Chapter 80
"...I see. Leo sounds like a pretty honorable guy. Honestly, I don’t think he did anything wrong. You Celestial Spirits really need to learn some flexibility."
After hearing Virgo’s story, Marshall offered what he considered a fair and objective judgment.
To summarize, the former keyholder of Aries and Leo had abused her spirits.
Leo rebelled and refused to close his gate, occupying the summoning slot and preventing his master from calling on any other spirits.
That indirectly left her defenseless, and she was eventually killed.
Marshall’s opinion of the Celestial Spirit Mage was simple: Good riddance!
"Little Master, Celestial Spirits are forbidden from violating their contracts," Virgo explained. "That is the law of the Celestial Spirit World. Leo seriously breached those laws by defying his keyholder’s orders, so his banishment was unavoidable."
"Tch. Then what happens to him now? Celestial Spirits can’t remain in the human world indefinitely, can they?"
"That is correct. Losing access to the power of the stars is extremely painful for a Celestial Spirit."
Virgo considered the matter.
"Under normal circumstances, Leo should already have faded away. However, he appears to have adapted to the human world."
"He should therefore remain here until the energy inside him is completely exhausted."
"And after that? Does the Gate of the Lion simply cease to exist?"
"No. Celestial Spirits do not truly die. His original body will eventually be reborn."
Virgo’s expression remained calm.
"However, in Leo’s case, the damage to his soul would erase his memories. For all practical purposes, it would be no different from dying once."
"Wow. Your Celestial Spirit system is surprisingly thorough."
Marshall rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Virgo, what if I kept supplying Leo with celestial magic power? Wouldn’t that prevent him from disappearing?"
Virgo tilted her head and thought for a moment.
"In theory, yes."
"Leo’s key has already been reclaimed by the Celestial Spirit World, so an ordinary human cannot provide him with magic power."
"However, Little Master can directly convert your own magic into celestial energy. Keeping him alive in the human world should not be difficult."
She paused.
"Whether Leo would accept that help is another matter."
"Oh? Why not?"
"Leo is an exceptionally proud Celestial Spirit. He understood and accepted his punishment when it was imposed."
Virgo looked away slightly.
"In my opinion, even if he is unwilling to disappear, his pride would prevent him from clinging desperately to life."
...
"You are practically the second parent who gave me life! Thank you so much!"
Loki, whom Marshall had invited to a private meeting, seized the Magic Crystal containing celestial energy and drained it in one breath.
The ecstatic expression spreading across his face was almost indecent.
"Ahhh~ The scent of the stars! I’m alive again!"
"..."
Virgo stood nearby, staring at Leo without expression.
A trace of killing intent seemed to lurk behind her calm eyes.
She was deeply disappointed in herself for having completely misjudged her fellow Celestial Spirit.
"Little Master, I no longer believe there is any reason to waste your magic power on this particular... spirit."
"Perhaps it would be best to allow him to fade naturally. The rest of us would understand and respect your decision."
"Hey! Wait, what?!"
Loki stared at her in horror.
"Virgo! I’m Leo! How can you say something so heartless?!"
Virgo immediately stepped behind Marshall, wearing an expression that clearly said she had never seen this spirit before in her life.
Marshall almost laughed.
"All right, both of you, calm down."
He looked at Loki.
"Leo—no, Loki. Virgo told me what happened."
"Personally, I think you did the right thing. Now that we’re members of the same guild, I’m obviously not going to stand aside and watch you disappear."
Loki smiled bitterly.
"I never expected Fairy Tail to have a Celestial Spirit Mage, much less one capable of seeing through my identity."
"In any case, I’m deeply grateful."
He sighed.
"Unfortunately, I can’t access the power of my true form anymore, so I have no way to repay you."
"No, no. Don’t underestimate yourself."
Marshall smiled pleasantly.
"There’s still something you can help me with."
"Huh?"
The true purpose behind Marshall’s kindness finally emerged.
"I’m currently conducting research involving Celestial Spirits, but I lack a suitable experimental subject."
"I could never bring myself to experiment on Virgo, so..."
His smile widened.
"I’ll provide all the celestial energy you need to remain active in the human world."
"In exchange, how would you feel about becoming my test subject?"
"Uh..."
Loki’s smile stiffened.
"May I ask what sort of experiments you’re planning?"
"I’m extremely curious about the nature of Celestial Spirits."
Marshall explained enthusiastically.
"You aren’t human, but you still qualify as a form of life."
"By studying the power that sustains Celestial Spirits, I hope to uncover the secrets behind creating artificial life."
"Don’t worry. I’m not planning anything bizarre."
’No, no. That already sounds terrifying!’
Loki examined the boy in front of him again.
Despite having joined Fairy Tail only a few days earlier, he had already heard many of the legends surrounding Marshall.
The child before him was a genuine genius.
He probably had no reason to deceive him.
Besides...
Loki didn’t have many other options.
"All right."
He adjusted his glasses.
"Then allow the final days of my life to serve some purpose."
"Marshall-sama, I look forward to working with you."
"The final days of your life?"
Marshall raised an eyebrow.
"I wouldn’t assume that yet. With my help, you may end up living far better than before."
"Besides, your attitude is strange."
"You don’t seem especially eager to live, but you don’t truly want to disappear either. What exactly are you planning?"
Loki pushed up his glasses and flashed a brilliant smile.
"My life as a Celestial Spirit has already ended."
"So now, I intend to follow my heart and live entirely for my own desires!"
"This world is filled with so many wonderful things. I plan to enjoy every one of them!"
Virgo made no effort to conceal the disgust in her eyes.
"Little Master, I strongly recommend reconsidering your decision."
"Otherwise, the human world may soon gain another shameless scoundrel."
Marshall fell into thought.
"I’ve heard you’re very skilled at managing relationships with several women at once."
"Could you teach me?"
"Oh?"
Loki’s eyes lit up.
"That is one of the Lion King’s most closely guarded secrets!"
"But since you’re the one asking, Marshall, I would never hold anything back!"
"Excellent! You’re a true bro after all!"
"..."
Virgo canceled her own summoning and fled that corrupt place.
She was genuinely angry!
As punishment, she decided that she would not cuddle Marshall while he slept for an entire week.
The fact that the Celestial Spirit World had produced someone like Leo filled her with sorrow.
Marshall and Loki’s newly formed partnership in wickedness could be set aside for now.
Not long after Loki joined the guild, Gildarts also returned to Fairy Tail.
This time, however, it seemed he would be leaving again almost immediately.
Before departing, he pulled Marshall aside and secretly pressed a book into his hands.
"Brat, when I picked you up all those years ago, I never imagined your talent would become this terrifying."
"You’ve traveled farther down the path of magic in only a few years than most people manage in a lifetime."
He tapped the book.
"This contains some of the insights I gained while training my Crush Magic."
"Consider yourself lucky."
"...Gildarts, why are you being so sentimental today?"
Marshall looked at the book.
"And why are you giving this to me? I don’t even like using your Crush Magic."
"You ungrateful little bastard!"
Gildarts ground his knuckles into Marshall’s hair.
"Other people would beg me for this, and I still wouldn’t give it to them!"
"If you didn’t have the talent to understand it, I never would’ve gone through the trouble of writing everything down!"
He thoroughly messed up Marshall’s hair before releasing him with a sigh.
"I’m heading to the Northern Continent."
"I’ve decided to accept a quest that no one has completed in nearly a hundred years."
"The death rate is frighteningly high."
Gildarts laughed, though his expression carried unusual seriousness.
"I figured that if something happened to me, I should at least leave a little something behind in this world."
"And naturally, you were the brat who came to mind."
"Well? Touched?"
"You’re joking, right?"
Marshall stared at him.
"What kind of quest could make even you uncertain about coming back?"
"Hahaha! There’s always someone stronger than you, no matter how far you travel."
Gildarts crossed his arms.
"I’m not arrogant enough to believe I’m invincible."
"Anyway, this has nothing to do with you."
"Adventure is a man’s greatest romance after all! Hahahaha!"
"..."
Marshall opened his mouth, nearly telling him that he had a daughter waiting for him.
He couldn’t truly understand Gildarts’s thirst for adventure.
Compared with him, Marshall felt more like a coward who feared losing anything important.
Then he remembered Cana’s recent "rebellious phase" and felt a headache coming on.
Those two really were father and daughter.
"You’re such a troublesome old man..."
Marshall sighed and held out a card.
"Here. Take this."
"Watch your mouth, brat!"
Gildarts accepted it and frowned.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"A Teleportation Card."
"Activate it, and you can teleport over ten thousand miles away or return directly to the forest east of Magnolia."
"I’m not worried about your strength, but since you admitted the quest could be dangerous, keep it with you."
"It might save your life."
Marshall added casually, "Oh, and Cana was the one who made the card."
----
Marshall harem is divided between 3 faction, the one lead by cana, juvia and mira.
Mira was simply creating a faction so she could mark and eliminates the members lmao