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With Wendy's initial treatment, although Gildarts' injuries could not be fully healed anytime soon, he had recovered considerably.
After greeting his guild companions, Gildarts left the guild and returned home to rest for the time being.
After Gildarts left, the mages in the guild began discussing the matter among themselves.
"I never thought Gildarts would fail a mission too..."
"You can't really blame Gildarts, can you?"
"Yeah..."
"That was a Hundred-Year Mission, after all..."
"And Gildarts encountered a dragon..."
"If he hadn't been injured by that dragon, Gildarts might have succeeded in his mission, you know?"
"Exactly..."
Amid the crowd's discussions, Natsu, who was bound by Noah, grew more and more distressed as he listened. He struggled harder and harder, veins bulging at his temples as he kept shouting.
"Noah! Let me go already! I'm going to find Igneel!"
Noah, seated at a table not far from Natsu, glanced at him and sighed.
"Natsu, it's not that I want to stop you. It's just that going there would be useless."
"Why would it be useless?!" Natsu shouted.
"They're both dragons! Maybe that Black Dragon knows where Igneel is?!"
"Even if that's true, what could you do? Have you forgotten what Gildarts said?" Noah turned his gaze toward Natsu.
"Gildarts said that dragon did not even have him in its eyes, yet it still attacked him anyway. Don't tell me you don't understand what that means."
"It means that Black Dragon is not only highly aggressive, but also extremely hostile toward humans." Erza walked over and looked at Natsu as well.
"If you go there like this, do you think you could, like Gildarts, gain