Chương 12: Consequence

"Oh good he made it in. Although I probably should have opened the window first." Meliodas commented.

"I don't think that's the problem here…" Gray responded as he shook his head. Meliodas and Gray both ran downstairs and went outside. There, they saw Joe's body floating facing up.

"Oh good at least he has air." Meliodas said.

"You know...I think he actually might be dead." Gray said as he walked towards the pool. Suddenly, Joe's eyes opened and he began wildly flailing his arms.

"What the hell is going on?!" Joe yelled, confused as to why he was in the pool. "Help! I can't swim!"

Gray leaned down and touched the water's edge, causing the entire pool to freeze in an instant. Meliodas appeared behind Joe and pulled him out of the ice. Meliodas was confused when he heard him say he couldn't swim.

"Why do you have a pool if you can't swim…"

"C-c-cold…" Joe cried as he was furiously shivering. Meliodas grabbed a towel hanging on a nearby drying rack and wrapped it around Joe before bringing him inside.

"W-w-w-why was I in the p-p-pool…" Joe shivered.

"Long story short, you got drugged by your maids and they've been the ones stealing from you." Gray answered. As they entered the main lobby of the house, Joe was shocked as he saw a massive ice prison where Emma and Ali were sitting inside.

"Y-y-you t-t-traitors!" Joe yelled angrily. "I-I'll have the c-c-council lock you up and throw the k-key away!"

Both Emma and Ali remained silent as Joe angrily left the room to another room nearby. From the lobby, Meliodas and Gray could hear him yelling as he contacted the council through a communication lacrima. Several minutes later, he came back out of the room, looking much warmer.

"The council will be on their way to lock these cretins up for good. In the meantime, I must thank you two for catching them. Now if you would excuse me, I must go change into something dry." Joe said as he walked away.

----

Half an hour passed and several council members arrived at the estate. Meliodas and Gray watched out the window as a fleet of white carriages rode into the estate. As they parked in front of the house, many men and women wearing white robes walked out of the carriages.

"Did they really need to bring this many people for an arrest?" Gray mentioned out loud. Meliodas continued to stare at the councilmen who were approaching the manor. 'Must be because of Joe's status.' Meliodas thought.

"It's about time! Joe scoffed before letting the council members inside. Over a dozen of them filled the main hall as they trickled in from the front door.

"Hello, Mr. Bluegarden, I am Frestes, the Captain of the custody enforcement unit." A tall man with long brown hair approached Joe. He wore a similar outfit to the rest of the councilmen but his own had greater detail, with various gold trimmings.

"Welcome!!!" Joe beamed.

"I am here regarding the thieves you mentioned Mr. Bluegarden." Frestes said.

"Yes, thank you!, they were caught by the Fairy Tail mages here." Joe said as he pointed to Meliodas and Gray.

Frestes turned to Meliodas and Gray. He looked at them with a slight frown. Personally, he was not a fan of the Fairy Tail wizards, wherever they went, they always caused trouble. However, he had no choice but to admit that they were exceptional wizards.

"Thank you for your efforts, we will take it from here." Frestes said before turning back to Bluegarden. He waved his hand in the air, gesturing for his squad. Several council members walked forward and shackled Emma and Ali.

Meliodas watched as Emma and Ali were cuffed and taken away while Gray along with several of the servants spoke to one of the other councilmen.

"Hmph...serves them right." Joe commented as he stood next to Meliodas.

"It's quite unfortunate things turned out the way they did.�� Meliodas commented.

"But you and your friend. Again I thank you both for catching them." Joe reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a checkbook and a pen. There he quickly wrote the Jewel amount and ripped out the check, handing it to Meliodas.

"I thank you both for your help. As I am feeling charitable right now, I will not charge you for the window that you broke." Joe said as he glared at Meliodas for a moment before his expression quickly changed back to a calm smile.

"No problem!" Meliodas replied. As Joe walked away, Gray approached Meliodas.

"You get the money?" Gray asked. Meliodas nodded and showed him the check.

"Well I left the rest to the servants. I told that councilman about Joe's hidden room. Our mission here is done so we have no reason to stay here." Gray said.

"Sounds good." Meliodas replied as the two of them walked out of the estate.

After Meliodas and Gray left, Frestes approached Joe once again..

"Joe Bluegarden?" Frestes asked.

"Yes? Did you need anything else from me?" Joe asked in confusion. 'They had already arrested the thieves, why were they still around?'

"Some interesting news has come to light." He replied.

"You're under arrest for the abuse of your servants and your illegal activities in affiliation with several dark guilds." The councilman said. Before Joe had a chance to say anything, he grabbed Joe's arms and turned him around, quickly cuffing him.

"What is the meaning of this?! I demand you release me immediately!" Joe exclaimed.

The councilman ignored Joe's threats as he cuffed.

"Do not resist, we already found evidence of your actions. You will pay for your crimes."

The councilman said.

"Wait, I don't know what you are talking about!!" Joe shouted as he panicked.

As he struggled, Joe looked back up towards the stairway and saw several councilmen walking down the stairs, holding boxes and books. 'Those are from my secret room?! How the hell did they get in?! No, if they find what's in there, It'll be a huge mess.'

"Wait, please, if you let me go, I promised to provide all the money you need. I can assist with getting a promotion as well!!!"

"Enough! Cover his mouth and drag him away!!" Frestes ordered.

'How did they find out about my room, my servants didn't even know about. Wait.. it was those servants... those wenches!!! They must have revealed it to someone, who in turn informed the council!!.'

Joe thought about it for a moment. A vein suddenly showed on his forehead as he grit his teeth angrily. 'It was those damn Fairy Tail mages!'