Chapter 112
Taking Laki in as his personal secretary didn’t have much impact on Marshall’s daily life.
After testing her loyalty several times and confirming that she really was nothing more than an unusually devoted fan with little talent for scheming, Marshall officially handed her the secretary’s work and placed her in charge of managing all the Gugas.
He finally had a secretary!
Unfortunately, while Laki was quite capable, Marshall didn’t currently have enough work to keep her busy.
So it felt rather pointless.
...
X783.
Thanks largely to Marshall’s efforts, Fairy Tail’s fame continued to soar, while Magnolia developed into one of the most prosperous cities in Fiore.
Whenever Marshall walked through its streets, he occasionally felt as though he had stepped into a modern industrial city.
Tourists wearing shirts printed with Fairy Tail’s emblem could be seen everywhere, and the entire city overflowed with youthful energy.
He had genuinely led the people of an entire town toward prosperity.
Looking back on everything he had accomplished, Marshall couldn’t deny that it gave him a powerful sense of achievement.
Around the middle of the year, the Gugas once again detected signs of Anima.
When Marshall went to alert Mystogan, the latter stared blankly for several seconds.
He had become so absorbed in his current work that he had nearly forgotten why he had originally come to Earth Land.
Mystogan still helped Marshall research magical arrays, but most of his time was now devoted to another project—the possibility Marshall had proposed of replacing magic power with electricity.
If successful, it could solve the fundamental problem of Edolas’s dwindling magic supply.
Naturally, Mystogan treated the research with the utmost importance.
Marshall once again accompanied him to the location where Anima was forming.
This time, the vortex was considerably smaller than the previous ones.
Mystogan gazed at the damaged forest with a complicated expression.
Anima itself could be stopped, but the scars left by its erosion were much harder to erase.
"Stop staring. Let’s go."
Marshall reached the subspace convergence point and extended his spatial perception through the rift.
A moment later, he almost laughed from sheer irritation.
The people of Edolas had moved the entire Anima formation out of the royal palace and activated it somewhere else—somewhere Marshall hadn’t left a spatial marker.
’What a clever little trick.’
Did they honestly believe that moving the ritual meant Marshall could no longer find their palace?
Spatial Magic wasn’t nearly that inconvenient.
Here it came!
Another delivery of shit!
A quantity of foul waste larger than both previous shipments combined poured through the passage, accompanied by an impressive collection of insects.
Once again, Marshall made an outstanding contribution to friendly relations between the peoples of two worlds.
Whether the other side fell into despair, he couldn’t say.
All Marshall knew was that he had thoroughly enjoyed making the delivery.
After finishing with the waste and insects, however, he didn’t immediately withdraw.
Before Mystogan destroyed Anima, Marshall placed a small magical device inside the convergence point.
"Marshall, what are you doing?"
Mystogan stared at the device.
It didn’t appear to have activated.
"I’m thinking about solving Edolas’s problem once and for all."
Marshall adjusted the device.
"This should allow me to receive signals from that side and send it commands whenever necessary."
"I see."
Mystogan examined it with admiration.
"Your skill in crafting magical devices has already surpassed mine..."
The prince fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Marshall, I have a plan."
"I want to... completely remove all magic power from Edolas."
"Do you think that sounds insane?"
"Insane?"
Marshall considered it.
"Not particularly."
"It’s neither a good choice nor a bad one. It’s simply a desperate solution."
"Once your world loses all magic, no one there will be able to cast spells anymore."
"Other magical worlds will probably lose interest in Edolas as well."
"But your people will have to create an entirely new path forward—one that doesn’t rely on magic."
Mystogan looked at him curiously.
"You truly believe a world without magic can continue functioning normally?"
"Why wouldn’t it?"
Marshall pointed at him.
"You don’t possess any internal magic power, yet you’re perfectly alive."
"Magic isn’t something life absolutely requires."
"Besides, your world is already entering an age where magic is dying out."
"Stealing power from other worlds will never be a lasting solution."
"If you can’t reverse Edolas’s inevitable decline, then removing the remaining magic entirely might actually be better for ordinary people."
Mystogan fell into deep thought.
"Perhaps you’re right."
"But accomplishing something like that would require an unimaginably great price."
"If my plan fails, I could destroy my entire world."
"Draining all of Edolas’s magic would certainly be dangerous," Marshall said. "But once your world truly has none left, people from magical worlds would have no reason to invade it either."
"...Thank you."
Determination gradually appeared in Mystogan’s eyes.
"I think I know what I must do."
"Oh?"
Marshall glanced at him.
"What have you decided?"
"I will decipher Anima’s complete structure and reverse its flow."
Mystogan faced him with a solemn expression.
"I’ll use it to extract every trace of magic from Edolas and transform our home into a world without magic."
"To accomplish that, I may need the strength of our guildmates."
"Marshall, will you help me?"
"I don’t see why not."
Marshall nodded.
"But how exactly do you plan to do it?"
"My kingdom’s political structure is rather unusual."
Mystogan began explaining.
"The king does not possess the highest authority in Edolas."
"Our people worship the Exceeds—beings naturally born with magic within their bodies."
"That’s something I’ve never understood."
Marshall frowned.
"Why do humans obey a group of cats?"
"I know Exceeds can use Aera, but—"
"Because they are regarded as the gods of our world." Mystogan spoke quietly.
"The Exceeds have always held a sacred position in Edolas."
"I believe they are fundamentally a kind race. When I was young, an Exceed saved my life."
"After the world loses its magic, perhaps their unique position will allow them to guide our people through the confusion and toward a new future."
"That is why I intend to stage a performance."
"Wait."
Marshall suddenly interrupted him.
"Exceeds have magic power inside their bodies."
"If you reverse Anima and extract all magic from Edolas, won’t the spell send every Exceed to Earth Land along with it?"
"Huh?"
Mystogan froze.
He scratched his head as the flaw in his plan finally dawned on him.
He hadn’t considered that at all.
Had his grand plan failed before it had even begun? That was far too cruel!
"Don’t panic. We still have time."
Marshall patted his shoulder.
"I think we should discuss this with Master first."
"And besides..."
A thoughtful gleam appeared in his eyes.
"All the magic Edolas no longer wants shouldn’t simply be allowed to go to waste."