Marco was slick enough not to argue about the old lady's professional skills.
At this time, he just needed to agree with her.
Besides, Porlyusica had indeed never made mistakes; she basically cured every illness with a magical touch.
Marco had always believed the issue with Erza's artificial eye was psychological, and facts proved it was so.
Once the knot in her heart was untied, her artificial eye returned to normal. Coming to Porlyusica for a check-up now was just for peace of mind.
"Go, go! Leave quickly! You're really going to be the death of me! Humans are so annoying. Doing inexplicable things all day long."
Seeing that Makarov, Marco, and Erza were all fine and no one was injured, Porlyusica started chasing people away again, muttering things like "I hate humans the most."
"Hehe~ Definitely won't happen next time!" Marco smiled and apologized.
"Almost be the death of her" undoubtedly referred to the "Athena Exclamation" just now.
After all, Porlyusica lived in this East Forest.
If Marco hadn't controlled it well, it might have affected her. But actually, Marco knew what he was doing and could control it.
He was just testing skills and definitely prioritized safety, setting up many "Crystal Walls" in layers beforehand.
While apologizing, Marco pulled Erza and ran back.
As for what to do with that big crater, it could only be left there for now; Marco didn't have any good way to deal with it at the moment.
Just as Marco thought before, keeping this big crater wasn't necessarily bad. It was deep enough and wide enough.
Testing new abilities at the bottom of the crater in the future, with the towering walls around as a natural barrier, might have less impact than on the ground.
"This kid..."
Marco and Erza ran off, but Makarov didn't.
He remained by the big crater, looking seriously at the destruction Marco caused, with no trace of drunkenness left on his face.
And Porlyusica, who was just urging everyone to leave, stopped urging.
She turned directly and returned to her hut.
Marco and Erza walked out of the forest, walking side by side on the main road back to the Fairy Tail guild.
The evening breeze brushed past with the fresh scent of grass and trees.
The setting sun hung low, stretching their shadows very long. The two returned to Magnolia chatting and laughing easily all the way.
By this time, warm lights had started to light up on both sides of the street, and voices were gradually becoming louder.
Marco pushed open the iconic guild doors, and a wave of noise and the familiar aroma of ale immediately rushed over.
Natsu and Gray seemed to be wrestling over some trivial matter again.
Happy cheered for Natsu from the side, earning glares from Gray.
Lucy and Levy were huddled together discussing the latest "Sherlock Holmes."
Cana was playing with cards on the side; it was the space magic she learned from Sho, and she was getting more proficient.
Macao and Wakaba were bragging at the bar.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
The heaviness of the "Tower of Heaven" and the changing winds of the "Magic Council" were shut outside.
For everyone in "Fairy Tail," that was already past tense; they were waiting for new challenges.
"Yo! You're back!"
Macao had sharp eyes and was the first to see Marco and Erza entering.
He raised his glass in greeting, wearing a teasing expression that said, "You caused trouble again."
"Another earthquake in the east. Marco, was it you kid causing destruction in the forest again? Isn't it a bit too frequent lately?"
Regarding Macao's question, Marco just shrugged, looking innocent.
"Just a little magic experiment. An accident, purely an accident. But don't worry, there shouldn't be anymore, at least not in the short term."
"Oh? What happened?"
Wakaba blew a smoke ring and asked curiously.
"Ahem, if you're curious, go see for yourself."
Marco waved his hand with a smile, not mentioning that he had turned that place into a mess.
He walked to the bar and asked Mira for a glass of juice, his gaze habitually sweeping towards the request board on the side.
"Going on a mission right after coming back?"
Mira elegantly served a glass of iced juice.
Resting her chin on one hand, she leaned forward slightly on the bar counter in front of Marco, following his gaze to the request board.
Her tone carried a hint of teasing.
He had just come back and rested for barely a few days, yet here he was getting restless again!
"Although we just experienced a big event, life has to go on. Going on missions is the daily life of a mage, and S-Class mages are no exception. For example, this one here is about to go hungry because of rent and armor maintenance fees."
Marco took Mira's words with a smile and pointed at Erza, who had already walked up to the second floor.
His voice wasn't quiet, causing Erza to blush furiously.
She waved her fist at him angrily, evidently hit right on the mark by Marco.
"Tsk~"
Leaning in front of Marco, Mira suddenly leaned forward, almost touching Marco's face.
She abruptly switched from her gentle face to her delinquent face, clicking her tongue to express dissatisfaction.
"You know her very well, don't you~"
Mira dragged out the last syllable, speaking in a strange tone, her eyes sweeping back and forth between Marco and Erza at the stairs.
"Ahem, don't I know you well too?"
Marco took a step back, said with a smile, and then quickly walked towards the request board with his juice to dodge Mira, whose eyes carried killing intent.
"Hmph~"
Mira straightened up and hmphed lightly.
Her expression switched seamlessly, turning back into the sweet-smiling, harmless "Most Beautiful Poster Girl" in the blink of an eye, as if that "She-Devil" just now had never appeared.
Walking to the board, squeezing Nab the "Guardian Beast" aside, Marco scanned roughly.
It was covered with various requests, from finding cats to subjugating magical beasts, a dazzling array.
Marco's gaze swept over casually, looking for tasks that might interest him or had generous rewards.
He had already checked the "S-Class Requests" on the second floor two days ago, and nothing interested him.
Unfortunately, after looking around, he didn't see any fun requests.
Marco didn't lack money; he took requests purely as a personal hobby.
"Wait, have I become 'Nab-ified'?" Marco stopped, no longer lingering in front of the board. Being picky just now really made him look a bit like the usual Nab.
"What are you saying?! What the hell are you saying?!"
Nab was watching right next to Marco.
Naturally, he was unhappy hearing this.
What did "Nab-ified" mean? Since when did he become an adjective?
"Hahaha~ Don't mind these details."
Marco laughed and patted Nab on the shoulder, took a sip of juice, and returned to the bar. Better to appreciate Mira's beauty for a while.
"You want to go on a mission? A new S-Class request came in today."
Seeing Marco circle around and come back empty-handed, Mira smiled and signaled that Marco could check the second floor.
"Oh? Then I have to go see."
Hearing this, Marco immediately got up and walked to the second floor.
'Don't let Erza snatch it first.'
That girl was crazy for money recently; she would probably take any mission.
There was no helping it; having too many armors was like this—just daily maintenance was a huge expense.
Marco went up to the second floor and saw the new request at a glance.
Erza hadn't taken it.
Marco understood why at a glance; the reward for this mission was 7 million Jewels, which was low for an S-Class request, considering they usually started at least at 5 million Jewels.
"And a Gold Key? This is a bit..."
Marco rubbed his chin.
If this Gold Key was included, then it wasn't as simple as 7 million Jewels.
After all, keys of the "Zodiac" couldn't just be bought with money.
"Something's fishy."
Marco narrowed his eyes and read the content of the request.
The name of the request was "Save Our Little Island."