Chapter 2
Marshall was not particularly interested in talking to anyone.
In his current state, even the slightest distraction made his headache worse.
Still, the little girl’s thoughts had caught his attention.
’Dad? Is she Gildarts’s daughter?!’
His gaze naturally shifted toward the girl who had introduced herself as Cana.
She was a pretty child, and she would undoubtedly grow into a beautiful woman, but her features did not resemble Gildarts’s at all.
Even their hair colors were completely different.
Then again, people rarely lied in their own thoughts. Maybe she simply took after her mother.
There was something else that bothered him, though.
Gildarts had not gone out of his way to greet his supposed daughter when they entered the guild.
That was rather strange.
"Oi, newbie! How long are you planning to stand there spacing out? We asked your name!"
"Gray, you idiot! Try being polite! You’re going to scare him."
Cana chopped Gray on the head with the side of her hand. Judging by how naturally she did it, the two of them were clearly close.
"I’m Marshall..."
Since this involved Gildarts, his savior, Marshall forced himself to focus.
Then he noticed the underwear lying on the floor behind the boy and gave him an awkward look.
"Um... Aren’t you going to put your clothes back on?"
"What?! When did that happen?!"
"..."
Marshall had to admit that watching Gray walk toward him while absentmindedly removing his underwear had been more than a little alarming.
From Gray’s reaction, he genuinely had not noticed what his own hands were doing.
Marshall could also confirm that the boy’s thoughts had contained absolutely no awareness of it.
’He’s already developed this kind of habit at his age? This poor kid is doomed.’
Gray hurriedly pulled his underwear back on, then clumsily changed the subject.
"Marshall, right? Do you have a family name?"
Marshall almost answered immediately.
The twenty years of memories from his previous life were far clearer than the six years he had spent in this one.
"Mathers," he said after a brief pause. "My full name is Marshall Mathers."
"Oh? Marshall, then are you—"
’What’s your relationship with Gildarts?’
Marshall heard Cana’s question in her thoughts before she could say it aloud.
Unfortunately, Makarov and Gildarts chose that exact moment to come down from the second floor, drawing everyone’s attention and cutting her off.
Cana reluctantly swallowed the question.
"Listen up, brats! Everyone look this way! I have an announcement!"
Makarov leaped onto the bar counter and raised both arms, smiling broadly as the guild slowly quieted down.
"First of all, let’s welcome Fairy Tail’s newest member—Marshall!"
Under Marshall’s increasingly alarmed stare, one of Makarov’s tiny hands suddenly expanded to an enormous size.
The Guild Master scooped him up and placed him on the counter.
It was Giant Magic, one of Makarov’s signature spells, which allowed him to enlarge his entire body or any individual part of it.
"Marshall awakened his magic naturally, and he has tremendous potential! Make sure you all take good care of our little genius from now on!"
"Oh! Now that’s an impressive newcomer!"
"The future of the guild is in your hands, kid! Hahaha!"
"Come on, newbie! Show us a trick!"
’This guild really is unbelievably loud...’
Marshall pressed his fingers against his temples as the enthusiastic voices made his head throb again.
He managed to offer everyone a smile that was awkward but still reasonably polite.
"Next, I’ll be visiting the Magic Council for a few days to take care of some business," Makarov continued. "While I’m gone, make sure you keep an eye on the guild—and on Gildarts! That’s all! You can go back to whatever you were doing!"
"Hey, Gramps! What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Don’t worry, Master! We won’t let Gildarts cause any trouble!"
"See you later, Master! Gildarts, get over here and have a drink!"
"Hahahaha!"
"..."
Not a single person seemed worried or even curious about Makarov’s sudden departure. Within seconds, the guild had already returned to its usual chaos.
Makarov was clearly used to it. He turned toward Marshall with a warm, grandfatherly smile.
"Don’t mind them, Marshall. They may seem unreliable most of the time, but when it truly matters, there’s no one you can trust more. You’ll get used to them eventually. From now on, you can think of this place as your home."
[I hope he stays a good boy and doesn’t let these idiots corrupt him.]
’You don’t even believe your own speech, do you, Master?’
Marshall had plenty of comments of his own, but unfortunately, no one else could hear them.
"Airo! Come give our newest member his guild mark!"
Makarov waved toward the barmaid. A beautiful young woman with a generous figure soon approached, carrying something that resembled a large stamp.
"A guild mark..." Marshall instinctively shrank back. "Is it some kind of tattoo? Do I have to get one?"
The emblem looked strangely familiar. He felt certain he had seen it somewhere before, but no matter how hard he searched his memories, nothing came to him.
Airo smiled reassuringly.
"It isn’t a tattoo. A guild mark is made with a special type of imprinting magic, so it can be removed whenever you like. Where would you like yours?"
"...On the back of my shoulder, then."
Still a little reluctant, Marshall pulled down the right side of his shirt and exposed part of his shoulder.
He was not thrilled by the idea of having anything resembling a tattoo on his body, so somewhere he could not see it seemed like the best choice.
"Coming right up!"
Airo pressed the stamp down in one quick, practiced motion, leaving a soft pink Fairy Tail mark on his shoulder. Once she was finished, she excitedly squeezed his pale, smooth arm and let out an exaggerated booming laugh.
"Children really do have the softest skin!"
[He’s so adorable! I want to take him home and raise him myself! He’s definitely going to grow into a handsome young man. Hehehe...]
’Miss, those thoughts are getting dangerous.’
Thoroughly alarmed, Marshall edged closer to Makarov.
The Guild Master nodded in satisfaction.
"Airo, I’ll leave Marshall in your care for now. I don’t trust Gildarts to look after a child properly."
"No problem, Master! I love children."
Airo eagerly lifted Marshall into her arms and spun around on the spot.
"Aww, he’s such a good boy! He’s much cuter than Gray!"
Gray stared at her in disbelief.
"???"
Marshall suddenly found himself buried in something incredibly soft, with Airo’s pleasant perfume filling his nose.
He blinked.
’You know... being a child again might not be so bad.’
Gildarts, who had already downed several drinks with the other guild members, came staggering over and shouted at Makarov in protest.
"Hey, hey! I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that, Gramps! Marshall and I lived together for several days! How does that make me bad at taking care of kids?"
Makarov ignored him and instead turned toward Marshall with an expression full of guilt and sympathy.
"You poor child. It must have been a difficult journey."
"..."
Still nestled in Airo’s arms, Marshall put on an expression that carried both sadness and quiet relief.
’Sleeping outdoors with a filthy, perverted old man for days... No one understands what I’ve been through.’
"You little brat. I took perfectly good care of you," Gildarts grumbled.
He did not seem particularly offended, though. Leaning against the bar, he flashed Airo a shameless smile.
"Airo-chan, you’ve gotten even prettier since the last time I saw you. How about going on a date with me tonight?"
"No, thank you. I already have a boyfriend, Gildarts."
"What?! Since when? Damn it! Which bastard—no, I mean, which lucky bastard is he?"
Marshall’s gaze moved between them before settling on Cana, who stood nearby with an unreadable expression.
He wondered what she was thinking now.
[Dad may be strong, but does he really have to flirt with every woman he sees? No, forget that—he’s a hopeless womanizer!]
[He seems to care about Marshall a lot. Could Marshall really be my little brother?]
[No. I’m going to tell him about Mom today. I have to ask whether he even remembers her...]
[But... what would asking him change? Mom said he was a wanderer who would never stay in one place for anyone.]
[If I tell him who I am, would he stay for me?]
[But Dad is such a powerful Mage, and I’m still so weak. Would he even want to acknowledge me as his daughter? I’d only hold him back.]
[Mom... what am I supposed to do?]
"..."
Cana’s tangled thoughts poured into Marshall’s mind all at once.
The sadness and uncertainty behind them were so heavy that he sucked in a sharp breath.
’Damn it, Gildarts. What the hell have you done?’
He had never imagined that the man who saved his life would turn out to be such an irresponsible womanizer.
’I really didn’t need to learn a secret like this...’
At that moment, Marshall’s eyelid twitched.
[Telepathy Magic LV4: 214 → 230/10,000,000.]