"As far as I know, Fairy Tail's relationship with the royal family is already very good. Otherwise, the crown would never let you run around destroying things all over the country."
"That's actually the first time I've heard it put that way... but thinking about it, there really is some logic to it."
Kabe picked up the emblem and casually turned it over in his hand.
"If you like it, you can keep it. It was originally entrusted to me by King Toma for exactly that purpose."
Jude raised a hand, signaling for Kabe to accept it, and Kabe did not bother pretending to be polite. He directly slipped it into his pocket.
With that thing in hand, at the very least, dealing with Fiore's officials in the future would become much more convenient.
Seeing that Kabe showed no real resistance to being drawn closer by the royal family, the delight on Jude's face deepened even more.
"A young man with your kind of reputation would naturally have caught the royal family's attention long ago.
It just so happens that my late wife, Layla, had a certain connection with the royal family.
And somehow, the king heard that I have some personal connection with you, so he asked me to speak with you on his behalf.
He wants to know whether you have any intention of taking José's place and becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
Kabe fell silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
Jude did not rush him. He simply waited patiently for his answer.
Not long after, the maid who had gone to prepare the coffee returned and set down their lattes.
Once she left, Kabe picked up his cup and took a small sip, then immediately made a face.
"So bitter... I mean, sure. If the royal family doesn't have any other conditions, then I have no problem agreeing."
"How could there be conditions? The royal family only wants to keep the Ten Wizard Saints within the kingdom.
In fact, if you wish, King Toma is also willing to grant you the title of court earl...
As long as you don't betray the kingdom, the title can even be passed down to your descendants."
"Tch. A court noble without any fief is useless to me.
For a mage like me, having the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints is already enough."
"You can't say that. A noble is still a noble. Who knows, maybe one day if you render great service to the kingdom, you'll be granted land too."
Jude, in truth, would much rather have Kabe accept the earl title along with everything else.
That way, perhaps one day Kabe and Lucy's child could inherit it.
After all, he had more than enough land. When the time came, he could just transfer some under his future grandchild's name, and would that not make them a true landed earl?
"Hah, fine. If the king is willing to give it, then I have no objections.
But let's wait until the matter of the Ten Wizard Saints is settled first. There's no point discussing too much before that."
"You don't need to worry about that. Fiore still has quite a bit of influence inside the Council."
Jude looked utterly confident, as though he did not believe anything could go wrong.
Inside, he was already overjoyed.
With the royal family's network, his future son-in-law was on the verge of becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
And through acting as the middleman in this matter, he himself had successfully built a connection with the royal family.
From now on, the Heartfilia Conglomerate's influence inside the kingdom would naturally rise as well.
Not only would business become easier to expand, but ordinary nobles and merchants would also no longer dare covet the conglomerate so lightly.
In short, Kabe won, the royal family won, and he won too.
And out of all of them, he had done almost nothing. He had merely passed along a message, yet somehow ended up the biggest winner of all.
He was making out like a bandit.
In such a good mood, Jude directly pulled out a checkbook from his coat.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
He wrote down a long string of numbers, signed it at the bottom, and handed it to Kabe.
"Kabe, this is the support we previously agreed upon for your guild.
Don't think it's too little. From now on, every year, I'll provide Fairy Tail with another sponsorship of the same amount."
Kabe took the check, lowered his eyes to look at it, and instantly felt the corners of his mouth twitch violently.
1 billion J!!
Not just as a one-time payment either.
Ten billion? No.
One billion every single year.
If the Master saw this, he would probably drop to his knees for Jude on the spot.
"This is too much. Our guild follows an elite route. We're not like those low-level guilds that open branches everywhere and need this much funding."
Seeing the check pushed back toward him, it was Jude's turn to be stunned.
Too much? Is 1 billion considered a lot? Or... is this his way of politely saying I'm offering too little?
At this stage of his career, Jude was in exactly that phase where money had become so abstract that he no longer had a clear sense of what counted as much and what counted as little.
So after naturally doing a bit of mental gymnastics, he suddenly looked enlightened. He patted Kabe on the shoulder and smiled.
"That makes sense. Just money alone really may be a bit too insincere on my part.
How about this? I'll transfer five percent of the Heartfilia Conglomerate's shares to you.
And after you marry Lucy, I'll transfer another fifteen percent.
As for the rest, once I die, it will naturally all belong to the two of you as husband and wife."
Kabe just sat there with his mouth hanging open in a daze.
No, wait, was that what I meant at all? More importantly, what exactly is the Heartfilia Conglomerate worth right now?
Did I just achieve the Saiyan dream and end up living off a rich woman?