SUMMONER'S JOURNEY

The morning sun peeked over Magnolia as Richard stretched, shaking off the lingering soreness from yesterday's Mission .Though tired, there still some work to do—he needed to submit his mission report and sell the Earth Bear corpse.

With a deep breath, he made his way to Fairy Tail's Guild Hall.

As soon as he stepped inside, the usual chaos greeted him—laughter, shouting, and a minor fistfight already breaking out in the corner. It was just another normal day.

"Richard! Welcome back!" Mirajane greeted him warmly from behind the bar.

He made his way over, placing the mission report on the counter.

"Mission complete. I gathered 24 stalks of Briarthorn and 24 Swiftthistle."

Mirajane flipped through the documents, nodding in approval. "Everything looks good! That'll be 192,000J for the herbs. Great work, Richard!"

She handed over the reward pouch, and Richard felt a wave of relief— with 130,000 J from previous Job and 192,000 J from this at least he can live worry free next month.

As he counted the coins, Cana wandered over, stretching her arms.

"Oh, look at you, completing missions all by yourself now, huh?" she teased.

Richard smirked. "Guess I'm finally getting the hang of this."

Cana took a sip from her ever-present drink and leaned in slightly. "So? Any interesting encounters? Running into bandits? Getting chased by some huge beast?"

Richard hesitated for a second. This was his chance to bring up the Earth Bear.

"Well… I did have an encounter with Earth Bear ."

Mirajane perked up, curious. "Oh? What happened?"

Richard scratched the back of his head. "I, uh… ended up taking it down ."

Silence.

Cana's drink froze mid-air, and Mirajane blinked slowly, as if unsure she heard him right.

A nearby table of guildmates—who had been casually listening in—suddenly turned their heads in sync.

"Did you just say… an Earth Bear?" someone muttered.

"Yeah…" Richard said, feeling the weight of their stares.

One of the older mages, Kabrel, let out a low whistle. "Damn, kid. Those things aren't something you usually take on alone."

"Even B-rank teams sometimes struggle with them," another guildmate chimed in.

Mirajane leaned forward, her expression shifting from pleasant surprise to genuine concern. "Are you okay? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Richard shook his head. "Nyx did get hurt, but it wasn't very serious and we managed to finish it without any further injuries."

Cana whistled. "Damn. That's not something you just gloss over, rookie."

Richard shrugged. "Honestly, I was more worried about what to do with the corpse. I was hoping you could tell me where to sell it, Mira."

Mirajane nodded, quickly writing something down. "There's a merchant in town named Bernard. He specializes in rare monster materials. If anyone's willing to pay top jewel for an Earth Bear, it's him."

She slid the address across the counter.

Richard took it gratefully. "Thanks, Mira. I'll go check it out now."

---

Richard arrived at Bernard's Trading Post, a well-established shop located in Magnolia's merchant district.

The shop was filled with magical trinkets, rare monster materials, and potions.

A well-dressed, middle-aged man with sharp eyes and neatly combed hair sat behind a polished wooden counter.

"Ah, you must be Richard, the Fairy Tail mage Mirajane mentioned."

Richard nodded. "That's me. I've got something you might be interested in."

Bernard adjusted his glasses. "I hear it's an Earth Bear. An impressive hunt. Let's see what you've got."

Richard activated his spatial ring, and in an instant, the massive Earth Bear corpse appeared in front of them.

Bernard's eyebrows lifted slightly, but to his credit, he remained composed.

He stepped forward, running a critical eye over the body.

His gloved hand traced along the hide, feeling the texture before checking the claws and bones. He inspected the muscles, testing the quality of the preserved flesh, then moved to check the head, lifting it slightly.

"Remarkable condition," Bernard murmured. "No excessive damage to the hide, clean cuts—ah, even the internal organs are intact. You certainly know how to take care of your kills."

Richard crossed his arms. "So, what's it worth?"

Bernard tapped his chin, calculating the value quickly.

"Ordinarily, I'd offer around 600,000J. However… I have a noble client who collects rare monster trophies. If you're willing to sell the entire corpse as a set, I can push it to 750,000J."

Richard's expression didn't change, but internally, he was pleasantly surprised.

That was way more than he expected.

Still, he played it cool.

"750,000J is a good number," Richard said, pausing as if considering it. "But if your noble client is that interested, it sounds like I could get a better deal elsewhere."

Bernard smirked, seeing through his tactic. "Clever. But I assure you, I'm offering a very competitive price. No middlemen, no hassle."

Richard held his ground for a few seconds, then extended his hand.

"Alright. We have a deal."

Bernard shook it firmly. "Excellent. Payment will be transferred immediately. If you come across more rare creatures in the future, I'd be happy to do business again."

Richard accepted the heavy pouch of Jewels, barely believing his luck.

750,000J.

This was by far the most he had ever earned in one transaction.

---

Richard returned to the guild, where the moment he casually mentioned his earnings, the guild erupted into chaos.

"750,000J?! Damn, rookie! That's insane!"

"I think that's more than I made last year," someone muttered.

Cana, grinning, threw an arm around Richard's shoulder. "Sounds like you can afford to treat the whole guild to drinks, huh?"

Richard froze.

"Wait, hold on—"

But it was too late.

"Drinks on Richard!" someone shouted, and the entire guild cheered.

Richard sighed. "I just got rich, and I'm already losing money."

Despite his complaints, he gave in, buying a round of drinks for everyone.

At first, it wasn't too bad—until he realized his mistake.

Cana was drinking an entire keg of wine by herself.

Richard watched in horror as the bill skyrocketed.

By the time the night ended, he had spent 50,000J on drinks.

"I regret everything," he muttered, slumped over the bar.

Mirajane, smiling sweetly, patted his back. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Richard."

Despite saying and feeling said for his his wallet, Richard found himself laughing with the others, enjoying the moment.

He enjoyed the feeling of being one of element of this chaotic place called fairy tail.

Even if he has lost 1 months grocery money in just few hours.

___