Makarov said, "In that case, let's not force it. We'll leave it to other guilds to handle."
Erza agreed, "I have no objections."
Mira asked, "Aren't we going to ask Mystogan?"
"He's never been interested in missions from other continents." Makarov decided to shelve the century-long mission.
There were only a few qualified to take on this mission in the guild, and since none of them were confident, it could only be left alone for now.
"By the way, about this year…" Makarov glanced at Rhode and waved his hand, saying, "You can leave now."
They were about to discuss the S-Class exam, and for the sake of fairness to other candidates, Rhode couldn't listen in.
As for Mira, she should be able to keep it confidential.
Rhode had no choice but to go downstairs to continue working. He flipped through the various commission lists the guild had received over the past few days but couldn't find the one he was concerned about.
Considering it might have already been taken, he looked further back.
Sure enough, on the second day after he and Wendy set out, someone had taken a mission to search for a missing person from Dandy Lane Village.
Dandy Lane Village was the village where those missing fruit farmers were from.
Upon reviewing the mission details, Rhode learned that besides the villagers disappearing, even their houses vanished as if they had disappeared into thin air.
This bizarre event was clearly caused by magic, so the villagers requested a mage to investigate.
And the person who accepted the mission was... Mystogan.
Rhode closed the dossier.
Since Mystogan went, there was nothing to worry about. He had never seen Mystogan fail a mission before.
However, everyone must have been hypnotized by him again. Doesn't anyone want to hit him?
…
In the evening, Rhode called on Mira and Wendy to head to the usual meeting spot with the dragons.
Natsu had not returned since he left the guild to find Kildas, possibly due to a severe beating.
Wendy asked, "Aren't we calling Gajeel?"
"I haven't seen him in the guild these past few days," Mira thought for a moment and added, "he hasn't taken any missions either."
Rhode wasn't too keen on having Gajeel join in.
But considering the dragons might want to see Gajeel, Rhode said, "Next time, definitely next time."
The three of them and one cat rode on two river crabs, wrapped in thick cloaks, setting off. Carla poked her head out from Wendy's collar, looking quite amusing.
Mira quietly pointed it out to Rhode.
Rhode patted his own chest, indicating that she could sneak in there too, but Mira refused.
When they reached the open grounds, the terrain still bore traces of the previous havoc caused by the Purgatory Sub-Dragon, blackened and erstwhile reeking of sulfur, though the scent had largely dissipated.
In some places, the ground had been dug up, either for mining or investigation.
Rhode guessed the Cloud Sub-Dragon was impatient, so he didn't bother with preambles and directly gripped the pendant, "Summon, Cloud Sub-Dragon!"
"You are so slow!" The silhouette of the Cloud Sub-Dragon hadn't even fully formed when she immediately voiced her complaint at Rhode.
Her voice came across as that of a quick-tempered big sister, speaking especially fast, "What were you doing yesterday?"
Rhode felt he only heard two incomplete phrases, 'you're too' and 'what were', straining to distinguish that they were two sentences.
"Oh, sorry, I..."
"I know, afraid of causing a commotion, just like the Mountain Range." The Cloud Sub-Dragon interjected, "I'm Cloud Sub-Dragon, just call me Cloud, or Sister Yun, Sister Feng, whatever you prefer. You're Rhode, right?"
She spoke so quickly that Rhode found it challenging, having to carefully distinguish each sentence.
After arduously figuring out what she said, Rhode replied, "Yes, I'm..."
The Cloud Sub-Dragon interrupted again, "Rhode, our Summoner, if there's anything in the future, just let me know. I might not be as formidable as Purgatory, but I can definitely help."
"Ah, tha..."
"No need to be polite with me! Alright, I've already given you the Cloud Dragon Soul, study it first, and we'll talk about the rest later."
Rhode was reminded of the conversation between Judy the rabbit and Flash the sloth in Zootopia.
He suspected that to the Cloud Sub-Dragon, he was the sluggishly speaking Flash, or perhaps everyone was.
The Cloud Sub-Dragon took a gentle sniff of the air around her, displeased, "The place is filled with the sulfuric stench that Purgatory made, so annoying!"
Her wings fluttered slightly, sending a gentle breeze through the group, causing Mira and Wendy's long hair to sway. The faint sulfuric scent in the air was immediately dispelled.
Mira exclaimed, "Such amazing Wind Magic."
Though not well-versed in wind magic, it was clear how challenging it was to be both widespread and gentle, yet so effective.
Rhode understood even more just how difficult it was.
He now realized that the Cloud Sub-Dragon had given him the Dragon Soul beforehand, intending for him to utilize this skill. Unfortunately, his performance likely left her disappointed.
After dispelling the sulfuric smell, the Cloud Sub-Dragon seemed in much better spirits. She lowered her head towards Wendy, speaking quickly but audibly slowing down just a bit, "You're Wendy, right? Try using your breath attack on me?"
"Huh?" Wendy struggled to make out what she was saying, "You want me to use Sky Dragon's Roar?"
"Yes, directly at me, from the front."
Carla asked bewilderedly, "Why do something like that?"
"Don't worry about it, just do it; you won't harm me."
"Alright!" Wendy took a deep breath...
Rhode suddenly understood; no wonder she had to dispel the sulfur smell first. This Cloud elder sister, although hasty, was unexpectedly considerate.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
A powerful tornado struck the Cloud Sub-Dragon head-on, enveloping her entire head, making the feather-like scales on her body tremble slightly.
Yet not a speck of dust rose behind the Cloud Sub-Dragon. It was as though she took on the entire attack, using her feather-soft, fluffy dragon scales to absorb all the wind, sparing the area behind her from any impact.
Carla was astonished, "Didn't even move an inch!"
Though Wendy's Magic Power wasn't overwhelmingly strong, how could she receive a frontal Dragon Slayer Magic used for felling dragons without any impact?
"Breath attacks aren't used that way, listen closely." The Cloud Sub-Dragon paused, looking at Rhode,
"You listen as well. Wind power can be a cutting force or a penetrating force. The important thing is to concentrate it, either focused concentration or dispersed concentration, but it must be concentrated. Got it?"
Rhode and Wendy both shook their heads; who could understand such a tongue-twister spoken at such speed?
"I've said it so clearly, what's not to understand?" The Cloud Sub-Dragon seemed bewildered:
"Oh well, I'll demonstrate. Summoner, use the Mountain Range's power to create two targets, as large as possible."