The streets were pretty crowded this time of day, so a job where you had to seek out a specific person wasn't going to be easy. Fortunately, Batra was a good artist and the conman's appearance was anything about ordinary; it was long before Houren got a glimpse of the man's horrid haircut in the distance and chased after him. Much to Houren's surprise though, the conman who's name happened to be Kyle did not run away at all. Instead, he looked troubled about something. He did not run away and Houren did not need to give chase, the conman actually walked up to the Fairy Tail mage and handed him a bag of what seemed to be jewels. "This is the full amount, so tell the big guy to stop sending guys after me, alright?" Kyle didn't seem particularly pleased, not that Houren didn't understand how he felt. The conman shoved both hands into his pockets and slunk away, leaving Houren with the money that was owed to the scammed customer. Feeling that the job was a lot easier than he had anticipated, he headed back to the inn, happy that his final job in Crocus seemed to go by without a hitch. He was all smiles when he handed the cash to Batra and told him the story, who seemed skeptical that Kyle would give his spoils up so easily. Despite that though, he took the money and began to count, but suddenly stopped midway with a surprised look on his features.

He took one of the jewels, played around with it in his hand before putting it into his mouth and biting. "Yeah, Houren; this isn't real money. When you've been in the trade as long as I have, you can tell just by tasting," he threw the worthless jewel away. He addressed Houren next, but strangely enough, the middle aged bartender did not seem particularly fazed or worried at all. "Oh, another benefit of having been in the thread for this long is that you learn not to panic. Listen, this trick is pretty standard among people who steal from others for a living. They feign repentance, return the 'money', then skip town while everyone is still fooled. So you know what to do, right?" he grinned, a sentiment Houren returned as he headed for the exit that lead out of town.

And there he was, just as Batra had said.

It was lucky that the bartender was so perceptive when it came to matters of the coin. If they had taken any longer to find out that the jewels had been fake, then Kyle would likely have been halfway to Era by now. Fortunately though, his cockiness had gotten the better of him and he was leisurely strolling out of the city. His sixth sense, perhaps the kind you pick up when you've pissed off a certain amount of people, must have tingled as he turned around, spotted Houren walking after him and started to run. This prompted the Fairy Tail mage to do the exact same thing, not a difficult feat as he had already mentally and physically prepared himself for a running match throughout the city center. He was much taller and had longer legs than Kyle, so he was confident in his ability to catch the running scammer. At first, the distance between the two had been substantial but as the chase continued, the conman Kyle begun to slow yet Houren was consistent. Eventually, the distance shortened until Kyle knew that he was going to be caught; the only thing left for him to do was to fight, to hope that he could knock the wind out of his pursuer and escape. The conman suddenly halted to a full stop and turned around, a menacing look on his face as he attempted to lunge at Houren.

"Don't get cocky, you damn do gooder! I'm definitely faster than you, but I just had a big lunch. Damn you! Damn you! I'm not going back to prison! I can defeat a low rate mage like you with just my wits!" Houren took the hit without dodging, and much to his pleasant surprise, Kyle was not physically strong. A single punch from Houren was able to cause the con man to stumble back, holding his nose in pain. It seemed like his earlier boast was true; he lacked strength, but made up for it in speed. However he had hindered his own speed by consuming too much food, and now he could not outrun Houren because of that. Yes, if the Fairy Tail mage were to complete this job, then it was due to the intervention of lady luck as well as his own ability as a mage.

It was time to finish this; rather than let the conman Kyle regain his composure, Houren immediately dashed forward, hitting the man in the face repeatedly, and adding a few rounds on the stomach too, in an effort to take the wind out of him. He had attempted to block, but they were not very effective. When he tried to safeguard his face, Houren aimed for the stomach and when he went for the stomach, Houren hit his face. When Kyle flailed both his arms in an futile effort to protect both his face and body, he left many holes that Houren could easily exploit. By the end of it, Houren was panting lightly whereas Kyle was in a bloody heap on the floor.

When the man could only cry for mercy, Houren grabbed him by his legs and dragged him all the way back to the inn where he threw the conman in front of Batra who said that he would now handle things from here. "How many times has it been now, Kyle? I think you'll be in jail for a long, long time," the words were exactly smug from Batra, but he did seem relieved that he had managed to get the scammed money back for one of his regular customers. He then thanked Houren for his service and gave him his payment.

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