Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 97
>Chapter Title: Volunteer Work (2)
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“Alright, Elders! Just follow my lead from now on!”
“???”
The elders, who had been bowing, stared at the young man who suddenly spoke up with strange looks in their eyes.
The dementia-stricken volunteer group members with Il-mok were also gazing at him with expressions that said, *What the hell is this nonsense?*
Regardless, Il-mok picked up a fairly large piece of wood from the debris the Heavenly Demon had personally scattered, then sliced it to an appropriate size with his sword.
“See? Just cut them one by one to this size. Easy, right?”
What Il-mok had cut with his sword resembled a wooden plank.
Following Il-mok's instructions, a few elders who had been standing dazed deployed their martial arts and cut the wood.
Watching the scene, the Heavenly Demon furrowed his brow and asked Il-mok.
“Disciple. Weren't you supposed to take care of them? Why are you making them work?”
“Master. Dementia worsens the less they do. We must keep giving their minds new stimuli to at least prevent it from getting worse, even if it doesn't improve.”
Il-mok wasn't a dementia expert. But as a social welfare officer, he had often crossed paths indirectly with facilities caring for elderly dementia patients.
He had almost no direct experience caring for them, but he had a certain knowledge from what he'd seen and heard indirectly.
“We couldn't assign such strenuous tasks to ordinary elders, of course. But these ones can handle it easily. If they just use their internal energy. And the process of circulating internal energy and moving muscles can activate their brains.”
After pondering Il-mok's explanation for a moment, the Heavenly Demon decided to trust his disciple's judgment—worst case, no loss.
“As the Heavenly Demon, I command you. From now on, follow Il-mok's instructions.”
The Heavenly Demon issued the order while freely scattering the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The elders shakily rose to their feet and approached Il-mok.
Il-mok demonstrated once more by slicing wood into planks with his sword, and the elders cut wood in their own ways.
“Then next, dig the ground like this.”
*Scrape, scrape.*
“Bring a large log and plant it into the dug hole like so.”
*Thud.*
Il-mok demonstrated by digging a hole and shoving a log trunk into the ground. One by one, the elders planted logs beside him.
“Ah, space them a bit further apart here. Yes, like that! Well done! As expected of the elders! Haha!”
Il-mok laughed heartily, praising them, then turned to look at the dementia volunteer group that had been watching.
“Then I'll go with Elder Kang to find the elders who haven't arrived yet. Silver Pavilion Master, please take over for me and keep instructing the elders on cutting wood and building the huts repeatedly.”
Il-mok had been cutting wood and planting pillars to build houses.
If the elders were to live together, they at least needed roofs to shield from rain and walls to block the wind.
Of course, it was impossible for four dementia volunteers to build houses for dozens of elders overnight.
But with the elders' help, it was no problem. The issue was their faltering memories, but they had more than enough strength if they used internal energy.
As the Silver Pavilion Master reluctantly nodded at Il-mok's instructions, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Disciple. Then what should this old man do?”
“Your role is the most important, Master. If any elders start panicking or rampaging again, please calm them down.”
“Hmm.”
The Heavenly Demon nodded, stroking his beard with an odd expression, then gazed at the elders while subtly leaking the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
He knew it was that demonic energy keeping them docile.
“Then we'll be off.”
After Il-mok and Elder Kang left to find more elders,
The Silver Pavilion Master cleared his throat and approached the elders.
“Ahem. Stack the planks you just cut like this. Then smear mud here…”
As expected of someone who served closest to the Heavenly Demon, the Silver Pavilion Master knew the basics of building simple shelters.
It was a bizarre sight.
The Heavenly Demon sat leisurely, merely supervising, while the Silver Pavilion Master—who had been dragged into this because of him—was rolling in the dirt with the dementia-afflicted elders.
But the Silver Pavilion Master had no complaints. How could he let the pinnacle of the Divine Cult get dirt on his hands?
However.
“No, that's not it. Watch carefully. Cut it like this.”
“No, not that.”
“Phew. You think that'll fit in there?”
Dealing with dementia elders required extreme patience, and veins were starting to bulge on the usually stoic Silver Pavilion Master's forehead.
Finally, unable to hold back his anger, the Silver Pavilion Master spat out.
“What the hell are you all doing right now!”
“Exactly. What are you doing, Silver Pavilion Master?”
New workers—no, Il-mok had returned with Elder Kang, having captured a few more elders wandering the Stray Foal Mountains.
“Even if they have dementia, they are still people like us. How can you use such insulting language?”
“Il-mok is right. Restrain yourself.”
“…….”
The Silver Pavilion Master bristled momentarily, but with the Heavenly Demon siding with Il-mok, he couldn't say a word.
They say the meddling sister-in-law is more hated than the nagging mother-in-law.
*No. No. No.*
With the Heavenly Demon playing the sister-in-law this time, the Silver Pavilion Master couldn't even hate him for it.
* * *
The same thing repeated several more times after that.
Il-mok and Elder Kang roamed the Stray Foal Mountains, finding elders wandering the hills and bringing them to the clearing.
“Phew. Let me explain again.”
The Silver Pavilion Master endlessly repeated the same explanations countless times, continuing the labor with the elders.
They were clearing debris like trees and rocks that the Heavenly Demon had blasted away to make the clearing, then using usable wood and dirt from it to build huts.
After spending about an hour straight on construction and searching for strays, Il-mok and Elder Kang had gathered all the wandering elders in the clearing.
“Phew. Now that they're all here, we should feed the elders first.”
No sooner had Il-mok spoken than a few of the shambling, working elders reacted.
“Eat?”
An elder tilting his head, as if not understanding the word.
“I'm hungry.”
An elder whining like a child, his memory regressed to infancy.
“Mother-in-law! Give me some food! How long are you going to just work me to death!”
Even an elder suddenly acting like a shrewish mother-in-law from some odd memory.
Their reactions varied wildly, but the elders' pitiful appearances were all the same.
*If they eat like that, with hands possibly covered in dirt, urine, or feces, of course they'd get sick.*
Il-mok grabbed a jar from Elder Kang's quarters and headed to the stream. He'd chosen a clearing near the stream for easy water access anyway.
Il-mok fetched water in the jar, then distributed stone basins he'd also brought from Elder Kang's quarters to Elder Kang and the Silver Pavilion Master.
“We'll wash their hands one by one, then feed them the food we brought.”
Their clothes and bodies were filthy too, so baths would have been ideal, but construction wasn't done yet.
For now, they settled on just washing hands for meals.
As Il-mok, the Silver Pavilion Master, and Elder Kang washed the elders' hands, the Heavenly Demon spoke up.
“Disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Give them here.”
“???”
While Il-mok looked puzzled, the ladle and stone basin flew from his hands to the Heavenly Demon's as if on strings.
Casually demonstrating the Empty Air Grasp technique, the Heavenly Demon approached the jar and began washing the elders' hands in Il-mok's place.
“M-Master? C-Controlling the elders with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is already enough…”
“Out with it. What's the big deal about washing the hands of those who devoted themselves to the cult? I can do this much even while deploying the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
As the Heavenly Demon washed their hands, something amazing happened.
“I shall never forget this grace for the rest of my life.”
“Lord of Ten Thousand Demons!!”
“Long live! Long live! Heavenly longevity!!”
Every elder whose hands he washed shed tears of deep emotion.
They had lost their memories, but their awe for the Heavenly Demon was deeply etched in their brains.
Il-mok watched the highly servile scene in a daze for a moment. When his nape prickled, he turned to see the Silver Pavilion Master glaring murderously at him.
*Tch.*
He seemed displeased that Il-mok had made the Heavenly Demon do manual labor.
Il-mok clicked his tongue lightly and found work for himself.
“Those who've washed up, come this way. Elder. Over here! Whoa, careful!”
Il-mok began distributing food to the elders with clean hands.
It was fruit gathered while searching for elders in the Stray Foal Mountains, plus simple rations from Elder Kang's quarters.
After the simple meal,
The enjoyable construction resumed with the twenty-odd elders.
Repeating explanations was commonplace.
“Huh! Who the hell are you!”
“How dare you invade the Divine Cult's territory!”
Cases where they suddenly went berserk were tame—the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art suppressed them quickly.
“Eung. I gotta poop.”
“It's hard. Bad uncle! Don't bully me.”
But some whined like little children.
“…Oh dear.”
And others went beyond whining to soil their pants unnoticed.
Il-mok separated those types and fetched stream water to wash them.
*These are probably severe cases.*
Dementia had mild and moderate stages. Even if not moderate, if they'd regressed to full infancy, it was safer not to make them work for a while. If their memories were at baby level, they couldn't even use internal energy.
*Urk.*
Of course, for Il-mok with his hygiene obsession, washing elders soiled with shit and piss was pure torment.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, Il-mok washed the infant-regressed moderate patients and led them to the Heavenly Demon.
“Master. These aren't fit for physical labor right now. Please watch them so they don't get hurt and keep them company.”
“Keep them company? I doubt I'll have anything to say to them.”
When the Heavenly Demon seemed at a loss on how to converse, Il-mok gave an example.
“Just treat them like teaching children. Basics like the characters for heaven or earth.”
“Oh? It revives old memories and stimulates the brain—two birds with one stone.”
Understanding Il-mok's intent, the Heavenly Demon began teaching letters to the infant-like severe patients.
He wrote characters on the ground with his sword, taught how to read them, and coaxed them to imitate.
Watching the Heavenly Demon teach the elders for a bit, Il-mok started a new task.
He gathered some scattered wood, sliced it small with his sword, then carved pictures into the pieces with it.
The Heavenly Demon, teaching letters, glanced at Il-mok's odd behavior, then nodded with an 'Indeed.'
“Making mahjong tiles?”
“Yes, Master. Gambling is harmful because of the stakes. But recalling rules and matching pictures stimulates the brain, so it should help greatly with dementia.”
In Korea, they said hwatu cards were good for dementia, and facilities actually used them along with picture-matching games.
But these folks would be more familiar with mahjong than hwatu, so Il-mok was making tiles.
“Heh heh heh. If it's brain-stimulating play, this might be even better than mahjong.”
Muttering something cryptic, the Heavenly Demon deployed his Divine Art. Thick demonic energy flowed from him, and he used Empty Air Grasp on a large rock and log trunk rolling in the clearing.
He swung his sword flashingly at the flying stone and wood slicing through the air.
*Tap tap tap tap.*
A perfectly square wooden go board with horizontal and vertical lines engraved appeared, along with dozens of round black and white stones.
Il-mok stared blankly at his master and the wood scraps in his hand, awed by the sword skill that instantly made a go board and stones.
*…Do mine too while you're at it. No fair.*
Il-mok felt oddly wronged.