Tamra was having the best time of her life.
After that scare during the meeting which had seen the Heavenly City of the Alliance rise into the air, she had actually not been deterred in her enthusiasm to keep doing what she wished.
She did adopt the habit of being safe, though, and her parents were very thankful because of it as before, she had been completely uncaring about whether she was close to someone she knew or not.
Although things were different now that they were in a different place, as parents of an overly active child, they couldn't help but be worried.
Tamra had just assured them that she would be alright, and just as she had been doing for the past few weeks, she strolled out of the house to go to the Chief.
That incident where he had lost her and then found her again had somehow made the both of them closer, and Tamra just loved sitting for hours on end listening to the many interesting stories that the Chief had picked up from multiple places.
Many times, she even started to wonder whether the old man that had always led the village was some secret warrior in hiding who had lain down his weapons for some noble cause, but after seeing the way that he would groan every time he had to get up from the chair after sitting for a long time, she was inclined to think that she was most probably wrong.
While walking on the street of the newly reconstructed village, though, she did have a slight frown on her face, because the same discussion that she had been going through for the past few days had happened again in the morning.
It was regarding the School of the Alliance, which she was supposed to go to.
For a time, she had been tempted to find others of her age whom she could interact with, along with learning a lot about this world whose every facet was so interesting.
Yet, slowly, she had begun to get the feeling that she would only be held behind if she was to be with those who were of the same age as her.
As she passed the baker's house, the chief example of this was presented, and it was in the form of the baker's son who was working very hard to carry two sacks of flour into the shop.
He was doing it very weirdly, though - he moved one sack, and then he would come back to move the other, and he kept repeating this.
Unable to handle it, Tamra went over and showed him how to drag the bags together, following which he praised her intelligence.
Replying that even though she was only 10, she had been voted to be the smartest in all those under 14 in the village, she continued along her way.
True, the baker's son was a very good example, but she also suspected that he was more dimwitted than most. This was the reason why she was still listening to her parents' arguments, and right now, she was still pretty indecisive.
After reaching the Chief's house, she was happily about to bound inside and land on the couch which had actually been arranged for her after she found himself spending more and more time with him, but she stopped when she heard voices coming from the inside.
The Chiefs door was always open, and his policy was that he should always be reachable for the people of his village.
She had been commanded sternly not to enter if he was having a meeting even with those in the village, so she sat on the wooden chair that was present outside his house and began to think about the many changes that had happened in the village recently.
After attending that meeting, the Chief had made the decision to enter the Alliance, and she had been shocked by the efficiency of those who had come to transport them over.
The process had been simple: they had all been asked to pack everything without thinking about whether they could carry the bags are not, and if they didn't have bags, they were simply to wrap all of their belongings in clothes.
After that, they were asked to be ready at a specific time, and a squad of mages had arrived who went to each family to make them disappear.
Tamra was very proud when she saw the other kids getting scared at this notion of disappearing into thin air.
She had already experienced it on her trip, and she bravely went to each of them and told them that it would just be like taking a cold shower.
Along with their luggage, the entire village which consisted of 942 and a half people, with that half being the very little baby that was yet to be born from Aunt Matilda'sbulging belly, was teleported over to a patch of land which almost looked isolated.
When they arrived, they were greeted by another squad, and these were the builders who were in charge of constructing their village. They asked for information regarding how they would like their houses to be constructed, and the Chief had told them beforehand that they shouldn't be very picky. Still, they were allowed to make small changes, such as the baker's family asking for extra bedrooms with attached toilets because their son was used to gorging on stuff that he shouldn't and then having indigestion for a long time.
At that point, the construction began, and Tamra had only been able to watch with her mouth agape as premade bricks began to be combined into the houses that they would live in. The mages looked like they were used to doing this, as they swiftly began to lay down the foundations and get to work. In barely 2 days time, the entire village was finished, and during that time, they slept under the sky and even had a campfire in which the entire village danced with happiness.
Food was even sent to them, and for the first time in forever, Tamra tasted meat broth where she could have as much meat as she wanted.
She remembered her eyes watering at that time, and although she had covered it up and said that it was because of the smoke from the fire, the fact that she was actually a few feet away from the campfire gave away the truth.
Her mother and father had laughed, and she had buried herself in her mother's lap before falling asleep eventually.
After that, the entire village had been absorbed in beginning their occupation again. Before they did so, they were given certain instructions regarding what to plant, and they were even given the freedom that they could plan something else if they wished. The suggestions were there just to be used if they wanted to maximise profits, as they were based on the demand that was present in other areas.
As for currency, as a new one would be arriving soon, they were encouraged to use the barter system for the present, and also hold any coins they had so that they could be exchanged later for the new currency of the alliance.
Life was perfect. At least, compared to how they had used to live with the constant fear of being run over by bandits, the safety of being inside this large force felt so, so good.
True, the trade-off was that they had to give a small portion of whatever they earned to the Alliance, but that felt like nothing compared to everything that they were getting.
A few seconds later, she heard the Chief's familiar voice call her over, and as soon as she entered, she couldn't help but freeze while her eyes went wide.
Stacks and stacks of boxes filled the Chief's entire house, and there was actually not much place to walk. True, the Chief had not asked for a big house in the first place, but there were at least hundreds of boxes here, and as she looked out the window, she saw that his backyard, where he indulged in his habit of wood carving, was also completely filled.
Without any further ado, she instantly ran to one of them and opened them even while the Chief asked her not to run as she might fall and hurt herself.
The good thing was that he didn't prevent her from satiating her curiosity, so even though she got a doubt whether she shouldn't be doing what she was doing a second before she opened the flaps of the cardboard, she abolished it from her mind and took out what was inside.
It was heavy, so she had to struggle, and the Chief came over to give her a hand.
What they lifted out together, was a transparent glass box.
Only one side was made of a silvery metal, and there were beautiful patterns etched on it. There was also a handle on one side which looked like it could open, and as Tamra curiously pulled it, a click was heard following which it really did open.
It was empty on the inside, and for the life of her, Tamra couldn't understand what this was.
Well, why not find a clue in the other boxes?
This time, she ran to a bigger one. It was rectangular in shape, and as she opened it, she saw that it was also made of glass on five sides with a metal bottom.
After opening the other boxes, she saw that there were only more of those that she had already seen before she finally reached one which was actually made of steel, unlike the others which had been made of cardboard.
At this point, the Chief finally walked over and said, "Wait, little Tamra. Only I can open this one, and you shouldn't take anything from it without my permission. Understood?"
Tamra nodded dutifully, following which the Chief actually pricked his finger with a pin that he was carrying with him. After that, he made a drop of blood drop on the steel box, and the door swung open.
Out tumbled a round object, and before the Chief could say anything, Tamra snatched it up in her hands and looked at it curiously.
It was silver in colour, and there was a white, round pearl in the middle which looked so pretty. That pearl reflected the light, and as Tamra looked closer and closer, she could almost swear that she saw some sort of swirling mist inside it.
A second later, though, she realised that she was probably seeing things, as the pearl was so small that it was smaller than the nail of her little finger, which was already tiny in the first place.
The gem was only fixed on one side of the coin. Seeing the rest of it, Tamra was transfixed for quite a bit by the beautiful engraving of a Dragon which looked as if it wanted to swallow the pearl. Its jaws looked like they were ready to clamp down on the pearl, the rest of its body was coiled around the rest of the surface.
As she turned it around, she actually saw a familiar face.
Although the engraving wasn't extremely clear, it was the face of the king whom she had thanked multiple times in her heart along with her parents for the life that he had enabled them with.
Just as she was about to ask what it was, the Chief spoke to someone at the doorway.
"Martha! You came at the perfect time! Is that the pie you cooked in the morning?"
As Tamra turned around, she saw a woman wearing a cooking cloth with a bowl in her hands.
With an apologetic expression on her face, she said, "Yes, Chief. I forgot to get it to you right away again. I'm afraid you'll have to eat it cold once more. I'm sorry, I'll be sure to-"
Interrupting her, the Chief spoke.
"Oh, don't worry. We won't have that problem anymore. Give that pie over, and little Tamra, please give me that coin. It is a Dan, by the way."
As Tamra nodded and gave the coin to see what the Chief would do, the man took the pie in his other hand and walked to the glass box that they had first opened.
He placed it on a table so that the metal part was on the top, and in the middle of it, there was a spot which looked like it would fit the coin perfectly.
As soon as the Chief placed that coin in that spot, three glowing orbs of light which also had tiny letters under them appeared beside the door that Tamra had opened before.
The Chief opened the door again and place the pie inside, before closing it and making sure that that same click from before was heard. After that, he pressed one of the glowing orbs, and what happened next made both Martha and Tamra stare with disbelief in their eyes.
The bowl that had been placed inside actually... started to rotate, and soon, the smell of the pie that had gone cold began to appear in the room again, and as steam also started to rise from it, it was as if it had just been freshly baked.