Chapter 161: Saving The Villagers
"When facing House Aurellion in battle, be prepared to take two if not three times the casualties that you normally would."
"Be prepared for them to fight to the last man."
"For they retreat but do not run away."
"They do not rout but fight to the last man."
"And god help you if you fall for their schemes."
Gaius Sellic, Count of Acha and General of Chavaria.
....
It only took 5 minutes for the Pelican Guards to finish decimating the remaining raiders who did not fight back. Not one escaped, and not one Pelican Guard died, making it a resounding victory for House Aurellion. It was just a shame that because most of them were cut down while running, the experience that the Pelican Guards could have gotten by fighting these veteran raiders was reduced significantly. However, they still needed to learn how to chase down a routing enemy, and these raiders made for the perfect practice.
Not only were their training and discipline the same as a veteran soldier, but the same open countryside terrain that gave the villagers few places to hide from their pursuers now backfired on the raiders, who were easily spotted as they retreated through open fields by the Pelican Guard recruits.
While this was going on, Aldorus had already finished healing Por, having immediately gone to him after killing Sigert while keeping an eye on the battlefield to ensure that Railius was safe and the small skirmish was going in the right direction.
This had become second nature to him as, over the last few months, the loyal commander of the Pelican Guards had largely watched on as the recruits killed any bandits that attacked them, only interfering if the situation was dire or someone was on the verge of death. However, once they increased the number of men guarding their caravan to 50, fewer and fewer bandits dared attack them, preferring to attack caravans with far less defence than theirs.
Either way, the travelling during the last 6 months in the game and the daily training had honed each of the surviving recruits into a sharp sword, as 50 had already died during their travels from one thing or another, though they were quickly replaced with one message to Leon who had been quickly expanding the Pelican Guards and who always had new recruits in need of bloodying in an actual battle.