According to the unwritten tradition of Fairy Tail, most matters can be resolved through fighting.
Although Precht and Vorod were two centenarians who had long left the guild, at their roots, they were still part of Fairy Tail.
Therefore, after a fight and an open conversation, their old grudges were basically reconciled.
Their paths might differ in the future, but they would never forget where they came from.
After that, Precht, temporarily aimless, stayed in the desert planting trees for a long time.
Eventually, because his personality was considered quite serious in the entire Fairy Tail, he couldn't stand Vorod's habit of speaking in jokes, so he chose to 'leave home.'
In the following time, he wandered around the continent.
For reasons he didn't want to admit, he was continuously investigating the movements of Zeref and the Black Dragon, thinking about ways to defeat them.
Meanwhile, he also kept track of his former subordinates, dealing with them appropriately.
Occasionally, he would observe Fairy Tail, which had lost the Celestial Wolf Group (this wasn't told to Rhode).
In short, the 'retirement' life of the second generation was quite busy.
Three years ago, he happened to watch the Great Magic Games once and felt a faint presence of Zeref.
Then he kept paying attention to this event.
Unfortunately, the influence of this event grew, the participating mages increased in number and strength, and the Council always sent people over.
Moreover, the organizers often invited celebrities or powerful mages as guests, making it inconvenient for him to act.
Although he studied stealth and disguise magic thoroughly in the past two years, infiltrating such a place was still troublesome.
Just this year, Ultear and Melty created an independent guild, so Precht went to learn about it and assigned them some tasks.
After all, their ultimate goal was to eliminate all darkness, including Zeref.
Ultear and Melty were naturally interested in matters related to Zeref.
But when it came to infiltrating the venue, even their President Hades found it troublesome, and they had no good solutions.
Moreover, news came that two of the Ten Wizard Saints would be participating, making the festivities unprecedentedly hot, complicating matters.
After discussing it, they decided to directly approach Fairy Tail.
This might be the only legitimate guild capable of direct contact and likely to help.
At the same time, it was also the guild with a strong chance of reaching the finals and winning, making it more convenient for investigation.
Importantly, Fairy Tail would definitely be interested in Zeref.
Upon hearing such evaluations, Rhode appeared somewhat melancholy: "Sigh... I wonder how long we can remain a legitimate guild."
Precht smiled but said nothing, and Ultear, recalling the report Fairy Tail had submitted, smiled knowingly.
Mira's voice suddenly rang out: "So the second generation has done so many things over the years."
The group was startled to see a dark-skinned Mira emerge from Rhode's shadow.
Once she fully stood on the ground, her Shadou form was undone, returning to her normal state.
"It's you." Precht was impressed with Mira; this young girl almost drove him to despair back then.
"Let me formally introduce, Mirajane, my wife." Rhode then said to Mira, "Didn't I tell you to follow from a distance?"
The other three displayed expressions of admiration, arranging reinforcements so close to the guild.
"Because..." Mira showed a grievance expression, "When the husband is dating two beauties, how could I bear to just watch."
Ultear and Melty greeted her awkwardly.
Rhode patted Mira on the head: "Wasn't it just to come over and listen to the gossip?"
Mira raised a hand, creating a size gesture with her thumb and index finger: "Partly because I felt the second generation was saying interesting things and wanted to listen."
Mira said mischievously: "I heard over the years, some dark guilds dealt with by President Precht had connections to Oracion Seis, intending to take revenge on our guild."
Precht with a straight face, arms crossed: "I don't know about such things."
The old stubborn one secretly takes care of the guild but won't admit it.
Rhode decided to give the centenarian some face, asking: "Is there more information about that Magic Power?"
Precht said: "It's nothing short of bizarre. Anyone who has seen Zeref or studied his magic will surely sense it.
"If I were to guess, there's a high possibility someone is preparing to use Zeref's magic or summon some demon.
"The goal is likely to capture all the outstanding mages in Sior Kingdom while they're gathered. Just like the recent plot against the Star Spirit Mages."
Rhode had much to say on this matter.
Judging by the situation, there certainly were similarities, as both involved gathering many mages and displaying eerie signs.
But, the event's organizers were the royal family of Fiore Kingdom, Princess Jade, and her family, surely they couldn't be foolish enough to want to eliminate their country's mages?
Looking to be a neutral nation enough to be taken down?
Precht continued: "There's also a very small possibility Zeref himself has entered the venue."
"How could that be?"
"Impossible."
Ultear and Melty were startled, clearly Hades hadn't shared this conjecture.
Rhode followed his line of thought: "Are there things or participants in the venue that interest him?"
"He might also wish to evaluate the capabilities of Fiore's mages." Precht looked at Rhode, "After all, this country has something he wants."
Fairy's Heart? Rhode immediately thought of the guild's biggest secret: "Are you saying..."
"So Makarov even told you that, huh." Precht looked at Rhode, "How soon are you planning to take over as the next guild president?"
"Not possible." Rhode outright denied it.
But under the other's gaze, he could only sigh and say, "Alright, I'll stall for as long as I can."
Ultear and Melty were quite curious about the thing they were referring to.
But Precht didn't elaborate further: "All in all, I'll leave you to investigate this matter. I'll keep watching other information."
"Alright." Rhode nodded, immediately switching to a business-like tone, "We accept this commission. What's the compensation?"
Precht chuckled; I, as the second generation of Fairy Tail, asked you to investigate something, which you were interested in anyway and voluntarily provided information, and yet you ask for compensation?
This is truly...
Truly a good prospect for guild presidency!