Chapter 310: Chapter 294 – After-Action Review

“A favorite tool instructors like me liked to do was to criticize and point out what our students did wrong after the action was over. Certainly, teaching and demonstrating beforehand helped them learn, but few things got ingrained faster compared to lessons that were backed with actual experience that reaffirmed their use in practical situations like that.” - Fareed El-Jidwa, military instructor for the Oreli Khanate of Northern Ur-Teros, Circa 217 VA.

“So, how was your second time fighting for real?” asked Aideen as she removed the dead man’s body from atop Celia’s in a seemingly easy movement. The man was a good bit bigger and heavier than she herself was, so at least sixty to seventy kilos at a minimum, yet Aideen shoved his corpse aside with one hand nonchalantly. “Challenging? Exciting? Fun? If you say fun we might need to have some longer talks later.”

 

“Terrible,” replied Celia as she coughed up blood. The younger woman took Aideen’s proffered hand with her one good hand and raised herself from the ground with a visible wince of pain. Blood flowed freely from the dozen or more stab wounds all over her torso, the handiwork of the second man she had killed. “Felt like someone just stabbed me a couple dozen times in the gut, on top of everything else.”

 

“Well, news flash, someone did just stab you a couple dozen times in the gut indeed,” replied Aideen with a chuckle at the other woman’s attempt to liven up the atmosphere. Neither of the men Celia killed had particularly clean ends, testament to the woman’s still limited capabilities, but neither had she cowered or cried when placed into a situation where it was to kill or be killed, which spoke well for her character. “That said, you did well, given the situation. Now let’s get you fixed up. That can’t be comfortable.”

 

Celia blinked in surprise for a moment when Aideen casually laid a hand on her crushed left shoulder, and felt how the broken bones and crushed muscles just knit themselves back into place. The searing pain from her stomach area turned into a dull itch as she felt the wounds close and severed flesh reconnect, all in a matter of seconds. It was not the first time Aideen had healed her, but it still surprised the girl to see what amounted to a miracle for many people done so casually.

 

“There we go, all fixed up,” said Aideen with a smile as she patted Celia on the healed shoulder. Then Celia saw how Aideen took a closer look at her and frowned disapprovingly, and wondered for a brief, fearful moment that she had done something wrong. “We’re going to need to get you to a stream to wash up, though, and a fresh change of clothes. Your current condition is unpresentable.”

 

With some stupefaction visible on her face, Celia looked down at her clothes. Aideen was right, she realized after a moment of introspection. Unlike the older unliving woman, who looked to be unscathed other than some dust staining her pristine clothes, Celia was drenched in blood - mostly her own at that - and other unmentionables all over. Not to mention how the stab wounds had naturally also torn up the tunic she wore in many places. In the end, Celia couldn’t help but blush at her state of dress.

 

“What about the landlord? And the rest of his… knights?” Celia finally asked as she realized that the sound of battle had entirely died down by then. Aideen looked unscathed, as if she had not just found over a dozen people all at once, and Celia wondered if maybe she had just taken out the landlord and drove the rest away like that. Thugs like the ones the landlord hired would be unlikely to be willing to avenge him after he was gone, after all.

 

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“Oh, them? Take a look for yourself,” said Aideen as she brought Celia over to where the rest of the fighting happened. There, Celia saw the rest of the landlord’s party, every single one of them dead, many with their heads separated from the bodies. The pompously dressed landlord himself still clutched at the intestines that spilled out of his torn belly, with his face locked in a rictus of agony forevermore. He looked like he died in horrible pain.

 

Even through the carnage, Celia noticed one thing. Namely, the absence of the horses, as not even one of the equine creatures’ corpses was present despite the slaughter that took place. In fact, she noticed some bridles and saddles that had been removed and piled up at one side of the area.

 

“Unlike their owners, the horses are blameless,” said Aideen with a shake of her head. “The poor animals merely had the misfortune of having horrible owners, so there was no reason for me to take their lives as well. The ones that had not run off because they were injured, I had healed and got rid of their saddles and bridles, then set them free.”

 

“That’s… kind of you,” said Celia after she sorted her thoughts for a moment. Then she shook her head to clear her mind from the thoughts that came unbidden. “Please don’t take this the wrong way… but it almost feels like you thought higher of the horses than the landlord and his knights, despite them being human beings.”

 

“Because I thought exactly that way,” admitted Aideen without a shred of emotion in her voice. “Quite a few humans, and other races as well, for that matter, are often much worse than animals, be it in their behavior or their value. Horses are useful animals, loyal and helpful, while parasites and trash like those people are better off drowned at birth. Keep that in mind, for there would often be people whose passing would indeed make the world a better palace at times.”

 

“For now, you can put these bastards behind your mind. They would trouble you, or villages like yours, no more,” said Aideen all too nonchalantly. “In the meantime, let’s get you cleaned up first. Tell me how you fought those two while we’re at it.”

 

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