Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Chapter 271

After years of magical conditioning, Marshall’s body had become extraordinarily dense, making it difficult for him to float like an ordinary person.

Consequently, when he lost consciousness and fell into the ocean, he sank straight to the seabed.

Unable to breathe underwater, his brain had suffered repeated damage before repairing itself over and over, gradually adapting to its new environment.

What Marshall didn’t know was that he had actually been unconscious for two entire days.

And during those two days, the Cake Tower had descended into complete chaos.

It all started with Older Wendy.

Recently, she had been staying at the Cake Tower to assist Marshall with his experiments, so naturally, she was one of the first people everyone thought to ask when he disappeared.

Early that morning, Levy came running over and knocked on her bedroom door.

"Wendy! Wendy, are you awake? Have you seen Marshall? I checked the laboratory, but he wasn’t there."

To distinguish between the two Wendys, the guild members had taken to calling them Older Wendy and Little Wendy.

Although they shared the same name and looked remarkably alike, the difference in their figures was so obvious that nobody had ever seriously confused them.

Older Wendy opened the door with a yawn, still wearing the loose camisole she’d slept in.

The sight was enough to leave Levy momentarily distracted.

"No idea. He was still in the laboratory when I went to bed last night. Have you tried messaging him?"

"I did, but he hasn’t answered. That’s never happened before, which is why I came to ask you."

Levy scratched her head.

"Well, if you haven’t seen him, I’ll check somewhere else. Maybe he’s hiding in one of the..."

She suddenly stopped herself.

"Actually, never mind. Forget I was here!"

With that, she hurried away.

Older Wendy didn’t think much of it.

Marshall had a habit of getting absorbed in his research, after all, and there were plenty of places he could disappear to when he wanted some peace and quiet.

She washed up and got dressed, only to run into Juvia almost immediately after leaving her room.

"Wendy, have you heard anything from Marshall? Juvia wanted to ask him about the S-Class Promotion Trial, but he hasn’t replied to any messages. Virgo can’t find him either, and Envy says he’s gone somewhere very far away. Did he tell you anything before leaving?"

"Huh? No, he didn’t. Levy came looking for him earlier too."

"Oh... All right. Juvia will try somewhere else, then. Sorry for bothering you."

As Juvia hurried away, Older Wendy finally began to suspect something was unusual.

Although, admittedly, her first thought wasn’t particularly serious.

’Marshall is popular with the girls, isn’t he? He’s only been gone for a little while, and already two of them have come looking for him.’

Apparently, Marshall was quite the ladies’ man regardless of which world he belonged to.

Still, Older Wendy decided to check the laboratory where they had been conducting their experiments the previous day.

When she arrived, she discovered that Cana and Erza were already there.

"Wendy! Perfect timing." Cana immediately approached her. "We were planning to drag Marshall outside for a while today. Apparently, he’s been staying up all night for several days straight. He can’t keep locking himself indoors like that."

She glanced around the empty laboratory.

"But he doesn’t seem to be here. Do you know where he went?"

"...I have no idea. Doesn’t your room happen to be right next to Marshall’s?"

"He never came back last night. I figured he’d fallen asleep down here, but we couldn’t find him when we checked." Cana frowned. "You were with him yesterday, weren’t you? Did he mention going anywhere?"

"No. We were just conducting our usual experiments..."

Older Wendy suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! Maybe you could ask Brian."

"Brian?"

"Uh... You know, that guy from the Oración Seis? Marshall said he was a really terrible person. He turned him into a toy, and he’s been experimenting on those dolls for the past few days."

She searched through several glass containers labeled Experiment III before finally retrieving an ugly little humanoid doll.

"I think this is the one."

Older Wendy examined the doll.

"Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a mouth. Marshall’s the only person who can communicate with him. Do either of you know Telepathy Magic?"

’I do.’

A voice suddenly sounded in their minds.

’Marshall, the person you’re looking for, suddenly teleported away this morning. I have no idea where he went.’

To everyone’s surprise, Brian had taken the initiative to cooperate.

There was even a faint trace of fear in his telepathic voice.

Apparently, Marshall’s experiments had thoroughly frightened him.

"He teleported away?"

The girls exchanged uncertain looks.

"Maybe something urgent came up."

"He’ll probably reply to our messages in a little while."

"The Apostles said he went somewhere very far away, and he didn’t leave them a message either."

"Could something have happened to him?"

"Come on. Marshall’s ridiculously strong. What kind of accident could possibly happen to him? Let’s give him some time. I’m sure he’ll message us by tonight."

After discussing it for a while, they agreed to wait.

At that point, nobody was particularly worried. Marshall had simply been unreachable for a few hours, and that wasn’t necessarily a reason to panic.

At least, that was what Older Wendy thought.

Then lunchtime arrived.

Mira and Lisanna came looking for her together, asking whether she’d heard anything from Marshall.

By dinnertime, even Little Wendy had shown up with Carla to ask the same question.

As more and more people began searching for him, everyone finally realized that something was wrong.

And by the following day, the entire Fairy Tail guild had heard the news.

Marshall had disappeared!

Naturally, the revelation caused an enormous commotion.

Only a few days earlier, Marshall had demonstrated his terrifying strength in front of tens of thousands of spectators, defeating Laxus and claiming the tournament championship.

And now, just a few days later, he’d somehow gone missing?!

"Could a Dark Guild have kidnapped Marshall?!"

"Are you kidding? Marshall could probably wipe out an entire Dark Guild by himself! He’s not some ordinary little kid!"

"Then how do you explain this? We’ve sent him who knows how many messages, and he hasn’t answered a single one. Nobody can find him either. If he went somewhere intentionally, there’s no way he’d leave without telling anyone!"

"Right now, finding out where he went is the priority. Cana, what did your divination say?"

Cana examined her cards.

"The Eight of Cups... According to the reading, Marshall is somewhere connected to the ocean."

"So he’s gone to the coast? But he should still be able to answer his messages from there. Why hasn’t he contacted anyone?"

The entire guild hall descended into noisy speculation.

It was only now that everyone remembered something rather important.

Despite his extraordinary strength and maturity, Marshall was still a boy who hadn’t even turned fifteen.

And when a child suddenly disappeared without a trace, his family was naturally going to worry.

Even Makarov looked deeply troubled.

He quietly pulled Gildarts aside.

"Gildarts... Do you think this could have something to do with that dragon from your mission?"

Gildarts shook his head.

"I doubt it. A dragon’s magical signature is extremely distinctive. There’s no way I’d ever forget that feeling, and I haven’t sensed anything like it."

He paused, his expression growing serious.

"Still, Marshall wouldn’t disappear without leaving any information unless something happened that he couldn’t handle. Maybe he ran into some kind of unexpected emergency..."

Before they could continue discussing the matter, a furious shout erupted from the first floor.

It was Natsu.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY! Didn’t Cana say he might be somewhere near the ocean? Then I’m going to find him!"

"Natsu, calm down! If Marshall could come back, his Teleportation Magic would get him here much faster than you could ever travel. The fact that he hasn’t sent a single message probably means he’s in a situation where he can’t respond."

"You bastard! Doesn’t that mean I have even more reason to go looking for him?!"

Natsu shoved against the people trying to restrain him.

"Quit getting in my way! I’ve got a good nose, remember? Just wait here. I’ll find Marshall and bring him home!"

Someone sighed helplessly.

"Natsu’s being too impulsive. We need to figure out where to start looking first. Otherwise, we’ll just be wandering around like headless chickens!"

"Why don’t we ask Guga? The Apostles should know Marshall better than anyone, right?"

"It’s no use. Even the Apostles don’t know exactly where he is. All they can sense is that Marshall’s life isn’t currently in danger."

A brief silence followed.

Then someone spoke up.

"Wait. He’s not in danger? Then what the hell are we looking for him for?"

"Somebody drag this idiot outside!"

The guild immediately erupted into another round of shouting.

Between Natsu’s determination to rush off on his own, everyone else’s increasingly frantic suggestions, and the occasional completely unhelpful remark, the situation was getting thoroughly out of hand.

Finally, Erza stepped forward.

"EVERYONE, QUIET!"

Her voice instantly cut through the noise.

Once the guild members had settled down, Erza addressed them with a serious expression.

"There’s no need for everyone to panic. We all know how strong Marshall is. It’s entirely possible that he’s simply encountered some unexpected difficulty and can’t contact us right now."

She glanced around the guild hall.

"My suggestion is that we wait for further information. I’m confident Marshall will return safely."

Then she looked toward Natsu.

"However, if anyone wants to do something rather than sit around waiting, they can come with me to the coast."

Erza folded her arms.

"Natsu’s approach might be rather crude, but given how little information we currently have, it’s at least somewhere to start."