When it came to his own image, Laxus couldn't care less.

These days, he always wore a stern expression, looking like some kind of cool guy, to the point where even Reedus felt that drawing a smile on his face would be an insult.

"Well, let's leave it at that then."

Though Marco felt somewhat helpless, there wasn't much he could do.

He couldn't force Reedus to do something he didn't want to do.

After all, artists always had to maintain their own principles.

Rather than asking Reedus to draw a smile on Laxus's face, it would be better to find a way to help Laxus reintegrate with the group.

"By the way Reedus, how's your consideration going regarding what I mentioned before about you helping me illustrate the manga version of my novel?"

Marco changed the subject, no longer talking about Laxus.

Over the past few days, he had rushed to complete the first draft of the story.

With a bit more polishing, it would be ready for publication.

And he wasn't just planning to release the novel—he also wanted to publish a manga version later.

Following the principle of keeping benefits within the family, of course, he would have one of their own draw the manga.

The proper royalties and shares would naturally be included—this was essentially a form of copyright development.

In the future, things like movies could also be put on the agenda.

The story of The Great Detective would undoubtedly become a massive hit in this world too!

"Of course, no problem! I've almost finished reading the book, and I'm very interested in this. Marco, you're truly a genius!"

At the mention of The Great Detective, Reedus's eyes lit up.

He had already carefully read the manuscript Marco had given him and thought the story was excellent.

Of course, even if the story had been mediocre, he wouldn't have refused.

It was just a matter of setting aside some time to help out.

"That's great, Reedus. Thank you." Marco smiled and extended his hand, giving Reedus a high-five.

"I should be the one thanking you, Marco. Handing me such a lucrative job—your book is definitely going to be a huge hit, and I'll be benefiting from it too. Who knows, I might even be able to live off this book for the rest of my life."

Reedus refused to accept the thanks, instead thanking Marco with a laugh.

He believed his aesthetic judgment wasn't off—from his perspective, this book absolutely had the potential to become a sensation.

This made Reedus sigh in admiration—Marco really was a genius.

His magical prowess was undoubtedly impressive, but the fact that he could also create a work like The Great Detective was even more astounding.

In Reedus's eyes, the latter required even more talent than the former.

Magic prodigies weren't exactly rare in the guild—among the younger generation alone, there were several.

But someone who could write such an engaging story was truly uncommon.

"I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants." Marco shook his head with a smile, not bothering to explain further.

He wasn't about to claim he hadn't written it—after all, he was already plagiarizing, so there was no point pretending otherwise.

That said, he didn't actually think he was all that impressive.

Well, there was one impressive thing—he actually remembered the general plot!

This only made him regret even more that he hadn't watched more anime back in the day...

While Marco and Reedus settled the manga matter, the younger kids had already started pestering Carla with all sorts of questions, mostly about how to take care of Happy.

"Carla, what should we feed Happy?"

"Can we give him fish?"

"Cats like fish, right?"

"Carla, what do you like to eat?"

Carla was getting annoyed by all the questions.

"I like tea. You can feed him anything humans eat. We're not that picky," Carla said, wanting to quickly get rid of these guys.

"Then let's go catch fish! We'll grill some for Happy!"

With Carla's answer, the kids immediately rushed out, ready to take the newly hatched Happy fishing.

"Wait a minute. I suggest giving him milk first. Isn't fish a bit too early? Even magical creatures shouldn't be raised so roughly." Marco stopped the children.

While they probably wouldn't kill Happy this way, the poor thing would surely suffer.

How could a bunch of kids understand proper childcare?

"Is that so?"

Natsu and the others exchanged glances before turning to Carla.

"Uh, maybe? I... I don't know either!" Carla felt embarrassed under their gazes.

She wasn't much older herself—how would she know these things?

Truthfully, she wasn't that delicate.

From birth, she had many memories and had endured her fair share of hardships in the forest.

In fact, Carla only started living comfortably after meeting Wendy—meaning she hadn't enjoyed many good things.

"Airo! Some milk, please!"

Trusting Marco's judgment, Natsu gave up on fishing and asked Airo for milk to feed Happy first.

'Exceeds... They don't seem dangerous at all.'

From the bar counter, Makarov quietly observed Carla and Happy, concluding that "Exceeds" didn't appear to be a threatening species, nor did they possess strong magic power.

'Let's keep them around and see.'

Since they weren't dangerous, Makarov naturally wouldn't interfere.

The old man was always tolerant—except towards those who harmed his guild's children, he usually greeted everyone with a smile.

The kids crowded around the counter, waiting for Airo to prepare the milk.

As the front desk staff, Airo juggled multiple roles.

Without little Laki's help, she'd be overwhelmed.

"Actually, Mira-nee and Elf-nii could help too. Though my cooking isn't great, I can pitch in!"

Lisanna sat on a high stool, leaning against the counter as she watched Airo work, offering her assistance.

"When it comes to cooking, I'm decent, but nowhere near as good as Mira-nee," Elfman chimed in.

Oddly enough, despite appearance, the image of him as a homemaker didn't seem out of place—proof of how gentle and kind-hearted he was, which clashed amusingly with his tough looks.

"Mira can cook? That Mira?" Marco asked in disbelief, glancing at the delinquent-looking Mirajane beside him.

He couldn't connect her with 'excellent cooking skills'.

"What?! Is that so strange?!" Mirajane huffed and turned away, though she didn't deny it.

"It's not surprising when you think about it. Being the older sister who took care of her younger siblings alone, having good cooking skills seems only natural."

Marco pondered for a moment and found this quite reasonable.

Mirajane's culinary skills were probably honed out of necessity in life.

"That's right! Big sis often cooks for us!"

Both Lisanna and Elfman agreed with Marco's reasoning.

Mirajane's cooking skills were developed from constantly preparing meals for them since childhood.

Later, when they grew older, they also started learning to cook.

After all, sometimes their sister had to go out to work and earn money, and they still needed to eat at home.

Children from poor families mature early—a truth that brings bitter tears when spoken aloud.

Looking at it this way, the children who came to the Fairy Tail guild early were actually quite fortunate.

At least while living in the guild, they didn't have to worry about various troubles.

They only needed to learn magic, take on jobs to earn money, while food, drink, and lodging were all taken care of within the guild.

Everyone in the guild looked after these youngsters well, often feeding them treats and reserving simple tasks for them.

The children in the guild grew up surrounded by care and affection.

"If there's a chance, I'd really like to try Mira's cooking."

Marco looked at Mirajane, who was wearing a crop top with her arms crossed, her expression slightly hesitant.

"Let's talk about it after we've saved enough money to move into a new home."

After some thought, Mirajane declined.

She was very busy now, with neither the time nor the mood for cooking.

Currently, both Lisanna and Elfman ate their meals at the guild.

Once they moved into a new home, they could start cooking for themselves again.

Mirajane still longed for a home of their own rather than living in the guild dormitory, although the dormitory was quite lively.

"How much do you need? I can lend it to you first." Marco tilted his head curiously.

He wasn't short on money since he didn't have many expenses.

If someone needed funds urgently, he could help out.

"We haven't calculated yet, but it would probably take at least ten million J?" Mirajane paused.

Since they hadn't saved much yet, she hadn't worked out how much building a house would cost.

But a rough estimate suggested it would require at least 10 millions J.

"If it's in the city proper, then yes. But if it's in the outskirts or, like Porlyusica's place in the eastern forest, it wouldn't cost nearly as much."

Marco nodded and proposed a new idea.

Building or buying a house within the city would indeed require a significant sum.

After all, Magnolia wasn't some remote town—its thriving economy meant property prices weren't cheap.

But in the outskirts or the eastern forest, construction costs would be much lower.

Since those areas weren't under Magnolia's municipal protection, they could save a fortune on land costs alone, potentially cutting the original budget by half.

They wouldn't even need to hire builders—Fairy Tail could assemble its own construction team.

From drafting blueprints to carpentry and construction, the guild had all the necessary talents.

A Mage guild was truly a remarkable place.

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for everyone..."

Marco's words had Mirajane feeling genuinely tempted.

Building a house in the outskirts or East Forest did seem cost-effective.

She hesitated, mainly because she didn't want to trouble everyone.

As for potential safety hazards in the outskirts or East Forest—those weren't issues at all for Mages.

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