Chapter 4: The second meeting of the failure and the NPC (part 2)
The line reached out behind that wall, so the gill called miss saint by the people could not see how far it stretched out.
Even so, she knew it must be a long one – as always.
It has been almost two weeks since she asked the priest to let her use the side shrine as a place where she could distribute the cure for the Foul Reaper plague free of charge.
Free of charge for the people, that is, because the priest only agreed for the girl to use the space after she made a generous donation to the temple.
So not only was she using her own money to make the cure, she was paying for the chance to give it to people for free.
"..."
A young boy with a serious expression and dark-blond hair sticking out from under the hood covering most of his face leaned to the side, peeking at the tired saint giving out the miraculous tonic just as effective as the one sold near the kingdom's capital for one big silver coin without any compensation...
Then the boy leaned back and turned right toward the end of the line...
...that was reaching only two steps behind the temple's outside wall...
Then he leaned a bit farther back and saw the brown woman who cried about her husband and father having afflicted the horrible plague...
...that very woman walked to the carriage parked just beside the temple, guarded by two thuggish-looking men, and handed both bottles to a man sitting in the back of the carriage...
Then, she received two big copper coins that she carefully pocketed with an elated expression.
And it wasn't even the last of it!
After that, one of the men handed her a green skirt and a murky gray blouse with ripped sleeves – the woman took them and walked behind the carriage.
She was back, already changed in a few seconds, and returned the patched dress she had worn previously.
With all that done, she ruffled her hair and braided them messily, altering her looks just a little bit and...
...proceeded to rejoin the line for the tonic...
It wasn't an odd occurrence either – actually, everyone currently in the line was in a constant circle of procuring a bottle of remedy, giving it to the thugs in the carriage for a single big copper coin, and changing their clothes before getting back in line.
All day.
For the past two weeks.
"..."
|If she prepared the same amount as usual, she should be already running away...|
The hooded boy thought to himself while patiently waiting his turn and advancing - with the whole operation going smoothly.
"...ah... so young... poor child, how can I help you...?"
"..."
The blond-haired girl in white was undoubtedly the same age as the boy with dark-blond hair sticking from under the hood, but the moment she saw him, she acted as if there was an age gap of at least ten years between them – with her being the older one, which certainly wasn't to the boy's liking.
For some reason, the girl who people participating in the scam started calling a saint to make her feel good and drop her guard, thought of herself to be in a standing where she could pity other kids.
*sob* *sob* *sniff* "M-Miss saint...!" *thump*
...and this time, the boy wanted to use it to the fullest, so he started sobbing and, with trembling shoulders, fell to his knees in front of the girl.
"Oh no...! Child, what's wrong? Are you dizzy or nauseous? Are you perhaps sick yourself...?!"
The girl in white cried out in a compassionate voice, panicking a bit and constantly grabbing a bottle with a miraculous tonic and pushing it onto the boy.
"Miss...! It's not like that...!"
"...eh...?!"
The hooded boy grabbed the girl's wrist and cried out, with tears streaming down his face.
"Back home... my mother... my father... even my grandmother... they're all sick... the kind grandpa across the street too... and even his grandchildren... they are all too weak to move on their own... Miss...! If... if I don't bring them medicine, they will all...! They all will...!"
The boy sobbed, clenching his hand around the girl's wrist while masterfully seeling the story he made up on the spot.
And he was good. Really good. Masterfully using his age and the way that the naive girl perceived him.
Even the people who lined up together with him all this time looked between each other as if conflicted about whether this time he was speaking the truth or not.
"...!"
The girl donning the white rabbit was foolish enough to not recognize the faces of the people she was giving the medicine to, so she was instantly pierced with the spear of compassion.
She bit her lips and gulped her saliva looking towards the people still lining up for their one-per-person tonic, and then she looked inside the shrine she stored the bottles of tonic.
"I... I'm sorry, everyone, I don't have any more tonic for today..."
The girl trembled but ended up closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before raising her trembling voice in apology.
"What?!"
"Oh, come on!"
"That's nonsense. You definitely have more!"
The people lining up called out angrily – after all, the hooded boy wasn't the only one who managed to figure out roughly how many bottles the girl would prepare every day, sacrificing her health and sleep.
"...hiiiii...! I-I'm sorry...!"
"..."
The girl cowered and cried out in pathetically while the boy let go of her hand and stayed silent.
"I... I shared the recipe of the remedy with the priest, so from tomorrow, you will be able to get it from him... and... and he and the other priests and sisters will be able to prepare a lot more, so everyone will get one! I promise!"
The girl gathered her courage and declared, although her voice still trembled.
"TSK!"
"That's it, I guess..."
"...?!"
One can easily imagine her confusion when instead of being relieved, the believers waiting their turn all either clicked their tongues, cursed, or shook their heads with disappointment instead of rejoicing.
"The party's over, I guess?"
The brown-haired woman who managed to get their hands on two tonics the previous round shrugged her shoulders and was the first to leave.
The others followed in her footsteps sooner or later, leaving the utterly lost blond-haired girl and the still-kneeling hooded boy.
"Miss saint..."
He looked up and spoke up pleadingly.
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