Chapter 91
"So, to summarize... Lisanna was accidentally caught in a super-subspace spell and transported to a parallel world. That world also has its own Fairy Tail, its own Mira and Elfman, and their Lisanna fell from a cliff around the same time..."
After understanding Lisanna’s explanation, Mira’s first reaction was to seize Marshall’s hand.
"Marshall, could the Lisanna from that world have been caught in some other accident too? Maybe she only went missing!"
Marshall sighed.
"I considered that possibility. Once my magic recovered, I teleported to the bottom of the cliff and searched the entire area, but... the drop was extremely high, and there wasn’t even a river below."
"So..."
He didn’t finish the sentence.
The light in Mira’s eyes dimmed slightly.
She watched her little sister apologizing on the recording and sighed helplessly.
"This really is exactly the kind of thing Lisanna would do. She’s always been far too kind."
"The other me must have suffered terribly..."
"If this is truly what Lisanna has decided, then I’ll support her."
She hesitated.
"It may mean troubling you again later, Marshall..."
"It’s fine. It won’t be especially difficult."
Marshall shook his head.
"I left a coordinate mark in that world. Once I fully understand their technology, I should be able to activate Anima in reverse and travel back to Edolas."
"I promised Lisanna I would bring her home eventually, so I will."
Mira’s gaze softened until it practically melted.
She hugged Marshall tightly once again.
"Thank you, Marshall... Really."
"Thank you."
"If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would’ve done."
Her unusually gentle behavior left Marshall feeling slightly awkward.
He wasn’t accustomed to such a docile Mira.
Where had his proud little tsundere gone?
"Ahem. There’s no need for us to talk like strangers."
He looked her over suspiciously.
"Still, Mira... You seem different somehow. Is it because of your hair?"
"No. This is the real me!"
Mira released him and gave him a soft smile.
"During the past month, I thought about many things and finally understood myself."
"Marshall, I’ve grown up."
"True strength isn’t something you can create by pretending to be fierce, so I don’t need that useless shell anymore."
Marshall could have sworn he saw a faint red light flash through her eyes.
Her expression was warm and gentle, yet her words carried a sharp, dangerous edge.
"I’ll become stronger through my own efforts."
"Strong enough to protect everyone important to me."
"And more importantly... I don’t want to remain helpless while Marshall protects me anymore."
She giggled softly.
"I’m supposed to be the big sister, remember?"
"..."
Marshall had several things he wanted to say, but none of them came out.
As expected of siblings.
Mira and Lisanna’s thoughts were almost identical.
No wonder Lisanna had become so stubborn. Mira was hardly any better!
"Honestly... Is being protected by someone really that humiliating?"
Marshall couldn’t understand them at all.
"My dream is to live comfortably off a capable older woman, let my big sister protect me, and spend every day lying around doing absolutely nothing."
"Really?"
Mira’s smile became even sweeter.
"Then how about Mira-nee protects Marshall from now on?"
"Sure, sure. Whatever makes you happy."
Now that Mira knew both Marshall and Lisanna were safe, the weight that had crushed her for the past month finally lifted.
Her mood visibly brightened.
She continued cuddling Marshall for a while, replenishing all the Marshall energy she had been deprived of, before reluctantly releasing him.
Then she suddenly remembered something and sighed.
"Even if I understand Lisanna’s decision... it still hurts to think that she won’t be by my side."
"That stupid girl. Couldn’t she have come home once before leaving again?"
’Hey, hey. What kind of tone is that?’
This was another world, not a holiday destination. Crossing between worlds wasn’t supposed to be as easy as taking a train!
Marshall muttered under his breath.
He might have made interdimensional travel look easy, but if his Spatial Magic hadn’t reached Level Four, he probably never would have returned.
Almost anyone else transported to Edolas would have been trapped there for the rest of their life.
He was beginning to suspect that the Strauss sisters saw him as some kind of interdimensional pack animal.
Since Marshall loved stirring up trouble, he decided to make Mira’s life slightly more complicated.
"You’re right~"
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Come to think of it, I think Lisanna has entered her rebellious phase."
"She has more schemes in that little head than you’d expect."
"She may have used this incident as an excuse to stay in Edolas because she was already looking for an opportunity to leave the guild someday."
"Hah?!"
"She said she doesn’t want to spend her entire life living in her sister’s shadow."
Marshall continued cheerfully.
"Just like what you said earlier, she wants to become independent and strong without relying on anyone else."
"Hah?!"
"Oh, and Lisanna also said she likes me. She may be young, but she’s surprisingly—uh..."
Marshall suddenly stopped.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
’Damn it.’
That was probably something he shouldn’t have revealed!
His mouth had moved faster than his brain!
"HAAAAAAHHH?!!"
As expected, Mira immediately understood.
Her hair practically stood on end as she released several sharp breaths.
"H-Haha... Ha!"
"Well, Lisanna has reached that age, hasn’t she?"
"Hehe... Hehehe... My little sister really has grown up."
After several heavy breaths, Mira quickly regained her composure.
She even smiled gently.
But Marshall could sense a storm raging beneath that pleasant expression.
He swallowed.
Time for emergency damage control!
"O-Of course, Lisanna doesn’t truly understand what love means!"
"She’s still young. How could she possibly know anything about romance?"
"If I were going to like someone, naturally I’d choose Mira-nee!"
’Sorry, Lisanna!’
’You aren’t in this world right now, so please carry this blame for me.’
’Once I grow older, I’ll find some way to take it back!’
Marshall’s survival instincts effortlessly pushed Lisanna forward as a human shield.
He might have hesitated if it were another girl, but Lisanna was different.
He didn’t have any romantic feelings toward her yet.
If someone forced him to choose between Mira and Lisanna right now, there wouldn’t even be a moment of hesitation.
Lisanna?
She was merely his friend’s little sister!
"That’s right~ This obviously isn’t Marshall’s fault."
Mira affectionately stroked his hair.
"Certain little girls have simply been spoiled too much and lost sight of their proper place."
"They may require some serious correction."
Her smile remained perfectly gentle, yet every word sounded as though it were being ground out between clenched teeth.
"Don’t worry. Mira-nee will protect Marshall."
"I absolutely won’t allow any wicked woman to corrupt you!"
"W-Wicked woman? That’s your little sister, Lisanna..."
"I don’t have a sister."
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"I mean, I don’t have a shameless sister who would reveal improper intentions toward a little boy!"
Mira’s expression darkened.
"It seems there have been serious flaws in my education."
"I’ll have to teach her a very thorough—"
She stopped halfway through her sentence.
Then her face twisted in frustration.
"Tch. I just realized that Lisanna escaped into another world."
"And that world barely has any magic!"
"I can’t even discipline her!"
"Is that why she refused to come home?"
"That rotten little sister truly deserves a beating!"
Mira complained bitterly for some time before suddenly turning to Marshall for assistance.
"Marshall, do you have any way for me to punish Lisanna across worlds?"
"Ahaha. The best you can probably do is yell at her through the communication terminal."
"I understand the feeling. You want to crawl through the network and beat someone on the other side, but something like that—"
Marshall abruptly stopped.
"Hmm..."
"Wait."
"Maybe there actually is a way!"
He rubbed his chin.
In a world without usable magic, achieving such a thing should have been impossible.
But this was a magical world.
The magical communication terminal was fundamentally an application of Telepathy Magic—or rather, Information Magic.
It compressed information, packaged it, transmitted it, and then decompressed it at the destination.
Marshall had combined those principles with the properties of Super Archive to create a new generation of magical communication devices.
The medium used to transmit information wasn’t actually magic power.
Magic itself couldn’t travel that quickly.
Instead, the terminal relied on some form of light wave.
Otherwise, it couldn’t have functioned in Edolas, where ambient Ethernano was almost nonexistent.
In a certain sense, Information Magic was remarkably scientific.
It wouldn’t even be inaccurate to describe it as electromagnetic-wave magic.
Following that logic...
Could Marshall’s talent for Light Magic have originated from the Information Magic he awakened at birth?
Had he been studying the relationship backward all this time?
Inspiration began surging through his mind.
At that moment, countless possibilities opened before him.
Even the magic circles required to activate spells were ultimately a type of information.
In that case, could he transmit an entire magic circle through the communication terminal?
He could create a kind of "magical virus" and send it to another device.
The moment someone opened the message, it would automatically draw upon the recipient’s magic power, activate the embedded spell, and achieve the glorious feat of beating someone through the network!
Marshall inhaled sharply.
’Could it be...?’
’Am I truly a genius?’
If Information Magic combined with Light Magic could become electromagnetic magic, then the possibilities were almost endless!
Radio waves, microwaves, infrared light, ultraviolet light, and even gamma rays...
What had he been overlooking all this time?!
If everyone in the world eventually possessed a magical communication terminal, wouldn’t Marshall be able to...
There was still the major problem that Edolas contained very little ambient magic.
Most spells needed to combine the caster’s power with Ethernano in the atmosphere before being released.
Wait.
Electromagnetic waves wouldn’t necessarily be restricted by the amount of magic in the environment.
Electromagnetic Magic might be capable of inflicting both magical and physical damage simultaneously.
Wouldn’t that make it nearly perfect?
"Marshall?"
Mira cautiously waved a hand in front of him.
"Are you all right?"
She hadn’t expected him to enter that feverish research state in the middle of their conversation.
Marshall truly did love magic.
"Great!"
He suddenly threw both arms into the air.
"This is fantastic! I’m so excited I can barely contain myself!"
"Mira, just wait!"
"Once I finish researching this, you’ll be able to electrocute Lisanna from another world!"
Mira stared at him.
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Marshall had achieved enlightenment once again!