The Mans Injury [Part 1]

Watch your step.

The three siblings entered the dimly lit building and were guided by the boy to his older brothers place.

They went up the stairs, continued going up while paying attention to the creaking floor.

Shouldnt he be on the first floor if he is injured

George curiously whispered.

Its because we cant see anything at night on the first floor. The top floor is a little bright because some parts of the roof have collapsed.

Isnt that also a little problematic? While thinking so, the three siblings continued to follow the boy.

The stairs are made of bricks, the same as the walls, but the floor is made of wood. They could see that it had decayed and had some holes here and there. The siblings moved forward by only stepping on the place the boy just walked through.

Big Brother, Im coming in.

In front of a door of the room on one side of the third floor, the boy called out to the man inside.

Theres no answer. The boy entered the room without minding it, and the three siblings followed right after. The inside was a little brighter than the floors below. The roof was open in the middle, and the twilight sky was peeking through it.

A man was lying, not making any movement as if hes asleep.

Emma ran towards the mans side and started checking his wounds.

H-Hey, if you move recklessly, the floor will collapse.

While cautioning Emma, the boy also headed over with George and William.

The man still didnt move when Emma touched him.

He was still talking fine and could walk on his own until yesterday

Perhaps not tied well, a not very clean cloth wrapped around the mans leg to stop the bleeding started to get soaked red.

Emma peeled off the wrapped cloth briefly and examined the wound condition.

The three siblings shared glances with each other. This is

H-Hey, how was it! Is he going to be okay?

Emma reached out to the mans leg to check it further, then said to the boy.

Its not a severe wound. Theres no broken bone either.

Although its bleeding, if the wound is washed and pus doesnt form on it, he should get better soon. Its not that big of an injury for the boy to cry desperately.

T-Then, why is my brother like this

The confused boy looked at his limp brother and sought an answer from Emma.

Even when the four of them surrounded the man and confirmed his hurting wounds, he didnt move at all.

Emma isnt an expert and couldnt say it for sure, but about that story before the man got hurt

Maybe he is starving?

The mans leg was thin, and the skin was dry and rough. Hes definitely malnourished.

You dont have any energy if youre hungry. Emma knows that too.

In his current condition, he might be dehydrated from the bleeding.

When was the last time this man ate?

The boy started to think after William questioned him.

Uhh The food distribution was yesterday but Big Brother has always been the last one to eat, so because theres not enough food for everyone yesterday, he hasnt eaten. the food distribution a week before didnt give the usual goodie bag with biscuits, so

It seemed he hadnt eaten any proper food for a week at worst.

Rather than his wounds, thats the real problem!

William reflexively shouted.

Ah, when Brother finds nuts or something edible, he will give it to other children. Even with the distributed food, he wont eat it all himself but will share it with others.

That amount of intake was definitely not enough for an adult man.

He has done well surviving until now.

The siblings had thought of the slums as a more brutal place. To think theres a man who liked to take care of others there There are some things you cant come to understand just from their appearance, the siblings realized.

Anyway, the most important thing for now

They were thinking about it together while discussing the amount they had in their wallet.

Theyre worried about his dehydration, so first

Water salt, and sugar?

Salt and sugar are expensive!

The boy interjected.

Its okay, we dont need that much Maybe buy one copper coin amount(?) of each, and whats left will be used for a food thats easy to digest something like porridge I mean, like oatmeal? If we boil it together with milk, I guess it will be softer?

The siblings didnt know the price in the royal capital, but in Palace, 100 grams of salt was 1 copper coin, and 50 grams of sugar was 1 copper coin.

Lets just go first! George, who snatched the wallet from William, ran off with the boy to buy the things.