Kabe liked to think he was not especially obsessed with money.
And unlike those two guys, Kakarot and Vegeta, who never worked a day in their lives, he was different.
He had his own job, and his income was not bad either. At least when it came to food and housing, he earned more than enough to live comfortably.
But now, faced with the temptation of the shares Jude had thrown out in front of him...
after roughly going through everything he knew about the industries under the Heartfilia Conglomerate in his head...
he still shamelessly accepted in the end.
Seeing Kabe finally accept his goodwill, Jude at last smiled in satisfaction.
To a businessman like him, no matter how pleasant a conversation might be, nothing was ever quite as reassuring as directly binding interests together.
Originally, Kabe had even thought about reminding Jude that in the future, he had to be extra careful in business, so that he would not end up going bankrupt like he had in the original story.
But looking at things now, that warning did not seem necessary anymore.
Now that Jude had successfully tied himself to the royal family, as long as he did not do anything stupid, the crown would help pull him out at a critical moment sooner or later.
...
At noon, Kabe had a meal with Jude, then followed him to meet the town mayor, where the two discussed possible investments in Magnolia.
When the mayor first saw Kabe, he was rather surprised.
After all, he was Magnolia's star mage.
The mayor could be said to know Kabe quite well, but he had no idea why he would be showing up alongside a major businessman like Jude.
It was not until Jude subtly revealed that he was helping the royal family win Kabe over that the mayor finally looked enlightened.
His attitude immediately became much warmer than it had been at their first meeting. He started trying all kinds of ways to get closer to Kabe, talking nonstop about how good his relationship with Makarov was and so on.
After exchanging a bunch of meaningless pleasantries, Jude handed over the 1 billion J check, which finally found its proper use.
Thankfully, although Magnolia was small in population, it was still a highly prosperous magic town.
The mayor had seen enough of the world that he was not completely stunned by Jude's outrageous display of wealth.
Even so, after the meeting ended, the mayor still personally escorted the two of them out of the town hall with great respect.
It was only then that Kabe parted ways with Jude and headed back to Fairy Tail.
...
When Kabe returned to the guild, there were still not many people inside.
Even Laki, Mira, and Cana were nowhere to be seen.
At the counter, only Makarov sat there drinking by himself, keeping watch over the empty guild hall.
Seeing that, Kabe walked straight over to the counter and slapped the royal emblem Jude had passed to him right down in front of Makarov.
Only then did he pull over a chair, sit down, cross his legs, and raise his chin as he waited for the old man's reaction.
Makarov glanced at the familiar golden iris emblem, then looked at Kabe's smug face.
Even though Kabe had not said a single word, Makarov had already guessed the general outline of what had happened.
"The royal family moves as quickly as ever. Looking at you like this, I take it you already agreed to their invitation."
"Why wouldn't I? Becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints and wearing a silver insignia on me like you do does not sound bad at all.
Besides, I already have the strength of a Wizard Saint. It's not like they're forcibly pushing some fraud into the position.
And if something really happens, there's no reason for me to bow my head to the royal family."
Kabe's confident words left Makarov speechless.
On some matters, this kid really did see things very clearly.
Apparently, the moment he decided to accept the royal family's offer, he had already thought through every possibility that might come afterward.
"So long as you understand that yourself. Just remember, once you become one of the Ten Wizard Saints, your every word and action will no longer represent only the guild.
You'll also have to serve as an example to mages across all of Ishgar, as a model for the younger generation."
"Coming from you, old man? You cannot even do that yourself. What kind of role model spends all day reading dirty little magazines and staring at pretty women in the street?"
Kabe mercilessly exposed the old man's shamelessly lecherous nature.
"Cut the crap. You're no gentleman either. Neither of us has any right to talk about the other!"
"Mhm. But I've never denied being lustful."
Kabe spread his hands toward the old man with the expression of someone who feared neither boiling water nor public shame.
That utterly shameless attitude immediately drained the fight out of Makarov.
Since he still considered himself someone who cared at least a little about face, Makarov decisively abandoned the topic and brought up something else instead.
"Speaking of which, didn't you go out to bring investment into the guild?
So where's the investment? And you haven't forgotten the guild rules, have you?
Privately contacting a client without permission is grounds for expulsion."
"What client? Has our guild ever accepted a request from the Heartfilia Conglomerate?"
If it was something he had never done, then naturally he had no intention of admitting to it.