Ragnar had just requested for the details of the 10th Hamlet when a sudden, bloodcurdling scream from outside seized his attention.
The pitch of the scream was feminine and deafening. The cause was unknown, but Ragnar could already tell that it was something very serious.
Almost immediately after the scream erupted, a few hurried footsteps could be heard outside, and several muffled voices lingered.
Ragnar grew curious at the commotion outside and rose quickly from his previous sitting position. He rushed towards the locust-infected wooden door and opened it.
He was quickly exposed to the new environment of this place.
Above him, the sky wore a beautiful dark-bluish hue, the crescent moon, surrounded by bright little stars, provided a pale illumination over the poor settlement.
Ragnar spotted a few huts about a dozen in number, each of them in dire states — some were missing parts of their roofs. There were even two huts directly opposite his that had some part of their walls fallen, seemingly from harsh weather conditions.
The ground was filled with grass that had grown so much, some even reaching knee-length.
With a simple glance, Ragnar saw how impoverished and unkempt the place was, causing him to heave a disappointed sigh. He had a long way to go in his mission.
After observing his surroundings, his eyes fell on a hut not so far away. There were few people gathered around this particular hut so he immediately deduced it was the cause of the earlier commotion.
Curious to find out what was going on, and also to know more about the condition of this place, Ragnar began strolling towards it.
As he got closer, he began to observe the state of the crowd gathered outside.
Their tattered and dirty clothing was easy to spot. As he drew closer, the odor radiating from them grew more pungent, causing Ragnar to wrinkle his nose.
He also began to hear their discussion in closer proximity. Thankfully, they spoke in a language he understood.
"This is the second death this month!"
"So sad, the baby was only six months old and was quite handsome too. He would've grown to become a fine man!"
"I swear, this place is under a curse!"
The discussion became even clearer as Ragnar drew closer. "It appears a baby has died," he muttered in a low tone.
He could understand the emotions of the people around. Death was painful, but the death of an innocent baby was even more sorrowful.
Moments later, Ragnar arrived at his destination and made his way through the small crowd of only a few dozen people and reached the scene.
A claw oil lamp at the center of the room provided lighting.
Only a few meters away from Ragnar's position, a middle-aged woman dressed in rags could be seen wailing as she cuddled an infant wrapped in dirty but soft clothes. The infant's eyes were shut and it wasn't making any reaction despite the activities and noise around it.
Tears streamed down from the eyes of the woman, which had turned red from anguish.
Two older women could be seen consoling her while fighting back their own tears.
Not so far away, a middle-aged man sat on the rough ground and sobbed silently. Ragnar deduced that he was the husband of the woman and father to the deceased baby.
The worried chatters, wails, and all the painful cries created a sorrowful atmosphere.
--
Urgent quest has been triggered
Quest: Console the wailing mother
Reward: 20 XP
Penalty: Scorn from the other villagers
--
"Hmmm."
Ragnar had planned to help anyway, the urgent quest prompt simply made him act faster.
Taking a deep breath, Ragnar strolled towards the mother and squatted in front of her, reaching eye level and gently placed his hand on her shoulder with a worried expression on his face.
"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how much pain you're in right now, but you're not alone. Let me help in any way I can."
Ragnar spoke as gently as he could.
Nevertheless, his words were futile, as they only seemed to increase the pitch of her wailing.
Without lifting her eyes, she whispered in a sorrowful tone, "And how can you help me?"
Her question left Ragnar momentarily speechless.
|| Host is really bad at consoling. You should offer sacrifice in hopes to gain a skill that helps with that. ||
'Shut up, Onyx!'
Ragnar felt a sudden pang of anger hearing the emotionless female robotic voice making a remark.
But he kept his outward expression as normal as it could be. His mind wandered around all the consoling dialogues he had read in novels but none came in handy for his current situation.
"Believe me, tears won't bring him back. Please, let me help you instead."
Just like before, she cried even more.
The two middle-aged women consoling her felt agitated at his words.
One of them even pushed his hands away from the shoulder of the wailing woman and gave him a piercing gaze.
Because the light in the room was dull, they could not clearly see the face of Ragnar.
Their reaction might have been different if they died.
|| Host is very terrible at consoling! ||
Once again, Onyx taunted, however this time Ragnar silently admitted he was indeed terrible at consolation.
As a shut-in nerd, Ragnar's previous life was mostly spent indoors reading, gaming, roasting other players in online games, or spamming racist slurs in group chats. He never had an actual social life.
Thus it was difficult to perform in the situation placed before him.
'What should I do?'
Ragnar remained in his squatting position. The worried chatters and wailing of the woman made it almost impossible for him to concentrate on his thoughts.
"R...Ragnar... You are alive?!"