Chapter 39
Forced to reveal his true form while Cana and Levy pinned him from both sides, Marshall returned to the appearance of an obviously seven-year-old boy with an innocent, adorable face.
The three Strauss siblings sitting opposite him stared with their eyes stretched wide.
Elfman’s finger trembled violently as he pointed at Marshall.
"Ah... Ah... Ah..."
His language functions appeared to have stopped working entirely.
Marshall gave them a dry, awkward laugh.
"Well... haha... would you believe me if I said I was actually an adult who’d been transformed into a child by magic?"
"What?!" Lisanna gasped. "Big Brother Marshall was cursed too?!"
"Lisanna!"
Mirajane was the first to recover.
She smacked her painfully gullible little sister on the head, feeling as though her entire body were catching fire from embarrassment.
"So you’re really just some seven-year-old brat?!" she cried. "You tricked us into calling you our big brother! You... I...!"
"You all started calling me that on your own..."
"..."
Mirajane’s face shifted spectacularly between red and white.
She wanted to get angry, but Marshall was the person who had saved them.
She wanted to yell at him, but he was clearly younger than both her siblings.
Then she remembered how many times she had called him Big Bro—and how naturally the words had begun rolling off her tongue.
She had never been so humiliated in her life!
She would never be able to hold her head up again.
She had no face left to show the world.
She no longer wanted to visit whatever guild they had been talking about.
The entire world could burn!
Mirajane was too furious and embarrassed to speak, but the voice inside her head was deafening.
Marshall did not know what to do with her.
He found the situation hilarious too, but he had undergone professional training and would never laugh unless he absolutely could not help it.
"There’s no need to be this embarrassed. Really."
He tried to reassure her.
"I might be young physically, but my mental age is much greater. I wouldn’t mind if all three of you kept calling me ’Big Bro’."
"Stop talking!"
Mirajane covered her entire body with her black cloak, then threw herself at Lisanna and buried her face in her little sister’s arms like an ostrich hiding its head.
"Don’t speak to me! I need time to calm down!"
Lisanna blinked innocently.
She was the least bothered by the revelation. She hugged her sister tightly and giggled.
"My sister gets embarrassed very easily. She’ll be fine after a while."
She smiled brightly at Marshall.
"But I never expected Big Brother Marshall to actually be younger than us. You’re incredible to be this powerful when you’re so young!"
Cana and Levy finally stopped pretending to restrain themselves.
Cana doubled over, clutching her stomach as she howled with laughter.
"Hahahahaha! You have no idea how hard it was not to laugh whenever you called him Big Bro! I’m definitely telling Erza about this! Hahahaha!"
"Marshall is the youngest Mage in our entire guild," Levy explained between giggles. "Sorry, I really didn’t intend to laugh, but he looked so pleased whenever you called him your big brother. It was adorable!"
"I wasn’t that happy..." Marshall muttered. "Maybe just a little."
"Liar. Your grin practically reached your ears~"
Seeing everyone else having so much fun, Elfman and Lisanna began laughing too.
They did not really care that they had called Marshall their big brother.
He had looked older at the time, and he had certainly behaved like someone dependable.
Mirajane was the only refused to accept reality.
She remained curled into a ball in Lisanna’s arms, too ashamed to face anyone.
Marshall could almost see her toes digging an entire house into the floor beneath her sandals.
...
The atmosphere inside the carriage gradually became warmer and more cheerful.
Cana and Levy spent the rest of the trip sharing amusing stories about Fairy Tail, a subject they could have discussed all day without repeating themselves.
There was Natsu, who breathed fire; Gray, the shameless pervert who could never keep his clothes on; and Erza, the muscle-brained gorilla who always pretended to be dignified.
Before even setting foot inside the guildhall, the Strauss siblings already felt as though they knew several of its members.
Lisanna, meanwhile, enthusiastically betrayed every one of Mirajane’s secrets.
She explained that although her sister often seemed fierce, she was actually incredibly kind. Even after gaining the power of a demon, she had never used it against the villagers.
Instead, she had continued enduring their abuse for the sake of Elfman and Lisanna.
She was the best sister in the entire world.
Those words left Mirajane trapped.
She could no longer emerge without admitting that she had been awake the whole time, so she continued pretending to sleep in silence.
Unfortunately, everyone could see how red her ears had become.
That only made them laugh harder.
Happy moments always passed quickly.
As evening approached, the carriage finally arrived in Magnolia.
Mirajane still had not lifted her head from Lisanna’s arms by the time they reached the station, but Marshall knew she had been listening closely to every word of their conversation.
"Everyone out!" Cana said cheerfully. "I can’t believe Marshall’s first official job ended without us completing the request. Are you disappointed?"
"Incorrect."
Marshall shook his head.
"We never met the client, so technically, we never accepted the job. We’ll quietly put the request back on the board later and pretend we never saw it."
"That’s brilliant! Marshall, you really are clever!"
"..."
Now that the carriage had stopped, Mirajane could no longer continue pretending to sleep.
She climbed down with an expressionless face, behaving as though nothing unusual had happened during the journey.
[I won’t be embarrassed as long as I pretend I don’t remember it. That’s right. I never called him Big Bro, and I’m not angry in the slightest...]
Marshall found her thoughts so amusing that he kindly decided to remind her.
"Don’t be upset anymore, Mira-nee. Welcome to Magnolia. I’m sure you’ll grow to love it here."
"You—!"
Mirajane turned toward him with what was supposed to be a fierce glare.
But the moment she heard him call her ’nee’, a strange current seemed to race through her body, leaving her tingling from head to toe.
"Y-You horrible little brat!"
[He called me his big sister!]
"I’ll admit that you’re somewhat impressive, but that has nothing to do with this!"
[He called me his big sister~]
"Hmph! I’ll remember how you disguised yourself as an adult and deceived me! Just wait—this isn’t over!"
[Well, I suppose I have no choice if he called me his big sister. I’ll forgive him~ ♪✧٩(ˊωˋ)و✧]*
"Pfft—cough. All right. Thank you, Mira-nee."
"What?! Were you even listening? I said this isn’t over!"
[This little guy might actually be cuter than Elfman~]
"Mm-hmm. Of course."
So Mirajane had a secret tsundere side.
How adorable!
Lisanna suddenly grabbed her sister and pointed into the distance.
"Mira-nee, look! What’s that?! Those rocks are enormous—and there are little houses floating in the sky!"
Cana eagerly began explaining.
"That’s Magnolia’s newest landmark, the Naruto amusement park! It belongs to Fairy Tail~"
"An amusement park?!" Lisanna’s eyes sparkled. "What’s that? It sounds fun!"
"It definitely is! Once you join the guild, every member receives a free ticket each month. You’ll understand how amazing it is once you visit!"
Levy smiled mischievously and pushed Marshall forward.
"Here’s a secret: Marshall is one of the amusement park’s owners. Whenever you want tickets, just ask him!"
"What?!" all three siblings exclaimed.
"Ahem. Let’s not exaggerate."
Marshall tried to appear modest.
"I’m only a shareholder. Fairy Tail owns thirty percent of the park, so technically every guild member is one of its owners."
He paused and considered Levy’s suggestion.
"Still, she has a point."
Marshall reached into his personal storage space, pulled out three tickets, and placed them in Mirajane’s hands.
"Once you’ve settled in, find some time to visit. Forget the misery of the past and celebrate your new beginning."
"Wait... We can’t accept these—"
"Consider them an apology for the earlier misunderstanding. Take them. They’re nothing significant to me."
"I... Thank you."
Mirajane stared blankly at the tickets.
By the time she recovered, she had already accepted them.
[He took care of us again.... Honestly... even though he’s supposed to be the little brother...]
"Now that you’ve accepted my gift, why don’t we forget all the unpleasantness from before?"
Marshall looked up at her with an innocent smile.
"Right, Mira-nee?"
Mirajane’s face turned red again, and she quickly looked away.
"F-Fine! You cunning little brat! I’ve already forgotten everything that happened before!"
She clutched the tickets against her chest.
"And I’ll repay everything you’ve done for us someday!"
[There’s really no helping this child! But I suppose that’s the responsibility of being his big sister...]
Nearby, Cana and Levy whispered to each other.
"Mira doesn’t seem very honest about her feelings~"
"Definitely. Maybe all big sisters are like that. They have to act strong so they can protect their younger siblings. I understand completely!"
"Hey! You two! I can hear you!"
"Oh no! Run! Hahahaha!"
The children chased one another through the streets and soon arrived outside Fairy Tail’s guildhall.
Cana sprinted ahead of everyone else and launched herself into a flying kick that slammed the doors open.
Marshall caught a brief glimpse of a naked, spiky-haired boy being hurled backward from behind them.
"Ta-da!"
Cana spread her arms dramatically.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail!"
"CANA! YOU BASTARD!"
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