People say that money is the root of evil. In some ways, it is correct. Various crimes are committed because of the necessities of the world. In fact, a rich person can be easily accused of being evil and it is correct most of the time.

However, I do not think that it money in necessarily the only root of evil. That is because the word "evil" is too heavy to be used to describe a poor fellow who stole a few thousand yen just to feed their family. Sure it is definitely bad but not necessarily evil. Plus, money did more good than bad to the world by making it organized due to the nature of how it is used.

What I think is the other root of evil which is much more dangerous than the former is the concept of competition. Yes, that very desire to be better than the others. Never once in my life that I've found anything good that comes from competition. Some may argue that most technological innovations are fruits of companies competing with each other, but they were all not really part of the necessities but the became so because the world just wanted them to be. So what about friendly competitions to help both parties grow? Nope, that is just a load of bullshit. It is only a matter of time before that certain competition becomes heated, leading to both parties bearing resentment to each other. The desire to compete is what drives people to compare themselves to others, which leads to either boosting their ego or falling to depression.

That being said, I'm currently looking at the first root of evil right in front of me. Although the size of the treasure chest is only that of an ice box, I think just half of the contents of it are more than enough to support me for more than half a decade without doing any money paying jobs. Okay, the money is currently making an evil out of myself by presenting me the beautiful life without having to work.

"We'll split this three-way. Is that fine for the both of you?" I asked the Wendy and Carla who are still gazing at the sparkly goodness before us.

"Eh? No, you should take the other half because you did most of the job!" Wendy replied.

"Not really. It was a collective effort for all of us so we should spit this equally."

Collective effort. I never thought that the day when I say such words will come. As a loner, I never entertained the idea that someone wants to work together with me. Usually when I'm in a group project, it's either my group mates will dump all the work to me or just kick me out of the group. It has always been just me or the others, there's no in between such as equivalent exchange whatsoever.

Thus, I made my own storage for my treasure to be filled with such. The share I took is just enough to fill a common japanese school bag.

"There, I already took my share so you two can have the rest."

"But Hachiman-san, I can't have this much for me."

"On the contrary, yes, you do. With that age of yours, shouldn't be going for jobs and missions in the first place. Instead, focus on training your magic and let this wealth provide for your needs until you reach the legal age."

Wendy thought about what I've said for a few seconds. Of course she needs to think about it. As much as I want her to follow my advice, in the end, her life decisions should always be her own.

"He's right, child. Although I have nothing to say about your value as a supporter mage, I'm against the idea of you entering the workforce at this age." Carla said to her "child".

"I... You're right."

Finally, I can take my sweet treasure and go home. After they finally gave in and agreed on how we should split the treasure, I gave both of them a ride to the train station with my "magic carpet" just because I couldn't resist the pure happiness emanated from the child while doing so. They gave their farewells at we parted ways.

As for my way of transportation back to Magnolia, I once again rode my magic carpet and flew above. I did this because it's way too much of a hassle to ride a train packed with many people. Also, there's a chance of me being robbed if I were to travel on land.

As expected, even though it is only early afternoon, the winds up here is cold. Good thing that I bought a new coat before flying because I would be freezing my ass right now if it wasn't the case.

Now that I'm by myself, I can't help but think about the insane utility and practicality that wood make magic has to offer. Sure it's not the most destructive magic out there, but the only real limit it has are strictly just on its user. Those limitations being the user's imagination, magic reserves, and proficiency of the magic. I mean, just take me as an example. I'm flying even though it's very uncommon even for mages to do so.

I wonder if Olietta also uses her wood make magic the same as I do. With her proficiency of this magic, she should have been an unstoppable mage right now. The same can be also said to Fullbuster who uses the same magic as ours albeit of different element. But who knows, I've never actually saw them fight for real.

...

You'll know that you have a good sleep if everything feels like a convenient time skip. No dreams, no waking up at midnight, just a plain old sleep where you seem to be dead for the whole night.

However, the side effects of what I consider to be a good sleep is that I feel like shit upon waking up. I don't have any real motivation to get up so what I did is that I rolled to the side of the bed, letting myself fall to the floor. The method was effective as I felt that I'm completely awakened after I hit myself to the floor.

After preparing myself for the day, I started riding my bicycle towards the guild. Yes, this time, I bought a real bicycle with a metal frame and rubber tires. That's because I feel so much comfortable going to school with my bicycle so I'm trying to get the same feeling by driving one to my workplace. In short, it was just for nostalgia.

When I arrived at the guild, the only people present right now are only the Strauss siblings and Master Dreyar. So basically, in contrast to my highschool days when I'm almost always late to class, I arrived here early.

"Oh, welcome back, Hachiman. How's your first mission?" the older Strauss asked.

"It was... fine." I want my reply to be as short as possible.

"Come on, tell me a bit more substantial than that."

"I will, but I still have to report to Master."

"Okay then, see you soon!"

I don't know what's the deal with my previous mission that she's too interested in it. Maybe it's just because it's my first job and she's just too interested about that kinds of stuff.

Anyway, I then turned towards the master for my report about the mission. Master Dreyar urged me to come with him to his office which I soon followed.

For the first time in a month, I managed to enter back to this office. You see, a month ago, I was cleaning this room when I accidentally stumbled across the master's porn stash. He was so embarrassed about it that I was banned from cleaning the office again. Why is he so embarrassed though? Not like no one knows in the guild about how much of a pervert he is.

"So, how as the mission?" he asked. How, you say? It's so beginner-friendly that I have to take down a whole pack of vulcans or gorians or whatever those disgusting creatures are.

"I was doable at the very least. I've encountered a mage from other guild who also took the same mission. We then worked together to find the artifact. Along the way, we encountered a pack of vulcans. The fight was hard but we managed to walk out in one piece." I reported.

I'm pretty sure I cought him surprised when I told him about the part where I fought a pack of vulcans but I'm not the type to gloat about it.

"And how about the artifact?"

In response to his question, I reached inside the inner pocket of my long coat. I then grab hold of a huge gold bar and put it on the master's desk. Master comically bulged his eyes upon the sight of the wealth in front of him. Sure, it's not enough to pay for the total property damages that Fairy Tail causes in a month, but it's still a huge money regardless.

"We found a treasure chest. We then decided to spit them into three." I explained. "I think you should have this as my gratitude for sending me into that mission."

In truth, I felt like I'm in his debt because he took me into the guild when I was newly transported here in this world without anything. And as much as appreciate free food, I do hate being given charity and I refuse to retain it as it is. That is why I wanted to pay him even though I'm still thinking that whatever I pay won't be enough.

"No, child. That's your earnings, I can't take it from you." Ah, the classic response. However, I know how to make him accept this.

"You can put it in the guild finances. Considering how destructive Scarlet's team is, that is going to be spent immediately anyway." I persuaded.

Immediately after I finished my statement, he took gold bar and repeatedly bowed to me in gratitude. To be honest, I also don't want to be thanked because most of the things I give are just some form of returning favor or something. If I remember correctly, I don't any experience of giving anything out of pure good will. They are all either paying debts or to select someone who needed them to the extreme like beggars and orphans.

"By the way, Hachiman, because you just got back from a mission, you can take the day off."

"Thank you, Master."

I didn't stay long at the office as I immediately went out after my report. Well, now that I actually have a permission to slack off for today, I'm going to do just that.

When I got back to the main hall, I noticed that it's already filled with my other guildmates. Some teams are now gathering at the quest board to look for some profitable jobs. As for me, I just made my way towards the exit, hoping that I could spend my day doing nothing but reading books.

"Oi, Hachiman! Come here for a moment!"

At least that's what I planned to but I was called by Strauss. I guess she really wants to know what happened with my mission. With that, I went back to her at the counter just because I don't her to keep bugging me about it and gather jealousy from the males here.

Because I just want to get it over with, I told her the summary of the mission, from meeting a fellow mage up to defeating a whole pack of vulcans. Of course I didn't tell her about the description of my companion because she might label me as a pedophile and a child slave driver. And lastly, I didn't mention about the whole treasure chest just because I wanted it to remain a secret.

"By the way, why are you in a hurry to leave the guild? Sure you're not having a secret rendezvous with someone, right?" she asked with a teasing voice.

"No, nothing like that. I just want to spend the rest of my day relaxing."

"If you say so. Go on, you may now meet up with Laki!" And thus, her shipping continues. "Wait, can you meet me at the backyard for a moment? There's something I need to talk with you about before you leave."

I wonder what that is but I already felt the burning stares of the few people currently inside the guild hall. Oh well, better not disobey the she-devil.

"Uh, okay."

Because there are almost no hungry people at the moment, both Strauss and I went to the backyard which is also known as the guild's sparring ground.

You see, ever since I told her about the strange dragon slayer-like magic I used during the "Battle of Fairy Tail", she took a bit of interest of it because of the coincidence that it emerged around the same time she regained her powers. Because of that, her interest in battle-related magics was rekindled.

When we arrived there, Strauss immediately took a battle stance while flaring a dark purple aura around her

"Okay Hachiman, don't worry and go all out. I may not be in some missions lately but I'm still an S class mage." she said confidently.

"I thought you were going to tell me something. I didn't sign up for an S-class match."

"Oh, but you see, a demonstration is more informative than verbal."

I almost forgot that most people here at Fairy Tail are fighting addicts to some extent. And if what I've heard about Strauss once being a close rival of Scarlet similar to that of Dragneel and Fullbuster, I'm sure that she will have some of that vigor now that her powers are back. Oh well, there goes my day off.

"Okay, fine." I reluctantly agreed.

With that, I stopped arguing and just enveloped myself into what I call "Ironwood armor". It honestly looked like I took a few pages from Scarlet's book. Heh, Scarlet's book... Strauss then finished transforming and revealed a typical anime succubus costume. That's oddly seductive.

Per her instruction, I launched a miniature whirling blast of "vegetables" from my hand towards her. But as expected, she just dodged it instantly. As she charged towards me, I quickly made an Ironwood shield to protect me from her dark claw attacks. The shield managed to protect me but it turned to shreds and knocked me away in the process.

Okay, she really is a very strong fighter. Good thing that this is just a friendly sparring.

"Neat, you can block that. However, you need more than defense to beat me."

I didn't say any word and just proceeded to my next attack. In truth, I was practicing variants of this attack ever since I learned a few mood merge tricks from Olietta. While inside my armor, I made a wooden dummy for me to merge into.

With my plan in mind, I then launched many wooden stakes towards her, only to be swatted each on of them by her. Unbeknownst to her, I was merged with one of those stakes. Luckily, the one I was merged with end up behind her.

While my wooden dummy inside my armor still moving like I was really there, I then began charging my dragon-like roar while inside my wooden stake. This is probably my only chance of hitting a guaranteed hit to her so I have to make this count.

"Okay Hachiman, that was fun but I have to end this now!"

Strauss then launched a dark energy towards the dummy just enough to knock it. She then noticed that the thing she attacked just shattered in wooden pieces. Now is my chance.

I immediately broke out of the wooden stake and released my roar attack towards her. Although I held back on the attack for the reason that this is just a friendly spar, I didn't expect her to be knocked back to a few distance away. To be honest, I was still dumbfounded that I did that much to her.

"Aah!" she shortly screamed, which broke me out of my daze and went towards her to help her out.

When the dust from my attack cleared, I realized that my assistance wasn't really needed because she's just standing there with her arms crossed. It seems that she managed to get back to the defensive after that short opening.

However, the great news is that she's now powering down to her base form. I guess my attack is enough for her to assess my power level.

"I knew it! I know you held back on that one but wow. That was great, Hachiman!"

Seeing that she's now out of her "battle form", I also let loose of the magic concentrated on my hands and took it back to my magic container, though I still don't know if that was a separate organ of my body or it was something spiritual like my soul.

"I don't understand what's great about that one. It barely did any damage to you."

"Let's sit at the bench first and I'll explain it to you."

And yeah, we went to the bench under the tree and sat there. To be honest, this spot is somewhat of my favorite spot to hang out while taking a break from guild works because it somehow reminds me of that set of stairs near the bicycle parking lot at Sobu.

"Okay, I'll tell you now what I discovered. You have some of the traits of dragon slayers, right? And dragon slayer magic are meant to, well, slay dragons."

"What are you getting at here?"

"Be patient, kouhai-kun, I'm getting to that. So I had a good grasp of how powerful your attack was when it was coming towards me. However, the attack affected me more than it should. What can you say about this?"

Okay, that was a thought provoking one. And I can guarantee that she wasn't lying about it because she has nothing to gain from this. If I'm going to think about what it based on the context that she has given me beforehand, my magic would be...

"It's about slaying humans?"

"Wrong."

"Well, either that or slaying demonic entities. Other than that, I have no answer left."

She smiled and nodded at me in confirmation that I answered correctly. Cool, I guess I'm now a... uh... demon slayer? Somehow, it doesn't sound right. Still, just knowing that I have a natural advantage against demons are actually pretty convenient because there are lots of demon related quest.

"So that's my magic? Demon slayer or whatever?"

"Yes, that's why I'm taking you to be my student from now on!"

While I was delighted by the offer, I feel that it's unnecessary because I can't see myself going to quests that involve a lot of fighting considering that I already have enough wealth to support me. There's also the issue of most perverts at the guild will be out for my blood upon knowing that I "stole" their precious Mira-chan from them.

"Maybe I should decline from your offer."

However, what I got from her was a grin.

"Oh, I get it! You don't want your precious time with Laki be stolen by me. You don't have to worry about that!"

Okay, she really is getting the wrong idea about us but it's just a harmless misunderstandings. Not like she's the one to parade around saying unconfirmed information. For all I know, maybe she actually know the truth but just continue to tease me about it because she find it fun. A lot of onee-san type people are like that.

"Fine, I'll let you train me. But please do it away from your fanclub. I don't want to die early."

"I get what you mean. Well, there are a lot of area for that inside the forest."

I guess that settles it. I'm going to become Strauss's student about the demonic aspect of my magic. Sure, there are lots that I could learn from Olietta but the more knowledge I have about my magic, the better. And maybe by getting to know more about demons, I'll get to understand the rumored Zeref's demon books, and by extension, Zeref himself. I mean, ever since that conversation with Mystogan, I've been fixated on Zeref and his demons as the reason why I'm here on this blasted dimension.

"I guess I'll be in your care this time as well."

"Okay, I don't want to keep you from your day off any further so see ya!"

And with that, I finally got my well-deserved day off. Now that I'm, well, rich, I finally got the chance to buy a lot of books. What made my purchase more satisfying is that I'm not hyped nor discouraged by the books I'm about to read because there's no internet here to spoil me about them. The only thing that came close to a spoiler are the reviews of those books written on Sorcerer's Weekly, and even those are controlled to be spoiler-free.

My "shopping" went very fast because I just picked everything at random. After I hoarded a lot of books, I immediately went home and constructed my own personal library which contains all sorts of books that I'm interested in. Those include fiction, magic related, researches, and yes, science and math books that I only bought for its aesthetics. As for the fiction ones, if they turn out to be a pile of shit, I'll just either sell them or donate them to those who are willing to receive them.

Overall, I think that my life here on Earthland wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm rich and has a stable job that doesn't require me to become a corporate slave, and most importantly. However, I still can't get over my old place on some random neighborhood at Chiba. I missed my family especially Komachi, and yes, even Hiratsuka-sensei and my club mates. It's like I can't let go of both worlds.

If only there's a way to travel back and forth the two worlds. That way, me being here is just like me being far away for work like those who work overseas.

Well, at least I can dream as much as I want.