Although he hadn't yet received the guild crest, news that Hope was now an official member of Fairy Tail was shouted loud enough by Natsu for everyone present to hear.
The visiting guild masters clutched their chests in regret, lamenting that they'd missed a perfect chance to poach him.
With the assembly hall's roof blown off by lullaby, the rest of the scheduled talks couldn't continue—though they were only trivialities anyway.
Most of the visitors chose to leave.
Only a handful of masters and Fairy Tail stayed behind, partly to wait for the Council's troops to take lullaby into custody,
and partly because Erza had promised that once Eisenwald was crushed she'd bring Natsu and the others to the meeting for a free meal. The session was ruined, but the meal was sacred.
Especially when it was on someone else's tab.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you may begin dining."
The hall manager's voice drifted in from the restaurant wing. Thanks to the emergency, the food prepared for the masters was surplus, but Fairy Tail's Mages were famously voracious.
Which was fortunate.
At the announcement, Natsu—who'd been sprawled on the floor like a salted fish—sprang back to life, kipped up, and bolted for the buffet, Happy flapping close behind.
"Chow time, Happy!"
"Aye! I can already smell the fish!"
Watching the pair dash off with green fire in their eyes, Erza rubbed her temples in resignation.
"Tch, it's just lunch, not the end of the world," Gray sneered, even as his feet honestly followed them.
Hope and Cana traded a smile and headed that way as well. Inside, the long tables groaned under platters of food; Natsu had claimed a prime spot and was attacking plates left and right, while Happy tackled a fish bigger than himself.
Erza had finally slipped out of her knight's Armor into a comfortable dress and was dispatching strawberry cake with elegant speed, a stack of empty dessert plates rising beside her.
Cana picked a few bar snacks and single-handedly kept pace drinking with Makarov, Porlyusica, and Goldmine, leaving the three old men red-faced.
Hope ate lightly, attention fixed on the spoils of the battle.
[Ding—]
[Host has encountered transcendent power—Demon Curse: Death Curse.]
[Analysing—]
[Analysis complete. Estimated decryption time: 18 days. Begin decryption?]
Curse magic?
So this is demonic power—interesting.
Hope glanced at the queue: Take Over (20 days remaining) and Plant (12 days remaining).
Without a suitable soul to channel it, Take Over was just an empty frame, so he wasn't in a hurry.
After a moment he paused Take Over and queued Curse: Death Curse instead. No special reason—he simply fancied playing with demon curses.
Speaking of demons…
The earlier fight had shown that lullaby, a demon, could use both curse arts and ordinary magic, and Hope wondered what demons truly were.
Sadly, in this age they were either extinct or sealed early like lullaby.
From guild gossip he knew the only recorded sighting in decades had been ten years ago in the north: a colossal demon named Deliora.
Closing the system panel, he set to the feast in earnest.
After sprinting for an hour to reach Clover Town and forging the giant luban lock to pin lullaby, his stamina and magic had hit rock bottom.
The dining hall grew lively.
As expected, Natsu and Gray soon bickered over the last cut of meat and nearly came to blows until Erza floored them with a fist each; the meat landed on her own plate.
Cana and Happy doubled over laughing.
Makarov, Porlyusica and Goldmine watched the youngsters scrap with fond, nostalgic eyes, seeing their own younger selves.
Rowdy yet harmonious.
Hope loved the atmosphere—though someone seemed missing.
Right; where was Lucy?
Glancing around, he spotted her at the far end of the table, looking worried.
"Lucy, are you feeling all right?"
Startled, she came back to herself and scratched her cheek. "I'm fine, just…"
Her hesitant expression drew everyone's gaze.
"Oh! You haven't eaten yet; here, have a drumstick."
Seeing the half-gnawed chicken leg in Natsu's hand, everyone—Lucy included—looked mortified.
Whenever people tried to respect Natsu, he opened his mouth. Yet his interruption had lightened Lucy's mood, and she spoke up. "Old Man Crux told me lullaby's condition was odd."
A former contracted Mage of the Crux, the Southern Cross spirit, had joined the campaign against lullaby a century ago. They saw a Demon-slaying Mage grievously wound the demon.
To prevent future havoc, that Mage altered the seal so lullaby's power would erode over time.
Yet today, freed from the seal, lullaby wasn't weakened at all—he'd returned to full strength.
All signs pointed to the sacrifice Erigor had made with his life.
Crux suspected a far stronger demon named "Seilah" was pulling the strings.
"According to the old man, Seilah outclasses lullaby and wields the fearsome Demon Curse 'Command.' If she targets you, even an S-Class Mage can become her puppet in an instant."
Lucy's worry returned.
They'd just contained one troublesome demon, only to provoke something worse—how would they cope?
"Don't worry," Hope said calmly. "That demon probably won't move against us. Maybe Seilah doesn't care whether lullaby lives or dies."
Everyone looked at him skeptically; how could he be sure?
Simple: Seilah was one of the few non-main-cast characters this cloud-viewer Hope actually remembered.
Admittedly for… risqué reasons. In any case, the low-cut, side-slit kimono demoness appeared only in the later original plot, likely just giving Erigor a nudge to darken lullaby.