Chapter 117
Marshall didn’t take Erza back to the guild.
Instead, he teleported them directly to his castle.
Erza remained silent the entire time. Her thoughts were in complete disarray, and she offered no resistance when Marshall guided her onto the sofa.
A long time passed before she finally spoke.
"Marshall, you... know those two, don’t you?"
"You were watching from nearby the whole time, weren’t you? Could you tell whether that man was lying? You—"
"Marshall!"
Erza called his name again, trying to pull him out of his thoughts.
"I..."
Marshall could have exposed Siegrain as Jellal right there in Era.
But he hadn’t.
By now, one thing was perfectly clear: Erza and Jellal shared some kind of bitter, blood-soaked history.
When she swung her sword earlier, she had genuinely intended to kill him!
However—
That was only what appeared on the surface.
Deep within her heart, Erza didn’t want Jellal to die.
The moment Marshall heard that thought, an uncontrollable killing intent surged inside him.
In that instant, many things suddenly made sense.
Why Erza had looked so heartbroken all those years ago.
Why, no matter how close they became, Marshall had never been able to fill the emptiness buried inside her.
She had locked a door deep within her heart and built walls around it, yet she had never truly let go of what remained behind them.
So that was it.
That brief moment of hesitation he had once noticed had been connected to Jellal all along.
But Marshall couldn’t say so yet.
If he tore through that final layer of denial now, Erza would never let the matter rest.
She would insist on fighting Jellal to the bitter end.
And with Marshall involved, the result of that fight was hardly uncertain.
Even if Erza herself couldn’t truly bring herself to kill him, even if Siegrain’s magic power considerably surpassed Marshall’s own, Marshall was confident that with the advantage of the first strike, his mobility and destructive power would let him kill the man in an instant.
But what would happen afterward?
If killing Jellal solved everything, Marshall wouldn’t hesitate.
The problem was that he had heard every contradiction tearing Erza apart.
The nightmare she had been unable to escape all these years had always been Jellal.
Even an insignificant event could become an unshakable obsession after echoing through someone’s mind for years.
And Jellal was no simple nightmare.
He was a living person.
If he truly threatened to kill Jellal in front of Erza—if he forced her to confront the possibility of that man dying—what would she do?
The answer was obvious.
Those conflicting emotions would tear her apart.
Marshall couldn’t accept another person still occupying such an important place in Erza’s heart.
Not even a dead man.
If Jellal died in front of her now, Marshall might permanently lose the chance to understand what Erza truly felt.
The dead were impossible to defeat.
He needed more information.
He needed to know how the entire story had begun and where it had gone wrong.
Only after fully understanding Erza’s past could he make the correct decision.
For now, Jellal couldn’t die.
Marshall’s Heat Vision had deliberately missed, he was grateful that he’d retained enough reason to do so.
When the beam passed beside Siegrain’s face, Marshall noticed something unusual.
His skin hadn’t been burned.
Under normal circumstances, even a near miss from Heat Vision should have left a scorch mark.
Yet Siegrain’s face remained completely unharmed.
That revealed another important fact.
The man they had confronted wasn’t Jellal’s true body.
It was a Thought Projection.
A remotely controlled projection, nothing more.
It was fortunate Marshall had held back.
Destroying a Thought Projection wouldn’t directly injure the original body, but its destruction would alert Jellal and change the way he approached the situation.
If this encounter was treated as an attempt to test him, they couldn’t act carelessly.
"I’m sorry."
Erza suddenly lowered her head.
For a moment, she seemed to become that helpless girl from so many years ago.
[You are forbidden from telling anyone about this. If the existence of the Tower of Heaven is exposed, everything we’ve worked for will be ruined.]
[When that happens, I’ll destroy the tower and everyone inside it to eliminate the evidence.]
[And you must never come near this place again. Every time I discover you trying, I’ll kill one person.]
[I’ll start with Shô and the others...]
Jellal’s threat remained painfully vivid in her memory.
If she told anyone the truth, he would attack those who remained inside the Tower of Heaven.
Those friends had suffered beside her.
They couldn’t be allowed to die because of her.
Never.
Marshall pushed his Telepathy Magic harder, allowing him to catch fragmented images from Erza’s memories.
So she had been threatened.
It was exactly the sort of foolish thing Erza would do—accepting all the danger herself because an enemy told her other people would suffer otherwise.
How could she take a threat like that seriously?
What an idiot.
"Erza." Marshall spoke gently.
"Do you remember what I asked you to promise when you first joined Fairy Tail?"
"M-Marshall, I..."
"I asked you never to do something this foolish again."
His voice remained soft, but firm.
"If anyone ever tries to use your past to threaten you or make you suffer, I want you to tell me before anyone else."
"Stop carrying every burden by yourself."
"Didn’t I tell you?"
"You have me now."
"The man we saw today was only a Thought Projection—a puppet controlled from somewhere else."
"Even if you killed him, it wouldn’t solve anything."
Marshall pulled Erza into his arms.
For once, he didn’t tease her or try to lighten the mood. His voice was unusually gentle.
"Let me handle what comes next."
"Please."
"...Marshall."
Erza rested against him, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.
For the first time in years, the part of her that had remained painfully tense seemed to find somewhere safe enough to breathe.
She stopped arguing.
Her fingers merely tightened around the edge of Marshall’s clothes, as though she were clinging to the only lifeline left in the world.
Neither of them would sleep that night.
Marshall gently stroked her back, but the depths of his eyes were frighteningly cold.
"The Tower of Heaven... Jellal... the Magic Council..."
If they had already reached into Erza’s life, then they couldn’t blame Marshall for overturning the entire table.
As long as this wasn’t merely an old memory that belonged to Erza alone, he would bring that so-called past to a complete end.
Even if it meant turning the whole Magic Council into his enemy.
He didn’t care.
Marshall tightened his arms around her and whispered:
"So, Erza... is that your answer?"
"No!"
Erza suddenly sat up and embraced him with all her strength.
Tears she hadn’t shed in years slid down her cheek.
"Marshall has always been my family!"
"You’ve been my family for a long time!"
"I only... I only..."
"..."
Marshall could feel every trace of her pain and hesitation.
But he couldn’t soften now.
He needed Erza to choose between him and Jellal.
And she had to say that choice aloud herself.
"Do you still not trust me, Erza?"
"You should already know there’s almost nothing I can’t accomplish."
"I’m stronger than you now."
"If there’s a problem you can’t solve, give it to me."
"If there’s something you can’t do, I’ll do it for you."
"And I’ll always stand beside you."
I’ll always help you.
"Have you forgotten what you once told me?"
"Family means staying beside one another no matter what happens."
"No matter what that person becomes."
"No matter what they’ve done."
’Can you hear me, Erza?’
’Those were the words you once said to me yourself.’
No matter how filthy her past was, no matter how painful or shameful it felt to speak about—
"Please trust me, Erza-nee."
"All right?"
"Marshall...!"
Erza could no longer restrain her tears.
Even her artificial right eye, which had remained dry for so long, now felt strangely warm.
That’s right.
She was no longer the helpless little girl she had been back then.
She had a powerful guild.
She had a family who loved her.
And she had Marshall!
Perhaps...
Perhaps she could finally lower this crushing burden.
Perhaps she was allowed to relax, even if only a little.
"Marshall, I’ll tell you everything."
Erza held him tightly.
"But you have to promise me that you won’t do anything reckless."
"All right."
Marshall answered without hesitation.
"I promise."