“No better way to get a lesson in someone’s head than to have them live the lesson themselves.” - Nisos Ande-Nerius, Scholar and Philosopher from the Clangeddin Empire.

Perhaps it was intentional on Aideen’s part, but the group encountered three groups of bandits during their travels east. It was not an uncommon occurrence on the smaller roads, as they were less well-patrolled, and as such were favored by such outlaws. After all, while the main roads were where most merchants passed, it was far too well-guarded for any sort of banditry.

That said, the circumstances between the three incidents differed greatly, as had the way Aideen dealt with them.

The first group they encountered were one composed of several boisterous young adults. Rather than demanding for money or the likes, they instead “offered” their services as “escorts” through a more dangerous section of the path. Naturally, said service was offered in exchange for a sum of money, which was only fair.

While the “offer” was a touch on the forceful side, the youngsters actually escorted the three of them diligently through a more secluded section of the road, and even thanked them after they left. Aideen had not done anything to the youngsters, and even paid them their requested fee. During their walk she also chatted with them and asked about their home’s situation.

Sure enough, the youngsters came from a rather poor village in the vicinity. They had suffered under poor harvest for a couple years straight, while the hunting had also grown worse of late. The circumstances ended up forcing some of the youths to find other ways to make a living for their families, which resulted in the “escort” service they offered. In truth it was closer to a form of usury, but Aideen had let it slide, considering the circumstances.

She had even snuck in several gold coins – despite the fee requested being only several silvers – into the pouch she tossed at them.

When the trio met with robbers the second time a week later, it was four emaciated adults who looked desperate in every meaning of the word.

The location they met those “robbers” was roughly halfway between two villages far in the outskirts of civilization, easily a week away from each other. When they passed the previous village, Aideen noticed that the place – along with a large patch of forest around it – had been burnt to the ground. As such, when she noticed the burn injuries on the “robbers” that accosted them, she had an idea what was going on.

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As it turned out, the four adults – along with seven children of various ages – were the survivors from the previous village, which had the misfortune of being caught in a forest fire. Left with nothing other than the clothes on their backs, they had been traveling towards the next village over the past four days, with barely anything to drink and practically nothing to eat.

They had run into other travelers twice in those four days, only for those travelers to scoff and ignore them when they pleaded for help, which led to their drastic decision to risk their lives for the sake of the others. Naturally, when Aideen told them that she was willing to help them out, the former villagers burst out in tears and thanked her profusely.

After they were led to where the children were hiding, Aideen went to work and healed all of them. The sight of how their burns and scabs peeled off to be replaced by healthy skin underneath made the refugees gape in surprise, with many of them moved to tears. Those tears were soon redoubled when Aideen, Celia, and Kino shared their dinner – having cooked extra, of course – with them as well.

In the end, Aideen brought the group of refugees with them all the way to the next village, helping feed the group along the way. Once they reached the next village, there were enough sympathetic villagers who were willing to help the refugees settle down and live there. There Aideen pulled off another feat of healing to help the villagers out as well, in order to make sure that they’d associate the refugees with the positive memory and thus would treat them better.

By the time the three of them left the second village the day after, the villagers and the refugees both profusely thanked them for the kindness.

Aideen naturally also made use of the opportunity to teach Kino more about the hardships that people suffered in the world, to the point that some of them turned to banditry because they had no other options.

The youngsters they met first technically operated along the fringes of what was considered banditry. In fact, most merchants and travelers were aware of the sort of circumstances they were likely in. Generally, people wouldn’t begrudge them the little bit of money and considered it as charity instead, especially if they knew of the situation at the youngsters’ home village. The youngsters weren’t quite desperate, but also had few options given their circumstances, so that sort of tiptoeing around the law was not too uncommon.

As for the second group, they were people driven to banditry by desperation. After four days of barely any food – there was nobody skilled in hunting amongst the refugees back then – and having been ignored by others when they pleaded for help, the refugees had been driven to a corner. If they had not run into Aideen’s trio and instead met with some hard-hearted person, the group might well have starved to death before they could reach the next village. Compared to that, it was worth risking their lives for a chance at survival.

Unlike those two groups, however, the third bandit group that Aideen, Celia, and Kino ran into were people who took to banditry by choice. People who were unwilling to become a regular productive member of society, or those who found their enjoyment by trampling on others weaker than them. When the ten or so bandits surrounded the three, the lustful looks in their eyes already told Aideen most everything she needed to know about the group.

She naturally acted accordingly.