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Chapter 104: Test Of Courage Part Three

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Alicia had already spent three days and nights in this illusion world. But unfortunately, the amount of information she has been able to gather did not account for much. She had not even seen the countess yet and was not allowed to enter the main house. There were a few new things that she did figure out. First and the most important thing she did find out was that she could still use magic. She figured this out the first night she was in this illusion world. The second thing was the time when the countess ate dinner and what her normal eating habits were. She had befriended one of the servants in the kitchen named Samantha which got her a few extra pieces of bread with her nightly meal. So now she would save some bread for morning time and share it with Beth.

The last thing she found out was when the countess went to bed. Since she was widowed she runs the whole Covett house by herself. So her going to bed would be the best time to take care of things. Alicia knew that just killing her would not fix much. This, of course, is because there was no evidence that she had been beating and killing people. Alicia would not kill someone unless there was proof of these things in front of her. But the past few days that she has been here there were no signs of severe mistreatment except the lack of food. Because of this Alicia had yet to move.

But this was different on this night. Alicia decided it was time to do some night investigation. Luckily she learned some concealment magic from Blake and her father before the test which will come in handy at this time. Concealment magic was very hard. This was mainly due to the fact that you had to bend light around your body making it almost pass through you. Just trying to imagine such a thing could be difficult. This kind of magic was good for what Alicia was about to do and that was to infiltrate the main house!

Alicia casted concealment magic on herself and then climbed out the small window of her bedroom. It was a bit of a squeeze to get out but the lack of food meant that the body Alicia was in was quite slender. This made it easier for her to squeeze out the window. The top portion of the building that stuck out of the ground had a nice overhang on the sides that made the area near the windows to have little to no snow. It would have been quite weird if someone was walking by and they saw the snow near a window being disturbed all of a sudden. This was also the reason why Alicia decided to climb out of the window. If she went through the main door it might cause alarm with the other servants still running around or maybe even the guards.

Now that she was outside she could finally head towards the main house. The main house had three floors. From what Alicia had found out the Countess lived on the third floor. Her room took up the entire third floor. In total there were twenty bedrooms in this house all of which were furnished. But there was no one using these extra bedrooms. When Alicia first found out that the countess used an entire floor for just her bedroom she couldn't help but shake her head. She wondered just what exactly what one would do with an entire floor for a bedroom. But the more she thought about it, she did end up coming up with quite a few things she would do with such space. Only then did she stop criticizing the Countess for her lavishness.

Alicia quickly arrived at the side entrance to the mansion where the guards and servants mainly entered. She waited patiently by the side door. About a half hour later the door finally opened and a guard that seemed to be half drunk walked out. When Alicia looked at this guard's expression her face sank because he had the same look in his eyes as those bandits she had wiped out.

"Hic! Who will I visit tonight? Hmm, I am kinda sick of the usual girls, maybe I will go find a new one… Hic! Hic! There were two new girls brought in not long ago. I will let them say hi to this daddy! Hic!" The guard mumbled to himself.

Alicia happened to hear what the guard said right as she was about to step through the door. Her face sank even more since she knew who the guard was talking about. The only two new servants that had recently been brought in were her and Beth! Alicia looked at the open door, her eyes filled with complications. Thinking quickly she casted some ice magic and froze the lock on the door. Afterward, she turned and chased after the guard. By freezing the lock, the door will not automatically lock allowing Alicia to take care of the guard and then return to infiltrating the main house.

The guard walked step by step down the path humming some made up tune. Alicia snuck up behind him and quickly chopped the back of the man's neck. She did not kill him because he had yet to commit a crime that she knew of but to stop him from doing such things in the future, she decided to induce a little punishment.

She dragged the guard behind a few trees and with a small fireball in hand she 'accidentally' dropped it on the man's crotch. When she saw that the guard's crotch was now on fire, she shot back to the main house. Right as she stepped through the side door she heard a horrid scream coming from the place she had just left. Unfortunately for that guard, the fireball was not made of ordinary fire but fire she imagined based on burning medical alcohol. She was guessing that it would burn the guard enough to keep him in bed for a good while. Because he would not be able to put it out easily. She only did this to keep any hindrances from showing up and bothering Beth while she was out at night. She could have just knocked him out and left him there but that did not mean he would not try again the next day or the day after that.

As soon as Alicia entered the main house she made her way to the third floor as quickly as possible. But when she went to the second floor her sense of smell was filled with the smell of iron!

Chapter 105: Test Of Courage Part Four

Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Alicia brow furrowed when this scent filled her nose. She had only thought that the rooms on the second floor were empty but there seemed to be more going on than she had originally thought! Slowly making her way down the hall Alicia stopped in front of the first door she came to. She expanded her detection magic to see if anyone was inside. Seeing that she did not register anything she slowly opened the door and stepped into the room quickly shutting the door behind her.

When she turned around Alicia almost lost her stomach at the horrific scene in front of her. It was like a scene straight out of a gory horror movie back on Earth. There was what seemed to have once been a human hanging on a hook that was connected to a chain that was secured to the ceiling of the room. It swayed back and forth gently while blood dripped down to the floor. The organs that were once in the headless empty husk were all displayed out over a table nearby. But what Alicia saw next made tears stream down her cheeks. The head of the body that was hanging from the ceiling was also on the table and the face was someone she knew well and had gotten to know over the past two days.

"Samantha!" Alicia said in a low voice. Her voice slightly cracked as she cried. Alicia knew this was an illusion but the way the people she met interacted was very real. It was not like some crappy RPG game where the NPC would say the same lines over and over back on Earth. No, these people had real emotions and would laugh and cry just like her.

Alicia wiped her tears as rage began to take over. She did not want to have to resort to killing someone if they were only doing minor crimes. But this was beyond redemption. Alicia did her best to calm her anger. As a knight one must have a clear mind and think of the next path that needs to be taken. Right now the Countess has committed a crime that garners capital punishment. Because of this Alicia knew she did not need to investigate any longer.

Checking if the coast was clear, Alicia silently exited the room. Luckily she did not go too far into the room so the bottom of her boots were still clean. Before closing the door Alicia took one last look at Samantha's head and whispered: "I promise to return and give you a proper burial."

Closing the door, Alicia made her way to the third floor. At the staircase leading to the third floor, two guards were stationed there playing a game of cards. "Dammit! I lost again!" One of the guards yelled.

"Shhh! Not so loud! If you wake the Countess you will end up like that female servant!" The other guard warned.

"Yeah a pity that girl was pretty cute… It's a shame that she got caught stealing bread. The Countess was really angry. But I can also understand where the girl was coming from. One meal a day is really not enough. The Countess has so much money yet she won't even give two meals a day to her servants and works them like dogs. You remember that gardener?" The first guard asked.

"You talking about the one who was clipping the hedge and was strung up after cutting one wrong leaf?" The second questioned.

"Yeah. The leaf in question was actually sticking out and would have made the hedge look out of place. It was just that the Countess was not in a good mood so she decided to use that as an excuse to torture him." The first guard replied.

"That's why I always try to stay clear of the Countess. That way I can at least live a few more years."

Hearing the guards talk made Alicia realize that it was most likely her fault that Samantha was caught stealing bread.This thought alone made a few more tears roll down Alicia's cheek as a bit of guilt settled in. But now she knew for sure that it was the Countess who had tortured and killed Samantha. Alicia walked over to the two guards and quietly pulled the first guard's sword out of its sheath before appearing and placing the sword on the guard's neck. "If you two do not want to die do not say a word!"

The second guard that was about to shout quickly closed his mouth. He knew someone who was able to sneak up on them and appear out of thin air was not someone they could handle. He was not loyal to the Countess and he cherished his life more than anything. "Did you two handle the girl in the room over there?"

"No not us! It was two of the other guards who were on the day shift. They are the Countess's loyal dogs." The second guard quickly said.

"Then you will take me to them." Alicia said before using the hilt of the sword to knock out the first guard.

"He…?" The second guard asked as he looked at the first guard.

"He's fine. He will just sleep a little bit. I want you to take me to these two people and then to anyone else who helps the Countess do her evil deeds. " Hearing Alicia's order the guard quickly nodded his head, a slight smile formed on his face. In his head he was screaming with joy. 'That evil bitch will finally get what she deserves!' Ever since he had come to this place he had watched many of his friends go missing and end up in horrific states. He had witnessed all kinds of atrocities and wished he could do something to stop them but he was stuck with a slave brand and was not able to do a thing. One word from the Countess would set the slave brand off causing him extreme pain. This same slave brand worked as a tracer so even if he ran he would still be found. But now he saw a light of hope. This girl who appeared out of nowhere was like a goddess was sent to give everyone here salvation and bring down the evil Countess and her loyal dogs!