"This time we owe it to you again."
Watching Miss Wendy finish healing the last wounded soldier, Hayberion let out a sigh.
Rhode waved his hand with a smile. "No need to be polite. I'll file a bonus application for Wendy later, you just approve it quickly."
"..." Hayberion fell silent. This guy was really realistic.
Wendy looked a bit embarrassed. "Brother Rhode, I just..."
Rhode put his hand on top of Wendy's head and cut her off:
"You just helped the Council treat dozens of patients that no one else could do anything about, reduced the Council's losses, and increased these soldiers' trust in the Council, that's all.
"Although it's not some earth-shattering merit, the Council will definitely reward you fairly and justly, so, be good."
As he spoke, he raised his eyebrows at Hayberion.
Brellins nodded in deep agreement.
He, like Vorod, had originally been called over to discuss the matter of the Communication Magic Crystals, only to run into all this.
He felt Rhode spoke with reason and evidence, clearly a good man who handled things fairly and justly.
Hayberion's mouth twitched. I never said I wouldn't give it, do you really have to hint so hard?
But he couldn't say anything, so he could only go along: "You've worked hard, Miss Wendy. Mr. Rhode is right, the Council won't let your efforts go unrewarded."
Carla seemed quite satisfied and whispered in Wendy's ear, "Just listen to Rhode. Though I'm kind of worried he's going to empty out the Council."
Rhode flicked the cat's head, making Carla glare at him furiously.
Hayberion said, "Since the problem's been resolved, we should go and discuss business."
Rhode pointed outside and said with a smile, "I think Mr. Uluvheim might still need a bit more time."
Uluvheim was currently busy yelling at people.
Lahar, Mest, and everyone who had taken part in this mission were all lined up neatly in formation, hanging their heads as they listened to Uluvheim's scolding.
He was mainly berating them for being reckless, stupid, slow to adapt, and the like.
They'd done so much training usually, and he'd taken them out to complete so many missions, yet the two times he didn't go with them, they screwed up this badly.
Not only did they let the criminals get away, they nearly lost most of their people.
Uluvheim was so furious he was practically jumping with rage, and once he started cursing them out, he wouldn't stop.
This nonstop tirade reminded Rhode of his old homeroom teacher.
They were probably the worst batch of Strong Detention Team members Uluvheim had ever led.
Hayberion felt it was about enough, so he went over to persuade him:
"The enemy's abilities were unexpected, so this isn't entirely their fault. Let's discuss our next move instead."
Uluvheim took a deep breath and finally stopped his scolding. "Lahar and Dolanbart, come to the meeting. The rest of you go back and reflect on your mistakes!"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone responded like they'd been granted amnesty and hurried off.
Hayberion turned his head to look at the 'tree' beside him. "Mr. Vorod, you don't need to keep standing out here."
Vorod said lazily, "Mm... don't worry about me, you all go ahead. My growth rings are a bit sore; I need to do a bit more photosynthesis."
Simple-minded Wendy believed him immediately. "Huh? Grandpa, are you a tree?"
Vorod suddenly brightened up. "Wahahaha~ I'm joking, just joking~"
Wendy: "..."
Carla showed dead-fish eyes. "Now I'm convinced he really used to be in our Guild."
Rhode said to Wendy, "You guys go sit with Lucy and Reby for a bit first. I'll send you back later."
"Okay!" Wendy said expectantly, "I want to see how Miss Lucy and Miss Reby work."
Ordinary Mages would definitely not be allowed to run around freely in the Council, but no one present raised any objections.
There was even a soldier who hadn't gone far that ran back on purpose to lead the way for Wendy.
Rhode and Hayberion and the rest headed to the conference room, where Lahar began to explain the details.
"This mission started because there was a brutal murder case in the Belrum Kingdom. A small mountain village with a total of 87 people—men, women, old, young—were all killed, and their deaths were extremely horrific.
"The Belrum Kingdom had investigated and concluded that a Mage was behind it. During the investigation, three law enforcers were killed as well. So the matter was reported to the Council."
Rhode asked, "When you say 'extremely horrific,' you mean..."
Lahar took out a few photos and laid them on the table, explaining:
"Some were split vertically into two halves, some looked like they'd contracted a severe illness, with strange spots all over their skin, some looked like they'd been subjected to torture, and some had their heads twisted around once, yet there were no marks of anyone ever grabbing their heads or bodies..."
Haybelion and Uluvheim already knew about this case.
So only Rhode, Brellins, and Vorod looked at the photos. The scene really was unbearable.
Brellins asked, "This victim with the spots on their skin, that's the work of the target you were sent to capture this time?"
"Yes, that's a woman with short purple hair and a black cat-ear hair clip. I heard someone call her Mary," Mest said.
"My guess is, as long as she touches you or you enter a certain range, you'll catch all sorts of diseases."
"Aside from her, there was also a man wielding a black Longsword. His Swordsmanship was extremely sharp, and his name should be Jerome."
Lahar added, "I'm very likely not his match... If they had chosen to pursue us instead of pulling back, I think our casualties would have been disastrous."
Rhode said, "They do sound pretty formidable. Doesn't seem like the kind of power some no-name organization would have."
Lahar's strength was nothing to sneeze at; if even he couldn't handle it, their level definitely wasn't low.
In a Guild, they could at least go a few rounds against Li Li in her transformed state.
"Do we know their objective?"
Mest said, "I eavesdropped a bit. I didn't catch it too clearly, but... I think they mentioned Zeref."
Uluvheim slammed the table. "Zeref again!"
Hayberion pondered, "So we're talking about something like a Black Magic Sect. To resurrect Zeref, or to obtain some relic of his."
Black Magic Sect was a rather broad label; basically all who worshipped Zeref called themselves that.
Of course, certain Dark Guilds were an exception.
The goals of these Black Magic Sects were more or less the same, and in their pursuit of those goals, they always ended up causing the deaths of many innocent civilians.
So compared to Dark Guilds that kidnapped and assassinated people for money, the Black Magic Sects were often more dangerous and their actions more despised.
Rhode frowned. Hearing "Black Magic Sect" this time made him think a bit more than before.
Because at this point, any news of Zeref's whereabouts could trigger a war between the two continents at any moment.
This was a move by a Black Magic Sect, so it was particularly worth paying attention to.