I Reincarnated as a Shinai

Stella entered the meeting place and noticed that there were a total of nine people present.

They were Village Chief Marlon and his assistant, Knight-Captain Hendrick and Knight Misha, the new village guard leader that she wasn't familiar with, Sir Cartel and Lord Castillo, the branch head of the Hunter Association, and an old man representing the Arcanists in the village.

'So they were all here… I thought I'll be meeting with only three people… Haa~'

"Good evening, everyone. I was told by Miss Jillian that you're looking for me."

Stella said as she looked at the Knight Captain before glancing at everyone. 

"That's right. Thank you for coming here, Miss Stella…" Chief Marlon said as he gestured for her to take a seat.

"You can just call me Stella, chief." The young girl politely replied as she took the empty seat beside Misha.

"Very well, we called you here as the Chaos Knights were planning to take action against the Beast Tamers… We need to gather all the forces we could get in a very short time…"

Stella calmly listened to the village chief and waited for him to get to the point.

"Are you willing to take part in their offensive plans?"

Instead of immediately answering Stella looked around went silent to think for a moment. She also wanted to consult her master about this. She had seen the Inferno Wolves from a while ago and she was sure that this wouldn't be an easy fight.

After hearing her Master's opinion, Stella probed the people present.

"Haa~ I don't think I'm the right person for this… May I know why we can't just ignore them? They're not attacking our village, anyway. Wouldn't it be better to strengthen our defenses instead? I hope that you didn't forget what happened the last time you subjugated the cult in the far mountain."

That's right. They should've learned their lesson already. They can't just remove the powerful people living in the village and leave it undefended. 

Stella wanted to know the full details of their plans.

The meeting lasted for almost an hour as they explained their plans to Stella. There were also several changes in their strategies as they further discussed them with everyone. They would sometimes find a better strategy or the leaders would reveal the hidden strengths of their subordinates.

One of them was about Tanro's friend, a one-star Hunter that specializes in covert operations. Apparently, he was capable of avoiding the Inferno Wolves' senses and get closer to them without being noticed. The only drawback in this is that he wouldn't be able to bring any other Magic Items aside from the one that is helping him in his stealth ability. 

The said Magic Item would, unfortunately, stop working if the user possesses any other items with Arcane Magic… It means that the man would have weaker strength and could only work for scouting missions.

However, this was already more than enough considering that they only needed to have clear information about the tamer's whereabouts.

Aside from that, the Chaos Knights also revealed that they have a method to set up a small-scale fortification in the whole village. 

Of course, it wasn't for free and it would cost them a total of 30,000 gold coins if they really set it up. 

"Fortification? What kind of Arcane is that?"

Stella muttered and Misha beside her answered instead.

"It's nothing impressive. You can just consider it as a large barrier protecting the village."

"The whole village? That's amazing? So, you brought something like that…"

"Yeah… In case of emergency, we're always bringing that. Anyway, it will only protect the whole village for six to nine hours depending on the strength of the enemies… If you'll visit the towns, cities, or other fortresses, you'll find a stronger fortification that can last for a month…"

"T-that's amazing… I didn't know something like that existed at all."

Stella only knows about False Ivies protecting the town from being attacked by weaker beasts.

"Hehe… That's normal. You're stuck in this village… You have to travel once you grow up. You may find the world outside to be more thrilling than just hunting in the forest…"

"Mhmm… I will…" Stella excitedly nodded. She had truly underestimated the capabilities of the Arcanists. To think that they could actually make something this amazing… 

Now, she could only imagine what kind of other amazing creations they've made. It would be very fun to know…

Then, it was decided that if the fortification was indeed used, the chief, sir Cartel, and Knight Hendrick would shoulder the expense.

"Ehem… So, Stella… Aside from the Ten Chaos Knights, the team will be composed of 3 One-Star Hunters, 2 Two-Star Hunters, Five 4th-Class Arcanists, and 1 3rd-Class Arcanist. Is it alright for you to join them?"

Chief Marlon explained before she asked Stella.

"Hmm~ Since everything was already planned. Then there's no more reason for me to refuse…"

Stella answered as she already confirmed that there shouldn't be any issues even if she left the village to hunt the Tamers. She's confident now that she would still have a home to return to after her mission…

"That's good to hear… I will give you Hunter's License after we survive this… I can give this to you for free…" Tanro said as he promised something unexpected to Stella. 

"Eh?" Stella was genuinely surprised by the sudden reward in this mission. Anyway, she knows that access to Hunter's Treasury would be possible if she became a hunter. So it may be a good reward…

"Even if you don't want to work as a Hunter, it will benefit you if you have a license. Please, don't refuse…"

Before Stella could reply and thank the hunter, Lord Castillo joined in their conversation…

"Haha… What are you saying? I will see to it if she really has admirable sword skills as everyone had said... and if she's really good, I can recommend her for the next Arcana Bestowal Ceremony…"

"Really?! Is that possible?" 

Stella was stunned after hearing this… Who wouldn't want to attend the bestowal ceremony?!

Knight Hendrick butted in as he felt that Stella was being deceived by these two guys…

"Lord Castillo, I know that Arcanists can recommend people to join the ceremony. However, there should be three recommendations coming from Three 3-Star Arcanists to make that happen. However, I only need to make a recommendation and I can let her participate in the Chaos Knight's recruitment… Once she has proven her skills, she can easily get a nomination to participate in the ceremony…"

The Knight Captain said as he smiled at Stella… It seems that he just didn't want to lose.

"Haha... I have other 3rd-Class Arcanist friends. It wouldn't be a problem to borrow their recommendation slots."

'What are they saying? Am I that famous? I'm sure that none of them have seen me in action yet… They've just heard rumors or exaggerated statements about me…'

Stella was a bit confused seeing their attitude so she just listened to them.

Even Tanro was confused at this… He never would have thought that the reward he came up with would be seen as him poaching a talent!

"Tsk!"

He was sure that Lord Castillo and Hendrick only said this because they thought that being Hunter would just waste Stella's talent…

"Hmph! Let's just talk about this after dealing with the tamers…" Tanro finally said as he shakes his head…

"Alright…"

"Fine."

Everyone then started to prepare and Stella also returned home to wear her battle gears. 

As for the potions needed, the village chief would buy them and hand over a set of supplies to each combatant. 

"Be careful, Stella…" 

Her uncle Hemil heard about her mission but he didn't stop her. He knows that his niece was no longer the weak child that he hired as his apprentice before.

"Don't worry about me, uncle… I will be with 10 Knights, 5 Hunters, and 6 Arcanists in this mission. You should be the one worrying about your safety."

"I see… Mhmm… But you don't have to worry about me. I wasn't just idling around after what happened the last time. I already bought a horse I can use in case I needed to escape…"

"Eh? I didn't know about that…"

"Hehe… That's normal… I'm using one of the stalls in Venya's stable so you haven't seen her yet. I'll let you see her after you returned…"

"Oh! I'll see her later then, uncle! I'll be leaving now."

Stella said as she went to the meeting place just outside the village. They have to be quick since the scout they've sent to follow the Tamer's should've returned by now.

They'll have to surprise their enemies to create an advantage in their clash. 

"Here… Carry this with you… These are all healing and fire resistance potions. We will be fighting with Inferno Wolves, do you have enough preparations? Would like to borrow other magic items?"

Chief Marlon asked Stella after seeing her. 

The young girl accepted the bag of potions and thanked the old man.

"Thank you for preparing everything for me. Don't worry. I have sufficient magic items with me.."