The only tavern within the village could accommodate more than a hundred customers. This two-storey building would always be filled with customers especially when the night approaches. 

This is the place where joyous occasions would be celebrated by groups of people. The residents and travelers would be more than willing to spend a small amount of money to buy alcoholic beverages and delicious meals that were only being served here. 

​​

This place should be filled with life… However, instead of hearing some joyous celebration after a whole day of working or hunting, the people weren't in a mood to celebrate.

"I heard that the previous incident that caused the deaths of about twenty people was due to the evil cult…"

"Is that true?"

"Mhmm… The culprit was captured… He has the image of an Imp tattooed on his arm…"

"Aren't they supposed to be in the northern region?"

"Hmph... I don't know what's happening but I think this is a serious case…"

"Why do you think so? I think that one of them was just probably lost… The cult would normally act together but he acted alone. Aside from that, instead of running away after getting some sacrifice, he continued his killing spree until he was captured…"

"It's weird... But don't you remember what happened more than a month ago?"

"Ha? What about it?"

"The Farahn Village! They sent several messengers to nearby villages warning us about the presence of Inferno Wolves…"

"Right… Now that you said… Inferno Wolves couldn't live in the Wailing Forest unless they were brought here…"

"Correct… Both the Evil Cult and the Inferno Wolves should be in the northern region… But they were somehow appearing here on the south… Isn't that weird enough?"

This conversation between two one-star Hunters in the tavern wasn't uncommon. Most of the groups inside the building have similar topics. It was all about the presence of the Evil Cult that has already taken many souls within the village.

They were all discussing the countermeasures implemented by the village chief to avoid the incident from happening again. 

Aside from that, offensive action was also being established.

"It seems that they are forming a subjugation party to raid the possible hideouts of the cult…"

"What? They already have information about it?"

"I'm not sure… However, the nearby mountain bandits seem to have disappeared in the past month, and their hideouts were reportedly being used by some other people… The chief may have suspected that it was now being used by the cult…"

"Subjugation party, huh… Are you going to join them?"

"Mhmm… I think that it's better to join them… The party would be joined together by the village guards, Hunters, and Arcanists… I don't think that we would fail this… We'll also earn some money…"

Due to the incident caused by a single cult member, everyone was made aware of how dangerous these people can be. Patrolling guards were doubled and people leaving the village would always be accompanied by some Hunters or Arcanists. 

Well, even if the cult was threatening, the confidence of Hunters who had fought many Wild Beasts and Evil Beast wouldn't easily falter.

Of course, Reiji was similarly made aware of this news as he asked some questions to Stella.

"You're amazing… You can match your uncle's work in the smithy…"

"Well, he doesn't have talent in practicing the Energy… So he's truly really impressive… If he can control it, then he would be even more amazing…"

"Ah… You're right…" Reiji commented as Stella already finished helping out in the smithy… He kept his silence during the whole duration of her work to avoid getting in the way. However, now that Stella returned after several hours of work, he decided to chat with her.

"Your uncle told you about the Evil Cult… What are you planning to do?"

"Eh? Nothing… Well, there would be a lot of people asking for repair or maintenance of their weapons so I'll probably get busy…"

"Oh, that might happen… Ah, I noticed that you really take care of your body, it is fit for combat. Are you sure you're not practicing any combat art aside from your current job?"

"No… I only want to focus on my current job… I practiced Spiritual Energy to have a chance of getting a hammer-type Arcana…"

Stella's answer confused Reiji…

"Eh? Isn't it random?"

"It is! However, I have a different plan… Once I acquired an Arcana, I'll be able to acquire an ownerless Arcana."

"Mhmm?"

"Ah… You're probably not aware of it… For some reason, only those who already summoned an Arcana can control a Rare-Ranked and above ownerless Arcana…"

Stella then further explained that common-ranked Arcana can be bought and controlled by anyone even if they are not Arcanist. However, those Rare, Unique, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic rank can only be wielded by those who successfully summoned an Arcana before, whatever rank it was…

"You're knowledgeable…"

"Ehehe! I'm quite serious when I planned to attend an academy before so I studied a lot…"

Reiji learned a lot by chatting with this young girl. It seems that this was some common knowledge after having a basic education, but he was only learning them today…

In any case, he felt really good talking to someone after a month of being secluded. Reiji also learned a lot about the process of creating those enhanced weapons after watching them work for a few hours…

It seems that not only Arcanists could process the beast cores… 

Even if it wasn't as effective as Magic Weapons, normal people can make these enhanced weapons as well and in massive numbers at that…

'Mhmm… I have to consider following around some full-fledged Arcanists in the future…'

Reiji had a thought but it may still take some time… After all, his main goal of creating his Dojo in this world hadn't changed yet. 

'I'd like to ask more questions about the Evil Cult but Stella needed to rest first… Well, I can just ask about it tomorrow or…' 

Stella was very tired after working for few hours so she wanted to sleep already… It was truly complicated making these enhanced weapons…

At the very least, her uncle decided to cut her working hours in half just in case her injury would reappear…

Whoosshh!

Since Reiji doesn't need to sleep, he decided to use Stealth and leave the house to gather information about the Evil Cult… After all, it seems to be an opportunity to complete his mission…

He floated very high and with the cover of the night, no one had noticed him… 

He then decided to get close to a tavern, a place where information would flow, and listened covertly.

It was enough to have about 20 meters of distance to hear conversations clearly and if more than that, the conversation may be inaudible, and at most, he can only feel their presence…

It didn't take long before he heard the information he wanted.

"Mountain bandits located further south? Evil Cult, huh… Just what kind of beings are they worshipping?"

Reiji heard some hunter's conversation and remembered the beast-like person he fought with using Stella's body… 

He was like a crazy person with unhuman's strength… His eyes would turn bloodshot and exude powerful Spiritual Energy or something similar… Unfortunately, he seems to be unable to control this power making him susceptible to mistakes which he, a master swordsman, could exploit. 

'If there's a group of these people that would attack the village… Then it would surely be a disaster…'

If they could control such power effectively then he was afraid that the current forces guarding the village may not be enough to fight them. Ten or twenty of them might be manageable, but if it's an organized attack of more than a hundred, then it would be a bloody fight for them.

Reiji decided to learn the truth… 

He flew in the direction of the mountain bandit's base of operation. He was planning to scout them as he was also curious whether their hideouts were indeed taken over by the Evil Cult. 

After more than twenty minutes of covertly flying, he noticed a very small light coming from a mountain… He could see it very clear as the moon was covered by clouds… He even felt that it would rain at any moment now. 

Anyway, if the place was viewed on the ground, he believed that the light would remain unnoticed by everyone…

'Alright… Let's see, if this is the right place…'

As soon as he got near, he noticed that several people were hiding in the trees surrounding the light at the center…

He cautiously approached them from above and noticed that they were indeed similar to the guy he fought within the village…

Same cloak, same tattooed arm, and last but not the least, those bloodshot eyes that radiate enormous power.

Reiji then observes the place and notice that they were indeed worshipping a statue that seemed to look like an Imp that he and Diether met in the Wailing Forest…

The statue was filled with the stench of blood…

About ten cloaked cult members are surrounding the statue and they seemed to have just finished their ritual. The other members were only at the side watching the ceremony…

The blood was still fresh when Reiji arrived so he wondered for a moment whether it was human's blood or beast's blood was used…

Haaa~

Anyway, it wasn't important now… He had to return to the village!

Based on his calculation, the number of their enemy reaches more than a hundred with ten powerful leaders!