Chapter 71: Closed Loop (Request Subscription!)

“Perhaps we can figure out a way based on the number of feathers, Mo En—can Itachi control more crows?”

Ma Kaou offered his suggestion: one crow’s feather wasn’t strong enough, but what about ten, twenty, or even hundreds?

Feathers from countless crows rained down, burying people beneath a heap of black plumage—the control would surely be far stronger than now, but simply covering the body in a thin layer was too easily broken through.

“We need to find more crows and test it.”

Mo En was still experimenting—he didn’t know if it would work—but fortunately, these “Black Wing Feathers” were fundamentally made of magic, otherwise the crows would become disposable consumables.

“There are plenty of crows—if Itachi can control them all, that’d be great.”

Ma Kaou shook his head, took another sip of liquor, and said that having Mo En unify control over all the crows was a good idea—out of sight, out of mind, and it’d save them from the constant “cawing.”

As the three chatted and laughed, they returned to Magnolia; it was already pitch black. Natsu went back to the boys’ dormitory, while Mo En and Ma Kaou returned home—the lights were still on, and Laxus was inside, though in his own room.

Hearing Mo En and Ma Kaou return, Laxus didn’t come out—he simply turned off the light in his room in silence.

“Grandpa, this magic book—”

Once inside, Mo En carefully considered it, then decided to show the magic book to Grandpa Ma Kaou.

If asked who he trusted most in this world, there was no hesitation—it was Grandpa Ma Kaou.

Moreover, the magic in this book was far too dangerous; Mo En feared he couldn’t handle it properly and needed someone more authoritative to examine and further interpret its contents.

“Let me see.”

Ma Kaou set down his bottle and took the magic book.

“This is a magic book dealing with time and space—using its power, one can travel through time and return to the past.”

Mo En briefly explained the book’s function.

“Don’t worry about it—the next time it can be used will be six or seven years from now.”

Ma Kaou merely flipped through the book, then tossed it straight back to Mo En.

“Six or seven years from now…”

Mo En took the magic book and froze.

‘That’s a long time.’

Looking at the magic book in his hands, Mo En smiled helplessly—he’d prepared himself mentally for so much, only to realize he’d been throwing flowers at a blind man; the book couldn’t be used at all, so he didn’t need to guard it anymore.

Six or seven years from now, when it could be used again—wouldn’t that be when Erza and the others used it? What kind of bizarre loop was this?

“Do we even have this book in the guild?”

Mo En suddenly thought of this question—where did this book originally come from? Was it truly the one in his hands?

“Who knows? Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. Don’t overanalyze the details of time-travel stories.”

Ma Kaou waved his hand, dropped a cryptic remark, then staggered back to his room.

“.”

Watching Grandpa Ma Kaou’s retreating back, Mo En blinked.

Had the old man already noticed something?

Then this book—

“Forget it. Let’s just put it away.”

Holding the magic book, Mo En felt the weight on his shoulders lift instantly.

Either way, not being able to use it was a good thing—he no longer needed to worry constantly about the magic book.

Back in his room, Mo En casually placed the magic book on the bookshelf.

The book, titled “Memories in Time,” with a four-leaf clover painted on its cover, looked unremarkable and emitted no magical fluctuation.

Glancing at the bookshelf, Mo En nodded in satisfaction, sat at his desk, and began writing furiously—the story of Holmes.

Mo En had long entertained the idea of rewriting stories from his original world; he found the magic-adventure tales of this world truly uninteresting—too primitive.

“Ignorant outsider! Accept purification!”

Mo En now felt confident—this confidence came from Lucy.

He hadn’t been sure these stories would catch on; after all, this was another world—perhaps they’d fail to take root, which was normal. Until the stories were actually published, no one knew if the people here would like them.

Lucy’s words had given Mo En a strong boost, instilling confidence in the story he was writing.

The next morning, Mo En woke up early as usual, though he felt slightly drained—he’d been too excited the night before and wrote until he lost track of time.

Even though he’d only slept a little, his unshakable biological clock still roused him from bed.

At four a.m. in Magnolia, Mo En appeared on the street as always, beginning his daily morning training.

After completing his morning training, Mo En returned to the guild hall for breakfast; the guild was already bustling.

A few kids were excitedly planning a trip to the East Forest; Natsu was the loudest—yesterday’s events seemed to have no effect on him. Such was the simple-minded child: terrified yesterday, he’d slept it off and woke up full of energy.

But what surprised Mo En was the number of scars on Natsu’s body.

“Go see Grandma Porlyusica—have her remove these scars.”

Mo En spoke up; he felt responsible and wanted to take the initiative to help Natsu.

With Grandma Porlyusica’s healing skills, resolving such an issue was effortless. Everyone got hurt during missions, but no one ever kept scars.

“Great! We can go explore the forest!”

Natsu, Gray, and Cana all cheered.

Mo En noticed Wendy wasn’t in the guild—he asked and learned she’d left early with Ma Kaou on a mission.

Ma Kaou’s mission was to go to Croba; Wendy tagged along to visit “Cat’s Nest,” and would return with him after he finished.

Not getting carsick meant she could go anywhere—taking the train was convenient; she could ride straight to her destination.

“Let’s go! Let’s go explore the forest!”

Natsu dashed out—he didn’t care about scars; he just wanted to explore the forest with everyone.

Although the East Forest of Magnolia wasn’t very dangerous, it still held many magical beasts; these kids occasionally did encounter them.

Fighting beasts together and searching their nests for treasure was fun—even if they rarely found anything, for children, any novelty was a treasure.

(End of Chapter)