Ball of Nothing

While Zero, Baal and Enma were having fun in a different carriage, Ruth was stuck with an annoying busty lady, an old coot and a serene looking weirdo who wouldn't stop smiling. Lucifer had matters to attend to so he returned to his office immediately after the trial. According to the busty lady called Coux, they were shorthanded and decided to enlist Ruth's help for the shop. In other words, he was now a free labourer not that it was any different from being a slave. What annoyed him was how the person ordering him around wasn't even the one who bought him. There went his hopes for exploring the castle.

"Are you even listening?" the half-succubus chided. Sekkin would be helping at the shop too so that someone could keep an eye on the vampire. Coux didn't have time to babysit him with a certain Demon Lord making her so busy. She had to prepare the necessary documents and arrangement for King Yama after the announcement. They didn't have a huge window period of time between the trial and the Pardon Fest as Zero dubbed it. She wanted at least a week for preparations but Lucifer disagreed. It seemed like there were some urgent matters that required Zero's attention as soon as possible.

Ruth huffed at the secretary. "I got it. Smile, greet the customers, take their orders then serve them. I won't pull anything funny."

"You'd better not. I don't want to have to chase you down if you do. I've got my hands full as it is."

After a few minutes of silence, Ruth was unable to endure the burning stare from his side any longer.

"Can I help you?" he glared at the old coot who was known to be the greatest doctor.

"Could you tell me more about your constitution? My student has mentioned something rather interesting. Is blood the only thing you can consume? What happened if you try to consume other things like plants and animals? I heard that you cannot stomach cooked food?"

Ruth sighed heavily. Leave it to his current master to influence others in a terrible manner. Reluctantly, he answered all of Hua Tuo's questions while wishing that time would pass faster.

***

Ruth had to admit, the annoying secretary knew sorcery with food. If she didn't look so smug, the food might have tasted better.

"What's this?" he asked in between bites.

"The innards of a pygmy boar. They were seasoned and grilled."

Ruth couldn't help but stuff his face. Grilled? What was that? It smelled of fire but it tasted like smoke. Still, there was the smell of water but tasted absolutely divine. If all cooked food was like this, he would gladly eat anything. For a very long time, Ruth always thought that cooked food was something he couldn't stomach. Many of his clan members have fallen ill because of cooked food. Vampires never fell ill and having so many collapsing at once was a terrible omen. It was also because of cooked food that his clan got wiped out.

The half-succubus grinned at the wolfish way Ruth ate. He had food smeared across his chin and had forgotten his manners in favour of addressing his hunger. Expecting that the vampire will ask for seconds, she busied her hands with the next dish. If she hadn't seen Beelzebub or Zero eat before, she would've thought Ruth had a bottomless stomach. Somehow, she didn't blame the vampire. He needed some food in him. Looking like a pile of skin and bones wasn't considered healthy and Coux was going to change that.

The next dish smelled divine and Ruth wondered how much he was missing out on. Whatever Coux did to the food, she transformed it completely. Ruth didn't think that eating anything that was processed would be possible. After all, it was common knowledge that most things found in Hell were poisonous or toxic. It wasn't just vampires. Anyone living outside of the six domains fell sick eating anything. It was one of the reasons why many weaker species who couldn't eat hunted food lived in those domains. Hunter type species like vampires, wolves and foxes lived in their individual colonies outside of the domains. Even so, life was tough for them. The weak died and the strong stepped upon their bodies to go further.

"Don't forget that you'll have to work after you finish eating. Those who do not work here do not get to eat. I have to leave soon to check on Lord Baal. Sekkin will teach you the ropes of what to do when there is a difficult customer. Although our girls are more than capable of defending themselves, it is the duty of men to protect them. Also, do not hurt our customers. They pay for the food here and becoming further in debt isn't something we want."

Ruth only listened half-heartedly, more focussed on the food in front of him. This time, it was lamb leg broiled in herbs. The herbs tasted funny on his tongue and tingled for a while before disappearing. Although it wasn't evident, Ruth could feel something changing in his body after three bites of the lamb leg.

"What did you add?" he asked cautiously.

Coux blinked. "I don't know. It is something Zero and Hua Tuo prescribed. You should be feeling the effects soon enough. Zero noticed that you were feeling weak and lethargic. The herbs were meant to rejuvenate you and improve circulation of blood although I don't know how that would work for a vampire."

Ruth felt it. The rushing of blood and the burst of energy. His mind felt sharp, his body much lighter. Every breath that Ruth took, he was aware of how polluted the air was. It was tainting his blood and the vampire held his breath. It wasn't necessary for vampires to breathe so often. He wasn't in dire need of regeneration so not breathing in mana would be fine.

"Why does Zero do such things? I could be out to harm him. Even if he is strong, isn't he being too careless and overly trusting?"

Coux paused. The dishes she was clearing were gently placed on the table. "That's just how he is. It is also the reason why we've chosen to assist him in any way we can. You wouldn't know of it but Zero has saved our village. He might have forgiven the traitor back then and put himself in danger by doing so but not everyone is happy about what he did. People who are ignorant will fear the unknown and powerful."

"He forgave a traitor?"

"Douglas was one of us. He sold information to the enemy who came attacking us with an army. Zero brought him back to life even after he'd killed our warrior chief and banished him by using a divine spell called Judgement. He removed the Selkie heritage that Douglas hated so much and turned him into a human. Zero believes that everyone deserves a second chance and as a doctor, he can't help but save anyone who looked like they needed saving."

Ruth didn't say anything. It was difficult to understand how someone so selflessly kind could exist. The world was a cruel place. It was impossible to not have learnt how painful it could be. Children would grow up someday when they came to understand how cruel the world was. Surely Zero wasn't a sheltered child. He obviously knew the consequences of his actions and that made Ruth question it. What was Zero's motive? What did he gain out of meddling into other people's business and trying to help them even if it hurt him in the process of doing so?

"How did Zero react to the villagers who didn't approve of him giving this traitor a second chance?"

Coux shrugged. "Zero doesn't know it yet. It's the whole reason why we came to Hell. He lost consciousness from overusing magic. Baal brought him here to recover quicker and we tagged on for the ride. It's funny, isn't it? Lord Baal only goes this far for Zero. Whatever history they had, I'm not privy to the details. However, I heard that Zero once saved Baal in a sense. They met in the void or something like that. It's also why Zero can afford to be whimsical in Hell."

Ruth didn't ask anymore. Coux busied away and introduced a spider demon to the vampire. "This is Sekkin. If you have any questions about the job you can look for him. Usually, he is busy patrolling or running errands for the shop but for this period of time until Redemption Day he will be helping out here."

With that, the half-succubus took off. Sekkin was a very patient person who taught Ruth everything he needed to know from putting on the waiter uniform to how to brew tea. Ruth picked up everything Sekkin taught quickly. Despite his lack of finesse, the vampire was doing well in maintaining the professional and elegant image. Being a vampire meant that Ruth was gifted with good looks. He used that to work in his advantage and that made up for his lack of ability with words. Amaraline's advice to use simple words worked wonderfully and Ruth couldn't be more pleased. It was easier to get the job done without much communication. Rinse and repeat, Ruth eased into a routine when it came to taking orders and clearing the table.

Qin Yun watched as Ruth took to the new job like a fish in the water. With the extra hands helping to serve and clean, the fox spirit could now conserve her energy and focus on cooking. Amaraline pitched in with the preparation work and time flew by quickly. The lunch crowd toned down nearing to tea time and that was when Ruth made his first error on the job.

The bell chimed and the vampire turned around to greet the new guests on reflex but dropped the tray of dishes he was clearing when he saw Zero. He was too startled to notice the mess he made until Sekkin apologised to a customer whose dress was stained by it.

Zero walked up to the lady and cleaned the stain off with a wave of his hand. Ruth observed the fusion magic Zero used and thought that it looked very pretty. Who knew that magic could be so gentle? Back in his tribe, magic was always used for offence. It wasn't always flashy but it sure was powerful.

"Zero! King Yama," Amaraline bowed. "Would you like to have a private room upstairs?"

Zero beamed. "Yes, please. Can we have two parfaits? And a pot of tea that you recommend."

He then turned to Ruth and gave him a thumbs up. "You look good in that!"

Ruth didn't know how to react to that genuine compliment. If anything, it made him feel more awkward. It was very hard to dislike Zero with how he keeps behaving. Ruth didn't feel as if Zero was demeaning him or treating him like a slave. In fact, Zero's casual behaviour seemed to indicate that they were closer as equals.

"Don't lose focus," Sekkin patted the vampire on the shoulder before taking another customer's order.

At once, the part-timer straightened up and went back to work. He shook his head. How could he let himself get so distracted?

Upstairs, Enma sank into a chair gratefully. When Zero said shopping, he didn't think it meant that Zero would try to buy out an entire store. The young doctor always thought about others whenever he saw an item that caught his eye and would want to buy it out of impulse. Enma had to stop him from doing so because they wouldn't have enough hands to carter everything back. Zero mentioned that he had the void dimension to store them in but Enma stopped him. Zero had to learn what moderation meant.

There was one thing bothering Enma throughout the entire shopping trip. They got the clothes that Zero wanted for Ruth and Zero expressed his interest for many other things as gifts for others. However, the King of the Purgatory noticed that Zero didn't have anything he desired for himself. He was slightly disappointed because he was secretly planning to buy for Zero whatever he was interested in as a return gift to the marvellous pen Zero gifted him.

Ruth knocked on the door twice. He brought in a teapot with two cups on a tray before serving them. "This is Rose Hip Tea. Would you like any sugar, honey or milk with it?"

"Sugar for me," Enma said and Zero shook his head.

Ruth bowed and left the room to get the sugar and parfaits. Once he closed the door and left them to their privacy, Zero looked at Enma seriously.

"Why did you lie about Kerberos' sins?"

The King of the Purgatory who was about to take a sip of the tea paused and sighed. Of course, Zero would find out. It was still too soon for Zero to understand how politics worked. However, he knew that if he didn't answer Zero's questions, the apprentice will continue to think and lose sleep over it.

How does one answer a question without actually answering it?