March 2nd, year 783, morning, clear sky.
More than two months had passed since the invasion of Newborn City, and the Fiore Kingdom had returned to peace.
Due to Fairy Tail's significant contributions during the incident, the Fiore Kingdom generously rewarded them with a large sum of money and some precious materials.
The King, who already had a fondness for Mages, developed an even better impression of Fairy Tail, known as the number one Magician Guild in the kingdom, after this event.
Makarov also gained considerable prestige among other Guild Masters because of his children's performance, and even more happily, with the large bonus from the King, the Guild wouldn't have to worry about compensation issues for quite some time.
Not to mention that the recent internal Guild training had shown obvious results, everyone's control over magic and their mental growth far exceeded what they had before, so instances of incurring damages would become increasingly rare.
Even if Natsu and the others maintained their usual reckless style, the Guild would likely be able to squander money for a while.
After the incident, the members of Fairy Tail resumed their lively lives.
As spring arrived and temperatures gradually warmed up, the number of requests the Guild received also began to increase.
The members of Fairy Tail finally had things to do... At Fairy Tail, Guild Hall.
Makarov was earnestly explaining a comprehensive guide to common magic and the solutions for dealing with these spells to the Guild members.
Although those attending the lecture were very serious, the number of Guild members listening was only about half of the usual, as most had gone to take on requests after spring began.
The internal Mage training within the Guild was progressing smoothly; everyone's enthusiasm for training was high after realizing their improvement in strength and the actual reduction in damages incurred.
After all, with increased strength, they could take on higher-paying requests, and who wouldn't be proactive about earning money?
As for Natsu, not incurring damages was also a win; not losing money was the same as earning it.
Most people were gathered around the old man listening to his lecture, while some were busy with their own tasks.
Ezreal didn't join the crowd; after joining the Guild, he had followed the old man to cultivate Light Magic, so he had already learned this knowledge once.
Moreover, given his current strength and the variety of his combat methods, the content taught by the old man held little significance for him at this stage.
Therefore, Ezreal was currently standing in front of the request board, contemplating which task to take.
"No tasks you like?" Sister Mira peered out from behind the counter, smiling, with Yuumi in her arms; her black waitress dress couldn't diminish the girl's beauty.
Because of the accidental tragic loss of her younger sister, Mira had not yet overcome her psychological trauma and couldn't use Take Over Magic.
Additionally, she was the only full-time waitress in the Guild, so she hadn't listened to Makarov's lecture and was leisurely resting behind the counter.
Ezreal examined the request board and shook his head, "They're all tasks with relatively low remuneration."
Mira, holding Yuumi with one hand, nimbly flipped over and jumped out from behind the counter, her black high heels clicking on the wooden floor as she jogged over to Ezreal's side, tilting her head to look at the request board.
"It's true, at the beginning of spring, all the tasks have lower remuneration."
"How about this one? 'Farm Artificial Fish Pond Construction,' it requires a Mage skilled in Water Magic to help build an artificial fish pond. They just need a large amount of water for filling, the pond's basic shape is already there, and the remuneration looks pretty good."
"Don't you have two frogs that can use Water Magic?"
Ezreal paused for a second, then said with some regret, "I fused Marsh Frog with that turtle-man who used Black Water Magic a while ago. Now the water it spits out has corrosive toxins. If we actually built it, it would be a body disposal site, guaranteed to destroy all traces."
Ezreal seemed to envision a large group of dead fish floating belly-up in a pool of black water, and immediately shook his head again.
"Then what about this one?" Mira's slender finger pointed at the request board, "'Clear Toxic Gas from Abandoned Mine Pit'—just have your frog eat all the toxic gas, and it's solved."
"Marsh Frog isn't Natsu, it can't eat toxic gas!" Ezreal rolled his eyes and reached out to tap Mira's head.
However, the prepared white-haired girl blocked him with the blue cat in her arms.
Yuumi, who had received a flick on the head, groggily opened her eyes from her sleep, looking around in confusion.
"By the way, has Yuumi gotten fatter again?" Ezreal casually stroked the little one's head and tugged at the gem on the blue cat's antenna.
"Meow?!" Yuumi looked down at her small belly in shock, her two tiny short legs uncertainly patting her stomach.
Mira gave him a glare, adjusting Yuumi's position in her arms, "Yuumi is at a growing age, shouldn't she be a little plump?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Ezreal silently turned his head and continued to look at the request board.
Three crisp knocks came from the wooden bar.
Levy stood on tiptoes, resting her chin on the counter, her round glasses glinting in the morning light: "Sister Mira is recommending strange requests again?"
"They're not strange requests at all." Mira's skirt swished in a small arc as she turned, and Yuumi in her arms yawned.
Mira looked at Levy's trio, who had arrived together, with some surprise, "Didn't you go to taste test at the new dessert shop? Why are you back so early?"
"That Droy splashed lemon juice on us!" Jet, dressed in cowboy attire, glared with green eyes and huffily pushed past his companions to the front.
From behind came Droy's protest, "You spilled it yourself!"
The trio, as noisy as ever, squeezed in front of the request board. While the two 'dog-licking' friends were bickering, Levy suddenly let out a soft gasp.
A golden iris crest was stamped on the bottom right corner of a high-quality request form, and the edges of the paper were still dusted with a bit of gold powder.
The blue-haired, glasses-wearing girl stood on tiptoes to reach for the paper, her ivory-colored forearm brushing past Ezreal's nose, carrying a faint scent of ink: "A Heartfilia Merchant Guild cross-country escort request? Two million remuneration?!"
"Let me see! Let me see!" Jet practically plastered himself against the wooden board, "It requires five or more Mages to escort a merchant caravan, the route is from South Port, through Akane, to the Northern Territory... Most likely to encounter Dark Guild attacks, so it's rated A-class?"
Droy stroked his chin, frowning: "Isn't this remuneration too high for an A-class mission?"
Mira smiled, petting her cat: "It's Heartfilia, after all. I heard their new trading port on Norashika Island was attacked by a Dark Guild last year. It's not surprising for such a large merchant guild to be targeted, and it's quite reasonable for them to pay a higher price for business security."
"Because they have to cross most of the Fiore Kingdom." Levy pushed up her slipping glasses, the letter rustling softly in her hand, "Last month, 'Fiore Weekly' had a special report; recently, the price difference for Magic Crystals between the Northern Territory and the Southern Kingdom has expanded to three times. This trip's profit is enough to cover the high request fee."
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