The atmosphere at the midday banquet was great, everyone was chatting happily except for Jenny.
After a short break, the first regular meeting officially commenced.
Presiding over this regular meeting was Saruke, President of 'Titan Nose'.
He was a middle-aged man with a round body and head, even his arms and legs were two ellipses connected together, and his face had a round nose, making him look like an odd big toy.
Rhode once asked the President and learned that he became like this by practicing 'Ball Magic'.
Although his appearance was peculiar, his strength was quite formidable.
"There really are a lot of odd types of magic in this world," Rhode quietly remarked.
He wouldn't learn such a bizarre type of magic unless it would make him invincible.
"First, I must apologize to all of you. I did not expect that years ago, Bola, whom I expelled from the guild, would fall to the point of becoming a slavetrader, committing unforgivable acts.
This is my fault for not considering things thoroughly and not sending someone to capture him earlier. Here, I must thank Fairy Tail. If it weren't for them capturing Bola, who knows how many young girls would have fallen victim."
Bola was the one who impersonated Natsu 'Fire Dragon' a few days ago in Harujion.
In dealing with him, Natsu and Lucy destroyed half of the port.
Regarding this matter, President Saruke wrote to the Advisory Council pleading for leniency for Natsu, which must have had some effect.
Makarov waved his hand, smiling to indicate it was nothing, though every wrinkle on his face was expressing joy.
The other Presidents cast friendly gazes towards Makarov.
Fairy Tail always seemed to be able to solve people's headaches.
Though their solutions often also brought about other issues, it was overall moving in a positive direction.
Rhode felt proud, complimenting Fairy Tail was like complimenting everyone in the guild, and he was a part of it after all.
The meeting then officially began.
The first topic today concerned the Dark Guild Demon Heart.
"Since Mr. Rhode provided intelligence about Demon Heart, more than two months have passed. During this time, the Advisory Council has conducted numerous searches and pursuits, but each time was in vain.
To put it frankly, the council's team hasn't even glimpsed Demon Heart.
They always seem to anticipate the council's moves and evade in advance; recently they have vanished without a trace as if they disappeared into thin air.
We have reason to suspect that the council, especially the Strong Detention Team, may have already been infiltrated by the Dark Guild.
I propose that all of the Presidents jointly demand that the council conduct an internal investigation quickly to root out the spies leaking information."
Rhode's first thought was, would they root out the spy from our guild too?
Even though Mest himself doesn't even realize he's a spy.
The Presidents discussed fervently.
It was supposed to be the institution responsible for maintaining stability in the Magic Realm, yet it might have been infiltrated by a Dark Guild; this is undoubtedly a significant negligence by the Evaluators.
Even if they demand publicly apologies from the current Evaluators or even require a couple to resign, it wouldn't be too much.
However, this is only a facade; the key question is whether the current council still has the ability to conduct an internal investigation and restore its regular functions?
Involving this large multinational institution, the dozens of Presidents present didn't have enough say.
They only represented a Local Guild Alliance within Fiore.
There were many such local guild alliances across the continent; more rigorous actions would require coordinating with other alliances to proceed.
For now, the situation still had to rely on the council itself.
Saruke's proposal was unanimously agreed upon by everyone.
Tonight Saruke would draft the letter and then ask the Presidents to sign it.
"Although Demon Heart, as one part of the Balram Alliance, has disappeared from sight, another part, the Oracion Seis, has been acting more frequently lately.
Half a year ago, only the guilds under them were active, but we have successively defeated many of them.
However, recent reports suggest that members of the Oracion Seis main branch are now taking action, though their moves are yet to be investigated.
It is noteworthy that one of their branches, the Dark Guild Iron Forest, has been active in the nearby area lately, surely plotting something bad."
Rhode had heard of Iron Forest, especially someone named Ailiger.
It was said that when Iron Forest was still a Legitimate Guild, he was an S-Class Mage and the ace of Iron Forest. After their President was arrested, the remaining members were led by him to join the Balram Alliance.
Since Ailiger only took on assassination requests and used a large scythe as a weapon, he was excellently completing tasks, earning the nickname 'Death God'.
In short, he was quite a dangerous guy.
As expected, the issue of dealing with Iron Forest would be reported to the council and then issued as a high-difficulty task.
The message would be conveyed to the council today and a response might be received the day after tomorrow.
The release method will depend on the situation; if classified as an S-Class Task, it would be distributed to all major guilds, and whoever could accomplish it would earn the reward.
If classified below S-Class, it would be assigned like before through a lottery.
Of course, it might also be handled directly by the council—they urgently need some achievements to reestablish their prestige.
Rhode silently took notes of the discussion in his notebook.
He thought about the important matters the President mentioned hoping he would attend, presumably referring to these Dark Guild issues.
Saruke checked the time, and since it wasn't early, continuing with the next topic might drag on too late, and personally, he didn't want to work overtime.
"Well, the meeting today ends here, the remaining topics we shall continue tomorrow."
Rhode closed his notebook, nudging the President to wake him.
Makarov, well-experienced, no longer startled upon waking. Instead, he frowned thoughtfully, appearing deep in thought over today's discussions.
[Imposing Picture of President Makarov.jpg]
This behavior was somewhat self-deceiving; paying a little attention to him revealed that from the fifth minute of the meeting, he'd already fallen into a snot-bubbled slumber.
Jenny was among those who noticed this.
Reflecting on the sleeping Makarov, seriously note-taking, and occasionally participating Rhode...
Jenny couldn't help but question who the real President was.
Due to the abundant afternoon rest, Makarov was quite lively at the evening banquet.
The old man happily drank and even performed some odd dances before old friends, also showing off the guild's newcomer Lucy.
But the content of his boasting was too frivolous.
Listening made Rhode want to hit him.