The reception room once again fell silent after Raizel's question.
Heine and Juliet looked as though they did not dare speak.
Raizel and Irene calmly faced each other across the table, while only Selene looked completely unaffected, sipping her black tea and blinking as she studied the exchange.
In truth, Selene had learned most of her sharp-tongued habits from Raizel, though Raizel himself had no idea.
"The northern continent, Guiltina..." Irene closed her eyes and shook her head. "No."
In her view, if even August, who understood countless kinds of Magic, and Zeref, who stood at the summit of magical knowledge, could not solve the issue, then how could those people in Guiltina, who looked like they had never read many books in their lives, possibly know anything?
"I know you are the Mother of Dragon Slayers. I know you are Erza's birth mother. I know that because of the side effects of Dragon Power, you lost your sense of taste, lost the ability to sleep, and suffered other symptoms. I know you once tried to use Enchantment Magic to enchant yourself onto Erza, but failed."
Every word from Raizel was like a knife stabbing straight into Irene's heart.
"So why can't I know how to solve those side effects?"
Irene froze completely.
Their gazes met across the room, and the atmosphere once again became strangely tense.
Worse still, perhaps because she had been too shocked, the antler-shaped staff beside her suddenly slipped from the sofa and fell to the floor.
A light clack rang out.
In the silent reception room, that sound was exceptionally clear.
Irene's mind raced.
Only His Majesty Zeref knew her true identity.
Even August had only ever seen her human form. If the information had leaked, the only possible source should have been Zeref.
But Zeref was not the sort of person who gossiped.
In just a few short seconds, Irene seemed to organize everything in her mind.
Although she was full of questions about where Raizel had learned all these things, there was currently something far more important placed before her.
Solving the side effects brought about by Dragon Power.
Irene's gaze carried a natural sense of scrutiny as she examined him carefully from top to bottom for several seconds.
"You truly know how to solve it?"
Irene no longer had her earlier composure. Her eyes were complicated and doubtful as she stared at Raizel sitting across from her.
Her words carried the unease and heightened vigilance one might have toward a stranger, or toward something unknown.
Raizel snapped his fingers.
"Relax your mind. I'll transmit it to you using Super Archive Magic."
The amount of information related to Law Dragon Slayer Magic was not actually large.
Its strange nature lay in its rules and principles.
While Irene received the information on Law Dragon Slayer Magic, Raizel also brought up the other method.
Find a female death-row prisoner, then use the deprivation and granting of senses together with Enchantment.
That would be the fastest method.
As for the inability to sleep, the principle was unknown, but it would be solved along with the rest.
Although the phrase was "deprivation of the five senses," in practice, only the sense of taste needed to be deprived.
As for finding a death-row prisoner, that would not be difficult in the Alvarez Empire.
"Deprivation of the five senses... Bloodman."
Irene immediately thought of Bloodman, one of the Spriggan 12, the Grim Reaper who knew all of Tartaros's Curses.
However, she only glanced over the information briefly before frowning.
She said nothing, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Without changing expression, Raizel said, "Although this method can't turn you back into a human, it can allow you to regain the right to live like one."
Selene watched Irene with a smiling gaze.
"The difference between dragon and human lies only in a single thought. My true body is a dragon, but I believe I can fully be human."
Raizel immediately added, "If you intend to use this method, one of the Mages in our guild can use sense deprivation and granting. She can help at any time."
The slower training method provided by Law Dragon Slayer Magic had already shown Irene hope.
Even if she did not use the method Raizel described, she could completely solve these issues through training.
As for Raizel's method, she was not very interested.
Or, more precisely, she did not want to use it.
Of course, she would not refute Raizel for the time being.
With one long-buried concern eased, Irene could not help looking at Selene curiously.
"You are a dragon, so why do you keep saying you want to become human?"
"Four hundred years ago, because Acnologia was rampaging across the eastern and western continents, I fled to the northern continent. Guiltina had no threat from Acnologia, but dragons slaughtered one another constantly there. Add in the war between humans and dragons, and I witnessed far too much killing. I grew tired of it."
Selene and Raizel were somewhat similar at their roots.
Both loved peace and preferred quiet.
It was just that Raizel liked fishing, while Selene liked soaking in hot springs.
If not for self-preservation, she had long since grown tired of killing.
However, perhaps because she had lived in one corner of the world for too long and rarely communicated with humans, combined with Guiltina's extremely "harmonious" atmosphere, she had done a poor job when it came to interpersonal communication.
That was how she had formed grudges with Elefseria and humans.
Of course, Elefseria, blinded by hatred and killing dragons on sight, had also made mistakes.
The existence of the Black Dragon and the other four Dragon Gods would keep humans and dragons locked in endless conflict.
That was why she had come up with a plan to travel through various worlds in search of weapons capable of destroying the Five Dragon Gods.
Of course, in reality, her attitude toward that mission was that she would do it whenever she remembered.
She was not particularly invested.
She was even more laid-back about it than Raizel!
"Your words remind me of my close friend, Belserion."
"I have long admired that Sage Dragon as well," Selene said.
Irene could not help raising an eyebrow at Selene's reply.
Selene's tone was full of admiration.
"I have read books that recorded his deeds. On the path of seeking peaceful coexistence between humans and dragons, he suffered countless setbacks, yet fought again and again despite repeated defeat. In the battle against the western dragons who were not friendly to humans, he sacrificed himself bravely. He was far greater than I am."
Irene suddenly felt that Selene might become a friend she could speak with.
As long as someone praised Belserion, they were her friend!
She had returned from dragon form to human form, but she no longer had any friends.
Her only friend had died four hundred years ago.
Zeref was her saviour.
August could at most exchange a few words with her, but he could not be called her friend.
Irene turned back to Raizel and asked, "What is your condition?"
Raizel answered directly.
"If you meet Erza, I don't ask you to acknowledge her. It is enough if your attitude is a little better. If Zeref intends to start a war to seize Fairy Heart, then stand aside and help neither side."
With an expression that looked like a smile yet was not quite one, Irene said, "I will give you my answer to the second condition after I solve the side effects. I thought you would ask me to recognize her."
"Do you know what Erza said?"
Faced with Raizel's question, Irene did not answer.
She simply watched him quietly.
Raizel's tone was very calm.
"She said, 'Even if she refuses to acknowledge me, I still hope she can live a little better.'"
The person sitting opposite Irene was clearly Raizel, yet for a moment, Irene could faintly see Erza's expression and hear Erza's tone when she said those words.
Irene, still sitting with her legs crossed, asked without changing expression, "It seems you told her about me."
Raizel nodded calmly.
"Of course. It is her right."
Irene did not confirm or deny it.
"Her right... is it?"
...
Raizel and Selene were preparing to leave.
Just as they reached the door, Raizel suddenly stopped and looked back.
"May I ask one more question?"