Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Chapter 136: Test Of Generosity Part Two

The familiar flash of white light filled Alicia's eyes as she entered the Illusion world for the fourth time. When things became clear she found herself laying in a hard wooden bed. There was no mattress nor straw. Just wood and a tattered blanket that did nothing to keep her warm. The room itself was very cold. Alicia looked down at herself to find that she was basically skin and bones. 

"This is a familiar situation..." Alicia frowned. 

The feeling in her stomach was something she never wanted to feel ever again. But here she was feeling the unbearable pains of hunger. Letting out a sigh Alicia slowly rose from the bed. She took a better look at her surroundings and saw that although she was hungry the room was kept rather clean all except for the chamber pot in the corner. There were no windows so Alicia had to guess that this girl had to carry the pot outside to dump it. There was nothing in the room except the bed, chamber pot. and a dirty dress sitting in the corner neatly folded. Currently Alicia was only wearing a long thin shirt. She guessed the poor girl could not afford any under garments. That being said Alicia still felt very uncomfortable to be going commando but she had no choice at this time since she had to make due with what she had. 

Alicia walked over to the dress and picked it up. The dress was long and reached down to her ankles. From the size of it Alicia figured the body she was in was in her early teens. Feeling that the fabric was pretty thick Alicia wondered why the girl didn't just sleep in this dress to keep warm at night. "Well, since this dress is warm I will put this on and use part of the under shirt to make some underwear." 

With a loud rip, Alicia ripped part of the dress part. She did not have any thread or needles so she could only make a makeshift side tie underwear. She had ripped two small sections and one large section of the long thin shirt. Using her teeth she was able to make two holes at each end of the larger section of the cloth. Then the small sections were fed through the holes and then tied at her sides. 

"It feels a bit awkward since the middle is bigger than it should be. But at least I have something on underneath." Alicia then stuck the thin shirt back on, that now came up to her knees, and then she put the thick dress on over it before opening the door to her room.

When the door opened the cold air from outside rushed into the room causing Alicia to shiver. It seemed the place she was in was a windowless hut. She did not exit the room right away because the ground outside was covered in snow. Alicia closed the door and looked around the room for something to cover her feet. But her search was in vain since there was nothing left to see within the room. 

Letting out a long sigh, Alicia once again took off her dress and then the thin long shirt. She looked at the blanket and then the wooden bed. "Well it might be very uncomfortable but, the blanket is already in tatters and I can try to bunch it up for more comfort. I guess it would be the same as wearing a pair of geta that the ancient Japanese used to wear back on Earth." Alicia mumbled to herself. 

She quickly went to work making a pair of shoes for herself. The wood on the bed was somewhat flaky so she had no issues getting a few solid pieces for herself. After sizing them to fit her feet, she took some more cloth from the thin shirt and then wrapped it around her feet. To secure it she used two pieces of cloth from her thin shirt. She bit a few holes for the cloth all the way around the ankle area and then weaved thin pieces of cloth into the holes, leaving just enough extra for a tie at the back of the ankle. After sizing it up pretty well, Alicia stuffed the wood pieces at the bottom of her shoe before she took the tattered blanket and tore off a few pieces of it to layer that on top of the wood. After admiring her handy work Alicia stuck the shoes on. Though they were uncomfortable they were still better than nothing. These shoes that she made would not keep her feet from getting wet but they would at least keep the soles of her feet safe from any sharp objects.

"Now to go find out where exactly I am." Alica muttered as she opened the door to the outside once again. 

The ground was covered in snow as far as the eyes could see. The tree line that seemed to be around a kilometer away was also caked with snow, the trees' branches sagged under its weight. The cold wind pierced Alicia's clothes and her feet were frozen solid already. But staying where she was was only going to lead to her death. Whether it be cold or hunger one of them would take her life. She turned around to see that this was the only hut in the middle of nowhere. Behind the old hut was a field of snow that stretched out so far that she could bearly see a mountain range off in the distance. She really had no idea why or how her current situation had anything to do with the term generosity. This was complete and utter poverty. 

"Well... It seems I can only go out and search for food. My feet all the way to the top of my head are freezing but if I continue moving I should warm up a bit. The tree line is not far and it seems to be dense so the snow should be less under the trees canopies. I will make that my goal first. I just worry about frostbite in my feet at this point." Letting out another long sigh, Alicia mustered up her determination, and with her destination set, Alicia stepped out into the shin high snow.

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