I Reincarnated as a Shinai

Stella was stunned as soon as she heard the name of her Master.

She had never heard of anyone with a similar name in her 20 years of living. She had been in various villages and cities, and none of them has a name called Reiji…

She wanted to ask Lyrei is Reiji is a common name in the Dark Elf race but she's not here at the moment.

'Is it a coincidence? Or is it really Master Reiji? Is this his way to get our attention?' Stella pondered for a moment but she soon noticed that her companions are looking at her. 

"Ahh… Don't worry. I just heard a familiar name…" Stella answered Yasmin who seemed to be worried about her.

She didn't want to tell them yet that her Master's name is Reiji. After all, they might think that her Master is an Elf Warrior that is attacking their kingdom.

She would like to consult Lyrei first.

In the meantime, she decided to listen to the conversation of those gathered people at the other table.

"Reiji, huh… His name would surely spread once more information is discovered."

"But what do think are they planning to do? It's not like the Dark Elves needed castles or things like that. I heard that they should be living in some special caves or places that were blessed by their Elf King…"

"Who knows? Maybe they're tired of living that way."

"Haha! I guess there would be another war, huh. Those weapon sellers will surely be happy of this news."

"What are you saying?! There will be many lives to be lost!"

"Let's forget about that. I heard that there will be a huge caravan passing here next week. Is that true?"

The group changed their topic as they talked about the Merchant Guild's Caravan that is about to stop in the city. As far as they know, this caravan had come from the eastern region to trade many sea treasures.

"I'm already full. Let's return and have a rest." Stella invited the two as they all went to their rooms. 

Of course, they all noticed that almost everyone in the tavern followed their movement upstairs. 

The three of them can even almost feel their gazes sticking on their back. They decided to ignore them for now as they have been dealing with this most of the time. 

This is why they always wear their cloaks and sometimes even masks when traveling outside. 

"I'm back..." said Stella as soon as she entered the room.

They were able to rent two rooms with two beds each. Lyrei and Stella would sleep together while Yasmin and Aria would be in the other room close to them.

She saw the elf comfortably resting on the bed and she even seem to have taken a bath… 

'I guess I'll take a bath as well.' Stella thought as she started to prepare her clothes.

They are paying two silver coins per night so it is quite reasonable that there is a bathroom they could use. 

"How was it? Did you get any interesting information downstairs?" The elf asked. 

"Hmm… Yes. Have you heard of the name Reiji? Is it something common among the Dark Elves?" Stella decided to ask as she sat at the side of the bed. 

"Reiji? No, I've never heard anyone using that name. Especially for Dark Elves." Lyrei answered confidently. 

"R-really?"

"Yes… Is it related to your master?" 

The elf immediately understood what's going on in Stella's mind. She's quite easy to read these days.

Her companion then remained silent for a while before nodding her head. 

"I see… Anyway, if you found a clue, then this is still a piece of good news. I'm sure that you'll find him soon."

"You're right. I can't be sure about what's happening yet. It must be his way of contacting his helpers or something. Even if it's not, I'm sure we can get some answers once we visited the Northern Region."

"Good… But how about Diether?"

"Of course, we will still be looking for him. But at this rate, he might also get summoned to recapture the Fortress. I'm sure that the Sun Fire Knights that is dominant in the northern region would be tasked to do this."

Stella replied recalling how the Chaos Knights are dominant in the Southern Region while Sun Fire Knights in the Northern Region. 

The Royal Knights, on the other hand, are mostly stationed in the central domain while the members of the Shadow Weave Knights might even be stationed mostly outside the kingdom.

After all, the latter's mission was related to the relationship between other nations. 

The night passed quickly as everyone decided to inquire more about the recent events in the Northern Region. Since this is a city, they should be able to get more information from the traveling peddlers or merchants. 

Aside from that, Stella and Aria visited the Arcanist Association while the other two visited the Hunter's Association of which Yasmin is a member.

With her rank as Two-Star Hunter, she's at least given a bit of authority to access public information of a certain level. 

"Oh… There are already missions to hunt Evil Beasts around the Islefield and Cartley Fortresses." Yasmin noticed the posted requests on the mission board. 

Lyrei looked at the missions as well to see for herself. There are indeed 10 or so posted requests related to hunting Evil Beasts and they all have different durations. 

Aside from that, most of these missions must be completed in a group of at least 10 with a maximum of 25. 

"Hmmm… I guess they don't want to spend their manpower to hunt these kinds of possible threats so they're using the Hunters."

"Well… You might be right, Lyrei. I think they're expecting the Dark Elves to attack the other two fortresses. I wonder what's really going on there." Yasmin muttered as she realized the preparations the kingdom is doing right now.

There is no way that the multiple requests to clear out mountains and jungles are unrelated to the fall of Isengard Fortress. 

"Yes… The Dark Elves can control Wild Beasts and even some powerful Evil Beasts if they truly wanted. Killing them right now is a good choice to ensure that the Dark Elves wouldn't strengthen their forces as they march forward." 

Lyrei shared her thoughts about it. She even noticed that some of the Hunters checking the mission board nodded at her words.

Similar to their discovery, Stella and Aria also found out about the participation of the Arcanist Association to help the two fortresses by sending Magic Items and various support to the Army as part of their assistance. 

As the four gathered again, they have decided to accept one of the Hunter Association's C-Rank missions to help Yasmin increase her rankings.

Finally, the four ladies moved out of the city to find Diether and fulfill the mission along the way.