The pan contained both vegetables and meat.
'...Meat?'
The Reapers had never shared it with the porters, during the one week journey through the deserted western plain. Alwyn didn't even know that they were secretly consuming it.
Eline noticed the intense stare he directed at the food, his face depicting a questioning expression.
"It's a barbed hare. Gariss hunted it while we were searching for the stolen cargo."
The girl gracefully sat on her bed. With the fork in her left hand, she picked half of the meat chunks and put them on her plate.
The other half remained inside the pan, together with tiny golden potato cubes and purple peas, not the kind he had recently eaten at the tavern, but of an inferior quality, lightly withered from the prolonged exposure to salt.
She then took half of the side dishes as well, and brought the plate full of food over her legs.
Eline removed her hood, revealing the long grey hair that she usually kept hidden, and positioned her right hand over the smooth piece of metal that was resting on her face.
'Is she going to eat in front of me?! Without the mask on?!'
But right after grazing it, she froze in shock, suddenly realizing what she was about to do.
After a couple seconds of stillness, the awkward Reaper got on her feet and moved with quick steps towards the door.
"I'll go eat outside."
The girl exited the cabin and, after the door was closed, Alwyn heard the sound of a key being turned inside its lock.
He was left there, sitting motionless on his bed, with the plate still in his hands.
The curiosity was eating him alive, but the cabin unfortunately had no windows, so he had no way to take a peek of her face.
'Give up Alwyn, she must have her reasons. Don't be a dick.'
He glanced at his food.
'Better enjoy it before it gets cold.'
Since he didn't want to wash his plate afterwards, he started eating straight out of the pan.
After all, water was a scarce resource in that godforsaken place, he could not waste it for such trivial matters.
Or so he had convinced himself.
In reality, Alwyn was just that lazy.
How boring would it be for a regressor to wash the dishes every day in every round he lived? It was an alienating task for him, just like many other similar activities. As time passed, little by little, he started removing those simple actions from his daily routine.
He was not used to them anymore, that was why the first thought he had had was eating out of the pan.
"God, this is delicious!"
The hare was spicy, but not too much, and covered in a delicate sour cream, while the potatoes were crispy on the outside yet tender on the inside.
Even the purple peas, although their unappetizing look, tasted extremely good. Their sweet juices stimulated all of his taste buds.
"...Ahh, I'm in heaven. Did I actually die during my sleep?"
When Alwyn regained his lucidity, the pan in front of him was completely empty. He had devoured everything in such a short amount of time, without savoring the taste.
His face showed a hint of regret.
He placed the pan back on the barrel and got up, then went to knock on the carriage's wall.
"Have you finished, Eline?"
"Just a moment."
Click.
After a while, the masked girl opened the door and timidly returned inside.
"It was so good, where did you learn to cook this well?!"
Eline was taken aback by his unexpected compliment.
"I used to cook for my… family, when I was younger."
"And why didn't you tell Gariss?! We could have eaten all these delicacies instead of Vern's oat slop!"
"...Because I enjoyed watching their disgusted faces every time he had to prepare a meal."
"Mine as well?"
"..."
Alwyn looked at Eline with a serious face.
"Please, tell me."
"..."
"I won't get mad."
Until the girl eventually replied.
"...Yes."
"..."
"..."
Pfft.
Both of them exploded in laughter.
***
"Does it hurt?"
Alwyn was lying on his bed, completely drenched in sweat.
"Just a bit…"
As Eline gently touched his shoulder, his hands clenched, tightly squeezing the fluffy pillow.
"I-I can't last any longer!"
Tiny red stains could be seen on the candid, crumpled bed sheets beneath them.
"Stay still, I've almost finished."
Replied her.
Ten minutes had passed since the two had consumed their breakfast.
The masked girl was currently helping Alwyn to clean all of his wounds, apply an analgesic lotion on them, which ironically made him feel like his skin was burning, and change the bandages, now filthy with dried blood.
The most severe injuries were the deep cut on his shoulder, the diagonal one on his back, his mangled left hand and, at last, the neck, which had been ravaged by the wolf's sharp fangs.
These ones would probably mend after two more nights of good rest.
Meanwhile his feet, another one at best. Surprisingly enough, they were now whole, although the exterior layers of skin were still regenerating.
The other wounds instead, the scratches and bruises on his hands and forearms, had completely disappeared overnight.
The healing properties of the Proof of Faith had greatly exceeded his expectations. And since the stolen artifact showed no sign of cracks, it was safe to assume that its charge was still enough to completely heal his injuries.
"All done."
When Eline concluded her task, Alwyn took a deep sigh of relief.
The analgesic lotion was starting to take effect, numbing his perception of touch and, as a result, lowering the
burning sensation.
"Let's get to work now that you are all patched up."