Rhode's sudden visit gave Sabertooth a scare that was neither too big nor too small.
They thought he was here to wreck the place again.
Fortunately, this time no hot‑blooded idiot rushed in to take a swing at Rhode.
Stinger got the message and invited Rhode to sit inside, asking about his purpose.
"Is Rogue here? I was entrusted by someone to bring something to the two of you."
"Rekete, go call Rogue over."
"Okay." The little red cat quickly brought Rogue over, and of course, behind them followed a green cat in a pink frog costume—Floros.
Rhode directly took out two Magic Crystals, one black and one white: "Someone who claimed to be your friend asked me to pass these on to you."
Stinger naturally recognized the things: "This is… a Dragon-Slaying Magic Crystal? And the attributes match ours exactly."
Rogue took the black Magic Crystal and carefully felt it: "Seems a bit different, but… this aura is really familiar."
Stinger asked in confusion: "Something this precious… who gave it to us?"
Rhode didn't answer head‑on: "After giving me the Magic Crystals, he disappeared. He only left a few lines for me to pass on to you."
The two of them listened quietly.
Rhode said, "First is intel about Minerva. After the final day of the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, she quietly left the Royal Capital, suspected of joining the Dark Guild—Eye of the Dream Demon."
Rogue's eyes went wide: "What?!"
"How is that possible?" Rekete and Floros were also startled.
Stinger braced his hands on the table and stood up: "Mr. Rhode, is that true?"
Rhode shook his head: "That's for you to investigate yourselves. I can't judge it either. He also said your former President Jerman's body might have been stolen by the Dark Guild for research."
"President Jerman's…" Stinger remembered something and asked, "Rogue, do you still remember how the young lady handled the President's corpse?"
"She stored it away with her Magic…" Rogue thought for a moment, then guessed, "Could it be like with Rekete—when the young lady was defeated, the President fell out of the space and landed somewhere?"
Minerva's Magic can create a special space, to temporarily imprison people or store things.
But unlike the Requip Magic's space, the spaces she creates all disappear when she is defeated; the people and things inside are scattered out.
So their analysis was that on the day of the water battle, when the young lady was struck by Lucy's Star Map History and lost consciousness, he might have fallen somewhere unknown, then been taken away.
Or it might have been the previous night: after the incident, the young lady went outside the city or somewhere to bury Jerman, then he was dug up and stolen.
Either way, none of this is good news for Sabertooth.
However, Rhode had more bad news.
He lifted Floros and set him on the table, and said to Rogue: "Lastly, there's a prophecy: 'Floros will face a life‑threatening danger one year from now.'"
"What did you say?!" This time Rogue's reaction was clearly more agitated than before.
Floros is the most important person to him; no matter what, he doesn't want Floros to be harmed.
Rhode added one last bit: "Same deal, no idea if it's true. Supposedly it's connected to a mission investigating the Black Magic Sect. Anyway, just pay more attention to protecting him."
Floros was clearly frightened: "Will Fro die?"
Rogue immediately hugged him: "No. I will absolutely protect Floros!"
Floros's voice was trembling a bit, but he still answered obediently: "F‑Fro thinks so too."
Rhode took a sip of tea and stood up: "Alright, that's all I had to say. I've delivered the goods, so, see you."
"Wait a second!" Stinger hurriedly called after him. "Thank you for bringing such vital intel. At least let us treat you properly, okay?"
"No need, I've got urgent business." Rhode waved his hand and left straight away.
His wife wanted to eat the grapes from around here—that was the most important matter right now.
Stinger and Rogue could only see him off to the front gate.
When the two of them went back into the Guild, Sabertooth's members immediately crowded around, asking about Rhode's purpose.
"Mr. Rhode brought us intel on the young lady." Stinger decided to reveal only a portion. "The young lady's disappearance may be connected to the Dark Guild Eye of the Dream Demon. I'd like everyone to keep an eye out for any information related to that Guild."
"So it's the Dark Guild behind this?"
"No problem!"
"I'll start investigating right now!"
Unlike Jerman, Minerva might be haughty and strict, but her popularity in the Guild wasn't low. As soon as many heard there was intel, they moved into action immediately.
Rogue suggested, "We should investigate too, Stinger."
"I think we should deal with this first." Stinger took out the Magic Crystals. "They look like Dragon-Slaying Magic Crystals, but I feel like these don't need to be implanted—we can just 'eat' them directly."
Rogue studied the one in his hand carefully and said, "I get a similar feeling… If we absorb the Magic Power inside, we should get a lot stronger."
Stinger brought the Magic Crystal up to his mouth, but then pulled it back, a grin appearing that looked almost identical to Natsu's: "I suddenly thought of a great idea!"
"What?"
"Let's switch and eat each other's."
Rogue froze: "Switch?"
"Yeah. I was thinking, if we gain dual‑attribute Dragon Slayer Magic, we might actually have a shot at beating Mr. Natsu."
"..." Rogue was tempted; he was thinking the same thing—that this might let him catch up to Gajeel.
Both of them were thrilled by the idea. A single person with dual‑attribute Dragon Slayer Magic—this would be unprecedented, right?
...
"Water Flow Slash!"
"Partial Takeover: Asbiote Arm!"
Lisana swept her hand and fired a sharp Water Blade; Elfman's arm turned to stone, perfectly blocking the attack.
Their sparring round came to an end, and Elfman asked in puzzlement, "Isn't Lisana learning Magic from Laxus? Why are you using Jubia's moves all the time?"
"Because my Dragon Slayer Magic is Water Element, so Natsu's kind of fighting style doesn't suit me." Lisana said. "Laxus suggested I follow the same path he took."
At the start, Laxus didn't deliberately learn Dragon Slayer Magic; he learned standard Lightning Magic first.
It was only later that he learned how to tap into the Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic Crystal's Power, letting his Lightning Magic carry the Dragon Slayer Attribute any time he wanted.
After that, with just a bit of research into Dragon Slayer Magic, mastering it became very easy.
Laxus even believes that even if he removed the Dragon-Slaying Magic Crystal, he could still continue to use Dragon Slayer Magic.
Lisana is still far from that stage; she started with ordinary Water Magic, then followed Laxus's guidance on how to channel the Power of the Dragon-Slaying Magic Crystal.
And when it comes to learning Water Magic, of course she went to Jubia; Lisana and Jubia happen to be on very good terms.
In practice, she did run into a few problems while learning Water Magic, for example:
(Jubia: To make Water Magic stronger, you must first be filled with love for Lord Gray! Ah… could it be that Miss Lisana also wants to steal Lord Gray from Jubia?
Lisana: I absolutely don't.
Jubia: Then Jubia can teach you.)