"Ah... well, that is the difficult bit." I struggled to find the right words, not wanting to give him false hope. "It's complicated... I mean, I'm not even sure if I can cure myself first. "
"I already healed you and Thalen when he bought you in, you know that, right?" Luman simply stated. My jaw dropped, and I stared at him with unsure eyes.
"You... you cured the rabies? Oh my god! That resolved the main part of my problem, wow. WOW!" I gasped, flabergasted to hear this, "I only have treatment that requires at least 3 shots, nothing like this... I thought you could only purify once a week?"
"Well, since I don't need to purify water anymore. I purified you when you slept. I can use it sparingly... still, it's not enough. But if what you are saying about the transmission is correct, that means we can stop it from spreading and look after them while you find the cure!" Luman said his voice filled with hope and excitement.
"Ah... that's where I have to stop you. Even with my medication, if they do not get medicated within the same day, I cannot stop it. It is not curable at all. The only way to stop it is to stop the virus from taking over your body from the start." I gripped my fist into a tight ball.
My country was rabies-free, so I never had to deal with this or think about it. I'm not sure if I can help these people. I never realised how big a privilege medication was.
"I see. Still, I appreciate the information. We can help others stop spreading the illness." Luman then pointed towards the end of the room, where the massive bowl was being fired up. "That section is where we have already adopted your water purifying skills. No one here has the berserk virus, so if you could help, I would be grateful. Seeing that you need to clean your tool, I will assign this kid to you. He can use basic fire magic."
He beckoned over a kid who was nearly as tall as me, surprisingly muscular and lean for his young age.
"Hello, nice to meet you, I am Ivy." I held out my hand, but he just stared at it with blank confusion. I pulled away in embarrassment, "What is your name?"
"Haskar."
"Ok.. Hasker, can you fire up a small bowl of purified water for me?" he nodded and followed my instructions without delay.
I start seeing the patients one by one. Many had similar wounds as mine, while some had massive slashes which looked like claw marks.
The patients were visibly wary at first, but with the pain from the rotting skin, they could not do anything but let me treat them. Most did not even have the strength to fight back.
At first, they cursed me, claiming torture, but after witnessing one of the patients get successfully treated, everyone else fell in line.
Soon enough, all the patients were looked after and dealt with. The clean clothes I was provided just a few hours ago were bloody again. I sank into one of the wooden chairs, massaging my sore muscles after cleaning and stitching nearly 10 different patients. Luman used the second set of pliers to treat the rest.
After every patient was cured, a satisfying notification of points being received reduced my worries one by one. While I was happy to help save their lives, I was equally happy to collect points too.
I gratefully drank a glass of water and let out an exhausted sigh. Meanwhile, Luman showed no sign of stopping. He kept walking around and checking up on the patients.
Wow, that man really is diligent with his work. He was acting all vicious when he did not believe me when I said I could make sterile water, but I would not have expected such a man to have this type of personality.
I kept watching him for a while when a familiar thick tail wrapped around my waist. "Oh, is my bonded mate eyeing another man in front of me?"
I look up to see Thalen all bloody yet again, carrying a dead deer slung over his shoulder with a grin, "If you keep looking any longer, I will get jealous." he leaned down towards me. Grabbing a strand of my hair with one hand, he kissed it without breaking eye contact.
My cheeks instantly felt red and hot at his bizarre display of possession. Using his handsome face and devilish grin, he looked at me with his slanted eyes as if he were about to devour me any second. I gulped watching every deliberate move he made, eager despite the predicament I was in.
"If you keep looking at me like that, I may just attack you." Thalen joked, his smile turned dangerously sharp. "First, we need to feed you so you have the strength to handle me."
He then placed the deer in front of me, freshly killed. Realising that I was staring at him, I burned hot with embarrassment. I shook my head to mentally cool myself down, then waited for someone to prepare the food. I stare at the dead animal lying on he floor.
I have never had deer before. People say venison tastes delicious, so I am looking forward to it. I wonder how they cook their food here.
"Are you not hungry? Or do you not like deer?" Thalen asked, waiting for me to take a first bite.
"Um... are you not cooking it?" I asked, pointing at the dead deer. It was as large as I.
"Cook?" He repeated the word, face blank with confusion.
An unsettling feeling grew in my stomach, "Like... cut, skin and use fire to cook with seasoning?"
"Fire? Why do you want to use fire? It's already dead." Thalen questioned, voice filled with confusion, "Still... how do you not know how to skin an animal? All females are taught to do this since childhood."
Dismissing the subject, hungry Thalen dug into the deer and ripped out a large chunk of meat. "Here, eat it while it's still fresh. You should be thankful men usually don;t bother with menial stuff like this."
Thalen stood there, eagerly waiting for me to take the offering.
"Please don't tell me you guys just eat meat raw like this..." Thalen looked at me, confused by my hesitation, then simply nodded. "As I thought. Um... my species... we cannot just eat meat like this. We have to cook most meat with fire, so it's safe for us to digest. Raw meat like this has a lot of bacteria that can kill us humans."
"That's interesting. A species that cannot digest raw meat. I have never heard of something like that. Humans must be powerful to have such an important resource as fire for daily use." Luman noted it, jotting it down in his book.
"Ok, so I just burn it?" Thalen was about to click his fingers to burn the meat. I instantly lunged forward and stopped him.
"Whoa! Calm down, you don't just do it right away like that. There is an art to it. Can you get me a clean bowl, Haskar?" Haskar bought over a bowl, and then I instructed Thalen to fire it up.
"Please, can you cut out that white creamy fat for me?" Thalen obliged, curious to see what I was doing. I clean it, then place it in the hot bowl. It melted quickly, and then I removed any unwanted gristle.
I had noticed some herbs Luman used to treat the patients. "I am just using a little, ok, I swear I will pay you back, Luman! " Without waiting for confirmation, I grab a handful. After peeling the garlic and ginger, I handed them to Thalen and said, "Please crush them and put them in the bowl."
Again, he obediently followed, using his bare hand, and he crushed it. I added the rosemary I found and put it with the venison meat.
The savoury smell filled the room. It was quite unique for the beastpeople. They had never smelled something like this before. Once the meat was fully cooked, I waited for a moment to cool, then gripped it between my fingers and bit into it quickly.
Through the hunger, I ignore the pain of the hot meat, scalding my finger. I shake it in turn to cool it down as I continue to chew the meat.
"That is sooo gooodd!" I groaned in pleasure as I kept eating more and more. By the time I got halfway, I was full. I gulped down another glass of water and lay back in my chair, satisfied.
"I am glad to see that you are at least eating a lot. Don't know why you don't have the muscles to show for it, though." Thalen said, poking at the remaining meat and ripping a bite for himself. Seeing that I was not going to eat anymore, Luman also decided to do the same. As they ate, they both looked at each other, feeling the weird texture and smell of the meat.
"Oh, that's an unusual texture; it's not bad, but raw meat is really better," Thalen said as Luman nodded in agreement.
"Ughhh, I feel sorry for you beasts. Can't appreciate the taste of cooked meat." I shake my head.
"Well then, now that you have fully eaten and finished helping Luman, it's time to take you home," Thalen said, grabbing me and placing me over his shoulder.
"Wahh! What" Let me go! What do you mean, home? I thought I was staying here?" I shriked, flailing my hands and feet, trying to shake myself free. His grip was tight around my waist, and I had no hope of competing with his strength.
I slumped my body in defeat, "Asshole." I muttered under my breath.
"I don't know what that is, but I guess it's not something good, right?" Thalen chuckled, unbothered by it. "Well, Luman, I will see you tomorrow. I am going to enjoy my night with my mate." Thalen walked out as Luman waved me goodbye.