Chapter 131: Revelation and Planning

Stella was very curious about her Master, a sentient Arcana that seemed to have lived a life of a human. 

After all, he always guides her as if he had experienced swordsmanship himself. 

Her Master Reiji fully understood the difficulties of learning Kendo and he knows too well how this sword technique works on her body whenever she practices… 

Aside from that, he was also fully aware of how to control her body during the Take Over.

'Is it possible that master was previously a human?' 

Stella thought of this before but she hesitates to ask it directly as it may not be something that his master wanted to discuss. 

She was chosen as his student because she wanted to become strong and she managed to appeal to him. Discussing his life prior to being summoned in this world may inconvenience her master. 

'Now that I think about it… These Arcana are truly mysterious. I wonder where they are coming from… Should I ask, Master?'

Stella mused while her master was observing her. 

'Is there something wrong, Stella?' Reiji asked after noticing that she was lost in her thoughts.

'Ahh… Master… I was just curious about the origin of this Kendo and its grading system. Is it something that came from our kingdom many years ago? Is it something that was buried and forgotten since there were no longer any practitioners alive? or is it really a sword art that was only present in the world of Arcana?'

'Hah~ You have an imaginative mind. Well, it came from the place I can never return to.'

'Eh? Is it really some kind of another world where all the Arcana lives?' 

'Haha… You can say it like that. It came from the world where I live before I was summoned here as an Arcana…'

Reiji answered amused by how Stella thinks of his origin. 

He suddenly had an absurd idea that the people living on Earth would become an Arcana that would be summoned to this world after they died. 

If I didn't save that girl from that truck, would she be summoned as an Arcana instead of me?

Reiji thought for a moment before abandoning this idea. What matters now was his present situation and how he should live as an Arcana. 

'Right, were you curious about the place where all Arcana come?'

'Yes, Master…' 

'I'm not really sure, but perhaps all sentient Arcana would have memories of their past life.'

'Wha--! Memories of your past life? You mean--- Are you a knight or perhaps the greatest swordsman in your previous life?'

Stella exclaimed after hearing this. She couldn't help but ask questions to learn more about it.

She already has suspicions but hearing this from her master still sounded different. She was unsure whether the great minds of this kingdom were aware of this secret but knowing this made her feel special.

'Knight? Swordsman? Well… I remember that I had a title of a "Kensei" meaning Sword Saint in my previous life…'

Reiji said as he shared such important information with Stella. Anyway, talking about it with her student made him feel a bit more connected to this world and he felt that he would also form a deeper connection with her.

Of course, he only did this since he already had a full grasp of her personality. Although he only possesses a wooden sword as his body, his eyes for judging people has never waned. 

'Sword Saint?! That sounds incredible! I'm not sure about that title's equivalent here but it must be something similar or above the title of the Great Hero, right?'

Stella was enjoying her conversation with her master but before they could chat a bit more, her uncle knocked on her door.

''Stella, someone's looking for you outside. She's a squire of those Knights…"

"Ahh… Alright, I'll meet her now, uncle."

She was curious about the purpose of their visit but she decided to ask the squire directly. She only fixed her clothes a bit and brought the shinai with her before she went out to see the squire.

"Jillian… It's been a while. What brought you here this time?"

Stella greeted after seeing the familiar face. She's the same squire who accompanied her to meet the Knight Captain before.

"Stella… Thank you for coming to meet me. Did I interrupt your work?"

"No, it's fine. I'm just lazing around."

"Great… The Knight Captain and Village Chief Marlon wanted to see you in his residence…"

"Eh? What for?"

"I'm not too sure about the details but it might be related to the appearance of the beast tamers. Would you come along with me?" Jillian politely asked as after living in this village for more than a month, she was already fully aware of the abilities of this young girl in front of her. 

In terms of swordsmanship skills, she felt that Stella could easily compete against any Knights and might even be on par with a Knight-Lieutenant.

"Haa~ I don't think I have a choice anyway. Wait for me for a while, it might be rude to meet them looking like this. The 3rd-Class Arcanist might even be present there."

"Oh, that's right!" Jillian answered confirming Stella's guess.

So she wasn't just meeting one noble.

Hendrick Ricarte and Lord Castillo were both nobles and she read from the books that she had to be mindful of her appearance whenever she meets a noble. 

Although they may not mind it in the situation, she still wanted to look presentable since she's a Kendo practitioner where her discipline greatly matters.

"Alright, you can take your time…" Jillian smiled and answered/

***

Within the village chief's residence, a group of important individuals was currently discussing the matters regarding the beast tamer's appearance and their possible backer in the kingdom.

"Haaa~ There are just too many things happening in this village…"

Tanro sighed as he looked at everyone. He's the branch leader of the Hunter Association and his face was still not looking good. 

After the news of Orga's death, he became very busy as the headquarters wanted to know the full details of the incident and they wanted to form a strong group of hunters to explore the deeper part of the forest. 

Although it might take some time before it happens, the work that he has to do increased a lot as he had to contact several Three-Star Hunters or perhaps a Four-Star Hunter to help them investigate the caves in the forest. This is not an easy matter since these Hunter wouldn't normally stay in the same place for long and would constantly move to different places. 

Aside from that, the difficulty of the mission was also a barrier since the death of a veteran three-star hunter was something that pushes them away to accept the mission.

In the end, there was no progress in the team that he was trying to assemble.

"Sir Tanro… I know that you have many things in your mind right now… But do you have any method to gather all the Two-Star Hunters in the nearby villages?" 

The one who called out to him is an old man representing the Arcanist Association. He was not the branch head but he's still a 4th-Class Arcanist. 

"Sir Saith, although I can try to gather them using our communication emblem, traveling would still take 2, perhaps even 3 or more days. Would that be fine? How about the Arcanists?"

"Mhmm… I have contacted the other branches… The people there can't just leave their jurisdiction due to a shortage of personnel.  Anyway, I was told that some wandering Arcanists can come within a day, but they were just a group of five Arcanists that happened to be conducting some research in the mountains. Although they were fully equipped for combat, I'm not familiar with their skills so I'm not sure whether they can help us."

Saith and Tanro then looked at the 3rd-Class Arcanist within the room.

Chief Marlon started to speak first.

"Lord Castillo, we know that you're not obligated to help us in our predicament. However, may I ask whether you have some idea on how to deal with this?"

The powerful Arcanist who had been listening to them all this time frowned a bit before he made a suggestion.

"It's obvious that they are just buying some time. With your current force, I suggest that you can just let them go. Unless you wanted to take the risk and fight them in the jungle, then go ahead. I'm not fully aware of your military strength."

The Knight Captain understood Lord Castillo since he was similarly reluctant to put his subordinate's life at risk. However, he couldn't just ignore the beast tamers after learning that they are planning something within the forest.

"Chief Marlon… Have you asked for help on your side?" Hendrick asked the village chief.

"Haa~ That's right. Although I already asked for the nearest town's help, they wouldn't just easily send a group of soldiers as they would have a lot of considerations to assemble them, like gathering supplies for their journey and others."

"Very well… I'll just do whatever I can with our current forces. Chief, would you mind if we ask some help from your village's swordmaster?"

Hendrick inquired as he didn't want to bypass the chief when he wanted to hire a resident of his village.

Everyone knows who was he referring to.

"There are no other options. We can only try to get all the help we can gather. Go ahead and ask for her opinion about this." Chief Marlon said as he signaled his servant to visit Stella's house.

"Don't worry. I already sent my squire to escort her…"