Chapter 180

Chapter 180: Chapter 180

Only after Marshall confirmed that Levy had really left did he finally collapse back onto the bed and let out a long breath.

His feelings were complicated.

Excitement, nervousness, regret...

Probably what people called happy problems.

Although one particular part of him had suffered quite a bit tonight.

Marshall had genuinely been afraid that if things kept going, either he would lose control around Levy or Levy would lose control around him.

Although...

Would that really have been so bad?

He immediately dismissed the thought.

The real problem was that if somebody had walked in during a critical moment, the whole situation would have become completely insane.

Fortunately, Levy was gone now.

Marshall had barely begun to relax when his bedroom door suddenly opened.

He hadn’t even had time to look over before a familiar fragrance reached him.

Then—Cana jumped straight onto the bed!

Marshall’s entire body stiffened as she loomed over him, and cold sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

"C-Cana?"

He forced a smile.

"Is something wrong?"

Cana stared down at him.

"What was Levy doing in here just now?"

Marshall needed exactly 0.1 seconds to remember the story he and Levy had agreed on.

"She came to talk about some work."

He blinked innocently.

"Why?"

"Nothing..."

Marshall almost relaxed.

Then Cana suddenly leaned closer, trapping him in place with one arm while wearing an expression that immediately told him the interrogation was nowhere near finished.

"If you were talking about work..."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why did you need to do it on the bed?"

Marshall froze.

"And why do you smell completely like Levy?"

’Crap!’

The bedding Levy had thoroughly messed up was still sitting there!

They had left evidence everywhere!

’Brain!’

Marshall screamed internally.

’WORK! THINK OF SOMETHING!’

His thoughts raced at maximum speed.

Finally—

"Ah... well, we really were talking about work."

Cana continued staring.

"For convenience while taking notes, we... we..."

Marshall ran out of words.

Cana silently watched him for several seconds.

Then, unexpectedly, she didn’t continue pursuing that line of questioning.

Instead, she asked something much more dangerous.

"Marshall."

"...Yeah?"

"Tell me honestly."

Her expression became serious.

"Are you dating Levy?"

"..."

Marshall’s heart sank.

This was bad!

By Earth Land’s standards, his current age was already old enough that Cana asking whether he had started dating someone wasn’t particularly strange.

The problem was obviously what the question implied.

"N-No."

Marshall hesitated.

"Probably not."

Then he became firmer.

"Yeah. No."

They had kissed and gotten rather close, but nothing about their actual relationship had officially changed.

How could that count as dating?

Besides, his relationship with Levy was far too complicated to be defined by something as ordinary as "boyfriend and girlfriend."

Cana nodded.

"Okay."

Then she casually added, "Just remember to be careful. Don’t do anything stupid and accidentally create a life before you’re ready."

Marshall’s face exploded red.

"W-What are you talking about?!"

He nearly sat upright.

"We didn’t do anything like that!"

Cana looked at his flushed face and immediately understood that Levy had definitely done something.

Whatever had happened tonight, the relationship between those two had clearly shifted.

That was her big-sister intuition speaking.

Oddly enough...

Cana wasn’t particularly surprised.

Maybe it was because they had all grown up together.

Maybe it was because she had noticed Levy’s little thoughts years ago.

If Levy eventually became her sister-in-law, Cana could accept that without much trouble.

And yet...

Something about the idea left her chest strangely hollow.

A little sour.

A little uncomfortable.

She couldn’t quite explain why.

Cana sighed and looked at Marshall.

"So you’ve reached this age already."

Her expression softened.

"We really have grown up."

Marshall studied her carefully.

"Cana..."

"Hm?"

"You’re... not angry?"

Cana looked genuinely confused.

"Why would I be angry?"

She reached over and flicked his forehead.

"You’ve always acted older than your age, and ever since you were little you’ve loved running around after girls. I’ve been mentally prepared for this for years."

She shrugged.

"Honestly, I’m more surprised it took you this long to figure things out."

Marshall stared.

"And choosing Levy makes sense too."

Cana leaned closer and lowered her voice slightly.

"Though that brat’s head is full of who knows what, so don’t blindly go along with everything she suggests."

She gave him a meaningful look.

"You don’t want to become a father way too early, right?"

Marshall nearly choked.

"At least wait until you’re both properly married before worrying about things like that."

"HAAH?!"

Marshall stared at her.

"Cana-nee, aren’t you thinking way too far ahead?!"

He flailed his hands.

"And I already told you, Levy and I aren’t dating!"

Marshall had initially been nervous that everything would come spilling out.

Now, however, he suddenly wasn’t nervous at all.

If anything...

he almost wanted to confess everything out of sheer irritation.

Because Cana’s calm, matter-of-fact attitude as the understanding older sister was somehow bothering him.

A lot.

"Even if I really did get married someday..."

Marshall crossed his arms.

"I wouldn’t only marry Levy."

Cana froze.

"...What?"

Marshall took a breath.

"I like a lot of people!"

The words came faster once he started.

"I like Levy, but I also like Erza, Mira, Juvia, Lucy, Wendy..."

His face became redder with every name.

"I want to marry all of them!"

"..."

He had said it.

He had actually said it!

Marshall’s desire for a harem had never changed over all these years, but openly announcing the ambition this shamelessly still made him feel a little embarrassed.

But that embarrassment was secondary.

What he really wanted to know was how Cana—the person who had always spoiled him the most—would react.

Cana stared at him with an extremely complicated expression.

Once again, she was surprised.

And yet... somehow not surprised at all.

She had lived with Marshall for seven or eight years.

As far as Cana was concerned, nobody understood him better than she did.

She had watched him grow from childhood.

And over those years, Cana had imagined countless times what kind of person Marshall might become once he was older.

The possibility that he would turn into a shameless playboy like her own father had always been one of the more obvious possibilities.

In fact, Cana had mentally prepared herself for it years ago.

After thinking for a while, she finally nodded.

"I see."

Marshall waited nervously.

Then Cana smiled.

"Well, good luck."

Marshall blinked.

"If you’re planning to catch all of them, it won’t be easy."

She gave him an encouraging pat.

"But I believe in you."

Marshall stared.

"And if you ever need help..."

Cana pointed at herself.

"You can ask me."

Marshall’s brain stopped working.

"???"

He stared at her.

Then listened carefully.

No joke or sarcasm, that was genuinely what Cana believed.

Marshall’s face became utterly blank.

’What... does that mean?’

"Cana."

His voice came out slowly.

"You mean..."

He pointed hesitantly.

"You’d help me chase the girls?"

Cana rolled her eyes.

"I mean, I also think you’re being ridiculously greedy."

She shrugged.

"But I’m your sister."

Her answer came as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"If I don’t help you, am I supposed to help them against you?"

Marshall’s eyes widened.

"?!"

"And besides..."

Cana’s expression became more serious.

"I know you’re different from that old scumbag Gildarts."

She looked straight at him.

"If you really choose several people, you’ll properly care for every one of them, won’t you?"

"O-Of course!"

"Then there’s no problem!"

Cana immediately began vigorously rubbing his hair.

"And my Marshall is the best!"

She grinned proudly.

"You’re good enough for any of them."

Marshall’s hair became a complete mess.

"So what if you marry a few more wives?"

Cana scoffed.

"They should consider themselves lucky!"

Marshall went still.

"Eh?"

His eyes widened.

"R-Really?"

For several seconds he simply stared at her.

The terrifying thing was—Cana actually made it sound reasonable!

Marshall almost found himself convinced.

Then his brain caught up.

’Wait.’

’No, no, no.’

’Is this right?’

’Cana is going to help me build a harem?’

’Seriously?’

He stared at her suspiciously.

’Does Cana really see me completely as her little brother?’

Because there was one rather important problem.

’Cana...’

’You’re part of the harem plan too!’

Did she seriously believe she could stand safely outside all of this?

When the time came, even if she tried to run—Marshall had absolutely no intention of letting her escape!

He rubbed his temples.

He felt as though tonight had consumed more brain cells than several consecutive days of laboratory research.

How the hell had events developed this far?

Still... this was probably a good thing.

Right?

"Then..."

Marshall awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"I guess I should thank you in advance, Cana?"

He straightened up.

"But I probably won’t need help."

Cana raised an eyebrow.

"I can handle it myself."

"Really?"

Her expression became teasing.

"Even though Levy secretly cornered you in your own bedroom and did who-knows-what to you, and you didn’t even dare tell your family?"

"?"

Marshall stared at her.

’Wait.’

Why did she phrase it like that?

That sounded really weird!

Marshall’s face reddened again.

"That’s completely different!"

He protested loudly.

"I’m just not grown enough yet!"

He crossed his arms.

"Once I am, things will be different!"

Cana nodded repeatedly, clearly humoring him.

"Yes, yes."

Then she patted his head.

"Work hard, Marshall."

Her smile became unbearably sisterly.

"I’ll be waiting to help babysit your kids someday."

"..."

Marshall had absolutely nothing left to say.