'Ruthren! What's going on? What happened to the two?'

Reiji ignored Yui and Odette for now as he immediately connected to Ruthren, the previous bandit that was now his slave.

​​

Although these bandits deserve to die due to the crimes they've made, Reiji still has use for them…

'Master. We are unable to supply our clients, they took Ned and Heras away. I managed to escape but they might find me soon.'

Ruthren immediately replied but Reiji was a bit lost after hearing such unfamiliar names.

It took a second for him to realize that those were the names of the slaves who just died. This was his first time hearing this…

'What's wrong with your previous clients? How did they find you here? Didn't I told you to mix in the crowd and do not stand out?'

'I'm not sure as well, Master. It seems that they have a tracker… I only managed to escape after using my Magic Item to hide.'

'Mhmm… Where are you now?'

'I'm just outside the tower. I thought that it would be better to get closer to you.'

'Alright… Just hide for now. Who are your clients anyway? Are they stronger than you?'

Reiji asked curiously.

After all, from the previous 20 bandits that he encountered, these three were the only people who caught his attention and let them survive by becoming his slaves. It means that they are still quite strong compared to average humans.

Aside from that, they were also equipped with various weapons and Magic Items before he let them stay outside. They should be able to survive within this peaceful city where violence can easily attract the city guards to take action…

'That's correct, Master… They are Sir Renzo and Lady Karen… There was no way for us to defend against them.'

'Those two? Why are they hunting you?'

'We have promised them to sell a Cursed Arcana but we're unable to. They are thinking that we sold them to other clients already.' Ruthren explained his situation.

It appears that these bandits were not trusted by their clients. It was quite normal with their line of business.

Reiji understood this and realized that there's nothing he can for them at the moment.

'I see… Good luck then. Just hide and survive as much as you can. Make sure not to let Felix and the others be found. Don't look or approach them. Understood?'

'…Yes, Master!'

After hearing Ruthren's answer, Reiji turned to Yui to discuss their story.

"Mr. Sword Arcana, before telling you our story. Can you at least let us know your name? You already know the two of us… We should start by knowing each other, right?"

Yui asked as politely as she can.

"Very well, you can call me Reiji."

"Reiji… I see… Are you really Noel's sword Arcana like what Odette told me? I lost my focus in the surroundings after getting her, so I can't remember what happened."

"I'm not sure… Anyway, this is not the time for me to share my story."

"Right… Then allow me to explain."

After realizing that Reiji didn't want to share any details about his origin, Yui finally decided to get to the main point…

"Ehem… About the mission I have, this all started within my family, the Sakura Clan… It is a small clan within the western territory neighboring the Greiner Family…"

Reiji remained silent as he let her explain the situation. It was a good thing that she plans to tell the whole story instead of just the thing that he has to do.

After all, he also wanted to judge whether he'll be doing the right thing or not. If his actions of helping them would later on harm a lot of innocent people, then it would be in his conscience even though he's no longer a human but a sword.

"We are not originally from this kingdom and we've just migrated from Enetha Empire after my ancestors clashed against the now Imperial Family of Enetha… We are accepted in this kingdom because even though we've lost against the Empire, we still possess some Forbidden Arcane Magic that might be useful for Chodora Kingdom that was still in its growing era…"

Reiji then remembered that the Enetha Empire was right above the Losea Kingdom in the north of Chodora…

'Sakura, huh…'

Reiji observed Yui…

Her red robe almost covered her whole body except for her face and hands… She has pale skin and long black hair that is neatly coiffured to reveal her adorable face. She'll definitely become even more attractive once mature.

She then further explained that her mission in this tower was to retrieve or destroy a Cursed Arcana that was originally from their clan…

The Cursed Arcana could not just threaten innocent lives but it will most likely affect the Sakura Clan even more.

After all, the Arcana that they are talking about consumed a lot of blood from the members of their Clan. Apparently, once the Curse Arcana was activated, any person who got their blood taken by the Arcana may perish if it wasn't handled correctly.

That's right. This Arcana could kill anyone as long as it managed to take even a bit of its target's blood.

It may sound ridiculous but this is a genuine Cursed Arcana that has to be destroyed or sealed completely.

Reiji found it quite scary but it also ignited his desire to see such a powerful Cursed Arcana.

"Where is it now?"

"We heard that it was brought here by a couple of powerful Arcanists… One is a son of a Count and the other is a daughter of a Baron… Their status was something we can't ignore as well."

"Those nobles…"

They sounded familiar… Reiji was sure that he heard something like this before… After thinking for a moment, he recalled Ruthren's words…

"Are you talking about Renzo and Karen?"

"Oh? I didn't think that you'd know them…" Yui and Odette were truly surprised. After all, those two shouldn't be very famous for a Sentient Arcana like Reiji.

"I'm surprised as well… Anyway, can you tell me the name of this Cursed Arcana for now?"

"Yes… It's known as Cursed Mask of the Overlord."

Reiji made sure to remember this name…

'A mask, huh…'

This is his first time hearing such Arcana. He had never even seen a Mask Magic Item before so he found it quite interesting…

***

While Reiji and the others were chatting in a different room, most of the trainees for the final Evaluation were just looking around the shelves…

No one was hurrying in taking materials as they were still planning on what to make, except for a couple of trainees that seemed to be very confident.

They might be too rash in their decision or perhaps they were really just that good…

'They didn't say that we can't make a known non-killing Magic Item. The senior Arcanist also emphasized clearly to stick with the theme that Sir Kael made… So it means that it wasn't necessary to invent a new Magic Item as long as we follow it…'

This is what everyone has realized after carefully considering their options. After all, a stable product that they can create might truly be better than creating a new one that might have issues once it was checked…

Everyone then started recalling the Magic Items they learned from their classes as they started picking up the materials.

Lexi and Rufus bumped into each other as they were looking for a similar item…

The item on the shelf in front of them contains 50 sets of empty Memory Crystals.

The crystal only has a size of a thumb but because they are sealed in a bottle, they still took quite a lot of space.

There are 80 different types of materials here and it seems that these two are planning to use this same item for their Magic Item.

There are only about 5 known uses of Memory Crystals and none of them required another two or more special materials.

However, the supervising Arcanist said that they are allowed to take 18 items with them…

Using this crystal would limit their options for their Magic Items… After all, this crystal is known for its fragileness and that it shouldn't be placed near the materials with strong energy if they aren't perfectly sealed or they'll easily shatter…

The two just glanced at each other as Lexi took 1 bottle while Rufus took a couple of them…

Rufus then took 17 more items before he found his table to start crafting…

Apparently, although he couldn't make a storage bag just like what his master suggested, it had given him an idea to continue creating one of his inventions in this evaluation…

'Master, I'll show you that I'm also quite capable…'

The young man was thinking that his master is watching him so he was quite pumped up as he started crafting…

On the other hand, Reiji continued listening to Yui's plan to take the Mask.