Chapter 236
"Little kitty, you look like there’s something you want to tell me."
After the mobilization meeting ended, everyone dispersed.
The "war" hadn’t started yet, after all, so there was no reason for them to stand around doing nothing.
Carla, however, secretly approached Marshall without Wendy.
"Huh?! Don’t call me little kitty! I have a name!"
Carla hissed at him.
Although the two had known each other for five years, their relationship was closer to that of familiar strangers.
Marshall was very close with Ruby and Wendy, while Carla was also very close with Ruby and Wendy, yet somehow Marshall and Carla themselves had never become particularly familiar.
The reason was simple.
Carla always avoided him.
Unless there was absolutely no choice, she rarely even spoke to Marshall.
And Marshall already had Ruby, so he had little interest in bothering with other cats.
Carla in particular was four parts tsun and zero parts dere, and he had no desire to waste time trying to win over a smug little cat who didn’t even like him.
So although Marshall had long suspected that Carla knew something unusual and had noticed her repeatedly wanting to speak with him, he had never cared enough to press her.
Now that she had finally worked up the nerve to come to him herself, Marshall naturally decided to tease her a little.
"So~ Carla the little kitty, what did you want?"
"Ugh..."
Carla looked as though she wanted to hiss at him again but was forcing herself not to.
"I-I wanted to ask... what are you planning to do with the Exceeds in the other world?"
"Hm?"
Marshall tilted his head.
"Why ask something like that? The Exceeds haven’t done anything to me. Why would I go after a bunch of little cats?"
"But... but..."
’But the Exceeds sent us here to assassinate the Dragon Slayers!’
Carla hesitated, unable to figure out how to say it aloud.
So Marshall said it for her.
"Why do you think a cat would be capable of assassinating a Dragon Slayer?"
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"Eh?!"
Carla froze.
Her fur immediately puffed up as she entered maximum defensive mode.
"H-How do you know?!"
"I don’t know anything."
Marshall looked genuinely curious.
"I’m just wondering why you came to such a strange conclusion."
"I... I..."
Carla struggled for another moment before finally deciding to confess.
She told Marshall about the "secret" she had carried since birth: ever since she could remember, strange instructions and images had repeatedly appeared inside her mind, telling her about a mission she was supposed to complete.
Once she finished, she looked at him nervously.
"A-Anyway, I never intended to carry out a mission like that. But the Exceeds in the other world really do seem to want to harm you Dragon Slayers..."
"Wait, wait."
Marshall immediately interrupted her and gave the cat a strange once-over.
"You said you three came here with a mission."
He pointed toward her.
"Then why don’t Happy and Ruby remember any of this?"
"I-I don’t know!"
Carla became flustered.
"Those two idiots probably damaged their brains when they crossed worlds or something!"
"I think the one whose brain might be malfunctioning is you."
Marshall reached out and caught her little head between his hands.
"Mind if I take a look?"
Carla stiffened.
"At those inherited images about your mission. You still remember them, right?"
"Y-Yes."
She gritted her teeth.
"Fine. Look for yourself!"
Carla reluctantly allowed Marshall to place a hand on her head.
And then he saw them.
Two strange-looking cats explaining Carla’s supposed "mission" to her.
Another world filled with smoke and war.
A dragon opening its jaws and swallowing a group of flying cats whole.
Carla looked up at him anxiously.
"Y-You saw it, right? The Exceeds sent us to assassinate the evil dragon because they were trying to prevent themselves from being killed."
"That’s the information I inherited."
Marshall’s expression became increasingly strange.
He already knew the Exceeds held an extraordinary position in Edolas.
And one scene in his planned "villain performance" involved transforming himself into an evil dragon and terrorizing the Exceeds.
The scene Carla had just shown him... looked suspiciously similar.
Marshall patted her head.
"Carla, has it ever occurred to you that you might have completely misunderstood what those images mean?"
"Wh-What do you mean?"
"You might actually possess an incredible talent."
Marshall thought for a moment.
"How about this? When we invade Edolas, you three cats can head to the Exceeds’ homeland first and meet their leader."
"Ask them directly what’s really going on."
He smiled.
"Don’t worry. For your sake and Ruby’s, I’m not going to hurt a bunch of harmless cats."
"Stop calling us cats all the time!"
Carla smacked Marshall’s hand away with one paw.
"We’re not ordinary cats!"
She hissed at him again.
Marshall refused to tolerate the hissing this time. He caught her in both hands and vigorously rubbed her head.
"If you’re not a cat, then what are you?"
"Stop acting so arrogant! You’re not cute at all. You should learn from Ruby!"
"Damn you! This is exactly why I hate you!"
Carla thrashed furiously.
"You don’t even treat us like cats! You exploit cat labor! You bully Ruby every day! Ruby had the worst luck imaginable ending up with you!"
"Huh?! When have I ever bullied Ruby?"
Marshall protested.
"Everything Ruby does is voluntary! Besides, she’s my little sidekick. Isn’t it perfectly normal for her to show some respect to her boss?"
"Ruby herself doesn’t complain, yet here you are meowing about it!"
"Hah! Look at Wendy! Look at Natsu!"
Carla jabbed a paw toward him.
"Neither of them treats their partner as badly as you do! You black-hearted pink-haired tyrant!"
"Oh, so that’s how it is?!"
Marshall tightened his grip.
"You dare to insult me? Is this little cat trying to rebel?"
"I’m going to make Wendy stay away from a villain like you!"
The argument somehow turned into a full-blown fight.
Carla eventually stormed off in a fury.
Marshall watched her go.
That cat really wasn’t cute at all.
Still...he now seriously suspected that Carla possessed some kind of prophetic ability.
Those images hadn’t looked much like inherited orders.
They looked more like scenes from the future.
Prophecy was an extraordinarily rare talent, and it was closely connected to Time.
Carla might actually possess an aptitude for Time Magic.
But there was no point worrying about that yet.
The priority was preparing for the coming "war."
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long.
...
Several days later, the Gugas detected the activation of an enormous Anima.
And its coordinates were directly above Magnolia.
Fairy Tail had already been waiting for it.
Marshall looked up at the gigantic vortex twisting across the sky and shook his head in amazement.
"This one is on a completely different scale from the previous attempts."
"If we hadn’t prepared in advance, they really might have sucked the entire city into Edolas."
Laxus looked upward and snorted.
"People from another world really have no manners."
He paused and glanced at Mystogan.
"Oh. Sorry. I wasn’t talking about you."
Mystogan laughed softly and shook his head.
"It’s fine."
"You’re right. This is my father’s fault."
Laxus’s smile turned cold as he stared at the enormous Anima.
"They’ll find out soon enough that they picked a fight with the wrong people."
Gildarts had dressed as though he were leaving on vacation, complete with sunglasses.
"Ooooh! Another world!"
He grinned enthusiastically.
"Beautiful women of Edolas, here I come!"
Mira tilted her head with an almost maternal smile.
"Lisanna~"
Her voice remained sweet.
"Your big sister is coming to bring you home~"
At that moment, an enormous suction force descended from the sky.
Yet Magnolia itself didn’t move an inch.
The defensive arrays Marshall had prepared throughout the city held perfectly.
Only the Fairy Tail members wearing specially prepared combat badges were caught by the pull and lifted into the air.
One after another, they shot upward toward the enormous vortex.
"EDOLAS!"
"We’re coming!!!"