Fishing

"Old man, where is Koreita? Why are they attacking our Fostadu?" High in the sky, with fierce winds buffeting his sides, Sordil caught up to Gilkunis ahead and asked.

"Koreita is a dragon sanctuary about three hundred kilometers from Fostadu. The two sides used to have a very good relationship, often holding cultural exchanges and celebratory gatherings. But ever since we disagreed over our attitudes toward humans two years ago, we've had little contact. I never thought those bastards would dare attack us. It's infuriating!" Gilkunis was still seething at the thought of those fools from Koreita daring to attack Fostadu.

"If it's only about their attitude toward humans, isn't this a bit excessive?" Unlike Gilkunis, who was consumed by anger, Sordil thought it over carefully and felt there had to be another reason.

"Of course there's more to it. Because Hadessta is friendly toward humans, Fostadu has become a refuge for the humans nearby. Having lost their prey, the dragons of Koreita began turning their claws toward Fostadu's humans. Two months ago, they still didn't dare go too far, but I never expected things to escalate to this point." Hearing Sordil and Gilkunis's conversation, Wattster flew up and added.

By then, Sordil more or less understood. Koreita had been hunting the nearby humans, driving them to gradually migrate into Fostadu. Having lost their targets, Koreita's dragons began attacking Fostadu, which sheltered humans and stood against them, leading to this war. The reason was exactly the same as the one that would soon drive the dragons of the Eastern Continent and Western Continent into war, only on a smaller scale. Still, it gave Sordil a sense of crisis. Perhaps it was time for him and Fostadu's dragons to leave this place and head to Ishgar to prepare a way out.

Zeref did not know of Sordil's plans. After seeing Sordil off, he returned to Mildian Magic Academy with the notebook Sordil had given him. Just as Sordil had said, Arc of Time was still only an idea. He needed to use the knowledge in Mildian Magic Academy's library to refine it, turning it into the key to reversing time and the means to revive Natsu. As for his parents, he could only wait until he found a more perfect method. After all, for now, he could only revive Natsu because his body was intact.

With Sordil gone, Zeref had lost the one companion he could discuss things with, so he could only charge into the library's collection of books. He finally understood Sordil's former fanatical love for reading, while also realizing how one-sided his own reading had been. From now on, he had to reflect on that properly.

From then on, people could always see Zeref buried beneath mountains of books in the library, studying day and night. What they did not know was that someone had done the same not long before—and had been even more excessive, bringing books along even while eating and drinking. Still, Hissell was delighted by Zeref's diligence. After all, he was Mildian's hope for the future. Yet not long afterward, this "hope" became Mildian Magic Academy's "despair."

When Sordil returned to Fostadu, he found that in the four or five months he had been away, it had completely changed. At the foot of the mountain stood rows of white stone houses and wooden homes. A ring of wooden fencing surrounded them, with watchtowers rising throughout. Many new stone caves had been added along the mountainside, with humans moving among them, while stone lookout platforms stood outside the caves. Teams of Soldiers carrying simple weapons patrolled the mountain paths, and at the summit, Hadessta was discussing something with several humans. Without overthinking it, Sordil and the other two descended toward Hadessta.

"Who goes there?" Just as Sordil and the other two approached the summit, one of the humans beside Hadessta shouted in their direction. Instantly, everyone turned their eyes toward Sordil. Staring at the unfamiliar dragons in the sky, Hadessta immediately grew wary, but once he saw Gilkunis and Wattster, he instantly understood what was happening.

"Old man Hadessta, why are you the only one here? Where are old man Radel and old man Woodman?" Sordil ignored the human who had spoken and asked Hadessta instead.

"The two of them are sleeping below. We were ambushed last night and didn't drive them off until close to dawn, so I had them go rest." Seeing Sordil and the other two return, Hadessta immediately felt much more at ease. At the same time, he began planning a counterattack.

Sordil and the other two slowly descended onto the mountaintop. Hadessta introduced the humans beside him to Sordil, while also explaining Sordil's identity to them. Once everyone had become acquainted, they went down the mountain together to the camp on the mountainside. They would hold a welcome banquet for Sordil and the others, while also discussing their plans for a counterattack.

When Radel and Woodman saw Sordil, they could hardly believe their eyes. Not long ago, Sordil had still been a baby, but now he was a young dragon over thirty meters tall, and his appearance had changed drastically as well. Hadessta sighed that if Gilkunis and the others had not been with him today, he definitely would not have recognized Sordil, and there would have been an inevitable fierce battle. Hearing that, Gilkunis cut in, saying that with only those few humans and Hadessta, they would certainly have lost if a fight had broken out. His words dissatisfied the humans, who said that while they truly could not defeat Gilkunis and Wattster, they could still handle Sordil.

Sordil neither agreed nor disagreed. Gilkunis, on the other hand, said that only those who had fought Sordil knew how troublesome he was. His words immediately aroused Hadessta and the others' curiosity, and several of the humans even proposed challenging Sordil, though Sordil simply ignored them. Soon afterward, Sordil said that he was exhausted from the journey and needed to rest, then left the banquet. Gilkunis and the others, however, enjoyed themselves thoroughly at the feast, and the banquet grounds were soon littered with drunken humans and dragons.

Of course, Sordil had not returned to rest. Using Shape-Making Magic, he created only a substitute to leave in the cave. He himself shrank down with Quality Magic and remained in the sky, watching over the entire gathering. Sure enough, not long afterward, the fish Sordil had been waiting for began to move, and Sordil followed closely behind him. The dark figure swiftly left the gathering and headed all the way out of the sanctuary, soon slipping into a forest outside it. Before long, a dragon flew in from afar and entered the forest to speak secretly with the dark figure. Sordil carefully hid nearby and listened to their conversation in full.

A quarter of an hour later, both the dark figure and the dragon left the forest and began carrying out their plan. Sordil also began preparing his own countermeasures, determined to make his battlefield debut a success.