Chapter 46
"I’m definitely raising this egg!"
The moment Marshall saw his "payment," he made his decision without hesitation.
What mysterious stranger?
That was a god delivering treasure straight to his door!
If Marshall had known the reward would be this valuable, he would have agreed to care for two eggs, let alone one.
Why had he spent so long suffering through the development of Body-Conditioning Magic?
Because he couldn’t learn Dragon Slayer Magic!
Yet no sooner had he completed his new spell than some unknown good Samaritan delivered the exact Dragon Seed he needed.
Who could possibly understand the joy of having a gift like this fall straight out of the sky?
’Wait.’
’Isn’t this a little too convenient?’
Marshall forced himself to calm down.
He had always believed that every gift from fate came with a hidden price attached.
A free meal this generous was honestly rather frightening.
But no matter how long he thought about it, he could not imagine what anyone could possibly want from an eight-year-old child.
He had barely traveled beyond Magnolia since arriving in this world, so there was no chance he had unknowingly befriended some powerful benefactor.
Unless...
’Could they be a fan of my novel?’
Marshall almost laughed at his own ridiculous idea.
Since thinking about it led nowhere, he decided not to obsess over the mystery for now.
The benefit he had received was real, and examining this "gift from fate" would be far more productive than indulging in endless speculation.
Based on his observations of Natsu, Dragon Slayers possessed two primary traits.
The first was a dragon-like body capable of producing attacks infused with the dragon attribute.
The second was the ability to devour a particular element.
To test whether he had truly "learned" Dragon Slayer Magic, Marshall only needed to see whether he could consume an element himself.
The knowledge he received when he invested Inspiration into Dragon Slayer Magic indicated that the element a Dragon Slayer could devour was closely tied to the attribute of their Dragon Seed.
So what attribute did this Dragon Seed possess?
Marshall looked around the room, searching for anything that gave him the instinctive feeling that it was edible.
Water?
He wanted to drink it.
Fire?
He wanted to eat it.
Wood?
Also edible.
Dirt?
Strangely tempting too...
’That can’t be right!’
Marshall froze.
Why did everything suddenly look delicious?
"Grrrowlll..."
His stomach growled loudly.
Virgo, who had been standing nearby awaiting instructions, tilted her head.
"Little Master, would you like Virgo to prepare lunch?"
"Uh... I haven’t eaten yet, have I?"
Marshall awkwardly rubbed his stomach.
"Mira brought lunch to the laboratory, but I ran away before I could eat it. Please make something for me, Virgo."
"Of course."
His body had been consuming energy rapidly, so it made sense that he was hungry.
No wonder everything seemed edible...
’No. Wait.’
’That’s not it.’
Marshall sniffed the air.
This had nothing to do with ordinary hunger.
There really was something inside the room that he could eat.
Following his instincts, he walked over to the window and opened it.
Bright sunlight poured inside.
’Light?’
Marshall opened his mouth and inhaled sharply.
He immediately felt something being drawn toward him and swallowed.
Was it really light?
He teleported to an open field outside, threw his head back, opened his mouth, and began breathing in.
He could taste something.
He was definitely eating it!
But it wasn’t light....
Marshall teleported again and swallowed.
Teleported and swallowed.
Teleported and swallowed...
His eyes grew brighter with every attempt.
"It isn’t light."
"No—it isn’t only light. It’s space!"
"What I’m consuming is the spatial energy released whenever I teleport!"
That explained everything.
The Dragon Seed possessed a spatial attribute.
Did that mean the magic available to him would be Space Dragon Slayer Magic?
Even the attribute was perfectly suited to him!
Wasn’t this gift a little too perfect?
Marshall was delighted, shocked, and increasingly suspicious all at once. His curiosity about the mysterious benefactor grew even stronger.
Spatial dragon power might finally compensate for his lack of offensive Spatial Magic.
Teleportation was Marshall’s specialty, but techniques such as spatial blades, dimensional severing, or shattering space itself remained beyond him.
He desperately wanted to create them.
But he simply couldn’t.
However, Marshall had also felt something when he tried swallowing "light." The quantity was extremely small, but he had unquestionably consumed a little of it.
Apparently, he could eat light as well.
’Do space and light truly share some deeper connection in this world?’
Marshall sank into thought.
If that were true, perhaps relativity also applied within this magical world.
Time and space might not exist independently, but instead form a single, interconvertible concept—space-time.
And if that were the case, could Marshall eventually gain control over time as well?
It would also explain why his affinities for Spatial Magic and Light Magic were so similar.
Perhaps his talent had never been divided between two separate attributes.
Maybe he had always possessed only one true affinity: Space-Time.
In other words, the Dragon Seed might not have come from a Space Dragon at all.
It could have belonged to a Space-Time Dragon!
’Space-Time Dragon Slayer Magic?’
Marshall clicked his tongue.
That name sounded almost excessively chosen by destiny.
Announcing something so grand would practically invite people to target him.
Since he could consume light anyway, he would simply call it Light Dragon Slayer Magic whenever anyone asked.
Marshall checked his skill panel.
Despite his new theory, Spatial Magic LV3, Light Magic LV3, and Time Magic LV1 remained completely separate.
There was no indication that they intended to merge.
Apparently, believing something hard enough was not sufficient to solve every magical mystery.
Marshall created a mass of spatial magic power in his hand and tried taking a bite.
Nothing happened.
As expected, Dragon Slayers gained nothing from consuming their own magic.
It also tasted vaguely nauseating!
He would need to find someone else capable of preparing a few "spatial snacks" for him.
...
After returning to his bedroom, Marshall finally turned his attention back to the mysterious person’s request.
The egg.
Its shell was covered in pink markings that matched his hair surprisingly well.
But what kind of egg was it?
Living creatures were the subject Marshall understood least in this world. He genuinely could not identify what species it belonged to.
Still, he had already accepted an extremely generous payment.
Whatever eventually hatched from the egg, he had decided to raise it.
Erza hurried into his house shortly afterward.
She lowered her head guiltily and held out a ruined scrap of fabric.
"Marshall, I’m extremely sorry. Your clothes were damaged."
She bowed more deeply.
"And I accidentally hurt you earlier. Please forgive me."
"?"
Marshall began sweating as he stared at what little remained of his shirt.
He could practically imagine everything the garment had endured.
"It’s fine. It didn’t hurt that much. I merely teleported away on reflex, so you don’t need to worry."
"Little Master, lunch is ready."
"Marshall! I brought your lunch!"
The two voices sounded almost simultaneously.
Outside the room, Virgo stood face-to-face with Mira, who was carrying a lunchbox.
Virgo’s expression remained perfectly blank.
Mira’s eyes, however, concealed unmistakable murderous intent.
Marshall fell silent for a moment before casually accepting Mira’s lunchbox.
"Body-Conditioning Magic consumes a lot of energy, so my appetite will probably increase considerably from now on."
He smiled as though nothing unusual were happening.
"I might as well start adapting early. Why don’t we all eat together?"
Mira immediately gave him a radiant smile.
"Sure! I’m hungry after that fight too."
Erza folded her arms and frowned.
"I suggest punishing Mira by refusing to give her any food."
"What?!" Mira snapped. "Erza, you tin can bitch! Marshall, did you hear what she said?!"
"You’re the problem!" Erza shot back. "Stay away from Marshall! I’m genuinely afraid you’ll corrupt him!"
Marshall had long since become accustomed to this sort of arguing between them.
Sometimes, even when he did nothing at all, the atmosphere around these people caused his Inspiration to increase dramatically.
It was hardly any slower than the gains he received from learning Dragon Slayer Magic.
During lunch, Marshall told them about the egg that had mysteriously appeared in his bedroom.
Both girls immediately became interested and began offering increasingly imaginative theories about the stranger’s identity.
Afterward, the three gathered around the pink egg and examined it from every possible angle.
None of them could identify what kind of creature it belonged to.
With no better clues available, they returned to the guildhall together, intending to compare it with the large egg Natsu had found and determine whether the two were the same kind.