They traveled for about a week and a half without any incidents. The weather was starting to get colder to the point that the girls were forced to put on a few more layers. They were still traveling the same road towards the Frozen Forest when Alicia stopped in her tracks and looked out over a small section of trees. "Alicia?" Starla stopped to ask when she saw Alicia not moving."Look, smoke. And I do not think it"s just a campfire either." Alicia said as she pointed at the black cloud of smoke rising into the sky not too far away.
"Isn"t that where the Village of Eternal Snow is supposed to be?" Rose asked.
"I have a bad feeling about this. Let"s hurry and check it out." Alicia shouted as she rushed ahead. Everyone else followed along doing their best to keep up with Alicia"s speed.
"Sue, Bridget take care of the other girls. I will chase after Alicia!" Blake shouted as he sped up. Sue and Bridget both looked at each other and slowed their pace to the same as the girls.
After seeing how fast Alicia was, Sue and Bridget were quite amazed at her speed. Mainly because she was so young and yet she was faster than them!
Alicia quickly arrived at the entrance of the Village of Eternal Snow. The scene in front of her really caused Alicia"s blood to boil. A large group of one hundred plus bandits was raiding the village. She could see the women and children being rounded up, some to be sold and some for other… well, it"s best not to say.
"Alicia!" Blake appeared next to Alicia and called her name in a whisper.
"Blake… Why is this world full of so many bad people?" Alicia hated scenes like this the most. These bandits were just running around killing people, looting, and kidnapping.
"No matter what time, or country you are in. When you come out to these thin areas where large groups of bandits are able to run wild, due to the lake of military presence, these are scenes you will always see. Your father has done much to try to reduce the number of bandits in regions like these but it is hard to weed them all out." Blake explained as he pulled Alicia into a hug.
"Mmm… I figured as much but still… I wish people would just learn to at least be kind enough to not resort to such atrocities as this." Alicia sighed.
"Then should we deal with it now or wait for the other girls?" Blake asked.
"We will wait. Have Sue or Bridget stay at Annelia"s side. If she seems to be losing herself during the fight, drag her out before she gets any trauma. Otherwise, she might end up hurting herself and others in the process or worse get herself killed." Alicia worried about Annelia since she seems a bit closed off to such things, but she wanted Annelia to be able to experience first hand what it meant to be a knight when dealing with such a situation.
It was not long before the rest showed up. Annelia almost screamed at what she was seeing but was quickly pulled back and silenced by Sue. Alicia looked at everyone making sure she got everyone"s attention and said: "Annelia, right now I will have to a.s.sume command of the squad since out of everyone here I am the one with the most battle experience. But please know I am only taking command during this fight in order for us all to stay alive."
"It"s fine! To-to be honest, my knees won"t stop shaking. So either way, I would not be able to handle this situation as I am now." Annelia said, her voice trembling. clearly frightened.
Alicia looked at Annelia and then at Rose and Starla. Rose"s face showed no anxiety about the task at hand, while Starla who was doing her best to stay composed was trembling slightly. "We are about to take on over one hundred Bandits. If we do not do this, the people of Eternal Snow will suffer even more than they are now. Sue, Bridget I ask that you watch over Annelia and Starla. This should most likely be their first time taking human lives."
"You have my promise, Princess. I will not let anything happen to them." Sue gave a small bow.
"You have my word as well Princess." Bridget also gave a small bow.
"Blake and I will keep an eye on Rose just in case... But generally, everyone should keep an eye on each other no matter what." Alicia turned to Blake. She was not so much worried about herself due to the forced training in the Illusion World and her training in the Demonic Forest. But she was not sure how many times Rose has had to rush into a battlefield such as this.
"She will be fine, I am sure but to be safe I will keep an eye on her and you as well." Blake turned and looked at Alicia. "Alicia, do not overdo it..."
"I know don"t worry. I have faced much worse than this. If it was not for the fact that there were civilians who needed to be saved I could easily deal with this situation alone… But not all things are that simple." Alicia saw this as a chance for Rose, Starla, and Annelia to hone their skills a bit against multiple enemies. She also felt that it was a good chance for Starla and Annelia to learn what it means to take another human"s life.
Rose walked up next to Alicia and whispered. "Do not worry too much about me. I have also been trained by his Majesty"s special training as well."
Alicia gave a small smile and a nod to Rose before saying: "Okay, Sue with Starla. Bridget with Annelia. You four are to try to free and escort out the villagers who were captured. Rose, Blake, and I will fan out in the village while trying to keep each other in our sights and take out the rest of the bandits."
***
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