Chapter 48
While everyone else’s attention was fixed on the so-called dragon egg, several people quietly sought Marshall out.
The first was Elfman.
Mirajane’s younger brother was sturdy, honest, and easily the gentlest of the three Strauss siblings.
Mira and Lisanna both possessed a mischievous streak, but Elfman was almost painfully sincere.
At that moment, he stood nervously before Marshall.
Despite being two heads taller, he somehow seemed like the smaller one.
"Elf-bro? Did you need something?"
Marshall’s tone was perfectly casual.
After two and a half years of practicing how to act like a child, he had long since abandoned any sense of shame.
Calling other children "big brother" or "big sister" came naturally to him now, especially when it gave him the chance to tease them.
"M-Marshall, um... I wanted to ask you for help..."
Elfman fidgeted awkwardly.
"You know how I learned the same Take Over Magic as my sisters? I don’t think I’m very talented at it. I can only manage a partial Take Over, like Mira-nee before she learned to control hers. I can transform one arm, but that’s all."
His shoulders drooped.
"It’s been bothering me, but I was too embarrassed to tell my sisters. You know a lot about magic, and you always come up with good ideas. Could you help me figure out what I’m doing wrong?"
"That’s easy enough. Show me your transformation first."
"All right! Take Over—Animal Soul!"
Elfman had absorbed the soul of a bear that Natsu helped him capture in the forest.
Just as he said, however, only one of his arms transformed.
He could not perform a full-body Take Over.
Marshall took hold of the enlarged bear arm and examined it with magic power.
He had learned Take Over Magic himself, although he had already expelled the weak Magical Beasts he once absorbed.
He had no use for such unimpressive forms.
"Ah, I see."
Marshall released his arm.
"Your soul can completely suppress the bear’s. There’s no chance of the Take Over failing. As for why you can’t transform your entire body..."
He looked Elfman up and down.
"You don’t believe in yourself enough, Elfman. Someone who hesitates at every step will never get anywhere. Right now, what you need most is confidence."
"Huh? B-But I really can’t do it..."
His parents had died young. His elder sister was overwhelmingly strong-willed.
The villagers had looked down on him throughout his childhood, and his own gentle, honest nature had only made him more timid.
There were many reasons Elfman had grown into such an insecure boy.
It was not something Marshall could fix in a single conversation.
"That’s because you haven’t discovered your strengths yet. Elfman, what do you think you’re good at? Is there anything you can do better than everyone else?"
"Well..."
The light seemed to vanish from Elfman’s eyes.
"I-I don’t think there is. I’m weaker than Natsu and the others. I’m not smart like you. Lisanna is more talented with magic, and even Mira-nee is better at cooking..."
He lowered his head.
"I don’t have any strengths."
"..."
’You poor idiot. Why don’t you compare your cooking with Natsu’s instead?’
Marshall sighed and shook his head.
"Then start with a small goal. How about becoming the strongest and most muscular person in the guild?"
"I think you have talent in that direction, and I can help you."
"The strongest?"
Elfman considered the idea.
A faint light returned to his eyes.
"I... think I might be able to do that. I’ve always wanted to become a real man."
"Exactly. I recently developed a Body-Conditioning Magic that lets you become stronger while lying down."
Marshall smiled.
"Ask your sister to bring you to my laboratory sometime. I’ll design a version specifically for you."
"All right! Thank you, Marshall!"
In theory, Body-Conditioning Magic was extremely effective for building muscle.
Marshall had no intention of turning himself into an enormous muscle-bound brute, however, so he needed a male subject for comparison.
Elfman was perfect.
They would each get exactly what they needed!
...
No sooner had Elfman left than Cana cornered Marshall.
She planted one hand against the wall beside his head and narrowed her eyes.
"Marshall, your magic experiment is finished now, isn’t it? That means you finally have time for me, right?"
"Uh... The experiment has only achieved preliminary success. It’s reached a stopping point, but there are still plenty of improvements to make over time..."
Cana lowered her head.
Her shoulders began to tremble as though she were about to cry.
"I understand. Big Sister misunderstood."
"I thought Marshall was looking forward to catching Magical Beasts with me too, but apparently it was all one-sided..."
"Wait, wait! I never said I wasn’t going!"
Cana instantly raised her head.
There was not a trace of sadness in her eyes—only triumph.
She grabbed Marshall’s cheeks with both hands and began threatening an eight-year-old child.
"Hehe~ You’re not allowed to stand me up again! Otherwise, Big Sister won’t let you off so easily!"
"I know... Once my egg hatches, I’ll go catch Magical Beasts with you."
"You promised!"
Marshall had agreed some time ago to help Cana capture Magical Beasts for her Summoning Cards.
Then he learned Enchantment Magic, became completely obsessed with researching Body-Conditioning Magic, and kept postponing the trip.
He felt somewhat guilty about it.
Now that the first stage of his research was complete, he finally had time to leave Magnolia.
After remaining indoors for so long, he was beginning to feel restless anyway.
Satisfied with his answer, Cana walked away humming.
Marshall had only just begun to relax when Levy blocked his path next.
"Levy? You too...?"
’Did they arrange a schedule so they could corner me one after another?’
"Marshall, i want to discuss something with you."
"Uh... Go ahead."
Marshall accidentally caught another glimpse of Levy’s thoughts.
A sense of danger immediately washed over him.
"There’s an event at the Naruto amusement park next month. Will you come participate with me?"
Levy handed him two tickets.
Marshall looked down at the promotional text.
[The First Spring Sakura Shuriken-Throwing Tournament is about to begin!]
[Register as a pair to enter. Fabulous prizes await, including a mysterious grand prize for the champions!]
[The Naruto Amusement Park looks forward to welcoming you!]
Marshall stared at it.
"???"
There were so many things wrong with this that he did not know where to begin.
"Wh-What kind of event is this?"
"Huh? You really don’t know?"
"Am I supposed to? I never pay attention to the park’s daily operations..."
"It’s a cosplay event themed around Sakura," Levy explained excitedly. "Each pair dresses as Sakura and Sasuke, then competes in a shuriken-throwing contest."
"I heard the winners receive a commemorative figure personally signed by the creator. I really want it!"
"What? Since when did I agree to sign anything?"
"Um... They don’t mean you."
Levy covered her mouth and giggled.
"Reedus is signing it."
"You really haven’t heard? The Naruto manga is much more popular than your original novel now. Reedus has become a famous manga artist!"
"Didn’t you notice he hardly visits the guild anymore?"
"Oh... I assumed they locked him in the studio again."
Marshall genuinely paid very little attention to anything involving Naruto.
Although he still maintained his daily writing schedule, he now treated it mainly as routine practice for Script Magic.
His royalties continued arriving, and he was always busy with other research, so he had never bothered following the novel or manga’s wider influence.
That was not the real problem, however.
The problem was Levy’s thoughts.
’Hehehe... Mira and Erza have monopolized Marshall for months and accomplished absolutely nothing. They clearly haven’t recognized his true potential.’
’In that case, they can’t blame me for making my move first~’
"...I only need to accompany you to the event?"
"Well~ Could you transform into your fifteen-year-old appearance that day? Participants under ten aren’t allowed to enter."
"..."
’Your plan is rather obvious.’
Marshall felt as though something inside Levy had gone terribly wrong.
Perhaps someone needed to drag her away and shock some sense back into her.
’Hehehe. I’ll win Marshall over little by little, and once we’re both grown up, I’ll make sure he chooses me before any of them get the chance!’
’The romance books were right. A perfect love story has to begin with a childhood bond!’
Hell nah.
This was far beyond "something going wrong."
She was completely broken!
What kind of ridiculous books had Levy been secretly reading over the past few months?
Marshall had thought Mira and Erza were already difficult enough to handle.
He had never expected the true heavyweight to be waiting here.
’What is wrong with every child in this guild?!’
"Um... Could I choose not to go?"
"Why?" Levy’s expression immediately became pitiful. "Marshall doesn’t want to help me anymore?"
Were all pretty young girls naturally gifted actresses?
If Marshall had been unable to hear her thoughts, her innocent, wounded expression might genuinely have deceived him.
Cold sweat rolled down his face as he realized something extremely serious.
He could not find a reasonable excuse to refuse.
An ordinary eight-year-old would never reject such a harmless request, and Levy was clearly exploiting that fact to advance her grand "childhood romance plan."
Was his habit of pretending to be a child finally coming back to punish him?
That wasn’t fair!
He could not allow Levy to continue charging down this ridiculous path.
He needed a perfect excuse.
Think!
’Come on, useless brain! Think!’
"...I’ll help."
"Yay!"
Levy immediately pressed one of the tickets into his hand.
"It’s on the twentieth of next month. Don’t forget~"
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