I asked around in White Claw Town.
Noah discovers that the villa's owner, Aibal, is not only a wealthy man but also a mage with the title of "Baron".
According to the townspeople, although Aibar bought this title, it was genuinely recognized by the Kingdom of Fiore and he enjoyed special privileges.
Given Aibar's noble status, forcibly entering would be tantamount to slapping the face of the Fiore Kingdom.
However, the fact that members of the Dark Guild could openly walk into the territory of a baron, as if they had been there many times before, inevitably leads one to speculate.
"Aibar may be in cahoots with 'Iron Forest,' but he may also be a victim who has been deceived."
"This is troublesome."
Although she complained about the trouble, Erza was already prepared to force her way into the villa.
If Baron Abar is colluding with the Dark Guild, then we should obtain evidence and expose him; if Abar doesn't know that the group is from the Dark Guild, then we can expose the true nature of the "Iron Forest".
Seeing Erza's enthusiasm, Mira calmly took out a recruitment flyer. "Perhaps we don't need to make a big show of it."
Noah and Erza looked at the flyer, which was an advertisement for Abal to hire a maid, requiring "blonde" and "large breasts", and the interview location was at the back door of the villa.
"Mira, do you mean to..."
Erza then remembered that Mira, in addition to [Receive] magic, was also very proficient in [Transformation] magic, which allowed her to change into any form.
Mira nodded excitedly, "That's right, I'll cross-dress as a maid to apply for the job. With my looks, I'm sure I'll be able to get into the villa smoothly."
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl waved her hand and released a [transformation] spell, the magical light instantly turning her snow-white hair golden.
All Erza needs to do next is provide a maid outfit to meet the recruitment requirements, but Noah doesn't want Mira to do that.
"Change back, Mira."
"Huh? Why?"
Mira looked at Noah with a puzzled expression, while skillfully tucking her long hair into a bun behind her head.
Noah touched his nose. He didn't really understand why he stopped Mira, so he could only say what was on his mind: "Whether it's you or Erza, I don't want you to use your beauty to seduce people. That Aibal doesn't seem like a decent person."
"Oh my, Erza, did I hear that right? Noah is actually worried about us."
Mira's smile grew wider as she leaned forward against Noah, her warm breath brushing against the white-haired boy's face. "But why do I smell jealousy on you?"
"Huh? Really? I don't feel anything."
Watching Noah fiddling with his clothes, Erza smiled without saying a word. Some people are smart all their lives, but in some ways they are quite slow-witted.
After teasing Noah, Mira stopped insisting on her cross-dressing maid plan and changed her hair back to its original color.
After discussing it, Noah and the other two decided to keep an eye on Abal's villa during the day, familiarize themselves with the surroundings, and then sneak into the villa at night to handle the matter with minimal disturbance.
However, when Noah circled around to the side of the villa, he knew that things were going to get serious today, because he saw two furtive figures.
The cherry-haired boy and the blue kitten each used tree branches to shield themselves, clearly confident in their flawless (and flawed) disguise.
Natsu and Happy hid their heads under the leaves, keeping their eyes fixed on Lucy, who was being interviewed by Abal, at the back door of the villa.
"Natsu, Lucy actually believed it."
"Yeah, Happy, we were just joking. I didn't expect Lucy to actually apply for a maid job. She's so naive."
"Lucy is lucky to have the two of us as teammates, otherwise she would have been betrayed without even realizing it."
"Oh, is that how it is?"
The man and the cat were all grinning, completely unaware of the pair of iron fists descending upon them from above.
Two thuds sounded.
Natsu and Happy covered their heads and looked back. What they saw terrified Natsu so much that his legs went weak and he involuntarily knelt down at the feet of the red-haired girl.
"Erza... Erza, what are you doing here!"
Because he was beaten up by Erza since he was a child, Natsu is like a mouse seeing a cat whenever he does something wrong.
Erza's face was cold as she tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword. "You've really gotten bold, Natsu, managing to trick Lucy into selling her body."
Natsu hurriedly explained, "It was a joke, but Lucy believed it! Happy can vouch for me! Speak up, Happy!"
"Eek~ I can testify that this idea was indeed Natsu's." Happy raised his paw, looking like a good boy, without saying a word about himself, the accomplice.
Seeing that Happy had unhesitatingly chosen to leave him completely naked, Natsu, feeling betrayed, was horrified. "You wretched cat, I'll get you right now..."
"Stop fooling around."
Erza's simple words immediately calmed the two, who were playfully tugging at each other's faces.
It turns out that Natsu's team was there on a mission; the client asked them to steal a book from Aibar's villa.
While Natsu and Happy were scouting the area, they happened to see Aybal's flyer advertising for maids. They joked with Lucy, and the naive Lucy believed them and went to apply disguised as a maid.
After learning the whole story, Noah glanced at Mira unintentionally. Two out of the five people present could actually come up with such a terrible idea. How to put it... no wonder it's called "Fairy Tail".
It's true that people who aren't family don't enter the same door.
While Natsu and Happy were arrested on the spot by Erza, Lucy's interview also went poorly, and she was even eliminated.
Humans have different aesthetic standards, but their appreciation for beautiful things is always similar. However, what some people consider "beautiful" can only be described as a disaster.
Baron Abarth was such a man.
The blonde girl who came to apply for the job was young and beautiful, in the prime of her life. However, when faced with Lucy dressed as a maid, the short and stocky Baron Abal's face darkened, and he cursed with disdain:
"Ugly freak! How dare you apply to be my maid looking like that!"
Upon hearing this, Lucy was struck dumb, utterly shocked.
Lucy thought that with her looks, getting into the villa would be a piece of cake, but she didn't expect to be rejected right after the interview and even called an ugly monster!
When her temper flared, Lucy disregarded Abel's status and confronted him in the street, saying, "You say I'm ugly?! Don't you even know what aesthetics are?!"
"Hmph, still dare to be unconvinced? Then let me show you... my maids!"
Aibal clapped his hands, and four figures burst from the ground behind him—his personal maids.
When the four oddly shaped, hideously ugly figures appeared in the smoke and dust, Lucy... fell silent.
Lucy realized one thing: with such an inhuman aesthetic sense, this Baron Abel must be a super pervert.
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