When we had entered the room with the large deer carcass, Seika instantly frowning as the scent of blood assaulted our noses, both new and old.
Standing behind the table was an older woman with her graying hair pulled up into a bun, the wrinkles that had begun to grace her face only adding to her charm as she glanced down at us, her blue eyes still clear despite her apparent age.
Clear and cold, and the pale skinned human woman just guested towards the table and said "C'mere. Each of ya will handle a knife to start, and I'll have ya help me butcher this thing down to its parts. Do well and ya get a job, fail and ya get kicked out. Now, c'mere!"
Kicking a small stool forwards, she pointed to me and said "Blue first! Red, you go next. Here's the blade; hold it like this."
Despite her harsh words and flat voice, the woman was quick to demonstrate how to properly hold the knife, nudging my fingers around as she tried to 'perfect' my grip before she tapped the deer, using her finger to guide me.
I followed her instructions quickly, sliding the blade into the flesh and beginning to carve away the first hind leg of the deer, making sure my cuts were even as I sliced through the meat.
Lifting the leg up, she had me continue from underneath before nodding, appreciation in her eyes as she remained quiet the entire time, not distracting me when she saw that I had an idea on what I needed to do.
No questions asked, just making sure I could do what was needed, and I appreciated that.
When Seika stepped up, I instantly informed the older woman "Guide Seika closely, please. I usually handled any... 'dirty' work."
She just nodded, and I watched from the side as Seika was handed the knife, the older woman saying "When you pierce the flesh, keep your hands steady and don't tug on the blade. We're not trying to damage the meat, so keep your movements precise and controlled. Slowly now, pull down and follow the line I traced."
Seika nodded, focusing intently on the blade in their hands as they continued to follow the woman's instructions, slowly severing the hind leg and removing it from the carcass.
I watched not only Seika's blade work, but also how Seika reacted to the blood that lingered inside the flesh, as well as the flesh itself; the stench, feel, and sight was enough to gross most people out, but Seika took deep breaths and focused instead on the knife, ignoring everything else and just cutting away at the deer.
"Not too bad for two street rats. Don't want to know why yer both good with a blade, but I don't really care. Alright, here. Flash this to the guard at the front tomorrow at noon to get in, and ya will be brought back to do some more work. For now though, let's keep going, yeah?"
Seika and I nodded, continuing to alternate as we butchered the entire deer, leaving its limbs, organs, and various cuts of venison all hanging from hooks to bleed out completely before being sent away to be packaged and prepared to be sold.
Everything on the deer would be used in one way or another, and it was something that would stick with you forever when you learned about it, always lingering in the back of your mind whenever you ate.
However, for today that was all, and the older woman showed us around the facility and gave us a rundown on what we would be doing as her 'apprentices' for the next week, which centered primarily around aiding her in butchering the various animals that came in, as well as the occasional low level monsters if we got lucky.
There was nothing special about our job, nor anything glamorous about the choice, but at the end of the day as we left, I glanced at Seika and asked "So? How do you feel about holding a blade and dealing with blood? If we ever hunt in the future, could you handle that, or is it too much?"
The setting sun made Seika's red eyes shimmer as they walked beside me, their lips pulled into a thin line as we made our way back towards the church, where we would do some more work cleaning the place up before turning in for the day.
"I... It wasn't pleasant, but it was bearable. It also helped to think about what that work would equate to. We were doing that to... 'create' food. For us someday, or others like us. That made it easier... still..."
Seika scrunched their nose, staring down at their hands before letting out a sigh, muttering "It wasn't pleasant."
I nodded, but stayed silent as we returned to the church, where we cleaned up quickly before going inside to help the Sisters clean the place up for the night, earning another piece of bread for our troubles.
Like that, our week flew by, each day ending with Seika and I tiredly returning to the church for the final meal of our day, but each day we returned with coins in our hands, clutched tightly lest we lose them.
Coins that turned into meals as we purchased more bread and some of the 'undesirable' meats that were either 'too old' to sell or were just not that appealing to cook, and we both finally got to taste the deliciousness of meat that we asked the Sisters to cook for us.
The work was good and easy, as well as fruitful, and we made it a routine as we were hired for the second week, our mentor - Miss Janis - deciding to keep us on while guiding us further, the serious woman warming up a bit over the week.
I got to help Seika learn how to handle a blade, and we got paid... not the flashiest of weeks, but it was one that held importance for us, since at the end of the second week, we had to put those new skills to the test another way...
~~~
A-Ahem...
N-No, I didn't fall asleep...
I was CERTAINLY awake to see Tiberius be a manly man!
Yes...
Definitely not asleep...
~~~