Chapter 223

Chapter 223: Chapter 223

Marshall gave Wendy a strange look.

He had actually overheard what she was thinking a moment ago, but he hadn’t expected this precocious little girl to genuinely say it out loud.

Sure, he and Wendy had always been extremely close and could talk about almost anything, but surely there were still some topics they didn’t need to discuss!

Then again, Marshall could understand why a girl might worry about her future development.

But Wendy... wasn’t she worrying about this a little too early?

"You’re still young, Wendy. Give it a few years and you’ll grow naturally. There’s really no need to rush..."

"That’s not true!"

Wendy anxiously bounced in place.

"Look at Levy-nee! She barely changed at all! What if I grow up and end up the same way? Just thinking about it is terrifying!"

Terrifying how?

Shouldn’t you apologize to Levy first?

Marshall nearly lost his composure.

Were little girls nowadays really this concerned about growing up?

"It’ll be fine. There’s nothing wrong with staying petite either. You’d still be adorable, so don’t worry about it~"

Wendy puffed out her cheeks, clearly unhappy.

"Marshall-nii! I only told you because I trust you a lot! I’m not joking about this. I’m being serious, so you’re not allowed to brush me off!"

"Eh..."

This was actually the first time Marshall had seen Wendy throw a little tantrum.

And over this?

Was it really that serious?

Marshall scratched his head.

"Why, though? Why are you so obsessed with this?"

Wendy intertwined her fingers and looked up at him with complete seriousness.

"Because a mother should grow up to feel warm and dependable! I want to become a really good mother someday!"

"?"

Marshall stared at her with his mouth slightly open.

That ambition was surprisingly noble.

He was almost moved!

"I’m sure Wendy will become a wonderful mother someday. Actually, you’re already pretty good at taking care of people."

Marshall smiled.

"Look at how well you take care of Sloth. That’s already impressive."

Wendy tilted her head.

"How does Marshall-nii know I’ve been taking good care of Sloth?"

"Uh..."

Marshall paused.

"Sloth told me, obviously."

"But Sloth stays in my dorm all the time."

"Cough. Well... anyway, I have ways of communicating with the Apostles."

Wendy stared.

Very intently.

Then, without warning, she asked, "Marshall-nii... can you move your consciousness into the Apostles’ bodies?"

"Eh?! N-No! Of course not!"

Cold sweat immediately appeared on Marshall’s forehead as he frantically shook his head.

"No, I’ve always wondered about it."

Wendy narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Sometimes Sloth suddenly acts completely different, almost like she’s become another person. She even starts calling me ’Mom’ on her own."

Her eyes widened.

"Was the person inside Sloth at those times actually you, Marshall-nii?"

Marshall began sweating even harder.

How had she noticed something like that?!

Sloth’s laziness had come directly from him in the first place!

How could Wendy possibly distinguish between them?!

"Eh? W-What? No, of course not! Why would I ever do something like that...?"

"No! It absolutely was!"

Wendy suddenly became certain.

"Normally, Sloth won’t even eat unless I feed her! But those times, she actually got off the sofa by herself and went to the refrigerator to find food!"

Wendy pointed accusingly at him.

"That was definitely somebody else! It was you, wasn’t it, Marshall-nii?!"

"???"

’What the hell, Sloth?!’

’You lazy little disaster!’

’How can you possibly be even lazier than me?!’

And somehow, that had become the clue that exposed him!

Marshall nearly passed out from frustration with his own creation.

Eventually, he could only rub his hands together awkwardly.

"Well... okay. The Apostles technically do have that function."

He immediately raised a finger.

"But I never abuse it! Seriously, Wendy, you have to believe me."

Wendy’s eyes darted around.

Then she took a small step backward and smiled mischievously.

"Marshall-nii... you wouldn’t want the other big sisters finding out about this secret, would you?"

"?"

Where had Wendy learned that move?

It felt disturbingly familiar.

Marshall’s mouth twitched before he finally sighed.

"Wendy... you’ve learned some bad habits."

"Hehe."

Wendy clasped her hands behind her back.

"If Marshall-nii finds a way to help me grow up a little faster, I’ll keep your secret. Deal?"

"...I can certainly feel how serious you are about this."

Marshall rolled his eyes.

Then he pulled out his magic terminal, opened the photo album, and brought up a picture of Lisanna standing beside an older version of Wendy from another world.

"Look."

He held it out to her.

"This is another world’s version of you. She’s a few years older, and she grew up just fine."

Marshall tapped the screen.

"So you genuinely have nothing to worry about. Just be patient for a few years."

"Eh?! That’s me?!"

Wendy’s eyes went round.

She stared at the picture in shock.

"I-I really grow up that much?!"

"Exactly. So have a little confidence."

Marshall put the terminal away.

"All right, discussion over. Run along now, Wendy, and remember to keep my secret~"

He had barely begun waving her off when Wendy grabbed the hem of his clothes.

"W-Wait! No!"

Marshall looked back.

"I don’t want to wait until I grow up! I want Marshall-nii to help me now!"

"Huh?!"

Marshall stared at her.

"How exactly am I supposed to help with something like that?"

"I don’t care! I don’t care!"

Wendy had apparently decided that reason was no longer necessary.

"Marshall-nii can do anything! This is what I want!"

She grabbed his hand and began shamelessly acting spoiled.

"Please help me, Marshall-nii~ I know you can think of something! Please, please, big brother~ Marshall-nii~~~"

"All right, all right! I’ll help! I’ll help somehow, so stop shaking me!"

Marshall’s resistance collapsed under the sustained assault.

By the time his mind caught up with his mouth, he had already agreed.

This was bad!

He had spent so much time surrounded by older girls that he had developed absolutely no resistance to a little sister acting spoiled around him.

"You little brat. Where did you learn tricks like that?"

Wendy blinked innocently.

"From you."

"..."

Marshall covered his face.

Had he unknowingly been corrupting children this entire time?

He sighed.

"Your request really isn’t easy. The simplest solution would obviously be Transformation Magic—"

"No!"

Wendy rejected it immediately.

"I don’t want something fake! I want to actually grow properly!"

"..."

Marshall felt a headache coming on and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"For something like that, the only thing I could potentially try would be interfering with your physical development through Life Magic."

His expression became serious.

"But that would be an entirely new application of the spell. New magical experiments can have unpredictable consequences."

"I’m not scared!"

Wendy looked straight at him.

"I trust Marshall-nii!"

"..."

Marshall’s expression became complicated.

Being trusted this much certainly felt nice.

But maybe people shouldn’t trust him quite this blindly.

Still...

Marshall had already wanted to study Life Magic more deeply.

Whether he could someday regenerate Gildarts’s missing arm and leg might depend entirely on how far he could develop this branch of Magic.

"All right."

Marshall finally gave in.

"When I start researching it properly, you can help me with the observations. We’ll see whether there’s a safe method that might work."

"Yay!"

Wendy immediately beamed.

"Thank you, Marshall-nii! You’re the best!"

Then she jumped up and gave him an innocent kiss on the cheek.

"Mwah~"

[Inspiration Points +6,666]

"?"

Marshall abruptly shuddered.

’Hey!’

’I don’t want the system rewarding me for that! Stop it!’

He had only verbally agreed to look into Wendy’s request.

It wasn’t as though he had any intention of recklessly using her as an experimental subject.

He had originally expected to placate her and let the matter quietly fade away.

But after Wendy rewarded his promise with such pure, wholehearted trust, Marshall suddenly felt guilty about brushing her off.

Fine.

If he genuinely found a completely safe method someday, he could help Wendy with her little concern.

After all...it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.