"There has been some progress, but we're still far from success. The main issue now is how to get there and how to return."
Facing Marco's question, Mystogan responded.
For them, the most difficult problem remained this matter of "going and returning."
This shouldn't have been such a challenge—at least the "return" part shouldn't be.
After all, Mystogan, Porlyusica, Happy, Carla, and these Exceed all came from "Edolas," didn't they?
Looking at it this way, coming from "Edolas" didn't seem particularly difficult.
Right here among them, in the Fairy Tail guild, there were four people from another world who came from "Edolas."
There might even be more Edolas people in other places.
Moreover, since they could come here, shouldn't returning along the same path be equally simple?
Unfortunately, Happy, Carla, and these Exceed came in the form of eggs and had no idea how they arrived.
As for how others came, Mystogan didn't know, but his own method definitely wouldn't work.
He was transported here by "Anima," and attempting to use "Anima" to return would be nothing but a pipe dream.
"Anyone sucked into Anima gets turned into lacrima. Even if they reached Edolas that way, there would be no way to change anything."
Mystogan's words made Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman pale.
After all, Lisanna had nearly been sucked in just moments ago, and Mystogan's statement further confirmed the danger they had just faced—that magic was indeed extremely perilous.
"However, I've already grasped some basics of unauthorized passage. I might soon master the key points, as long as I can capture that spark of inspiration!" Mystogan spoke with excitement in his eyes.
He hadn't wasted these past few years—he hadn't been idle.
"You'll definitely succeed, no doubt about it."
Marco offered words of encouragement to Mystogan, having no doubts on this matter.
This prince from another world was quite talented, especially exceptionally gifted in magic arrays.
Marco knew that Mystogan's goal was to develop a magic that could directly transport people to the "Edolas" world—a teleportation magic that wouldn't turn people into lacrima.
The difficulty of such magic was imaginable.
This was cross-world teleportation magic—just thinking about it made it seem impossible to even begin.
But fortunately, there was "Anima" as a ready-made example for him to study.
While continuously stopping "Anima," Mystogan was also deepening his understanding of this "evil magic."
One day, he would discard the false and retain the true, eliminate the dross and extract the essence, truly revealing this magic's original form.
"Want to head back to the guild together?" Marco extended an invitation to Mystogan to 'team up and return to the guild.'
"Sure, I need to pick up some quests anyway." Mystogan nodded, not refusing the invitation.
Naturally, he also needed to take on quests and contribute to Fairy Tail.
Every time he returned, he would take several quests along his route and complete them all in one go.
After completing all the tasks, he would return to the guild to collect his payment altogether.
Although Mystogan spent most of his time traveling in the wild, he still needed money, as he occasionally stayed in the city—after all, constantly roughing it outdoors wasn't sustainable.
Mystogan's current situation was that he had finished all the tasks he had previously taken on, so it was convenient for him to return to the guild to collect his payment and then pick up a series of new tasks in the same area.
"Let's set off then."
Marco didn't delay either.
Since everyone had rested enough, they immediately set off to return to the Fairy Tail guild.
Along the way, Mirajane's spirits weren't very high, as if she had suffered quite a blow.
After all, if it weren't for Marco, she would have lost far too much during this quest.
The process and outcome of this "S-Class Quest" had left Mirajane feeling rather unsettled; it was completely different from what she had initially imagined.
"By the way, Marco, how did you suddenly appear?" Mirajane approached Marco and asked why he arrived just in time.
It wasn't until they were already on their way back that Mirajane finally came to her senses.
There was no helping it—she had been too absorbed in her emotions earlier, and the blow had indeed been significant.
"Lisanna asked me to come. I've been following you all in secret, so of course I could arrive in time. This first S-Class Quest of yours was truly worrisome—it almost ended in total failure."
Marco's words were very blunt, which made Mirajane's expression quite complicated.
"Thank you for coming..."
Mirajane took a deep breath and sincerely thanked Marco.
She knew that Marco had no obligation to come along.
They hadn't invited him, meaning he wasn't part of the team, and there was a high chance he would have made the trip for nothing.
If they hadn't run into trouble and had completed the commission normally, Marco definitely wouldn't have received a share of the reward.
Yet, he had still followed them.
"I'll pay you the reward. You can have all the task payment." Mirajane made up her mind.
Even though Marco hadn't mentioned it, she couldn't in good conscience keep the reward for this task.
Marco had saved them, turned the tide, and was the one who truly completed the task.
At best, they had only worn down the Beast King.
No matter what, they couldn't let Marco make the trip for nothing.
"There's no need for that, Mira. You should understand—I didn't come for the reward."
Looking at Mira, whose eyes were filled with exhaustion but who was still holding on strong, Marco shook his head and refused her offer.
He hadn't followed them for any task reward.
"But... I..."
Marco's words made Mira fluster immediately.
"Don't forget, Mira, we're all companions in Fairy Tail, we're family. The reason I followed you was simply because I was worried about your safety. It has nothing to do with anything else, so I won't take the task reward."
Marco continued, and his words gradually calmed Mirajane down.
Mirajane raised her head to look at Marco.
A faint glimmer of tears could be seen in the girl's eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness, because a smile had appeared on Mirajane's face.
"Even if Lisanna hadn't asked you, would you still have come?" Mirajane asked softly.
"Of course, because this quest was quite dangerous."
Marco nodded, his response matter-of-fact.
The moment he heard the details of this quest, he had already made his decision.
Just as Marco had said before, even without a system task, there were certain things he would still do—this was one of them.
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