"Who knows about such things."
The magical world has plenty of bizarre occurrences, not every single one can be explained.
Natsu doesn't care how the other party did it, he just wants to resolve the matter, "Anyway, Rhode's battle plans are all useless now."
"Mm." Rhode's plans A, B, C were all aimed at killing the Beast King.
This is the difference between monster subjugation and bandit sweeping tasks, one requires killing, the other can't simply kill.
The monster to be subjugated might have turned from an ordinary person due to magic influence, so it can only be captured alive, and a way to help dispel the magic must be found.
Natsu stopped Rhode just because of this.
Accepting a monster subjugation task and ending up killing the client's son or something...
That's unacceptable.
"To cancel receiving magic..." Rhode quickly thought of three methods.
First is to wait for the other's Magic Power to run out and cancel itself, but in the current situation, this might not be applicable.
Second is to find something called a Demon Sealing Stone, bringing it can stop a mage from using magic.
Rhode hasn't seen it himself, but the description in the book seems similar to the Seastone from the pirate filming next door, just not as hard.
Before mages' guild existed, ordinary people used that thing to resist and oppress mages.
It's mostly used in the Advisory Council's prisons now.
That thing isn't available immediately, and battling three mages with a Demon Sealing Stone is... too far-fetched.
The third method is the simplest and most brutal, to beat the opponent until they completely lose fighting ability, even lose consciousness, then magic will naturally be dispelled.
This is the most suitable approach for the current situation, only during the battle one must hold back, not beat to death, nor cripple.
This isn't much of a problem, as long as no one dies on the spot, taking them to Lady Porlyusica can save their lives.
"Alright, let's do that!" Solving the problem with a fight is exactly the method Natsu prefers.
He jumped up, swung his arms to set off, but was merely running on the spot.
Because Rhode grabbed the back of his clothing.
Natsu turned back, "What now?"
"Take a break first." Rhode said,
"Running around when your Magic Power hasn't recovered after being drained, don't you feel insecure?"
Natsu looked puzzled, "Why would I feel insecure?"
"..." You're so reckless, it's hard for me to explain.
Rhode decided to communicate in another way, he pointed to the prey provided by the Beast King in the woods, "Barbecue, want some?"
Natsu thought for a moment, "Sure."
Hapi raised his hand, "We want some fish."
Terrain reconnaissance expert Rhode pointed in a direction, "There's a ravine over there, try your luck, prey can also be handled there."
The three of them found an empty spot by the water, picked rocks to form a circle, and started a fire for the barbecue.
Hapi made a simple fishing rod to catch fish himself.
While the meat wasn't done yet, Rhode couldn't help asking the question he'd been holding back, "What was Mira like before? Has she learned Receiving Magic?"
Natsu poked at the firewood in the pit with a stick, the stick caught fire, he pulled it back, and put it in his mouth like a lollipop.
Upon hearing Rhode's question, Natsu asked, puzzled, "Huh? Why suddenly ask that?"
"A bit curious, she clearly says she's not good at battling."
"I heard that Mira used to live in a very remote village, to help the people defeat the demon in the chapel, she accidentally received the demon.
Then she was shunned like a demon by everyone, leaving the village with Elfman and Lisana to join the guild."
Natsu was calmer than Hapi when mentioning Lisana, only accidentally biting off a piece of the stick in his mouth.
"After joining the guild, Elfman and Lisana only started learning Receiving Magic.
Then Mira, for some reason, often competed with Erza and became stronger, at that time they two were..."
Natsu showed a gloating smile, "Both of them were scary, Gray would get beaten badly, no matter who he provoked, haha..."
Rhode glanced at Natsu, if Gray was getting beaten, this guy must also have been dealt with quite a bit.
And if so, Mira was one of those genius mages who mastered the magic most suitable for herself?
"What about the S-Class mages?"
"Mira passed the S-Class exam two years ago, Erza was three years ago."
Natsu remembered this very clearly, though he spoke with an unsatisfied tone,
"The old man refused to let me take the exam, damn it, I want to become S-Class too!"
Rhode thought the President must have his reasons, either he felt Natsu's abilities weren't enough, or not mature enough.
That's not for him to worry about, the point is Mira really has been an S-Class mage.
If that's the case, then many things that felt odd to him make sense:
Such as why Rhode and Laki couldn't go upstairs, but Mira could go anytime;
Why she was eligible to assist the President, even oftentimes doing the President's work;
Why she could accurately assess the difficulty of various tasks and evaluate whether the person taking it could complete it;
Why after watching Rhode and his companions' battles, she could precisely point out both parties' strengths and weaknesses;
Why before leaving, Hapi upon seeing Mira get slightly angry, got so scared...
It all makes sense now!
Because she used to be strong!
Hmm... and possibly, maybe, had a bad temper back then too.
As for why Mira became weaker, Rhode guessed it might be related to Lisana, but he didn't ask thoroughly.
This matter feels excessive to inquire from Natsu.
He planned to secretly ask Erza or Kana back at the guild.
Unexpectedly, Rhode didn't think Natsu would bring it up voluntarily.
"Last year, Mira took Elfman and Lisana on an S-Class task, subjugating the Beast King—yup, the Beast King."
Natsu stared intently at the fire pit, seemingly able to see the scene from then.
"An S-Class task must have an S-Class mage to lead in order to accept, Mira and the others were definitely qualified.
But the Beast King's strength was beyond imagination, all three exhausted their energy in battle, Elfman to protect Mira and Lisana, forcibly received the Beast King.
But he lost control, and then Lisana..."
Rhode's eyes widened, he thought it was an accident during the task that led to Lisana's death, but he absolutely didn't expect Elfman caused Lisana...
As a sister, having watched as the out-of-control brother killed the sister, how desperate Mira must have felt!
And after waking up, how painful Elfman must have been!
Clearly defeated the demon, a hero who protected the village, yet driven out by villagers.
Finally settled in the guild, only to encounter such a cruel event.
Why must fate be so harsh on this family!?
Natsu punched the ground, "So Rhode! We must complete this task!
I won't let that guy who also received the Beast King hurt their family too! Absolutely not!"