The time required for a mage's mission varies; sometimes it's a round trip in a day, other times it takes years.
If it's just a loss of contact for two to three days, it's not unusual at all, but that's after the mission has officially started.
In other words, even if someone as unreliable as Kildas goes missing for three years, it should be after meeting the client and confirming the acceptance of the mission.
Today's case, where the client directly contacts the guild saying that the agreed meeting time has passed without seeing anyone, is very rare.
At least Erza wouldn't make such a mistake.
"Since the client has already contacted us, we'll switch personnel to handle this commission, and then Erza and the others will figure out a way to get in touch."
Mira reiterated the usual rules. The current problem is twofold: the guild's trust with the client and the members' safety, both need to be properly resolved.
She also asked, "Have there been any changes to similar rules in recent years?"
Laki shook her head, "No changes, but if even Erza's in trouble, sending someone else will have to be up to you all."
Laxus went out early in the morning, Kildas is teaming up with Kana, having a grand time on his own.
Makarov, accompanied by Macao, is busy re-accepting the position of president, meeting the mayor, notifying friendly guilds, and submitting reports to the Local Guild Alliance and Council...
The only ones who can solve this are Rhode and Mira, considering Erza's disappearance, it might not be safe for Mira to go alone.
Of course, Juvia isn't around right now; otherwise, she would've gone out looking for Gray once she knew he was missing.
"Then let's go," Rhode said, "Give us the info. I remember the place they went to has a particularly tricky name."
Laki quickly found the mission information, stammering as she read, "The client's town is called... Turnera Treionafria, the bandit group's hiding place is called... Parson Flower Mountain."
Rhode carefully reviewed it, then handed the file to Mira, "Let's depart now. I'll first head to the carriage rental to inquire for news, you prepare some food for me, okay?"
"Hmm, Isn't there any other luggage we need?"
"Nope." Rhode pointed upstairs, "We'll be back in just a few seconds."
Rhode planned to use the Hex Flying Gate as the Flying Thunder God Technique, allowing him to return home for meals and rest during long-distance missions — assuming the other side is safe and the magic array won't be sabotaged.
The two temporarily split up, Rhode went to the carriage rental place.
Due to the development of various new transportation tools, carriages have become increasingly rare; now the only advantage of carriages is their low rental cost, which might be why Erza and the others chose them.
However, as technology advances and the costs of other transport decrease, carriages will reduce even further.
Eventually, there might be a rebound, but only for the sake of experiencing and sightseeing.
It's precisely because carriages have dwindled that Rhode found it easier to locate people, a bit of inquiry and he found the coachman who took Erza and the others to the town named... something...
"You mean the red-haired female knight, the severely carsick young lad, and the scantily..."
"Yes, yes, that's them!" Rhode quickly nodded, interrupting the rest of the sentence that might damage the guild's reputation... though it's not very useful, but can't give up the struggle.
Rhode continued to ask, "Could you tell me when you reached the destination?"
The coachman thought for a moment, "I dropped them at that long-named town the day before yesterday afternoon."
It seems they arrived safely, Rhode nodded, then asked, "Do you know where they went afterward?"
"Among them, someone said they'd go to the hot springs, someone mentioned Pomelo Hotel, another mentioned meeting the client, and someone else talked about going to some mountain. Since I left soon after, I didn't clearly hear where they planned to go."
What a mess, Rhode felt the one who proposed going to the hot springs must be Erza; if she hadn't suggested it first, others wouldn't dare be so bold.
"Was there anything unusual on the way?"
"Um... someone in the carriage kept saying they felt sick, asking me to stop, then moments later exclaimed how comfortable the carriage was, urging me to speed up. Does that count?" The coachman wondered if the intermittently carsick young man had mental issues.
"Uh... that's normal." Rhode guessed Natsu's resistance to Troya was getting stronger.
Rhode then asked about the route to the town, notable things encountered along the way, and after thanking him, hurried back to the guild.
Mira had already prepared food and water, Rhode summoned the River Crab, carrying both of them swiftly towards Turnera Treionafria along Erza and the others' route.
The purple River Crab made Mira a bit uncomfortable to look at, but she noticed the speed was faster than before and speculated the previous green crab was likely juvenile, now it had matured.
"Erza and the others safely reached that 'Turnera town', but their next move is unclear, we'll have to investigate once we're there," Rhode shared intel while eating.
Mira expressed concern, "I heard from Laki that only Erza's Celestial Wheel Armor was repaired among her frequently used armors; we must hurry."
Everyone is still not quite familiar with the new era, and since Erza isn't at her full power, Mira worries they might have encountered a difficult new magic.
Rhode freed up one hand to pat the River Crab, "Speed up."
The River Crab's speed suddenly increased, even surpassing several Magic Four-Wheeled Vehicles, heading straight for the outskirts.
The purple crab dashed like the wind, carrying them on the main road, passing two or three villages, traversing forests and hills.
Once Rhode finished eating, he directly picked up Mira, leaping from the crab's back.
Blue-white wings of a Cloud Sub-Dragon extended from his back, allowing faster flight through the air, with only the sound of rushing wind in his ears.
Below, the River Crab disappeared, while two figures emerged from the dense forest by the roadside; one was a double-chinned, short, fat man with purple skin, resembling a giant Purple Sweet Potato; the other was a thin man dressed in tight clothing like a Black Snake.
'Purple Sweet Potato' stared at the spot where the River Crab vanished, saying, "Wasn't that a Fairy Tail guy?"
'Black Snake' glanced up at the silhouette vanishing in the sky, taking out a newspaper. Matching with the images, he said eerily, "Yes, that's him, rushing as if something interesting happened, should we catch up to see?"
"Don't joke around, how could we possibly catch up at that speed." Purple Sweet Potato immediately rejected, "Doesn't your newspaper say that guy can take out 5 guilds with one move?"
Black Snake said, "But the president mentioned that aside from Makarov, only he might know that secret."