Chapter 849 Helping
-----
"Please, anybody… can someone give my child some water?! He's dying! Please!"
Suddenly, a woman carrying a dehydrated, famished child started screaming in the middle of the crowd, nobody paying attention to her.
"Water? She's asking for water? Shouldn't that be available easily through the wells?" Asked Emeraldine. "Do you need some water? I think I could conjure some easily."
Emeraldine suddenly took out a cup of water from her bag and filled it with water with a simple Water Ball Magic Spell, which anybody with some Magic Circle knowledge could conjure even without talent.
"A-Ahhh…! W-Water! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
The woman quickly gave the water to her child, and the small boy, who looked to be around five years of age, slowly drank the cup until it emptied.
"Hahh… Hahh…" The famished boy seemed to feel much more refreshed, his eyes shining bright blue.
"Better now?" Emeraldine smiled.
"Well, I was about to give her water, but I guess you won the race," I added.
"If you need more, I could make some blocks of ice for you, they'll melt in a while and they'll become drinkable water." Said Tear.
"T-Thank you so much, you're not from here, are you not? Travelers with the power to conjure water… Magicians of much strength, I see…" She muttered. "Ugh…"
"Of course, take some water yourself too." Emeraldine offered the woman water as well.
"T-Thank you!"
"Water?"
"I saw her! She created water!"
"A priest?!"
"No, I've never seen those clothes around here!"
"T-Travelers…!"
"Please give us water, any!"
"If it's easy to conjure, it wouldn't bother you, right?!"
"We're too thirsty! We need water, please, we implore you!"
Suddenly, a large flock of people started to gather around Emeraldine, Tear, and me. They were all desperate for water. And I could tell, their faces looked tired and older than they should look.
They had big bags below their eyes, not provoked by lack of sleep, and their lips were as dry as raisins. They were suffering and needed some water.
And naturally, we'll supply it!
"Sure, please, stand in a line. We'll give you as much as you need! Bring anything to carry it!" I decided to just bear with the responsibility now that we went so far.
"T-Thank you so many adventurers!"
"We'll be right back!"
"P-Please don't go away!"
"Thank the goddess, she has not abandoned us!"
"Are you sure about this?" Lucifer walked in while raising an eyebrow.
"It's not like we can step back now." Emeraldine sighed. "I cannot bear seeing people like this just for something as normal as water, something we think for granted is a privilege here. That can't be real!"
"I guess we'll be distributing water for a little while." I shrugged. "Might as well get a bit comfortable."
I took out some seats and a table from my inventory and sat near a house with Emeraldine. I made a big wooden sign saying, "FREE WATER!", and if there were any cocky thugs, Lucifer, Jonathan, Partner, and Tear stood around us, looking big and strong, nobody dared come to us asking for more water than the rest.
When the day ended, we had supplied water to who knows how many people, perhaps over a thousand. This city was much larger than Ruby Temple, and while we distributed water, we talked with the lady we helped beforehand and her child whom we had given some fruits and sandwiches.
Her name was Nia and her son's name was Celes, both were just commoners, like many others. She had lost her husband to the disease two years ago, and since then has been raising her little son all by herself even in these terrible times.
"The church… it happened ten years ago. The Lord suddenly gave the entire city to the church, and since then, they closed the Oasis and dried the Wells, leaving us with no water." Nia sighed. "Since then, they had been asking for money in exchange. Fifteen copper for half a cup, a silver for one cup, and one gold for a liter."
"A-Are you kidding me?! They're asking money for water?!" Partner was seriously angered. "Not even giving it some flavor or making it into a soup at least?"
"Those without money had been surviving by drinking animal blood or eating grass that has a bit of water inside. Even cactuses are too expensive, intensively farmed by slightly wealthier commoners." Sighed Nia, her brown skin and long dark green hair made her look rather gorgeous, despite how tired and famished she looked after enduring for so long.
"Mama, this sandwich is very tasty!" Celes had been practically reborn, the green-haired boy with bright blue eyes was happily eating his third sandwich already, and his stomach was already very big. "Have some too!"
"I already had one, save it for later dear. We won't have this much food in the future." Nia caressed his little head. "Okay?"
"O-Okay…" Celes nodded, wrapping his sandwich with a piece of cloth.
"If possible, once we're done here, you'll have enough food to eat every day, as much as you want," Emeraldine said with a gentle smile.
"Yep. We've come here to shake things up a bit." I laughed. "We would like to ask a few other questions, but in private…"
"O-Of course, come, although I am dirt poor, I do have a small, tiny house of my own," Nia said, as she led us to almost the end of the suburbs, a small house with just a single room. She had hidden most of her things underground so they wouldn't steal them, though she barely had anything anyway.
"I don't have much to offer you other than some dried cactus…" Nia said humbly.
"It's fine," I said. "Thanks for the meal."
We accepted her food to not be rude… It was chewy and had no flavor at all and left my mouth tasting like ashes! Ugh, they eat this every day?!
"So anyways." Lucifer started to conversation after Emeraldine began growing a huge tree behind her house with fruits. "Have you heard any rumors about… human experimentations? Anything in that regard? Vampires? People disappearing? Or chimera children?"
"T-That's…" Nia immediately had a rather surprised reaction yet seemed to know something. "Well… it is already well known that… people that are jailed after trying to get water from the Oasis are never seen again. I heard someone say… they turn them into monsters."
.
.
.
Meanwhile, within the Sapphire Palace's church, Saintess Emilia enjoyed yet another delicious dinner filled with many plates, alongside her loyal Priestesses and her Paladins.
However, out of nowhere, a low-ranking priest entered the room, bringing her some rather… bitter news, ruining her evening.
"What?! You say some foreigners came and gave away the blessings of the Goddess so easily?!"
Emilia instantly grew furious! Her flawless face turned red, and her hair seemed to be waving by the aura of anger she exuded.
BAAAM!!
She hit the table with a furious fit of rage and then calmed down, glaring back at the messenger.
"Dammit! Immediately send your strongest paladins to deal with those knaves! If they're adventurers, they won't be easy to take down. But nothing you guys can't do with your improved bodies."
-----
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l