"What?! The S-Class Trial got postponed?! And it's being combined with some kind of tournament?!"
That night, at Kabe's dinner table, the travel-worn Cana and Levy were instantly thrown into chaos after hearing the news.
Irene, who had come over with Brandish to freeload dinner, glanced sideways at Kabe, utterly speechless.
"Hey, weren't you all supposed to keep this secret? You leaked everything the moment you got home."
After first explaining Fairy Tail's planned prank on the unsuspecting guild members, Kabe finally answered Irene's complaint.
"The people we're hiding it from are idiots like Natsu, Gray, Macao, and Wakaba. What does that have to do with Cana and Levy?
They're my beloved little wives. How could I bear to prank them?"
Seeing Kabe's deeply affectionate expression, both Irene and Brandish immediately rolled their eyes.
"That sounds nice and all, but in the end you're just a scumbag who values women more than friends."
Brandish spoke dismissively while lazily holding a spoon in her mouth.
"Shut up. You're eating food from my house while saying that. Believe it or not, I'll throw you outside right now."
Knowing she was in the wrong, Brandish let out a dissatisfied "hmph" and immediately lowered her head to continue attacking the desserts in silence.
For a while, the dining table fell quiet.
Cana and Levy continued eating while thinking about the upcoming examination.
Especially Cana.
Originally, she had been fully determined to pass this year's S-Class Trial. But now that things had suddenly changed like this, she inevitably felt somewhat uneasy.
As for Brandish, she completely ignored all the proper dishes on the table and devoted herself entirely to devouring every sweet in sight.
Meanwhile, Irene, despite supposedly coming to freeload dinner, hadn't touched her chopsticks even once from beginning to end.
Even while drinking the finest wine Kabe owned, there wasn't the slightest expression on her face.
Seeing this, Kabe couldn't help asking with concern,
"After all this time, have you made any progress with the Dragonification issue?"
"It's not that simple. My research has only just begun."
Setting down her wineglass, Irene sighed helplessly.
Because of Dragonification, she had long since lost the taste system of a normal human.
Everything she ate was flavorless.
She didn't even need sleep anymore.
Putting on pajamas and lying in bed with her eyes closed was nothing more than a form of self-comfort.
Even though her exchange with Igneel had allowed her to glimpse a possible way to resolve the side effects, truly solving these problems would still require an enormous amount of time and research.
At that moment, Cana finally gave up worrying about the exam and joined the conversation instead.
"Dragonification? What's that? It sounds kinda amazing."
Kabe glanced at Irene. Seeing that she didn't seem particularly bothered by the topic, he gave a simple explanation.
"Dragonification is a side effect of Dragon Slayer Magic. While it allows humans to transform into dragons, it also causes them to lose things like taste and the need for sleep."
Cana and Levy froze for a moment before instinctively looking toward Irene with sympathy.
But then another thought immediately surfaced in their minds.
"If even Irene suffers like this, then doesn't that mean Natsu..."
Kabe already knew what they wanted to ask and quickly reassured them.
"Don't worry. Because of various factors, Natsu doesn't have that problem.
Irene only suffers from it because she was the creator of Dragon Slayer Magic and lacked sufficient experience back then."
'As for Acnologia... that lunatic obsessed with power probably enjoys it.'
Kabe silently added the final thought in his heart.
In his eyes, Acnologia had already become completely dragonized in both body and mind.
Although Kabe hadn't explained every detail, hearing that Natsu didn't need to worry about Dragonification still made the two girls visibly relax.
At the same time, however, their admiration for Irene deepened even further.
In order to create Dragon Slayer Magic, eliminate dragons, and protect the weak humans of that era, Irene truly had sacrificed far too much.
Fortunately, the current Irene had long since come to terms with these matters. She even began comforting the two girls instead.
"You don't need to worry about me. I've already found a method to solve the side effects.
As long as you give me enough time, I'll eventually be able to taste food and wine again and live as a proper human once more."
"Mm! If it's you, Irene, you'll definitely succeed!"
The two girls firmly believed her words and immediately encouraged her enthusiastically.
A rare smile appeared on Irene's face as she felt genuinely happy that Erza had such gentle and kind companions.
"By the way, Lady Irene, there's actually something I've been wanting to ask for a while now."
After completely annihilating the last of her chocolate sundae, Brandish finally joined the discussion.
"According to what you've said, dragons seem to be a race without taste.
But yesterday, when I visited Hosen Village, I saw Lady Selene happily drinking sake all by herself.
That woman is a genuine dragon. And when I saw her drinking, she definitely didn't look like someone who couldn't taste anything."
The moment those words were spoken, both Irene and Kabe froze.
The memory of drinking together with Selene immediately surfaced in their minds.
Meanwhile, Levy also seemed to recall something as she lightly tapped her cheek with a finger.
"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing Natsu brag before about how incredible his grilled meat skills were. He even said his foster father, the Fire Dragon Igneel, absolutely loved eating it."