I Reincarnated as a Shinai

Aria didn't immediately help her as it might just trigger the knights even more.

She decided to listen to their conversation in the meantime. 

"There are many witnesses about your argument with the Count's son yesterday. You have to explain yourself." One of the knights demanded as he confronted Stella.

The latter didn't seem intimidated as she sighed before speaking.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any recollection of what you're talking about. There was indeed a conflict where I got involved yesterday but it's related to someone who can't pay 50 gold coins to the seller. There's no way that a Count's son would be involved with that. You might have to check your sources again before coming to me."

Stella replied calmly asserting her innocence.

The three knights were then stunned after hearing her argument. Anyway, they have just received the information about the incident from various people, they couldn't easily tell who's telling the truth.

Aside from that, a count's son should indeed have at least that much in their pocket. A 50 gold coin isn't that huge from them, to begin with. 

It may be a fortune to commoners but nobles who own businesses and arable lands shouldn't be lacking in money. 

The knights looked at each other unsure whether they should bring this girl with them. In truth, they don't even have the power to bring someone with them for interrogation.

Any crimes that have occurred within the town should be handled by the town guards or the Town Chief here would not be tolerating their actions. 

"We didn't hear anything about that fifty gold coins conflict. But you and your friends still have a motive for killing the Count's son so you better not leave this place until we finished the investigation."

The leader of the Knights then said before leaving Stella alone. This town is not a lawless zone so they can't just arrest anyone they wanted to. 

Aside from that, there's already a lot of people looking at them with judging eyes. Unfortunately, the Faust Family aren't that good with the commoners so none of them are actually willing to side with the family. It would be a huge problem if it was proven that Stella has nothing to do with this and the culprit in this incident was discovered by another group.

As soon as the Knights left, Aria approached Stella who's about to continue on her way. She didn't notice Yasmin and Lyrei so she's probably about to find them.

"Stella, is everything alright?" Aria asked.

Stella looked behind her and saw Aria in simple clothes. She's not in her combat attire but wearing a simple dress that seems to perfectly align with the people walking around the streets. 

"It's alright… Are you here to buy some supplies? There will be a lot of Wild Beasts or even Evil Beasts along the way… I heard that there's also a lot of bandits in our chosen path."

"Yes… That's right. We don't have to worry that much with the beasts… These bandits blocking the northern road are quite numerous since the knights and the army have become busy. We have to be careful."

Aria agreed with Stella's words. The merchant's caravan these days has to hire several mercenaries or commissioned Hunters to protect them from the bandits or thieves.

If not, they would become potential targets by these groups hiding in the forests and mountains these days. 

The two then walked together in the market as they chatted for a bit regarding the Knights' accusations.

"I'll ask my mother to deal with the guards so they won't suspect you anymore."

"Hmm… That's fine. I'm not planning to listen to them anyway. We will leave as per our schedule."

"I wonder… Are you really not involved with that person's death?" Aria asked without giving much thought. The truth doesn't really matter to her and she just wants to ask about it.

Instead of answering, Stella just laughed it off and changed the topic. She decided to ask Aria about any of her recommendations regarding potions and other stuff.

Most of the potions she's always purchasing are related to healing or recovery. After all, it is something crucial considering her line of work. 

"Are you asking about the possible Arcane Potions you can purchase here?"

"That's right. I want to get out of my comfort zone… I'm confident with my swordsmanship skills and my Arcana's Arcane Magic. However, there are cases that I might meet someone who better at me in both of those."

Stella sincerely answered her. 

"I see… I like the way you're thinking. In truth, I'm quite impressed with your current group. All of you are very strong especially Yasmin with two Arcana with her. However, I can feel that you aren't that used to having magic items or potions being used in a fight."

Aria replied after recalling their confrontation with Noel and their practice matches yesterday. 

Stella nodded at this. She can actually tell that Noel's bodyguards' strength wasn't something natural. It wasn't that obvious before since Lyrei was just on a different league even if compared with her fellow elves. 

Anyway, she also noticed these last night with their acute senses. They must've received incredible training or perhaps, they have received enhancements from potions. 

"Alright… I'll purchase some useful Arcane Potions for you guys. Many of these potions being sold were fake so you have to be careful. Let me handle purchasing them for our group."

Aria added as they walked to the nearest Apothecary.

***

Several hours had passed as Yasmin, Lyrei, Stella, and Aria boarded a carriage to continue their journey towards the northern region where Diether is possibly assigned at this date. 

"Is that a new holster?" Aria noticed the pistol's fabric case on Yasmin's hip.

"That's right. I decided to use this as my secondary weapon so it's better if it's on my hip instead of my belt." Yasmin answered.

Apparently, she wanted to make the common rank Arcana or dagger that was gifted to her by her parents as her main weapon instead of the pistol with a low firing rate. 

"Hey, guys… I think we're being followed." Lyrei is currently assigned to drive the carriage when she noticed something was off.

With her senses, she easily heard the running horses chasing their carriage. 

None of them seem to be surprised as they counted the "bandits" that were following them before deciding how to handle them.