<h4>Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Galuna Ind</h4>


    An enraged Natsu had already started fighting Bora.


    Nate didn''t interfere. He leaped lightly from the breakwater andnded 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 nced 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 yer mage. He can transform parts of his body to use Dragon yer Magic, which is a lost magic."


    "Dragon yer 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 tsunamispletely 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 amission 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 youngdy, 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 Iplete 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 copsed, Natsu noticed things were getting bad and shouted over to Nate:


    "This isn''t good, the army''sing! 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 bettere 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.


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


    Lucyy 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 youing back to the guild with us?" Natsu asked, sounding puzzled.


    "I still have amission toplete. 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 copsed 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 toplete themission."


    He headed to the harbor, looking for a boatman willing to take him to Galuna Ind. There were many small boats in the harbor, but as soon as they heard he wanted to go to Galuna Ind, 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 Ind, 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 ind. 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 ind had been using a spell called "Moon Drip" to try to melt the ice.


    Due to the influence of the Moon Drip, ayer of evil energy had formed in the sky above the ind. Thisyer caused the ind''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 themission was simple—destroying thatyer of energy would break the curse.


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


    Easy!


    What a simple S-ss mission!


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


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


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


    "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 ind 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 ind, disaster wille 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 exined the existence of the evil energyyer 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 ind?" 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 howposed 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 hourster, the boat arrived at Galuna Ind.


    Nate disembarked, then turned back to Bobo and said:


    "Stay here and don''t move."