Chapter 19
By the time the end of the year arrived, Magnolia had been buried beneath a heavy snowfall.
"Marshall’s house has... changed quite a bit."
Gray stood outside the gates of Little Garden, scratching his head as he stared up in amazement.
It had been more than a month since his last visit.
Back then, the house had been a modest little tower.
Now it had somehow transformed into an enormous cake.
If the top floor had not still vaguely resembled the original cottage, Gray might have assumed he had come to the wrong place.
The building was another story taller than before, with every floor narrowing slightly as it rose.
Snow covered the outer walls in thick white layers, making the whole structure look like a gigantic tiered cake sitting beside the forest.
"This place is almost half the size of the guildhall now. Is no one going to complain about an illegal mansion this huge?"
Gray sighed and walked into the yard.
The moment he crossed the gate, a line of glowing words appeared in the air.
[Only those bearing the Fairy Tail guild mark may enter without triggering the alarm.]
"? What’s this? Did Marshall learn another kind of magic?"
"It’s a Rune Enchantment. It belongs to the same general branch as Script Magic, but it’s much more complicated. I’ve been practicing it lately."
"Marshall?! When did you get here?"
Gray jumped when Marshall suddenly appeared beside him.
Ever since the boy became proficient with Teleportation Magic, he had grown increasingly impossible to keep track of!
"I noticed you the moment you came through the gate. What brings you all the way out here, Gray?"
"Fairy Tail’s annual S-Class Mage Promotion Trial started today, so most of the adults disappeared somewhere. The guildhall was too quiet, and I had nothing else to do, so I came over."
"Oh, right. I completely forgot about that. It doesn’t have much to do with us, so let’s go inside."
"You finally put a door on the ground floor?" Gray stepped through it, then immediately widened his eyes.
"Whoa! Why is it so warm in here?"
He took off his coat as soon as he entered. Just as he was about to remove the clothes underneath as well, his entire body froze.
"E-Erza?! Why are you in Marshall’s house?!"
Half of Little Garden’s ground floor had been converted into an indoor training hall.
Erza stood in the middle of it, dressed in training clothes as she practiced her swordsmanship against a wooden dummy.
"Oh, it’s you Gray. Welcome home!"
She stopped practicing and walked over.
"As for why I’m here, it’s because I live here."
Erza looked at him as though she genuinely could not understand why that would be surprising.
"Erza spends almost everything she earns from jobs on weapons and armor, so she was having trouble paying rent," Marshall explained with a shrug. "The girls’ dormitory didn’t have enough room for all her equipment either, so she decided to stay here until she saves more money."
He pointed toward the ceiling.
"I had to add another floor just to store everything. The second floor is practically an equipment museum now."
Gray’s mouth twitched.
Erza was becoming more monstrous by the day.
At this rate, he would never have a chance to catch up!
"...You’ve completed almost as many jobs as I have these past few months. Erza, could you stop working so hard and leave the rest of us a chance?"
"Whatever you choose to do, you should always give it your full effort," Erza replied. "If you continue being so lazy, you’ll never catch up to me."
She picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from her face before turning toward Marshall.
"I’m tired. I’m going to take a bath. Would you like to join me, Marshall?"
"ER-ZA!"
Marshall’s face instantly turned bright red.
"How many times do I have to tell you?! Girls aren’t supposed to invite boys to bathe with them! That’s completely inappropriate! If you keep doing this, I’m throwing you out!"
Erza smiled in satisfaction at the sight of him angrily scolding her.
Ever since she discovered that her usually mature little brother could still lose his composure over certain subjects, teasing him had become one of her favorite forms of entertainment.
An openly flustered Marshall was an exceptionally rare sight.
"What a shame~ Your big sister has always wanted to wash your back."
"I-I never knew you were that kind of person, Erza!" Gray cried, equally horrified.
His own face flushed as he moved beside Marshall, and the two boys united against their common enemy.
"Shameless!"
"Indecent!"
"Pervert!"
"Muscle-brained gorilla!"
Erza ignored every insult.
Wearing a smug smile, she walked up the stairs toward the second floor.
Only after she was safely out of earshot did Gray sling an arm around Marshall’s shoulders and whisper, his face still red, "Has Erza really tried to drag you into the bath with her before...?"
"Don’t remind me! That idiot genuinely didn’t understand why it was inappropriate at first! I had to teach her how a girl is supposed to behave."
Marshall sighed heavily.
"Now she understands perfectly well, but she keeps teasing me anyway because she doesn’t see me as a real man. I’m exhausted."
Marshall enjoyed being close to beautiful girls, but he still had principles.
Taking advantage of an innocent girl who did not understand what she was doing was something he would never do.
More importantly, he was only seven years old!
There was absolutely nothing he could gain from the situation except frustration.
"Ahem. You’ve had it rough, brother."
Gray patted his shoulder sympathetically.
Living with that absurdly strong gorilla was already bad enough.
Having to endure her constant teasing as well was simply cruel!
His little brother had suffered far too much!
"Wait, aren’t we taking the stairs?"
"We’ll use the elevator. The first and second floors belong to Erza now, so we can go straight to the third."
When the elevator doors opened on the third floor, Gray immediately spotted Cana sprawled across the sofa like a dying worm.
"I can honestly say I’m not surprised to see you here." He gave her a skeptical look. "Don’t tell me you moved in too."
Cana weakly waved one hand.
"Don’t mention that awful woman! I’ve cut all ties with her!"
"Huh? Isn’t that a little extreme?"
"Cana lost another duel," Marshall explained. "That was the twenty-ninth time, I think. She and Erza stop speaking to each other for a few days after every match. I’m used to it."
Gray could not hold back his laughter.
"Pfft! Why did you challenge Erza too? You’ve fought her far more times than I have!"
"You don’t understand anything!" Cana shot upright. "This is a battle fought in the name of sisterhood! Only the strongest sister deserves to have a little brother!"
She pointed dramatically toward the stairs.
"Just wait! One day I’ll defeat Erza and throw her out of this house!"
"...You know, I wouldn’t mind if you moved in too."
"That’s not the point! I want Erza gone!"
Cana collapsed onto the sofa and began rolling around dramatically.
"I was here first! I’m Marshall’s real big sister! That horrible bandit came in and stole everything! I never should’ve asked Marshall to help her! I was so stupid! I really was! Waaah, I’m an idiot!"
Gray stared at Cana as she rolled around without the slightest concern for her dignity.
"What’s... wrong with her?"
Marshall sighed.
"She drank fake alcohol."
"What?"
"It was an experimental drink I made while practicing potion brewing. I thought it was ordinary fruit juice, but apparently it has the side effect of making people drunk." Marshall tilted his head. "It tastes pretty good, though. Want some?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Gray hurriedly waved both hands. "Wait, when did you start learning how to make potions?"
"I’ve been studying it on and off for a few months, but I’ve only learned the basics. Potion-making is much harder than magic."
"I think you’re learning far too many things. No one has that much time or energy. Can you really keep up with all of it?"
"It isn’t as bad as it looks. I abandoned most of the spells after barely learning the fundamentals. I only seem like I know a lot."
"How modest~ Marshall really is a genius, completely different from ordinary people like us~"
Gray finally realized that someone else was sitting at the other end of the room, quietly reading.
"Levy, you’re here too? Does everyone treat Marshall’s house like their own now?"
"Hehe. It is our secret base, after all." Levy closed her book with a smile. "I only come here occasionally. Today, I was asked to serve as the official witness for Cana and Erza’s duel."
Gray nodded in understanding, then gave Cana a look of open contempt.
"Erza went straight back to training after the fight, while you lost and started drinking. No wonder you can’t beat her."
"What did you say?!" Cana lunged off the sofa. "I might not be able to defeat Erza, but I can still beat you! DIE!"
"Come on, then! You think I’m scared of you?!"
"Wait! If you two want to fight, take it outside!" Marshall shouted. "Honestly... Teleport!"
With a flash of Spatial Magic, both troublemakers vanished from the room.
The Little Garden was as lively as ever!