"A brat?!" Tolir exclaimed as he spotted his savior.
In front of him, a young girl in her teens stepped forward to retrieve the arrows from the goblins' bodies. He was surprised by the youthfulness of his benefactor but also relieved to meet another human being. Once her task was done, she asked him with a suspicious look:
"You are not from the village, who are you?"
Tolir thought rapidly, elaborating as fast as possible a credible story:
"I am a traveler... Who got lost in this place... I saw your village and I wanted to find help there."
"A lost traveler? You must be pretty bad to end up in this godforsaken world... "
He laughed nervously at the remark as the young woman lowered her arms, ready to shoot an arrow at him if necessary. Tolir, taking advantage of the opportunity, introduced himself:
"By the way, my name is Tolir, and you?"
"Alyn. Follow me, I'll take you to the village. Oh, and don't say a word about me being in the forest."
He obeyed, following her lead. He turned around and wondered what would become of the goblins' corpses. Alyn, noticing his hesitation, explained:
"Don't worry, they won't rot here, someone will come and take care of them later."
As they walked away, Tolir hesitated to check the aether system but refrained fearing Alyn's reaction. For the moment, he opted for the identity of the lost and unresourceful traveler until he knew more.
As they approached the village, the road became more apparent and well maintained. As they passed the entrance to the village, the villagers looked up in surprise at the presence of Tolir.
As they approached the village, the road became more apparent and well maintained. When they passed the entrance to the village, the villagers looked up in surprise at the presence of Tolir. Intrigued, he glanced in all directions. As they moved forward, a man called out to them:
"Alyn! Still with your bow poaching... You know very well the consequences of that!"
The slightly overweight and balding man was in his late twenties, and his richly ornate clothing compared to that of the other villagers drew attention. Tolir had the impression of having in front of him a notable of the village reinforced by the authoritarian tone he adopted. Alyn, far from being impressed, replied:
"And then, I accept them very well... Unlike you who refuse to do your job... Moreover, I point out that I was helping this poor lost traveler while he was being chased by goblins !"
The man seemed to notice Tolir for the first time, surprised he gauged him from head to toe before turning red remembering Alyn's insolence:
"Enough! Always finding yourself an excuse! Today, you will not escape the punishment!"
"What right do you have, after your pretty sermons that..."
"What's going on here?"
An older man in his late forties emerged from the crowd that had formed. From the reverent attitude of the villagers who moved aside as he passed, Tolir assumed that he was also a notable. Perhaps the village chief? He turned to the man with whom Alyn was arguing:
"Come on, Father Maurias, arguing with Alyn again?"
" Master Dravel, I will not allow you to interfere in this discussion, which is clearly outside your jurisdiction."
The village headman let out a long sigh, before calmly answering:
"Listen, Father, I have the impression that chastising this child under a false pretext will send the wrong signal to your flock, don't you think? Didn't she tell you that she had saved this man? Isn't seeing him in front of you enough to convince you?"
The crowd agreed with the leader's words while the man, a priest Tolir assumed, gritted his teeth, aware that he had no choice but to give up.
"Very well, I will be magnanimous and believe you for today."
He turned violently and walked away from the scene, vexed by his failure. Alyn let out a triumphant cackle. The chief turned towards her to address a glance full of reproach. She tried to evade it before he called her to order:
"Alyn," he sighed, "how many times have I told you that you don't need to do this here in the village..."
"You bet, that bungler doesn't even do his duty! If I hadn't intervened, this guy would have been dead and the goblins were only a few hundred meters from the village..."
The man remembered Tolir's existence and asked him:
"Is it true?"
"Yes, without her intervention, I would not be here anymore... She saved my life!"
Tolir was grateful to the girl and tried to emphasize her intervention to relieve her case.
"In that case, case closed for today."
"Yes, uncle," she whispered.
"And if you presented us instead of remaining planted there, to throw glares?"
Alyn made a disapproving pout before beginning the introductions without the slightest hint of motivation:
"Uncle Dravel, this is Tolir, a traveler lost on our world. Tolir, this is my uncle Dravel who is also the village chief."
Dravel gave Tolir a warm smile:
"A traveler? That's pretty rare around here..."
"Indeed, I'm here against my will, the convoy I was traveling with was attacked and in the confusion, I got lost."
"I see, anyway, welcome to Lifan. Since we are not used to receiving travelers, we do not have an inn. I propose you to spend the night at my place."
"Please, do not bother for me, I will manage alone."
"I insist, moreover it is not the place which lacks at my place."
Tolir conceded defeat and accepted the chef's proposal. The latter took him to his lodgings, followed by Alyn, where he introduced him to his wife Fanya, also in her forties, in the middle of cooking. To pass the time while waiting for dinner, as the daylight was declining, Dravel, presented the village and the world to Tolir:
"As you may have realized, we are a small agricultural world where we are the only inhabitants. Aside from the goblins, there's not much to fear around here."
"Yes, if they are dealt with in time," grumbled Alyn, who was listening to the conversation.
Tolir took advantage of this inopportune intervention to ask the question that had been scratching his throat for a while:
"Why, by the way, was the man from earlier so intent on punishing Alyn?"
An icy silence fell over the room. Tolir understood that the question touched a sensitive point, and as he was about to change the subject in a hurry, Dravel explained:
"Our priest is a bit... zealous shall we say, and he cares that no inhabitant risks his life fighting the goblins."
This answer did not satisfy Tolir, who had the impression that the chief was trying to dodge a disturbing subject. Not wanting to embarrass his host, he decided not to pursue the matter. But that was without counting Alyn:
"The priest is a moron who wants to prevent us from fighting goblins under the pretext that it violates the rules of the religion..."
"Alyn," scolded Dravel, "you went too far! You forget that he offers us protection!"
"Did he? Well then, where was he when my parents were attacked?"
She pronounced these last words while shouting then without leaving the time to Dravel to retort, she fled while going upstairs in a deafening noise. The chief, visibly saddened by the turn of events, turned to Tolir:
"I'm sorry you had to witness this..."
"No, no, it's my fault... I shouldn't have brought it up..."
"You couldn't have guessed her situation... Anyway, don't worry, I'm used to it, I'll take care of it after the meal."
At that very moment, Fanya arrived, her arms loaded with an imposing steaming dish. The meal was delicious, the chef's wife had concocted a kind of stew as Tolir had never eaten. The only regret was the absence of his young rescuer who gave no sign of life.
At the end of the meal, Dravel guided him to his room located upstairs. He apologized for its slightly dilapidated state, in the absence of visitors, they did not often maintain it. This rather narrow room was equipped with the bare necessities of life: a bed, a desk and a night table. However, just the idea of not sleeping under the stars suited Tolir, so he did not complain. Then the chief took his leave, leaving Tolir alone in his room. Tolir felt tired again, so he got into bed and dozed off.
He slept like a baby during the whole night, until a burst of voice woke him up in the morning:
"What?! But that's nonsense?!"