I Reincarnated as a Shinai

Stella couldn't erase the feeling she had before… 

She thought at first that it was a result of her excessive training and that she needed a rest… However, after some time, she realized that when she tries to use her Sense Link with her master, she would no longer feel the familiar sensation that she would always have.

Before, even if her master wouldn't reply, she would still feel her vague connection to the Arcana.

But right now, there was nothing like that all!

It has completely disappeared and she couldn't tell the reason why!

"Ugh… Did I do something to sever my connection to Master Reiji?"

The young lady thought for a moment but shakes her head after a while…

'No… Something must've happened to master. I need to find him.' Stella stood up as she decided to leave her Mercenary Squad to look for her master. 

Anyway, she wasn't really tied down here and she could leave whenever she wants.

She decided to write a letter and have someone send it to their squad leader in the Dukedom about her plans to leave… After that, she's planning to look for the knights who were also seen as Kendo Practitioners!

They might have clues about her Master's situation.

'Ugh… But how would I find them?' Stella frowned as she couldn't just leave without any plans. There were knights that were being assigned to one of the castles in the kingdom but based on what she heard, these Knights were always moving as if they are exploring the kingdom.

In the end, she had to ask for help from the information network established by the Dukedom. Though she wasn't part of the soldiers, she was still allowed to access some vital information about the Chodora Kingdom because of her merits during the previous war…

"Stella! Are you really going to leave us?" Lyrei, the only female elf in their Broken Fang Mercenary Squad, asked in a pitiful tone.

During the many years that they've been together, they had gotten really close and they would rarely separate from each other.

"Yes, Lyrei… I think I already reached the limit of my abilities. Thank you so much for everything. I'm sure we will meet each other again."

Stella said as she handed the letter to her for the leader of the squad. Apparently, Captain Holt is not in Selsmire Fortress and has returned to the Dukedom to practice the Beast Arts.

Apparently, the Beast Art of the Dukedom was given as a reward for those who had made great contributions in the war. 

Stella had already learned this technique in just two years but their Captain seems to require one more year to master it.

"Haa~ There's no helping it… Let me join you!"

The blond elf said as she decided to hand over the letter to one of the members of the squad… They are currently within their designated building within the Fortress.

Right now, the swordsman Ilphas is currently acting as a leader of this squad and she's the advisor!

It means that she's still holding quite an important position within the squad!

"What? You have a lot of things to do!" Stella exclaimed after hearing her plan.

"Don't worry, Ilphas is here and our Broken Fang has grown stronger. We have a lot of talents here that can do my job… We'll leave tomorrow after I finished arranging everything. You can spare that much time, right?"

The elf seems to be very enthusiastic about this that Stella couldn't bring herself to refuse.

In the end, she decided to tell her the truth that she will be looking for someone… 

"Alright, let me help you with that… This squad wouldn't just disappear anyway. We can just return whenever we wanted. You can treat this place like your home! Right, you have to remember about the mansions we bought in the Dukedom! Our squad has multiple properties now thanks to you so you can't just disappear!"

After a few more arguments, Stella was finally convinced to have Lyrei come with her in her adventure or search for her fellow Kendo Practitioners.

They first inquired in the information guild about the whereabouts of the Kingdom Knights with unknown or unique Sword Techniques. 

It didn't take long before they received a response that there are unique sword practitioners at the Arcanist Tower, Sun Fire Knights, Royal Academy at the Northern Branch, and Martial Arts Training Hall at the capital… 

Stella was unsure whether these people were all Kendo Practitioners or not since the information network doesn't know this as well. Aside from that, there might be a lot of unique sword arts, after all…

After a day had passed, Stella and Lyrei decided to set out to visit Wailing Forest by riding a horse.

"Wailing Forest? Hmm… That's not too far from here. I'm sure that we've visited that place a couple of times already."

"Yes. That's right… But we just went there to hunt some beasts and practice our sword arts… Now, we will be going to the villages surrounding it."

"I see… But why don't you want to bring a carriage instead? I think we'll be more comfortable that way."

"It's better like this. I can't respond quickly in an ambush if I'm riding a carriage. I hate that."

"Ugh… Is that so? I thought you just like your horse." Lyrei then went silent as she focused on the path… They would probably need four hours before they can get there.

They brought two traveling bags with them filled with things they needed like clothes, Magic Items, food, and water. 

Stella looked at the path ahead as she tries to recall her master's words.

Reiji mentioned to her that he had a student at Farahn Village before crossing the forest to visit the Jarnae Village where she was living with her uncle.

Speaking of which, her uncle has already built his own Weapons Shop at the capital and is no longer staying in the village…

***

It didn't take long before Stella and Lyrei arrived at Haspel Fortress… 

Since the Erliente Dukedom managed to take the Selsmire Fortress, the Kingdom built this fortress as a new line of defense against them.

Of course, it's not easy to pass here as well but they had already made a connection with the guards assigned here… They could pass here once they gave their identity as merchants and pay some money to them.

"Finally… I'll find you, master…" Stella muttered as soon as they have entered the Kingdom's soil.