Rhode and Mira wandered around for a while, and happened to walk by the hotel where Sabertooth stayed.
The place was quite quiet, the atmosphere seemed not too good.
There were some not-too-intense fluctuations of magic power in the yard, probably regular practice and training.
After spending the entire day without any gains, Rhode felt a bit disappointed and had to return to meet up with his companions.
By this time, most people had already returned, and even the food and drinks were ready.
Mebius was sitting on the table, leisurely swinging her legs while telling stories to Asuka.
Makarov was drinking beside her with a dark expression on his face.
As for the reason for his dark expression, Rhode guessed it must have something to do with the row of people standing against the wall with their heads down.
Gray, Jubia, Wendy, Carla, Natsu, Hapi, Li Li...
Seeing this combination, Rhode's heart skipped a beat upon noticing both Natsu and Gray were there.
However, how did Elfman and Ibarglin get involved as well?
Mira seemed to be in a good mood, smilingly inquired, "President, has anything happened?"
"You're back." Makarov sighed, then gritted his teeth, "These idiots... destroyed about a third of the facilities at Agave Paradise!"
"Oh dear~ That's really something." Mira said calmly with an expression of surprise.
Makarov questioned, "Why does it feel like you're quite happy?"
Mira laughed, "Of course not, it's just quite interesting."
"Haha." Rhode chuckled inwardly.
He could tell Mira was indeed happy, partly because such incidents were common, and partly perhaps thinking 'My foolish brother knows to take his girlfriend to Agave Paradise to play.'
However, only a third was destroyed—Natsu was off his game, probably because Erza and Lucy weren't there?
Makarov complained, "Just when they performed so well in the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, they caused such a mess again!"
Natsu only heard the first half, grinning foolishly, "Ahaha... Old man, you think we did well too, right?"
Makarov threw his glass at Natsu's head, angrily said, "The point isn't that—reflect properly!"
Seeing Makarov's irritation, Mebius empathetically told Asuka a story about someone in the guild who didn't repay debts and got beaten up.
Rhode concerned himself with practical questions: "Have the compensations been paid?"
"Mm." Makarov nodded, "This time, Lamia Scale's Leon and Sherria got involved, seemingly the Blue Pegasus' team got involved too, everyone shared the cost."
"This reduces the financial pressure a bit, but getting them involved..." Rhode's first thought was his guild was poisonous, even reliable people got dragged in.
However, upon further reflection, One Night would approach beauties trying to sniff them, and Leon definitely causes trouble around Jubia and Gray...
They aren't exactly the peaceful type.
Thus, the cause of the matter became almost clear.
Elfman and Ibarglin being involved was a pleasant surprise.
Mira could not hold back anymore and went to question her brother directly.
"Even though compensation can be shared, the reflection report in a few days still needs to be written..." Makarov thought this would be a headache.
Normally, a few days later would be the guild's celebration for winning the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts.
Imagine receiving a summons from the Council during the party—what a buzzkill!
Unless he doesn't have to write it himself... huh? Maybe... Makarov looked at Rhode.
Rhode jolted, immediately suggested, "Why not ignore whatever happens next, then all destruction can be blamed on the dragon, and the Council wouldn't notice a small matter at the water park."
"No... It's not to that extent..." Cold sweat ran down Makarov's forehead, this kid's public opinion tactics were too extreme.
Rhode feared he might bring up resigning again, hastily said, "Let's get back to business, were there any special news today?"
Makarov said, "Hmm... Sin of the Witch disguised themselves as patrol soldiers and entered the underground palace to investigate, saw that golden door. But, fearing Eclipse's magic power absorption characteristic, did nothing.
"The door definitely carries Zeref's aura, should have a connection with him.
"The First Generation told us if using that door could go back in time to kill Zeref, Zeref would've done it himself or sent someone to; hence, the Eclipse Plan is unlikely to succeed."
Mebius revealed that during a long period in the past, Zeref had strong self-destructive tendencies, but never succeeded.
The royalty's Eclipse Plan is completely nonsensical.
Regarding Eclipse 2, Sin of the Witch mentioned how the door there indeed gathered a massive amount of magic power, if unleashed at once, might indeed cause damage to dragons.
But claiming to kill ten thousand is hard to imagine.
Thus, it is certain this mysterious future person is lying.
Part of Eclipse 2, along with defamation against Rhode, demonstrated his intention — he wants the royalty to succeed in opening the Eclipse Gate, not let Rhode, as someone who 'never existed in the past,' disrupt it.
For this purpose, he must've gathered considerable intelligence on Rhode and fabricated convincing lies to mislead the royalty's decision.
The companions wouldn't be swayed, as they knew Rhode well and trusted him.
But in outsiders' eyes, Rhode's information was scattered and mysterious.
His summoned beasts included many that appeared fearsome and evil.
Moreover, never had it been heard any magic could summon dragons.
In the past he used 'limited true information' to confuse enemies, later to intimidate them with 'indeed I can summon dragons', now it's become a mysterious future person's weapon, strangely causing trouble for Rhode.
Yet Rhode did not regret his past approach, for he couldn't be open with everyone.
Makarov continued, "I've verified via the guild's information channels, and inquired some old friends, recently there hasn't been any unrest nationally, nor any noteworthy magical beasts appearing.
"Moreover, during this time, there haven't been reports across the Ishujal Continent of dragons or dragon-like magical beasts."
Dragons are always attention-grabbing—even a single one would create a stir.
If they truly appeared, it's impossible no news at all, unless they destroyed everything and left no survivors.
Even then, anomalies would be detected near any destroyed places, right?
However, there was no news.
Rhode worriedly asked, "Did you directly inquire about dragons?"
"Mm..." Makarov knew what Rhode was concerned about, explained, "Previously to help Natsu search for Igneru, I asked around for dragon news. Now with so many Dragon Slayer Mages in the guild, asking again wouldn't raise suspicion."
Rhode nodded, thought for a while: "The quieter it is now, the more suspicious Eclipse Gate appears."
He is mentally prepared that if the mysterious future person can't be found, he will forcefully destroy the Eclipse Gate before critical time arrives.
Simultaneously, eliminate all dragon corpses in the underground palace.
These are currently the most likely points to cause a dragon disaster.