Ration your food wisely, please! part 2

"Everyone, remember the plan and don't slack off, the future of the Silver goddess tavern lies on your hands!"

Ryu said as he carried the biggest cooking pot they had outside. With some stones he fashioned a rustic outdoors kitchen. The rest of the group were carrying a table, two chairs and some kitchenware for Claire to cook outside.

This time the workload was so heavy that everyone helped peeling vegetables and hauling ingredients while Claire skillfully sliced the meat in bite sized chunks.

"Eiri, Kairi it's your turn"

She said while sealing the meat in a frying pan to keep all the juices in. As soon as Claire gave the go they started gathering enough snow to fill the huge cooking pot to melt it. Then, she started filling the pot with the ingredients she had at her disposal.

It was so cold that people in town were still sheltering themselves, at least until Rina started walking the streets of Ironwoods yelling to the top of her lungs.

"Come by the Silver goddess tavern for a hot bowl of soup, only one copper coin!"

As soon as people heard this they slowly started coming out of their houses and they gathered near the tavern. Dylan was busy trying to get people to form a line, it wouldn't have been a difficult task if it wasn't for the magnificent smell that came out from the cooking pot, making people's mouth water.

Eiri and Kairi served the bowls since Claire needed to keep preparing the ingredients for the next batch and Dylan made sure that the ones that looked the weakest would go first in the line, and after them all the women and children.

The first person to be served was an elderly woman that was almost all skin and bones, she put a copper coin inside a small wooden chest that was at the table in front of Ryu and received a bowl of soup that Eiri handed to her with a smile.

After the very first sip she took from the bowl she opened her eyes wide, her pale complexion became lively again and even her hunched back straightened.

"This is the most delicious stew I've ever had!"

She exclaimed and quickly finished her dish and was instructed by Kairi to leave the empty bowl in the table.

"Is it possible to have seconds?"

The elder woman pleaded, to which Ryu replied coldly that she would have to go back to the end of the line if she wanted to have seconds. But she wasn't even disappointed by this, even if she had to wait hours it would be completely worth it.

More and more people gathered nearby and people started complaining about the long wait, some merchants tried to buy their way in the line even offering a silver coin, but Dylan wouldn't allow such behavior and would send them back to the end of the line.

The small wooden box was being filled to the top and despite everyone's best efforts to wash the dishes, the empty bowls were starting to pile up quickly on the table. Also, whenever they ran out of stew, it would take a long while before the stew was ready, making people impatient.

It wasn't long before some people started making trouble, complaining and trying to cut in the line. Dylan was starting to feel overwhelmed when Ryu finally intervened.

"The next person that doesn't follow Dylan's instructions will be banned for life here at the Silver goddess tavern!"

And that was all it took to make people calm down instantly.

"Excuse me, mister cook"

A young woman with two small children that made it to the front of the line, patiently and obediently, said in a voice so low that was almost a whisper. Instead of replying, Ryu raised an eyebrow prompting her to speak quickly, it was the busiest they've ever been after all.

"I'm sorry mister cook, but I don't have any money. I lost my husband at the massacre near the mine and my in-laws kicked me from my home without a single coin to my name. We managed to survive this long by selling whatever I managed to take with me but it's been four days since my children had something to eat"

"That's sad indeed, but how is it my problem?"

"Please, I'll do anything, just feed my sons, I don't want anything for myself"

She was in her mid twenties and judging by her looks she seemed to be a wealthy woman, she had blond hair and light blue eyes, her figure was slender making Ryu realize that it wasn't just a sob story and she was actually starving.

"When you say you would do anything, do you really mean it?"

"Anything, I swear!"

"Eiri, Kairi, serve them two bowls each"

When the woman heard this words, she started crying and thanking everyone profusely. As soon as they finished their two servings, the woman stood behind Ryu expecting him to ask her for something in return, but it wasn't until the cooking pot was empty and Claire started to prepare another batch of stew that Ryu stood up and grabbed as many empty bowls as he could.

"Come with me"

The woman did as instructed and followed Ryu after asking their children to wait for her sitting inside the tavern.

"Now, before anything, just to make things clear I do not need any kind of 'special' favors. All you have to do is wash the dishes, if you do your job properly I'll pay you thirty coppers by the end of the day"

The woman was relieved to learn that she would be performing an honest job, even more so when she saw the woman inside the kitchen washing dishes.

"Sera, this will be your hired help for today, please teach her since it seems she doesn't have any experience"

The day went on like this and some other people made it to the front of the line without having enough money to pay, but they were served anyway, Ryu took note of everyone so they pay their debt after.

It was late afternoon when they ran out of ingredients, the only thing they had was some meat and just one sack of elven wheat fruit, so they closed the kitchen and came back inside.

"I must say Ryu, cooking outside in large quantities really paid off"

Said Rina staring with shining eyes at the incredible amount of coins they got.

"And we helped the poor too!"

Helena exclaimed excitedly as she sat on the table, she had spent most day peeling vegetables. It was a boring and repetitive task, but whenever she thought of the people smiling after being served, she felt as if she regained her stamina back.

"It wasn't bad, but I wonder why didn't we see anyone from Hiraku's group"

Ryu crossed his arms reflecting on the possibilities.

"I don't know but you shouldn't worry, they're a smart bunch and I heard they got some slaves to help them prepare for the freeze. Besides you know Hiraku, he's very reliable"

"It's precisely because I know them that I'm a bit worried, anyway, there's nothing we can do to help"

"Excuse me, mister Ryu"

The woman they hired to wash the dishes said shyly.

"Sera said you did a fine job helping her, good job. Oh! right, right... I forgot to pay you"

Ryu said while taking some coins from his purse, but she looked troubled.

"That's not it, I was wondering, may I know where did you get that sword?"

She said pointing at the bastard sword Ryu had on his side. It's the best one he's seen so far, but the system doesn't recognize it as good quality.

"I picked it up the day of..."

A cold sweat ran through Ryu's forehead, he completely forgot that he was supposed to go pay respects to the family of the deceased. The woman fell to the floor as if she was a puppet who's strings were cut and her two small children came running to her side and started crying.

It took everyone by surprise, but both Ryu and Helena didn't waste time gasping or asking useless questions. They quickly drew closer and Helena attempted to heal her while Ryu was checking her condition.

"She's just malnourished and tired, she's gonna be fine after a night's rest"

Helena sighed in relief.

"What should we do? we can't leave her like this, but we don't have any spare room"

Rina was worried but couldn't find a solution.

"Ryu you..."

"No!"

"But you didn't even let me finish!"

Rina complained.

"I don't care what is it, the answer will still be the same"

"What got you in such a bad mood darling? we had a great day and everything went according to plan"

"It's just... I think I screwed up"

"What do you mean Ryu?"

"I think this is the widow of that man"

He said pointing at the sword, everyone at the tavern knew the story on how he got that sword. It wasn't an epic tale or anything, but that man's cowardice almost got Anne killed.