Something else also caught your attention near the entrance. A small shrine had been erected. Candlesticks, incense, and many blessings carved on wooden plates had been placed around a crude but charming doll of a boy you’ve grown to know quite well. A small cup for donations rested on a nearby table. You silently slid a piece of silver inside, and an elderly lamia snoozing nearby nodded in gratitude upon sensing your proximity.

"Plenty of kids, I don’t remember people being this sick..." Shigeko whispered, gently poking Usha, who reacted with a cute growl.
"You and Seyraphal were utterly isolated," Aryel answered in a similar tone. "People don’t want to talk about it, but there have been rumors of a potential epidemic."

While being very careful with his polearm, the man led you toward the front of the reception desk, occupied by a rather charming individual.
A long dark-haired foxgirl with fuzzy ears and a big bushy tail of similar darkness looked up with striking red eyes at your group’s arrival. Her distinctively foreign features stood in sharp contrast with everyone else here, and her gray shirt and pants clashed with her quiet beauty. She gave you impressions of a foreign princess.

"Meet Hanabi, wise woman."

"Huh? What?" came her voice as she absentmindedly let go of a paper to look at your group. "Ain’t you one sorry sight, angel-man. Finally got your harem?"
"Not quite, not quite. I’ll go stand guard outside. I think Shigeko and Rey’s presence might invite... bad actors, and I don’t want the kids to get scared." Wow. He’s fleeing.
"When the hell did you give birth?" came a sharp accusation as the fluffy fox got up. We share the same height! Thank the gods I’m not alone!
"What? Didn’t see the baby bump when I was all skin and bone?" Shigeko gently moved her head, causing Usha to make a sharp complaint as she struggled to keep her balance upon her broken horn.
"Bloody hell, a slime here? In the AK?" Then her red eyes focused on you.
"I’m Rey Vesperus," you quickly spoke. "Daughter to the two, huh, source of that brawl a few days ago."
"Ah," Hanabi tsk’d. "Bad but necessary business. Is Sey healthy?"
You nod.

"Good, good. Suppose you two are here for our godtouched, huh? She ought to be with her last patient. The gals here are mighty damned stubborn with their health, I’ll tell you that."
"I’ve only arrived here recently, but I honestly want to help this community." All the kids here make for a worrying sight.
"Yeah? Those assholes need to stop squeezing our balls ’cause we ain’t got none. Kick them out of our bathhouse so people can clean, bathe, and shit in peace. Our latrines are a fucking mess, they barely let us take our garbage out of here, and the wells are starting to run low. We’ll need a big delivery of clean water mighty soon."
"There’s also the low supplies..." Hanabi’s ears droop at your words, and she nods, her gaze directed at a pipe on her desk.