Ball of Nothing

Ruth left quickly to get Zero's orders. There weren't many customers now that it was close to late afternoon. Whatever Zero and King Yama were chatting about sounded important. He didn't want to seem like he was meddling or spying on them so he brought heir orders up quickly.

Before Ruth could open the door, he heard his name being mentioned. Curiosity made him stay outside the door to listen in on their conversation.

"What are you going to do about Ruth? He isn't some kind of stray animal you can rescue and raise."

Zero made a weird noise. "I know... I didn't think that he would be so resistant against my help. Have you seen him? He's only a child yet he's been through so much! I can heal his body but I can't heal his heart and mind... it's frustrating."

Although Ruth couldn't see it, he could imagine Enma rolling his eyes.

"Zero, you can't possibly save everyone. The world is too big."

Sulkily, Zero shot back a reply. "I'm going to be a doctor, I have to try! Besides, the world is wrong. Solo didn't make it right the first time. I'm going to fix the mistake my past self made now. It's not just an adventure for me. I need to know what Solo is expecting out of me. I have to go around finding Divine Entities and gathering the memories I lost. It's going to take a while..."

"A while is an understatement, Zero. I might become an old man before you finish your task."

Zero's laughter rang out in the room. "Don't be silly, En... you can't age. None of the Gods can too. Apart from Hua Tuo because he is already an old man. And maybe Merlin too but please don't tell my teachers I said this!"

"I can't promise that," Enma sang out and Ruth found his lips tugging upwards when Zero whined and begged King Yama.

He took this opportunity to knock on the door and served the extra desserts Zero ordered. The ghost of his smile lingered and Zero looked at him oddly.

"Is there anything else I could help you with?" he asked politely and Zero shook his head quickly with a blush rising to his cheeks. Enma raised a brow but said nothing until Ruth left.

"Were you just checking him out?" Enma teased and Zero looked lost.

"No, maybe a little. He looks better now. I thought I saw a faint trace of amusement and a change of attitude towards me but it might be my imagination. He's still as mean as before... How do I get him to like me?"

Enma wished he had recorded what Zero just mentioned. He could've sold it for a handsome profit. There would be many in Zero's newly founded army who would die for some scandalous material. After all, that was a perfect fuel for fan fictions and propaganda. The King of the Purgatory vaguely wondered how long the secret army could remain a secret. With Zero's nose for troublesome things, it shouldn't take him very long to figure out that something was going on behind his back.

"Why do you want him to like you so much? He's just a patient, right? You've had Lord Lucifer as your patient but you're not at all keen about helping him out at his Academy. What's so different about Ruth? Once he's healed, you should let him go. Unless you want him to become your slave for real."

Zero's eyes widened in horror. "How could you say such a thing?! Why would I want anyone to become a slave? That's mean! Although I do wish that he could treat me like a friend more than an enemy. Have you heard about his story?"

Enma wasn't very interested in the sob stories of other people's backgrounds. There were simply too many and he was a busy person.

"I can't say I'm too interested, Zero. There are many people with similar unfortunate circumstances. That's just how the world works. It's calculated by their sins accumulated. That's how fate works."

Zero looked at Enma as if his friend had suddenly grown five legs on his head. "Do you not care about anyone?"

Enma blinked. "No, not really. The only person I've ever cared for is you. I'm not concerned about anybody else."

Zero didn't know what to say about that. "Why?"

The King of the Purgatory shrugged. "I've been around for a long time, Zero. I've seen many things. You've only recently woken up and have lost all your memories. Whatever memory fragments you regained doesn't complete the picture for you. A huge chunk of your past is missing and you're looking at the world with a fresh pair of eyes. What you see and experience will not be the same as me. I do not bother myself with the affairs of others. My job is to judge and pass judgement for souls in the after life. The only ones who will stay with me are Gods and I can't say that many of them have agreeable personalities. You're different. I like you and that's why I care about you. Everybody else doesn't matter to me."

Speaking of memory... "Did you hear that I recovered some new memories? I have four new sets."

Enma grinned. "I was waiting for you to tell me about it. Also, how's the new vessel? I heard that Mother had a hard time perfecting it."

Zero's eyes sparkled as he shared with Enma about how the four Divine Fragments were fighting in his mindscape.

"I like Duu the best. Maybe it's because he reminded me of Baal."

Enma nodded. "Baal was created by Duu, I don't think he would be motivated enough to alter Baal's personality."

"I received some quests from the system. It's not surprising as I intended to find every Divine Entity on my own once I begin my adventure. I guess I shall take a few years to travel Earth before I move to the other planets and dimension. There are a few mindscape friends I would love to visit though... Baal is one of them. I didn't think I would have the opportunity to be meeting him this soon. I'll definitely miss it here once I return."

"You can always visit. I'm sure teleportation would allow you to cross dimensions easily."

Zero smiled. That was true. Also, there was this wonderful thing called party call that Enma didn't appreciate. He wasn't going to tell King Yama about it but Zero would add everyone that he liked in his system's party. In that way, they could communicate even without the intergalactic communicator. The device had flaws after all. It didn't work in certain places and mana was needed to activate it. Zero sent a mail to Steve but had yet to receive a reply. Hopefully Wiser would be able to come up with something to address Zero's concern.

"It's almost time for me to leave," Enma announced and Zero nodded. "I'll call and text you more often. Will you be staying until Schaf's punishment is over?"

Enma nodded. "I'll need to leave for a little to bring over an administration team before Redemption Day. I leave tonight but will be back before you know it."

Zero saw the King of Trials out and watched as Enma boarded his carriage. Qin Yun and Amaraline were cleaning up for the day so Zero offered to help. Sekkin and Ruth were not around but Zero wasn't too worried., He had faith in Ruth after all.

The girls decided to leave early to assist Coux in dinner preparations back in the castle. Sekkin had some errands to run after returning with Ruth who helped to take out the trash. The spider demon left Ruth in Zero's care and promptly ran off, leaving them to board the awaiting carriage. Zero looked at the purchases he made in his inventory list. He didn't know how to break it to Ruth but the vampire couldn't possibly be wearing tatters and work clothing. Truth be told, the young doctor was nervous. What if Ruth didn't like the design of the clothes he had chosen? Zero considered the mobility of the clothes and their practicality over their aesthetics. Ruth was a warrior vampire so the apprentice did his best to select comfortable clothes that didn't restrict movement.

Instead of being the first to break the silence, Zero was pleasantly surprised by Ruth's question.

"Why did you buy me? Coux said that you were a doctor-in-training. What's your motive? I've been a slave under your care for a while now but other than making me work as a waiter in the shop, you've not done anything else. What is it that you want from me? My skills as a bodyguard? An extra pair of hands and legs? A subject for experimenting your new medical concoctions?"

Zero wasn't quite expecting the train of thoughts to go into something so horrifying. Still, that only served to solidify his suspicions about the nightmarish treatment Ruth had suffered as a slave.

"I want to find a cure for you and for all vampires if possible. Only drinking blood for sustenance isn't a good thing. You're lacking all the necessary nutrients for a healthy body. I know that vampires have natural regenerative abilities but as a doctor, health is more than just the ability to recover from injuries. My teacher and I are still studying why your body has rejected cooked food before. I'm sure you've eaten cooked food that Coux made. There were no adverse effects after eating them. Something else is clearly the cause for the illness you've experienced previously. I heard the story about your clan and I apologise that even as a doctor, I cannot bring the every dead back to life."

Ruth didn't hold back any longer. "I heard that you managed to bring the dead back to life. You've also banished a traitor instead of leaving him to die. Why? Not every villager back there are happy about what you did. You've endangered their village by letting the traitor go scot-free."

Zero blinked. "What are you talking about? Not every villager is happy about what I did? Where did you hear this from?"

"You didn't know? The reason why you were in Hell was because Baal pulled you here to recuperate. You fell unconscious from mana drain."

"No, I know about that. Baal and Mii scolded me for it. What do you mean not every villager is happy about what I did? What's going on? Was it Coux who told you this?"

Ruth didn't know what to say. "You really have not heard anything?"

Zero shook his head.

"Amaraline had an argument with her brother. She followed you to the abyss because she didn't wanted to side with your actions. Half of the village wanted to ban you from interfering with them because you let their enemies go. The other half considers you as one of their own. I heard that you brought Amaraline's eyesight back."

Zero was speechless. He didn't know that there was such a huge storm brewing in Half Moon village. Hua Tuo, Baal and Coux never said anything. Nobody behaved any differently and Zero didn't suspect anything. he thought that things would be alright after he returned but now, he wasn't too sure.

"I... I didn't know... I only wanted to help. Jacqueline would have been scarred forever if she knew the only uncle she had betrayed the village. She's a quarter mermaid and Douglas was a Selkie. I only wanted to protect the feelings they had for him. Douglas didn't mean what he did, he only wanted his freedom to live a normal life. I guess I was wrong... I'll apologise to everyone when I return."

Ruth's analytical gaze softened. "Zero, you have to be prepared for more than that. The world isn't such a kind place. Not everyone is as forgiving as you. You could apologise but they might not accept it. Some things cannot be undone. Some mistakes cannot be corrected. That's life."

The young doctor looked so sad that the vampire felt uncomfortable. "Although that was what I said, I'm sure they would come to forgive you. You helped many villagers as a doctor there. I heard that you performed several miracles that not even your teacher could do. Shouldn't you be more confident about yourself?"

"But I didn't do much for them..."

"Sure... you didn't do much at all. I suppose bringing Clowis back to life and giving Amaraline new eyes weren't notable contributions at all."

Zero growled. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm just saying that none of the villagers there were worth anything. You just healed them like any doctor would, casually decided that nobody should die and deterred an entire army who were trying to slaughter everyone."

"Don't talk bad about them!"

"Really? But they seem to think so little about you. Tell me, do you really know any of them? They're probably just villagers to you with no names or personalities, just a bunch of medical conditions that your teacher asked you to identify and rectify."

Zero got angry. "Karris is pregnant with a half-vampire child called Seth. Amaraline was blind and I brought her uncle Lowis back to life. Clowis is Amaraline's over protective brother who overexerts himself during training. Grandma Moppo has bad knees but they're now cured. Hua Tuo helped with the surgery. Lovina is a great alchemist with a terrible magic curse! Peter and Manny are zombies because their friend Soon couldn't leave them dead. He sacrificed his humanity and became a lich for them. Vrald and Gerald have emotional scars as dragon descendants and Vrald has an unfortunate disease that cannot be cured. Raj is a half-genie who is better at science than magic... Hyeline is-"

"Ok, I get it. You know them well. Look at yourself. Don't you think that they will reciprocate the care and concern you have for them? From the sound of it, they're not heartless creatures. have a little more faith in yourself. You're stronger than a Demon Lord, you have the right to be a little more assertive in the things you want."

Zero blinked. He didn't know what Ruth was trying to do. Only yesterday, the vampire looked like he was plotting ways to scratch his eyes out.

"What are you plotting?"

Ruth grinned and showed off his glimmering fangs. "I helped you out on that. Why don't we call it even for rescuing me and negotiate my terms for freedom?"

Zero blinked then stared at Ruth before laughing. The coachman was startled but continued on as per usual. It wasn't uncommon for Zero to have moments of emotional outbursts.

"I see now... alright! Let's talk business. What can you do for me in exchange for nullifying your slave contract?"

Ruth smiled. "I heard that you're in need of a combat teacher. As a talented mage, learning from any of those villagers wouldn't benefit you. I'm a Roth vampire and my clan is famous for our melee with close ranged magic combat style."

Zero smiled. "Nope, not enough."

Ruth's smiled faded away. He didn't think that Zero would reject his request. Wasn't he an easily influenced person?

"I want you to become Seff's guardian. There are no vampires in Half Moon village, somebody has to teach him everything a vampire has to know. Of course, I won't impose too much on you. You just need to teach him the basics about how to survive as a vampire. Things like don't touch silver, drink only blood..."

Ruth was amused. "Is that it? You're not going to bind me to the village or anything of that sort?"

Zero shook his head. "Well, if you fulfill the conditions of teaching baby Seff about the vampire things, there isn't any real reason to bind you to the village, is there? You're free to roam anywhere you want to. You're a free man."

The proposal sounded decent and Ruth didn't find anything fishy about Zero's terms so he agreed. "Draw me a magic contract when we return. Lessons begin after you return to Earth."

"Yes, sir!" Zero beamed.

His smile became even brighter when there was a notification window prompting him that the quest for Binding a Roth was complete.

"Hey Ruth..."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to trade a unique skill with a unique skill?"

The vampire blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Zero grinned. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to eat anything you want without ever falling ill? I have a special skill called Strong Stomach that I can share with you. I'm sure you've heard about my eating abilities. I wouldn't lose to Beelzebub in any case. However, I'm not giving it for free."

Ruth raised a brow. "What's the catch?"

Zero added Ruth to his party and a screen appeared before Ruth, startling the Roth child.

"What's this?"

"It's a status display window, an ability of mine. Anyway, check the ability section out. I want to borrow your unique skill of observation."

Ruth blinked. "That's not a unique skill. If you trained under the same methods my clan practiced, you can gain that easily. If you trained under me for fifty years, you'd be able to get that, there's no need for a trade. If anything, the skill High-Speed Regeneration is more powerful. You can't learn regeneration from observing. None of the skills I have can be learned from Observation in case you intend to do so. It's a bloodline gift."

Zero shook his head. "It's fine! I just want that skill. I can only use skill sharing once to copy a special skill. I want to learn more things, Observation is perfect! Also, waiting fifty years to learn it would be a terrible waste of time. Truen would be bored to death if I took that long to complete my training phase. We agreed to meet up and start our adventure in two years."

Ruth shrugged. "Strong Stomach for Observation. Is that your final offer?"

Zero nodded and once he had Ruth's approval, the system made the transfer.

Ruth looked at the new skill and wondered what kind of food he should try eating. Now that he didn't have to fear falling ill after eating cooked food, he was curious to know about all the other dishes Coux could make. Meanwhile, Zero looked at his newly acquired skill and grinned. Now, he would be able to learn how to fly!