193 A Moment To Remember Part 5
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/Meanwhile…/
/Chatter!/
"... Please… No pushing, there's enough for everyone…"
"I think…" Dale mumbled as he looked at the crowd in front of him
'If I'm not careful they'll end up pulling my gauntlets and helmet off even though they're strapped in place...'
Somewhere in the middle of their settlement, a large crowd gathered around Dale with Children, Adults, and even the Elderly moving around chaotically as they tried to converse with the Knight as he handed over items from his inventory to whoever he could.
Some of the Children moved next to him, taking a spot beside him without a care in the world as they ate whatever he gave them… But Dale was grateful for that.
These children were the only thing between him and a hungry mob of people, he needed them for his own safety...
Especially some of the younger girls who seemed to have a deeper hunger for something he wasn't quite ready yet to give away...
'They may be a bit... Disorganized right now, but they're surprisingly in better condition than I thought.'
'Although it's still not ideal.' He thought silently as he finished giving a family of 5 a small box of food
Right now, Dale was distributing some of his resources to all survivors.
It may be a bit unwise to throw away foot and some other items he brought from Resko, but considering he was but an hour away from the Karkavan through Ubuk, he didn't really mind the loss of rations.
He even thought that, if the situation became truly bad, it may be possible to ride Ubuk back all the way to Resko, given they start from the Karkavan Central City, they may arrive within a few hours at most.
With that, he would be able to restock on anything, even if their condition wasn't that much better than the people living down here.
'These people... When I heard that man say they had no problems with food, I thought they would look better... But they are so skinny...'
It was clear everyone here needed some proper nutrition, eating only one thing wasn't the way.
However, not all of their problems could be solved through food, a few were injured, with severe infections, broken bones, burns, skin rashes, and so on.
And they desperately needed help.
Some had worse problems, such as being poisoned or being afflicted with something even he couldn't quite point out.
Given how he couldn't access their Status panel, he couldn't accurately give them what they needed, which wasn't exactly that big of a deal when he had many Elderly people that had the experience to help him.
The problem was that he was always being mobbed so it was hard to listen to everyone.
They were desperate, they all believe that they needed a bit of his time even though there were clearly people in dire need of it.
Such as a pregnant woman he met by chance, didn't have the strength to compete with the others for a spot, so she stood far away clutching her stomach, as if in pain.
Dale saw her by chance and when he did so he screamed loudly, making everyone stop what they were doing.
That was the only time he screamed at them, and since then, people had been rather cooperative, even the children became silent, albeit they recovered a bit of their cheerfulness once he started giving them some of his sweets again.
Once people stopped running around and properly divided themselves into lines.
The old got into a line, the young into another, and the adults stood in another line while those that needed immediate help went first.
Once the needed received helped first, he would hand over items as he pleased with each line.
Dale also wished to limit the number of family members that could stay in the lines, but given how much more pressure that may create, he ended up staying silent, putting faith in his inventory that he would have enough food for all of them, even if only for a single day of lavish expenditure.
Most seemed happy about this development, albeit a few still sulked...
They said nothing in the end, as they knew that complaining about a pregnant lady in pain going first was certainly NOT what they should be doing.
In the end, Dale helped the pregnant lady and with the help of some of the Elders that knew medicine, they helped him in giving her what she needed so she could take care of her child and prevent the worst from happening.
In these conditions, it was already a miracle she managed to keep it alive, many others hadn't been as lucky...
And a few of those didn't even have their husbands with them so try again even if they wished to... It was no wonder many chose to wander the dark passages alone.
Most were stopped, but those that weren't... Even if their numbers can be counted in one hand, each finger raised invoked tremendous pain in everybody.
To this, he could only close his eyes and bit his lips as there wasn't much else he could do apart from keeping a tough appearance, something easy to do when he had a helmet in front of his face.
The only part of his armor he ended up removing was his gauntlets so he could grip things easier.
But for the rest, he kept it on to keep the people from judging him based on his looks too much, something he knew was all too frequent.
Either way, instead of holding onto them, he continued to distribute the items without holding back.
Dale knew the Survivors would receive proper help and care once he somehow brought them to the Karkavan, but once they arrived, wouldn't the impact of his help just vanish?
Wouldn't it be better to just help them here rather than being stingy and holding on for later just for the sake of some stability on his short journey back?
Instead, by making them look up to him, he would be solving many future problems…
[Your Reputation with the Descendents of the Survivors has increased by 1]
[Your Reputation with the…]
[Your…]
Each time he handed over a loaf of white bread the survivors almost cried as they thanked him over and over again as they clasped their hands in thanks.
He gave them fruits and all kinds of delicious foods, some of which had been made by Illia herself.
He didn't give them at random, he gave the proper food and medicine to those that needed it the most.
And with that, almost everyone was giving him one Reputation point.
At this rate, considering there were over 300 survivors just here… He may actually reach his Reputation Score within Resko!
Not that it mattered, his Reputation might've increased after he became an Elder, but the effects of those higher numbers were no different from before.
Dale didn't wish to achieve a high number, he only needed enough so they would listen once they were back at Resko.
Considering how everything was developing, his final objective would be to put together the descendants of the Corps in one place.
Since Resko needed people, who else but these guys to fill the void?
However, he needed to be careful, these Survivors not only outnumbered the residents of Resko on a scale of 3, but they were also better in almost all areas apart from strength.
Not counting those that left... But as he wished to not fail even a single Quest, Dale knew he would have to save the Expedition group, and they were likely very very strong.
Once two groups with different ideologies and cultures clashed… And one was clearly superior to the other...
He needed to pay attention else things could get bloody really quickly.
There was simply too much to think about, Dale didn't even have a chance to check what he gained from his previous hunt!
And that bothered him greatly...
/Tug tug.../
"M-Mister… C-Can I…"
A small child with a ripper shirt appeared from his side, he could even hear her stomach rumbling a "Hum?"
'Someone's pulling my shirt...'
"M-Mister… C-Can I…"
A small child with a ripper shirt appeared from his side, he could even hear her stomach rumbling a little.
"... Here, have another." Dale said with a small smile as he gave a child another cookie
/Smile!/
And the child gave Dale the biggest smile she could muster.
Yeah, so far, he didn't think these Survivors would pose a problem to him…
Because at best… They may be a bit overwhelming, but it was in a good way…
/GATHER!/
"Can I have one too?" A child asked politely as he stepped close to Dale slowly
"I Alsho wnthu… Gulp! More!" Another child asked quickly as he devoured the food Dale gave him just a few moments ago
"..."
'I already gave food to all of them and they want more?'
'Come on... Their parents don't look pleased with this...'
/Tug tug…/
Another child approached Dale, not saying anything apart from having pleading eyes.
This child was mute, its eyes and hands were its only means of communication.
"..."
'If I knew this would've happened I would've stocked up on food and such mundane items…'
'I still have a lot, but uh… At this rate, I'll only have those Rations made out of nuts, and albeit they aren't terrible, since Illia made them, they're still rather bland compared to everything else…'
'I guess this is my sacrifice…'
...
With a helpless smile, Dale continued to 'trade' away food and other items for stories and tales from the old and the young.
/Step…/
Until he heard a few pairs of steps coming from the distance.
"Dale." Testros voice as he tapped his shoulder
"It's time to go, I'll explain everything to you on the way."
"?... Alright." He said as he got up
A call to Arms, his adventure was far from over!
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Notes
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