Ball of Nothing 163 Binding a Roth

Coux wasn't too surprised when Zero came into the kitchen looking dejected. Still, the secretary busied away in the kitchen, preparing the vampire's meal.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Zero groaned and buried his head in his hands. "He wouldn't let me treat his wounds..."

The half-succubus chuckled silently. Truth be told, she was expecting this to happen. It didn't take too long to put the finishing touches to Ruth's meal. After checking through her mental checklist, the secretary placed everything on a tray.

"The meal you requested for is ready. Would you like to bring it up to his room or should I carry it there?"

Zero paused. Ruth might have rejected him earlier but after some time to cool down, surely it would be alright to try again. "I'll do it," he told the smiling secretary.

***

Ruth wasn't expecting company so soon. If anything, the soft footsteps startled him. Underneath the pillow the candleholder went once more and the vampire waited in bed, pretending to sleep.

The moment the door opened, Ruth smelled something compellingly delicious. If he wasn't a proud warrior of the Roth tribe, he knew he would've succumbed to the irresistible meal. Whoever Coux was, she knew how to cook for sure. Yet, the one thing the vampire wondered was why Zero chose to deliver it personally. Surely in a castle as huge as this, Zero could send any servant up. Unless, he didn't trust him yet.

Ruth frowned at that thought. That simply wouldn't do. Hence, he unwillingly opened his eyes when Zero placed the tray on a bedside table.

"Here, you must be hungry," Zero smiled and didn't force the vampire to eat. Ruth inspected the food prepared and noticed how the dinnerware were made of silver. His scowl deepened.

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"What's wrong?" Zero asked when the starving vampire made no attempt to dig in immediately. He could hear the vampire's stomach growling loudly.

"Silver... it's silverware right?"

"Silverware? What's that?"

Ruth blinked. Was the young doctor genuinely dumb or just simply ignorant about the supernatural? It didn't matter much now. With a huge sigh, Ruth picked up the silver fork and stabbed what looked like raw liver before eating it, ignoring the sizzling of flesh upon contact with the cursed tableware.

The air smelled of something charred and Zero wrinkled his nose in alarm. With speed rivalling the vampire's, Zero pried the silver fork from Ruth's hands. He looked at the scorched skin in horror and confusion.

"Don't worry about it, I won't die from something like that."

Zero scrutinised the already healing wound with a deep frown. "Doesn't it hurt? Why didn't you tell me?"

Ruth snatched his hand back and scoffed. "Would you have cared?"

"Of course!" Zero blinked.

"Right," Ruth nodded. "Of course you would. I'm a very expensive purchase and any damage will only lower the resale value."

At that statement, Zero felt furious. "Why do you treat yourself with so little importance? That's not it! I care for you... I didn't know that silver would hurt you... for that, I'm sorry. I know that it might not be easy to trust anyone right now and I'm not asking you to do so. However, I hope that you could tell me things like this. I want to help you. You called out to me at the auction house, I answered. It's my responsibility to care for you until you're better and older to live on your own."

Ruth blinked. "Older? You don't think I'm old enough?"

Zero's eyebrow twitched. "A child who looks barely older than fourteen wouldn't be considered old enough to take care of themselves. Even now, Truen is still my guardian."

Ruth allowed a puff of air to escape, then two. Soon, the room was filled with snickers and unrestrained laughter. The brunet didn't take too kindly about the mockery but endured it because it wasn't professional to hurt a patient.

After wiping away a stray tear, Ruth coughed awkwardly. Zero didn't look too pleased but he couldn't be blamed.

"I'm 232 years old. Vampires become adults officially at the age of 80 here. Our physical appearance is dependent on the number of blood contracts we make and the number of hearts we eat. As our tribe are more hunters than contractors, many of us still look like children even after becoming adults. You really should stop judging people by their appearances, especially in the abyss. Things are not always as they seem."

Zero gaped. "Is your tribe the dwarf of the vampire race? Is that how it is?"

Ruth felt his eyebrow twitch. "That's not how it works... we just don't appreciate socialising with our prey and toying with our food as much as our cousins."

Zero nodded. The Roth vampires must be some kind of nomad species. "I believe you have a lot of hunting stories to share then... are you a good fighter? Lucifer said so."

Ruth looked amused. "Do you want to test my skills? I'm not going to win against someone stronger than a Demon Lord..."

Zero pouted. "Don't say that, magic and combat are not the same things. According to Truen, a mage's weakness is close-quarter attacks. I haven't learnt anything apart from medicine and healing magic. You shouldn't judge a person's strength by their mana capacity."

Ruth blinked when Zero stuck his tongue out cheekily. Annoyed at the figurative poke to his previous statement, Ruth took on the challenge.

"Perhaps I ought to demonstrate my capabilities."

The bloodthirsty grin made Zero take two steps back. "Let's discuss this further at a later date, shall we? I'll go get another set of cutlery that isn't silver. Don't touch anything silver, alright?"

Ruth blinked as Zero made his hasty escape and laughed when he heard the pitter-patter of footsteps diminish. Perhaps he would stay for a little longer to observe the overpowering but naive doctor. What kind of adult would the teenage become?

Down in the kitchen, Coux was waiting. How long would it take before Zero finds out the truth and freak out? Knowing how stubborn vampires could be, the half-succubus decided to play a little prank. Nobody could resist such a pure-hearted person. She knew that from first-hand experience. It would only be a matter of time before they could welcome a new ally in the Zero Army.

"Coux!" the doctor-in-training screamed. "Do we have any cutlery that isn't made of silver? Better still, please ban all silver objects from Ruth. I don't want him hurting himself on accident."

Coux had to hide a grin. On accident? Did Zero believe that the vampire would touch a silver object on accident? She would bet her entire fortune that Ruth did it deliberately. There was simply no way a vampire wouldn't know if something was made of silver. Their skin would tingle when it was near them, warning them that it was dangerous. Even newborn vampires shied away from silver unless they were half-blooded.

Speaking of half-blooded... there was a certain unborn child back in the village. If Zero was able to convince Ruth to join the Zero Army, Coux would use everything she had to have him join as a member of Half Moon village. Seff would do better with a guardian around. There was no way Karris would know how to raise a half-vampire child on her own and the other supernatural beings in the village could only fumble in the dark when it came to raising kids.

"Here you go, there are some wooden cutlery lying around. I believe this belonged to Hua Tuo," she smiled and passed them to Zero who exchanged it with the silver ones.

"Thanks Coux! I'll do the dishes later, you should rest early."

The trader smiled. "Thank you, Zero. I think I shall retire early tonight. Don't stay up too late, tomorrow we have to prepare for the trial. Pack anything that you need, we will be staying for about a week at Lord Lucifer's castle."

Zero nodded and dashed off to deliver the wooden utensils. He didn't have much to pack but was slightly worried. Who would take care of the wounded vampire if Baal and him left for the trial? Deciding that it was no use to ponder of it now, Zero focused on getting the vampire fed. He could always ask Baal about it later.

When Zero returned with the wooden utensils, Ruth starred at it. Was he meant to eat his meals with two fragile sticks cut from a branch?

"Oh, these are called chopsticks. Hua Tuo uses them when he's around. It might be tricky to use at the start but it's really handy once you get used to it," Zero beamed.

"Are you implying that I can't handle this?"

Zero shrugged. "Some people take months to get the hang of it. Here, let me demonstrate how to use them..."

Zero grabbed the chopsticks from Ruth's hands and instructed the right method of holding them between his index and middle fingers.

"You use your thumb to move the top chopstick and grab food like this. There, now it's your turn to try."

Ruth raised a brow. That didn't look too hard at all. In fact, he wondered how people took months to master this simple action. Grabbing the two flimsy wooden sticks from Zero, Ruth rolled his eyes and started to reach for his food.

Zero winced when the neatly grasped tree barks slid and fell, tangling the sticks in opposite directions. Ruth caught his food with the other unoccupied hand with his quick reflex but the displeasure was evident on his face. The vampire didn't take failure too well. Zero wisely chose to remain silent instead of encouraging Ruth in fear that his patient might take it the wrong way.

The vampire made a second silent attempt, this time opting for the raw meat. However, his progress was more miserable than his first and the vampire scowled openly. What is the deal with these two sticks? Why was it so hard to grip food with it? At this rate, he might be hungrier than he first started out. It would be better to start eating with his hands. Heck, even silverware was a better option. He would rather tolerate the pain than put up with the constant humiliation.

Unable to watch any longer, Zero averted his eyes. This time, Ruth managed to hold the bloody piece of meat up for long enough and swooped down to catch it in his mouth. It wasn't the correct way of using chopsticks but that was a huge improvement compared to the first two attempts. Zero cheered for Ruth silently while casually inspecting the vampire's status again.

"Mii, can the inheritor of sin eat the bloodthirst of vampires? It's sad to not be able to eat cooked food..."

Mii entered Zero's mindscape and replied that it wasn't possible. "You can eat his sins but I doubt that will do anything to help. His origin was a vampire and doing so forcefully might revert him into a bat or something."

"The ancestors of vampires are bats? I didn't know that!"

The strawcherry airy stifled a laugh. "No, silly. However, they transform into bats when low on mana. It's a way to conserve energy. I'm sure they can transform into other animals like ravens and cats or spiders but those are rarer."

Zero pondered over it and tried to imagine Ruth as a cat or spider. Still, the image of a rabbit suited him more. Ruth was adorable with his fluffy but tangled white hair and scarlet eyes. Zero thought it would be a shame for Ruth to transform into anything else and Mii chose not to comment. She could only imagine the vampire's reaction should he discover Zero's thoughts, thank goodness that wasn't possible.

"Is there no way to remove bloodthirst? I mean, Ruth eats tree barks..."

"Well... there is a way but it's going to require you to complete a difficult quest."

Zero blinked as the quest window popped up in his vision. He glanced over briefly to see if Ruth has reacted to it. Strangely, the vampire couldn't see it so Zero discreetly read the contents.

Special Quest has been triggered.

Quest: Binding a Roth

Mission: Get Ruth to vow servitude to you.

Reward: Transfer of unique title "Strong Stomach" to Ruth.

"Strong Stomach" allows the user to eat anything without the body rejecting it. Can absorb anything eaten as energy or mana.

Deadline: 2 weeks

Bonus reward upon completion within deadline: 1 time use Skill Sharing ability

Do you accept this quest?

Zero didn't need to read twice before accepting it. Solo wasn't making it easy for him at all. He disliked the idea of making Ruth accept that he was a servant working under Zero. In fact, the brunet preferred it if he could have more friend-guardian relationships like with Baal and Truen. Coux was doing a good job at playing the secretary role so Zero played along with her. Amaraline, Wiser, Sekkin and Qin Yun acted the same around him and Zero enjoyed the casualness they shared. To have a servant was a little mind wrecking and Zero detested it. Nobody should be forced to behave in an inferior or degrading way against their wills. If they do, it has to be out of respect like how Clowis viewed Lowis.

Speaking about the warrior and his uncle, Zero couldn't wait for tomorrow. The trial will finally happen but more importantly, Zero couldn't wait to see En again. The young doctor grinned to himself as he imagined how the meeting between two of his good friends would be like. Surely, Baal and En would get along... wouldn't they?

Chapter end