"..."
Marco and Ichiya exchanged a glance, both understanding what had likely happened.
Judging by Hibiki's expression, it seemed his attempt to reconcile had failed.
"I'll go check on him."
Ichiya, who cared deeply for the younger members, pointed at Hibiki, signaling that he would go ask about the situation.
"Go ahead." Marco nodded.
He didn't want to pry into the matter.
In his opinion, Hibiki breaking free from that Karen was actually something worth celebrating.
Given Karen's personality, being with her would probably be torturous.
Of course, this was purely Marco's subjective view.
The person involved might not see it that way, which was why he didn't want to interfere.
Meddling unnecessarily would only invite trouble.
"Marco-san! Are you really not staying?!"
Just as Marco was about to leave, a young girl blocked his path.
She was quite beautiful, with golden hair and a tall figure, though her body hadn't fully matured yet—clearly only around thirteen or fourteen years old.
Still, her figure was better than Mira's.
Marco shook his head, dismissing the uncharitable thought he'd just had about Mira.
"Of course not. I'm an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail. I can't stay at Blue Pegasus. But if you want to join Fairy Tail, that's not out of the question." Marco smiled, joking with the girl.
"Jenny, don't be so rude! Come back!"
The golden-haired girl who had stopped him wanted to say more, but a dark-skinned man in a suit pulled her away.
As he did so, the man apologized to Marco, displaying impeccable manners.
"Marco-san! My name is Jenny Realight! I'm your biggest fan!"
Though she was being dragged away, the girl named Jenny continued shouting, behaving like a crazy fan.
Marco shook his head helplessly.
He vaguely remembered her being among the crowd that had surrounded him when he first arrived.
As for that dark-skinned guy, Marco recognized him—Ren Akatsuki, another mage with a rather unique ability.
He wielded "Air Magic," which allowed him to manipulate air freely.
Marco had been quite surprised when he first heard about it.
It had to be said, the mages of Blue Pegasus all had rather special and impressive abilities.
During the previous "Nord Forest Incident," so many magic went that for Marco to remember their names, they must have had some distinctive traits.
That Hibiki and this Ren stood out because of their unique magic.
But then again, Ren himself was quite the "dark-skinned handsome man."
Even if his magic wasn't special, Marco would probably remember him.
After all, such dark skin was rare, at least in the Kingdom of Fiore.
"His skin was tanned intentionally." Ichiya's voice chimed in.
Noticing Marco glancing at Ren's dark complexion, he offered an explanation.
"Tanning lacrima?" Marco turned to Ichiya and asked.
"Exactly. I didn't expect you to know about it. I thought it was quite obscure."
Ichiya nodded, looking surprised that Marco was familiar with the tanning lacrima.
Ren's skin tone was indeed achieved using it—a specialized lacrima designed to alter skin color.
"I came across it by chance." Marco nodded.
While researching the magic item market for his "phone" project, he had stumbled upon it.
He recalled that it could change skin color freely, not just darken it—a rather fascinating tool.
As Marco and Ichiya chatted, they walked outside.
Ichiya was considerate enough to escort him, seemingly unconcerned about Hibiki's situation.
"This is far enough, Ichiya-san."
At the foot of the Corvus Aircraft, Marco prepared to board.
He waved goodbye, but Ichiya seemed hesitant.
"Marco-kun..."
Ichiya opened his mouth, looking torn about whether to speak.
"What is it, Ichiya-san? Is something wrong?"
Noticing his hesitation, Marco took the initiative to ask.
He was curious—what could Ichiya possibly want from him?
"Ahem... Well, Marco-kun, you must have considerable experience in romance, right?"
After a pause, Ichiya finally spoke under Marco's gaze.
But his first sentence nearly made Marco lose his composure.
"What? Who told you that?" Marco's expression twisted in disbelief.
"Uh... Isn't that the case?"
Faced with Marco's skepticism, Ichiya looked puzzled.
He recalled their last meeting and began counting on his fingers.
"I remember last time, Miss Erza and Miss Mirajane were—"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Marco quickly cut him off.
What nonsense was this? What did any of that have to do with romance?
"Ichiya-san, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Marco rolled his eyes, urging Ichiya to get to the point instead of spouting nonsense.
"Ahem... Could you perhaps help guide Hibiki?"
This time, Ichiya didn't beat around the bush and stated his request outright.
"Huh? What's wrong with him? Heartbroken?" Marco blinked, his expression turning odd.
He never expected Ichiya to ask him to play therapist for Hibiki.
Did this guy genuinely believe he was some romance expert?
"You could say that, Karen. She just dumped him. For Hibiki, this is probably the first time he's experienced something like this. He's being a bit stubborn right now, struggling to accept reality." Ichiya sighed and explained the situation.
He had just gone over to try and console Hibiki, but he had no idea how to even begin.
Despite his usual habit of flirting with any girl he met, he was truly useless in matters like this—which was why he thought of turning to Marco, the "master."
"..."
Marco fell silent at those words.
Was he really a master? He didn't even know himself.
Ichiya's misunderstanding of him ran far too deep.