Another story: Arthur's Arc #7 Missions

Arthur is not a kind person, but he is not heartless. Seeing a child get badly treated like this made him angry.

The prince is malnourished. His body is too thin, and his skeleton-like body scared Arthur. It feels like the boy will tumble down with a slight nudge. How did he survive? He suffered from hunger, illness, injuries, and even under the curse.

Ordinary people with weak mentality would already be long gone and might choose to end everything once and for all, but this boy persevered until today. There was a trace of reluctance within those dull, soulless eyes. Reluctant to leave his life to fate and give up.

In front of him, a transparent screen displays the target's stats. Looking at the declining graph and the negative number makes him feel uncomfortable. It's a wonder how he survives until today.

Arthur looked at the corner of the transparent screen, which listed several missions in ascending order. These are the tasks he needs to complete for today.

(Mission 1: Makes sure the target eats breakfast-5 points.)

(Mission 2: Makes sure the target eats lunch-5 points.)

(Mission 3: Makes sure the target eats dinner-5 points.)

(Mission 4: Makes sure the target takes care of his wounds and injuries.)

(Mission 5: Makes sure the target has a change of clean clothes-3 points.)

(Mission 6: Makes sure the target changes his dirty clothes-5 points.)

Arthur: "..." He thinks he is the target's caretaker, and it is his job to ensure the target's comfortable life.

Q sure knows how to exploit someone.

Seeing the twenty-something missions lining up in many rows makes him dizzy.

These missions are not hard to solve, but considering their relationship as mere strangers, they still cause him a headache.

How to settle this?

Alright! Rather than wasting his time doing nothing, he should do the first mission as a starter.

The first mission is to make sure the target eats.

Should he leave the food in front of the door?

"Will...he eat them?" Arthur mumbled. "He might be not..."

The prince must be wary of strangers and will not accept unknown food, afraid of being poisoned or something.

Even so, this is the only way. Either leave the food in front of his house or hand them directly to him.

After pondering for a while, Arthur takes out his ring and conjures something out of thin air. The ring is his private space, a gift from his parent. Before he went out, he had long stored the food in here.

After ensuring no one is within the vicinity, Arthur leaps forward and lands directly in front of the door.

He places the bundle on the ground and knocks on the door thrice. He flees immediately, returning to his hiding place before the prince appears.

Several seconds later, the prince opens his door, his head peeking out cautiously while wryly scanning his surrounding. His eyes settle on a bundle on the ground.

There is something warped in a cute wrapper bag in front of his door. On an ordinary occasion, he wouldn't dare to take shoddy things into his house, but something prevented him from leaving that suspicious bundle outside.

A scent of food.

His nose twitched as he smelled something tantalizing from that bundle. At first, he does not believe his nose. Who will leave food for him? For what reason? Is it safe for him to consume food from unknown sources? What if someone tries to poison him through this? Many thoughts flashed inside his mind, but the mouth-watering scent clouded his judgement.

He throws his suspicion in the back of his head, squats down, and curiously opens the bundle with his trembling fingers, slowly unravelling the content inside.

His eyes twinkle, and his saliva drip uncontrollably. As if a cue, his stomach continuously makes a grumbling sound.

There is real food inside the bundle! And they are still steaming hot!

The prince happily collects the bundle and runs inside, uncaring of his wounds and injuries. The sight of the food makes him energetic. It's been a long time since he got to eat hot, steaming food!

Arthur wants to shed tears after seeing the child take the food without any suspicion. It shows how hungry he is that he dares to eat unknown food given by strangers.

(Ting! The first mission is complete. Caretaker Xu Ming Yu gets 5 points.)

Hearing the notification makes him sigh in relief.

Hmm? He seems to hear something incredibly wrong from the notification just now.

"...Why..." is Q calling him caretaker?

Whatever.

Arthur had spent more than an hour in here. People might already realize his disappearance.

+++

When he returned to deliver the prince's lunch that day, he accidentally stumbled upon a situation that made his blood boil.

He saw three burly palace guards bully the prince. Their mocking laughter and the faint whimpering from the prince resounded in the background intermittently.

How can this be?!

Arthur's eyes turned red. He balled his fists and rushed to the scene.

Who cares about OOC?! As the saying says, saving someone's life is better than building a seven-level pagoda.

His eyes widened in shock, and his steps immediately became brisk as he saw one of the guards swing his wooden pole toward the crouching figure on the ground.

"Stop!" He yelled.

His earth-shattering voice startled those people. But, before he could say anything, they had run away- as quick as lightning, leaving him dumbfounded.

Damn those guys! Next time I see you guys again, I will break your legs!

"Hey, are you okay?" After cussing the irresponsible adults in his heart, he turned around and tried to touch the whimpering boy, but the boy avoided his touch.

His whimpers became louder, and Arthur saw tears rolling down the boy's bruises cheeks.

Arthur was at a loss. He hesitantly embraced the boy and felt the thin body trembling in his arms.

"It's alright. I will treat you. I will not hurt you, I promise." He appeased the frightened boy. His tone is much softer than usual.

There was no movement from the boy except the intermittent choking sobs and whimpers in the background.

"Will you allow me to help you?" Arthur tried again. "I am Arthur Knight. You should have already heard my name?"

The boy's shoulder visibly sagged down in relief. He peeked at him from behind his crossed arms, saying something in a very soft voice. "...You will not hit me?"

"Of course. I promise!" Arthur patted his chest.

They both returned to the thatched hut ten minutes later. The boy seemed unwilling to let him enter, but Arthur pretended he didn't see his reluctant gaze.

Hmm. I think I can do missions 2 to 7 all at once. Not bad, not bad.

Arthur asked the boy to take a bath.

"Go." He said firmly, refusing to hear any opinion, making the boy relent.

There was a small stream behind the hut, and the boy always went there for water.

While the boy went to take a bath, Arthur prepared the boy's change of clothes. He also took out medicines and gauze.

Seeing that the boy still hasn't returned, Arthur takes this chance to explore the hut and do some cleaning along the way.

Just as he expected, the interior is as bad as the exterior. There is also a strange musky odour,

The place is cramped, with no light and good ventilation.

Arthur only stayed for about five minutes, but he almost suffocated. It felt very uncomfortable staying inside.

He heard a movement behind him and saw the boy cautiously enter the room, warped in a tattered blanket.

He motioned for the boy to wear the new clothes.

"Let me treat you." He said.

The boy flinched.

"...N-no..."

"If you let the wounds alone, they will fester." Arthur reminded him.

"I can do it myself." He mumbled his response. His eyes looked left and right, seemingly avoiding Arthur's eyes. He anxiously bit his lips, wanting to say something but hesitated. "Can you turn around? I want to wear my clothes."

"...What the fuss? We're both boys." Arthur rolled his eyes. "You are free to strip."

There is a trace of uncertainty and fear within the boy's dull eyes.

"Please." He said, almost begging Arthur to agree.

Arthur agreed verbally but stealthily took a peek when the boy changed his clothes.

"..." He swallowed his shock.

The boy's bloated stomach resembled that pregnant woman's; the blue veins were very taut and protruded. The stretch line on the stomach is very prominent, stretching to the fullest as if something was growing inside it.

The skin was abnormally dark, like a dead tree bark. Something resembled a birthmark covering half of the boy's skin, looking hideous in crimson colour. Bruises littered everywhere, leaving no patch untouched.

The boy's face was already scary enough, but what was under the clothes made him flabbergasted. Was the source of the curse coming from there?

Poor boy.

Arthur had read the backstory of this world and knew most of the plot.

Danial is supposed to be the protagonist, but from beginning to end, his life is much more miserable than the side character. All of this happened due to the curse inflicted on him.

In the original story, Danial never suffered any curse, his mother is still alive, and he led another life, much better than his current one.

But due to interference of something, the trajectory of his life took to a worse turn.

And even with his title as a prince, people dare to bully him, hit him, and humiliate him. He is treated much lower than a beggar inside his own home. His food was frequently confiscated by ill-intention people, causing him to starve. As a result, his desperate situation forced him to beg for food. Although, no one is willing to help him, unbothered by his desperate pleas for a scrap of food.

The palace guards, the servants, and the maids brazenly torment him regardless of the consequences. They were unafraid of this abandoned prince who had long lost the Emperor's affection and protection.

The Emperor hated his eldest son very much and never concealed his hatred toward the young boy. It was well-known to the public. He detested him, yet he wouldn't let this poor boy leave the palace compound. He put many restrictions on the boy's body, preventing him from going outside. The prince can wander everywhere, but he cannot step outside the palace compound, and if he tries to escape, severe punishment awaits him.

Danial had been living a hellish life and underwent never-ending suffering. Arthur couldn't help but want to applaud his perseverance.

{Oh, this boy had tried to commit suicide multiple times and succeeded in dying, but the Law of the World prevented him from dying and saved him again and again. After all, we cannot let the world collapse and perish to nothingness. }

[Seriously?]

{Yes. But the boy's means of courting death is unlike those cowardly people. Rather than saying that he tried to commit suicide, it is more right to say he tried to find a way to live.}

[...How?] Arthur got curious.

Q narrated how the boy drowned as he tried to escape from the palace through the lake.

Or how he tried to climb out the gate from the Dark Forest but ended up getting attacked by a beast and died.

Or how he tried to escape from the main entrance in the middle of the night by hitchhiking a carriage but got electrocuted to death by the restriction spell.

(It's a hassle to resurrect him every time, but this boy never gives up.)

[...] He is sure very persistent.

Arthur helped put medicine on the boy's wounds and bandaged his injuries. Then, he forced him to eat his lunch.

The boy looked at him aggrievedly, his eyes red and tears pooling inside his eyes.

Arthur ignored it because, at that time, he heard the reward notifications ring one after another.

(Mission 2 is complete)

(Mission 3 is complete)

(Mission 4 is complete)

(Mission 5 is complete)

(Mission 6 is complete)

(Mission 7 is complete.)

(Total points are 35 points. Thank you for your hard work.)

Arthur: His hard work got rewarded! Finally!

***

Extra Chapter.

Arthur: (Jumping excitedly and crying with joy.)

Danial: (Looked at Arthur strangely) I never knew that the eldest son of the mighty commander had a mental problem.

It's better to distance myself from him lest he infects his mental illness to me.

Arthur: Woohoo! Finally!