"It's lovely to see you again little miss" the older tradesmen said, his beard and hair were a matching salt and pepper.
"And to you carpenter" Rin replied back in a polite manner. A gathering of people were already swarming outside the two cottages while the group of children stayed near where they slept, poking their heads at the doorway in great interest at what these people were going to do.
"I didn't hear much on the job details, would you mind going over it again just to give everyone a brief idea" the older tradesman said, hoping to gain some from of organisation in their mixed group. there were many different trades gathered and it was hard to understand the reason for it. The group of men agreed with nods and murmurs.
"I'm sure that you all heard that the orphanage had encountered a fire and it is no longer livable for the children. Although they are living in one of my cottages for now it is obviously not a permanent solution" Rin elaborated as she looked over the group. However a few of them had faces of stress or fear flash by which caused Rin to greatly worry. Especially since she wasn't sure why they were like that. Leon by her side placed a hand on her shoulder for reassurance. She flashed him a smile, Leon struggled to keep his calm demeanour at the sight of it. 'This woman could easily be the end of me' Leon thought with a sweat increasing on his brow. Rin noticed Leon's brow full of sweat, pulling out a handkerchief she dabbed away at it. Leon was startled by the action, softly grabbing her hand Leon pulled down causing Rin to look away from his face in shyness. Assuming he wanted an explanation Rin was already on the ball about this.
"It looked like the sun was getting to you" Rin said flashing her smile again hoping he hadn't noticed she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. The caretaker however was eyeing the two early lovers, her eyes gleaming at the sight. 'This is truly a romance those people gossiped about when I had to visit the town's' the caretaker thought to herself. A crude smile formed on her lips, it had been a while since something could break the monotony of the orphanage's routine. It should truly be a great soap opera to watch.
The group of men however started discussing amongst themselves over the job.
"We want to check, was this orphanage part of the church?" Rin eyed the man who spoke up, he was one of the ones who flashed a face of fear at the mention of the work. Rin could only nod at the man's words giving her confirmation. The group of men started talking again but it was obvious there was a split that had appeared among them now.
"Unfortunately we cannot take this job." The worked who had questioned Rin before now seemed to have taken the role as spokesperson for these people. Rin however was curious over their actions.
"Why would that be? Is it because you wish to abandoned these children despite the help I've given you and your family?" Rin became quite sharp with her words, a hawk like gaze came from her eyes as she looked over the group who wished to refuse. A few bowed their heads in shame but some could only shake their heads despite knowing.
"We've heard of what happened, but no one is crazy enough to confront the church over this" the spokesperson who refused turned to the other workers who hadn't joined them.
"You know as well as I do that going against monsters like that is asking for our families to be turned abandoned and hunted. You may be willing to take the risk but for my family I will not" the spokesperson continued on. Irritated, Rin was about to speak but Leon gave a forceful tug on her sleeve causing her to hesitate. Giving him a questioning glance he could only lean over and whisper.
"Everyone has their bottom line. Let it go" Leon warned, however Rin being unprofessional at that moment was having trouble focusing on his words as his warm breath tickled her ear. Remembering the girl conversation she had that morning, Rin blushed a bright red at how close they were. Still managing to give a nod they both stayed silent.
Seeing that the medicine lady didn't reject them, those who didn't wish to take the job already formed a group and wandered away. A few of them still felt bad shooting glances and mouth 'Sorry' at the throng of children watching them.
Rin and Leon observed along with the remaining ten tradesmen as the large number of people rejecting had left them with a minority of workers. The old tradesman with his salt and pepper hair had stayed behind, smiling he gave a sharp clap and brought everyone's attention to him.
"It looks like I've found a good number of workers. I'll be sure to look out for some to get recommended when I need some extra hands" the old tradesman announced. Everyone gave a shout of confirmation before wandering off to gather the plans and required building materials hoping to settle into work quickly. Chatting amongst themselves they were quite happy, despite them having families as well they couldn't bear to abandon these children that even the church had rejected.
Knowing they had made the moral choice had put them all in an excellent mood. One tradesman however stayed behind and waited in front of Rin and Leon, wringing his hands nervously. Leon had been watching the whole episode although dissatisfied he had found it quite amusing to watch as politics played at with these small workers.
"Speak, what do you need of the medicine lady" Leon had long gotten used to filling in the role of guardian for Rin despite the headaches it caused he was quite happy about all the strange things that happened around her. However in front of strangers he still wanted to instill in a sense of pride and no nonsense around Rin.
The tradesman took off his Woolen cap and clenched it tightly.
"It's about my daughter... she's been horrendously sick" the tradesman elaborated. It was easy to see from his demeanour he felt defeated about this. Leon wouldn't have had to guess he would have been one of the other tradesman that rejected the work to protect their family. Obviously it was dire that he would brave the consequences and decide to choose sides.
"Can you describe her illness for me. It would mean I may prepare better when I arrive" Rin said seriously. 'After a time, it seemed that Rin had finally fulfilled her role and gone into her professional mode' Leon thought with a smile.
"She's coughed constantly for the last few days, she's been sweating profusely and has been pale ever since"
Rin scratched her head as she had trouble narrowing it down. The obvious illness would be a cold or flu, although it could be life threatening. With proper treatment it was a cheap and easy thing to fix. Which was what made her worry.
"Is there any other conditions or symptoms she may be exhibiting?" Rin asked. Surely it can't be a cold gone bad. If that was the case she would have start training her own group of doctors at this rate if others can't even cure a common cold.
"There is. Recently I've noticed that she has been scratching herself fiercely to the point she bleeds profusely. Even though we try to restrain her she struggles with our efforts relentlessly"
Rin pondered again as thought it over. She remembered there was a case where one of the nymphs in the forest had caught a strange disease, where she had scratches herself constantly after interacting with a human male the group had seduced. The scratching was almost impossible to resist and it was such a funny sight it was named as flying bird pox since the nymphs arms would always be flapping to scratch every inch of her bosy. Although it was unbearable it would pass within a few days at most, so it wasn't that dangerous.
"Did she have any marks on her body?" Rin asked to confirm. Hopefully it was as she thought.
"Yes, her body has been recently covered in black splotches about the size of a coin. Medicine lady can you please come to see her. I simply wish for my child to not suffer and be with the others her age"
However the first part had Rin stumped for a moment. It definitely didn't sound like anything she usually dealt with. After a few moments of pondering a thought passed by and her face paled to the extreme. Leon noticed Rin's odd reaction and held her, he could feel her hand tightly gripping his tunic.
"Rin is there an issue?" Leon worried since he had never seen her react like this.
Rin looked terrified at Leon and almost making him go into a panic. If something could cause fear in a practitioner of medicine there was only one thing.
"Plague" Rin barely let out a whisper at the horrifying word.