Bjorn walked through the cold winds, arms crossed at the elbows. "Damn it... What is this sending me out to gather supplies in this cold? Did the gods send you to punish me, Ezel?!" he said with a voice trembling from the chill. He checked the bark of the trees with one hand and compared it with the "perfect beyond measure" drawing in his other hand.
"Aha, this is it! Finally found it," he said with a happy expression. He carefully stabbed the sharp knife in his hand into the bark and cut it with small movements. "This will do the job," he said, tossing it into his bag.
He noticed a movement among the trees. A soaking wet Kakiru was trying to walk, albeit with difficulty.
"Bro, you okay?"
Noticing Bjorn, the Kakiru started speaking in its own language. "We made a mistake... We shouldn't have attacked him. To think we'd end up as dinner for a fucking curse..." it said with a tense expression.
"But what if this fucking curse saves your life?" Bjorn replied. His Kakiru was quite fluent.
"Where did you learn our language?"
"Here and there, brooo. Your wound looks deep," Bjorn said, looking at the blood seeping from the creature's waist and painting the white snow blue. "If you want, I can take you to our doctor, what do you say? Better than dying here."
Not taking Bjorn's words seriously, the Kakiru started to run away with heavy steps in the direction it came from. "I don't want to be eaten! Please leave me alone!" it said, tears streaming from its eyes.
"Hey hey, bro, calm down, I only eat other curses."
The Kakiru's consciousness faded after taking a few more steps. Its unconscious body lay on the snow.
Night had fallen. Ezel took the medicine he had prepared for Aiden from the table. "Can you sit up a bit?" he asked, extending a hand.
"No need, I can get up myself," Aiden said, pushing Ezel's hand away. "Bring the medicine, doctor," he said with a joyless attitude. "V-Very well," Ezel said, handing him the medicine.
The sound of Aiden's bones cracking with every movement resembled the logs in the fireplace. "I feel better today. Keep doing your job well," he said, lying back down on the straw.
"As you command..." Ezel said, smiling.
The cabin door creaked open. Bjorn burst in with the unconscious Kakiru in his arms.
"Ezel, buddy, give me a hand with this."
"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?"
"This race is called Kakiru. They are one of the intelligent creatures living in the forest. I ran into her while gathering supplies; she looked like she was dying, so I brought her along."
"We can barely take care of Aiden, and now you bring a Kakuri or Kakiro or whatever the hell it is on our heads? Are you an idiot!?"
"Someone from this race saved my life once. They are good monsters; you have to trust me."
"That... What kind of ridiculous logic is that?! If someone from the town saved your life, would you say the others are good too?"
"That's different! Ezel, please help her."
Ezel frowned. "Put that woman somewhere away from Aiden," he said with an angry expression.
Bjorn hurriedly laid the Kakiru on the table. Ezel took his surgical tools and examined the cut.
"It will be very hard for me to save her. She has lost too much blood."
"Try anyway, please."
"Okay, I'll try. Pass me my medicine bag from over there," he said, pointing with his hand.
"Ezel... What does 'woman' mean?"
"Huh? The other gender, you know?"
"What does 'gender' mean?" Aiden interrupted.
"Are you guys kidding me? were you born yesterday? Or did you grow up in a cave or something?"
"I am 5 years old; I was formed as a result of a lightning bolt striking a tree."
"And I was born in the town. I heard pirates talking about women among themselves a few times. I don't know what they are like."
"You... This is not the time to discuss this! I have a life to save here!" Ezel shouted in anger.