The shinai, or the Cursed Arcana as what he calls, had slightly vibrated on his waist. It wasn't to the point of being alarming but he was sure that something happened to his master.
"What happened? Ugh… Master is not answering again…"
In truth, Diether doesn't know a lot about Reiji.
The few things that he knows about the Arcana were that it has sentience unlike others and it wanted him to be called Reiji. Of course, Diether would call him Master or Master Reiji at any appropriate time.
He also knows that his master wasn't in the peak of his state yet and was slowly getting stronger through various means like consuming blood or practicing his floating skills.
Anyway, it wasn't the first time that he was being ignored by his master. After trying a couple more times, Diether gave up on calling his master and returned to the inn.
He was tired and exhausted for today. He even skipped his lunch due to the beast tide. His injuries have already received first aid treatment so he shouldn't worry about any infections.
"Ugh… I'll just look for Sir Lance later."
The reward for the village protection mission they did would still take time to be handed over. After all, they needed to convert all the materials and cores they have into money.
It might even take a couple of days since the Association may go bankrupt if they used their own money. It only shows that the number of cores they currently have was a bit too much.
'In the end, I didn't manage to use the throwing knives and others that I've purchased.'
Diether muttered as he remembers the items he bought in preparation for the three-day mission.
The throwing knives for an emergency, the Filthy Flower's essence that would be useful at night to avoid low-grade beast's attention, the potion of sleep inducement to use against stronger beast to buy time for an escape, and a bottle of weak purification in case they encountered a poisonous beast.
The young man, completely forgot his master as he went to see Yasmin. Luckily, the family was not affected as the Ghost Rabbits were all killed before they penetrated the village.
"Diether! You're still alive!"
"Eh? Of course… You know how strong am I since you always come and practice with me, right?"
"Mhmm… Maybe… Are you hungry? It's already about to get dark… I guess you haven't eaten yet."
Growl!
The question was in perfect time as Diether's stomach grumbled. He smiled wryly as he went inside the inn to have a meal.
He experienced a lot today so after filling himself, he wanted to have a long and peaceful rest. The things about the mission can be taken care of by tomorrow.
***
That night, Orga and Jerax had a meeting to discuss the previous dangerous event.
Orga was accompanied by two 2-Star Hunter: Wang Lin and Trance.
Of course, Jerax did the same and has two other 4th-Class Arcanist with him. They were in the village chief's house since they won't agree to be taken in the other's Association Building.
"Chief Kairo, we found pieces of evidence that this was plotted by a third party controlling Inferno Wolves… Here are the broken pieces of a bottle they used to contain the Rare Apple Lure…"
Orga reported to a young man in his twenties. The man has silver hair and deep black eyes. He looks like a scholar with his robe and book in his hand.
"Mhm… Luckily, we have the Arcanists at this time and managed to stop a large number of the beast."
Kairo said as he was looking at the report about the casualties of today's beast attack. The number was insignificant compared to the previous beast tide more than three years ago.
"Well, we can also say that they waited for us to arrive. They must be targeting our outstanding students."
Jerax said as he frowned at the audacity of the people who set this up.
The existence of high-rank Arcana among the students that have arrived wasn't a secret since it was the kingdom's sensation for a couple of weeks.
However, Orga wanted to suggest to look into this in a bit broader view.
"Chief… Are you sure that your identity was not leaked in any way?"
Kairo went silent for a moment before nodding in confidence.
"Aside from my personal guard. Only the two of you are aware of my identity. We shouldn't worry about that."
Although Orga and Jerax have a lot of disagreements due to their profession, their loyalty to the kingdom could not be questioned. They are the two people who had the highest authority in this small region and only this "Village Chief" can be called above them within this place.
They gained the trust of this young man not only because of their position but also due to their acts of loyalty.
"In any case, my position here as the Village Chief would still last for about two more years. So, I'll be in your care, Sir Orga and Sir Jerax."
***
At one of the inns within the Farahn Village…
"Aria, why are you being so silent?"
The one being questioned remained silent but her expressions kept changing. It made Emily curious.
"Eh? Now, you are grinning. What happened?"
"Ah! W-what?"
Aria asked after realizing that Emily was talking to her. They've already returned to one of the inn's within the village so they could have a proper rest. The Wailing Forest Trial was completed earlier since the 100 points that they needed to collect were easily filled.
In the previous Trials, three days may not even be enough to gather 100 points since the low-grade beasts were normally running away if they saw a large number of people. As for the mid-grade beasts, it would be a matter of life and death so they were not being encouraged to be hunted, even if they would give a larger point.
"I said… What happened to you? You've been like that after we returned to the village. Did you get poisoned by a smile-smile mushroom?"
"Hahaha! No way…"
Aria refused to say what was on her mind as she lay on her bed to have a rest.
However, after several hours had passed around two in the morning, Aria woke up and silently went out...
There were still a few lamps that were lit up and some guards patrolling around the village. The village guards were on high alert due to the recent attack.
They can't put their guards down yet at this time.
As Aria silently went out through the window, she locked her eyes on a certain building.
It was the inn where Diether was resting.