In the night where the citizens of the city roam free, joyful about the wonderful victory they have gained from fighting the combined forces of the lizards and spiders. The lights were on from the bustling festival that celebrated the ones that have fallen, the ones that survived, and of course, the victory they have managed to acquire in such a dire situation.
The air was electrified by the amazing smiles and laughter of the people that were back in their homes and worked endlessly in supporting their warriors in whatever way they can during the defensive siege.
"Daddy, look it's a light show, that's so cool"
"Yes, it is wonderful. It is because of our hero, Sir Frederick that have been given the liberty to live another day."
"That's amazing wow, someday I wanna fight and protect everyone as well."
"You listen to Daddy and you can help and protect us in any way possible. Savor the feeling of being a kid, it won't help if you grow up too fast."
"Okay, Daddy"
They walked towards the end of the street and went off with their way as smiles and joy were showered upon them. Dreams continued to be aspired and live on as they successfully defended their city.
Alicia watched them go while standing still in the midst of the dense crowd. It was rare for Alcemia to be festive, in general, it is rare for any festivals to happen in Moonglade because of their culture of always doing work with the festivals being left out or would be the last of their priority.
That is why a lot of citizens take their time in enjoying every second and minute of each festival that would pass. It would be safe to say it was once in a red moon. There were people everywhere trying to live life as it is right now, they were very complacent about it. However, Alicia didn't carry a look of victory with her but carried suspicion and vigilance.
'Beastmen don't necessarily give up a fight unless they are close to death, much more when they have the numbers and advantage. Did they really retreat from this fight? Or did something happen in their kingdom that made them go back? Whatever it is, it is of no use right now.'
Alicia had her doubts regarding the sudden retreat of the beastman but chose to disregard everything considering that the decision was made this morning. It was discussed about what to do and what action the city will take after the Beastman retreated. And result that was Frederick by his power and prowess in the battle made him the superior voice of the conversation and managed to convince everyone to let the citizens of the city come back.
Of course, there were some complaints but it was soon shut down after there were no sightings of lizardmen or spiders deep in the forest, all of them were skeptical about it and once again increased the wide area in which they would scout and sent more men to verify the cause. Alicia raised her doubts during the meeting but it was quickly countered by Frederick's second-in-command, Jackson Reeves.
One of the reasons why Frederick was known and respected was because of Jackson, he had the skills that were worthy to be considered as one of the best knights in the kingdom, with his reputation of being heartless and silent. It was soon known that him to be a deadly, but loyal swordsman, with him by Frederick's side they took over the ranks and quickly rose up.
After the battle between the Lizardmen and Spiders. Alicia was officially declared as Captain for her efforts and her ideals to make the city and the kingdom a better place for everyone, acknowledging this, she was allowed to join the meeting of the captains with the other captains and second-in-command, which mainly includes, Francis, Frederick, Jackson and Her.
Alicia fought for her point and was soon dissolved by the evidence that proved that there were no more enemies to be sighted. It was then she realized she was alone and that even with her Uncle's support she wouldn't be able to overturn the decision, everyone was so blinded by the bravery and display of the power of Frederick that they admired him to the point of being illogical.
'Idiots, all of them can't they see that something this simple would be for us to let our guard down? Why can't they do more to compromise our situation? Are they tired of fighting and would want to end it this badly? I'm tired too but we need to keep our guards up for whatever happens next.'
She was angry and felt insulted about everything in the meeting, especially about the rumor about her and Frederick having to go out for dinner and would be a nice couple in the future. She was tired and all of it annoyed her to the point that she wants to punch everyone who murmurs that.
Walking down the streets of Alcemia she found herself lost on where she would go. Although she was here for quite a while now it was still difficult to memorize every route and the layout of the city. She went around corners trying to get to where her home was located and was met with stares and eyes as she was instantly recognized for being 'Frederick's' and the fact that she is a hero to everyone didn't help.
She played cool until she was out of sight. Finally recognizing the place she was in that was close to home, she sighed and gave a bright smile as she walked past the street to where she saw a man looking around dressed with a sheepskin cloak, that was trying hard to cover himself and was trying to be lowkey.
She found it suspicious and quickly went up to the man that seemed to be not from here, the man seemed to notice her walking towards him as he straightened his position and stared at her with a neutral look.
"Hello, Nice to meet you, it seems to me that you are lost and are finding a place you want to go I presume?"
"Mhm, Nice to meet you. I need help can you please tell me what's the worth of this bag?" As the man in the covered cloak showed her the bag.
"Hmm?" Alicia took a peek inside and found multiple silver coins. It was a lot but Alicia who was rich and was used to its appearance nonchalantly ignored it.
'It's more suspicious for him to not know the value of these coins. Did he steal it? I might need to keep a close watch on him.'
"So let's see, there are a couple of Silver Coins inside of here. You seem to have a lot of money, what do you plan to use it for?" Alicia asked trying to get some information out from him to see what action she would take.
"..." The man hesitated for a while before replying, "I plan to buy supplies and food for the village that was recently attacked by monsters, can I ask the value of Silver Coins and Bronze Coins?" The man asked.
'Village? Wait, is he talking about the village that was near the city? The one that was rapidly progressing? Did it get attacked? By monsters nonetheless? Something is going on.' Alicia panicked inside as she was shocked by the information that she heard.
"The way these coins work is simple. 10 Bronze Coins equate to 1 Silver Coin and 10 Silver Coins are equivalent to 1 Gold Coin, In the bag, there are at least 70, 80, 90…Oh wait, did you get that just fine? Sorry if I explained that incorrectly or hard to understand…"
'I heard that villagers were never really exposed to mathematical expressions and words, I wonder if he can understand this. If he doesn't then I have to make it simpler for him'
But to Alicia's surprise, she didn't need to as the man readily replied that he had no trouble understanding it which increased her vigilance and curiosity.
"How much food and supplies can I buy from these?" Asked the man.
"To be honest, I don't go out that much…So I don't know…Hey about the village, what happened? What kind of monster attacked? What's their current situation?"
"Too many questions miss, I'll answer them one by one but this time only I need to be fast… They were attacked mid-afternoon and to my knowledge, it was a Giant Scorpion that destroyed the village killing more than half the population are you satisfied now?"
"Yes I am"
"Okay then, Thank you for your help I'll go find supplies for the village" The man quickly walked away and just didn't mind her presence, she was even more shocked that he didn't recognize her even with her current popularity.
"WAIT!" She shouted, attracting attention as they all looked to where Alicia was standing, embarrassed by the sudden outburst her face quickly became red, and walked with stiff movements towards the man.
She played it off slowly as people began to continue celebrating the festival.
"What do you want, White Princess?" The man clicked his tongue as he asked in a snarky voice.
"I am coming with you, whether you like it or not, I don't know what's happening outside but I care for everyone in this city and outside of it. I need details about everything that happened, I need to know."
"Nah, don't care too much of a hassle, and I can go by quickly thank you. I might get lost with you around, it even took you long enough to know where you were going."
"Wait, HUH? How did you know about that? You were stalking me, weren't you? You creep I should arrest you right now…" Alicia's face became crimson from both embarrassment and anger as she prepared her fist for a punch.
"How would I not, when I'm also lost and happened to meet you up at every corner in where I go"
"Then that's the sign I need to go with you, and besides I know where the marketplace is. It would make it much easier for you, and in exchange I want information. You got yourself a deal Mr..?"
"Arthas, call me Arthas"
"Alicia, nice to meet you Arthas. Then let's go on our way then let us not waste time."
With that, their conversation ended and Arthas just gave a deep sigh while Alicia walked straight to where she presumably knows where the marketplace was situated.