"That's amazing, sis! You weren't possessed—you awakened your magic! You're so incredible! That's our Mira for you!"
After hearing Makarov and Marco's explanation, Lisanna cheered excitedly, her face lit up with joy, her big eyes sparkling with pure delight.
"That's amazing, sis! You're incredible!" Elfman repeated happily.
Despite his rough appearance, the boy wore a shirt and vest, giving off a strangely gentlemanly vibes.
"Take Over Magic... the power of a demon..." Mirajane stared blankly at her right hand.
Marco narrowed his eyes.
He could keenly sense that the girl wasn't happy about this.
The look in her eyes as she gazed at the demonic arm was still filled with disgust.
[Ding! Mission Triggered!]
[Mission Name: "Mirajane's Inner Struggle"]
Mission Description:
S-Class Mage "Demon" Mirajane has begun doubting her own power, falling into a state of self-isolation. For the sake of the guild's future, it is your duty to guide her and help her continue shining for Fairy Tail!
Mission Progress: Help Mirajane accept her power (Incomplete)
[Mission Reward: Random Bronze Saint skill.]
The Saint System promptly appeared, triggering a new mission.
Looking at the task, Marco's expression turned slightly odd.
There was a strange sense of déjà vu—back when Erza first arrived, a similar mission had been triggered.
However, Erza's mission had only required helping her integrate into Fairy Tail, so the reward had been far less impressive than Mirajane's.
Erza's reward had been some rare metals, like Silver Star Sand, Orichalcum and Gamanium.
Not that these materials weren't valuable—in fact, they were extremely precious, legendary treasures mentioned only in myths, used for forging and repairing Cloths.
But without a Cloth or the Cloth Repair Manual, Marco couldn't make much use of them.
In comparison, a new skill was far more practical.
Even if the random skill was limited to Bronze Saints.
After all, Bronze Saints included the Five Bronze Saints of legend.
Like that 'Bare-Handed Blade Catch' from Shun's skillset.
But the skill ''Bare-Handed Blade Catch' wouldn't feel out of place even among the skills of a Gold Saint.
When it comes to the skill pool of Bronze Saints, as long as you can draw the skills of the Five Bronze Saints, you definitely won't lose out—in fact, the chances of getting something good are very high, because Marco couldn't recall how many skills other Bronze Saints even had.
This meant that the skills of the Five Bronze Saints made up a significant portion of the Bronze Saint skill pool!
In a way, adding the Bronze Saint prefix to randomly drawn skills actually gave them a rare skill rate-up effect.
Seeing Mirajane standing there dazed, Marco abandoned his plan to go out on a quest.
For the time being, all his attention would be focused on Mirajane—he'd assess the difficulty of this task first.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay at the guild. Join us and become members of Fairy Tail."
Marco smiled as he spoke, extending the invitation to the three children on behalf of Makarov.
He didn't think Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman had any reason to refuse.
The fact that they had stopped at the entrance, captivated by the lively scene inside the guild, already showed how drawn they were to this atmosphere.
"Yay! I love it here!" Lisanna happily agreed with a bright smile.
She liked this place.
Because the old man and the big brother before her were good people—they didn't despise Mira-nee, didn't treat her as someone possessed by a demon, didn't clamor to drive them away.
None of the people in this guild called "Fairy Tail" would do that.
"Yeah, I'm willing too." Elfman spoke up.
His personality didn't quite match his appearance—this boy seemed to have a rather quiet disposition.
With both Lisanna and Elfman expressing their desire to stay, only Mirajane remained.
Everyone's gaze turned to her.
"...Fine, we'll stay." Mirajane withdrew her arm back under her cloak and replied in a dejected voice.
She tried her best to make her voice sound normal, to lift her spirits a little, but it had limited effect.
Mirajane didn't want her mood to affect her younger siblings.
"Great. Airo-nee, I'll leave Mirajane and Lisanna to you. I'll take Elfman to the boys' dormitory to get settled in." Marco nodded in satisfaction.
Keeping Mirajane at the guild was the first step to completing the task—after all, he couldn't very well follow these three around as they wandered.
Although the Saint System's mission description mentioned Mirajane being an S-class Mage of the guild, things that hadn't happened yet always carried some uncertainty.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of them." Airo agreed with a smile.
She could have Laki handle the front desk alone for a while—Laki had been working there for half a year now and could manage by herself for some time.
Marco trusted Airo completely.
Beautiful inside and out, talented in singing and dancing—aside from not being particularly skilled in combat, she had no flaws.
No wonder she was the dream girl for many in the guild.
"Let's go, Elfman. I'll take you to the dorm." Marco patted Elfman on the head, signaling for him to follow.
"Okay, big bro." Elfman was very obedient.
Carrying his bag, he nodded and followed closely behind Marco, addressing him as "big bro" with every step.
Although they had just met, Marco gave Elfman a very reliable impression.
Mainly because Marco was the first to dismiss the claim that Mirajane was possessed by a demon, which made Elfman view him favorably.
"There's no need to be so formal, Elfman. Now that you've joined the Fairy Tail Guild, we're family. Just relax."
Marco spoke with a smile, his impression of Elfman rapidly changing.
The initial perception based on appearances was fading, replaced by an image full of delightful contrasts.
"Yes! Marco." Elfman responded, though he still seemed a bit unaccustomed to the informality.
Marco chuckled and shook his head without pressing further.
They'd get used to it in time.
Neither Lisanna nor Elfman seemed like difficult personalities, and children like them adapted quickly—especially with so many peers around in the guild.
Leading Elfman to the boys' dormitory, Marco paused, wondering if he'd taken a wrong turn after being away for so long.
Why did the building look so rundown?
It didn't match his memory at all.
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