'Well, that was a bust. I couldn't even go inside the library last night. Looks like I won't be going back there anytime soon.' Meliodas sighed as he walked around the streets of Vistarion, bustling with people.
Suddenly an idea popped into his head. Itsuki may not have known who Selene was, but he might know about August the Wizard King and where to find him. Meliodas picked up his pace, running through the crowds of people on the sidewalk until he made it to Itsuki's tour bus.
"Oh! It's you! Here for another tour?" Itsuki asked as Meliodas approached.
"Actually I have a question for you if you have the time." Meliodas said.
"Ask away."
"Do you know anyone who goes by August the Wizard King?"
Itsuki's eyes lit up as he heard the name.
"August?! Of course! He is our nation's finest! Second only to Emperor Spriggan himself. He's part of the Spriggan 12."
"The Spriggan 12?" Meliodas asked.
"Wow. You must have come from way out there in the country if you haven't heard of them. They're the strongest mages in all of this continent who serve directly under Emperor Spriggan as his commanders." Itsuki answered.
"So that means I can find him somewhere in the castle right?" Meliodas asked, his hopes raised now that he finally found a lead.
"Unlikely. He's been gone since Emperor Spriggan left. The Spriggan 12 don't ever assemble unless they absolutely have to. They usually just roam about doing what they want. Personally I've only ever seen one and I've lived here my whole life." Itsuki said.
"Well there has to be one who sticks around Vistarion right?" Meliodas asked.
"Well…I suppose Invel does because he's Chief of Staff. But he's always in the palace so good luck getting to meet him. Although I believe Ajeel frequents here a lot since he spends a good amount of time with his squad." Itsuki responded.
"So I just have to get lucky and run into this Ajeel guy huh…is there a picture somewhere or something?" Meliodas commented.
"I think I have what you're looking for." Itsuki quickly pulled a small book from his back pocket. He flipped through the pages and showed Meliodas a picture of Ajeel.
"It's better than nothing. Thanks Itsuki!" Meliodas said. He waved goodbye and walked down the street, wondering where to even begin. He had so many possible sources now for information but still no direct leads.
Meliodas continued walking around the city for hours, until eventually stumbling across a few flyers. Meliodas approached the flyers and read them.
[Want to serve our great empire? Are you an aspiring powerful mage? Join the Ajeel Squad now! Recruiting on Crestoria Street in Southern Vistarion!]
"Well, well, well. Just what I was looking for." Meliodas said with a grin.
—
Meliodas arrived at the intersection of Crestoria street. There he saw three men underneath a white canopy. The three men wore similar attire, wearing white scarves around their heads that covered most of their face and light gray robes. Two of the men sat at the back of the canopy sorting through papers while the third sat at the front behind a table. At the front of the table was a sign that said "Ajeel Squad Recruitment."
Before approaching, Meliodas thought for a moment. He knew he wouldn't permanently join this squad and as soon as he got the information he was looking for, he would leave, which would most likely make him a wanted criminal.
'Guess I'll need an alter ego.' Meliodas closed his eyes and tried to remember the brief training he had done with Mirajane in order to learn transformation magic in the past. He wasn't necessarily good at it, but he had mastered it just enough to change his hair color. Meliodas' blond hair began to grow darker and darker until it was pitch black. He slicked his hair back, causing it to spike up while leaving a strand of hair over his forehead.
Meliodas looked at himself in the reflection of a nearby window. 'Well, I really look like Zeldris now. He'd probably be mad if he saw me like this.' Meliodas laughed to himself.
Meliodas approached the recruiting area and went straight to the man sitting at the front of the desk. The man eyed Meliodas briefly.
"Finally, someone who seems able bodied." The recruiter said. "Commander Ajeel's in a rush to get strong people to join his squadron. So just tell me your name and where you're from and I'll show you to the testing grounds."
"Uhh…Zeldris. And I'm from…" Meliodas paused for a moment. He couldn't tell these guys he was from Fiore but he also couldn't just make up a location because it would seem suspicious if the location wasn't from the Alvarez Empire.
"Garage Island." Meliodas responded, remembering the name of the island on the map that was just south of the port he landed near.
"That place? You're from out in the sticks huh. Trying to make a name for yourself out here in the capital. I can respect that. But you keep your customs over there. We don't need you country folk and your weird ways ruining our empire." The recruiter said. Meliodas simply nodded his head.
"Alright. Walk in the building behind us. You'll meet a guy named Kareem. He's one of our greatest soldiers. He'll lead the way for you next." The recruiter handed Meliodas a paper before gesturing to him to walk into the building behind him.
Meliodas entered the building and was greeted by a thin, dark skinned man with a sharp face. He had long eyelashes, trimmed nicely into curls at each end and a triangular patterned beard running down his jawline and connecting to his mustache and goatee. He wore a large turban around his head and a loose pinstriped robe.
"I thought we would wait longer to find someone who seemed capable." Kareem commented. Meliodas handed him the paper and Kareem read over it.
"Zeldris from Garage Island." Kareem read the paper out loud. "Well then follow me."
Meliodas and Kareem began walking through several large corridors in the building, leading to a long spiral staircase that went into a basement. After five minutes of walking, the basement opened up into a large open hall with a sandy floor and many large white marble pillars on the sides supporting the place.
"This is one of our training areas and candidate testing." Kareem said. Meliodas looked around and noticed another man watching from a balcony above. The man was tall, dark skinned, and muscular. He had dark messy hair and a distinctive scar on his right cheek. He wore a striped scarf around his face that hid his eyes, a second scarf around his neck and was shirtless revealing on his chest a tattoo of an eye. He also wore dark pants and a sash around his waist, with his pants having the same eye pattern as the tattoo on his chest.
Kareem noticed Meliodas looking at the man watching from above.
"That's Bakel. He's Commander Ajeel's right hand man and is a sub commander of his own division under Ajeel. He's just here to watch the candidates, don't mind him."
"So what's this test?" Meliodas asked.
"A simple test of strength. We'll have a brief spar. I want to see what you're capable of." Kareem responded.
Meliodas and Kareem got into position, standing several meters away while facing each other. Kareem suddenly made several swiping hand gestures, causing an eruption of dark magic beneath Meliodas' feet.
To Kareem's surprise, Meliodas was no longer standing there. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his gut, the wind being knocked out of him as he was sent hurtling back across the huge open hall and into the wall.
Kareem's body was embedded into the wall, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Meliodas widened his eyes as he realized he put too much strength in the punch.
"Oops…" Meliodas said silently. "I must have misjudged him. I thought he was stronger."
"Whew!" Bakel exclaimed as he jumped down from the balcony and landed right next to Meliodas. He patted Meliodas on the back.
"What's your name? That was one hell of a punch! And your speed isn't too shabby either!"
"Zeldris." Meliodas responded.
"Alright Zeldris. How would you like to meet the big boss Ajeel? Our candidates lately have been kinda trash and he wants to prove that his squad is the strongest so I'm sure he'll want to meet you!" Bakel said with a grin, revealing his sharp teeth.
"Sounds good to me." Meliodas responded back with a smile.
"Well let's get you changed out of those tacky clothes first and into something more fitting for our squad." Bakel said.