"Gajeel?" Rogue unconsciously showed a bit of fear, lowering his head,
"That was a long time ago, now my name is Rogue."
Gajeel waved his hand and turned away, "It doesn't matter what your name is, but since you used to be my underling, don't show such a disgraceful expression. That look of being easy to bully makes my hands itch!"
"Gajeel!"
"Hmm?"
"Once we rescue the young miss, I'll come and challenge you again!"
"Hehe~" Gajeel chuckled like a small thug.
Reby murmured softly, "You were too harsh just now, you scared the guest."
Gajeel patted Reby's head, "Being too talkative won't make you taller."
"You!" Reby stamped her foot in anger.
Stinger envied Fairy Tail's atmosphere for a moment, then excitedly said, "Let's go, even if we have no clues, we'll still drag them out!"
Rogue said, "Who said there were no clues? Didn't we just analyze everything?"
Everyone, including the two cats, looked at him in surprise, "Huh?"
Rogue asked, "What was Kuanghua's goal just now?"
Stinger repeated, "To turn the members of the Eye of the Dream Demon into demons and bring them back to Gate of the Underworld."
Rogue nodded, "Right, she risked the entire guild being wiped out to proceed with this low-success transformation. What does that tell you?"
Stinger guessed, "Gate of the Underworld... lacks manpower?"
"It's that they lack enough strong manpower," Rogue said, "They are definitely planning something big next, needing some strong people for it, even if it means targeting their own guilds.
"So, they won't just target the Eye of the Dream Demon. Other guilds under Gate of the Underworld will likely face the same situation."
"You mean..."
Rogue nodded, "Exactly, Gate of the Underworld is hard to investigate, but those small guilds under them are easy to find. We just have to stake out those small guilds and we'll be able to catch a few high-ranking members like Kuanghua."
No need to say more, if you're confident in your abilities, try capturing them alive for interrogation.
If capturing alive isn't feasible, try tracking them to find the base of Gate of the Underworld.
Rogue actually recommends tracking, because the last one he encountered would self-destruct, making it too challenging to capture alive.
Stinger gladly accepted the suggestion and hurried off with Rogue, leaving Fairy Tail.
Wendy stretched out her small hand aggrievedly, "The healing isn't finished yet..."
Carla turned into her catgirl form, comforting Wendy, "Try to understand how they feel."
After sending them off, Erza returned, "What should we do next?"
Rogue said, "You guys? First, be Team B's servants for a day."
Erza's expression fell, and Lucy and Kana also showed awkward smiles.
Gray said, "This is hardly the time for jokes."
"..." Rogue wanted to say he wasn't joking, as Jubia had been waiting for them to return since Gray left, even crying yesterday to ask Rogue to supervise Team A in keeping their promise.
But now is indeed not the right time.
"You haven't seen Vorod yet, right? Go tell him about the mission first, and ask if he has any information."
Erza nodded, "Alright, my luggage is still at his place, I need to get it back."
Mira commented curiously, "It's rare for Erza to forget her luggage."
"Well, that was because we left so suddenly."
That big tree grew right from beneath their feet back then, stretching out instantly, leaving no time to call out to Vorod.
Natsu, always carrying his backpack, was fine, but Erza's luggage was left behind.
Team A drank some water and set out again.
Aside from helping Erza retrieve her luggage, they also had to claim their reward. Whether it's the Ten Wizard Saints or the senior members of the guild, whoever issues a task must pay up.
Rogue explained the situation to Makarov, asking him to help investigate the situation of the guilds under Gate of the Underworld.
The President has many unusual contacts and can always gather a lot of information.
Even without mentioning those, there's still the undercover in the Council.
The Council should have also intensified their investigation recently, so they could freely take advantage of the information gathered by the Council.
Makarov, with a sorrowful expression, said, "I told you to become President so that these information channels could be handed over to you, avoiding an extra step through me."
"We agreed not to mention that for now," Rogue said, "Besides, even if I were to become President, I would certainly put in the effort to establish my own information channels before taking over, rather than just enjoying your hard-earned results."
Makarov looked at him, "Did you try hard?"
"Let's not discuss that topic. Anyway, that's the rationale." Rogue realized he found himself another excuse, "Please just help with the investigation for now."
"..."
Though not very happy, Makarov knew the importance and didn't want an enemy lurking in the shadows.
So, the next day, he returned with the first batch of information:
"News from the Council, recently, including the Eye of the Demon, five dark guilds under Gate of the Underworld have been destroyed."
"Your hypotheses can basically be confirmed," Makarov said and then looked at Rogue as if looking at a monster.
"With just those bits and pieces, messy and barely intel-worthy information, you deduced Gate of the Underworld's recent actions and goals?"
Rogue originally intended to be humble but then had an idea, "It's thanks to a few incidents I encountered during the honeymoon. Without that, it would be impossible.
"You always prevented me and Mira from going out, who knows how much important information we missed.
"So, in the future, you must give us more vacation, like weekends off, 7-day holidays for important festivals, summer and winter breaks in June and December, and also spring and autumn breaks...
"In a few years, I might use the information gathered during travels to indirectly promote world peace.
"Giving us a holiday is saving the world, President!"
"..." Makarov looked at him speechless, "Do you think I've grown senile?"
"Not senile at all, of course not! You are in your prime now, eighty or ninety is the best age for the mind. So, stay President a few more years, the kids need your shelter and protection."
Makarov: "..."
How is it blocked both ways?
Oh, if I'm senile, I'll give you more holidays, not senile, and I have to continue being President longer?
In hindsight, he wished he hadn't let Pegasus' people teach Rogue the common language, now he can't argue with him.
What a regret!
He slammed a stack of documents into Rogue's arms, "Take the intel you want and get out!"