"Brother Vir!" Aponi stood upon seeing the man entering the tent, but soon she bowed when she noticed the three people behind Vir. "Greetings, Elders."
"Aponi, what are you doing here?" Vir asked with a serious face. "Did I not tell you not to come here on your own?"
"I am sorry," Aponi replied. "But it is our duty to make sure our guest is well taken care of; that is the teaching of our late mother."
"He is not our gue-."
Before Vir could finish his sentence, another voice interjected.
"Vir." The skinny old man placed his hand on Vir's shoulder, halting him from speaking any further. Then moved his sight to the young girl. "Aponi, would you be kind and give us the room? We have to talk to our guest about something important."
"I understand, Chief Viren." Aponi lifted her head and walked to the exit.
Alfred had no clue what was going on. He was already having a difficult time communicating with Aponi alone, but now more had come.
'Am I in trouble? Why are they looking at me with such serious faces?'
After Aponi left, the three Elders sauntered closer to Alfred and sat beside him. Vir, on the other hand, remained standing, his arms crossed as he stared at Alfred with a frown.
"How are you, young friend?" Chieftain Viren questioned with a reassuring smile. "I hope you have rested well."
Alfred didn't answer and only stared at the Elders' faces.
'What should I do? I don't know what to say. I'm not even done with questioning things about my body and the language. Now another problem befalls me!'
Frustrated about his situation, the desire to rip his hair out rose within him, but he resisted it as he didn't want to be seen as a crazy person.
"Show respect, outsider," Vir annoyedly said. "The Elders are speaking to you. Talk."
Alfred flinched upon hearing Vir.
Even though Vir didn't raise his voice, it was obvious that he disliked Alfred's presence.
"Vir, let me converse with our young guest," Chief Viren glanced at Vir and warned. "If you cannot control yourself, you should go out and wait for us there."
"My apologies." Vir bowed. "I will keep myself from speaking until you order me to."
Removing his attention from the towering muscles, Chief Viren returned it to Alfred and reassured him. "Do not mind him. He is very strict when it comes to the safety of our tribe, but he is a kind person once you get to know him."
The Elder's calm demeanor comforted Alfred.
Most of the time, when he was in conversation, he had always felt panic in his heart. But the Elder gave him a vibe that everything was going to be okay, and it was fine to make mistakes.
Alfred swallowed his saliva. He was afraid to speak. Even though he could speak the language, the fear of talking to a stranger, especially using a mysterious language, felt like he was being strangled.
Nevertheless, it was true that keeping his mouth shut was disrespectful. Therefore, with quivering lips, he uttered his first foreign words.
"I-I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
"That is good." Chief Viren nodded in satisfaction. "If you do not mind, we have a question that we wanted to ask you."
Alfred nodded weakly, his eyes occasionally taking a peek at the person standing.
"First, we should get to know each other. My name is Viren; I'm the Chieftain of this tribe." Chief Viren introduced himself, then he looked at both Elders on his side. "On my left here is Shaman Catori, and to my right is Elder Ahote."
The two Elders nodded their heads at Alfred upon hearing their names. Their expressions were unchanging, not giving Alfred any clue of their thoughts.
"…I'm Alfred," he whispered, barely audible.
"Alfred? What a unique name." Chief Viren touched his beard and tilted his head slightly. "Anyway, we would like to know how you ended up in the forest at such a late hour."
Alfred contemplated.
'What should I say? Even I don't know how I got there. Should I tell them the truth, or should I lie? Lying here is a bit difficult, as these people seem to be very invested in my situation. What if they ask something I don't have the answer to?'
"Are you okay, young Alfred?" Chief Viren inquired.
Seeing that he had no time to think, he decided to just lie and tell the truth at the same time.
"T-To tell you the truth… I don't know how I got there," Alfred hesitatingly responded. "I don't remember why I am there."
Now that Alfred thought about his circumstances more thoroughly, he realized that he couldn't seem to recall what had happened to him before he woke up inside the forest.
No… Not only that, but he couldn't remember what he had done in the last few days or weeks.
Cold sweat started forming on Alfred's forehead.
"What do you mean you do not know?" Chief Viren stared at Alfred with narrowed eyes. "What is the name of your tribe?"
Alfred was too occupied inside his head to have a proper conversation, so he muttered a reply without much thought.
"I don't know."
'What is going on? Why can I not remember? And what are these people on about? Do I look like someone from a tribe?'
"You do not know," Chief Viren slowly repeated Alfred's words.
"Chief Viren, I think I know what is happening," Shaman Catori proclaimed. "I think this young lad has what you call amnesia. It is a rare condition, but considering what had happened to him, it is highly possible that he had it."
"I know of that condition. I have seen someone have it before." Chief Viren nodded in understanding.
Hearing the conversation of the two Elders, Alfred couldn't help but assess the possibility.
'Amnesia? No, I don't think I have that. I can still remember most of my memories, after all. But how can I explain what I'm experiencing right now?'
"Young Alfred, it appears it will be much harder for you to get back to your tribe," Chief Viren informed with saddened eyes. "Without your memory and your right foot, it will be difficult for you to return even if the hunter of our tribe escorts you there."
Alfred's line of thinking halted upon hearing a specific sentence.
"Without my right foot?" he muttered.
"What do you mean by ' without my right foot?" Alfred gaped at the three Elders. "Why would I lose my right foot? I can still feel it."
Wanting to confirm his argument, he grabbed the leathery blanket that still covered his lower body and swung it off him.