Just as Marco had expected, the crows hadn't flown for long before spotting a symbol that felt incredibly familiar to him.
It was the emblem belonging to "Fairy Tail."
"This guild hall is really strange. Fairy Tail in Edolas... how interesting," Marco mused.
That familiar symbol appeared on a peculiar large treehouse, which served as the guild hall for "Fairy Tail" in Edolas.
This was something Marco hadn't anticipated at all.
Standing before the guild hall with Mystogan, Marco mentally prepared himself.
He was ready to encounter a group of people who would be "familiar yet unfamiliar" to him.
Now, he was the one who had come to this "other world," not Mystogan.
"Bang!"
Just as Marco and Mystogan approached the green treehouse, the door swung open, and a burly man rushed out, shouting excitedly as he ran.
"Take on a quest! Take on a quest!"
The man was tall and well-built, with a muscular physique.
He sported a bowl-cut hairstyle, a tribal-style headpiece, and face paint.
Dressed in a green sleeveless robe, he radiated enthusiasm.
His attire was quite similar to that of the local they had encountered earlier.
Speaking of which, Marco had brought that local along with them. He couldn't just leave the middle-aged man behind.
"Is that... Nab?" Mystogan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the man who had rushed out.
Marco turned to Mystogan in astonishment, not expecting him to remember Nab's name.
They had little interaction, and Nab wasn't a particularly well-known member of the guild.
"Well, every time I return to the guild to take on a quest, he's always collapsed near the quest board. Over time, I just ended up remembering him," Mystogan explained awkwardly, unsure why it was such a coincidence.
Every time he returned to the guild to pick up a quest, Nab Lasaro would invariably be near the quest board.
While he might not remember other members, Nab's face was one he had grown familiar with.
"It's not your fault..." Marco sighed, feeling a bit exasperated by Mystogan's explanation.
In reality, it wasn't a coincidence.
Nab was essentially a "fixed NPC" who respawned near the quest board for most of the day.
He even triggered a fixed dialogues.
For instance, if someone asked him, "Why haven't you taken on a quest yet?" he would immediately respond with, "I'm waiting for a quest that only I can complete."
To this day, Nab still hadn't found that quest.
In other words, despite being a year older than Marco and the same age as Mystogan, Nab had never taken on a single quest and remained perpetually loitering around the quest board.
Unlike his peers, even younger guild members had already accumulated plenty of quest experience.
Nab was indeed an oddity within "Fairy Tail," but the guild was known for its inclusivity, embracing all kinds of people.
"But this Nab seems a bit different," Marco noted.
Anyone could see it at a glance.
This version of Nab in the world of Edolas appeared to be a quest fanatic, shouting about taking on quests as he dashed off without a second thought.
"He didn't even pay any attention to us."Mystogan muttered under his breath.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Marco thought it might be his [Pope's Mask] taking effect, making the other party mistake him for an ordinary passerby.
But to be honest, in their current group, Mystogan—with several magic staffs strapped to his back—was clearly more eye-catching, unless one ignored the fact that Marco was carrying someone in his hand.
"Wait! Who are you people?!"
Just as Marco and Mystogan were about to step into the Fairy Tail guild hall, Nab—who had scurried away moments earlier—came running back.
The burly man looked warily at Marco and Mystogan, his gaze primarily fixed on Mystogan.
His eyes were locked on the magic staffs, clearly aware of what they represented.
"What's your purpose in coming to Fairy Tail? And what's with that person?" Nab spoke cautiously, deliberately raising his voice to alert the other guild members inside the hall.
Sure enough, his words had an immediate effect.
A crowd of people surged out from the large treehouse guild hall, surrounding Marco and Mystogan.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
The first person to step forward asked with a furrowed brow.
She carried an imposing presence, standing there like a boss lady, somewhat reminiscent of how Mirajane used to be.
"..."
Staring at the golden-haired girl standing before him, Marco's jaw dropped in a rare display of stunned disbelief.
Because this golden-haired girl had the face of his apprentice Lucy—of course, this was the Lucy of this "Edolas" world.
On one side was a hardworking, progressive, optimistic, and proactive rich girl; on the other was a rough, wild, determined, and angry boss lady.
This contrast was naturally impactful for Marco, who was familiar with Lucy, not to mention he was seeing other familiar faces as well.
"You look suspicious. Could you be from the Royal Army?"
Standing on either side behind Lucy were two boys who appeared tough and held high status.
They were also familiar faces to Marco: Jet and Droy.
Marco couldn't help but grit his teeth; these two were a complete weakling in his world!
"They do seem quite suspicious."
Someone chimed in agreement—a burly man with a bowl-cut hairstyle.
With that silver hair and build, there was no need to overthink it; it was clearly Elfman at a glance.
Of course, what made this timid Elfman even more recognizable were the two silver-haired girls standing beside him.
Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman—the entire family was here.
Elfman's contrast was quite striking too; he seemed rather cowardly, giving off a very weak impression.
As for the sisters Mirajane and Lisanna, they didn't appear to have changed much.
The older Mirajane wore a gentle smile, while Lisanna looked at the two of them with curiosity.
'Hmm, this Mirajane might actually be quite different too.'
'She might be always been this gentle.'
"Hey! I'm talking to you! Why are you staring at Mirajane like that?!"
While Marco was still reeling from the shock of these alternate-world versions of his Fairy Tail comrades, the Lucy standing in front asking questions grew irritated.
How dare this guy ignore her!
"Don't be nervous. We're actually survivors from another Magic Guild, wandering around to evade the kingdom's army. We came here because we happened to hear you were here." As Marco spoke, he shook the middle-aged man he was carrying, indicating they had learned Fairy Tail's location from this uncle.
Since this uncle had received help from Fairy Tail before, surely someone would recognize him.