Alicia woke up as the sunlight reached her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched. She started going over the story she made up last night. After a while, she heard some footsteps coming towards her. The village elder with the physician entered the cottage.
They both saw Alicia stretching and energetic. Elder Henry sat down and asked,
"You seem energetic. So, where are you from and how come you collapsed in front of our village gate, Kaitlyn?"
Alicia replied,
"First, I want to thank you and all the people who helped me. Now, to answer your questions, I am from the capital city. I am an orphan, and I was in a merchant's carriage headed for the Mage's district. I... I have developed some magic powers and wanted to check them out at the Mage's district. While travelling, the carriage was attacked by a beast and the merchant and I fled in different directions... Can you please help me get to the Mage's district as early as possible? Oh.. sorry for my rude behaviour..."
Both Elder Henry and the Physician were astonished by this answer.
Elder asked,
"It's fine. How old are you, child?"
Alicia replied,
" I don't know. The orphanage teacher once said that I might be 12 years old... "
Elder spoke,
"I will arrange something for you to go to the Mage's district. Don't worry, it will be fine, child."
Alicia smiled in front of them for the first time.
The physician took her pulse and assured her that she was healthy. The Elder signaled to the Physician to come outside. Outside, he started talking to the Physician. He said,
"Poor girl... She doesn't have a family, and now this. God is great, she fell in front of our gate, otherwise... Never mind. The Madrid family said that they were going to the Mage's district for trading, right? When did they say they were leaving?"
The Physician replied,
"They are going to leave tomorrow, chief."
The Elder continued,
"Let's talk to them and help this girl."
The physician nodded in agreement. They both went to the Madrid family. The Elder talked to Jall Madrid, who was the owner of the merchant company. He asked,
"Jall, you remember the child who was seen unconscious near the gates?"
Jall replied,
"Yeah chief, what about that?"
The Elder replied, "That child said that she was on her way to the Mage district. Can you help her?"
Jall replied,
"Of course, Chief, anything you say. Is that child alright right now? To be travelling that far..."
The Elder replied,
"Well, she says she is... (worried) she was also in a hurry to go to the Mage district... "
Jall spoke,
"It's alright, Chief. I will take her with Averil and me. If you want, we can delay it by a day or two..."
The Elder replied,
"No, she said she wants to go there as early as possible. Apparently, she is an orphan who has developed some magic..."
Jall was quite surprised. After all, it is quite unusual for a small village to see Mages. Jall spoke,
"Ok, if you say so, chief. But what does the Physician say?"
The Physician spoke up,
"I think it will be fine for her to travel. It was just exhaustion..."
Jall replied,
"If it's ok, I will take her. I just wanted to make sure, as there will not be many supplies on the road."
The Elder thanked Jall and went to Alicia to tell her the good news. Hearing this, Alicia thanked Elder Henry profusely. She also went to the Madrid family and showed her gratitude.
The villagers treated her kindly the whole day, and some even gave her clothes for her journey. The day after, she packed the clothes and food the villagers gave her and got ready for her journey.