Edolas?
Everyone nodded in agreement; after all, it hadn't been long since the affair had passed, and acquiring a flying ship as the guild's exclusive vehicle was quite exciting.
Rhode thought for a moment before he spoke:
"Back then, weren't there experts from the Council and Fiore Kingdom who came to study and help modify it? I remember we earned two medals and a lot of prize money."
Marcus nodded and said, "That's right."
Alzack added, "Speaking of which, those two medals helped us avoid a lot of trouble, and the prize money was a great help."
Marcus hurriedly continued, "Let's not talk about that; the most important thing is that those people gained a lot of technology from our ship.
"Through research and improvements, those technologies were soon applied to all aspects of life, and magic suddenly became much more widespread and accessible.
"I've heard that many magical technologies on the Ishujal Continent originally had stagnated or progressed slowly, but those new technologies gave everyone a new perspective.
"The development of various new types of magic tools based on that saw an explosive growth period like a wellspring.
"Naturally, the number of mages increased greatly, and various changes occurred in daily life..."
Seeing Marcus speaking eloquently, Wolian and Alzack smiled.
Since the disappearance of the 'Celestial Wolf Group,' Marcus had become much more silent. Now, the talkative Marcus had finally returned.
Reby asked, "So does that mean by giving them the technology to study, we did a great deed?"
Troy, who was so fat he was hardly recognizable, blurted out without thinking, "Reby is right!"
Jet pushed his chubby face aside in disgust and corrected, "Initially, it was a great deed because it indeed made life better, but later on, some bad things happened as well."
Rhode frowned and pondered, guessing, "Could it be because the technology advanced too quickly, leading people to solve problems on their own and making hiring mages unnecessary?"
Wolian spread his hands, "That's about right. Because the new magic tools were too convenient, even ordinary people could easily use them, so the number of requests that guilds could receive drastically decreased, and then...
"This led to many mages being nearly unemployed, and some directly switched to live the lives of ordinary people."
Alzack said helplessly, "At first, our guild received a lot of praise and thanks, but later on, we were blamed by many mages.
"In Magnolia, it was somewhat better, but when traveling far, encountering mages from other guilds, we didn't really dare to talk to them."
Bisca said indignantly, "Obviously, it was the kingdom, the Council, and various magic item companies that decided to promote these things, yet we are the ones getting blamed."
Hapi said sadly, "It's so unfair."
"Because their livelihoods were affected," Carla commented, "but it's silly; they can use the tools too, and being able to use magic is always going to be an advantage, right?"
"And that's not all," Marcus said with a bitter smile, "The widespread use of magic tools also led to a significant increase in the number of mages and new guilds—because the threshold for becoming a mage became much lower.
"Then the already insufficient number of requests became even more competitive. If it weren't for the 'Inter-Guild Non-Resistance Treaty,' there might have been a return to the chaotic age of guild wars from a hundred years ago."
Wolian added, "Actually, it's not only among the mages' guilds that such problems exist; there have also been frictions between countries, to different degrees.
"Because the advancement in magical technology led to changes in military power among nations, I heard that our neighboring Bosco Kingdom and Sai Wen Kingdom have already had dozens of conflicts, big and small.
"The Kai Arum Kingdom has always been a very aggressive nation, and they also had unpleasant intentions toward the Fiore Kingdom. However, since the Fiore Kingdom is a neutral country, they eventually took no action.
"Later, the Council also took some positive actions, and although it hasn't completely stopped the disputes among nations to this day, it has at least prevented the situation from developing into a third 'Trade War.'"
In the history of the Ishujal Continent, 'Trade Wars' have occurred twice, for reasons that need no elaboration.
The Fairy Strategist Mebius shone brightly during the second Trade War.
Years later, due to Fairy Tail bringing self-contained magical technology from another world, it almost indirectly triggered a third Trade War.
Everyone felt a lingering fear; the word war is always heavy, especially for those who grew up in a peaceful environment in a neutral country.
They couldn't imagine the kind of pressure they would face if things turned out that way.
But even if it didn't evolve into the worst-case scenario, Fairy Tail had already been enduring criticisms, right?
International affairs could be understood slowly after returning, Makarov was more concerned about the guild's current situation: "So, now the difficulty everyone faces is that there are more mages, but fewer requests?"
Marcus shook his head: "No, that's the situation from two years ago.
"Two years ago, it was indeed as you said, with a sudden increase in the number of mages, but not enough requests, resulting in many small guilds going bankrupt and dissolving, and many dark guilds emerged, using every means possible to make money and disrupting the order of the magic realm.
"Correspondingly, naturally, there appeared a lot of relatively dangerous tasks, such as escorting and subduing.
"And those who never underwent systematic magical study and combat training, only relying on magic tools—some call them new school mages.
"These new school mages often lack battle experience and strong will. When faced with dangerous situations, they tend to cause accidents easily.
"Task failures leading to cargo loss, the death of clients, and the deaths of the mages themselves were common occurrences. That year, the mortality rate for mages surged, almost catching up with wartime levels."
Talking about death, everyone looked solemn.
According to Marcus's description, almost all new school mages could be classified as holding magic masters.
However, compared to them, individuals like Lucy and Kana who are traditional holding magic masters are akin to soldiers who have undergone various training.
Even if they carelessly lost their tools, they would still have some ability to respond; at the very least, they have their magic power to enhance speed, strength, and resilience.
Whereas new school mages are like ordinary people who have bought a handgun or grenade; they don't need to undergo arduous training to enhance their magic power; they only need to purchase powerful weapons to possess a certain level of destructive power.
In fact, both physical exercise and enhancing magic power inherently train one's willpower. Missing these processes makes it easy to lack the ability to react in crisis situations.
The fragility of their magic power also made their bodies more vulnerable, which naturally led to a high mortality rate when executing dangerous tasks.
Even those in Edolas, who had no magic power whatsoever, knew to strive to enhance physical fitness.
Perhaps this is what happens when technological progress is so fast that people's minds haven't caught up.
"Due to such an exaggerated mortality rate, the various kingdoms on the Ishujal Continent, along with the Council, formulated a series of new regulations, which somewhat alleviated the situation.
"In the past two years, the number of mages' guilds has slightly declined, and everyone is more welcoming of mages like us, who are traditional.
"However, most of the current tasks are somewhat dangerous, and the rewards may not be very generous. Overall, as long as the guild is managed well, life shouldn't be a problem.
"As for our guild..."
Marcus stopped here, exchanged glances with Wolian and Jet, and they all gave a bitter smile.
"Because we lost stars like you, our guild's appeal to clients has diminished.
"Coupled with all the various criticisms brought about by those earlier messy problems, we are barely maintaining."