Chapter 491: Slander! I Tell You, This is Slander!
"But to think the Second... to think Precht would actually fall into darkness. It's all because I didn't consider things thoroughly and chose the wrong person. This is all my fault..."
Mavis's voice was incredibly incredibly low. With Precht finally sent away by Noah, she could no longer hold back her emotions. Her face was etched with deep disappointment and undeniable sorrow.
"No, First Master, this isn't your fault," Makarov quickly reassured her.
Although Makarov was also heartbroken and confused by Precht's descent into evil, he recovered much faster than Mavis. After all, he had lived for 88 years, giving him far more life experience than Mavis, who had only truly experienced about 25 years of life before her slumber.
"It's my fault. It's me..." Mavis pouted, lowering her head as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Ugh... sniff..."
She squeezed her eyes shut, her voice choking with sobs.
"!!!"
Makarov's eyes and mouth shot wide open in sheer panic. He had experienced many things in his long life, but dealing with a crying founding master was entirely new territory.
"I'm not crying! I'm definitely not crying! I... I'm not..." Mavis tried to force her eyes wide open, stubbornly denying it even as tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.
"S-Somebody! Quick, come coax the First Master!" Makarov hollered, flailing his arms in an absolute panic.
"It's okay, it's okay. It's really not your fault, First Master," Ultear immediately rushed forward to comfort her.
"It's all Precht's doing. It has absolutely nothing to do with you," Mirajane quickly joined in.
"Exactly. That guy went astray and turned out like that on his own. It's not your burden to bear," Erza added soothingly.
"We shouldn't have let him leave so quickly! He actually made the First Master cry!" Sorano declared indignantly.
"I told you, I'm not crying!" Mavis retorted hurriedly. However, the tears continuously streaming down her face made her protest completely unconvincing.
"Right, right, the First Master isn't crying." Ultear shot Sorano a warning glare before turning back to soothe Mavis. Sorano just stuck her tongue out playfully.
The other girls also crowded around, doing their best to comfort the weeping founder.
Seeing the situation handled, Makarov let out a massive sigh of relief. He cautiously backed away and retreated to Noah's side, leaving Mavis completely surrounded by the girls. Noah himself had prudently stepped back the moment he saw Mavis's tears welling up. Laxus and the other guys had also tactfully retreated; this was definitely not a situation equipped for them to handle.
"By the way, Grandpa, I've already extracted all the Grimoire Heart members from the airship, and I'm currently bringing the ship back here," Noah said, pointing toward the distance.
Makarov, Laxus, and the others followed his gaze. True enough, the massive Grimoire Heart airship was slowly cruising toward Tenrou Island, with a bundled pile of unconscious dark mages floating magically beneath its hull.
"Ugh... just thinking about having to ride that thing makes me want to puke..." Natsu suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth, his muffled voice leaking through his fingers.
"Shut up, Salamander! Don't even say it! Just hearing you talk about it makes me nauseous," Gajeel groaned, instantly covering his own mouth and looking equally green.
Hearing their exchange, Noah glanced over at Laxus. Unsurprisingly, the Lightning Dragon Slayer was also looking rather pale and distinctly uncomfortable. Seeing Noah's knowing, amused smile, Laxus shot him a fierce, warning glare. Noah just chuckled, silently promising not to expose his secret.
"Hm? What's wrong with Gajeel and Natsu?" Panther Lily asked, thoroughly confused.
He hadn't been partners with Gajeel for very long, and since Gajeel had spent the recent period intensely training to help Juvia, Lily hadn't seen him interact with any transportation.
"Natsu and Gajeel both get incredibly severe motion sickness. Even just talking about vehicles makes them feel sick," Happy explained.
"Is that so? Could it be related to the fact that they are both Dragon Slayers?" Lily immediately deduced, noting their shared unique magic.
"Exactly. According to Noah, anyone who learns Lost Dragon Slayer Magic will eventually suffer from extreme motion sickness once their power reaches a certain level. Wendy doesn't have it yet, but once she gets stronger, she'll end up just like Natsu and Gajeel," Happy nodded.
"Won't that be a massive tactical disadvantage?" Lily frowned, deeply concerned about his partner possessing such a crippling weakness.
"It can't be helped. It's an unavoidable side effect of mastering the Lost Magic of Dragon Slaying," Noah shrugged helplessly.
Suddenly, a mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. He leaned in and spoke to Lily in a highly suggestive tone. "However... I do actually have a method that could help Natsu and Gajeel improve their condition. At the very least, they wouldn't be completely incapacitated by vehicles."
"What method?" Lily asked curiously.
Hearing Noah's words, Laxus silently took several large steps backward.
"It's very simple. They're afraid of vehicles, right? So we just force them to ride vehicles constantly! Through sheer, overwhelming exposure therapy, we force their bodies to adapt. Once they adapt, the motion sickness will naturally fade," Noah suggested with a bright, innocent smile.
"BLEURGH— Noah, you bastard— gag," Natsu instantly began dry-heaving at the mere thought of 'overwhelming exposure therapy.'
Gajeel was in a similar state, violently retching next to him.
"That... actually sounds logically sound from a training perspective," Lily muttered, seriously considering the proposal. His military background told him that facing fears and forcing adaptation through rigorous training was a standard way to overcome weaknesses.
"Aye! If Natsu rides a ton of vehicles and trains really hard, he can definitely overcome this flaw!" Happy agreed solemnly.
Hearing his own partner sell him out, Natsu's eyes bulged in absolute betrayal. He glared at Happy through his fingers, but Happy merely offered a cheerful, unapologetic smile.
Gajeel whipped his head toward Lily. Seeing the Exceed seriously pondering the idea, panic set in. What if Lily actually tried to force him into Noah's hellish training regime? He wouldn't know how to refuse his new partner!
Fortunately, after admiring Natsu's terrified expression for a few moments, Happy turned back to Lily. "But Noah's method probably won't work. Natsu and the others can't just train the motion sickness away."
"Hm? Why not? The logic seems perfectly sound to me," Lily asked, confused.
"I don't know the exact reason, but I know Noah. With that look on his face, he's definitely just bluffing to mess with them," Happy declared confidently.
"Slander! I tell you, this is absolute slander!" Noah laughed before finally explaining properly.
"The exposure therapy method could technically work, but it would require an inhumane amount of torture for an incredibly minimal result, which is why I never made them do it. Their motion sickness stems from the Dragon Slayer Magic physically altering their biology into that of a Dragon. This grants them the hyper-enhanced sensory perception of a Dragon—they can see incredibly far, hear the faintest sounds, and smell things normal humans can't."
Noah looked at Natsu and Gajeel, who both nodded weakly. Those enhanced senses were incredibly useful for missions and tracking.
"Because they possess the extreme visual and sensory input of a Dragon, it creates a massive disconnect with their human semicircular canals—the organs responsible for balance. When they ride a vehicle, this sensory mismatch triggers extreme vertigo.
"Because a Dragon's senses are magnitudes more powerful than human organs, it's not a gap that can simply be bridged by 'getting used to it.' Furthermore, as their magic grows, their dragonification deepens. Even if they adapted slightly now, they'd be right back to square one the moment they got stronger. It's a biological conflict, not a psychological fear. Standard exposure training is useless. The only temporary fix is specific relief magic."
"I see," Lily and Happy nodded in understanding.
Hearing the true biological reason, Natsu and Gajeel let out massive sighs of relief. They had been genuinely terrified that Noah was going to force them into a non-stop rollercoaster of doom. Realizing they were safe from the 'therapy,' their nausea immediately subsided, and they finally lowered their hands.
Standing in the back, Laxus also quietly let out a breath of relief. Noah had almost tricked him into trying that exact same 'exposure therapy' years ago. Luckily, he knew Noah well enough to refuse. But hearing the proposal again still gave him cold sweats. If Natsu and Gajeel had been tricked into it, Noah absolutely would have dragged him down with them.
"Damn you, Noah, trying to scare me like that," Natsu grumbled, feeling much better.
"Hm? I wasn't scaring you. Massive exposure training would technically lessen the symptoms; it's just highly inefficient. But looking at you now, maybe you do need a specialized training regimen," Noah narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"N-N-No! I'm good! I definitely don't need it!" Natsu shook his head so violently it became a blur.
"How about you, Gajeel? Care to try?" Noah offered.
"I'll pass. Thanks, but no thanks!" Gajeel immediately retreated several steps.
"What a shame. I drew up several comprehensive training plans tailored for every possible scenario. I guarantee it would have lessened your motion sickness," Noah sighed in mock disappointment.
Hearing this, Natsu and Gajeel scrambled even further back, terrified Noah would suddenly decide to execute those 'plans.' Laxus's mouth twitched, and he silently took a few more steps back as well. He highly suspected those 'plans' were originally drafted specifically for him.
"Anyway, I'm going to go process the Grimoire Heart prisoners. I plan to ship them all directly to the Magic Council. I've already informed Grandpa Yajima in advance so he could prepare," Noah said, turning back to Makarov and getting back to business.
"Mhm. Handle it as you see fit, but be quick about it," Makarov instructed, clearly suspecting that Noah's earlier insistence on resting meant trouble was still brewing.
"I'll just send a Thought Projection to do the delivery. My real body is staying right here," Noah assured him.
"Good," Makarov nodded.
Noah waved at the visibly relieved Dragon Slayers, shot a knowing smirk at Laxus hiding in the back, and then walked toward the containment zone where the dark mages were being held.
The Grimoire Heart airship was currently hovering directly above the shoreline, slowly descending. As it passed over the containment zone, the unconscious Grimoire Heart grunts suspended beneath it were unceremoniously dropped into the runic cage.
Noah walked up and temporarily dispelled the barrier. A few conscious Grimoire Heart mages saw the barrier drop and tried to make a desperate run for it. In the blink of an eye, Noah casually slapped each of them unconscious.
Seeing this, the remaining conscious mages instantly abandoned any thoughts of escaping and obediently stayed frozen in place.
After confirming that not a single Grimoire Heart member was missing, a Thought Projection stepped out of Noah's body. The projection raised its hand, and in a flash of spatial magic, both the projection and the entire pile of Grimoire Heart prisoners vanished from the island.
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