"Is it Mr. Rhode?" Hayberion nodded, "Today, it's just the six of us, which is related to what we're going to discuss today."
Hearing this, everyone took their seats.
Vorod sat opposite Uluvheim, Makarov sat below Vorod, and Jura sat opposite Makarov.
Rhode sat next to Makarov, and suddenly felt like there was a seating order, and as expected, he was the last.
It made sense, being the youngest and joining the latest, having disappeared for six years.
Uluvheim crossed his arms, unsurprised: "'God Serena' still can't be contacted?"
God Serena, or Celestial God Serena, the top-ranked among the Ten Wizard Saints, was quite a mysterious person to Rhode.
He had only seen photos and hadn't heard what magic he used, although some newspapers provided some rumored information, but opinions varied, some said fire, some said wind, and others said water.
Without concrete information, Rhode could only imagine him as a knowledgeable mage proficient in multiple types of magic.
To be given the title of 'God,' the person must either be incredibly strong or just delusional.
"Mm." Hayberion pondered briefly, speaking with a heavy tone, "It's not just about being unreachable, there's intelligence suggesting he appeared recently in the Alvarez Empire."
Uluvheim exclaimed, "Alvarez Empire? Western Continent?"
Jura asked puzzledly, "Why would he be there, is there a special mission?"
Vorod still chuckled, "Is this a joke?"
Makarov widened his eyes, possibly the one most concerned about this matter.
Previously, he had been secretly gathering intel on the Western Continent, and never expected that the first piece of information he received in six years about the Western Continent would be this.
Hayberion ignored Vorod: "If it was because of a mission, that would be the best outcome, but I'm afraid it's not that simple."
He didn't utter his worst fears, only said, "Currently, there isn't more specific intelligence, if any of you have their channels, please keep an eye on the Western Continent, after all…
"They once had intentions of invading Ishujal, and recently seem to be expanding their military, who knows when changes might occur."
Aside from Rhode, the others nodded silently. Wars between nations were already troublesome enough, a war between two continents… was hard to fathom.
Rhode's previous impression of the Western Continent was just that it was Alzack and Bisca's hometown.
It was said that unlike Ishujal, which was divided into multiple countries, the Western Continent had long been unified, seemingly a highly centralized state.
It could be imagined, that this kind of superpower would fight fiercely.
Hayberion gave everyone a moment to digest the information and took the opportunity to finish a glass of milk.
He refilled his glass with milk and continued, "Before discussing today's topic, there's a piece of information to explain to Mr. Makarov and Mr. Rhode first."
Makarov and Rhode looked at him, being this serious, it must be important intelligence.
"I don't know if either of you has heard, during your six years of disappearance, two members of the Ten Wizard Saints have passed away."
"What?" Both showed shocked expressions, they had no idea.
Uluvheim gazed at the table, Vorod put away his smile, Jura folded his arms and closed his eyes.
They naturally had known for a long time.
Makarov hurriedly asked, "Those two… what happened?"
Hayberion slowly recounted, "Originally ranked 5th, Lady Proxi Jura, passed away at the age of 97, her great-granddaughter said she passed in her sleep.
"The day before her death, she was still revising her published magic book on techniques, around last July, that book was officially published according to her wishes."
Rhode recalled the rumors he had heard, about the multi-person technique used by the Council to arrest criminals, specifically designed and simplified by a certain member of the Ten Wizard Saints for them.
It was said that after several modifications, even those not very talented in magic could use complex and powerful techniques.
Thinking about it, it should have been Lady Proxi.
Rumored to be the strongest female mage in Ishujal.
Though he didn't know what kind of person she was, this contribution alone has greatly stabilized the Magic Realm.
Makarov sighed softly, seemingly mourning the passing of the lady.
"The other was the former 7th ranked Rentao O." Hayberion furrowed his brow.
"Rentao was still young, right?" Makarov remembered that person was just 59 six years ago… this age, for a mage, wasn't old.
"Mm." Hayberion said, "Rent's sacrifice, strictly speaking, might be considered an accident."
Rhode noticed his choice of words, "Might? Considered?"
Hayberion nodded, indicating that was what Rhode was thinking, the truth wasn't yet clear.
"That incident was one of the many tragedies since the prevalence of the new wave of mages, one of the most heartbreaking events.
"Two years ago, a team of four new wave mages from the Belrum Kingdom accepted an S-Class Task — to subdue the 'Sea Monster' that frequently killed fishermen…"
The grumpy old man Uluvheim pounded the table, "Those fools!"
"Wait, new wave mages, S-Class Task?" Rhode took this opportunity to ask, "Can new magic tools handle S-Class Magical Beasts now?"
"Theoretically, yes, not just the new magic tools, even six years ago, there were tools with sufficiently strong power."
Hayberion calmly explained, "Mr. Rent was recognized as a member of the Ten Wizard Saints with the identity of a magic tool wielder."
After saying this, he curiously looked at Rhode, this 'newly crowned' member of the Ten, seemed to also be a magic tool wielder, Hayberion couldn't understand why he would ask like this.
"…" Rhode knew his own family circumstances best, he was never a legitimate tool wielder.
But thinking about Mystogan's situation, it was normal for more powerful magic tools to exist, as long as the mage himself was a bit stronger, it should be possible to handle S-Class Tasks.
He nodded to indicate he temporarily had no questions and asked them to continue.
"We don't know what that team was thinking, but they clearly thought they had the ability to subdue the 'Sea Monster.'
"However, they evidently encountered an accident during the operation, and sent out a distress signal. Over twenty members from their same guild immediately rushed for rescue, yet… they were equally outmatched and pursued by the 'Sea Monster' to the shore. Then…"
Hayberion was reluctant to continue.
Rhode speculated, "Could it be that Mr. Rent was nearby and got dragged into it?"