"What happened? I think I saw Rhode carrying Loki out."
"Loki was just talking to Mira."
"Oh~ did he get beaten up by Rhode because he tried to make a move on Mira?"
"Serves him right... do you think Rhode will dunk him in the lake?"
"Hahaha, if that happens, Rhode would be saving countless naive girls."
Of course, the lake dunking was a joke. No one believed Rhode would actually do that; at most, he'd just give Loki a lesson.
Teasing someone else's girlfriend, getting punished is what he deserves.
Only a few people noticed that it seemed like Mira transformed and used Hypnosis Magic on Loki just now.
But it doesn't matter, Loki must have said something inappropriate to get disciplined by Mira. In this scenario, it's all Loki's fault.
In the forest, Rhode had already carried Loki to Porlyusica's doorstep.
Seeing Rhode in this state, Porlyusica thought Loki was severely injured, so she let him in right away.
Once Rhode placed Loki on the bed, Porlyusica touched his forehead lightly with a finger and diagnosed, "It's just Sleep Magic, so he's in a deep sleep, nothing serious."
Rhode sheepishly said, "Granny, you misunderstood, Mira was the one who cast the Sleep Magic."
Porlyusica frowned, "What are you guys up to again? Infighting?"
"No, it's just that this guy hasn't been himself for over a month. Every time we tell him to get checked, he casually agrees but his condition keeps worsening. Today he insisted on taking on a combat mission... We were really worried, so we brought him here like this."
"Is that so?"
That's why Fairy Tail are all fools, it's obvious there's a major illness being hidden in such a situation.
Porlyusica conducted another thorough examination, and her frown deepened with the results.
Rhode's heart began to sink. He'd only seen this expression on Granny when the guild president was injured last time.
"How's it looking?" Rhode asked with concern after she finished the examination.
"It's not something that can be resolved quickly," Porlyusica said, "Leave him here, you can go."
Rhode didn't want to get in the way, but before leaving, he asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Just cast that magic called Crown of Embers once, and then leave."
"Alright."
Rhode summoned the red and blue buffs outside, instructing them to follow Granny Porlyusica's commands.
"Can your body handle this?"
"Don't worry, Granny, I haven't been idle lately." Rhode waved his hand and left, "I'll leave Loki to you."
Though he's a notorious flirt, with questionable lifestyle choices, and he likes to hide from him, he is, after all, a comrade he has fought alongside.
Rhode didn't want him to disappear inexplicably like this.
After he left, Porlyusica took out a vial of potion and placed a drop on the center of Loki's upper lip.
Suddenly, the sleeping Loki sneezed and sat up.
"Where is this?" Loki rubbed his head, remembering he was just taking on a task, "Lady Porlyusica?"
Porlyusica got straight to the point, "You, you're not human, are you?"
Loki's eyes widened, instinctively wanting to deny it. But remembering the lady's profession, he sighed as if resigned, "Please don't tell anyone."
"What's going on with your body? Why are you constantly getting weaker?"
"Because... I'm a Star Spirit," Loki lowered his head, "My true name is Leo of the Leo Constellation. I've been lingering in the Human Realm for three years without a contractor."
"Three years?" Even Porlyusica looked shocked this time, "Star Spirits can't stay in the Human Realm for long!
Even a Zodiac Star Spirit would completely break down after ten days, how could you stay for three years?! And why would you do this?"
"Because I'm an exiled Star Spirit, I violated the Star Spirits' taboo—I caused my contractor's death."
It happened three years ago when the owner of the Leo Constellation key was Blue Pegasus's Star Spirit Mage Kallen.
Back then, she was a very famous mage, possessing not only the Leo Constellation key but also the Aries Constellation, Alyes.
As a Star Spirit Mage, owning two Zodiac keys was enough to boast about.
Besides, she was also a cover model for Wizard Weekly back then, making Jenny, Mira, and others her juniors.
Perhaps due to her immense fame, perhaps due to her never understanding the core of Star Spirit Magic, Kallen always treated Star Spirits as money-making tools, her servants, even slaves to be ordered around, whipping and punishing them for any slight disobedience.
Until one day, as the leader of the Zodiac, Loki or rather Leo, couldn't stand Kallen's behavior any longer.
When Kallen wanted to summon Alyes for punishment, he forcibly replaced Alyes in the summoning.
And disregarding Kallen's forced gate-closing magic, he occupied her summoning slot, making it impossible for Kallen to summon any other Star Spirit.
Loki used this as leverage, demanding Kallen to terminate both his and Alyes's contracts.
But his true intention was to make Kallen realize the feelings of Star Spirits, to gain Alyes the respect she deserved.
However, Kallen never thought she did anything wrong, and so the stalemate between them lasted for three whole months.
Kallen refused to compromise, taking on tasks without being able to summon Star Spirits, and ended up being killed.
According to the rules of the Star Spirit Realm, Loki's actions constituted disobedience to the keyholder's command, indirectly leading to the holder's death, which is a serious breach of contract.
So the Star Spirit King sentenced Loki to permanent exile, forbidding him from returning to the Star Spirit Realm.
Such a punishment for a Star Spirit is equivalent to a death sentence, as his body gradually weakens until it painfully dissipates.
Loki was filled with guilt over Kallen's death and was willing to atone for it, so he had no objections to the judgement.
Because it was the iron law of the Star Spirit Realm, even Alyes's pleas for Loki bore no fruit.
During these years of exile, Loki had been flirting with girls everywhere and obsessing over tasks that involved protecting women, essentially imitating Kallen and her companions' lifestyles as a way to numb himself.
By now, it had become a habit of his.
"What kind of lousy rule is that, how has standing up for an abused comrade become a crime?"
Porlyusica, no stranger to being Fairy Tail's advisory pharmacist, sure sounded like it.
Loki shook his head gently, "This is my fault, and this consequence is my own doing."
Porlyusica opened her mouth but in the end decided not to argue with him, "Your comrades cannot accept such an outcome, otherwise you wouldn't have ended up here."
With her understanding of those idiots, if it were for a comrade, they'd probably storm the Star Spirit Realm en masse if they had to.
"So please don't tell them, the King's power is supreme, not worth causing a conflict for a sinner like me."
Even if she doesn't say anything, someone would eventually find out. Porlyusica pointed at the red and blue lights beside Loki, "Won't that help you?"
"Rhode's magic?" Loki smiled faintly, now he knew who he owed his sudden sleepiness to.
"It doesn't help, this is not an injury or Magic Power depletion, it's the rule of the Star Spirit Realm." Loki knew he didn't have much time left, "Please keep this secret for me, I want to do what I should with the time I have left."
...