"I guess this place was a bust too." Meliodas sighed as he walked out of the building. Following behind him, were the members of Crime Sorciere.
"So you guys are trying to take down dark guilds and also defeat Zeref then." Meliodas commented.
"That is correct. But what of your goals exactly?" Jellal asked.
"I'm trying to go home." Meliodas responded. The group stopped walking as Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear looked at each other, confused.
"Go home?" Meredy asked.
"Yup." Meliodas said as he stopped walking and turned to face the group. "I'm not from this world."
"That explains your desire for finding spatial magic then." Ultear commented, a little surprised at Meliodas's sudden revelation. "Dark guilds are a great place to start in finding information on forbidden magics. Although you're searching for a needle in a haystack."
"That's all I have to go on right now." Meliodas responded.
"Well...what if Meliodas joins us?" Meredy asked.
"Crime Sorciere is an independent guild made for the atonement of our past crimes. Meliodas is already in a legal guild. It wouldn't be wise to get involved with us. We're wanted by the entire kingdom of Fiore." Jellal said coldly.
"That's not new to me." Meliodas replied nonchalantly. "I've also been wanted by the kingdom of Fiore. And in my past...I've done some things I'm not proud of either."
Meliodas began rolling up his left sleeve, revealing his dragon sin tattoo.
"Even so...it's something that I've grown from...all thanks to my friends."
The group remained silent as they stared at Meliodas' tattoo. Jellal thought back to his meeting with Meliodas and the words he had told him in front of Nirvana.
["I once failed to protect everyone. An entire kingdom was lost because of me, I failed to protect everyone, and that's the sin I bear. Even now, I still carry it with me as a reminder, that I won't let it happen again."]
"I remember now what you've told me before, Meliodas. It was you after all who told me about your sin." Jellal said, much to Ultear and Meredy's surprise.
"Are you saying you want to join Crime Sorciere then?" Ultear asked. Meliodas shook his head.
"Not officially. But I'll work with you guys in defeating dark guilds. And I'm sure you all have some list of guilds that not even the council knows of. I'm beginning to run out of dark guild requests on the job bulletin." Meliodas replied.
"Then we welcome you Meliodas, as an unofficial member of Crime Sorciere." Jellal said. He took a few steps closer to Meliodas and extended his right hand out. Meliodas did the same and shook Jellal's hand, giving him a friendly smile in the process. A small smile formed on Jellal's face.
"Ultear." Meredy whispered as she leaned in towards Ultear. "I think that's the first time Jellal has smiled."
"I think you're right." Ultear whispered back, the two of them giggling.
"I can hear you both…" Jellal sighed. "Anyway, let's set up a meeting point for our next dark guild. We'll meet at Shirotsume Town Square at noon on March 6th."
"Sounds good to me." Meliodas responded.
"If I recall, there was a dark guild that I've heard of whose guild master specialized in spatial magic...I'll do some more research into it for you Meliodas." Ultear added as the Crime Sorciere group began to walk away.
"It was nice seeing you again Meliodas!" Meredy said as she turned around to wave goodbye.
"Likewise." Meliodas said with a wave back.
---
March 6th X786
Meliodas sat on a bench in Shirotsume town square. The sun was just above him, indicating it was almost noon time as he began to look around. The town itself was small, with only one main road, split in half by a bush that went through the middle of the town, with many buildings and houses on each side. Three cloaked figures caught Meliodas' attention as they were walking his way.
"There you guys are." Meliodas said.
"Now that we're all here, let's find a quieter place to talk about our plan." Jellal said. Meliodas nodded and got up from his chair. As the group began to walk down the main road, a passerby noticed Meliodas.
"Hey it's Meliodas!" The man shouted. Several more people began to gather around them.
"Woah it's The Blond Demon!" Another man shouted.
"I read about him in Sorcerer Weekly! He was featured in an article about being the greatest swordsman in Fiore!" A woman commented.
"I read another article about his special ability being able to see an exposed pair of panties from a mile away!" Someone else shouted.
The Crime Sorciere group began to grow noticeably nervous as they pulled their hoods further down over their faces and looked away.
"Meliodas…" Ultear whispered. "We need to get out of here NOW!"
"I agree." Meliodas responded. The group immediately took off into a full sprint, away from the forming crowd of people, eventually stopping in a deserted alleyway.
"It appears we overlooked one thing...Meliodas is too well known." Jellal commented.
"Really? You told Sorcerer Weekly your special ability is being able to see panties from a mile away?" Ultear questioned with a slightly irritated tone.
"I think I said that in my very first interview. I'm impressed they still remember that!" Meliodas said with a cheeky grin.
"N-nevermind...but I think it would be a safe bet to get you a disguise. We chose this town because it's small and the council rarely comes by here, but if people are going to recognize you, that will be problematic." Ultear continued.
"A disguise huh…" Meliodas said. "I guess I should also get a new sword. I think everyone's seen me with Neo Mel Force."
"You got that crafted from Musica didn't you?" Meredy asked.
"I did." Meliodas replied. "I think before I join you guys on a mission, I'll stop by Musica's and get another sword people won't recognize me by."
"Alright then. In the meantime, Crime Sorciere will subdue the dark guild by ourselves. We'll meet back here in exactly a week. Make sure you have your disguise on." Jellal said.
"Just in case, we'll also get you one of our Crime Sorciere cloaks." Ultear added.
March 7th X786
Meliodas browsed through the aisles of the Heart Kruz Magnolia branch store. He looked at the variety of clothes hanging in front of him. A particular black jacket caught his eye, a black one with a golden heart kreuz symbol on the back. Meliodas grabbed the jacket, along with a white tunic and black pants.
Just as he began walking to the cashier, a headband caught his eye. It was a black headband with a golden stitch-like pattern on the left side and the letters "HK" on the right side.
After a quick purchase of his new attire, he walked outside and looked up at the sky. 'Hopefully Musica isn't busy.' Meliodas thought to himself as he jumped up into the air, black wings sprouting from his back.
---
Meliodas arrived at the front of Musica's house. Musica hadn't noticed him as he was hard at work on another sword, banging on the molten material with a hammer.
"Yo!" Meliodas greeted as he got closer. As Musica dunked the material into water, releasing a cloud of steam into the air, he turned his head towards Meliodas.
"Meliodas! Did you come here to say hi or did you break my sword again?" Musica asked sarcastically.
"I'm actually here for another sword." Meliodas said.
"Another sword? Sure but this one won't be free. What kind do you want?" Musica asked. Meliodas paused to think about it for a moment. 'Something that people won't recognize me by…'
"A greatsword." Meliodas answered.
"Well, I do have one I've been working on recently. It's quite massive. Took a lot of materials too but I assure you it's sturdy. I'll go grab it for ya." Musica said. He put the current slab of metal he was working on down before walking behind the forge. Several seconds later, he returned, dragging a massive behemoth of a greatsword to Meliodas.
"I got a bit carried away with this one. It's too heavy to lift up properly. Lemme tell you what a pain it was to make this thing! I almost threw my back out!" Musica laughed. "You think you could help me with this?"
Meliodas approached Musica and picked up the greatsword. In terms of length, the blade was nearly twice of Meliodas' size. Near the tip, it had the signature Musica symbol engraved and going down the middle was a wave-like intricately etched design. The sword had no guard, leading straight to the long handle which had a similarly etched design. At the base of the blade there was a small hole.
"What's this hole here?" Meliodas asked.
"Oh. I had originally intended to put a lacrima in there. But I couldn't make up my mind what kind." Musica answered.
"A lacrima…" An idea popped into Meliodas' head. He raised his other hand in front of him, and a small, spherical object began to glow. A moment later it stopped glowing, taking the form of a small black lacrima.
"I got this lacrima on a mission last year. I almost forgot about it." Meliodas said.
"What kind of lacrima is that?" Musica asked.
"According to the person who gave it to me, "an extremely potent gravity lacrima." Meliodas answered.
"Gravity magic?! You want to make that sword heavier?!" Musica exclaimed.
"Yup!" Meliodas said as he placed the lacrima into the small hole. The lacrima began to give off a faint purple hue that enveloped the blade of the sword. Meliodas' eyes widened as he nearly dropped the sword, taken by surprise by the sudden increase in weight.
"It definitely works." Meliodas remarked. 'This thing is definitely heavier than Gideon. Although it's not quite as heavy as Rhitta.'
"You're nuts, you know that." Musica commented. "Are you actually going to swing that thing around?"
"Sure am!" Meliodas replied with a cheeky smile.
---
March 13th, X786
Meliodas sat on the same bench in the town square of Shirotsume Town. With his black hood over his head, and new attire, there seemed to be no problems with people noticing who he was as they passed by. Even Neo Mel Force had been placed back into his requip inventory.
Three cloaked figures approached Meliodas, with one of them gesturing for him to follow. Meliodas got up and followed them, walking right behind them. The group walked through the roads leading up to an alleyway where the four of them removed their hoods.
"That went well." Ultear commented. "Nobody recognized you this time."
"Oh and here's your cloak, Meliodas!" Meredy said as she handed him a neatly folded blue cloak. Meliodas unfolded the cloak and quickly slipped into it, draping it over his shoulders.
"Perfect fit." Meliodas said.
"Then let's start the official first mission together. You'll be especially interested in this guild, Meliodas." Ultear said. "We'll be going after a guild named "Astral Duchess" and the guild master uses spatial magic.
"It's located east of Boundary Forest. It's actually over the border and into the country of Bosco." Jellal added.
"But their guild activities extend throughout Fiore, Bosco, and even Seven." Ultear said. "Taking them down will also help out the neighboring countries."
"Well, well, well. Let's get to it then shall we?" Meliodas said enthusiastically.