Jacia listened to the boy recount his tale, that he had not seen a rift, that he had come through the cornfield towards the village. It was hardly a likely story. Firstly, given the timing of the rift's appearance, there was no way he could have missed it. Even to non-mages, the a rift in full swing was clearly visible. Secondly, who walks through a cornfield to get to the village when there are at least three perfectly acceptable roads leading into said village? Her questions were put to rest when he asked if she thought he was the cause of the rift.
She squeaked when he said it, and almost wanted to berate him for his oblivious conclusion. If he had come from the direction of the rift yet had not seen it, then circumstance indicated he was not the source of the rift, but the product, and if he were the product...
The conversation escalated quickly from there. The farmer pointed at the alleged product of the rift and half-shouted, half-vomited, "It's him! A rift appeared in my family's cornfield, and he fell out of it! He was naked but for his shield, so I left him some clothes. And, and I just left him. I didn't know what to do, it's not every day a naked man falls out of the sky into your cornfield! For all I know he eats people!"
The boy's ability to quickly get to the point rivaled even Jacia's. She was impressed. However, upon realizing that the alleged rift product was now the confirmed rift product, she grew concerned. If it wasn't for the guard stepping between her and the rift product so quickly and so fluidly that Jacia couldn't help but admire him, she would have shocked the product to unconsciousness.
Then the guard addressed her, and she squeaked again at the recognition.
"Mage... Zash, was it? I-I don't think I've heard of a person falling from a Rift before. How common is this?" She responded instantly, as if expecting the question.
"Very uncommon. As of right now, the odds are one out of however many rifts have thus far appeared, which is a lot. Can I ask why you have not yet bound it? The farm boy's concerns about him eating us are also mine. In my experience, most things that come from the rifts eat people." She leaned around the guard to better view the product. It looked harmless, like a normal, young adult human. Then again, the Piofera plant looked exactly like a marionberry plant, but if you so much as brush against it the berries explode in a shower of acid. That was when it struck her: this rift product was a scientific first! It needed a name, a proper name, and she was the discoverer, so naturally she would get to name it.
All manner of names popped into her head: The Zashite, the Zashian, Subject Z, etc. Hell, she might even decide to be generous and give the town some credit. They could call it the Ley-Zash incident, or rather the Zash-Ley incident. That one rolled off the tongue so much better. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet in excitement.
She popped back into reality, catching the end of the guard's response.
"Yes, let's do that." She interjected before anyone else could respond. "Although I should express my doubts that the clergy could offer any help with his amnesia. They can't even do anything about my forgetfulness, and mine isn't even a magical matter." She started off towards where she remembered the abbey being when she had entered town the previous day, expecting the others to follow, but then stopped, made an about face, and returned to the group. "I'm so sorry!" She pined, almost too close to the guard for any normal person's comfort, "But I forgot to ask you for your names? How rude of me!"