The Shadow Wolves were sent out by Rhode; their keen sense of smell can assist in the search.
Natsu was also sent out by Rhode. His sense of smell is even more powerful than that of the Shadow Wolves. This is a chance for him to earn goodwill with the Council. If he ever gets into trouble in the future, he might receive some leniency.
Wendy's sense of smell is quite good too, but she stays in the camp, running around outside is too tiring, so Rhode didn't let her go.
With the remaining people and cats, there are eight total, just enough to form two groups for a card game.
This investigative process is somewhat similar to that time with the Ghost Guild, those who weren't called just have to wait patiently.
During the investigation, the Pegrandi Kingdom's army did arrive once, but their demeanor showed some hesitation.
Negotiations were handled by Lahar since the mountainous areas are too vast, and he lacked manpower, so he directly asked for assistance in the name of the Council.
Because the Council Headquarters are established in the Pegrand Kingdom, communication between both parties is very smooth.
"Finally won!" Erza happily threw down the last card and reached for a paper strip to stick on Rhode's face.
"Mr. Rhode, please come over here."
"Here I am!" Rhode 'apologetically' threw down his cards, stood up swiftly, and turned to leave.
Erza's action froze, from the flutter of paper strips hanging from her face to below her nose, her mood was visibly not delightful.
"Erza... Sis?" As Rhode's teammate, Wendy felt a little uneasy.
...
"What's the matter?"
"Mr. Miruto Stick has been arrested, here is his testimony."
Lahar handed a document to Rhode.
Rhode casually took it and began to turn the pages, but after flipping open one page, he closed it: "This case isn't closed yet. Is it appropriate for me to see this?"
"This is the opinion of the Evaluators," Lahar said, "The questions we need to ask you next are related to this."
"Alright then."
Rhode carefully read the testimony.
The commission issued by Miruto Stick was indeed colluding with the rebellious Star Spirits, even the content was directly provided by them.
The purpose was simple, he wanted to become the greatest astronomer in history.
Currently, he is quite well-known and can be considered one of the most famous astronomers of the time.
But he believes he can never compare to those predecessors who discovered new stars or named constellations.
To achieve his dream, he had once put in efforts, decades worth of efforts.
Yet in today's era, astronomy and Celestial Spirit Science have both developed comprehensively, leaving no new stars for him to discover, nor constellations for him to name.
To achieve the kind of accomplishment he desires, he can only overthrow the existing astronomical system.
But such an endeavor, without compelling reasons, is utterly impossible to achieve.
It was then that an incredibly handsome young man approached him, painting an unbelievably enticing future vision for him.
— Overthrow the current Star Spirit Realm, thus affecting the corresponding constellations and even the entire starry sky.
Then he would receive the assistance of 'new' Star Spirits to create the most accurate star chart at the fastest speed.
With this star chart, he would become the first astronomer accurately observing and describing changes in the starry sky.
He would be remembered as a pioneer of the next era of astronomy, forever regarded as a great man by future generations.
Moreover, no matter what astronomical issues he studies in the future, he could always obtain help from the Star Spirits.
In this way, he could achieve even greater accomplishments, earning titles like 'the all-knowing astronomer.'
Miruto Stick couldn't resist such temptation.
After understanding the abilities of the abandoned Star Spirits, he decided to collaborate with them, and then he implemented this plan to lure Star Spirit Mages into a trap.
Before this plan, they had even issued some normal commissions, allowing quite a few Star Spirit Mages to acquire Star Spirit Keys.
In fact, those were keys that were left behind during the previous serial murders of Star Spirit Mages.
Frederick, using certain means, let those keys reasonable drift into the outside world.
"Tsk..." Rhode recalled hearing the other day that Blue Pegasus acquired a 'Pegasus Constellation' key and some other rumors...
"So last month they weren't silent but were executing their plan all along?"
Lahar said: "No, according to Miruto's confession, your reminders through the Local Guild Alliance and the Council to the Star Spirit Mages in major Guilds indeed hindered their original plan.
"They were forced to adopt the current plan, and it was implemented rather hastily.
"According to their original design, the assassination plan aimed to eliminate most of the Star Spirit Mages, leaving only a few lucky ones for today."
Rhode nodded and continued to read through the materials.
When he flipped to the last part, Rhode read those few sentences twice carefully and asked, "Isn't the person responsible for providing intelligence him?"
Lahar adjusted his glasses: "No, during the execution of the assassination plan, Miruto Stick hadn't yet reached a cooperation with them.
"Though a 'Northern Cross Constellation' Star Spirit could access contract information in the Star Spirit Realm and discern the identities of the Star Spirits' contractors.
"But it couldn't track the whereabouts of the Star Spirit Mages, meaning it couldn't provide location intelligence for the assassination plan."
Rhode thought for a moment: "Yet during previous assassination activities, the rebellious Star Spirits could accurately locate the Star Spirit Mages.
"The common ones could ambush during missions, while the stronger ones could intercept targets directly on their way home... The most extreme case was killing into the Fiore Royal Palace to frame Lucy directly.
"So apart from Miruto Stick, there must be one more person or organization assisting them, helping to accurately target the movements of the Star Spirit Mages?"
Rhode looked at Lahar with suspicion.
The Council is definitely capable of doing this.
Because they not only have extensive mage records but also possess Magical Elf Power.
Magical Elf Power is known as a weapon capable of precise strikes anywhere on the continent — meaning it requires an accurate targeting support system.
Hence, the Council may likely have the means to accurately locate everyone's positions, although ordinarily not easily activated.
Such magic isn't surprising, Wolian can precisely locate the position of everyone in an entire town, maybe the Council has some equipment that acts as a super-enhanced version of Wolian.
Moreover, the Council isn't without its share of insider spies.
Lahar felt somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze and said with some difficulty:
"We've reached the same inference, there should be others assisting the Star Spirits' activities, but Miruto Stick isn't aware of it.
"Therefore, this matter requires further investigation; if you have any clues or the Star Spirit Realm can provide information, it would be greatly appreciated."