Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 19: Potato Soup that Soothes the Soul

......It would be nice if the donations increased with this holiday...

It was another busy day for Ralph. In fact, he was always busy.

Because his job was to plead for donations.

To save the poor.

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Of course, it wasn’t an easy task.

-Didn’t I contribute enough?

The person who said this was a gentleman. And yet, his statement wasn’t a false one.

So, what would Ralph say then? If he forced people like this gentleman to give him money, it wouldn’t be a donation, but theft.

Even if he talked about compassion, love, and all sorts of things,

It’s not easy to make people open their wallets. However, it’s true that there are good people who perform great acts of charity.

But they are certainly not the majority. Convincing people to part with their money was certainly a difficult quest.

-Donate? Hah! The poor are like cockroaches. Even if they all die today, tomorrow new ones will skulk about. So, why should I try to save them?

Those who genuinely believe there is no value in helping the truly needy are really tough.

When meeting such people, Ralph craved a cigarette. But even when he reached into his pocket, there were no cigarettes. With the money for cigarettes, he could buy corn and make cornbread, boiled corn, or even corn soup to feed one more person. For the same reason, he doesn’t have a wristwatch either.

He sold his gold ring,

And disposed of his family’s luxurious assets.

Even he himself thought he was a madman for running a relief center with that money.

But it’s because of people like him that the world hasn’t gone cold yet.

“By the Gods! Is...Is that a person...?”

Late at night, while going around shops to collect donations, he desperately wanted a drink, but he pushed the thought away, trying to do everything he could to buy more ingredients.

As he walked, he saw a person collapsed, frozen stiff.

As if someone had rummaged through their pockets, the wallet was gone and the clothes were stripped off. They weren’t naked but seemed to have lost consciousness while face down on the ground wearing only their underwear.

Ralph hurriedly headed there.

“Leprosy...”

As he realized this, Ralph couldn’t hide his disgust. Even a kind person like him found it difficult to reach out his hand.

Ralph had dirtied his hand helping the poor and miserable countless times before, but he didn’t have the courage to support a leper with his bare hands.

“F-For now, at least cover yourself with this. Come on, take heart and follow me.”

So he took off his coat. He covered the collapsed woman with a layer of the coat and only then supported her to stand up. He wasn’t sure if the coat could block leprosy, but just having a wall between him and her provided psychological reassurance.

“L-Let’s just go to the relief center, okay? Oh dear...how did this person...”

Ralph sighed. Poverty makes men go mad.

People would even strip the clothes off a person with leprosy because goods like that are precious to the poor and desperate.

Yet, many people living in this world, simply choose to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the poor.

“So...That’s why you brought her here?”

Clark, the man tasked with making potato soup with the potatoes the Priest donated, sighed as he stared at Ralph.

“Listen, Ralph. I’m not saying that women should die, but this is too dangerous. There are already many people who don’t like this relief center. What if rumors spread that we’re feeding lepers? What will happen then?”

“But we can’t just leave her to freeze to death.”

“Of course not. We should save those who are dying. But what I’m saying is, that once she regains her strength, we need to chase her out. We have no choice. This isn’t simply a matter of donations decreasing.”

In the worst case, this relief center could be stigmatized as a place of disgust due to the citizens’ backlash.

They could even be forced out of the city.

“For now, let’s lay her near the fire, and since the potato soup is ready, let’s have her eat a bowl and then think about it.”

“Should we take her to the temple?”

“You know how the temple treats leapers. They will either lock her up on a remote island, starving her to death, or if she’s really unlucky, the people in the temple will just kill her.”

“Then...?”

No matter how much Clark thought about it, there was no answer.

What could the two of them do for the ones the whole world hates, the lepers?

Even putting their heads together, no clear answer emerged.

“Water...”

A groan shook the due out of their thoughts.

Startled, they saw the woman whose face was so badly damaged that it was difficult to distinguish her features and let out a long sigh. She seemed to lack the energy to even make a sound.

“......Water.”

“Here. Drink it slowly.”

Water that was neither hot nor cold, warmed just right.

Ralph slowly poured the warm water into her mouth. Some of it fell to the ground, but she was able to drink to some extent.

Life slowly returned to the princess’s eyes.

However, that life was as faint as a candle flame and swayed back and forth.

“...Are you the ones who gave me water?”

In a voice as small as her wheezing groans, the princess spoke.

Ralph nodded. Only then did the princess hear the sound of the soup boiling.

Her hungry stomach was hurting.

The smell of the bubbling potato soup was sweeter and more fragrant than ambrosia.

But she couldn’t even ask for more soup. A single stone thrown by a nameless child had shattered even her last shred of pride.

“Eat this. Eat and warm up your body a bit.”

So when Ralph held out the soup to her, the princess was surprised.

She was so surprised she almost shed tears. Only when Ralph put the spoon in her hand did she realize it wasn’t a joke.

“T-Trully...?”

“I don’t joke with food.”

The princess sobbed silently as she took a sip of the potato soup.

It was so delicious. Even to Ralph, this potato soup made with mediocre ingredients was truly tasty.

Because the main ingredient - the potato - was special.

After all, who had donated them?

To the princess, such potato soup was a miracle.

It was moving enough to change her favorite food from roasted pork fat to potato soup.

“I came to this city in search of Priest Kyle.”

The princess, who had been silently sipping the soup, came to her senses and continued.

She was devouring the soup like crazy. For a moment, she lost her reason to hunger.

Only when her stomach was somewhat full did she remember what she had to do? The princess asked,

“If you know him... no, even if you just know where his house is, I would be grateful if you could tell me the location. I have come from far away to find him.”

“Oh? You came here to find Mr Kyle?”

Ralph and Clark simultaneously looked at each other’s faces. The princess was puzzled by their reaction.

“Yes?”

“The person who donated the potatoes, the ingredients for the soup you are eating right now, is that person.”

“But his reputation shouldn’t have spread far enough to reach distant places...?”

A trivial matter that could be dismissed as a coincidence if it were one.

But if it’s not a coincidence, it’s a truly curious thing. Ralph pondered for a moment and said,

“Then, around dawn, I will take you to his house. However... I cannot guarantee that he will be able to cure your disease.”

“If you could do that for me, I would be nothing but grateful.”

Only then did the princess raise her voice. It was a form of acknowledgment.

She let go of her pride as a royal and acknowledged Ralph as her benefactor. Anyway, these two reached out to her, and the Princess now knew how to appreciate those who lend a hand in the most difficult times.

“For now, get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when the sun rises.”

“If I could offer you something in return... Ah!”

“Your wallet and clothes were already gone when I found you. No doubt the unsavory folks in the back alleys took them.”

If the princess had not contracted leprosy, they might have taken her body as well. The back alleys at night are not a place with good public order.

Ha, haha... I really have nothing left now.

She even dropped the spoon in a sense of futility. She truly has nothing now.

Even the clothes she had right now were borrowed from Ralph. There was nothing she could offer to her benefactors.

Her only possession, her body, is rotting away with disease, so she really has nothing. The grand name of being royalty has long rusted and crumbled.

Truly, nothing at all.

Yet, despite her self-depreciation thoughts,

The princess’s body craved rest.

So, as she lay close to the fireplace, her mind became hazy.

Soon, her eyes closed,

And the Princess of Illumina dozed off.

*****“Master, just say the word-“

When she opened her eyes again,

Some beastkin girl was glaring at her with dark blue eyes wide open.

“I’ll take out this trash for you.”

It was Roka.