The Slum Children II

After settling the fight between Derrick and Mike, Benedict returned to his office. Neither Derrick nor Mike had seen someone who might have reported their confrontation to him, but they didn't think there was anything strange about Benedict finding out without such help.

Mike sent an unfriendly look at Derrick before leaving the church with some other children. Since the Priest only provided the bare necessities, they had to earn the rest themselves. Some were pickpockets and thieves, like Derrick, while others performed tricks and served as guides for travelers. There were even a few that had proper jobs, but only one or two were left due to the effects of the tax hikes. Derrick and Lety could survive by staying at the church, but with just that, then he wouldn't be able to buy medicine if she needed it or feed her well enough for her health to improve.

This incident cemented his resolve not to leave Lety in the church for too long, but he would have to reconsider how to make money.

"Good morning, Brother."

"! Lety?! Are you feeling alright?!"

Once he returned to Lety's side, Derrick heard her greeting. He hurriedly sat down so that he could see her face better, and she smiled at his frantic behaviour.

"Why are you so jumpy? This isn't the first time I've gotten sick like this."

"That doesn't mean I can get used to it."

"That's, a fair point. Sorry."

"You don't gotta apologize. How do you feel?"

"Better than yesterday. Based on experience, I'll probably need another day or two before I go back to normal."

Lety's normal was still a poor condition compared to a normal child's healthy state, but at the very least her life wouldn't be at risk.

"That's good. Do you want some water to drink?"

"That sounds nice, but let me talk to the Priest first. I didn't get to greet him properly yesterday."

Given that he had just been scolded, Derrick was less than enthused, but he couldn't refuse his dear sister's request.

"Alright, grab onto my back."

Meanwhile, Carol was returning to the church. In order to keep her hands free, she had a child from the slums carry the ingredients. Outside of Lety and Derrick, she wasn't close enough with the children of the slum district to ask for favours like this, but she happened to spot the little boy about to steal a fruit and took advantage of that opportunity.

She bought the fruit that he was about to steal and then used it to make a deal with him. His first reaction was to run, but she grabbed him by his collar before he could reach far.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you. My name's Carol. What's yours?"

"..."

Seeing that he refused to answer, Carolyn went straight to the main point.

"If you help me carry these ingredients to the church in the slums, I'll give you this apple. Okay?"

His eyes were full of suspicion, but he couldn't stop his gaze from wandering to the apple. He used to work as a guide and usually had enough clients to keep him fed, but that was no longer the case in recent days. This was the first time he had tried to steal, and it was only because of how hungry he felt, so the doubt in his heart couldn't overcome the panging of his stomach.

Once the boy slowly nodded, Carolyn gave him the apple as advance payment. He gave her a bewildered look at first, but after she assured him, he ravenously ate the fruit as if worried she would change her mind.

With even the seeds swallowed, the boy looked at Carolyn with hesitation. Carolyn had let go of him so he could have tried running, but after a few moments of deliberation, he reached for the bag of ingredients instead.

The smile on Carolyn's face brightened as she watched him pick up the bag and lead the way. As Carolyn predicted, the bag attracted covetous gazes, but she scared off the cowardly with a glare and repelled the bold by force. Sometimes more than one thief would try to block their path, but the route was narrow so there weren't enough to overcome the difference in skill between them and Carol. Despite the high frequency of violent encounters, Carolyn still felt uncomfortable hurting others, yet her hands did not stall. She would try to persuade them if they started with conversation, but if they attacked first, then she would immediately exercise self-defense.

Eventually, the two reached in sight of the church.

"Okay, this is close enough. Thank you. I'll making enough for everyone, so please join us."

Once Carolyn accepted the bag back from the little boy, she thanked him with a smile and then headed towards the church. The little boy wanted to follow her, but he was too nervous, so he stayed outside.

When Carolyn returned to the church, Lety and Derrick were still talking with Benedict, so Carolyn went to the kitchen. She had obtained permission to use it before she left. There wasn't much space to move, but the necessary facilities were present. She wasn't sure if it they were there before or if Benedict had prepared them, but fresh firewood was under the stove and two large pots sat on the counter between the stove and a few buckets of water.

"Okay, time to get to work."

As Carolyn began preparing the ingredients, some of the children watched her. When Benedict cooked, they would fight for the right to help so that they could get an extra portion for taste-testing, but no one stepped forward in this case.

When the smell from Carolyn's boiling pots reached their noses, drool dripped from the edges of their mouths, but that only persuaded some of them to leave so that their hungry stomachs weren't taunted. Though Carolyn spoke of how she wanted to be friends with all of them and the two pots seemed to indicate that she was preparing more than she could possibly consume, they didn't believe she was cooking for all of them. They were well aware of how they had treated her, so it made no sense for them to receive her kindness. Some of them even theorized that this was her plan to get back at them for snubbing her.

As the children dispersed to avoid getting their hopes up from the smell, Derrick and Lety left Benedict's office. Upon catching the scent, they went towards the kitchen and found Carolyn taste testing.

"This smells good. Do you need any help, Carol?"

"Hmm? No, it's fine, Lety. I'm just about done here, so you can wait in the hall with your brother."

Satisfied with what she had prepared, Carolyn doused the fire under the stove and then prepared to move the pots out of the kitchen. With Derrick's assistance, Carolyn soon had both pots on a table at the front of the hall. Both pots were filled with oats porridge, a choice Carolyn had made reluctantly. She wanted something more extravagant for their potentially first breakfast, but considering the cost, cooking time and the number of servings necessary, she had to compromise.

There weren't many bowls and utensils in the kitchen, but Benedict had told her not to worry about it since the children all had their own bowls and spoons for when Benedict shared food. After filling the bowls that Derrick and Lety brought with them, Carolyn was surprised to see that no one else was approaching her despite the piercing looks she was getting.

"Isn't anyone else hungry?"

Various murmurs were exchanged among the children, until one of them stepped forward.

"You mean, you made that for us, too?"

"Well, of course. I can't exactly finish this all by myself."

"Then..."

Once that child came closer and received a bowlful of porridge, the rest believed Carolyn's words and rushed forward.

"Me too!"

"Not fair!"

"Me next!"

"I was here first!"

"Children! Please form a line!"

As she cursed her lack of planning internally, Carolyn tried to think of how best to get the children to listen. Fortunately, there was a veteran still in his office, ready to help.

"Order!"

At Benedict's command, all noise stopped and the children quietly formed a line in front of Carolyn. Carolyn was stunned by how easily Benedict could get them to listen, so she forgot to continue serving until Benedict prompted her.

"You can continue now."

"Ah, right."

As Carolyn served the other children, those who had already filled their bowls began expressing their opinions.

"Wow! Is this really porridge?!"

"It's so sweet! And it goes down so easily!"

"I've never had anything this good before!"

"It's...delicious."

Mixed with cries and shouts, were the tears of children overwhelmed with emotion at tasting something so delightful. At first, Carolyn thought they were exaggerating, but once she saw that all the children who had tasted the porridge had similar reactions, she turned to Benedict with a questioning look.

"Haven't you given them porridge before?"

Although Carolyn bought extra ingredients to ensure the flavour and nutritious value of the porridge, it didn't taste that much better than normal porridge, so she didn't understand why the children reacted like this.

"I did, but I just made it good enough to eat. If they could easily get good food without trying, then they might lose the motivation to work hard."

"I suppose but..."

Benedict's response made some sense, but even with just the base ingredients, his porridge shouldn't be as bad as the children described it. Additionally, it didn't sound like he made it intentionally bad either.

"Mr. Benedict, could it be that you can't-?"

"Ms. Carol, please focus on serving."

"...Okay."