Everyone in the guild knew that although Precht was usually a bit cold in his interactions, he was actually the most considerate and steady person in the guild.
For instance, right now, as soon as Yuri made a request, he lent out all his money without a second word.
Weston leaned over to peek into Precht's coin purse and immediately made a strange face: "A guy like you who almost never leaves the house—how do you have such meager savings?"
"Most of my money went toward buying magic books and items."
"What kind of magic books and items cost that much? You weren't scammed by some black-market merchant, were you?"
Precht shook his head: "No, besides the books and items, there's something else. Do you remember that magic research institute we encountered before?"
Weston blinked, thinking for several seconds before remembering: "The one researching Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"Exactly!"
"I contacted them several times afterward and made a few deals."
Deals...
Given Precht's personality, it certainly wasn't to buy invisibility potions for the women's bathhouse; it was highly probable he was doing some bizarre magical research.
But since he clearly didn't intend to elaborate, Weston didn't bother to ask more.
"Honestly, in the end, it still has to rely on me!"
Hearing this, Yuri's spirits instantly lifted. He quickly stuffed Precht's coin purse into his robe, then spread both palms upward and reached out toward Weston.
"Weston... no, Guild Master!"
"Thank you for your sponsorship!!"
Good grief!
For the sake of a little money, he even blurted out the title "Guild Master," which he usually wouldn't say even if his life depended on it...
"I really can't do anything with you... follow me!!"
Weston was indeed wealthy. In fact, he was the richest person in all of Fairy Tail, perhaps even in all of Magnolia.
His sources of income mainly came from two places.
The first, naturally, was the operational revenue of the guild; the second was the profit from his partnership with the Mayor of Magnolia in developing the town.
After defeating Blue Skull years ago, in order to restore Magnolia's economy in the shortest time possible, Weston had formulated an urban development plan for the Mayor.
During this process, through various methods that both parties tacitly understood, he had incorporated certain areas of the town under his own name.
Since then, he had built houses on these lands for rent or established storefronts for business. By now, he had long since recouped his capital and had even made a significant profit.
Speaking of which, the "Meow Meow Tea Restaurant" where the siblings Morgan and Sura worked was one of them.
But Weston's assets didn't stop there.
After the "Fiore Royal Civil War," Queen Lily had not only granted him the titles of "Chief Imperial Court Wizard" and "Duke of the Kingdom" but had also bestowed upon him Tenrou Island and a thousand acres of land surrounding Magnolia.
Coincidentally, in recent years, many merchants had seen Magnolia's future potential and arrived in the town one after another seeking development.
Weston took the opportunity to lease out a portion of those thousand acres and acted as a middleman to introduce the merchants to the Mayor. The three parties cooperated to develop Magnolia together, earning him even more money through these means.
The current Weston was already the most powerful and influential person in the surrounding towns.
Half an hour later.
The two arrived at Weston's home.
This house was the one they had purchased right after they first arrived in Magnolia.
At that time, although they had seized Blue Skull's treasures, the treasures were difficult to liquidate, and they needed to keep enough funds to build the guild. Thus, the six of them simply squeezed into one house.
Later, once the guild was built, Yuri, Precht, and Warrod moved out, leaving only Weston, Mavis, and Zera living here.
Admittedly, this house could not compare to the houses built in town in recent years in terms of size, decoration, or newness, but it had accompanied them through the initial hardships of starting their venture—a time of sharing both joy and sorrow—making it quite significant.
"It's been a long time since I've been here. Truly nostalgic!"
"Hmm... the outside of the house looks unchanged, but the inside has changed quite a bit."
The moment he entered the house, Yuri caught a scent that was both familiar and strange, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"It's only normal for there to be changes!"
"When the three of you still lived here, this place could only be called an 'employee dormitory'; after you three moved out, this became the 'love nest' for Mavis, Zera, and me!"
"Can a 'dormitory' and a 'love nest' be the same thing?"
While retorting, Weston led Yuri into the house toward a certain small room.
Yuri stood at the doorway of the small room and was momentarily stunned: "I remember this used to be the bedroom where I stayed, right?"
"Yeah, I've converted it into a vault now."
"So... your money is kept here?"
Weston answered subconsciously: "The money for daily expenses is kept elsewhere, of course, but your trip this time will probably cost a lot. I was afraid you wouldn't have enough to spend..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
"Wait! What are you trying to do, prying so much?"
"Just simple curiosity, just asking a little. You're so good to me, what bad intentions could I possibly have?"
"Heh... it better stay that way!"
Weston raised an eyebrow and pressed his hand against the door.
In an instant, magic power surged.
Five magic circles of different colors emerged one after another, rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise in the air.
A few seconds later, with a "click," the door automatically opened a crack.
Weston withdrew his magic but wasn't in a hurry to enter. Instead, he grabbed the door handle to close it, then knocked three times, then twice, then three times again. He stood still for three seconds before finally pushing the door open to enter.
This string of operations, which wasn't necessarily complex but was definitely abnormal, left Yuri standing behind him dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"This... this is..."
He knew Weston wouldn't make unnecessary movements.
If any of those steps had been missed or done wrong, even Weston himself might have suffered for it.
Sure enough, Weston's words in the next second confirmed his suspicion.
"Let me warn you first: I've placed over a hundred types of enchantments inside. Every single one can instantly take down a wizard of your level. Furthermore, if any one enchantment is triggered, the remaining ones will immediately enter a 'living link' state with the intruder, which won't disconnect until that person is dead..."
"Only if it's me, Mavis, or Zera opening the door can one enter unharmed."
At this point, he gave Yuri a look that said 'you get it.'
Yuri's hand instantly trembled, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.
The two of them walked into the vault, one behind the other.
Since Weston and the others rarely entered the vault, there was nothing extra inside except for three safes and a set of table and chairs—the latter was for them to sit on when counting money.
However, at this moment, something very strange had appeared on that table.