Chapter 304

Marshall had no way of predicting what might happen if he interfered too heavily with history, but he was fairly certain the consequences wouldn’t be pleasant.

As far as he was concerned, the safest way to use time travel was exactly what he’d originally planned: spend fourteen years training in isolation, preferably at the bottom of the ocean, and avoid involving himself in the affairs of this era as much as possible.

He was here to take advantage of the additional time he’d been given, not to rewrite history.

Still, there was one possibility worth considering.

What if he limited his interactions to Mavis and Zera?

Marshall remembered Makarov mentioning that Fairy Tail’s First Master had supposedly died not long after his birth.

Although Marshall had heard a voice resembling Mavis’s during Acnologia’s attack, he still couldn’t be certain whether the First Master was alive or dead in his original timeline.

Makarov was already over eighty years old, and Marshall had traveled exactly a century into the past.

That meant Mavis would supposedly die in another decade or two, when she was only in her twenties.

If Marshall became too involved in her life, he might inadvertently alter the events that led to her fate.

Even a seemingly insignificant interaction could have consequences he couldn’t predict, especially when dealing with someone who would eventually establish Fairy Tail.

That was why he’d been deliberately limiting his contact with Mavis.

In fact, their relationship had already become considerably closer than he’d originally intended, and Marshall was beginning to worry that he’d gone too far.

Zera, however, was a different matter.

‘She’s already dead, isn’t she?’

Marshall considered the problem from another angle.

‘How much could interacting with someone who’s already dead possibly change history?’

Zera’s current physical form existed entirely because he was supplying her with Magic Power.

If he withdrew that power, she would revert to being an intangible illusion that nobody except Mavis could perceive.

She wouldn’t be able to interact with the physical world in any meaningful way.

That made Zera relatively easy to account for.

Marshall believed he could safely spend time with her without creating too many unpredictable consequences.

Mavis, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

Her future was too important, and her actions were too difficult to predict.

Consequently, Marshall found himself becoming more comfortable around Zera while instinctively keeping a little distance from Mavis.

He hadn’t deliberately made that distinction obvious, but apparently the two girls had noticed anyway.

How did he know?

Because when Marshall returned from another deep-sea training session that afternoon, he discovered that someone had been waiting outside his house specifically to confront him.

“Marshall!”

Mavis stood directly in his path, staring up at him with her enormous green eyes.

“Do you like spending time with Zera more than you like spending time with me?!”

Marshall nearly stumbled.

“What? No! Where did you get that idea? Don’t go making things up!”

He waved his hands dismissively.

“Besides, I don’t particularly enjoy playing with little troublemakers like you two. I’ve got much more important things to do!”

Mavis puffed out her cheeks until she resembled an angry little pufferfish.

“You’re lying!”

She pointed an accusing finger at him.

“You definitely like Zera more! Whenever I ask you to play chess with me, you say you’re busy. When I ask you to teach me Magic, you don’t have time for that either. But whenever Zera asks you for something, you almost never refuse!”

Her voice grew a little quieter.

“Did I do something wrong? Is there something about me that you don’t like?”

Marshall’s expression immediately became strained.

‘Oh, for crying out loud! How am I supposed to answer that?’

“Come on, Mavis. Why would I dislike you?” He sighed helplessly. “You know how busy I am with my research and training. And didn’t I already teach you Flying Magic? Don’t go accusing an innocent man of treating you badly.”

“But you haven’t taught me any new spells since then!”

Mavis clearly wasn’t satisfied.

“Every time Zera asks you to teach her something, you always help her! That’s not fair!”

Marshall scratched his head, desperately searching for a reasonable excuse.

“Well, that’s because you’re so clever, Mavis! You can figure out practically anything once you’ve read about it, so you don’t need nearly as much help.”

He smiled encouragingly.

“Zera has a harder time learning new things, so naturally I have to spend a little more time teaching her. You should be happy that she’s making progress too, right?”

“Hmph!”

Mavis turned her head away indignantly.

“You’re just playing favorites!”

Despite her apparent anger, she kept sneaking glances at Marshall from the corner of her eye, clearly waiting for him to do something about it.

Marshall felt another headache coming on.

‘I’m terrible at comforting children!’

He could analyze complex magical formulas, design artificial life-forms, and develop technologies that most Mages wouldn’t even know how to begin understanding.

But dealing with a sulking eleven-year-old was apparently beyond his capabilities.

Eventually, he stepped forward and gently patted Mavis on the head.

“All right, all right. How about this? I’ll take tomorrow off from training and spend the whole day playing games with you. Does that sound fair?”

“Really?!”

Mavis’s expression brightened immediately.

Marshall nodded.

“Really.”

“Hehe! Then it’s a promise!”

She eagerly held out her little finger.

“Pinky promise! You can’t change your mind afterward!”

Marshall hooked his finger around hers and agreed.

Just like that, the storm clouds hanging over Mavis’s mood disappeared completely.

She was so easy to please that Marshall almost felt foolish for having worried about the confrontation in the first place.

In the end, she really was just a child.

Having secured an entire day of Marshall’s attention, Mavis happily floated into the air and flew away, humming a cheerful little tune.

Marshall watched her leave and finally let out a relieved sigh.

At least that problem was settled.

Unfortunately, he’d barely had time to relax when another small head appeared in the doorway.

This time, it was Zera.

And judging by her puffed-up cheeks, she was every bit as displeased as Mavis had been.

“Marshall…”

Her voice was unusually quiet.

“Am I really that stupid?”

“…”

Marshall froze.

‘Oh, come on!’

He’d only said that to make Mavis feel better!

Apparently, Zera had overheard the entire conversation.

“No, no! Of course you’re not stupid!” Marshall hurriedly assured her. “I only said that because I was trying to calm Mavis down. Don’t take it seriously. You’re a very clever girl, Zera!”

“You’re lying…”

Zera lowered her gaze.

“I know I’m not as quick-thinking as Mavis. You don’t need to say nice things just to make me feel better.”

She slowly approached him, nervously winding a strand of brown hair around her finger.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked up.

“Then… why do you always treat me a little better?”

Her expression became hesitant.

“Is it because I’m already dead, and you feel sorry for me?”

Marshall was speechless.

Why did these little girls insist on thinking so deeply about everything?

He’d simply wanted to spend fourteen years training in peace, yet somehow he’d found himself responsible for managing the insecurities of two children.

Still, after looking at Zera’s anxious expression, he couldn’t bring himself to brush her off.

He reached out and gently patted her head.

“Of course that’s not why.”

Marshall paused before continuing in a softer voice.

“I just think you’ve had a pretty difficult time yourself, Zera. The last five years haven’t exactly been easy for you, have they?”

“Huh?”

Zera blinked.

“Me? You think I’ve had a hard time?”

“Well, think about it.”

Marshall considered how best to explain himself.

“Mavis seems to have deliberately forgotten that you died. As far as she’s concerned, you’re still her best friend, and the two of you have been living together on this island all along.”

He looked directly at Zera.

“But you aren’t in the same situation.”

Zera fell silent.

“You’ve known from the beginning that you were already dead, haven’t you?” Marshall continued.

“Even so, you never tried to force Mavis to confront that fact. You kept the truth hidden and continued staying beside her, acting as though everything was perfectly normal.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile.

“You’ve spent five years helping Mavis maintain a world where she never lost her best friend. That must have been exhausting sometimes, even if you never complained about it.”

Zera stared at him in surprise.

She clearly hadn’t expected him to say anything like that.

For the past five years, she’d indeed been keeping the truth from Mavis.

Zera remembered what had happened on the night Blue Skull attacked Red Lizard.

She remembered the deaths, the destruction, and the terrible realization that the people who had once inhabited Tenrou Island were gone.

She also remembered how desperately Mavis had needed someone beside her.

If Zera had told Mavis that everyone else had died that night, including herself, the lonely little girl might have completely broken down.

Mavis had already lost her parents and endured years of mistreatment.

Taking away the one friend she believed she still had would have been unbearably cruel.

So Zera had continued playing that role.

She stayed beside Mavis, talked with her, argued with her, and shared the ordinary moments of their lives as though nothing had changed.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

Zera had her own selfish wish too.

She wanted to keep living.

Even if Mavis was the only person who could see her, Zera still wanted to experience the world for a little longer.

She wanted to keep watching the seasons change, reading books with Mavis, and imagining what the future might hold.

So she’d never challenged the strange existence that had allowed her to remain.

And for five years, the two girls had continued depending on each other.

“N-No, it hasn’t been exhausting…”

Zera shook her head.

“There was nobody else left on the island except Mavis and me. I was the only one who could stay with her, so…”

She hesitated.

“It was just something I had to do.”

Marshall nodded understandingly.

“Exactly. That’s why I think you’re a good kid, Zera.”

He smiled and ruffled her hair again.

“You’ve been doing your best all this time, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve someone looking after you too. So if I give you a little extra attention now and then, is that really so strange?”

“Th-Thank you…”

Zera’s face turned bright red.

She lowered her head, trying to hide the enormous smile threatening to spread across her face.

In truth, she was absolutely delighted.

As for how a body formed entirely from Magic Power could blush like that, there was no need to think too deeply about it. Magic was capable of far stranger things.

Marshall, meanwhile, was feeling rather pleased with himself.

‘Not bad!’

He’d somehow managed to calm down both girls without starting another argument.

For someone who considered himself hopeless at dealing with children, that was a respectable achievement.

It wasn’t that he was particularly worried about either girl’s opinion of him.

What he really wanted was to prevent the two of them from falling out with each other.

His life on Tenrou Island was finally beginning to settle into a stable routine, and the last thing he needed was an unnecessary conflict disrupting everything.

Besides, his sources of Inspiration Points were extremely limited in this era.

Apart from the satisfaction he gained from growing stronger every day, most of his emotional enjoyment came from watching Mavis and Zera interact.

Their little arguments, cheerful conversations, and amusing reactions helped relieve the monotony of spending so much time training alone.

Watching two lively children enjoy themselves was genuinely heartwarming.

If they started fighting with each other seriously, Marshall would lose one of the few pleasant distractions available to him.

And who was supposed to replace all those missing Inspiration Points?

Fortunately, Zera seemed to have recovered her usual good mood.

She gently tugged at the hem of Marshall’s clothes.

“Marshall… can I ask you something else?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“You mentioned before that you might be able to turn me into an Apostle.”

She looked up at him expectantly.

“Does that mean I could eventually have a real body?”

“More or less, but it won’t be easy.”

Marshall’s expression became thoughtful as he returned to the technical problem.

“Your Life Point—or rather, the core of your existence—is still inside Mavis. Unless I can resolve that connection, turning you into an Apostle wouldn’t accomplish much.”

He folded his arms.

“Even if I gave you a permanent artificial body, your existence would still depend on Mavis. As things stand, whether you live or disappear is ultimately tied to her, not me.”

“Oh…”

Zera seemed a little disappointed, but she quickly shook her head.

“I-I see. That’s all right. It’s just that…”

She looked up at Marshall again before immediately lowering her gaze.

Her fingers nervously twisted the edge of her clothes as she struggled to gather the courage to finish her question.

Then a thought suddenly reached Marshall through his Telepathy.

‘If I ever get a real body… could I become Marshall’s bride?’

“…?”

Marshall blinked.

“Huh? What was that?”

“N-Nothing!”

Zera immediately panicked.

“I didn’t say anything! I’m going home now!”

Before Marshall could respond, she turned around and fled as quickly as her little legs could carry her.

Apparently, she’d been so embarrassed by the thought that she couldn’t bring herself to speak it aloud.

And because Marshall hadn’t visibly reacted at first, she probably assumed he hadn’t noticed anything.

Unfortunately for her, the Telepathy connecting Marshall to her magical body had conveyed the thought perfectly clearly.

Marshall stood there for several seconds, trying to process what had just happened.

‘Seriously?’

‘Are kids developing crushes this early now?’

The fact that Zera had already died once apparently hadn’t stopped her from developing the same innocent romantic fantasies as any other child.

Marshall rubbed his forehead.

‘What did I even do?’

He hadn’t gone out of his way to impress her, and he certainly hadn’t been trying to make her fall for him.

He’d simply helped her gain a physical form, taught her some Magic, and occasionally given her a little attention.

How had that somehow turned into a little girl imagining she might become his bride?

After thinking about it for a moment, Marshall decided there was no point taking the matter seriously.

Children said and thought all sorts of things without fully understanding what they meant.

Zera was still very young, and there was no reason to treat an innocent childhood crush as anything more than that.

He would simply pretend he hadn’t heard it.

Besides, Marshall had far more important things to worry about than playing along with a little girl’s fantasies about getting married.

He still needed to master the Curse of Ankhseram, develop his Magic, and prepare for his eventual confrontation with Acnologia.

There was no time to waste.

For now, his priority remained exactly what it had been before.

Getting stronger!

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