Chapter 81
"Stop staring! He’s already long gone. If you miss him that badly, I can teleport you over to find him."
"Hmph! Who cares about that shameless, womanizing old man? He can do whatever he wants. It has nothing to do with me!"
At the top of Marshall’s Mage Tower, Cana watched Gildarts’s figure disappear into the distance with a gloomy expression.
"I’m just saying... Why don’t you forgive him?"
Marshall leaned against the railing.
"He doesn’t even know he has a daughter. The man is unbelievably dense about things like this. Unless you tell him yourself, he’ll probably never figure it out."
"I don’t want to! Why should I? This is all his fault..."
Cana hugged her knees.
"He only ever thinks about himself... and makes everyone else worry..."
"But if you never tell him, he won’t even know he’s supposed to feel guilty. You’re the only one sitting here making yourself miserable. What’s the point?"
"..."
The more Cana thought about it, the angrier she became. Her cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish as she glared at Marshall.
"Why aren’t you conflicted at all? That’s not fair!"
"Before he left, he didn’t secretly meet with anyone else. He only gave you special training notes!"
She pointed accusingly at him.
"He definitely thinks of you as his son!"
"What do I have to be conflicted about?"
Marshall rolled his eyes.
"I have no desire to gain a father out of nowhere. Even if he really were my father, I wouldn’t acknowledge him."
"Then I won’t acknowledge him either! That worthless father can go die for all I care!"
"Lying to yourself isn’t healthy, Cana."
"..."
Cana buried her face against her knees.
After a long silence, she finally mumbled,
"If I become an S-Class Mage this year, I’ll tell him."
"I’ll prove that even without him around, I’ve been perfectly capable of living well."
Marshall smiled.
"Are you confident you can defeat Mira this year?"
"Hmph! If you hadn’t spent so much time improving Mira’s body, I would’ve beaten her ages ago!"
"That’s unfair. I’ve helped improve your strength too."
"But Mira can take far more punishment than I can."
"She has a special body. Even Erza might not be as durable as her, so don’t compete with Mira in that area."
"I don’t care!"
Cana grabbed Marshall by the shoulders.
"Aren’t I the sister who loves you most?"
"Marshall, I order you to invent a card that can defeat Mira right now!"
"Impossible~"
Marshall smiled.
"How about I prepare a gift for you in advance instead?"
"I’ve been researching Holder-type magic items recently. I should be able to finish it around the time of the S-Class trial."
"A gift?"
Cana’s eyes immediately lit up.
"What kind of gift?"
"That’s a secret for now~"
Marshall relented slightly.
"Fine, I’ll give you one hint. It’s a special piece of equipment suited perfectly to you, handmade by me."
"That should give you a little more motivation, shouldn’t it?"
"Hmph. I suppose that’s good enough."
Cana proudly lifted her chin.
"Then just wait for me to win the trial and become an S-Class Mage!"
...
Three months later, during Fairy Tail’s annual S-Class Mage Trial, Mira defeated Cana and successfully advanced to S-Class.
"Waaah! Marshall! Mira cheated!"
Cana clung to him in outrage.
"She secretly hid my cards before the trial! Otherwise, I definitely would’ve won!"
"Kekeke! That’s called strategy!"
Mira ran circles around Marshall while laughing triumphantly.
"I already knew you were hiding several holy-attribute cards specifically meant to counter me. Did you seriously think I wouldn’t prepare in advance?"
"If you want to blame something, blame your magic for depending too heavily on external tools! Ahahaha!"
"You rotten bitch! Get back here!"
"Bleh~ You can’t catch me~"
Marshall had no choice but to stretch out both arms and stop the two girls from circling him.
They were already sixteen years old. Watching them run around him like children was making him dizzy!
"All right, enough. If you didn’t make it this year, there’s always next year."
"Stop fighting."
"But... But!"
Cana looked both furious and miserable.
At that moment, Marshall suddenly produced a gift box and held it out to her.
"Cana, this is the gift I specially prepared for you. Open it!"
Her eyes brightened, but then she remembered her defeat and pouted.
"But I didn’t become an S-Class Mage..."
"You don’t want it? Then I’ll put it away."
"I want it!"
Cana immediately snatched the box and opened it excitedly.
Inside lay a beautiful silver bracelet that gave off a faint, mysterious glow.
"It’s so pretty!"
She eagerly fastened it around her wrist, then deliberately waved her arm back and forth in front of Mira to show it off.
"Try pouring some magic power into it," Marshall said.
"Okay—huh? What’s happening?"
The moment Cana supplied the bracelet with magic, silver light burst from its surface.
The bracelet slowly transformed, unfolding across her forearm into a unique magical device.
"This is the Light Card Duel Disk!"
Marshall eagerly began explaining his proud invention.
"I designed it specifically for you to make Card Magic easier to use."
"The bracelet has permanent Light-Make Magic embedded into it. Once you supply magic power, it automatically transforms into a duel disk."
"It contains ten card slots, allowing you to activate multiple cards simultaneously."
"You can also insert Magic Crystals manually. The stored magic inside them can support your summoned cards, greatly increasing how long you can keep them active—"
Marshall was enthusiastically describing every feature when he failed to notice that neither girl beside him looked particularly pleased.
Cana pinched the soft flesh at one side of his waist and smiled sweetly.
"It truly is a wonderful gift~"
"So, Marshall, why didn’t you give it to me before the S-Class trial?"
"With this, would I really have lost to that bitch?"
"Uh... Well..."
Cold sweat appeared on Marshall’s forehead.
"I wanted it to be a surprise..."
Before he could finish, someone pinched the other side of his waist.
Mira wore an equally sweet smile.
"My dear little Marshall~ Your Mira-nee successfully became an S-Class Mage!"
"That’s such a major celebration. Surely you prepared a gift for me too?"
"Hiss—"
Marshall pretended to be in pain and hurriedly reassured her.
"Of course! I prepared something for Mira-nee too. Look!"
He handed her another gift box while explaining,
"This bracelet also contains permanent Light-Make Magic."
"As long as you continuously supply it with magic power, it transforms into an enchanted whip made of light."
"I noticed you didn’t have a weapon that suited you, so I made one especially for you."
"My~ What a wonderful gift!"
Mira beamed and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Marshall~ Mwah!"
Marshall immediately turned back to pacify Cana.
"Cana, look... Mira didn’t have her new weapon during the trial either."
"Neither of you had your equipment, so the fight was completely fair, right?!"
"...Hmph. You slippery little brat!"
Cana pinched him hard one more time, then finally let go.
In truth, she was delighted to receive the gift.
She simply would have been even happier if Mira hadn’t received one too.
But showing that openly would make her appear petty.
As the older sister who was supposed to set a good example, Cana chose to be tolerant.
Watching both of his "big sisters" happily admire their new equipment, Marshall wiped away imaginary sweat.
His life seemed to be growing increasingly difficult!
But then...
[Inspiration +1,888]
Marshall’s expression became complicated.
Was this what people meant by finding pleasure in pain?
"Marshall!"
At that moment, the other girls surrounded him with shining eyes.
Erza, Levy, Juvia...
Even Wendy stared expectantly at him.
No one needed to say a word.
’Oh crap!’
Marshall’s smile stiffened.
Handcrafting magical equipment was exhausting!
Unfortunately, there was no escape.
He had chosen this path himself, so even if he had to crawl, he would see it through!
"Ahaha~ There’s no need to rush!"
He raised both hands placatingly.
"Everyone will get one! One at a time! I promise there’ll be something for all of you!"