Life Simulation: My Talent Is Wool-Chapter 8: Catharina

The little demi-human girl didn’t know how long she had been unconscious. When her consciousness returned and she slowly woke up, she found herself lying on something soft and cozy.

"Urghh..."

When she tried to turn over, an excruciating pain made her groan.

The little girl looked at her body with difficulty, wrapped in clean, velvety white cloth.

From the white fabric, she could also feel a faint herbal scent.

Recalling everything that happened before she fainted.

’That boy saved me?’

It was hard to believe.

Ever since she was separated from her mother, all she had seen was malice.

The eyes of those men in particular made her tremble with fear.

It was as if she were something worse than trash.

They constantly insulted her, saying how bizarre and scary her teeth and eyes were.

*Creak*

While the little girl was pondering, the door opened.

The boy she had seen in the forest entered carrying a clay plate.

"You’re awake." The boy said with a smile that left her even more confused.

She watched the boy walk cheerfully forward and then carefully sit down in front of her with the steaming plate in his hand.

*Grrr...*

Hearing the sound of her own stomach, the little girl blushed with shame and fear.

Fear because whenever she felt hungry, those evil men would beat her, and they rarely gave her anything to eat. Only enough to survive.

She closed her eyes.

But the beating she expected never came.

She opened her eyes.

What she saw confused her.

The boy, besides showing a gentle smile, was also showing something she sometimes saw in her mother.

With trembling, cupped hands, she kept staring at him without blinking.

She was surprised — surprised that he didn’t seem disgusted by her, surprised that he didn’t hit her, and most of all, surprised to hear him say: "You must be hungry, I made soup for you."

She could understand every word he said, but it felt like he was saying something she couldn’t comprehend.

"F-For me?" She seemed incredulous.

The boy smiled gently: "Yes, for you."

Even though she was still trembling, she tried to trust him a little.

’He seems... He really doesn’t seem like a bad person...’

With so much hunger that she could no longer bear it, she tried to sit up, groaning a little in pain.

"Slowly, be careful, your wounds haven’t healed yet." The boy said: "By the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Luan, and you?"

"My name?" She seemed lost. Her mind seemed to drift into her sea of memories and then, a gentle and loving voice echoed in her mind: ’Catharina, stop playing and come eat~’

She unintentionally shed tears as she murmured: "C-Catharina."

"Does it hurt a lot? Let me help you." Luan placed the plate on the floor and went to her, helping her sit up.

"T-Thank you..." She murmured.

"You’re welcome." Luan smiled, and picked up the bowl of soup.

Seeing that she had no strength, instead of handing her the bowl, he took the wooden spoon with a little soup, blew on it, and said: "Open your mouth."

She looked at him, blinking her eyes, but still obeyed.

She was so hungry that she almost bit the wooden spoon.

Embarrassed, she lowered her head, but contrary to what she expected, she heard a little chuckle, making her look toward Luan and see that he wasn’t upset at seeing the teeth marks on the spoon; he even laughed.

For the next few minutes, she was fed by Luan.

She swears she had never eaten such delicious soup in her entire life.

Smiling, Luan said to her while touching her forehead: "Your fever hasn’t gone down yet, take this medicine and lie down for a bit."

He handed her a clay cup with a thick green liquid.

She could imagine how bitter that must be, but she didn’t refuse his kindness and drank it all.

’Bitter.’ She thought.

When she made a face, he laughed: "Sorry, it must be really bitter, right? Here, have a candy."

He brought something small and brown to her mouth.

When she tasted it, her eyes widened; blinking, she said: "It’s very sweet..."

"Did you like it?" He asked.

She nodded vigorously, but then groaned in pain right after from moving too much.

"Lie down and rest a bit." He helped her lie down, gently covering her.

His care left her confused.

She couldn’t understand why he was so kind to her.

So she thought again: ’He is a good person.’

After feeling so much malice from this world, perhaps the heavens took pity on her and sent him to her...

Her eyes grew heavier.

Sleepiness hit her as soon as she finished sucking on the sweet candy in her mouth.

...

Seeing the little girl fall asleep, Luan went to eat as well.

Although he had separated from the group earlier, he managed to collect some mushrooms, and he got lucky and caught a gray rabbit.

Even though the rabbit was thinner than normal, the soup made with it turned out very good.

While eating, he looked in Catharina’s direction.

’What should I do now?’

No one but him knew she was here.

The reality was that humans had prejudice against demi-humans.

The reason was simple. Demi-humans had a natural advantage over humans. Not only did they have animal features, but they could also awaken a talent like humans.

Because of their advantage in levels, many resentful demi-humans killed many humans as retaliation and revenge.

Many humans even liked to keep demi-humans as slaves and treated them worse than a dog.

There were no demi-humans in the village, and he couldn’t say with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t face prejudice, or worse still, that someone wouldn’t want to kill Catharina if they found out about her existence.

For now, he didn’t need to think too much about it; later he could very well go to the villagers and test in conversations whether they had prejudice against demi-humans or not.

That said, he didn’t even know if she had a place to return to. If she did, that would be better. But... When thinking about the state in which he found her, it was hard to have hope that there was someone waiting for her. Besides, at no point did Catharina say anything like wanting to go back home...