Chapter 99: Chapter 93 – Caring For Those Who Can’t Care For Themselves

Once we returned back to the main room where everyone else was, I started preparations for dinner.

Today was soup again, since there was little that was easier to make for large groups than that, but this time it was minestrone soup! Diced onions, carrots, celery, kidney beans, yellow lentils, cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes.

Definitely potatoes. Personally, one of the healthiest vegetables in the world! Not only were they one of the best sources of vitamins and minerals, but they were tasty and filling on top of that!

Just as long as you didn't drench them in oil and dealt with the alkaloids before cooking, they were a perfect one vegetable meal!

But as I didn't have the time to soak them in water to remove the toxins, I opted to just remove the skin. Swirling them around in water at high speeds caused the skin to peel off from nothing but friction with the water itself. I had seen a video once about a guy who skinned potatoes by attaching a toilet brush to the end of a drill and turning it on in a bucket of potatoes and water, but to think it really worked so well by just adjusting the way the magical water moved in the pot.

It kinda made the old punishment of making troublemakers peel for a platoon's worth of lunch kinda pointless.

That aside, the soup itself was also quite easy to make.

Just cook the dried beans in water until they start getting soft, add the diced vegetables in order of cooking time, and then let it all steep while adding some herbs and spices to taste. I went for some basil and parsley with a pinch of black peppers along with a nice amount of salt. As a secret ingredient, the onions were first lightly fried on a pan before being added to the soup to give a slightly caramelized flavour to the soup.

Beside that, I mixed a large heaping amount of garlic to a bowl of butter and spread it generously to some sliced bread before toasting it. The garlic toast probably had an unhealthy amount of fats on it, but I figured that the boost to moral was way more important.

Treats like this was fine as long as it wasn't done too often.

Like usual, the reception came out well. Everyone enjoyed the food and ate until I was reasonably sure that their bellies actually stuck out a little bit more than before.

As for myself, once everyone was served, I helped one of the unresponsive women to eat.

Everyone was taking turns helping them with everything they needed. It was so bad that they wouldn't even eat if someone didn't bring a spoon to their mouths.

I sat down beside one of them and pulled her body against my own. My arm went behind her back and pulled her waist to support her body.

This person, she looked like she was getting pretty close to term. How long I didn't know, but as she was, there was no way she could support her baby. With mental illness being as it was, I didn't know if she, nor her unborn child, had much of a chance at all, but I didn't want to give up on her, nor the other unresponsives.

Not until I had to leave at least.

It might have been pretty half-hearted or even irresponsible, but I wanted to at least give her a chance to get better.

"Here, open your mouth."

I lifted a spoon filled with some potato mashed with my spoon to her mouth. When the warmed stone spoon touched her lips, her mouth grew just enough ajar to let it enter. I pushed the instrument inside and allowed the contents to slide off onto her tongue.

When I pulled the spoon out of her mouth, she slowly closed her mouth and swallowed.

Once I confirmed that, I crushed then scooped a kidney bean and lifted it for her to eat.

It took a long time, but she eventually finished all the soup. There was only the garlic bread left.

Unlike the soup, it wasn't already soft, and only ripping it to small chunks might still make it difficult for her to swallow as she didn't chew her food properly.

With a sigh, I looked at the slice of garlic bread.

While I could just forgo it, I wanted this person to enjoy the whole meal, just like everyone else.

[Sorry Alicia, but this is going to be a bit unpleasant.]

[It's okay. I'll bear with it.]

Making a little girl bear with my selfishness made my heart twinge, but I chose to prioritize this woman for now.

I took a bite out of the slice of garlic bread.

"!!!"

The bitter taste of char, the overflowing greasiness of the fats, and worst of all, the sharp pain of the exceedingly spicy garlic made me want to spit the food out immediately.

[Mmmmm!!!]

Even in my head I could tell Alicia was doing her best to bear with the horrid taste.

(How could anyone like this crap?!)

But I knew, despite how bad and painful this tasted to me, it wasn't so to the others. The happy faces they made as they ate was all real. Even if the horrid taste brought tears to my eyes.

I forced myself to chew, using what little saliva my mouth produced to further soften up the bread.

Once the foreign material had finally turned to mush in my mouth, I pulled the woman's face to my own and I pushed my lips on hers, forcing the disgusting material out of my mouth as quickly as I could.

I scraped my tongue with my teeth and rubbed it against hers in an attempt to remove the foul taste from my mouth. My mind only barely registered the fact that she sucked on my tongue as I stuck it into her mouth.

Even with tears in my eyes, I looked at the rest of the garlic bread.

[I...I...I can bear...with it...Scarlet...]

Despite how much I made Alicia suffer just now, she was still willing to bear with my selfishness. This little girl was way too good for me. She was practically an angel.

But even still, maybe this was too much. I may have gone too far this time.

Thinking about giving up on this, I released my grip on the woman's lips and pulled away, only to freeze.

It might have just been my imagination, and I really didn't have any good basis to believe it was anything else, but it felt like there was a glint of light in her eyes. Like a sliver of life had returned to her.

But I wanted to believe that it was true. I wanted to take that chance.

So instead of giving up, I went forward and gave her every chance I could, even if I had to make Alicia suffer for it.

I had to make it up to her later.

Bracing myself, I took the largest bite of the bread I could and chewed it into mash as my mouth, nose, and throat burned, before feeding the woman beside me mouth to mouth.

I did this twice more before all the garlic bread was finished.

At this point I couldn't bear with the pain and I washed out my mouth with some conjured water before spitting it out into a hastily made hole and burying the foul gunk that offended my senses.

(Never again.)

For the sake of these women, all the rest of the meals would be made in such a way that feeding someone like this wasn't needed for them to enjoy the whole meal.

"A, are you alright?"

As I finished wiping the tears from my cheeks, quite a few people were looking my way, concern plastered on their faces.

"Ah, umm, yea. We vampires can't eat normal food. I just didn't think it would taste so bad in my mouth."

I did my best to put on a gentle smile, but the memory of that taste made it quite difficult.

"Why are you going so far for us? You don't even know any of us."

Several of the other women also nodded to that question.

"Ah, umm, I mean...it's not fair, right? I was the one who made the food, yet it wouldn't be fair if she couldn't enjoy it."

Turning to look at the face of the woman who's head was leaning against my shoulder, I raised a hand and stroked her hair.

"Not that! Well, that too, but, why are you helping us?"

"Huh? Is that a bad thing?"

"No! We're grateful, but...even after killing that vampire...you're staying with us all by yourself, and all this food you're making for us..."

"That's right. You brought all this food, even though you can't eat any of it..."

"Ah, well, I was hired to help find you all in the first place. It's only a given that I'd watch over you until everyone else came back to escort you all back to the village. And it doesn't take a genius to think that bringing a lot of food would be a good idea."

I couldn't help but feel that it was odd that they'd ask something like this.

"But, you can cook. You're really good at it. Better than any of us. And yet you can't even eat the food you make?"

(Ah, that's it huh?)

"Well, I like cooking. Even if I can't enjoy it myself, I can feel joy through other people enjoying it. Isn't that enough?"

The women all looked at each other, unsure about how to respond to my words.

Sure, it didn't start off like that. I've originally been able to enjoy the fruits of my cooking directly, but just because that had changed didn't meant that I should stop cooking. That I should stop doing good things for people who need it.

"You...you really are like Saint Scarlet, aren't you?"

(...That was unexpected.)

"That's right. I've only heard little bits, but you really remind me of her."

"Yea, me too!"

I looked at each of them, unsure about how to respond to such a thing.

(People keep comparing me to her. Is such acts really that unusual in this world that she'd be the only person people compare me to?)

"These people really see the real you, Master!"

And the shadow spirit clinging to my side who still continued to only see my predecessor when she looked at me.

But it wasn't like any of them meant any harm by any of that. It was probably something good, even Claret's bit. At least from her perspective.

It was probably far too late to try to change such a thing, and arguing otherwise would just be a hassle. Maybe continuing her legacy was just a better option than trying to refute it? At the very least, it would be good if some sort of tradition of being kind to each other grew more common.

"Well, thanks for the compliments, I guess."

"No, really! You're just like in the stories!"

"Yea. Not like those saints that the Light Church always talks about either!"

"I met one before. They always demand donations and prayers. Nothing like the stories about Saint Scarlet!"

Maybe it couldn't be helped, but I wasn't really a fan of being put on a pedestal. My predecessor could take all the credit, but it wasn't like such a thing was possible.

[Are the church's saints really more like annoying missionaries than anything?]

"I've never met one before."

[One came to the village before, but he mostly just talked about how great the church was before leaving.]

It seemed like they were just glorified missionaries.

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But that aside, this wasn't really the kind of thing I was good at talking about. Not with so little details, and I wasn't really interested in knowing more about the church at this point.

I shifted my body in an attempt to rise up, but maybe because of that, the woman who was resting her head on my shoulder broke her posture and her body fell over mine, her falling to rest on my chest and an arm ended up laying lazily around my waist.

[Mmmm!]

For some reason Alicia made some sort of exclamation, yet before I could ask her what was wrong my thoughts were interrupted.

"Look! I've never seen her move on her own before, look how attached she is to the vampire miss!"

"Wait! That's just a coincidence! Her posture just collapsed, that's all!"

"But she wrapped her arm around you. I think she's taken a liking to you!"

The arm she was talking about felt pretty limp around my waist personally, but what if she was right? What if this woman really was starting to respond?

This was a chance that was too precious to let go. While caring for her constantly wasn't possible, maybe if I did what I could to make her feel more reassured and safe? If I could get her to feel safe with some of the others as well?

It might take time, but it certainly felt like she could recover herself that way.

With those thoughts in my mind, I wrapped an arm around her again and slowly stroked her hair.

It might have just been my imagination, but it felt like her breathing slowed a little and some tension left her muscles.

"Look! She looks so much more relaxed in her arms!"

"She really is like Saint Scarlet!"

"There's nowhere more comforting than beside Saint Scarlet!"

"Umm, you know, I can't stay with with her for too long, and she's not the only one that needs intensive help. How about some of you girls help care for the other unresponsive girls?"

"There's already people helping them, aren't there?"

"Yea, why us too?"

I had to hold back a sigh from their naive and lukewarm responses.

"When it comes to people like these, you need more than just one person helping them. A whole group of people they can trust will help speed the recovery. And it's not like you need to do much. Just being a reassuring presence like this is enough most of the time."

As if to emphasize the point, I squeeze tight the woman in my arms, as if I was trying to reassure a little child.

The women around me looked at each other. It looked like my argument was a bit convincing, but they still needed one last push.

"Well, while good deeds are their own rewards, they still do deserve to have something returned as well. I don't have enough ingredients for everyone, but if it's only for those who help out the people who need special care, I can make some sweets for them."

"""Sweets?!"""

The response was immediate, and the volume attracted the attention of quite a few more people.

"Since it's not fair to just give sweets to a few of you, I wasn't going to do so. But if it's a reward for helping those who need it, that's a different story."

They looked at me, then at each other, then they all rushed out to find the unresponsives.

That was, all but one.

A single woman quietly walked over and slumped down on the other side of the woman in my arms.

"You need help with her as well, right?"

She gave me a wry smile before putting a hand on the still woman's head.

"There there. You're safe with us."

(This girl's...oh yea.)

She was Epione. She was the one who was following me around on the first day. I had hardly seen her since we I finished escorting the first group she was in.

I couldn't tell for sure if she was serious about taking care of this woman or was just trying to secure brownie points, but it felt like the former was more likely. They way she went about it felt sincere.

After a little while like this, we went to take a bath. The two of us worked together to wash our temporary charge, then we cleaned our own bodies before the three of us sunk our bodies in the freshly heated tub of water.

Eventually Epione looked like she was starting to doze off in the comfort of the bath. The unresponsive sitting in between us had already long since fallen asleep, so I carefully lifted her out of the bath and we dried our bodies before I left her in Epione's arms as she went to sleep.

Finished with the day's tasks, I quietly made my way out of the room before having my own meal of a jar of monster blood out of sight from everyone else. Once I finished savouring the delicious ferrous taste, I put the empty jar away and moved on to what I had originally planned for that night.

There were those rooms that had some really suspicious things I was interested in. While I hoped that I was wrong, the fact that there was a distinct chance that I was right meant that I had to check them out no matter what.

I quickly approached the first room of interest we had discovered earlier in the day.

My hand went on to the heavy stone door. Despite my best attempt, the dull grinding sound refused to be muted as the door opened.

The skull I saw the day before was the first thing to greet me. I had little doubt it was a human skull, with traces of meat and sinew stuck on all over where the dull white the of fragmented bone didn't peek out.

I forcefully took a deep breath and suppressed my emotions before entering the room.

What was waiting for me made me want to immediately hurl, even though there was no way my body would let me do so in the first place.

There were piles of bones. Bones that distinctly looked like they once belonged to people. Like the first skull, most of the flesh had been roughly removed from them and there was no trace of them left.

The only thing else in the room was a large stone table and some large knives strewn on top. There was also the traces of blood. Lots of blood stains all around. From the walls to the floor, the tables and knives, and even a few splatters on the ceiling.

Forcing myself to move on unsteady legs, I exited the room and sealed the door shut, fusing the seams so that nobody else can enter.

I checked the other rooms. Two of them were nearly identical to the first, bones, blood and all. The third though, was the one made me crouch down and hold my head.

I didn't know how long I kept that pose, but eventually I managed to force myself to rise up and confront reality. The last proof that denied any other explanation for the previous rooms.

This room was by far the largest of the ones I had avoided all day.

Yet despite that, it was the most empty. The reason for that though was obvious.

In one corner was a large pile of rags. People's clothes stacked haphazardly for no good reason.

Further away, there were three bodies. The bodies of three men of varying ages with nothing to connect them. Not even their ages.

All three of them were killed in the same manor: blunt force trauma to the head.

The blood on the floor had all dried and the wounds had scabbed over. Most likely these three were killed on the night we had come, their bodies yet to be processed.

If only we came a little earlier.

If only we had hurried.

But as much as I regretted that, there was no way for any of us to know what was waiting for us. To know that if we hurried, we could have prevented these deaths.

Such a thing just wasn't possible, and lingering on it was pointless.

My heart refused to move on like my rational head, but all I could do was move forward, as dispassionately as possible.

All three bodies were put into my bag. They would be returned to their loved ones.

The rest...there was no way to identify who's bones belonged to who. At least I didn't know of such a method. Even if [Scan] could do that, it wasn't like I could explain how I could find that out.

There was a silver lining though. Even if it was so badly tarnished that it could hardly be said to be better than nothing.

All the dead had left an enormous pile of clothes. The living wouldn't have want for that at least.

Creating a giant stone basin, I chucked the pile of dirty clothes into it, filled it with conjured water and added some leftover soap before I agitated the entire thing with telekinesis. Once I was satisfied, I drained the water into a pit before adding clean water and rinsed the entire thing before draining it once more and plugging the hole I had made.

From there, I made a clean, raised platform and picked up each piece of clothing one by one, drying it with magic before laying it on the stone slab.

"!"

My hands froze in the middle of all that.

When I thought about it, what I saw in my hands made complete sense.

But even still, I didn't want to acknowledge that fact.

But the evidence refused to go away no matter how much I willed it.

Even if the tears obscured my vision and blurred what I was holding.

There was no denying it though.

In my hands was a shirt...for a little child.

Maybe it was a boy's? Considering it wasn't a dress, though that didn't make it certain.

What I was pretty certain about though, was that the owner was even younger than Alicia. Maybe four years old at most.

Pausing in my work, I collapsed to my knees and wailed.

It wasn't fair.

Why did a child have to suffer like this?

You could make arguments for adults, for the elderly. Even if they were helpless, even if they were innocent.

But for such a fate to befall a child?

Only wild animals would do such a thing.

Even then, animals do it for a proper reason.

But this, this wasn't proper. Not in the slightest.

So, in the place of the child that once wore this shirt, and all others like him, I shed my tears until I couldn't shed them anymore. I cried until my throat grew hoarse. I let out my heart until even that was empty.

And I simply sat there.

In a daze.

"Why?"

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