April 2nd X787
Meliodas walked into the guild hall, wearing his regular attire so as to not reveal his affiliation with Crime Sorciere. Even with him being gone, the guild was still thriving as Meliodas was completing a high amount of S rank missions as well as sending them money, the money which came from the dark guilds he subdued with Crime Sorciere.
"Meliodas welcome back!" Macao shouted cheerfully as he sat down at his typical table across from Wakaba. Wakaba turned around and waved at Meliodas as he approached.
"Meliodas! Welcome back!" The rest of the guild greeted as they raised their mugs into the air.
"Thanks!" Meliodas said cheerfully as he took a seat next to Macao and Wakaba who were sitting at their usual table. "How has everything been in the guild?"
"Very good. Thanks to you everyone has been motivated and working extra hard to complete jobs. Because of that, we are getting far more requests this year." Macao replied as he continued explaining the current state of the guild.
"That's good to hear. Are there any new S rank missions?" Meliodas asked.
"A few have come, but unfortunately, they aren't dark guild missions." Macao replied. "But if we get any in the future, we can set them aside for you. Everyone in the guild knows how important the missions are to you."
"Thanks!" Meliodas smiled as he replied. He looked at the regular mission board to see if there were any lower ranked dark guild missions that popped up. Since there were no new missions, Meliodas decided to take his leave, deciding instead to ask Crime Sorciere about the next guild location.
Meliodas took one last gulp of his ale, preparing to leave, when Macao suddenly stopped him.
"Meliodas, you've been running around constantly in the past few years, why not take a small break and rest up."
"Yeah, why don't you stay for a bit longer today. No need to push yourself so hard." Wakaba added.
"Hmm...alright." Meliodas thought about it for a bit before responding. "I suppose I have been away from the guild a lot..."
"That's the spirit!" Wakaba cheered as he waved down one of the barmaids. She immediately ran over to their table, placing three more large mugs of beer in front of them. Each of them grabbed a mug and held it up in the air.
"Cheers!"
All three of them immediately took massive gulps of beer, placing the mugs down on the table a couple of seconds later in sync.
"By the way, Meliodas. I know you've been making a lot of money from the S rank missions, but the amount of money you have been sending us on the side is ridiculous…" Macao commented.
"You sent us ten million last time, which is the entire reward for an S class mission." Wakaba added in. "Do you not keep any for yourself?"
"Don't worry about me. I'm good with money." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin. Meliodas was quite comfortable money wise as he had over 100 million jewels stored in his requip inventory, mainly the money he took from the dark guilds themselves after subduing them.
"Well alright then. But if you ever need it, just let us know." Macao said. Meliodas nodded and continued with his drink.
"By the way, have you heard about the new event taking place in Fiore?" Macao asked.
"A new event?" Meliodas mumbled as he tried to recall anything he may have heard. He gave up and replied back. "No, I haven't heard of anything about an event."
"It's an event called the "Grand Magic Games." Guilds from all over Fiore will be participating. The winner will get the title of the strongest guild in all of Fiore and a thirty million prize!" Wakaba said.
"Sounds interesting.." Meliodas remarked.
Macao and Wakaba looked at each other and smiled. "We are really glad you think so."
Meliodas chuckled at this scene and knew exactly what they were about to ask him.
"Since everyone has been running around taking jobs, we thought this would be a good opportunity for everyone to come together and participate. You should join us as well." Wakaba said.
"I know you have your business with looking for information while taking care of dark guilds...but you think you could just give us a week of your time?" Macao pleaded.
"Well I guess taking a week off won't hurt." Meliodas responded. "When are these Grand Magic Games happening?"
"July 1st." Macao said.
"A few months huh?" Meliodas commented. "Alright then, I'll see you guys at the end of June." Meliodas said with a cheeky grin as he began making his way towards the stairs leading to the S rank bulletin.
"Wait, I thought you were going to take a break." Macao said
"I'll consider the magic games my break. And, since it isn't for a few months, I'll continue with my work. Meliodas smiled as he walked out of the guild hall. .
"Wait! That's not what I meant….well, at least he agreed." Macao sighed.
"He's like Gildarts. Strongest guy in the guild but he hardly ever sticks around." Wakaba mused.
---
Meliodas walked to the outskirts of Magnolia Town. Standing at the side of the main path were three cloaked figures standing in the shade underneath a tree. Meliodas walked behind another tree for a brief moment followed by a shining light that radiated from behind the three. Meliodas walked back out, wearing his Crime Sorciere outfit and joined up with the three other individuals.
"Yo!" Meliodas greeted.
"How was it seeing Fairy Tail again? You've spent a lot of time with us over the past few months. We were expecting you to stay with them a bit longer." Jellal commented.
"Well there will be plenty of time for that in July. Have you guys heard of the Grand Magic Games?" Meliodas asked.
"I think I heard some people talking about it earlier, but I don't know what exactly that is." Ultear said.
"It's pretty much one big contest for the number one guild in Fiore. I agreed to help Fairy Tail and participate in the games." Meliodas said.
"That sounds really fun! I wish I could join in…" Meredy commented.
"I suppose we can go watch Meliodas. We'll just have to stay away from the crowd." Ultear responded. Meredy's eyes lit up and a smile formed on her face.
"So what dark guild are we taking out next?" Meliodas asked. "I checked the board in the guild and there weren't any jobs listed for dark guilds. We must be doing a pretty good job getting rid of them."
"Well we do have one more guild to take down for the time being. This one is called Lupis Hazel. The guild master specializes in a werewolf takeover magic." Jellal said.
"This guild in particular has been growing rapidly since the fall of two thirds of the Balam Alliance. They're most likely trying to take the place where the Oracion Seis once stood." Ultear added.
"They're not as strong as Astral Duchess was right?" Meredy asked.
"No, they shouldn't be. But what we know about Lupis Hazel was information from two years ago when the Balam Alliance was still around. I don't know how much stronger they've become now." Jellal said.
"We should be fine. Besides, you guys are a lot stronger now than when we fought Astral Duchess, especially Jellal." Meliodas said.
"Well that's all thanks to you Meliodas." Jellal responded.
"I would say Meliodas has grown significantly himself as well." Ultear added. "Both of you training together has helped the both of you."
"But we should still be cautious. Even if we have gotten stronger, Lupis Hazel may have something nasty up their sleeve." Jellal remarked.
"Alright, let's get going!" Meliodas said with a wide grin.