truly belongs to her."
Looking at Juvia, the village chief smiled kindly and with relief. But his words caused Juvia's eyes to widen involuntarily.
"Protect the village? I… me?"
Juvia pointed at herself. The girl looked utterly incredulous. She felt as if she were dreaming. Why were the village chief's words so hard to understand? Was he really talking about her?
"That's right, Juvia. Your ability truly protected the village from bandits and magical beasts. They should be thanking you."
Looking at Juvia's completely bewildered expression, Moen smiled and spoke. He gave a clear affirmation and explained the reason, which made Juvia's expression extremely vivid.
"Of course, it did indeed cause quite a lot of losses as well. But everything has a price. This was the price for you protecting the village."
Moen continued. Rain falling constantly for several years naturally caused many losses for the village, but compared to being killed by bandits or eaten by magical beasts, those losses were nothing.
"…"
Juvia opened her mouth wide, still finding it very hard to believe.
"Juvia, you have never owed anyone anything. Leave with peace of mind. Go pursue your own life, and go become an excellent mage like Mr. Moen!"
Looking at Juvia, the village chief said with a smile.
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