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"Oh! Noah, there's something I need your help with."
Natsu pulled Lucy closer, pointing to the Virgo key in her hand, and asked if there was a way to unbind the contract between the Gold Key and Everlue.
Is this guy thinking I'm too omnipotent? Noah grumbled internally after understanding the specific situation.
The word "contract" sounded nice, but in reality, the status between a Celestial Spirit Mage and a Celestial Spirit wasn't equal, because Celestial Spirits couldn't actively choose their contractors.
The so-called "Celestial Spirit contract" specifically meant that the Celestial Spirit must obey the summons of the key holder and dedicate its power to them. It was entirely a one-sided responsibility for the Celestial Spirit—the holder bore no burden whatsoever.
Even if a Celestial Spirit was unwilling to sign, the Celestial Spirit Mage holding the key could complete the contract ritual alone, so Celestial Spirits had no choice.
Noah had once heard a rumor, about a year and a half to two years ago, that a female Celestial Spirit Mage in the Magic Guild Blue Pegasus often abused her Celestial Spirits, causing one of them to resist.
The way that Celestial Spirit resisted was by forcibly remaining in the human world, keeping the contractor's Magic Power in a state of long-term depletion, thereby forcing the other party to terminate the Celestial Spirit contract of its companions.
Noah didn't know the aftermath of this rumor, but it was enough to illustrate one thing: if a Celestial Spirit encountered a terrible contractor, it was in for a lot of trouble.
Not everyone was as kind as Lucy, who considered the Celestial Spirits' wishes and feelings. For example, the Cancer Celestial Spirit loved to be a hairstylist, and Lucy would ask him to design her hairstyle and take care of her hair instead of forcing him to do things he didn't like.
Not far away, Everlue slowly woke up, bewildered by the ruined underground palace. But his eyes lit up when he saw Noah and his group.
"Hey! You ugly people over there! You did well, freeing me from the coercion of the Dark Guild."
"When we return, I'll reward you handsomely."
Natsu naively asked Everlue to release Virgo's contract, but Everlue refused without hesitation, stating that Virgo could change her body shape as the contractor requested, and he wanted to mold Virgo into his dream maid.
The thought of a dignified Gold Celestial Spirit having to transform into an ugly creature to serve a low-powered "potato" baron made one feel a sense of awkwardness and disgust.
Looking at Everlue, who was playing innocent and acting arrogant, Noah suddenly had a flash of inspiration—thinking of an idea that could make him and Virgo break the Celestial Spirit contract.
If he wasn't willing to break the contract, then they'd beat him until he was willing.
But it couldn't be him doing it.
So, who should be the bad guy? Naturally, the real bad guy.
Noah kicked the unconscious Black Priest Dachiru on the ground. When the other party didn't stir, he continued, "Stop playing dead. If you keep it up, I'll just have to ask Mirajane to play another song."
As soon as he finished speaking, the previously lifeless Dachiru immediately woke up. He hadn't expected his playing-dead trick to fool even Demon Mirajane and the Fairy Queen, yet be seen through by an unknown youth.
However, thinking that the other party was the one who'd quickly defeated Lullaby with two punches, Dachiru became honest, not daring to have any thoughts of resistance. He looked at Noah fawningly, "Sir, what are your orders?"
Hmph, that's a quick change of face.
Watched by a circle of disdainful gazes, Dachiru seemed to feel nothing, vividly illustrating what it meant to be shameless.
Noah pointed at Everlue and said to Dachiru, "You, go and beat him. Stop when he agrees to release the Celestial Spirit contract."
Hearing Noah's words, Dachiru's expression was subtle. "Sir, if I'm not mistaken, you seem to be a member of Fairy Tail, but what you're asking for is something only a Dark Guild would do…"
"Exactly, that's why I'm sending you."
Noah said it as a matter of course. After all, why should he do the dirty work himself?
Anyway, Dachiru's crimes were all starting at life imprisonment, so adding another crime of coercing and assaulting a baron was just a drop in the ocean.
Moreover, by colluding with the Black Magic Cult, Everlue's position as a baron couldn't possibly be maintained—unless the Kingdom of Fiore wanted to lose face.
When under someone else's roof, one has to bow one's head. Dachiru didn't even dare to negotiate terms, fearing another beating, and honestly went to "persuade" Everlue to release the Celestial Spirit contract.
A Legal Guild member instructing a Black Magic Priest to beat a country's baron—this scene made Erza feel complicated, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Noah, you… if you joined a Dark Guild, you'd definitely thrive."
Noah shrugged slightly. He only wanted a carefree, lazy life—he had no interest in such a challenging place as a Dark Guild.
Everlue's bones were softer than expected, but it was also possible that Dachiru's punches were too heavy. In any case, the Virgo key's contract was released.
Although she successfully acquired the Virgo key, Lucy found it hard to describe her feelings. But thinking that the perverted baron was an out-and-out bad guy, her guilt vanished completely.
Let's go meet our new Celestial Spirit companion…
By the time the Magic Council's action team arrived in Shirotsume Town after receiving the report, Noah and his group had already left.
Black Magic Priest Dachiru and his team, along with several Mages from Eisenwald, were all arrested.
Everlue's crimes were exposed under the discerning eyes of the action team's professionals. He was sent to the Kingdom of Fiore's prison and stripped of his title by the kingdom.
Despite Everlue repeatedly emphasizing that Fairy Tail had forcibly taken his Gold Key, and even with Dachiru's testimony, neither the Magic Council nor the Kingdom of Fiore believed him.
Because of the Tower of Heaven incident, the Magic Council was eager to mend relations with Fairy Tail—how could they listen to someone who colluded with dark forces?
And the Kingdom of Fiore paid even less attention to Everlue. If it weren't for Fairy Tail exposing Everlue's scheme, who knew if this ticking time bomb would endanger the nation's security?
It's worth mentioning that the book entrusted to Natsu's team was written by the great author whom Everlue had imprisoned and whom he'd forced Lucy to admire. After finishing the book, the coerced author suffered severe physical and mental trauma and passed away soon after.
However, the true content hidden beneath the Word Replacement Magic in that book was the author's heartfelt message as a father to his son, and Natsu's team's client was precisely the author's son.
For illegal imprisonment and causing the death of an influential great author, Everlue successfully went from a fixed-term sentence to life imprisonment.