After the battle ended, it was already evening.
It wasn't safe to sail home at this time, so Noah and Erza decided to rest for the night and leave the next day.
"It smells so good..."
Urudia slowly woke up and took a deep sniff.
The aroma of charred fish skin roasting over charcoal fire was the first to fill the nostrils; it was the oil dripping from the fish skin as it curled up into a golden, crispy shell on the wire mesh, reveling in its newfound richness.
Urudia licked her lips; she hadn't eaten all day and had been woken up by hunger.
In the morning, I rescued Gerald from the Council headquarters. I was on the road all day until noon. Then came another battle where I put in a lot of effort, but that hateful white-haired guy didn't even go all out.
When Ultear tried to move, she found that her hands and feet were bound by binding magic. Unlike Jellal's "Binding Serpent", the binding magic on Ultear's body became tighter the more she struggled.
I only tried to move it a couple of times, and my wrist was already painfully tight.
"Oh my, you're awake?"
Noah noticed Ultear's movements and proudly said to Erza, "I told you I knew my limits; she was only unconscious for four hours."
What is he so smug about...? Erza felt that Noah was still being stubborn. Who knocks someone unconscious for so long?
"Stop being silly. Didn't you say she was connected to Gray? Now that she's awake, why don't you go ask her?"
Erza usually does the interrogation, but the battle with Jellal has exhausted all her strength and energy.
Even though he was ambushed and injured by Mystogan, Jellal is still the strongest enemy Erza has ever encountered.
"Then I'll ask."
Noah approached Ultear and said, "Enough with the nonsense, just tell me honestly what your relationship with Gray is."
Urudia closed her eyes and remained silent, but her stomach made a rumbling sound, betraying her composure.
Seeing the woman's embarrassed and indignant expression, Noah chuckled, turned around, forked a grilled fish, and waved it in front of Urudia. "Answer the questions and you'll get food; otherwise, I'll have to invite you to rest in the underwater VIP room."
"This is mistreatment of prisoners! The council has regulations!" With her stomach empty, Urutia's protest sounded weak and powerless.
"Heh, the Magic Council? Well, that reminds me."
Noah sneered, "We still need to settle accounts with them for launching [Magical Spirit Power] at the Tower of Paradise without regard for our lives."
"As for mistreating prisoners? You're not worthy to answer that."
"You're with Gerald's group, so you're also a member of the Dark Guild, right?"
"I advise you to tell the truth. Do you see that shady guy over there dressed all in black?"
Noah grinned mischievously and said slyly, "He's a pervert. He loves playing those hypnosis games. If a beauty like you falls into his hands, hehe~"
"Hey, you head!"
"We are a legitimate guild!"
Erza, with a burst of strength she didn't know she possessed, grabbed Noah and smacked the boy on the head with the leftover fish bone.
It seems that even when she's out in the world, Erza hasn't forgotten her duties as a "discipline committee member".
Mystergan, who was inexplicably labeled a "pervert" by Noah, silently gave Erza a thumbs up for her "atrocity" and stuck his wand back into the ground.
Although she had heard that Fairy Tail was bizarre, Ultear was at a loss for words when she saw this scene. She could only say that seeing is believing.
It was such a joyful atmosphere.
Unfortunately, happiness is something that people like me are destined to never have.
While Noah was being beaten, Ultear slowly wriggled her body and took a bite of the grilled fish that Noah had dropped on the ground. It was only a little dirty, but it was much better than what she ate when she was a wanderer.
Suddenly, Urudia felt a lightness in her body. She was helped up from the ground, with a grilled fish covered in sand still in her mouth.
Erza couldn't stand seeing dignity trampled on, especially when someone like Ultear abandoned their dignity. She looked at the restraint magic that was deeply embedded in Ultear's skin.
"Noah, untie her."
"Yes, yes, yes, my kind Queen."
Noah, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, suddenly sprang to his feet and snapped his fingers at Urudia.
The next second, the binding magic disappeared, and Ultear felt much lighter. "Aren't you afraid I'll run away?"
"If you can beat the three of us," Erza said, handing a grilled fish to Ultear.
Looking at the dirty grilled fish in her hand, and then at the clean grilled fish Erza handed her, Ultear felt a pang of sadness for no reason.
When was the last time someone cared about you?
It seems like it was more than ten years ago...
Eating fish without a care for appearances, Ultear then noticed that half of the island had been slashed away, and Jellal was nowhere to be found. "You defeated him?"
Erza nodded; she knew who Ultear was asking. "Jellal and the other half of the island sank to the bottom of the sea, probably..."
"He's probably dead."
Noah blurted it out without any hesitation, and Erza glared at him.
Erza no longer cared whether Jellal lived or died; she was simply puzzled as to why that kind boy had fallen so low.
Mystergan felt he might be able to answer this question: "A strong person like Gerald must have very strong mental power."
"But when I used illusion magic to attack Geralt, it went surprisingly smoothly. I discovered that he was actually very vulnerable deep down, which was a sign that he had been brainwashed by magic."
Noah continued, "In other words, Gerald's personality changed drastically seven years ago because someone brainwashed him, with the aim of making him continue building [R System]."
"Could they be members of the Dark Magic Cult? After all, they worship Dark Magicians."
"Unlikely. Those cultists wouldn't let important magic fall into the hands of others, especially a child."
"Then it can only be the Dark Guild."
"..."
Listening to the three of them talking back and forth, Ultear was amazed by Fairy Tail's strength. They actually had a mage who was skilled in mental magic and could see through Jellal's mental abnormality at a glance.
If Erza knew that I was the one who seduced Jellal, what would she do to me? She would definitely hate me, Ultear thought silently.
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