Ch.9 New job

The next morning was a warm and bright day. There were a few clouds in the sky with a warm breeze, which could improve anyone's mood. The smell of flowers as Jax made his way to the guild seemed just perfect for such a good morning.

When Jax arrived at the guild, a few members were already present and were sitting on the tables to eat breakfast. So, while saying good morning to the other guild members, Jax made his way to the counter where he would be able to buy breakfast.

He didn't say anything as he looked at the waitress, and she simply smiled and made a sign to Jax to go and sit down as she prepared his breakfast. Jax wasn't harsh with whatever he ate, something he picked up from his early years when he had to eat whatever was in front of him. However, the waitress still always made something different for him each morning.

As he was waiting for breakfast, he noticed that he hadn't seen Wacaba or Macao in the guild for almost a week. Remembering that they usually only took small jobs, which would take at most three days, Jax frowned but eventually put it behind his mind as his breakfast arrived.

As he thanked the waitress with a smile that made her smile back, he turned his head to his breakfast—two toasts with an omelet and some strawberries.

With his eyes lit up, he started to eat as more guild members entered the guildhall. As he finished eating both his toasts, he turned towards his omelet as he saw from the corner of his eye a fight that started.

As soon as the fight started and some people started to get thrown everywhere, Jax became more guarded. He didn't want someone falling on his breakfast, and indeed, just as he felt that someone was about to get thrown on his side, he expertly evaded the falling wizard with his breakfast in his hand as he got further from the fight to continue eating his food.

A few minutes later, just as the fight was getting even rowdier, a little man came through the guild's door. As he saw the war, he used his giant magic before simply swatting the fighting mages aside, making them stop fighting instantaneously. Once the fighting stopped, the master simply reduced back to his original size and went to the side of the counter, jumping on it.

Seeing this, Jax smiled knowingly and focused back on his food. At this time, there was only his favourite fruit left, strawberries. They were just juicy enough, tastier than other fruits and the feeling when eating them was perfect. On the contrary, other fruits such as apples were just too juicy, and the juice would get on his fingers when he ate them. Although he didn't hate other fruits, he didn't appreciate them either. He simply preferred strawberries from other fruits. As for vegetables? They were simply tasteless in his opinion, especially the broccoli, which was his less favourite vegetable.

As he finished eating his strawberry while thinking of the good points of strawberries and why it's the best fruit there is, he got up and brought back his plate to the counter. At the same time, Jax stopped next to the master to talk with him.

"Good morning master, how are you doing today?" Asked Jax as he was genuinely concerned for the ageing older man.

"Ah, good morning Jax, I am well, thank you for asking." The master answered with a smile while taking a sip from his mug.

"Well, master, I was planning on taking another job, this time out of Magnolia to see the world a little bit. I've never left Magnolia since I've joined the guild." Jax said to the master, who looked at him as he spoke.

"However, I don't know what I have to bring in jobs outside of town. Do I have to bring a suitcase full of Jewels to pay for my expenses?" Asked Jax as he was wondering about this.

"Indeed, you have to bring money with you. However, there is no need for a suitcase as you can change your money with bills of 1 jewel, ten jewels, 100 jewels, 1000 jewels, 10,000 jewels, 100,000 jewels or 1,000,000 jewels. As long as you take a few bigger bills with you, you won't need to bring a suitcase." The master said while taking a small pause. "However, you will need a wallet to store your money when you leave. There is a store a few blocks down which sells those things. So, before leaving for your job, go and buy a wallet and come back here to make your preparations and have enough money for your travel." The master said as he pointed towards the general direction of the store selling wallets.

"Alright, thank you, master, I'll go right now. So, can I grab some money from my account in the guild?" Jax asked immediately after hearing about buying a wallet.

The master nodded as he lifted an arm to attract the attention of one of the workers in the guild.

"Please go and get 5,000 Jewels from Jax's account." The master said directly when the worker came closer.

Seeing a nod from the finance worker of the guild, the small man with a weird orange and blue hat turned his attention back to the mug in his hand.

On the other hand, Jax was waiting for the finance worker to come back with his money before going shopping for the necessities he needed before leaving for his job.

He waited a few minutes as he looked at the guild members either eating or talking between themselves. At this point, Jax remembered the disappearance of Wacaba and Macao for the last week.

"Master, do you know what job Macao and Wacaba took? Normally they don't take a week to complete a job, and they stay in the surroundings of Magnolia." Jax asked with slight curiosity and a hint of worry.

"Yes, they took an investigation mission in the Phoenix mountains. It seems that there are some changes in the mountains, and they took along with Enno the job to search for the reason for the changes in the environment." The master calmly said as he wasn't worried that they hadn't come back yet. After all, it took at least a day to get there and then they had to search for clues and the reason for the change. As such, there was no way they would be back within a week unless they were lucky.

"I see, master." Answered Jax as he was slightly relieved there was a reason for not being back for a week. At the same time as he answered, the finance worker came back with the 5,000 jewels which he would use to buy a wallet.

Jax collected the money before leaving the guild building. He directly went into the direction the master had pointed. Walking for a few minutes, the young boy stopped in front of a small building with a wallet logo. He entered the building and immediately started to search for a wallet which he would like. Browsing them rapidly as he didn't want to waste too much time, he finally settled on a slim black wallet. When one opened it, there would be a section to store the bills at the very top, and there was also room to hold six cards. However, the space for cards was simply useless for him as he didn't have one. However, the most important feature was that the wallet was water and fireproof. Those qualities were quite useful for mages as they never knew where they might go.

Going to the counter, he paid 4,200 jewels for the wallet before leaving and making his way back to the guild rapidly. He didn't want to waste too much time as a new job was awaiting him, and a pearl was out there somewhere.

Arriving at the guild, Jax went directly to the guild's job board, ready to find his new job. Looking through them, however, Jax frowned. E and D-ranks were too low. He would have to ask the master to upgrade his permissions soon. Looking at the D-rank, only two jobs brought his attention. The first was a transportation mission, but they needed two mages for the job. Currently, everyone else had a team, and apart from Laxus, he wasn't interested in teaming up with anyone else.

Looking at the date, he knew Laxus would be out of the guild for at least a week. As such, he forgot this job and looked at the other one.

[Vacation in Caelum escort.

Mission level: D-rank.

Requirements: Tolerance for teenagers.

Location: Divide Island.

Type of mission: Escort.

Details: My daughter, Sara, is going on a trip to Caelum, and she needs an escort across the islands and then back home. My fishing empire has made her a target for many people, and I need to make sure my precious Sara is safe while she's on her vacation. A weak group of dark mages could target her, and she needs to be protected! On top of outside threats, Sara tends to be difficult, especially with strangers. Don't be too hard on her, or your job might get ten times harder.

Reward: 240,000 Jewels and a 2-week paid vacation in Caelum.

Requester: Walter Rais.]