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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 tomorrow.
"It smells so good..."
Ultear slowly woke up, sniffing hard.
The smoky aroma of charcoal grilling was the first to enter her nostrils—it was the oil dripping and sizzling as the fish skin curled into a golden, crispy shell on the grill.
Licking her lips, Ultear realized she was hungry, having not eaten all day.
She had rescued Jellal from the Magic Council headquarters in the morning, spent the afternoon traveling, and then endured a battle where she put in all the effort while that annoying white-haired guy didn't go all out.
Trying to move, Ultear found her hands and feet bound by a restraint spell. Unlike Jellal's Bind Snake, the restraint spell on Ultear tightened more with every struggle.
After only two attempts to move, her wrists were already aching from the constriction.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Noah noticed Ultear's movements and proudly told Erza, "I told you I knew what I was doing. She was only unconscious for four hours."
What was he so proud of? Erza just thought Noah was being stubborn—who knocks someone unconscious for so long?
"Stop babbling. Didn't you say she was connected to Gray? She's awake, so go ask her quickly."
Normally, Erza would handle interrogations, but the battle with Jellal had drained all her strength and energy.
Even with Mystogan's surprise attack, Jellal was still the strongest enemy Erza had ever encountered.
"Then I'll ask."
Noah approached Ultear. "No small talk. Just honestly tell me your relationship with Gray."
Ultear closed her eyes and remained silent, but her stomach made an uncooperative sound, betraying her outward composure.
Seeing the woman's mortified expression, Noah chuckled, turned, skewered a grilled fish, and dangled it in front of Ultear. "Answer the questions, and you'll eat. Otherwise, I'll have to invite you to a private seat at the bottom of the sea."
"This is prisoner abuse! The Magic Council has regulations!" Her stomach empty, Ultear's protest sounded weak.
"Heh, the Magic Council? You just reminded me."
Noah sneered, "We still need to settle accounts with them for firing Etherion at the Tower of Heaven, disregarding our lives."
"As for prisoner abuse? Do you even qualify?"
"You're with Jellal, so you must be from a Dark Guild, right?"
"I advise you to confess honestly. See that guy over there, all in black, who can't stand the light?"
Noah said with a mischievous grin, "He's a pervert. He loves playing 'hypnosis games.' If a beauty like you falls into his hands, hehe~"
"Hehe your head!"
"We're a legitimate Guild!"
Erza, finding strength from who knows where, dragged Noah over and smacked him on the head with a leftover fishbone.
It seemed that even outside, Erza hadn't forgotten her duty as a "disciplinary committee member."
Mystogan, who had inexplicably been labeled a "pervert" by Noah, silently gave Erza a thumbs-up for her "violence" and reinserted his tightly gripped staff into the ground.
Although she had heard that Fairy Tail was peculiar, Ultear didn't know what expression to make watching this scene. She could only say that seeing was believing.
What a happy atmosphere.
Unfortunately, happiness is not meant for someone like me.
While Noah was being beaten, Ultear slowly wriggled her body toward the grilled fish Noah had dropped on the ground. It was only a little dirty, much better than what she used to eat when she was a wanderer.
Suddenly, Ultear felt her body lighten. Lying on the ground, she was helped up, still clutching the sand-covered grilled fish in her mouth.
Erza couldn't stand seeing dignity trampled, especially when someone, like Ultear, gave up her own dignity. She looked at the restraint spell deeply embedded in Ultear's skin.
"Noah, release her."
"Yes, yes, my benevolent Queen."
Noah, who had been playing dead on the ground, sprang up with a fish-like flip and snapped his fingers at Ultear.
The next second, the restraint spell vanished. Ultear immediately felt her body much lighter. "Aren't you afraid I'll run away?"
"If you can defeat all three of us," Erza said, taking a grilled fish and offering it to Ultear.
Looking at the dirty grilled fish in her hand, then at the clean one Erza offered, Ultear felt a strange pang of sadness in her heart.
When was the last time someone cared about me?
It must have been over ten years ago...
Eating the fish without caring about her image, Ultear then noticed that half of the island had been sliced off, and Jellal was nowhere to be found. "You defeated him?"
Erza nodded, knowing who Ultear was asking about. "Jellal and the other half of the island sank to the bottom of the sea, probably..."
"Probably dead," Noah said bluntly, earning a glare from Erza.
In truth, Erza no longer cared whether Jellal was alive or dead, but she was still very puzzled as to why that kind boy had fallen so far.
Mystogan felt he might have an answer to this question: "A strong person like Jellal should have very powerful mental strength."
"But when I attacked Jellal with illusions, it went surprisingly smoothly. I found that his mental depths were actually very fragile. This is a sign of being brainwashed by Magic."
Noah chimed in, "Which means Jellal's drastic change in personality seven years ago was due to someone brainwashing him, with the goal of making him continue to build the R-System."
"Could it be someone from the Black Magic Cult? After all, they worship the Black Mage."
"Unlikely. Those cultists wouldn't let important Magic fall into the hands of others, especially a child."
"Then it can only be a Dark Guild."
"..."
Listening to the three of them, Ultear couldn't help but marvel at the power of Fairy Tail. They actually had a Mage skilled in Mental Magic who could instantly see the abnormality in Jellal's mental depths.
If Erza knew that I was the one who had corrupted Jellal, how would she treat me? She would surely hate me, Ultear thought silently.