Inside the bustling hall of Fairy Tail, the guild's top combat forces—excluding Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe—were gathered around a table, their eyes burning as they stared at a request form issued by the Northern Continent's Magic Council.
"So... you brat actually accepted this request?"
Makarov looked at Hope with a helpless gaze, because the content of this request was to deal with a dragon.
As Mirajane read the contents of the request form word by word, it felt like a heavy bomb had been dropped into the noisy hall. The previously clamorous guild fell silent for an instant, only to erupt into an even more intense wave of sound.
"A dragon?! Is it a real dragon?!"
Natsu was the first to jump up, his eyes wide and round, flames igniting uncontrollably on his fists. "Giltina in the Northern Continent? Let's head out right now, Hope!"
Happy threw cold water on him from the side. "Calm down, Natsu! Think about that fraud'Salamander' who tricked Lucy so badly back then."
Lucy thought: You really had to bring that up, didn't you? "It won't be like that; the Council of the Northern Continent wouldn't make a mistake on something like this," Erza said with certainty.
Cana drank her wine silently, not speaking.
Gray, for once, didn't argue with Natsu. He looked at the request form with a furrowed brow and asked in confusion, "Weren't the dragons all wiped out over 400 years ago? Why are they popping up again in this era?"
This was the reason Hope had accepted the request.
Although dragons were the ceiling of magical creature combat power, they had long since been driven to extinction by Acnologia. So where did the dragons of the Northern Continent come from?
Or rather... was the extinction of the dragon race limited to the continent of Ishgar? Perhaps Acnologia hadn't hunted down the dragons that fled to other places.
Regardless, the Northern Continent was worth a visit.
Seeing that Hope had already made his decision, Gildarts, who hadn't voiced an opinion yet, suddenly sighed. "Actually, the Hundred Year Quest I took on was also to deal with the dragons of the Northern Continent."
Everyone was shocked again. To think even that mysterious Hundred Year Quest was related to dragons... Didn't that mean the dragons of the Northern Continent were incredibly strong? They were likely monsters that had lived for at least hundreds of years, such that the Northern Continent was still helpless after a hundred years and had even reached out to Ishgar for help.
Unlike the serious expressions of the others, Natsu and Gajeel were absolutely jubilant after hearing Gildarts' words.
As everyone knew, the original purpose of 'Dragon Slayer Magic' was to combat evil dragons.
And now, the Northern Continent being ravaged by evil dragons was exactly the stage for Dragon Slayer Mages like them to shine.
"Let's just form a Dragon Slayer Mage squad!"
Natsu said excitedly, "I'll be the leader, the Red Warrior. Hope and Erza will be the White Warriors, Laxus is the Yellow Warrior, Wendy is the Blue Warrior, Gajeel is the additional Black Warrior, and Hope's freedom gundam can..."
"Wait a minute!"
Gajeel voiced his objection. "Why do you get to be the leader? It should be this great me!"
Everyone watched the two of them suddenly start arguing over a non-existent Dragon Slayer squad and couldn't help but facepalm.
There was no Dragon Slayer squad, but there were certainly two idiots.
Hope ignored the antics and noticed a detail that had almost been overlooked. "Did any of you notice an issue in what Gildarts said?"
"He took on the Hundred Year Quest three years ago, yet three years later, Gildarts is still on the continent of Ishgar and even had the time to go to the Sacred Peak Mount Zonia..."
Hearing him say this, everyone looked at Gildarts in unison.
This alcoholic uncle... could he be using the Hundred Year Quest as an excuse to avoid becoming Makarov's successor and just openly fool around outside?
While Gildarts didn't seem like that kind of person, before Cana revealed their relationship, who would have known this guy was a womanizer who had dated many women?
You can know a man's face but not his heart... For a moment, everyone's gazes became strange. Even Natsu, who usually idolized Gildarts, looked at him with wavering eyes.
Gildarts didn't really care how others viewed him, but he found it impossible to ignore Makarov's murderous gaze.
Gildarts immediately started sweating profusely.
Although he had chosen to accept the Hundred Year Quest to challenge himself, he did indeed have the ulterior motive of not wanting to become the guild master back then.
"Uh... listen to my explanation."
Gildarts wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. "My client told me that there are five dragons in total in the Northern Continent, and each one has power not inferior to the Black Dragon."
"So I thought I'd first test how strong the Black Dragon was, which is why I stayed in Ishgar to search for traces of it. Finally, I lost an arm and a leg at Sacred Peak Mount Zonia, and the mission failed there."
The moment he heard the alcoholic uncle's series of excuses, a GIF from the New Three Kingdoms—the one where Cao Cao flips his rice bowl—automatically started playing in Hope's mind.
You're telling me there are actually five dragons in the Northern Continent as powerful as Acnologia?
Is the client who issued the Hundred Year Quest really not joking... Hope felt that Acnologia, who had been a shut-in in Ishgar, probably didn't know there were people in the north who could brag like this. Otherwise, he likely would have slaughtered his way over long ago and taken care of both the people and the dragons.
But regardless, it was certain that dragons existed on the Northern Continent of Giltina, and there were allegedly five of them. It was worth a boat ticket just to go and see such rare animals.
However, this request was Hope's after all. Whether to form a team and who to bring along was his decision to make.
Looking at the eager gazes around him, Hope smiled slightly and immediately locked onto the dodging figure. "Lucy, let's go on an adventure together!"
"Eh?"
"No way..."
Although Lucy had gone through the Tenrou Island incident and had personally fought against the demon officers of Tartaros, eventually defeating them with Cana, she was still very timid.
Hearing that they were going to subjugate beings "said" to be on par with the legendary Black Dragon made her legs feel a bit weak.
And then to be called out by Hope... Seeing Lucy on the verge of tears, Erza gave Hope's waist a hard pinch. "Stop making fun of Lucy and get to the point."
Hope rubbed his waist with a sigh. "Actually, I don't want to form a team."
Everyone immediately looked disappointed.
"Forming a team is too boring, so I plan to form a tour group."
Hope pulled out a small flag from somewhere and waved it in his hand. "The Giltina Sightseeing Tour Group is now officially open for registration!"
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