"What did you just say?"
Stella stood up after hearing her friend.
Rufus and Diether also had similar shocked faces as they immediately asked for the whole story.
Apparently, Lyrei decided to look around the fortress since she has the ability to remove the Dark Elves' curses. Many soldiers have been affected after all.
Then, through General Julian's request, she was sent to the camp that was recently built to act as the quick response in case the Dark Elf or Evil Beasts from the chaotic land decided to cross the kingdom's land again.
After arriving at that camp, she noticed that half-imps lurking around…
Noticing that she's a Forest Elf, they decided to trust her and ask her many questions in exchange for information about the chaotic land they're in…
"So they're looking for Master Reiji's traces as well? What's their purpose?"
"Do you know their names?"
"Right, perhaps we can meet them now?"
The three immediately asked as they looked at Lyrei with hopeful eyes.
"Uhmm… Well, it's already turning dark when we met her. It's too dangerous to go out now since the Evil Beasts around here are extremely active unlike the beasts in the central region.
Lyrei explained.
The three hadn't noticed the time but as soon as they were reminded, they easily understood the situation.
Unlike the central region of the kingdom, even though the Evil Beasts become really strong at night, they wouldn't normally leave their territories and actively provoke the humans in their fortified walls.
On the other hand, the Evil Beasts here in the north, wouldn't care about that at all… The villages with weak defenses would be destroyed in a single night and towns with only a little army would be annihilated as well.
This shows how dangerous this region is.
The next day, The three students of Reiji together with Lyrei left the Isengard Fortress while Aria and Yasmin accepted a few more missions from Arcanist Association and Hunter Association…
"It isn't that far, huh…" Stella said as soon as she found the camp.
It is located on top of a hill overlooking the dark and eerie forest signifying the border of the chaotic land.
Past this place is where various evil beasts and other intelligent races live. The half-imps that Lyrei met is one of the intelligent races which is not being treated fairly by the human race and were seen as similar to orcs and trolls.
Many people grew up with this belief.
However, the real reason that these half-imps were badly treated was because of their innate talent to hypnotize other creatures.
This talent is far too dangerous and unfair to many humans who don't have any ability to protect themselves.
"Where did you meet these half-imps?" Stella asked.
Along their way, Lyrei already explained the situation to them…
Apparently, those half-imps she met don't want to show their faces to humans and only dared to talk to her since she's an elf.
So they have to find a place where the soldiers and knights aren't frequently visiting.
"They're here…" Lyrei stopped walking as soon as she felt the presence of the half-imps. They have arrived not too far from the dark forest…
There's a huge rock in front of them and soon, the other three noticed their presence.
There are two Half-Imps looking at them warily…
One of them is an elegant but cold lady and the other is a rough-looking young man and carrying a double-ended sword on his back.
As for the lady, she has her hand on her dagger that was strapped on her waist.
"Lyrei… Are you sure they know Reiji?" The man asked the Forest Elf.
"Yes… These three I brought are also looking for Reiji just like what I mentioned yesterday. Just like you, they are indebted to Reiji and don't want to harm him."
The man looked silently at Lyrei as if he's trying to see whether she's telling the truth or not.
"Alright, we'll trust you."
The man said as he finally looked at the three…
"I'm Stasis of Ormug… Since you're also looking for Master Reiji, may I know how does he look like? I want to make sure if we're looking for the same Reiji…"
Stella and the others looked at each other before they decided to give an answer.
"Our Master Reiji is definitely not the Dark Elf who claims that name…" Diether answered carefully. They also have to make sure that this half-imp named Stasis isn't tricking them.
The young half-imp doesn't seem to be surprised and continued to ask.
"Yes… He's indeed not that fake… However, since you've seen the puppet, you must have seen the weapon he's using… Do you know what it's called?"
At this time, Stella finally smiled and answered.
"It's a Shinai made of an otherworldly bamboo… It is the form of our Master."
As soon as she said this, Stasis and the lady behind him heaved a sigh of relief.
"Great! Are you guys also trying to find a way to save our Master? Ahh! I'm sorry, I'm Vinete of Reboroz…"
The lady who was very alert and ready to attack them just now finally relaxed hearing that they have the same master!
Nevertheless, Stasis was still on his guard…
"We're actually unsure of our Master's current situation. Why do we need to save him? Can you tell us what's going on?"
Rufus immediately asked.
During his time in the Arcanist Tower, he felt that his master is an Almighty Arcana capable of doing almost anything…
The fact that he was even able to do a second summoning through his master's help without achieving the level of a Second-Class Arcanist is proof of that.
"Of course… We will tell you… But before that, it should be proper to call the others here… We will all exchange information. Please tell us what you know and we'll inform you as well of everything we know about the situation of the Chaotic Land as you guys would like to call."
Stasis said as he made a signal on his hands.
It didn't take long for a couple more Half-Imps to arrive at their site.
They are Imane and Mourad from Bhibra Village, and they also introduced themselves as Reiji's student.