I Reincarnated as a Shinai

"Tsk… They are weak but with a swarm of them? We might be in trouble."

Rufus gripped his bow tightly as he looked at the black swarm of Forest Rats.

There should be a few thousand of them coming with full hostility. Though he had managed to participate in fending off the beast wave that has occurred at the Islefield Fortress, it was completely different since this time, they do not have any walls they could rely on and there are just too few of them even with the Werewolves accompanying them.

Stella stood up as she looked at the Forest Rats. Her Energy Bank is full so she's confident that she could last for a long time battling this wave. However, it should not be an option considering that they might encounter more beasts along the way.

'Master… This is really dangerous. You should've come here instead.' Stella couldn't help but complain in her mind. Of course, she didn't mean it as she continued looking at the surrounding. After all, they can consider hiding if they can't fight the battle.

As everyone was on the edge thinking of what to do, Jacob already commanded his men to do something.

"Do not worry! Young disciples! We've been dealing with these creatures for a very long time. We have ways to keep them away."

Jacob said with a smile as he signaled his men to do something.

"That's good to hear… If you need anything, just tell us." Diether replied as he looked at the new servants surrounding their carriage. 

"We just need to wait here for a while until they pass." 

As soon as Jacob spoke, the other servants activated the similar array that they are using within their forest.

Whom~

"A Concealment Array!" Rufus recognized the array immediately. 

"Werewolves are using Arrays? That's absurd." Stella and Calliope were surprised as they spoke at the same time.

"Haha~ Even Master Reiji was surprised when he learned about our capabilities. Well, it's all thanks to the Dark Elves. In any case, we don't have much Spiritual Energy. If they remained here for a long time, we might have to ask for your help. But if they left without draining us, that would be great."

Jacob answered as he looked at the Forest Rats.

The one they used isn't just a simple concealment array but also a barrier array.

If someone was looking from the outside, they would see that their area had just become a huge rock blocking the path.

Apparently, the barrier array doesn't have a great defense if attacked. However, if it is partnered with a concealment array that makes it look like a rock, then it would be a different story since a rock would just normally be avoided or stepped on.

Soon, the Forest Rats came to their location and as expected, they didn't realize that they are indeed concealing themselves as they have just avoided the hard rock. 

They waited for a few minutes before the rats disappeared.

"Haa~"

"That was nerve-wracking."

"I thought we'll have a bloody battle. Thanks, Jacob!"

"I'm just doing my job. This is the reason Master Reiji sent our team in the first place."

After this, the journey continued and they barely met any strong Evil Beasts around. Well, it wasn't that surprising since the Forest Rats may have just eaten them or they are still in hiding since the scent of the Rats is still everywhere. 

"It would normally take two days to get to the village we are heading to. We only managed to get here fast because we have these golems who didn't have to rest even at night." Jacob said as he looked at the horse-drawn carriage."

"You're right… The path is also a problem. Do we have to leave our carriage?" Diether asked as he looked at the terrain ahead. He also noticed that the horses are getting tired so they either have to take a break or travel by foot.

"Well, we can take a rest instead. It's also getting dark. Aside from that, I can see that you have a lot of things in the carriage as well so we can't ditch the carriage yet." Jacob said as he shared his plan.

He mentioned that they will be switching to their golem mount tomorrow to continue with their journey since the next path they'll use will be more difficult to traverse. 

***

While the Diether and the others are traveling, Reiji and Szaaz were actually moving together with the other werewolves as well. 

It's not because of the Slave Marker's limited distance because after he became Legendary Arcana, the limit has already been removed. 

They are moving because one of the Half-Imp's Scout detected the presence of the Dark Elves a few kilometers away from the Bhibra Village!

Considering that Reiji was seen in Bhibra village before and that he escape the Dark Elves' village recently, there might've decided to check whether he really returned to this village to chase him.

If that's the case, then he just endangered the residents of Bhibra Village. Once Reiji's group left, the Half-Imps might be forced to leave the village and go into hiding. At worst, they might even think of worshipping the Nine Imps again to fend off their attacks. 

If that happened, he would've wasted his time convincing them to stop looking for human sacrifices. 

Reiji didn't want to have the Three-Eyed Imp Cult return after all.

"Master Reiji… There is only a small group. Perhaps, they are just scouts and wanted to see whether you really returned to the village. Should we kill them?" Szaaz said as the Trident released an ominous aura around it. 

"Hmm… We can do that…" Reiji said as he looked at his team and the Dark Elves.

There are only eight enemies and they can be easily dealt with just by him alone. 

"However, we can use this as an opportunity to save the Half-Imps some future troubles." Reiji added.

"Oh? And how are you going to do that, Master?" 

Reiji didn't answer as he decided to activate his Slave Marker.