Jose Porla certainly wasn't insane—he didn't have ti to be.
He was too busy recovering from his injuries, effectively in a "do not disturb" state.
But his subordinates had lost their minds.
For the past week, Gajeel had been staying in Magnolia.
Instead of chasing after Marco, he had chosen a different approach.
Marco had defeated their guild master, Jose Porla, turning Phantom Lord into a laughingstock across the entire Fiore Kingdom—with the potential to beco a joke throughout the entire continent of Ishgar.
So, wouldn't it make sense to retaliate in kind by defeating the master of Fairy Tail?
There was no need to defeat Marco at all!
Admittedly, Gajeel's idea was absolutely brilliant—flawless, even.
But… there was just one tiny problem when it ca to execution.
When Gajeel arrived at the Fairy Tail guildhall, he didn't even get to see the guild master.
Instead, he was imdiately surrounded by a bunch of kids.
This Phantom Lord thug, who had been shouting about challenging Marco and Master Makarov, naturally provoked hostility from everyone.
Natsu charged ahead without hesitation, imdiately clashing with Gajeel.
For so reason, the mont Natsu laid eyes on Gajeel, he just wanted to punch him.
anwhile, Wendy stood by, watching and feeling the urge to intervene—though of course, she wouldn't actually do so now.
This Gajeel had co in boasting about beating Marco to a pulp, which had greatly upset Wendy.
How rude of him!
But for so reason, Wendy couldn't shake the feeling that this scene was eerily familiar, as if she had seen Natsu and Gajeel fight before—even though this was clearly their first eting.
On Gajeel's first day at Fairy Tail, he and Natsu fought all day, ending in a draw.
This was a massive blow to Gajeel's pride.
He had co to challenge Marco—and the master of Fairy Tail!
Yet here he was, locked in a stalemate with so no-na pink-haired punk!
What did that an?
He had co to fight the boss, but before even seeing the boss, he got tangled up with a minor lackey—and couldn't even decisively win!
That night, as Gajeel lay in his inn room, he spent hours racking his brain, unable to understand why things had gone so differently from what he had imagined.
Where was the instant fa that Marco had achieved with a single attack?!
Still, Gajeel refused to give up.
The next day, he returned to the Fairy Tail guildhall, shouting provocations once more.
Natsu stepped up again, and the two 'dumbass' clashed in an intense battle, their fight so fierce it seed like the very fabric of the world might destroyed (joke).
Once again, the result was a draw, much to the disappointnt of the onlookers who had gathered specifically to watch the spectacle.
What a pathetic slugfest.
As Gray put it, Gajeel's strength was 'not even enough to beat the weakest among them'.
Having previously defeated Natsu in a one-on-one fight, Gray was certainly qualified to say that—at this point, he was indeed stronger than Natsu.
After all, Gray had been tempered by Marco since childhood and had started receiving beatings from Erza a year earlier than Natsu.
Naturally, he was stronger.
But the mont those words left Gray's mouth, he inevitably got dragged into the fight as well.
There was no way Natsu would let that slide.
In the end, the battle turned into a chaotic free-for-all brawl between Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, becoming a complete ss.
Gajeel's ridiculous antics also added fresh material to the Phantom Lord joke collection.
Their guild master humiliated and only a child ca seeking revenge—that alone was bad enough.
Initially, everyone thought this kid might be a prodigy like Marco, but instead, he ended up locked in a dead-even fight with so no-na kid from Fairy Tail.
This twist was so absurd it left everyone speechless, naturally turning the whole incident into another joke to spread around.
As a result, Natsu and Gray's nas also spread far and wide.
Neither of them could have imagined becoming famous in such a ridiculous way.
Once this ss escalated, the 'Elent Three' who had co with Gajeel couldn't take it anymore.
They never expected things to spiral like this.
But at this point, they had no choice but to step forward.
If they didn't, they'd be utterly humiliated.
As well-known figures in Phantom Lord, the 'Elent Three' naturally bore the brunt of the mockery.
"If even so brat dares to seek revenge against Fairy Tail, do the rest of Phantom Lord's Mages have no guts at all?"
Faced with such taunts, the 'Elent Three' could no longer stay silent.
They made their appearance, claiming they wanted to test the strength of the one who had defeated their guild master—no hard feelings, just a friendly spar.
Three grown n picking a fight with a kid would normally sound terrible, but if it was Marco, the situation suddenly made sense.
After all, Marco had even defeated their guild master, Jose Porla, one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
The Elent Three framing it as friendly spar with Marco was a flawless move.
By lowering their stance and acknowledging Marco's achievents upfront, they played the long ga—retreating to advance later.
Admitting defeat now didn't matter, because if they ultimately humiliated Marco, everything prior would be nullified.
Admittedly, this strategy was brilliantly thought out.
Flexible, adaptable—the only problem was...
"What if we lose...?"
Totomaru felt a chill run down his spine.
If they ended up defeated...
Then even if their guild master had truly been caught off guard by Marco, the narrative would forever be 'mud stuck in their pants—whether it's dirt or not, it looks like it'.
After all, even their own side had acknowledged the result.
Unless Jose Porla could fight Marco again to clear his na.
But there was no helping it.
The situation left no room for hesitation.
And if they were defeated, at least they wouldn't be the only ones humiliated—their guild master had already lost.
If the sky fell, he'd be the first to take the hit.
At this point, it was every man for himself.
The Elent Three still had their reputations to uphold.
....
"So... a whole crowd has gathered to watch the show, huh?"
Listening to the enthusiastic townsfolk's account, Marco finally pieced together everything that had happened over the past week.
His expression was priceless...
No wonder the station had seed unusually crowded today—they were all here for the spectacle.
The Elent Three of Phantom Lord had publicly declared they'd wait for his return for a friendly spar and the trio had already set up a challenge arena at Fairy Tail.
"Is Marco-sama in danger?"
Juvia listened with a dazed expression, not fully grasping the context of the situation.
The only thing she understood was that three people had co to cause trouble for Marco.
This worried Juvia deeply.
Those three sounded quite strong, even calling themselves the "Elents Three".
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious." Marco chuckled and ruffled Juvia's hair.
He truly wasn't concerned.
Though the Elents Three sounded intimidating, elental magic was actually easier to handle.
What was truly troubleso?
Magic you couldn't comprehend—the unknown was always the most dangerous.
Jose Porla must have learned this lesson well by now, considering how he'd fallen into Marco's trap earlier.
"Marco! Go get 'em! Make sure they regret ever showing up!"
The townsfolk gathered around Marco and Juvia, cheering him on with excitent.
This was Magnolia—Fairy Tail's ho turf.
For Phantom Lord to co here and stir up trouble naturally roused everyone's anger.
They all hoped Marco would teach those intruders a lesson and humiliate them thoroughly.
"Don't worry, I won't let our hotown down!"
Responding to the crowd's enthusiasm, Marco gave an encouraging reply, which delighted everyone.
They escorted him all the way to the city center, heading towards Fairy Tail's guild hall.
Marco felt a little helpless.
He had thought his return would be celebrated for his literary achievents, but instead, he was back to fighting again.
Still, it wasn't all bad—this was a great opportunity to gain experience.
As for Juvia, who was swept up in the crowd alongside Marco, she felt sothing indescribable.
She could sense the peculiar emotions the people around her held for Marco, but what were they? Affection? Trust? Admiration? Pride in him as a symbol of their city?
Juvia didn't understand.
She had never experienced such emotions herself, but... she liked them.
They moved her deeply.
The young girl looked up at Marco beside her, her eyes shining.
'To be treated like this... I really must beco an outstanding Mage like Marco-sama.'
Juvia recalled the village chief's words.
Now she realized just how difficult that goal was.
The more ti she spent with Marco and the more she saw of the outside world, the more she recognized his excellence.
It seed no matter where he went, people adored him.
This made Juvia feel ashad of herself.
Wherever she went, people despised her.
The constant rain following her had drawn many complaints, though no one knew the gloomy weather was her doing—but she knew.
Juvia grew pessimistic.
She feared she could never be like Marco.
In fact, she was his exact opposite.
'But I want to be like him so badly...'
Splash! Splash! Splash!
The rain grew heavier, so intense that even umbrellas struggled to hold up.
Yet the downpour did nothing to dampen the crowd's fervor.
Marco glanced at Juvia, puzzled.
What was wrong with her? Was she frightened by the aggressive crowd?
Thinking this might be the case, he tightened his grip on her hand.
To prevent the little girl from being swallowed by the growing crowd, Marco had been holding Juvia's hand since earlier.
"Don't be afraid, Juvia! I'm here with you!" Marco shouted to Juvia.
The crowd was too noisy and the rain was too heavy.
Without raising his voice, his words would be inaudible even at such close distance.
Hearing him, Juvia turned to look at Marco, her eyes shimring with emotion.
A smile appeared on her face as she nodded firmly.
"Mm! Juvia isn't afraid!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the rain suddenly lightened.
The thick, dark rain clouds dispersed almost instantly and a stubborn beam of sunlight broke through the clouds, shining upon Marco and into Juvia's eyes.
"Go get them, Marco-sama! Beat them all!"
Juvia raised her small fist, clenching and waving it to cheer for Marco.
Pressing her lips together, she wore an expression of shared excitent.
Marco was stunned.
This was the first ti he'd seen such vivid, lively expressions on Juvia's face.
Before this, apart from curiosity, Juvia had always been as docile as a doll.
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