Even the next day, while sitting on top of the carriage, Lilynn could still not forget the feeling of her power unleashed.
They were travelling for four days now since leaving Iliat, getting close to the Ahon library, where a book was awaiting them. Hopefully.
They needed food and other resources to continue their journey.
"There is a small village nearby. We will stop there," Erwand said. Lilynn hoped they would successfully gather the resources without any suspicion. Her little actions have probably created big rumors in the area about a strange demoness last seen in Iliat, trying to kill a mistress.
'I am a travelling prestigious mage now,' she reminded herself. The new clothing which she kept clean on the journey was a promising disguise.
They reached the village a few hours later, when the sun was the highest in the sky. The community here was also getting ready for harvest, similarly as Lilynn saw in other places of Mios county, where agriculture was the most important activity.
Upon stopping at the road inside the village, a young man came forward to the visitors.
"Alchemist! Alchemist!" he shouted repeatedly.
It was a man around in his forties dressed in dirty, well-worn robe-like clothes.
At the reins, Erwand was confused for a second. They were both in cloaks, so the thought of this man recognising them was impossible. Although he seemed to already know Erwand's identity.
"Alchemist! Please, help us!" the man said again.
"Do I know you?" Erwand asked.
"Yes! You passed our place a few weeks ago! I could not forget the green cart you had that I see in front of my eyes again! You gave us many great medicines, but gods help us, you returned again at the right moment!"
"What do you mean?"
"We need your skills to end a great danger affecting us!" the villager whined.
"Tell us more details, villager," Lilynn demanded. The villager looked at her for a few seconds, and probably upon recognizing the elite mage clothing, he stepped back suddenly.
"We need none of you mages' help! You are all fake, evil conmen!"
"Watch your mouth, idiot." Erwand was losing his patience and was immediately angry at the man's words about Lilynn. "For this disrespectful nonsense, you will get to help yourself. Piss off!"
The man's expression changed from a little hope to utter hopelessness.
"Wait."
Lilynn did not let him walk away. Did he just address mages as fake deceivers? She thought mages had a high reputation among everyday people. "Tell me everything. And be quick."
"Oh, I apologize for my behavior! I will tell you everything, my lady. You see, this village has been affected by demonic presence for decades. A vicious demon was always threatening us, stealing our food and water, disrespecting the shrines of our gods, and damaging our homes. Some of us had missing rooftops when waking up from a sweet dream!
That was not until a lonely mage, a man named Kinib arrived here. He took care of the demon, and for years it never returned! But now, after so many years, the demon started the usual destruction again, during night. Kinib promised he would take care of it, but the stealing of our resources continued! And the mage still expects to be paid with food, drinks and even women, who cannot stand him and do not go anywhere near him! I hoped help would arrive, and with the powers of an alchemist or a real mage, perhaps our unfortunate days would end!"
The man stopped giving details, and Lilynn's brain started to work like a machine. They sent the man away to come back later while the two talked about what to do next.
"A mage? Here? We have to get out of here before he discovers that you are not an enchantress, but just acting it," Erwand reasoned.
"But this could lead us to a demon I could finally meet!" Lilynn said.
"From what the man said, I doubt it's a demon. Could be just a fox that these idiots cannot deal with."
"The mage could be fake as well. I could just keep myself hidden in a cloak in front of the mage. Or lie if it came to that. We could more easily gain the trust of these people if they saw me as a real enchantress."
Erwand was thinking for a few minutes, then nodded as he started to like the idea.
"Alright. Let's see this mage and the feared demon."
Lilynn put on other clothes, then on her cloak on top with its hood, and went along with Erwand to the small village centre.
At the centre, a road crossing with a statue of a lady in the middle, was already a smaller crowd gathered around someone.
"Where are they? Let me see them! You ungrateful pigs would rather seek the help of stranger nobodies that a real mage!" someone was shouting.
The crowd gave way to Erwand and Lilynn as they went on to meet this person.
It was a man in a robe standing in the middle.
He was well above his sixties, with a badly kept white beard hanging from his face. It even had an ill yellowish color around his mouth, something which Lilynn had seen on people in her previous life -- it was always visible on the poorer, hopeless older men who would spend their evenings or entire nights at bars with tremendous beer portions. They have sometimes come to the earl Lilynn served begging for money that they already spent the previous night on drinks.
How could a mage, someone gifted with the power and knowledge of the supernatural, be in such a low moment of his life? The man was probably spending his days of duty in the local breweries.
Still, up close, Lilynn could feel a very slight wave of power emanating from him. It was a strange feeling, not at all as familiar as she felt with the wild demon. This pathetic man really did have some divine magic in himself.
He was eyeing the two of them with disgust on his face.
"So, these are your new saviors?" he said to the villagers. "These are no mages or even real alchemists! I know very well what they are."