Raid

Two days ago, Alice had her second lesson with Risa. She had been very nervous since Risa would decide if she was going to keep teaching her or not on that day, so Alice had been practicing whenever she could until then.

That had definitely been the right decision to do, as Risa told her in the end that she wasn't testing her ability but if she was willing to learn and do her best even on her own. She had said that there wasn't any worth teaching someone, even if that person had talent if he had not the will to do his best.

Right now, Alice was patrolling the area with the border to the rats' territory and already in thoughts by her practice. At that moment, she suddenly heard the sound of someone running through the street next to the one she was using. Silently, as to not annoy the owners, Alice jumped onto a roof and looked down into the street on the other side, careful that no one would see her.

What she saw, was a group of two boys and one girl who was running through the street, coming from the direction of the rats' territory.

Jumping down, Alice punched the boy closest to her on the head, using her fall to strengthen the power of her punch, bringing the boy down in a single move.

Surprised, the other boy and the girl went into a defensive posture in an instant, alas, Alice had already predicted their reaction. Before the other boy could steady himself, Alice gave him a vicious kick between his legs.

As if he was checking if everything was still there, the boy held his hands between his legs only to completely freeze up a moment later. Uttering a low grunt, the boy toppled over like a statute that had lost its balance.

"R-red demon!?", the girl exclaimed in shock. She had recently heard rumors about some redhaired girl in the vultures' territory with that nickname. She was supposedly incredibly strong and just as brutal.

"W-we didn't intend to trespass, we had no choice, please just let me go! I-I know, let me tell you, we were just running away from the guards! They have already raided our entire territory! I overheard some of our leaders, there are a huge amount of soldiers outside the city, completely surrounding it!", the girl hastily told Alice everything she knew, hoping she would let her go.

"Oh, and why should I believe you?", this wasn't the first time someone tried to make excuses once they got caught. Although she knew that there was the possibility of a raid happening, what the girl had said sounded like a bit too much in her opinion so she had to probe a bit more.

At that moment, Alice heard the clanging of metal and rustling of chainmail. No two seconds later came a group of several armed individuals around the corner at the end of the street.

Alice was stunned, not only because there were almost ten or so armed men suddenly appeared, but also because they definitely weren't normal city guards.

A normal guard only had a combination of chainmail and helmet with a simple overcoat with the coat of arms on it. And only higher-ranked personal had a shortsword in addition to the spear.

This group, on the other hand, had not only a different coat of arms on their chest, but they also were all clad in armor made by combining chainmail and solid metal plates that protected the most important parts. They were also much more organized in their movements as a small part of them broke out from their ranks and continued in another direction while the rest of them came towards Alice.

"Shit!", Alice cursed, her instincts told her that these people were much more dangerous than the normal guards. She didn't know what would happen exactly if she got caught, and she had also no plan to find out.

Not hesitating in the least, Alice let go of the girl and jumped on top of the roof in the next moment, she had to get away. Using the moment she had gained like that, she instantly gave off a combination of shrill whistles. It was the signal that the raid had started. It took a few moments, but Alice soon heard the same whistle from six other locations, only when she was sure that everyone had got the warning did she feel relieved.

Alice didn't know if it was instinct or luck, but the moment she started running away, she heard a loud sound right behind her. When she looked back, she got shocked once again. Just a little bit more than one arm length behind her stood one of the soldiers. She had made a mistake, just because that had never happened before, she had felt too safe and become careless.

Even though she looked behind her for a moment, Alice didn't stop running, on the other hand, she did her best to speed up even a bit more in hopes of getting away.

At the same moment, she heard the loud footsteps and clanging of metal. The soldier was following her.

Alice continued running as fast as she could, constantly changing directions and jumping over streets, doing everything she could think of to shake off her pursuer. But no matter what she did, the loud steps of the man coming after her never ceased.

Alice lost her sense of time, she couldn't tell anymore how long she was already running when the steps behind her stopped suddenly. Not wanting to waste the chance she had gotten, Alice sped up once again. Just as she wanted to get down from the roofs and hide in the streets, something heavy hit her in the back with enough force to drive all the air out of her lungs.

Almost losing her consciousness because of the pain, Alice lost her balance and fell down into the street. A sharp pain shot through her head when she hit her head against a stone, making her head clear again.

The soldier must have thrown a stone or something, Alice thought. She didn't have much time to get away before the soldier would come after her again.

Ignoring the sharp pain in her chest, Alice stood up and looked around her. But what she found wasn't an escape route or a place for hiding. Instead, her eyes were captured by the figure of the small girl in front of her.