"It's hard to say. I don't know some of the core details either. There must still be secrets within this palace, or some conspiracy brewing."
Marco shook his head, not feeling particularly confident about this.
While this Edolas Marco knew quite a lot, he wasn't truly trusted by the king.
Marco said this because Edolas Marco himself believed so—he felt he hadn't gained genuine trust and suspected the king and chief of staff were secretly plotting something, possibly even targeting him.
The reason was simple: the king had repeatedly asked him to hand over the "Starstone" for research, even if phrased as requests.
This greatly displeased Edolas Marco—how could he casually give away his treasure?!
After viewing these memories, Marco understood both sides' perspectives and motives.
The "Starstone" could harness "Star Magic," making it incredibly precious in this magic-depleted world—truly one of a kind.
The king wanting to study the "Starstone" was completely normal.
In fact, his restraint was impressive. If it were Marco, he'd likely seize the "Starstone" for research at any cost.
In Marco's view, the king's reluctance to seize it boiled down to a few reasons: either his strength didn't permit it, as the cost would be too high, or he had other plans and wasn't in a hurry to act against the "Starstone."
Based on the memories from Edolas Marco, the latter seemed more likely.
The king had only inquired about his "Starstone" without taking action, and Edolas Marco's treatment remained unchanged despite his refusal, showing no anger.
Thus, regarding Edolas's magic depletion issue, the king must have another plan—one he hadn't shared with Edolas Marco.
"What exactly did you do?"
Mystogan looked at Marco with a strange expression, unable to resist asking.
He found it hard to imagine what Marco had experienced.
Just from entering the city, it felt like Marco had become an "Edolas expert."
In terms of familiarity with Edolas, Marco now seemed more like an "Edolas native" than him.
"Didn't I already said it? I eliminated the Magic Killer and obtained a lot of intel from him. Rest assured, it's all absolutely reliable."
Marco stated the facts plainly.
There was no issue with this statement—it just omitted some details. He left it to Mystogan to fill in the gaps; surely, he wouldn't imagine that the "Magic Killer" had been completely absorbed by Marco, with his life memories preserved as reference material.
"..."
Mystogan didn't speak, already picturing the "Magic Killer" being tortured and slowly squeezed for information by Marco.
Marco was capable of such things, after all it was all for Earth Land, for Fairy Tail.
"Let's be cautious. My father has ruled the Edolas Kingdom for many years; it won't be easy to handle. I just want to stop his plan, not truly plunge all of Edolas into war. This is my country too."
After struggling for a moment, Mystogan shook his head.
He removed his mask and earnestly expressed his thoughts to Marco.
Mystogan knew that infiltrating the palace to assassinate the king was absolutely worth attempting for Marco, or for anyone from "Earth Land."
However, setting aside the issue of "filial piety," it wouldn't be a good thing for the entire "Edolas Kingdom" either.
The world of "Edolas" had only recently been unified and was inherently unstable.
If the king were suddenly assassinated, the kingdom would inevitably fall into chaos.
Especially with no clear heir, it would surely fracture into competing factions vying for power.
"You could step forward openly and legitimately inherit the kingdom." Marco said this, though he was only joking, of course.
An heir who had vanished from the public eye for five or six years suddenly reappearing to claim the throne after the king's assassination—anyone could see that wouldn't go smoothly.
"Unless this prince also has powerful military backing." Mystogan spoke seriously.
He needed the help of the "Earth Land" world.
He would ensure that the "Edolas Kingdom" no longer harmed "Earth Land," allowing everyone to live their own lives in peace.
"Alright, let's leave it at that."
Marco nodded, agreeing with Mystogan's perspective.
Upon reflection, his own earlier suggestion had been rather harsh—he was essentially asking a "son" whether he wanted to take out his "father."
It was just that Mystogan was usually so selfless and devoted to "filial piety."
His unwavering conviction sometimes made Marco forget that the king was, in fact, Mystogan's father.
"Alright, let's prepare and head back."
Mystogan nodded, his gaze filled with gratitude toward Marco, since Marco was essentially accommodating him.
"We can return immediately."
Marco smiled in response, knowing exactly what Mystogan was thinking.
But he wasn't accommodating Mystogan out of kindness.
If he were confident, he wouldn't have conceded so easily.
The real reason he chose to go back was his own uncertainty.
In this world, he couldn't use his own magic power and had to rely on the "stellar energy" from the sky.
But that "stellar energy" was already extremely faint, and he had absorbed a significant amount when unlocking the [Gemini Gold Cloth], nearly depleting it entirely.
If the "Star Magic" were completely drained, he would have to rely on ki and the Cloth.
However, without magic, the stored ki could only be consumed, not replenished.
Once the "ki" ran out, he'd be left with his fists.
Though Marco's fists were plenty strong, there was no real need to pit them against others' magic.
For the sake of caution, Marco agreed to return.
Still, they had accomplished their main objective for this trip. For Marco, there were even some unexpected gains.
Not only had they gathered a lot of intelligence, but they had also obtained a [Gemini Gold Cloth] and unlocked a new system function.
Oh, and there was the possibility of another parallel world, since one "star stone" was still missing.
That brand new [Mall Function] had not yet been unlocked by Marco, who intended to wait until returning to "Earth Land" before unlocking it.
Once back at the guild and in a safe place, he would thoroughly study it.