"You know about Diabolos?"
Elefseria nodded as though the answer were obvious.
"Of course. They are currently considered the strongest Mage guild in Guiltina. Their position here is probably comparable to Fairy Tail's in Ishgar."
Lucy's mouth fell slightly open.
"So their guild is actually that famous..."
Happy sat on the table and asked,
"Are they a Dark Guild?"
Elefseria frowned.
"No. Diabolos is a fully licensed legal guild. Their guild master, Georg Reizen, certainly has a terrible reputation, but as far as I know, they haven't broken any laws through their work."
Carla folded her arms thoughtfully.
"But something doesn't add up. Their entire guild exists to hunt dragons in Guiltina, and the Five Dragon Gods are clearly among their targets."
"Doesn't that mean they're carrying out the Hundred Years Quest too?"
"..."
Elefseria pressed his lips together and fell silent.
Wendy looked at him.
"I remember you saying that no one else was currently carrying out the request."
Elefseria remained quiet for a long moment before finally sighing and admitting the truth.
"I did give the request to someone else several decades ago."
"That person was Georg Reizen, though Diabolos did not exist at the time."
"Diabolos was founded because of the Hundred Years Quest. After accepting it, Georg slaughtered dragons unrelated to the Five Dragon Gods and devoured their flesh."
"Over time, people began calling him a Dragon Eater. Followers started gathering around him, and eventually the Mage guild Diabolos was born."
Ultear rubbed her chin and nodded.
"So that's how they learned about the Five Dragon Gods."
Lucy frowned.
"But doesn't that violate the rule stating that the details of the Hundred Years Quest can't be revealed to anyone?"
Georg had accepted the quest alone, yet more and more people had gradually learned what it involved.
Elefseria nodded.
"Exactly. That is why I revoked Georg Reizen's right to carry out the Hundred Years Quest and later offered it to other guilds."
"There was another reason as well. My request was to seal the Five Dragon Gods, but Georg shifted his attention toward hunting unrelated dragons."
In truth, Elefseria's request had always concerned the Five Dragon Gods alone.
They were the ones who possessed power beyond mortal limits.
Other dragons could still be dealt with through more conventional means.
Athena, the weapon Elefseria wished to seal away, was herself powerful enough to slaughter dragons.
Raizel had always felt that Elefseria's confidentiality agreement was rather pointless.
If Raizel decided he needed help, he would call in reinforcements regardless.
Naturally, he would not openly argue with Elefseria about it.
This was still Elefseria's request, and the client's wishes had to be respected as long as they did not demand anything illegal.
Erza's brows drew together.
"Then if Diabolos continues targeting the Five Dragon Gods, they're openly violating the rules."
Elefseria stroked his beard for a long moment, clearly conflicted.
"Hmm... That is admittedly rather troublesome."
Selene gave a soft laugh.
"There's no need to worry. The Five Dragon Gods may not be Acnologia, but they are hardly opponents humans can defeat easily."
She had never met Georg or the members of Diabolos, but she was not concerned.
Georg clearly possessed some method of locating Dragon Gods. If he truly had the strength to devour one, he would have succeeded long ago.
Selene would not have spent so much time worrying about the other four otherwise.
"The official right to complete the quest now belongs to your guild," Elefseria continued. "However... from the client's perspective, it doesn't particularly matter who completes it."
"I apologize for saying this, but with the Gold Dragon God and Fire Dragon God still unsealed, I believe it would be best to leave Diabolos alone for now."
Raizel's mouth twitched.
"You're... not exactly committed to your own rules, are you?"
At this point, he no longer felt the slightest guilt about calling in outside help.
If Elefseria himself was not going to honor the spirit of the contract, why should Raizel?
'Gildarts, this guy has no integrity either. He's just a hypocrite, so you really don't need to feel guilty anymore.'
Gildarts had once apologized for revealing information about the Hundred Years Quest to Raizel.
Looking at the situation now, there had been no reason for him to feel bad.
Natsu and Lucy were visibly annoyed as well.
"What kind of crap is that?!"
Natsu slapped the table, while Lucy frowned and added,
"Isn't that a blatant double standard?"
Kagura and Wendy also looked displeased.
Elefseria was clearly underestimating them.
Erza tapped the table, her voice seemingly calm.
"Settle down. His position is understandable from a client's perspective."
Ultear's tone was far less polite.
"That's true. Once you've taken enough jobs, you learn that there's no shortage of unreasonable clients."
That was no longer an implication.
She was openly calling Elefseria unreasonable.
Then Erza's eyes sharpened, and her tone changed completely.
"However, even if our objectives are the same, if Diabolos interferes with our Hundred Years Quest and chooses to become Fairy Tail's enemy, we will not let them off."
"Exactly!!!" Natsu shouted, pumping his fist into the air.
"If those guys come causing trouble again..." Lucy muttered, clenching her own fist.
Kagura placed Astron heavily on the table and narrowed her eyes.
"I wouldn't mind letting them experience the edge of a dragon-slaying sword."
Elefseria stared at the furious group, completely dumbfounded.
"You people do realize the magical world has a civilized agreement known as the Guild Conflict Prohibition Treaty..."
Erza's eyes blazed with fury as she bared her teeth at him.
"You're bringing that up with us?! Shouldn't you stop Diabolos first and eliminate the source of the conflict?"
"You don't have the authority to stop us on that point," Raizel added with a shameless grin. "When it comes to guild wars, we happen to be quite experienced."
Raizel was usually too lazy to start one.
That did not mean he was unwilling or incapable of fighting one.
Selene watched from the sidelines.
"I don't see the problem. Let them test the waters for you and reveal what Viernes and Ignia can do. Neither of those two will be easy to handle."
Elefseria finally understood.
These people had never intended to obey rules they found inconvenient.
Still, he eventually relaxed. There was little he could do beyond pretending not to notice, and everyone chose to move on from the subject.
...
After Kagura, Mira, and Erza finished explaining Kiria and Madmole's abilities, Elefseria nodded in understanding.
"It appears you didn't encounter the Black Dragon Slayer Knights."
Ultear and the others looked curious.
"The Black Dragon Slayer Knights?"
"I don't know them personally. I only know that they are four Dragon Eaters considerably stronger than Skullion and the others you encountered."
The conversation continued until four in the afternoon, when a bell rang through Magia Dragon.
Elefseria glanced toward the clock and seemed to realize the time only then.
"Oh? Is it that late already?"
"Hikage should be returning soon."