Chapter 33: Poverty
Ryuki stepped back into the small room, wiping the last drops of water from her hands. She picked up her swords and slung them over her shoulder.
Ryuki: We should go.
Orimo: Alright then. We'll be leaving. Take care.
The man nodded with a tired but genuine smile.
Man: Yeah… you too.
{Backstory}
His name was Zonza.
Scene shifts.
A dim room.
A thin woman lay weakly on a straw mattress.
A child's cry echoed through the house—hoarse, exhausted, but desperate.
Zonza: What happened!?
His wife's voice was barely more than breath.
Wife: Dear… we haven't eaten since yesterday. Her condition… it's getting worse.
Zonza's jaw tightened. His stomach already ached from hunger, but he forced himself to stand.
Zonza: I'll find something. I promise.
Outside, the village was silent.
Faces were pale. Bodies sluggish.
Everyone moved like ghosts.
Zonza: Does anyone… have anything left to eat? My daughter and wife are hungry. Please…
A hand rested gently on his shoulder.
Villager: I didn't have much either… but I can offer this bowl of soup.
He held out a small, half-filled wooden bowl.
Barely enough to be called a meal.
Zonza bowed his head.
Zonza: Thank you… truly.
At home, he placed the soup in front of his wife and daughter.
He didn't touch it.
He just watched them eat, forcing a smile when his stomach twisted painfully.
Days passed like that.
The same hunger.
The same silence.
One day, weaker than before, he stepped outside again.
Zonza: Does anyone… have something left to eat?
No one answered this time.
No one even looked at him.
Because they had nothing too.
His wife and daughter continued starving—each day quieter than the last, their breaths more faint, their cries replaced by stillness.
The house that once held laughter now held only the sound of hunger.