Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
"Name."
"Jellal Fernandes."
"Age."
"19 years old."
"Gender."
"Are you serious, Noah?"
"Watch your attitude, Officer Warren. Call me Detective Noah." Noah knocked on the table, his expression serious.
Warren stopped reading Jellal's mind, turning to look at Noah, who was playing the detective. He truly had nothing better to do than come and interrogate Jellal with Noah.
And why did he get to play the detective while he only got to be an officer? It wasn't fair.
"Come on, Warren, didn't you see that Natsu and I only get to play background guards?"
Standing behind Jellal, one on each side, Gray's face was filled with displeasure, but the "thoughtless" Natsu found it very novel. After all, he had always been the one interrogated when he went to the station, so experiencing it from a different perspective was very interesting for him.
These bastards... What did they think an interrogation was?
A game of make-believe?
Jellal listened to the four people around him complaining to each other, gritting his teeth in anger but feeling powerless.
Warren's Telepathy Magic was a type of Magic that allowed communication through the mind. It had no combat power and was limited to transmitting information, making it a strategic auxiliary Magic.
But with Warren's persistent development, Telepathy was finally developed into an extremely heaven-defying function—mind-reading.
As long as the target's strength was similar or their Magic Power was weaker than his own, Warren could read the thoughts currently going on in their mind.
Originally, for a strong individual like Jellal, "mind-reading" should have had no effect on him.
However, due to Jellal's weak body and mental exhaustion, coupled with the significant Magic Power consumed in a major battle, Warren successfully exploited the loophole and used "mind-reading" on Jellal.
Jellal desperately tried to calm his mind and avoid any thoughts, but the surrounding interference made it impossible for him to do so.
"Let's get back to business."
After Noah and his companions finished complaining to each other, he once again focused his gaze on the person suspected of being his brother's counterpart in Earth Land.
"Jellal, what is your relationship with Erza?"
At these words, Natsu, Gray, and Warren all fell silent, staring at Jellal. Especially Natsu and Gray—although Erza had beaten them up since childhood, the friendship between the three of them had never fractured.
After successfully capturing Jellal, Erza claimed to be tired and returned to her dormitory to rest, but anyone could see that her emotions were off.
The reason for all of this lay with Jellal.
That's why Noah had brought Warren to "read his mind."
Hearing the name of the red-haired girl, Jellal's heart was filled with indescribably complex thoughts, but Warren still keenly caught a piece of information.
Jellal and Erza were both slaves at the "Tower of Heaven."
"Tower of Heaven? What's that? It sounds like the name of an amusement park." Natsu scratched his head, puzzled.
Gray quickly retorted, "Idiot, what amusement park has slaves?"
Just as the ice and fire Mages were about to argue again, Noah stopped them. "I know about the Tower of Heaven. To be precise, that name is just a code name."
"Its real name should be R-System. It is said to have been created by a Black Mage, a Black Magic that can bring people back from the dead."
Hearing the name Black Mage, Warren's expression changed.
On the continent of Ishgar, the Black Mage had a terrifying reputation that could make children stop crying.
About four hundred years ago, a great Magic researcher and powerful Mage appeared in this world. His name was Zeref.
It is said that wherever Zeref went, no life could survive, so he was given the title of "Black Mage" by the people of that time.
The Magic invented and created by the Black Mage was naturally called Black Magic. Because Black Magic was too terrifying, its use had been strictly forbidden by the Magic Council for over four hundred years.
Noah organized his thoughts and recounted a piece of information from "Exciting Cases of the Magic Council" that he had once read.
"Approximately ten years ago, the Black Magic Cult, who worshipped the Black Mage, obtained the manufacturing process for the R-System and invested a large amount of capital and manpower into it, planning to build eight R-Systems."
"To better conceal it, the Black Magic Cult called this plan the 'Tower of Heaven' and secretly captured and traded a large number of people, enslaving them to build the Tower of Heaven."
"Seven years ago, due to reports of missing persons in various places, the Magic Council and various Magic Guilds became concerned. Following the clues, they discovered the actions of the Black Magic Cult."
"In the same year, under the wrath of all parties, the Tower of Heaven was successfully destroyed."
After listening to Noah's words, Gray's fist tightened. Seven years ago was precisely when Erza joined Fairy Tail.
Now Gray finally understood why Erza would always secretly hide and cry by herself at that time.
The Black Magic Cult—they truly deserved to die!
Jellal was also a victim of the Tower of Heaven, but he had taken a path completely opposite to Erza's.
One embraced light, the other fell into darkness.
It was lamentable.
Noah sighed softly, then saw Warren's expression change drastically. It seemed he had read some bombshell news from Jellal's mind.
Before Noah could even ask, Warren blurted out, "The Magic Council didn't destroy all the Towers of Heaven! One wasn't exposed and survived!"
Warren stared intently at Jellal. "This guy is the owner of that last Tower of Heaven! And it's already mostly completed."
"Now what's missing..."
"Damn it!"
Seeing that Warren was about to read his plan, Jellal desperately tried to prevent exposure.
Taking advantage of Natsu and Gray's momentary inattention, Jellal suddenly slammed his head against the corner of the table, knocking himself unconscious.
Looking at the blood on Jellal's head, Noah hadn't expected him to be so ruthless to himself. It seemed the Tower of Heaven held an extremely important position in his heart, to the point where he would resort to self-harm to avoid exposure.
He had Gray and the other two send Jellal to the infirmary, while Noah himself went to report to Makarov.
In the office, Makarov, Siegrain, and Doranbalt were arguing about which party Jellal should be handed over to.
Siegrain wanted to personally escort Jellal back to the Council.
But Doranbalt stated that this was the work of the Custody Enforcement Unit and that the Magic Councilor didn't need to personally intervene. Moreover, even if he were escorted back to the Council, the task of interrogating Jellal would only fall to the Custody Enforcement Unit.
One side pressed with his status, the other argued logically, and Makarov almost couldn't get a word in.
Just then, Noah pushed open the door, jokingly remarking to the two, "The office is so lively, what a rare sight, wouldn't you say, Guild Master?"
After Makarov and Noah exchanged glances, he immediately understood that Warren had made significant progress in reading Jellal's mind. He truly hadn't failed him by bringing Doranbalt along to restrain Siegrain.
"Siegrain, Jellal was captured by our guild."
"In my opinion, it would be better for me to personally escort such a dangerous individual to the Council."
Doranbalt saw Makarov's change and immediately echoed his agreement.
Siegrain, seeing that both of them had the same opinion, could only reluctantly agree. Anyway, with him mediating, it would be impossible for the Council to get information from his main body.
Unfortunately, Siegrain did not know that Fairy Tail had a mind-reading Mage, and his main body, Jellal, had already revealed his true intentions.