Hendrick Ricarte was appointed as the leader of the small unit of Knights to be sent to a far village that has miraculously survived the attack of the cultists who worships an evil god… He remembers that they were called Three-Eyed Imp Cults and were famous for kidnapping people to be made as a sacrifice for their god.

Hendrick combed his balding head with his hands before entering the room of the viscount. He was to meet the noble of a higher rank to discuss his mission in detail.

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'Argh… I should've listened to Marian and change my helmet… It's really not growing, tsk.'

Although he just turned twenty-five this year, he already has this problem. Anyway, his knowledge and skills in combat made him the leader of this unit even though there's a couple of older knights around.

This is also his first mission outside of a castle or other noble's eyes, so he still couldn't hide his excitement.

After entering the room, he was met by a mist before he saw the skinny viscount sitting on a table.

'Uhh… This smell…'

The knight didn't feel good going inside the room that was still filled with the smell of cigars.

He would like to leave as soon as possible but he had to listen to this man first.

After a brief greeting, the viscount asked about his opinion.

"Weirdly, they attacked the village in broad daylight to gather their sacrifice, it feels like they want something else… Perhaps, they were really planning to make the whole village as a sacrifice to summon their god? What do you think, Knight Ricarte?"

Viscount Kale asked the knight while looking at a piece of paper in his hands. He already briefly explained the details of his job as a contracted Knight for this mission.

The request came from the village chief of Jarnae and the details of the incident were also clearly noted within the report.

"It's still unclear…" Hendrick muttered as he glanced at the viscount.

The viscount was a man in his thirties and he seemed to be unhealthy as he coughs from time to time.

Kale then gave the paper to the Knight in front of him so he can read the details himself.

Apparently, the people in the area acted on their own and subjugated the evil cult hiding in the mountains without waiting for the viscount's decision. This made their village vulnerable that almost exterminated all the villagers left.

"Mhm… Whatever their aim was, rest assured that we'll make everything clear once we arrived in the village." Hendrick promised as he felt that as a Knight, they should be the one handling this type of incident.

The Hunters Association's help can be requested if the problem was about Evil Beasts or other non-human beings. The Arcanists Association's help can also be called upon if there's a conflict of interest with their targets or if it will benefit their research in Arcane Arts.

Only Arcanists that were serving the royalty or not bound by the association would normally actively participate in a battle to maintain peace.

Aside from that, summoning magic, especially one that aims to summon an evil god is extremely prohibited by any countries on the continent. So the Arcanists in the Association would hardly gain any benefit in fighting this cult unless if they were paid by an appropriate sum of money.

Since that was the case, only the Knights order, who vowed to protect the people of the Kingdom from any injustice must act to route the evil cult.

"Right, it was said in the report that ten leaders of the cult were included in this fight… It's quite surprising that they managed to kill them all…"

"That's true… It seems that they managed to form a strong group of fighters after asking for help from nearby villages… but still… it resulted in the death of their strongest warrior. His trained men also perished with him. Sigh~ I heard that he was a retired Knight and was employed as the village's guard leader."

"I see… So the village is practically undefended now, is that right?"

"Correct… The Hunters present there were also not strong. The highest was only a Two-Star Hunter."

"Right, how about the young warrior who defeated the two leaders alone?"

"The blacksmith? She must've been lucky. She only fought after they were exhausted. The report also says that she finished them off in time once the reinforcements arrived. The two were probably just pressured by the reinforcements and made mistakes."

"I see… Anyway, I will look into it. The request of the village chief also includes training a small group within their village guard to act as their elite forces in the future."

"Mhmm… That's correct. But your main mission is still to find their traces of origin and eliminate any survivors."

Their meeting then ended after a couple more minutes as Hendrick no longer want to stay in the room. He felt that he suffered enough already…

"Haaa~"

The knight exhaled after leaving the room.

He continued his exaggerated breathing for a few seconds more before going to his unit and explain to them about their mission.

***

After a long travel, they finally saw the Jarnae village. They didn't meet any bandits on their way and only fought a few Wild Beasts before they arrive here.

"It looks nothing special…"

It just looks like any other village so they were surprised that a strong retired Knight previously lived here.

"Hmm… It doesn't look like they've just been attacked and had many bodies to bury…"

The only female knight, Misha, muttered after seeing the faces of the people who were all staring at them.

"Misha, three weeks or so has already passed. It's only natural."

Hendrick said to his subordinate even though he had never experienced grieving over someone's death at all. His parents and siblings were all alive and healthy and he wasn't close to his other relatives at all. His friends were also serving their knightage peacefully.

"Well… That makes sense." Misha answered as she really lost the time it took them to travel here.

She then took off her helmet to meet the people welcoming them.

Misha has long blonde hair that was commonly seen in Erliente Dukedom. She had most likely inherited it from her father who was half-chodoran and half-erlientese.

Her beauty couldn't be hidden even with her armor.

Just by removing her helmet, she captivated all the people present! She smirked at the people present as her blue eyes gazed at the commoners who were all charmed by her beauty…

"Stop that…" Hendrick said followed by waving his hand.

Suddenly, the people in trance widened their eyes as they realized that they were rudely gazing at the female knight with lust. They immediately bowed their heads in shame as they made way for them.

Hendrick only glared at the female knight before he leads his group to meet the village chief.

It didn't take long before they were welcomed and brought to the chief's residence to be briefed about their request.

"I would like to meet the warrior who fought the two leaders of the cult and killed them at the same time…"

The knight said to the village chief and others present. Some of them nodded in understanding…

The request wasn't weird at all after confirming the truth from the chief.

"Haha! Of course! I knew there's something wrong with her!"

One of the people on the chief's side suddenly exclaimed after hearing Hendrick say these words at the end of the meeting.

Hendrick forgot his name but he remembered that he's the one who replaced the retired Knight to act as the guard leader of this village.

"Guard Leader Frank… Mind your words in front of the knights. He only wants to meet the strong female warrior. He's not suspicious of the origin of her strength."

"Hmph… I'll go get her..." Frank said as he practically ignored the village chief's words.

***

Stella doesn't have plans on staying long within this forest so she wanted to hurry and look for those bobu sassafras herbs.

The villagers said that they can get them around the edge of the forest but there should be many more further inside.

Apparently, they were somehow able to survive and not get eaten by many plant-eating beasts because of their mimicking ability.

They always mimic poisonous plants so she just had to look for those plants that were looking off in their place and confirm them with the brass bell she has.

Ssh… Ssh… Ssh…

The sound of rustling leaves alarmed Stella as she held the trustworthy and sentient Arcana in her hands.

The head of a small horned rabbit appeared from the bushes and suddenly ran away after seeing Stella.

"Haaa~" Stella nervously sighed after realizing that she wouldn't need to fight yet.

Although her master promised that he'll help her in a fight, as she hasn't completed her training yet, she was still feeling nervous within this unfamiliar place.

Soon, she saw a familiar poisonous plant on top of a mossy rock… That particular plant was known to grow on corpses or rotten fruits so Stella felt that it was a bit off.

She then carefully approached the plant while looking out from any lurking beasts.

Cling! Cling! Cling!

Her handheld brass bell chimed and after a couple of seconds, the plant vibrated as if it couldn't handle the noise from the bell before showing its true form.