With the guidance of the person I just helped, we went around and healed up the others.
It turned out that there were quite a wide variety of wounds that people had. So were combat related ones, a few were sores and infections caused by the environnt and their daily habits caused by prolonged isolation, but the largest number were deliberate injuries caused when they resisted.
Listening to those who were lucid, the most common ones were people who had their Achilles tendon cut though. It seed like it was the most popular way to restrain any woman that resisted. The n that did, it seed had their heads caved in even before they got to the mansion.
As bad as things were, it seed that things were even worse before they figured out that all they needed to stop soone from escaping was to cut their Achilles tendon, according to the stories, the ones before were hurt in much crueller ways to prevent their escape.
But those people hadn't survived in the end. Every one of them succumbed to their injuries before I had gotten here, so there wasn't anything I could do about it.
Or rather, it was sothing that most of the people here didn't really know much about it seed, since the stories seed to have co from quite a long ti ago. And were rely passed down as a way to pass the ti rather than anything else.
The sheer distance the people who told had regarding these stories sounded more like they were telling so sort of fairy tale rather than things that actually happened to their predecessors, if such a word was even remotely appropriate.
I did discover though, that the healing spell I've been using had its limits.
While I didn't encounter any amputees, so of the people who've been injured had already healed over their wounds, and my spell didn't do anything to fix that. But I did experint and found that if I reopened the wound and exposed the remaining parts of their tendons or whatever was severed, my spell could reconnect the parts.
Also what I learned was that I needed to co up with so sort of anaesthesia spell or skill. Having a person bite your thumb while you operated on them, no matter how quick, was very distracting. Also I worried that the muffled screaming would stay with in my nightmares.
Or at least they would if I was capable of having dreams of any sort, so I supposed that there was a strange fringe benefit there to being a vampire.
The only silver lining to all of this though, was that there weren't any people with serious injuries that had any real chance of hurting their long term survival. Aside from the infections caused by leaving untreated wounds and forcing these won to live in such a dirty environnt.
At least, that was what I kept telling myself. The alternative was a bit too morbid for to want to think about.
In the end, there weren't too many people for to heal up. From the best I could tell, not many people here made any serious attempts at escaping once they got locked up in here. Not after seeing the sort of punishnts that were doled out so easily at least.
That said, it wasn't bad luck that there wasn't anyone able to heal everyone's wounds with magic that got captured, but that those sorts of people were all killed before they got this far.
While any concrete reasons weren't given, my hypothesis was that their skill of [Light Magic] was imdiately identified and they were dealt with as they were considered a real threat to their master. How they identified that was likely that they were witnessed using it either to heal or attack at so point when they were attacked. The people I've faced here didn't seem to be high enough level to realistically have a high enough skill in magic to have detected the re presence of light aspected mana as they readied a spell, so they most likely had been seen actually using a related spell.
After my little triage session, luckily enough, I found out there were a few people who had the [Tailoring] and [Leatherworking] skills. For those people, I handed all my spare clothes as well as all the lower level hides and skins of various monsters I was carrying on to make basic clothes for as many people as they could.
While I had high grade hides as well, the lack of proper tools ant that they were probably impossible to process at the mont for them. The only tools I was able to offer them were simple things I made from bones I had in my bag on the spot. It was better than nothing, but only just.
I went around to check all the baths, clean and reheat the water, then checked the large pot of food. There was still a decent amount left, so if anyone got hungry there wouldn't be any problems for a little while at least.
"I'm going to go check the rest of the building for any signs of the remaining villagers."
For so reason the one who was guiding to all the injured people continued to follow even after I finished healing them all. She constantly followed on one side as if she was waiting to attend like so maid.
"Let co with you!"
"I as well!"
" too!"
That was definitely not the response I wanted to get. Not only the one following asked for permission, but several others within earshot did as well.
There were quite a few who were looking this way and there weren't just one or two amongst them who looked like they also wanted to co.
"I can't. It might not be entirely safe."
"But if you find any of the others, they won't treat you badly if you're with soone they recognize, so it's better for so of us to co!"
Her argunt wasn't wrong at all. Except that the chances of actually finding any more survivors was exceedingly low, as I couldn't feel the presence of any within the building. They weren't likely to be anything more than pure baggage in the best case, and at worst, they might see sothing which would be better that they didn't.
"In that case I could just co back and bring a few of you with ."
"But it's faster if so of us just go with you from the beginning!"
"Like I said, it might be dangerous! There's no way to know for sure if there might be so traps waiting. I can take care of myself, and since my level is high, most traps won't be an issue even if sothing were to happen, but for you girls that's not true."
Most of the won looked down when I said that. So of them clenched their fists and others shoulders trembled slightly, but it seed like they got it, even if they couldn't accept it entirely.
"Th, that's our risk to take!"
But unfortunately the person that had been following the last while gave the absolute worst reasoning possible.
"That's right!"
"You're not responsible for us!"
"It's nor your fault if sothing happens!"
"That wasn't the point! Not even close. If sothing were to happen to you and I couldn't have prevented it, what would happen?! Just because it's not my fault?! That wouldn't change anything at all! I don't want to see sothing happen to you people if simply staying here for a little longer would prevent that!"
I may have had selfish motives for all this, or maybe it wasn't really that selfish, but still, it didn't change that they were definitely being selfish regarding all of this.
"L, let us go with you. We want to get out of this room, even if it's just for a little while!"
Many of the others nodded.
I could understand that. Being trapped here for months, maybe years for so of them. Even if it was dangerous, they'd want to be able to get out, even if it was just the hallway and adjoining rooms.
"The others will be here soon. A few days at most. When that happens, we'll have to walk back the entire way. You'll get to enjoy the outside all you want then!"
If I rembered right, that investigation leader had so sort of communication tool. If he used that to send word for reinforcents to the city's leadership, then those people should have already started getting ready to send so soldiers or sothing.
While how long it would take to prepare wasn't sothing I'd know, it shouldn't take much more than a week to reach this place.
Asking for the people here to wait that long without doing anything was a bit much, but depending on how things went, it might be possible to et the returning group halfway?
"It's...not just that. Let us do sothing. Let us be of use sohow! There's probably more than just other people in other rooms, right? Like supplies that they stole from the village? Or maybe weapons and other things that vampire and his children used? We might not be strong, but we can help you find and carry them as well!"
"..."
That earnestness really hurt. And especially the way many of the others were nodding.
Maybe I was being too nice for my own good, but I really wanted to let them have their way.
On the other hand, the risks to them were likely pretty low. There hadn't been any traps of any sort in this mansion so far and since it was a residence, the actual chances of finding any past the front doors were exceedingly unlikely, especially at this point. There weren't any enemies left either, so ambushes weren't waiting for us anywhere.
Frankly speaking, there really was only one reason why I shouldn't let any of them go with , and that was that it was unfair to pick a few of them to follow when most of them probably wanted to co.
"Look, I get that you want to stretch your legs and all, but that's the sa for everyone. How can I take just a few of you and not the rest? That's not exactly fair."
The girls looked at each other, concern rising up visibly and they even started to whisper amongst themselves, looking over their shoulders to see if any of the others noticed what we were talking about.
Really, it was one thing to take a group well over a hundred people through the forest while keeping any monsters away, but another to try to move around inside of this building.
The halls were pretty wide and there were few obstructions due to the lack of decorations, plenty of space for people to move around in. But that was only if we were talking about a few dozen people. This was a group many tis that size.
Not to ntion the lack of any point of doing this in the first place.
No, rather, I did understand the point. It wasn't to explore, or to find survivors that didn't exist, or anything of use, but to rely let people out of the room that was their prison until just recently.
I didn't really think the rest of the mansion was much better, and until they had sothing warm to wear, outside didn't seem like a good idea, with it still being early spring. I didn't have problems wearing next to nothing in the cold air, but I had a high level, and was a vampire on top of that.
I didn't even know if I could get sick in the first place. The cold didn't bother that much in the first place.
But that wasn't true for the others.
No, so of them were more vulnerable than normal. Spending a long ti in a dark room with little light and barely moving their bodies couldn't have done any favours for their health.
The trip back to the village was going to be tough and would have to be done on foot, so it was better that they save their strength rather than waste it on running around outside of what was their prison.
(But the moral...)
I've definitely improved that front by cleaning things up and giving them so decent food. So of them were working to make clothes from what random things I had as well, but that wasn't going to be much. Most likely, at most it would be little more than bikinis for everyone.
(Should I decorate the walls or sothing?)
Maybe spend so ti making stone sculptures of flowers and stuff? It's better than bland, featureless walls as well.
But would that be enough? It might only be a handful of days before the reinforcents arrive, but at the sa ti, that was that many days doing almost nothing with the temptation of doing sothing, anything, niggling at them the entire ti.
(It's not possible.)
If it was one or two days, I could just distract them sohow, but what they craved wasn't entertainnt, but release. To feel freedom with their own bodies rather than just be told repeatedly that they had it, yet not be able to exercise it as much as they want.
"*sigh*, if you can organize yourselves into groups of ten, I'll take you out one group at a ti, as long as the ones who stay behind behave. How's that?"
My words, which I managed to squeeze out despite a big part of screaming that this was a bad idea, caused a flurry of excitent as expected.
The others around exclaid and spread the word. The warm atmosphere that was threatening to cool off into apathy then depression quickly started to boil up with excitent.
I was already starting to regret my words, but at the sa ti, it was clear that this was the right move. If I didn't do sothing like this proactively, I wouldn't be able to hold them back the entire ti. It was only a matter of ti before soone went off outside and got attacked by a monster in the forest while wandering around.
"So is that fine?"
After they've had a chance to talk about it, I tried asking, fully knowing the answer.
"We'll do it!"
"Alright. But I have two conditions."
"""*gulp!*"""
With only a few words, I had fully caught their attention and they audibly gulped in anticipation.
"First of all, if there's sothing I need help with, like transporting materials or searching a room, everyone who's with will help. Alright?"
"Of course!"
"If it's only that much!"
"Rather, let us help!"
Despite how I made it sound, they really did have it right in the end. I didn't really need help on anything that was likely to be found, but it would let everyone move their bodies and feel useful, even if they knew that they were just doing stuff that I could've easily done on my own.
"Good. And the other. Everyone who stays behind has to stay in this room. If anyone leaves while we're exploring, I won't take anyone else with next ti. Is that fine?"
"Okay!"
"That's fine!"
"We can be patient!"
It seed like negotiations were successful.
Well, it was really only a matter of people being patient after all, and most people tend to be much more amicable when they know they can get what they want within a reasonable ti fra.
"Alright. Form the first group! If you have a child with you, your child doesn't count towards the total! Also, even if we finish exploring the whole place, I'll still take groups out until everyone's had a chance!"
With that, there was so arguing and negotiating, but the first group of ten was ford after a short while.
For so reason, that woman that had been following a whole bunch ended up in the first group.
If I rembered right, her na was Epione?
The fact that I rembered her na ant that the efforts I was putting into rembering nas was working? Or maybe it was just because her na was weirdly as persistent as she was? Maybe it wasn't either of those though, yet I did rember it sohow.
That said, her thin, black tail stood erect as testant to her triumph at winning a position in the first group.
"Alright, we'll head off when everyone's ready. And when we do, I'd better not find anyone had exited the room while we were away, or I'll stop these excursions. Maybe I'll even seal the door until the others arrive."
"Don't worry! We'll make sure nobody leaves!"
Soone from what looked like the beginning of the second group imdiately stood at attention. While it wasn't really a real military pose, the way she did it gave off a similar feel. Except for the fact that she did it in the nude, ruining everything in the first place. It wasn't like it was her fault, but it was hard to take things seriously when this place was feeling more like a public bathhouse than anything else.
But with that, I gathered my things, stuffing my robes into my bag and shouldering the plush before the eleven of us made our way through the large stone doors. For most of us, the first ti in weeks, if not longer. The stay-at-ho group waved at us like we were the husbands and boyfriends being sent to the front on trains or sothing.
Well at least there wasn't much screaming and no confetti.
Just in case, I mostly closed the doors behind us, but left it open a little so that people wouldn't feel claustrophobic or anything seeing the door closed entirely. Even still, it wasn't open enough for anyone to slip through without opening it further, and there was a good chance most of the people inside weren't strong enough to move the doors. Even if I was wrong, it would be a telltale proof that soone slipped outside.
Though I could just figure that out by sensing their movents.
While maintaining the illumination in the main room, I raised a simple orb of insulated plasma heated to a few hundred degrees, enough to make it glow yellow, over my head to provide light for everyone else.
Glancing left and right, I tried left, heading back the way I had originally co. Since I had skipped all the rooms on my way to the prison so I figured why not.
I opened the first door on the right. Like all the doors here, it rumbled as the heavy stone scraped on stone.
There wasn't much to see here. Just a table and a few chairs, all made of stone. But we checked it anyways.
Everyone spread out and examined everything there was to see, from the floor and walls to the simple furniture. There were a few plates and the remains of...sothing...on them, but otherwise there wasn't a single remarkable thing. It looked mostly like so sort of waiting room or sothing.
But we spent quite a lot of ti there as everyone checked over things repeatedly just in case.
Or more like as an excuse to relieve their boredom a little.
(Huh? Did so of that scrap food disappear?)
There seed to be less of it than when I first entered the room. Was soone just that curious or sothing? I was sure that I had fed them all more than well enough. There was still so soup left over after all.
Once everyone seed satisfied with the examination, we moved on to the next room.
This room had several large tables with stacks of plates on them, so open boxes and bags of foodstuff, and an open pit filled with burn marks. The ceiling was covered in soot and there was a small window at the top of the far wall.
If I had to say, this looked like a kitchen, but it was so crude that actually calling it so felt like blasphemy or sothing.
The won got pretty excited at finding food, but as expected, or perhaps thankfully, I didn't have to stop anyone from eating any of it. For so strange reason, just I couldn't decide which line of thought was more appropriate. It was really difficult for to relate with these people as our life experiences were just so different.
I created a stone tablet and etched a list of findings and called for everyone to return once I felt like they have had enough.
There were so complaints and a few offers to carry the food back to the main room, but I declined. I still had plenty of food in my bag and I'd rather preserve this food until we could figure out which ones originally belonged to the villagers and which ones weren't.
Though, if I had any say, I'd save everything that we could and bring it back to the village. The more that the villagers had to jump-start their lives again, the better off they'll be.
"We've keep the others waiting long enough. Once all the others have had a round, you girls can co with again."
It wasn't much, but we did manage to eke out a good hour exploring just those two rooms, and I hoped that this would be enough to placate them until their turn ca around again.
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