August 8th, X788
Meliodas stood at the job bulletin board, staring blankly at it with his hands in his pockets. As Meliodas stood there, many other guild members went by him, picking up job flyers and leaving.
"Hey Meliodas, you got a minute?" Macao asked from behind. Meliodas turned around and waved at him as he approached.
"What's up?"
"The guild's been thriving and everyone's been hard at work, but lately, something's been on my mind. You're still our only S rank mage. I was thinking about hosting an S rank trial to try and get more of Fairy Tail labeled as S rank. You think you could help in the trial?" Macao asked.
"Maybe. You have an idea of who the candidates are?" Meliodas responded back.
"I was thinking Max. He's worked really hard lately and in July's Grand Magic Games, he got us third place, but there's also-" Before Macao could finish his sentence, a white robed individual approached the two of them. Meliodas and Macao both recognized the individual as a councilman.
"A councilman? What can I do for you?" Macao asked.
"I have a request from Head Captain Lahar specifically for Meliodas. It's urgent that he comes with me." The councilman responded as he turned his attention over to Meliodas.
"Did you do something?" Macao asked with a skeptical look on his face. Meliodas shrugged his shoulders.
"What do you guys need from me?" Meliodas asked.
"I can't tell you the full details here, but it's about THAT incident." The councilman said in a stern voice. Meliodas' eyes widened as he immediately knew what the councilman was talking about.
"Sorry Macao, but I gotta take this one." Meliodas said in a serious tone, surprising Macao.
"Do what you need to do." Macao said as he watched Meliodas and the councilman walk out of the guild hall.
---
Several hours later
Meliodas stood in a small office room within the Magic Council Main Headquarters. Sitting in front of him at his desk was Lahar. Standing next to Lahar was a man unknown to Meliodas. The man was tall and pale skinned with neatly combed white hair that covered his forehead where one side was slightly covering his left eye. He had bright purple eyes and wore a variation of the council uniform. Instead of the standard robe worn by other councilmen, he wore a white suit with gold trimmings but had the council insignia embroidered onto the shoulderpads.
"Meliodas, I called you here today because I have information regarding the Phonoi guild." Lahar said. "With me here is a councilman representative from Pergrande Kingdom who will give you further details."
"I am Praetor. It's a pleasure to meet you." Praetor said as he bowed his head. "Now as you know, the Phonoi guild is located in Pergrande. I am not just a councilman, I am also a government official of Pergrande. His Majesty in Pergrande has discovered the workings of Phonoi and deemed them a threat. However, there is still a large amount of civil unrest between him and the people of Pergrande, making it hard for him to send forces to deal with the guild. I requested aid from the Magic Council, and Lahar recommended you. I hear that this Phonoi guild is after you. Is that correct?"
"That is correct. Although they haven't tried killing me in a couple of years so I just assumed they gave up and moved on." Meliodas said.
"It's not like them to give up. Although if you're giving them that much trouble that it's taking them this long to get rid of you, you are exactly the person I need for this kind of mission." Praetor continued.
Praetor raised his right hand up in the air in front of him and made a swiping motion. A magical interface suddenly appeared in front of Praetor. He flipped the interface, having it face towards Meliodas. On the interface was an entire map of Pergrande. On the northwestern coast of Pergrande, there was a blinking red dot.
"I marked the location on the map here. It's about fifty kilometers east of Megalo City, a city that's quite similar to Hargeon Port here in Fiore." Praetor said. "Before you go to the Phonoi guild, meet another contact at Bishaal Inn. I'll relay you the specific coordinates using my archive magic right now."
Praetor pointed his right index finger at Meliodas. Suddenly, many numbers and various bits of information entered Meliodas' head and he immediately knew the exact location where to go.
"Any questions?" Praetor asked.
"Is there some kind of reward for taking this kind of mission?" Meliodas asked.
"Of course. This is a council-funded mission. We will pay you a great lump sum. 50,000,000 jewels. By your guild standards, I believe this mission would qualify as a decade quest." Lahar stated.
"Well I'm fine with money. I was hoping you guys could pay me with information instead." Meliodas said.
"Information of what sort?" Lahar said with a puzzled expression as 50,000,000 jewels was not something anyone would turn down.
"I'm looking for spatial magic that can travel between worlds." Meliodas answered bluntly. Lahar's eyes widened at the statement, with Praetor having noticeably more shock on his face.
"You mean like with the Edolas incident?" Lahar asked. "You're not from Edolas are you?"
"No...it's a bit different than that." Meliodas said.
"Hmm...then tell me about it after you've dealt with Phonoi I suppose. I can maybe talk to the higher ups about your request. If you don't get cleared, I'll pay you the 50,000,000 instead. In the meantime, would you like me to call a council escort to take you to Pergrande? It's quite the distance away." Lahar asked.
"No thanks. I'm sure. I can make it there on my own pretty fast. I got a small stop to make before I head over there anyway." Meliodas said as he began walking towards the door.
"Very well then. I wish you luck on your mission." Lahar said.
Meliodas walked out of the office and began walking down the long main corridor of the Magic Council Headquarters. Behind him, Meliodas could hear footsteps rapidly approaching him. He turned around and saw it was Praetor walking briskly towards him. Praetor put a hand on Meliodas' shoulder as he got closer. His eyes grew wide with interest as he looked into Meliodas' eyes immediately. 'So the Blond Demon has been working with Crime Sorciere? Fascinating...but...why can I only see recent memories from the past few days. I can't delve deeper into his mind. It's as if he put up a mental barrier...Meliodas you're no ordinary mage…'
"Meliodas. About your request from earlier...ask the contact in Pergrande about that. He may be able to help you." Praetor said before quickly walking away without another word. Meliodas looked back towards Praetor with a serious look on his face, but to his surprise, Praetor was already gone.
'What exactly did he just try to do to me?'
---
The sun began to set over the horizon. Just on the outskirts of Magnolia Town, Meliodas and three hooded, cloaked figures stood next to each other.
"So you've found that assassin guild that has been after you." Ultear said. "Not only that, but the council seems to be willing to reward you generously. If Lahar goes through with his end of the deal, you may just find a magic that can get you back to this world."
"Maybe...although I'm not going to rely solely on that. I'm going to use this time traveling to Pergrande to discover more information on magic that can be used. I'll most likely be gone for a couple of years as I explore the rest of Ishgar after I deal with Pergrande." Meliodas said.
"S-so...is this kind of like a final farewell?" Meredy asked, seeming noticeably saddened.
"It shouldn't be. I'll come back here to say goodbye to all of you and Fairy Tail if I end up finding a way back." Meliodas said reassuringly.
"Pergrande is a vast land. I've never been there myself personally, but be careful. If you need help, you know who to call." Jellal said as he extended his hand out to Meliodas. Meliodas reciprocated the gesture and shook Jellal's hand.