Juan had been defeated after Ben mercilessly punched his head. Ben reverted back to his normal form before taking off the magical items that Juan was wearing. There are some small cracks, but they are still acceptable.
He put the magical items into a bag, then returned to the ruins of the mansion while dragging a tied-up Juan with him. Ben didn't have any external injuries, but the muscles inside his body were damaged.
Juan didn't do any external damage to Ben. But it damaged his insides, especially the muscles in his arms and feet. His muscles feel very sore now after he deactivated his elemental mode.
He didn't feel that much before because of his elemental mode's enhancement. His adrenaline was also high before, but now it was gone. But it wasn't a issue as he no longer had to fight.
Ben arrived at the ruins after 5 minutes and saw the others were there already. He sighed in disappointment as he was the last person to finish his battle. It's a little bit childish, but he really wanted to finish his battle first.
"BEN!" Bella shouted, flying towards him with a happy expression.
"I'm back." He said, catching her in his arms.
"Took you long enough to finish, Ben." Elfman said with a smirk.
"Well, I needed to make sure the magical items weren't destroy-" Ben said, before trailing off.
Ben looked at the tied-up Harry and Elise who's magical items were broken. A dark expression formed on his face and he looked at the 2 siblings. They throw their heads back and whistle nervously.
"I thought I told you that we need to bring the magical items back." He said with a dark expression.
"T-They're here, you know." Mira said, pointing at the scraps of the magical items near Harry and Elise.
Ben's eyes twitched and he wanted to shout in anger. Instead, he sighed in defeat. It already happened, so there's nothing he can do about it now. Getting angry won't restore the magical items to normal.
"At least the best one is still intact." Ben tried to cheer himself up.
Bella patted him in the head because she felt sorry for him. She is also angry with the siblings and she scolded them already. But the two were happy instead because she looked really cute when she was angry.
"Whatever. The job's complete, so we can return after resting for a bit." Ben said.
"Alright." The siblings replied.
Ben placed Juan next to Harry and Elise and tied them up together. Then he laid on the ground to relax. Mira sat beside him after she finished putting bandages on Elfman.
"Are you okay?" Mira asked, concerned.
"Just some sore muscles. This guy is very tricky, he is the smartest opponent I've ever faced." Ben remarked.
"I'm sorry for destroying the magical items." Mira apologized.
"It's okay. We just destroyed 2 sets and saved the rest. That should be enough to avoid punishment. Besides, if they want all the magic items back intact, they should do it themselves." Ben replied.
"But won't it be a problem for your guild? I'm not proud of this, but we're used to getting in trouble with the Magic Council. We will be fine, but your guild might get in trouble." Mira asked.
"They can do it if they want, I dare them to. That is if they're prepared for the consequences." Ben said with a smirk.
Mira was stunned by Ben's answer, but she didn't say anything. At least Ben's not too worried about this problem and it relieved her. She was worried Ben would blame her and hate her for that.
'N-NO NO NO, why should I be worried if he hates me? It's not like that will be a problem. We don't have any serious relationship or anything. Eh? S-Serious relationship?! What am I thinking?' Mira thought while blushing and shaking her head frantically.
Ben is confused after seeing Mira's expression. 'What happened to her?'
Elfman can only sigh after seeing his sister act like this. He knew she liked Ben, but she was still oblivious of her own feelings. She might've looked like a bad girl in the past, but she was still very innocent.
After resting for 10 minutes, Ben decided to check out the ruins. He might find some useful information that will give them extra points. Maybe there will even be some treasure and money here.
Ben lifted the ruins into the air with his Gravity Magic. He reduced the gravity instead of increasing it to make the ruins float. Mira and Bella helped Ben investigate the ruins while Elfman laid down because he was seriously injured.
They found some treasure and money the Dark Guild gathered. The treasure and money will be their bonus from this job. They also found some important documents that can be sold at a high price to the Council.
"Heh, now the Council won't be able to punish us over some lost magical items. These documents will prove to be more important than the magical items." Ben said with a smirk.
"Why are they more important?" Mira asked.
"These documents have information on a lot of Dark Guilds. As a Dark Guild, these guys must have been in contact with other Dark Guilds. Some of them might want to work together to protect themselves." Ben explained.
In the documents there are some locations, Guild mages' names, their magics, etc. The Council will want it because it will make their Dark Guild hunt easier. Ben can use these documents as a bargaining chip to avoid punishment and get some extra rewards in the process.
Ben flipped through the documents and asked A.I Chip to scan them because he was also curious about them. He wouldn't be able to read them after giving them to the Magic Council. As he flipped through the papers, he found something interesting.
'A map?' Ben thought as he looked at a small map.
Ben flipped the map over and read the writing on the back. The writing showed that it was a map to a lacrima mine. But then A.I Chip detected something on the writing and found out it was written in code.
'Can you decipher it?' Ben asked A.I Chip.
[Deciphering code...finished!
Code: 'The Dark Sun']
'Huh? What's the meaning of that?' Ben asked, confused.
[There are no further details.]
Ben was confused, but it also made him curious. 'The Dark Sun' meant that this had a connection with the sun. It might be useful, so he decided to keep the map.
'It might be something dangerous, but it is also a good opportunity. Maybe I'll find a way to stop my Dragon Seed or it might help me get stronger. I really need strength if I want to defeat Acnologia.' Ben thought.
Ben and co investigate the ruins for a half hour. They found more treasure and money there. After that, they left the forest and walked to Ben's car. They dragged the dark mages with them and tied them to a tree near the car.
Mira then contacted the Magic Council while Ben stored the treasure and money in the car. They waited for an hour before the Magic Council's airship arrived.
As predicted, the Council was displeased with the destroyed magical items. But their expressions changed drastically after seeing the documents. They had friendly smiles on their faces and praise Ben's group. They even gave his group more money as a reward.
'Tch, shameless bastards.' Ben thought while smiling the Council members.