A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Kira nodded: "That's right!"

"Do you know where Igniru went?"

Despite his dizziness and confused thoughts, Natsu ran over and asked. For years, he had been heartbroken because he couldn't find Igneel anywhere, but from Kira's words, it was clear that he knew something.

"Tell me—uh—tell me, Kira!"

Kira silently pulled Natsu's hand away, lowering his eyes and saying, "I'm sorry, Natsu, this is the only thing I can't tell you!"

Do you want me to tell you that Igneel is long dead, his bones are gone, and the one who just chased us was the murderer, but a part of his soul is still in you, and for the past 7 years he has been spying on you... no, I mean, accompanying you and witnessing your growth?

Wouldn't that be a huge loss? Intelligence is valuable, you know? We've given away enough for free today!

"But Natsu, I can tell you, Igneel has always been by your side!"

"..."

In the hearts of the Fairy Tail members, Kira's personality is always so hard to describe.

He loves to make sarcastic remarks, often only saying half of what he means, and frequently uttering nonsensical or incomprehensible statements. Yet, sometimes he can also make startling remarks, or hit the nail on the head, or speak very gently, giving the impression that he is actually a thoughtful and sensitive person.

"You're saying Igniru has always been by my side?"

This statement clearly piqued Natsu's interest and aroused the curiosity of the surrounding audience, but Kira refused to explain, leaving only riddles such as "This matter involves a lot," "You'll understand later," and "Those who understand will understand, and those who don't will find it difficult to explain."

Natsu was both anxious and angry, and in the end, having no other choice, he went back to lying down and continued to feel disgusting.

“But Kira, how do you know all this?” Lucy asked. “I’ve never seen any information about dragons in any book.”

They didn't doubt the accuracy of Kira's intelligence, but they were still very curious about its source.

"Of course I have my own sources of intelligence!"

Saying it is pointless!

"Such things should only be known to those closely involved. Could it be that Kira, you've seen other dragons, or did you hear about them from them?"

Gildarts also looked at Kira, curious as to how Kira knew.

Even he himself only came into contact with dragons for the first time in his life after receiving the century-old mission, confirming that dragons really still existed in this world.

He didn't even know that using Dragon Slayer Magic too much would turn him into a dragon.

Did Kira really see a dragon?

Kira shook his head in denial: "No, this is the first time I've ever seen a dragon in person. There aren't many dragons left these days. As far as I know, there are less than 10 still alive. They're not so easy to find."

"That's already a lot!"

Ten heads? Gildas's heart sank as he silently calculated.

He knew that Kira was definitely referring to the five dragons in his mission objective: the Water Dragon, the Fire Dragon, the Wood Dragon, the Moon Dragon, and the Gold Dragon. The remaining dragons were the guild leader who issued the mission, the Fa Dragon, and Acnologia, making a total of seven.

Thinking this, Gildas muttered to himself, "So, there are at most three left?"

Is Igneel, whom Natsu is looking for, among them?

Kana, who was closest to him, heard the voice and asked, "What, three?"

"No...it's nothing...Speaking of which, Kira!"

"Hmm?" Kira turned his gaze to Gildas, who had called him. "What's wrong?"

Do you know what the task I was assigned to is?

"No...no! What are you talking about? I don't understand anything, hahaha..."

His acting was so bad, even a fool could tell he was doing it on purpose.

'This guy is clearly saying: I know, and I'm going to let you know I know, but I'm not going to admit it, just to keep you curious.'

Gildas sighed: "Alright, I understand your attitude. You don't need to act anymore."

"If you know, you know. I don't care how you found out. But you absolutely must not tell anyone about the mission details, and you must not do it alone."

Hearing this, Kira agreed and said loudly, "I understand! You're right, the five dragons are still too strong. I'm no match for them now."

Gildas: "..."

I told you not to tell anyone, you brat!

Kira's voice was very loud, and it sparked a lot of discussion.

"What?! So Gildarts's mission really is related to dragons?"

"Could it be a dragon slayer?"

"Are we going to fight someone like Acnologia?"

"There are actually five dragons?"

Natsu's hope was rekindled: "They—uh—they...could they...have...news...about Igneel?"

Seriously, Kira wouldn't want Natsu to do the Hundred-Year Quest right now, would he? Natsu doesn't have the ability to fight a Dragon yet; going there would just be suicide!

If he could, Gildarts really wanted to get up and beat Kira up, but unfortunately he was seriously injured and could only manage to say, "Natsu, calm down!"

Fortunately, even he himself didn't know where those dragons were, so he could only wander around a few continents and try his luck.

'Although I know he was joking, it seems Kira really does intend to have Natsu do the Hundred-Year Quest someday. But as long as it's not now, that's fine. Besides, Kira probably doesn't know the exact location of the Five Divine Dragons yet... right?'

"Damn it! It's really hard to say!"

Seeing Gildarts suddenly glare fiercely at Kira, the group fell silent. They knew Kira must have done something to anger Gildarts, and it was very likely related to the Hundred-Year Quest. Gildarts had previously mentioned that he had signed a confidentiality agreement…

After thinking it over, I finally let my sense of responsibility prevail over my curiosity.

Since a confidentiality agreement was signed with the client, Gildarts cannot reveal the mission, and they should not ask too many questions, otherwise it would affect Fairy Tail's reputation.

……

Gildas ultimately did not return to the guild, but instead disembarked from the airship midway.

"Gildas, if you're going to continue this quest, please take me with you! I beg you!"

Upon hearing Natsu's request, Gildarts simply shook his head: "No, I've had almost no news of you for the past three years, and now with this incident, things can't continue any longer."

"Then why don't you go back to the guild?"

"Phew... One must finish what one starts! I still need to go back and talk to the client, so I won't be going back with you guys for now. I'll go back to the guild and get some rest later!"

"But your injury..."

"It's okay, I'll be fine after a good rest. I should be fully recovered by the time I find the client."

Winter and Uncle Poole from the tavern also disembarked here.

"Anyway, we want to explore the mainland properly, so let's go with this uncle. He seems to be very experienced in traveling, and if his wound flares up on the way, there will be someone to take care of him."

The Fairy Tail members, of course, had no objection to this.

"Then I'll leave it to you!"

"Kana!"

Before parting, Gildarts suddenly called out to Cana, and Kira felt that his face was full of seriousness and struggle.

"what happened?"

Gildas remained silent, watching her quietly, lost in thought.

He smiled and said, "It's nothing, just take care of yourself!" only after Kana blushed slightly from his gaze.

The long-awaited and much-anticipated care left Kana somewhat at a loss: "Um... um!"

Goodbye!

Chapter 96 The Ghost Seeking Death

"I'm finally back!!"

Natsu and Happy were overjoyed to finally be back in Magnolia.

This mission was fraught with danger, but thankfully we escaped unscathed. Getting an S-rank mission and no longer being ridiculed by others was secondary; the most important thing was encountering a dragon and even fighting it—though he was soundly defeated and forced to flee.

The airship flew directly to the guild, but the closer they got, the heavier their hearts became, because while in the air, they saw that the guild had been smashed to pieces by several huge iron pillars.

"what happened?"

"Has someone made a move against Fairy Tail?"

Natsu was the most furious of them all. If Erza hadn't stopped him, he would have jumped down to demand an explanation: "Damn it! Who is it?! I'll make them pay!!"

After all, it's the place where everyone grew up, their home. No one could swallow their anger after witnessing this scene.

Kira had a guess. According to the plot, the next battle would be between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, and these iron pillars stuck in the guild were probably done by Gajeel.

If you calculate the time, in the original work, Natsu and the others returned from Galna Island just in time to be attacked by the guild. Although the mission has changed and the timing is somewhat different now, the overall situation is about the same.

Thinking back to the arrogant and delinquent look he had seen at the Fairy Tail branch, Kira felt an urge to beat him up. After all, he had been in Fairy Tail for eight or nine years, and it would be a lie to say he had no feelings for him.

However, when he heard Maklov say at the regular meeting that the council members had decided to let Phantom Lord join the fight against Oración Seimei, he thought the plot would change, but he didn't expect it to come to this.

"Let's go inside!"

In the tavern's basement, the atmosphere was heavy. Maklov was drinking alone, seemingly troubled by this month's expenses.

With a loud bang, the wooden door was pushed open forcefully by Natsu, who was walking at the front, and the guild immediately became lively.

"It's Kira and Erza, and Natsu, Gray... They're back!"

"Now I can finally relax. I haven't been able to sleep well these past few days."

"Waaaaah, you guys are finally back! Our guild was wrecked! You have to settle the score with those bastards!!"

Natsu entered the room and immediately shouted, "Who did this?"

Everyone looked worried, and seeing his angry expression only made them more annoyed. Only Mira, who handled everything in the guild, stepped forward to answer: "Who else could it be? It's the ruler of the Spectres!"

really!

While Mira was explaining the situation to the others, Kira walked straight to Makarov: "Chairman, we're back!"

The old man seemed unwilling to let them face these troubles, so he forced a smile: "Oh! You're back? How did the mission go? You didn't embarrass our guild, did you? Natsu and Lucy will be punished later! Oh, by the way, who won your bet?"