Under the Frog Messenger's reminder, Rhode returned to the witness stand with Wendy and Carla.
Hapi wanted to approach Carla, but was still despised.
Natsu and Erza showed concern about whether Wendy was bullied by the people from the Advisory Council.
Before they could chat for long, the chairman knocked on the table to signal for silence.
"The enquiry meeting begins now!"
"On the evening of March 15th, the Cannibal Demon Canopus appeared in a certain valley near the Northern Coast of the Kingdom of Fiore and was defeated by mages that same night.
According to the Advisory Council's investigation, the people involved at that time were: Erza Scarlet, Natsu Doraguniru, Wendy Marvell, and Rhode..."
When Rhode's name was announced, everyone couldn't help but glance at him.
Because he only had a name, 'without' a surname.
Usually, even orphans growing up in welfare homes or churches, or wandering outside, would eventually acquire a surname or give themselves one.
Cases like Rhode, with just a bare name, were extremely rare.
Erza felt this most deeply; even though the person who gave her the surname Scarlet had almost completely become someone else, she never abandoned that surname.
At this moment, perhaps she feared and resented Jellal, but back then, Jellal was not only her lifesaver, he was the hope that rescued her soul.
However, the more it was like this, the more painful it was for Erza to think about Jellal's change.
Although it wasn't the right time, Erza couldn't help but ask, "Rhode, you... don't have a surname?"
"I do, my surname is Luo."
"What? Your name is Luo De Luo?"
"No, surname Luo, first name De, full name Luo De."
Natsu curiously asked, "Shouldn't it be called 'De Luo' then?"
"Just call me Rhode. Occasionally I'm called Old Luo, Ah De, Xiao De, De Ge, Cass, Teacher Luo, Zhang San, whatever you prefer..."
"Pfft, Xiao De." This name seemed to tickle Hapi's funny bone. He covered his mouth, cheeks puffing up.
Rhode clarified, "Don't laugh, Xiao De is a very impressive profession, not a nickname of mine."
They were happily chatting below, and quite a few evaluators looked displeased.
"Quiet! Since Makarov is here, he must already understand the details. Please explain what happened that day."
"zzZ..." Makarov nodded, nodded again, and continued nodding.
Erza nudged Makarov's back, reminding him, "President, it's your turn to speak."
Makarov suddenly woke up, subconsciously saying, "Right, what Rhode said is what I mean!"
Rhode patted his forehead. Oh no, having only attended two regular meetings, he'd let the President form this habit.
In the future, he really shouldn't go anymore!
The evaluators' faces looked even worse now. This was the Judgement Court! Didn't these people feel any tension?
A beautiful evaluator with long black hair hid her mouth as she laughed quietly;
The blue-haired youth who just appeared at the entrance also had an amused expression.
Mr. Yajima struggled to suppress his laughter, needing to maintain the dignity of an evaluator so he would be taken more seriously when speaking on behalf of Fairy Tail.
But Xiaoma and his group of kids were just too entertaining.
"Makarov! Please be serious. If you can't explain what happened that day, then Fairy Tail might be blamed for releasing the demon unauthorized!"
"Ahem..." It wasn't very polite to fall asleep in court, and Makarov felt slightly guilty, "Then, allow me to explain the situation at that time..."
The evaluators nodded continuously as they listened, believing that a mage like Makarov wouldn't lie about such matters.
Perhaps at most, he'd be biased towards those kids, or maybe, he himself was deceived by his own mages.
After listening, the chairman asked, "Does anyone have anything to add to Makarov's statement?"
Wendy didn't dare to speak much, and she and Carla weren't very familiar with the battle's details.
Natsu... the President wouldn't let him talk.
Only Erza and Rhode added some details here and there.
Rhode focused on complaining about the Advisory Council's post-incident handling professionalism.
The evaluators silently noted some useful information:
Turns out Canopus was an Earth Element Demon.
Turns out the two mountains at the scene weren't completely destroyed by those mages from Fairy Tail.
Turns out the demon awakening was likely the Council's responsibility...
Wait, whose responsibility?
Org, seated second among the evaluators, demanded, "Are you trying to put all the blame on the council?"
Rhode stated, "Absolutely not. However, we weren't responsible for the seal, so whether it was secure or not wasn't up to us."
"Then what about your responsibility for trespassing on the sealed ground?"
Rhode glanced at him strangely, "First of all, confusing cause and effect is wrong. The seal malfunctioned first, then we went to check it out. And your seal... is it something that explodes just by looking at it?"
"Sophistry! How do we know whether the seal malfunctioned first or if you went in and then caused the malfunction!"
It was tiring and annoying to always be looking up at people, Rhode's words became increasingly rude:
"If such an important seal malfunctioned and you didn't know, should we be blamed for not having someone stationed there?"
Org couldn't ignore Rhode's implication that they were negligent: "The council is responsible for maintaining stability across the entire Ishujal Continent, how can we station people at every remote sealed location?
Plus, when you discovered the issue, you should have reported it to the council immediately, not handled it yourself!"
"By the time we reported and waited for you to send people, the residents of two towns would've been dead!"
"Compared to the entire continent's order, two remote towns..."
"Org!" Mr. Yajima couldn't help but stop him, "In this setting, we represent the council. Please don't let personal emotions interfere."
Org said nothing, the sacrifice of the few for the stability of the many was often the council's principle.
How about ten years ago with Dailola, why were several cities destroyed one after another, was it because no one reported to the council?
No, it was because they had more important matters to attend to, the problems of the Magic Realm always piled up, and they couldn't spare extra resources to address them.
Matters must be prioritized and choices made.
Even now, two small border towns didn't mean much compared to the entire continent.
They always did this and were prepared to bear the infamy, but such disregarding life comments weren't things evaluators should say aloud.
"Rhode, all those who sit here have contributed to the Magic Realm. Even if you have complaints, please show a bit of respect."
Mr. Yajima advised, "I assure the council will judge this incident fairly."
Makarov also indicated there was no need to say more, just listen to Yajima.