The night grows colder, and the sound of crickets becomes clearer.
I need to think about how to escape from this situation. Left with no other choice, I will cast magic to secure her away from this place while drawing their attention towards Myself.
"Listen, you must run and follow this faint light. I will distract their attention."
She shook her head like she didn't want me to leave.
"There is no other choice. I will be okay, don't worry. Now go!!"
While she was away, I infused a rock with mana and aimed it at the head of one of the bandits. I needed to resolve this quietly to avoid detection by their more formidable companions.
"There is an intruder here!! Hurry up and call Leader, now!"
My situation was growing difficult. I pondered my choices and concluded that I had to hinder them and make my escape. However, using a stronger spell would risk attracting the attention of other mages. It was a gamble, relying on the hope that Master could detect my magic presence.
I wrapped my right chest and cast ".. Arcane Command!" This had been my secret spell from my days as a battlemage. It granted me the ability to seize control of the spells stored within my second mana library, eliminating the need for verbal chants with each spell I desired to employ. Average mages were incapable of utilizing this spell due to lacking additional mana hearts and possessing lower mana control.
"You little punk!!" the bandit tried to hit me with his enchanted sword.
As I cast speed to enchant, it was quite easy to dodge that attack.
"Let's see if you can survive from this mere fireball."
The bandit panicked, exclaiming, "What!? Chantless casting!"
As I cast the fireball spell, big wisps of fire began to manifest. I hurled the blazing inferno toward Him, and upon contact with the ground, it consumed all life, easing everything to charred ashes.
I infused my feet with mana and ran away from this place quickly.
"Where are you going little lady??!"
I was taken aback as someone pursued me relentlessly. Suddenly, I was struck by an intermediate wind magic called Cyclone Burst, leaving me with no time to evade the attack. I constructed a mana barrier to lessen the impact and mitigate the damage.
"Aghhh!!!!" I screamed in pain and was thrown a few meters.
Casting barrier magic was ineffective; the damage output was too high. I found myself lacking sufficient time to fully manifest the mana barrier.
"Wow! What a quite strong little lady we have here." said the wizard with a smirk. "You will pay for messing with us."
He grabs my clothes and tries to drag me somewhere. Suddenly his hand is burning by pale blue flames, leaving his hand to burn to ashes.
"Aggh, no!! My hand!!" He screamed in pain.
From above, I could feel the intense heat and a surge of mana. It was Master, accompanied by the little beast girl. Whom I had rescued earlier.
"Good job, My discipline! Now let me take care of this."
She cast a magic barrier around me, shielding me from the intense heat emanating from her.
Not too long, the bandit leader came after feeling Master Mana.
"Crimson Princess, I advise you not to meddle in our affairs."
She smirks, her eyes gleaming with a sinister glint. "I'm afraid my little discipline won't permit such leniency. Allow me to offer you a proposal: surrender willingly, or face the wrath that will burn you all to ashes!"
They tremble with fear.
"Prepare your position!!! Don't panic!!" Say the Bandit Leader.
They showed no willingness to surrender and resolved to fight back.
She smirks and began to chant an intermediate fire spell, "By flame's embrace, let destruction blaze!" She pointed his finger at the bandit, and a drop of lava dripped from her finger. Unleashing a powerful blaze of the inferno.
"AghhhhH!!!!" shouted the bandits in pain.
She didn't even leave a corpse, all being burned to ash.
Master immediately come to me and cast healing magic.
"Elina, you were so careless! Your previous wound hasn't fully healed, and now you've obtained a new one," she shook her head, surprised by my behavior.
I laughed helplessly.
After I can walk, we go to the camp.
"Thank you for saving me!" said the beast girl I saved earlier.
The movement of her ears showed that she was embarrassed to have troubled us.
"Where are you come from? Why is a beast girl trapped in the human kingdom?" asked Master.
"My name is Freya, and I come from the Kingdom of Etheria. I don't know what happened. When I was walking down the street, a group of masked men kidnapped me and took me to an unknown location."
"It must have been slave merchants. You have to be careful," Master warned. "Well, you can come along with us. I will get you new clothes when we arrive at the Capital."
I tried to calm her down as her body trembled with fear.
"My name is Elina Aslan and She is my Master Alessia von Valhalla. You can call me Elina."
She appeared confused, exclaiming, "Valhalla?! You are the true Crimson Princess!" asked her.
"Of course, I was. If you call me Big Sister Alessia, I will give you this extra piece of meat."
"Bigg Sister Alessia!!" she excitedly shouted as if forgetting what just happened.
Master happily patted her head; she clearly had a great affection for children.
"You don't want to join Elina?" Master asked with a strange face.
"Noo!!" I said while making an X-hand pose.
"Huhhh, you're no fun, Elina," said Master disappointedly. "You used to cling to me when you were about 4 years old."
My face flushed, remembering Elina's past memories.
She smirked and said, "You remember, right?! We used to hug, and you would call me Big Sister repeatedly.", "Oh, I think Freya is already sleepy. She nearly fell asleep in my lap."
The night is getting darker, and our bodies are getting tired. We both sleep while Master stands guard outside the tent.