Chapter 7: Galuna Island

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Galuna IslandAn enraged Natsu had already started fighting Bora.

Nate didn't interfere. He leaped lightly from the breakwater and landed beside Lucy.

"Hello, I'm Nate."

"I'm Lucy. Thank you for saving me."

Seeing the handsome man approach, Lucy quickly thanked him, all the while curiously sizing him up.

"Aren't you going to help? They've got a lot of people."

Nate glanced over and saw Natsu easily handling Bora's group.

Happy flew over to Nate's shoulder and confidently said:

"Natsu is really strong. He won't lose to those fakes. Nate, you can just sit back and watch!"

Nate reached out and patted the blue cat on the head.

"He's a Fire Dragon Slayer mage. He can transform parts of his body to use Dragon Slayer Magic, which is a lost magic."

"Dragon Slayer Magic?"

Lucy was astonished. As expected of Fairy Tail mages—each of them was incredibly strong.

One could fight dragons, and the other could create tsunamis—completely different from that fake.

"Lucy, are you a Celestial Spirit mage?"

Nate seemed to have just noticed the string of keys in Lucy's hand—three gold and three silver.

Celestial Spirit Magic was an ancient magic that allowed mages to make contracts with Celestial Spirits and use keys as a medium to summon them from the Celestial Spirit World to fight.

Celestial Spirit mages were rare and belonged to the category of "Holder Magic."

The downside was that without the keys, they couldn't use their magic.

"Eh? Yes."

"Actually, I'm working on a commission right now, and part of the reward is a Zodiac Key."

Nate gave a businessman-like smile and said kindly:

"It's not really useful to me. If you want it, I can sell it to you."

"A Zodiac Key?"

Lucy's eyes widened in excitement, and she eagerly nodded. "Really? You'd give it to me?"

Nate: "..."

How did you, a wealthy young lady, hear 'give' instead of 'sell'?

"Sell," Nate emphasized, putting more weight on the word.

"Ah, sorry... I got a bit too excited." Lucy quickly apologized, feeling embarrassed. "I'm willing to pay. How much do you want?"

Unlike ordinary silver keys, there were only twelve golden keys, each corresponding to a sign of the Zodiac. Each one was incredibly precious, and if missed, it might never be found again.

Nate shook his head and said:

"I know you're eager, but don't be in such a rush."

"Even if you want to buy it, you'll have to wait until I complete the mission and get the key first."

Just then, a scream interrupted their conversation.

Nate turned his head and saw Natsu shouting, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" as he sent Bora flying with a punch.

As a few houses collapsed, Natsu noticed things were getting bad and shouted over to Nate:

"This isn't good, the army's coming! Happy, Nate, we've got to run! If we get caught, we'll have to pay for the damage!"

"Aye~"

Happy immediately flew off.

Nate turned to Lucy and said, "Are you thinking about joining Fairy Tail? If so, you'd better come with us."

Without waiting for her response, he started running.

Lucy was momentarily stunned but then broke into a happy smile.

"Yes! Wait for me!"

The group quickly ran off and disappeared into the night.

Before long, Makarov appeared on the breakwater, clenching his fists.

"That Natsu... I'm the one who's going to get scolded!"

...

It was already after 9 p.m., and the magic trains had stopped running, so they couldn't return to Magnolia for the time being. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Having fled the scene, Nate and the others found a nearby inn to stay the night.

Lucy lay in the bathtub, soaking in the warm water as she reminisced about the day's events. She couldn't help but smile.

"Tomorrow, I'll be able to join Fairy Tail, and I'll even be able to buy a Zodiac Key from Nate!"

"Today was really my lucky day~"

Although she had been tricked by a fake mage, the end result was wonderful. She had met two... no, three mages from Fairy Tail!

Feeling happy, she started humming a tune.

After her bath, she changed into her pajamas, but it was still early for bed. Lucy took out her diary and began recording the happy moments of her day.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, Natsu and Happy were already fast asleep.

Nate sat by the window, using the moonlight to continue reading his magic book.

...

The next morning at Hargeon Train Station.

"Nate, aren't you coming back to the guild with us?" Natsu asked, sounding puzzled.

"I still have a commission to complete. I'll head back once I'm done." Nate waved goodbye to the three.

"I see. Well, see you at the guild!"

Natsu grinned, then boarded the train, where he immediately collapsed and started vomiting.

Lucy waved to Nate.

"Goodbye, Nate! Don't forget about the key!"

Nate just smiled.

Watching the train disappear into the distance, Nate turned and left the station.

"Time to complete the commission."

He headed to the harbor, looking for a boatman willing to take him to Galuna Island. There were many small boats in the harbor, but as soon as they heard he wanted to go to Galuna Island, they all shook their heads.

It wasn't until Nate revealed that he was a mage that one boatman agreed to take him.

As Nate boarded the small boat bound for Galuna Island, he began to recall the story of what had happened there.

About three years ago, a group of mages had transported a frozen demon to the island. It was sealed using a forbidden spell called "Iced Shell," a magic that required the caster to sacrifice their body to freeze the demon.

For the past three years, the mages on the island had been using a spell called "Moon Drip" to try to melt the ice.

Due to the influence of the Moon Drip, a layer of evil energy had formed in the sky above the island. This layer caused the island's inhabitants to experience memory loss.

Though they were actually demons, they believed themselves to be humans who had been cursed. That's why they issued the request to Fairy Tail.

Resolving the commission was simple—destroying that layer of energy would break the curse.

Nate didn't care about the mages' plans and had no intention of getting involved. All he had to do was get to the island, punch the air, and then collect his reward.

Easy!

What a simple S-Class mission!

Unfortunately, this was the only easy S-Class commission he knew of.

"You must be the mage going to the island to break the curse?"

Suddenly, the boatman at the bow spoke up. "I'm Bobo, a resident who escaped from the cursed island."

"My name is Nate. Don't worry, the issue will be resolved quickly."

Nate vaguely remembered that this man was the only resident on the island who hadn't lost his memory.

"Can you really break the curse?"

Seeing Nate's confidence, Bobo couldn't help but ask, "When you step foot on that island, disaster will come for you too. You can still turn back now."

"That's why it's important to study magic. Without magic, life is full of curses."

Nate chuckled and explained the existence of the evil energy layer to him.

Bobo was stunned.

So, the source of the curse was that simple?

"How do you know that without even stepping foot on the island?" Bobo asked, still skeptical.

"Instead of worrying about that, just focus on rowing. The sooner I get there, the sooner I can get the job done."

Nate stopped talking and took out his magic book, continuing to read. He was already halfway through it, and once he finished, the [Library] feature would be ready to set up.

Seeing how composed Nate was, Bobo remained silent for a moment and then chose to trust him. Without saying another word, he picked up the pace, rowing faster.

A few hours later, the boat arrived at Galuna Island.

Nate disembarked, then turned back to Bobo and said:

"Stay here and don't move."