Chapter 31: Died And Risen
Dawn broke and Alicia was once again standing outside the entrance of Berlin's space. The smell of morning dew was still very fresh as the morning fog had yet to lift from the forest floor. "Okay Alicia, do you have everything I have prepared for you for this trip? Do you have the map to the residence I prepared for you? On that map, the Adventurers Guild is also marked. Also, make sure you do not just follow anyone that is nice to you! If someone is nice to you that means they had bad intentions it would be better to just kill them!"
Seeing Berlin's serious face as he was saying all this made Alicia burst out laughing. "Master Berlin what if it is a five year old child that is nice to me?"
"Kill them! They were sent to befriend you and gain your trust so that you will follow them into a trap!" Berlin said once again with a serious tone.
"Old Man no one will be able to hurt Alicia no matter how hard they tried. You should be more worried about a handsome boy trying to steal her away for marriage!" Loeri said jokingly. Not expecting the atmosphere in the area to become extremely cold. The dew covered foliage started to get a thin layer of frost form over it due to the temperature drop. Loeri looked at the old man and realized she had said too much.
"Who dares!? No one is worthy of my Little Alicia!" Berlin roared.
"Master Berlin calm down. I am not even ten years old yet! Who would have designs on me!? You have nothing to worry about, I will not follow any strangers and I will kill anyone who tries to be nice to me!" Alicia said with a smile but you could hear the bit of laughter in her voice.
"Humph! Joke while you can but when you grow up, look out for those lecherous men! You can not trust them!" Berlin spoke matter of factly.
"Okay! Okay! I will make sure I run any guys I find worthy by you first okay?" Alicia just wanted to head out so she could get to the capital in time. So she rolled her eyes and agreed with Berlin's overprotectiveness. Although she acts like she does not care, she still felt warmth in her heart knowing that Berlin cared about her this much.
"Okay, I will come to the capital as soon as I can. I will probably be late by a month. I will have an old friend meet you at the residence. He is an upright man that I have known for years. Out of everyone in the capital besides me, you can trust him completely." Of course, the person Berlin was talking about was none other than himself but he would not tell Alicia that at this time.
"Oh? What's his name?" Alicia asked. She was surprised to see Berlin actually praise someone and actually trusted him to meet her alone.
"Augustus Alastine the second. The King of the Alastine Kingdom!" Alicia was shocked hearing this name! No wonder Berlin trusted him, he was the king of the country! Only if Alicia knew that if the king of Alastine was not himself he would never let such a person near his precious daughter!
"Okay, I will wait for his visit then." Alicia gave Berlin a hug before setting out.
"Bye! Bye! Grandpa!" Frey yelled out.
With Loeri on top of her head and Frey nestled up by her neck Alicia set off to make her way to the capital. The trip would be a long one and she would get to see more of this new world besides the trees of the forest. She might also get to meet some of the locals. But before that, she wanted to make a side trip to the old hut she had spent her first night in when she first came to this world. She wanted to burn away the old Alicia's painful past and raise a grave in honor of the deceased Alicia.
It took no more than a few hours to exit the woods. When she did she saw the familiar yet not so familiar path that led to the old hut. Alicia walked to the hut that was barely still standing. Now that she got a decent look at it, it seemed that the original Alicia did try to fix it up a bit with the twigs and mud stuffed in between the cracks trying to keep the wind out. Seeing this Alicia's heart ached for the original Alicia. To have to suffer alone in such a place at such an age. How unfair was that?
"Mother, what's this place?" Frey saw that her mother's brows were furrowed and knew this place was not a good place.
"It's a place full of bad memories. Mother came here to burn this place down and leave a memorial here." Alicia said. Loeri did not say a word she had already heard about Alicia's past from the old man. Alicia did not talk about it much since she was one to put her past behind her and only look forward and push for greater heights.
Alicia set the hut on fire and waited for it to burn to nothing before using some earth magic and creating a small mound where the hut once stood. She formed a kind of cement out of water and earth magic. Once she was done she carved a few lines into the cement. "Alicia had died and had risen in this place."