Chapter 22
"Marshall! Where’s the update?! I want the latest Chapter!"
The moment Marshall appeared in the guildhall, demands for new Chapters came at him from every direction.
By now, he was completely used to it.
"Yawn~ You should be bothering Reedus, not me. He’s the one who keeps missing deadlines."
"Hehehe... Reedus has already been locked in the deadline dungeon. He won’t be coming out until this week’s pages are finished!"
"...You people are monsters!"
Marshall’s career as a shameless otherworldly novelist had been going strong for more than a year, and the results had exceeded all expectations.
Naruto had become the most popular light novel in the Kingdom of Fiore, while the manga serialization was thriving just as much.
Merchants had even begun selling unofficial merchandise, and the story’s influence continued to spread.
Its success had made Marshall enormously wealthy.
He now had tens of millions of Jewels in savings, placing him in an entirely different economic class from the penniless Mages in Fairy Tail.
Despite being a guild member for over a year, he had never completed a single job request and was still living more comfortably than almost everyone else.
These days, he mostly came to the guild to train his Telepathy Magic—meaning he listened to gossip—or simply to have fun.
He technically still worked as a server too, and he had absolutely no intention of quitting.
In fact, Marshall planned to claim that serving tables was his true career!
The next time Sorcerer Weekly came to interview him, he would introduce himself as "an amateur Fairy Tail Mage who writes novels on the side, but works professionally as a restaurant server."
The reporter’s expression would undoubtedly be priceless!
Just imagining it already made him happy.
Marshall did not have any grand ambitions in life. All he wanted was to enjoy himself.
Since happiness literally made him stronger, he naturally intended to live however he pleased.
"Everyone! I was passing through the edge of town just now and saw Master bringing back a kid who can breathe fire! Looks like we’re getting another new member!"
A lanky boy raced circles around the guildhall without ever slowing down.
His name was Jet, a recent addition to Fairy Tail who used High Speed Magic.
Marshall had studied the spell as well.
In the end, it had merged into Enhancement Magic and contributed three thousand experience points.
It had been a surprisingly useful boost, and Enhancement Magic now needed only a little over two thousand more experience to reach Level Two.
"Another newcomer? Our guild really is growing fast lately!"
"Of course! We’re the greatest wizard guild in Fiore!"
"Cheers!"
Amid the noise, Makarov entered with a loud-looking boy whose hair was the same shade of pink as Marshall’s.
"Everyone, quiet down! I have an announcement! This is Natsu, the newest member of Fairy Tail. Make sure you all treat him well!"
Makarov had not even finished speaking before Natsu leaped onto a table, threw his head back, and breathed a stream of fire toward the ceiling.
"RAAAAHH! Have any of you seen a dragon?! I’m searching for one—a fire dragon who breathes flames!"
"..."
Every eye in the guild turned toward the wild child.
Then the entire hall erupted in laughter.
"Hahahaha! Is this kid still dreaming?"
"Dragons don’t exist anymore! They went extinct ages ago!"
"That fire-breathing trick was pretty good, kid! Do it again!"
Natsu’s face flushed red with fury.
"I’m not joking! I’m looking for Igneel, the strongest fire dragon! He’s my father! A dragon raised me, so how could dragons not exist?!"
The guild fell silent again.
Everyone exchanged uncertain looks.
The boy did not seem clever enough to invent a lie that elaborate. Could he actually be telling the truth?
Did dragons really still exist somewhere in the world?
"Oi, fire freak! Get off the table already," Gray called out. "Nobody here has seen your stupid dragon."
"Huh?!" Natsu stared at him. "Are you some kind of pervert? Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?"
"What?! When did that happen?!"
"And don’t insult Igneel!"
Natsu launched himself off the table and punched Gray while the other boy was still trying to pull his trousers back on.
They crashed to the floor and immediately began wrestling.
The irresponsible adults rushed over as soon as they realized there was entertainment to be had.
Someone even started taking bets, with Gray given odds of 1.3.
"Get him, Gray!"
"Come on, newcomer! Don’t lose!"
"Hit him! Hit him! Hit him!"
"..."
Marshall looked at Makarov, who stood beside him at roughly the same height with a grandfatherly smile on his face.
"Master, aren’t you going to stop them?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. Children should be energetic."
"You seem awfully pleased. Is it because you found another talented kid?"
"Oh?" Makarov glanced at him. "You can already tell there’s something unusual about Natsu?"
"He didn’t have a single unnecessary thought while he was talking. He’s the kind of straightforward idiot who says exactly what he means, so everything about the dragon is probably true."
Marshall studied the flames still lingering in the air.
"The Fire Magic around him is so dense it’s practically spilling out of his body... So dragons really do exist?"
"That’s right." Makarov nodded happily. "Natsu inherited a Lost Magic known as Dragon Slayer Magic. It’s exceptionally rare. If a real dragon truly taught him, then the boy’s potential is immeasurable."
Makarov was still smiling smugly when Natsu suddenly shouted across the guildhall.
"Does anyone have fire?! Give me some!"
Macao, always happy to make a bad situation worse, tossed him a ball of flame.
Natsu leaned back and swallowed it in one bite.
"Hahaha! My strength is coming back!"
He sucked in a deep breath.
"FIRE DRAGON’S ROAR!"
A massive fireball blasted from Natsu’s mouth toward Gray!
Gray threw himself flat against the floor, while the crowd scattered in every direction.
Marshall vanished with a flicker of Spatial Magic.
The fireball sailed past them all and exploded directly in front of Makarov.
The Guild Master’s face turned black in the most literal sense.
Everyone fled at once, leaving Natsu standing alone in the middle of the guildhall with a blank expression.
A second later, Makarov expanded into a towering giant and lifted him by the back of his shirt.
"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! NO USING MAGIC INSIDE THE GUILD! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL SOMEONE?!"
"I-I’m sorry..."
Natsu looked ready to cry.
Marshall reappeared nearby and shook his head solemnly.
Makarov really was not much better than the people he constantly scolded.
Still, Marshall had not expected Natsu to be capable of eating fire.
That was interesting.
He would have to find an opportunity to study this Dragon Slayer Magic and see exactly how it worked.
While Marshall was enjoying the spectacle, another source of trouble found him.
"Marshall, Marshall! What kind of magic are you going to teach me?"
Marshall had long since grown accustomed to suddenly finding himself buried in a girl’s soft embrace.
Most of the girls in the guild enjoyed hugging him, and he was perfectly happy to let them spoil him like a child.
"Cana, I think your Card Magic would work best when combined with two other branches of magic."
"What are they?"
"Rune Enchantments from Script Magic, and Contract Summoning Magic."
"Huh? So Levy’s magic and Celestial Spirit Magic?"
"Levy uses Solid Script. And Contract Summoning doesn’t necessarily have to involve Celestial Spirits."
"Huh? What does that mean? I don’t get it."
"I’ll explain once I’ve studied summoning magic more thoroughly. For now, you should begin with Rune Enchantments. Script Magic is one of the foundations of nearly every kind of magic, so learning it can only help you."
"All right~ I’ll do whatever Marshall says!"
By now, Marshall had at least a basic understanding of most forms of magic in this world.
Whenever summoners were mentioned, people almost always thought of Celestial Spirit Mages.
Marshall had spoken with a few before, though the spirits they had contracts with were not especially powerful.
From what he had learned, Celestial Spirits lived in another world and could not truly die.
Their strength after being summoned depended almost entirely on the magic power of the Mage who called them.
And Cana’s greatest natural talent was her enormous reserve of magic power.
She could train halfheartedly and still keep pace with Erza, which meant that, in theory, Celestial Spirit Magic should have suited her perfectly.
But Marshall did not believe that all summoning magic had to rely on Celestial Spirits.
He had an idea.
He still did not know whether it was possible, and he would need to study Celestial Spirit Magic far more deeply before drawing any conclusions.
But before that...
He needed to obtain a Celestial Spirit of his own!