"Oh! You look different today, Stella!"

Venya said to the approaching young girl while he was watering the plants in his garden. He was thankful to this little girl who managed to save him in time from the hands of the first cultist who arrived here.

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Because of that incident, he realized that he needed a way to either fight off an evil guy or at least have a method to escape from them.

Just his alarm or magic equipment that tells him if there's an uninvited guest was not enough!

In the end, his old body couldn't really put up a fight, so he fixed his hidden basement and made it a comfortable place to hide in case the same incident happened.

His worries became true after a bunch of cultists attacked the village and massacred everyone in their sight.

Luckily, even though the cultists noticed his prized collections of beast cores, they probably thought of looting them after completing their true mission in the village.

His house remained safe from fire and he similarly remained alive until the protectors of this village arrived.

"Ahh… Good morning, Sir Venya!"

Stella greeted the retired old man. He was probably referring to her tied hair and the wooden swords on her back. She would really look different especially if they know that she was a blacksmith helping her uncle just a few weeks ago.

Aside from that, there's already a lot of people who noticed her developing charm and complimented her about it. In the end, she learned how to just accept their words and reply with a smile. It seems that training with the sword helped her to look a bit more mature in their eyes. However, she couldn't tell the changes herself.

"Are you here for the magic equipment?" Venya asked.

"Yes, Is it really alright?"

"Of course! You know that I like collecting the beast cores more than these pieces of magic equipment…"

No one has really attempted to rob this man's house since almost everyone in the village knows each other. Aside from that, his collection of beast cores weren't that unique. He just really likes the color glowing faintly within each core.

Of course, the presence of the Hunter and Arcanists Association around the place was also counted.

The cult was really just too strong since they move in great numbers and they were even equipped with mysterious arcane arts.

Venya finished watering the plants in his little garden as he went inside his house to take the item that Stella was looking for.

After coming back, he now has a handheld brass bell with him.

Cling! Cling! Cling!

The chimes were pleasant to the ears as Stella listened to it.

"It is effective?" The young girl asked as she didn't sense anything after that.

"Of course… You just have to supply it with your Energy every time you use it. You know that I'm bad with it, right?"

"Ah... Thank you, Sir Venya! Here's my payment…"

"No need! Just take it as a gift from me. I'm still grateful for your help last time."

Stella still tried to give her payment but she finally gave in after she was scolded by her master.

'Sigh~ I still have no idea how to get some common or rare Arcana for my rank up. The only one I know was the Market Hall at the Royal Academy… However, they were all expensive…'

Reiji thought as he instructed Stella to save her money.

Yes, it seems that he was already treating Stella's money as his own.

'It's the payment for learning my techniques.' Reiji justified his thoughts.

"Master, the Knights have just arrived, I want to take a look at them for now… Can I?"

Stella suddenly asked after keeping the brass bell on her pouch. The two have something to do within the Wailing Forest today but it wasn't something urgent.

"Hmm… That's fine… I also want to see them." Reiji answered after giving it a thought.

After she made the wooden swords from the branch of a Beacon Tree, her formal sword training started. Her master taught her some sword swings, footwork, stance, and he even takes control of her body from time to time to do some difficult sword techniques where she had to keep it in mind and copy it after he finished controlling her body.

This continued for two weeks until she became familiar with the sword and finally, she made it! She was able to completely dodge the hanging woods!

It only took her two weeks! She really thought that it would take a year to pass on that stage!

Although it wasn't consistent, she still managed to dodge those tied logs for five whole minutes straight even at least once!

In the end, her failures lessened and after a week had passed, she could now easily pass the hanging woods! Her painful day was no more! Her master had no choice but to increase the tied logs to fail!

"Yes, I really want to see those dashing Knights!"

Stella thanked her Master as she proceeded to the western part of the village where the knights would meet the village chief.

It took three long weeks for a unit of Chaos Knights to arrive at the village. There were only ten of them but they brought their servants, or perhaps their squire, making them twenty visitors in the village.

Surprisingly, Viscount Kale, the noble that they only know in name whenever a tax collector arrives, helped them shoulder the expense of hiring the Knights Order and even exempted their village in tax collection for a month, so they can rebuild their place.

This noble owns the territory in this area and it is only now that they felt that he was caring for them!

Whatever happened to him, they were hoping that he would continue to be like this.

Soon, they arrived at the place where the Chaos Knights are, and noticed that there's a lot of people looking around as well.

With this distance, Reiji can similarly see the knights wearing armor similar to Marian's, the lady knight that he saved with Diether.

They have full-body armors that have mixed colors of silver and black. They were also equipped with a long sword and a short blade. Reiji felt that they were a bit stronger than Marian, based on the aura they exude.

"Whoa!"

"They look so cool… Are they staying in the village?"

"Yes! I heard it from the guards. It seems that they will also help us hunt any remnants of the Cult…"

"That's right… They'll probably investigate where did those people come from…"

"I just hope that they stay here for a long time…"

The people within the area stopped their work as they welcomed the knights who came from a different territory.

A lot of horse-drawn carriages can normally be seen in the village that was why the road was wider so people can still walk on the streets. However, the place was filled with people as they awed at the majestic knights present. It's not every day that you can see these people. They would normally stay at some noble's manor if they were not within a castle.

Aside from that, the Chaos Knights were known for their close combat prowess as they have been assigned before at the southern border. It was said that they could knock the orcs out even without their sword in hand!

Unfortunately, they provoked those orcs too much and there have been skirmishes almost every week when they were supervising the fortress. Of course, even though they have an upper-hand, the soldiers would still have casualties against the orcs that can easily reproduce.

They were then replaced by General Maximilian with his soldiers and calmed the orcs after requesting a one versus one duel against an Orc Chieftain and won.

Although it was all in the past, their achievements were still awe-inspiring that people still talk about them.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Reiji asked after Stella watched the Knights enter the residence prepared for them.

"Mhmm… Yeah, they look like knights…"

"Of course… What did you expect? Haa~ Let's go now."

"Yes, Master! I will do my best!" Stella answered as she forgot that she has to let those knights examine the sentient Arcana.

Anyway, Stella has to earn money now that she learned sword techniques from her teacher. Of course, her training was still incomplete so her mission wasn't to fight against some Wild or Evil Beasts.

Her task was to find some herbs within the forest and sell it at the apothecary or anywhere that would accept them. It would help her familiarize herself in the forest and would also help her train her senses.

Apparently, the herb that she had to find can mimic the overall look of a different, poisonous plant. They also rely on winds to carry their seeds away to reproduce so they could be anywhere.

The handheld brass bell that she received from Venya was an item that can help her safely identify these herbs within the forest.

They weren't harmful herbs so she just needs to be careful in identifying them to avoid getting poisoned by the real poisonous plants.

Stella readied all the tools she needed and left the two-wooden swords in her room and only brought the shinai.