"Oh~ Enri, you've come!"

Stella heard the old village chief exclaim as he approached Enri, the woman who knocked out Frank by using a stone…​​

They were now at the chief's residence together with the unconscious Frank. He's currently being carried by a couple of guards that were assigned at the watchtower.

"Father, I'm sorry for being late…"

"It's alright! Don't worry about it, you must be busy in the academy." The chief replied as he smiled toward his daughter. It seems that they don't see each other that often.

"Mhmm… I already filed a leave of absence… I can stay here for a month to help you."

"Oh! Thank you… How was your work?--- Ah, by the way, what happened here?"

The chief remembered that she was not alone when she came here.

He gently nodded towards Stella who politely greeted him and suddenly frowned at the unconscious man…

"Oh, no… I think I understand what happened…"

The chief shakes his head as he somehow realized what happened just by looking at the people involved…

He was recently approached by a couple of guards stationed at the northern gate telling him that they were here due to his summons. He later learned that it was ordered by Frank for some reason…

"Sigh~ Can I hear everything that happened? Right, come in first…"

"Alright…."

Stella and the guards entered the chief's residence as they told what happened. Enri also added what she had seen during that time so it didn't take long for him to fully understand what happened. On the other hand, Frank woke up and tried to deny everything but it was futile.

The chief could only sigh before announcing his decision, he didn't wait for the other elders as this matter involves Stella, the swordmaster who can fight 4th-Class Arcanists with her swordsmanship.

Even if this is just an attempted murder of a fellow villager, it is still a grave crime. Especially to this place that can be attacked by beasts anytime…

What they needed in the village is solidarity and not disharmony.

Unfortunately, there is no prison in this village… They don't have enough resources to feed them, so the worst possible punishment aside from being killed on the spot was to be tied and be left with nothing other than their undergarments deep inside the forest…

Once they were tied, they could only be eaten alive without any means of fighting back.

Of course, if the offender doesn't have to be killed, they can be transported to a nearby town or city to be imprisoned for a time depending on the crime they made.

Aside from that, if they were perhaps in a different kingdom, this able-bodied person would most likely become a slave…

"This man will be stripped in his position as the Jarnae village's guard and be sent to Bluen Town to serve his sentence in prison…"

"You--!"

Frank wanted to fight but noticed that the mysterious woman was looking coldly at him so he immediately went silent.

As long as he's alive, he would have a chance… but if he moved now, he'll definitely be killed.

That wooden sword no longer matters to him, he just wants to get away from this place…

"Father… Why don't we just kill him here?"

"Haa~ He still fought against the Three-Eyed Cult and served this village for more than five years… He also contributed a lot during the beast wave three years ago…"

The chief explained to his daughter. Even though Frank didn't truly make a lot of contribution in those battles, he still befriended many residents in this village and probably has a few supporters within the guard's unit.

"Are you alright with that, Stella?"

The girl was only silent as she was talking to her master… After all, her true intention of meeting the village chief was to get those Arcana left by the cultists…

"It is unfair for me, Chief Marlon…" Stella confidently said and even Enri at the back nodded her head in agreement.

The chief saw this and thought for a moment…

"I see, how about we give all of his possession to you. You can take his weapons, money, and everything… You can visit the house he was staying at to take them… How about that?"

The chief offered but this is not what she was after.

"That's good… However, I want more…" Stella said with a determined gaze…

As Frank was already brought somewhere else by the other guards, only three people were left at the chief's residence. It was now time to reveal her true intention…

"Alright… Tell us what you want, I'll do my best to give it to you…" The chief can only say after noticing that Stella has something in her mind.

As long as this swordmaster is willing to stay in this village, he would accept any conditions as long as it won't harm the whole village.

"I want to take some of the Arcana left by those people who attacked the village…"

Stella didn't say the number of Arcana she wanted and planned to negotiate to any number that the chief will offer.

"Those evil weapons?" The man asked in confusion… Those things must be destroyed, why would this girl want them?

"Father, there is no evil Arcana, only evil wielder…"

"Ahh… Enri, even if that is what you are teaching within the Academy, the people here have already treated them as an evil weapon… Their families and relatives died through those staves…"

At this point, Stella decided to make it clear…

"Chief, I heard that you have plans to destroy those items… How about this, let me destroy them for you… I only wanted to study them a bit."

"Are you planning to bring it to the smithy?" Chief Marlon asked as he tries to understand Stella's intention.

Enri then made an inquiring gaze at her father…

"Ahh… Enri, just a few weeks ago, this young lady was working as a blacksmith at the only smithy in the village…"

"I see…" Enri nodded her head as she understood what his father meant.

"Stella, right? Are you planning to break apart those staves?"

"Uhmm… Yes, something like that…" Stella answered.

After a few more negotiations, the village chief agreed to hand over three Common-Rank Arcana to her… Apparently, the Chaos Knights seem to have an interest in those weapons as well so she can't take more than that.

At the very least, she would still have the right to take whatever that guard has left in his possession.

The first was his spear, an enhanced weapon, that he inherited from the previous guard leader. The second item was his leather armor that was made from the hide of a Spirit Lynx.

The two may cost a total of 75 to 80 gold coins!

It was good compensation for the inconvenience she had to endure.

Stella then went to the house that was owned by Frank to loot the place. Anyway, she was accompanied by a guard that was instructed by Chief Marlon.

The house was small but it was made of sturdy wood. Since the place was small, it didn't take long before she found some valuable things.

Unfortunately, the man only has clothes and few gold and silver coins. However, her master seemed to have a good sense for locating secret stashes as he made Stella look under the bed…

Soon, they found a bag filled with vials of unknown liquid! Well, the vials were made of exquisite glass, and she can see the bright colors they emit under the sunlight…

"They're beautiful…"

There's a total of 12 vials in front of her and noticed that they were separated by two colors of liquid, it was red and purple.

She was still unaware of what kind of potion, poison, or tonic this is, but she felt that they were very valuable considering the box where Frank had placed them…

Even Reiji couldn't help but be curious.

After learning a few potions from Diether and Stella, he also became interested in them and wanted to learn more…

Anyway, Stella took all of them and brought them to her house… She planned to take a sample from each color of potion and bring them later to the Apothecary to be appraised.

"Why don't you just ask Frank?" The guard who carried the box and brought it to her house asked.

"Ahh… I don't think it's a good idea… He might just lie and waste my effort. It's better to ask a professional to save time…" Stella answered and then thanked the guard for helping her.

***

On the next morning, Stella heard that the carriage that was transporting Frank to the town was attacked by bandits. Frank seemed to have died in the encounter and only one guard survived…

Well, only one guard was accompanying him, to begin with. It was the daughter of the village chief, Enri.

At first, when Stella heard the news, she thought that Frank was truly just unlucky… However, according to her master, it doesn't seem to be as simple as that and only told her to be careful in front of that woman.