Chapter 63
For the next several hours, Marshall continued experimenting with his new magic under the older Erza’s watchful eye.
Because Light Telescope Magic relied only on basic refraction, it couldn’t see through buildings the way the Third Hokage’s crystal ball supposedly could.
Still, it was already extremely useful.
One particularly valuable feature was that people observed through the "telescope" found it very difficult to notice.
Unlike Telepathy Magic, it left almost no detectable trace of magic power, making it perfect for discreet surveillance.
Definitely surveillance.
Not spying!
Marshall’s second invention was designed to preserve memorable moments.
Recording Card Magic captured a sequence of light and images, sealed it inside a card, and allowed the scene to be replayed whenever desired.
Marshall recorded the sight of two Natsus and two Grays fighting at once, then gave the card to Erza.
A recording that ridiculous would be far more entertaining if she played it for everyone after returning to the future.
As the time for their farewell drew closer, Marshall found himself reluctant to part with the older Erza.
The adult woman before him seemed to have overcome whatever emotional burden had once weighed her down.
She was more cheerful and expressive than the Erza of this era, and the way she looked at Marshall was filled with gentle affection.
She truly felt like an older sister.
Marshall was still reflecting on that when Erza suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Marshall... I’ve always acted as though I were the older sister protecting you."
Her voice softened.
"But only now do I realize that you never really changed. From childhood until now, the one being cared for all along... was me."
"Mmph... Erza... I can’t breathe..."
"Oh! Sorry."
When Erza finally released him, Marshall needed a moment to regain his balance.
The girls of Fairy Tail certainly grew into powerful women.
The world itself must have been blessing them.
"There are many things I’d like to tell you, but this clearly isn’t the right time."
Erza smiled.
"So this is goodbye for now, Marshall."
"To reduce the danger of creating a temporal paradox, you should avoid appearing in front of the others again."
"All right... I’ll watch you leave from a distance."
Marshall floated into the night sky.
The group from the future had arrived during the afternoon, and nearly five hours had already passed.
Darkness covered the land now, making it much easier for him to remain hidden overhead.
There was still some time left.
From above, Marshall watched Erza find Lucy driving a carriage, then locate a bruised but cheerful Gray and a thoroughly unhelpful Happy.
Together, they hurried toward the river to find Natsu.
The moment they arrived, they discovered the adult Natsu beating the younger Natsu senseless with a wild expression.
Apparently, young Natsu had lost his duel against young Gray.
Natsu truly was ruthless.
When he became angry enough, he would even beat himself up.
A scene this rare had to be preserved.
Marshall created another Recording Card, intending to reveal it several years later.
Then young Natsu attempted to attack his older counterpart with Dragon Slayer Magic.
Adult Natsu casually swatted the attack aside, only for the deflected spell to injure the younger boy instead.
Natsu was currently twelve, nearly thirteen, and possessed only a little over two thousand magic power.
The future Natsu had nearly ten thousand and was already approaching S-Class level.
The difference between their bodies was even greater.
For adult Natsu, beating his younger self was no different from bullying a child.
Erza and the others could no longer bear to watch.
They grabbed the older Natsu and fled, knowing his remaining time was almost over.
Marshall couldn’t simply ignore the younger Natsu, who was still bleeding, so he descended from the sky.
"Natsu, you’re hurt."
"Marshall!"
Natsu rushed toward him in distress.
"Waaah! Some terrifying monster was beating me just now! He was horrible! I’ve never seen anyone so frightening in my life!"
His future self had apparently traumatized him.
Remembrance of Time transported people into a deeply memorable moment from the past.
Could this exact event have been the memory future Natsu recalled?
Marshall struggled not to laugh.
"They’ve already gone pretty far. Let me heal you first."
Natsu’s own Dragon Slayer Magic had cut a wound across his neck.
Fortunately, it was only superficial.
Marshall stimulated his natural recovery and closed the injury, but a noticeable scar remained.
"Huh?"
Marshall examined it.
"Why won’t the scar disappear? Is it because the injury was caused by Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"There’s a scar?"
Natsu shrugged.
"Whatever. I always wear my scarf, so no one will see it. Thanks, Marshall."
Marshall fell into thought.
The magical attributes of this world possessed a degree of natural advantage and resistance against one another.
Ancient dragons were said to have been nearly impossible to defeat with ordinary magic, perhaps because they possessed extremely high resistance to every other magical attribute.
Dragon power could only be overcome by dragon power.
That was why Dragon Slayer Magic had been created—to use the magic of dragons against dragons.
Marshall had theorized something similar before.
Now, the evidence seemed to support it.
Natsu’s body was constantly evolving toward that of a dragon.
Did that also make him more vulnerable to Dragon Slayer Magic?
"Damn it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get!"
Natsu clenched his fists.
"I’m going to find that monster and get revenge!"
"They seem to have left already. You’ll probably have another chance to meet him someday."
"Really? He ran away fast."
Natsu snorted.
"Fine! I’ll beat him up after I grow stronger!"
Still muttering angrily, Natsu marched off to find Gray and demand another fight.
Marshall rose into the sky again and flew toward the forest’s edge.
There, he found Gray standing behind a battered adult Natsu and locking his arms in place.
Happy was sprawled across Natsu’s head, while Erza and Lucy each held one of his wrists.
All of them wore solemn expressions, as though conducting some mysterious ritual.
It looked extremely strange.
Marshall stared for another moment.
Then secretly recorded it.
Erza seemed to sense something.
She raised her head toward Marshall’s hiding place, smiled, and waved.
A brilliant light flashed.
The group vanished instantly, leaving no trace that they had ever been there.
Marshall slowly descended from the sky.
On the ground lay Remembrance of Time.
He picked it up and stared.
The book hadn’t returned to the future with them?
Wait.
Could this be the very copy that Marshall himself would eventually place inside the guild library?
Did that mean Natsu and the others would one day discover the book Marshall had brought back from this event, then use it to return to the present?
What would happen if Marshall refused to place it in the library?
Since the book had remained in this era, didn’t that mean it would vanish from the future when they opened it?
Did the book only exist during the years between now and that future moment?
Then where had it originally come from?
Who had created it?
And after disappearing from the future, where would it go?
Marshall’s thoughts spiraled until he felt as though his brain was trying to grow new folds.
This book was extraordinary!
It seemed like something that shouldn’t logically exist, yet it was undeniably resting in his hands.
Then the strange hunger returned.
Marshall stared at the book, increasingly tempted.
He opened his mouth and took a bite.
He didn’t chew through the cover.
Instead, he consumed a small amount of the space-time energy leaking from its pages.
’Delicious!’
Marshall had never tasted anything as wonderful as space-time!
On his System panel, the experience bars for both Spatial Magic and Time Magic rose by a small amount.
This book was extraordinarily nourishing.
After several bites, however, Marshall forced himself to stop.
He was afraid that continuing might cause the book itself to disappear.
If he consumed too much of its temporal energy and future Natsu could no longer use it to return to the past, would the book still end up in Marshall’s hands now?
Would some kind of temporal correction erase his memories of everything that had happened?
No.
Better not take unnecessary risks.
Marshall felt deeply uncertain and decided to stop eating.
The book was far more valuable as an object of research than as food.
Wait.
He had already eaten a noticeable amount of its power.
Could that cause Natsu and the others to return to the wrong point in time?
No, that didn’t make sense either.
The future Natsu had presumably used the same book after Marshall had already taken those bites.
So perhaps they had originally been supposed to arrive even earlier?
Marshall frowned.
His brain was beginning to itch.
’Enough.’
He refused to think about it anymore!