Roan repeated his words, even going so far as to say it one by one. "We'll join your Lukimira Sect. Could it be that you didn't really plan on inviting us?"
Cynthia immediately shook her head, responding with, "Of course not! You're definitely more than welcome! But...why would you join such a small sect like my Lukimira Sect?"
Rean was the one to answer that, explaining, "It's quite a simple reason, which is you. At the very least, it didn't seem like you were trying to deceive us or anything. You could have totally refused to tell us about the Divine Stream Lake, showed us the wrong path to the city, or simply attacked us while we were still in the Nascent Soul Realm. However, you shared everything, and time proved that you were telling us the truth."
Kentucky was also happy with that decision, continuing from where Rean left off as he said, "Indeed. In our eyes, if the elder of the sect is already that trustworthy, the sect this elder is from shouldn't be much worse, right?"
Roan nodded in agreement with Kentucky's words.. Then, he told her, "We're basically lost travelers without a place to head to or stay in. As far as we know, our Turin Region could very well be on the other side of the Realm of Gods. After all, you said that no region around us has demon beasts or trees that can talk at Stage Five. In that case, we can join your sect so that we can establish a foothold. And then, we'll start our investigation from there."
There was another reason as well. One must remember that Roan was very good at detecting lies. However, Cynthia hadn't told a single one until now. At the very least, Roan hadn't noticed it. Besides, since she already knew about Kentucky and Celis, that would be of some help inside her sect.
Cynthia was obviously happy with their explanation, saying, "I won't say that everyone in our sect is like me. After all, a cultivator's nature is different from another. However, I can at least say that you can trust the Sect Master and the few elders we have there." It was then that she thought about something, asking, "By the way, how would you like to be accepted in the sect? With your cultivations at the Soul Transformation Realm, even giving you the title of elders wouldn't be an issue."
Rean immediately shook his head as he replied, "Better not. Just let us join as normal disciples. Don't forget that we will temporarily stay until we decide what to do, so we might leave at any time. Of course, we will follow the sect's rules and help out with its tasks as long as it's beneficial to us."
"Normal disciples?" Cynthia bitterly smiled when she heard that. "Not trying to be rude, but I don't think anyone would believe you two to only be simple disciples with your cultivation. Just so you know, we do have some low-ranked elders that are still in the Nascent Soul Realm. Our strongest disciples are only in the Core and Soul Fusion Realm, and we don't have a lot of them. The majority are either in the Core Formation Realm or in the Foundation Establishment Realm."
Indeed, it would be too weird to suddenly accept two humans at the Soul Transformation Realm as common disciples. "Hmm...do you have the rank of guest elders, then?" Rean asked as he thought about it a bit more.
Cynthia immediately nodded, replying, "Of course. I was also thinking that since you don't want to be elders, being guest elders would be the best choice. There are a few limitations, like not being able to access a few restricted areas, but that's more or less it. Your opinions won't mean much in the sect's meetings, but I guess that's what you want, right?"
Roan nodded, saying, "Yes. We prefer to keep some distance from such things."
Kentucky and Celis couldn't help but ask, "What about us?"
Cynthia scratched the back of her head in response. After all, no sect would have a place for Stage Six Demon Beasts or trees to be guest elders. They shouldn't even be able to think, after all. "Well...we do have a beast taming hall in our sect... but most of the demon beasts there are only Stage Three or Four. Only the Sect Master was able to tame a Stage Five Demon Beast."
"Tame?" Kentucky couldn't help but ask after that, "Then, are we going to pretend to be a tamed demon beast and tree?"
Cynthia shook her head, responding, "Well, it wouldn't be of much use as everyone in this caravan already knows that you can think and talk. The news will definitely spread to the sect at some point. It's just that I don't know how I should deal with you."
Rean shrugged his shoulders as he came up with a quick solution. "Just tell them that Kentucky and Celis are our responsibility. I guess that's the safest way to go about it. After all, their situation is very peculiar in this place."
Cynthia nodded in response as she replied, "Then, we'll go with that."
With that decided, Roan changed the topic. "Alright, you said that the Royal Army did a clean-up of bandits in Ukilas Valley, right? For a Royal Army to exist, that means there's a country behind them. Am I right to say that Yukirrom Region is part of a country?"
Cynthia nodded and then shook her head right after. "It's half right. We are indeed part of a country. It's called the Kamos Kingdom, obviously ruled by the Kamos Royal Family. However, it's not the Yukirrom Region that's a part of Kamos Kingdom. Instead, it's the Kamos Kingdom that's part of the Yukirrom Region."
Rean and Roan easily understood what she meant by that, with Rean saying, "So, Yukirrom Region is much bigger than the country itself."
"Exactly," Cynthia confirmed. "Yukirrom Region is composed of seven countries. The Kamos Kingdom is located on the southeast side and is considered the fourth biggest of the seven."
"I see..." Roan pondered in silence for a bit before asking something else. "Are we part of some bigger power? An empire or anything like that?"
Cynthia thought about it for a moment before saying, "I wouldn't say that we're part of some bigger power like an empire. But the seven countries of the Yukirrom Region are considered an allied power, the Yukirrom Alliance. Maybe that fits your description somehow."
Roan nodded as her words did indeed fit his criterion. "Indeed."