Chapter 100
"Lisanna, quite a few interesting things have happened while you’ve been away~"
"What things?"
"Well, after everyone learned why you decided to stay in the other world, they naturally became curious about what Fairy Tail over there is like."
"Ahaha, everyone here is really interesting... Wait."
Lisanna suddenly froze.
"Why does everyone know what happened? Mira-nee, did you tell them?!"
"Huh? Didn’t I mention it?"
Mira smiled sweetly.
"Marshall played your little recording for everyone in the middle of the guildhall~"
"Huh?? What?!"
"Lalala~ It’s nothing to worry about."
Mira continued in the same cheerful voice.
"Marshall also told me that you like him. It really isn’t a big deal, is it?"
"Huh?! Eek—wait! Mira-nee, let me explain—"
"There’s no need~ I understand everything."
Mira lifted Guga into view.
"Honestly, Lisanna, you can stay in that world for as long as you like. Our family already has a new Lisanna!"
"Look, Guga. Say hello~"
"Gugu-gaga!"
"W-Wait, what is that?! What happened while I was gone?!"
"Nothing much. Life has been perfectly ordinary, and nobody has changed at all~"
"No! Wait—what the—?! @¥#¥!#¥%%"
"Oh?"
Mira tilted the terminal.
"The signal suddenly seems rather poor. Lisanna, can you hear me?"
"Hello? Hello?"
"My, it looks like our time is up."
Marshall had been standing nearby, holding back his laughter for ages.
"Mira.... you’re awful."
He finally burst out laughing.
"Lisanna won’t be able to sleep for days after that!"
"Hmph. It was only a tiny lesson."
Mira folded her arms.
"I haven’t even brought out the family punishment yet."
Mira and Marshall exchanged matching smiles.
She was beginning to understand the joy Marshall found in secretly causing trouble.
Their compatibility really was far too good.
They were practically made for each other!
...
Meanwhile, Mystogan had just finished disrupting Anima on the other side.
He had witnessed everything Marshall’s Thought Projection did in the sky, leaving him with a complicated expression.
"Marshall... Was that truly a good idea?"
"What part of it was bad?"
Marshall looked innocent.
"Don’t worry. I dropped the rotten fish and shrimp directly into your royal palace. Hardly any ordinary citizens were affected!"
"But... could that provoke them into retaliating even more aggressively?"
"That was nothing."
Marshall waved dismissively.
"I’ll tell you the truth. That guild request asking for huge quantities of animal manure?"
"I posted it."
"If we hadn’t been short on preparation time, the palace wouldn’t have received only rotten seafood today!"
Mystogan sucked in a sharp breath.
"Isn’t that... going a little too far?"
"Too far? Of course not!"
Marshall spoke with complete confidence.
"It’s rude not to return a gift."
"If you never fight back, they’ll only assume you’re easy to bully."
"They love stealing things from us, don’t they? Fine. I generously gave them something."
"I guarantee that after the Great Shrimp-Drop Incident, they’ll learn their lesson and become much more cautious."
"Anima used to appear once every month, right?"
Marshall grinned.
"I bet the next activation will be delayed."
"They might even become too frightened to launch Anima casually in the future."
"Isn’t my method far more efficient than you exhausting yourself by destroying every single formation?"
"That..."
Mystogan considered it carefully.
Marshall actually had a point.
If Mystogan were king and every activation of Anima summoned a flood of rotting fish, spoiled shrimp, or even more horrifying waste, he would certainly hesitate before performing the ritual again.
Even so, the method was rather...
Mystogan thought about it from every possible angle but couldn’t decide how to judge it.
Then he imagined a rotten fish landing directly on his father’s head.
Why did he suddenly feel like laughing?
’No!’
’I’m the prince! I must maintain proper dignity!’
’Marshall truly has no respect for appearances whatsoever!’
"You may be right."
Mystogan cleared his throat.
"Perhaps next time, in addition to excrement, we could include various insects."
"I remember that my father despises them."
"Oh!"
Marshall’s eyes lit up.
"That’s a great idea. Accepted!"
"I can prepare a separate spatial bag filled entirely with insects..."
The prince of Edolas had thoroughly defected!
Not only that, he was now actively discussing with the enemy how best to torment his own kingdom.
Morality was truly declining and society had lost its way!
...
As it turned out, Marshall had been correct.
One month later, Anima failed to appear on schedule.
Edolas had delayed its plan.
The result affected Mystogan deeply.
Marshall had accomplished with one ridiculous prank what Mystogan had failed to achieve after years of exhausting work.
Mystogan felt increasingly indebted to him and threw himself into his new work with even greater dedication.
That, however, was a story for another time.
...
After successfully stopping Anima, Marshall returned to Magnolia with Mystogan.
He immediately checked his communication terminal and, as expected, found a large quantity of "intelligence" from Edolas waiting for him.
Marshall nodded approvingly.
Lisanna had performed her assignment quite well.
He would reward her with a Guga later.
With this, Fairy Tail’s new magazine wouldn’t need to worry about running out of material.
"Gugas, assemble!"
Marshall summoned every Guga, including the ones he had already given away as pets.
Aside from the original Lisanna Guga, he had created five copies each based on Cana, Erza, Mira, Levy, Lisanna, Juvia, and Wendy.
Thirty-six Gugas sat in orderly rows inside one of the castle’s great halls.
"Here is your next assignment."
Marshall projected the photographs and documents Lisanna had transmitted.
"Sort every piece of written information in these images by category, then copy it all onto paper."
"Each Guga will handle one section."
"You have three days to complete everything. Any questions?"
The Gugas saluted in perfect unison and loudly declared their loyalty.
"GUGU-GAGA!"
’No, Boss!’ ×36
"Excellent! That’s the spirit!"
Marshall pointed dramatically.
"Begin working immediately!"
He transmitted all the Edolas material into the Guga network, divided the workload, and happily clocked out.
Having subordinates to do the work for him felt wonderful!
Magical printing presses existed in Earth Land, but proper printers hadn’t been invented yet, so everything first had to be copied using the old-fashioned method.
Fortunately, Marshall’s Gugas were clever, obedient, and tireless.
They could handle such a large assignment without difficulty.
Leaving the data processing to them, Marshall headed to visit Levy.
...
After a month of preparation, Fairy Tail’s publishing company had already established its basic structure.
A new printing facility had been built in Magnolia, along with an office building, and the first round of recruitment had been completed.
When Marshall arrived, Levy was holding a meeting with the employees.
Everyone appeared deeply engaged, so he chose not to interrupt them.
Once the meeting ended, Levy returned wearily to her office and found her troublesome little brother sitting in her chair.
"Oh~ Marshall."
She leaned against the doorway.
"What brings you to visit your poor, neglected Levy?"
"Where did that come from?"
Marshall smiled.
"Levy has always been my favorite."
"Such a smooth talker."
Levy rolled her eyes.
"What do you need?"
"Your Levy has been so busy lately that her head is spinning. I don’t have time to play any intimate little games with you."
"?"
Marshall suspected that Levy was teasing him, but he had no evidence.
"Levy, there’s no reason to exhaust yourself like this."
He stood up from her chair.
"Master placed you in charge of the publishing company so you could oversee the whole operation."
"You only need to make sure the general direction remains correct."
"Everything else can be delegated."
"You’re here to be the boss, not another overworked employee. Understand?"
"I know, I know. You’ve already told me plenty of times."
Levy smiled tiredly.
"The main reason I’m doing so much is because I genuinely enjoy being involved."
"Don’t worry about me."
"Fair enough."
Marshall nodded.
"I came to tell you that the high-quality material I promised will be organized very soon."
"Prepare yourself, Levy."
"It’s almost time to publish the first issue of our very own magazine—New Era Weekly!"