“Why are we here? What happened?” The boy asked.

Instead of answering, the old man continued his talk, “You were quiet when we first met. Shivering with fright. I thought you weren’t that good with meeting new people. . .”

The boy was silent for a while and then he said, “But that doesn’t mean that I’m bad at remembering people.”

“Haha! That’s true!” The old man laughed heartily as he sat on a wooden chair. He then looked at the boy and smiled. “What’s your name, kid?”

The boy was silent once again. Seeing that the boy seemed reluctant to answer him, the old man hurriedly said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me.”

“Uh… no, it’s not like that. I-it’s because I don’t have a name.”

“What? You don’t?”

“Yes…”

“Then, what do people call you?”

“Brat, kid, sh*t, f*cke—”

The old man put his hand forward with a sour expression and stopped the boy. “Okay, okay, I get it. Then, what do people who are close to you call you?”

“...Brother.”

“Hmm? Do you have any siblings?”

“No, the kids from the slums called me ‘brother’, even though we’re not related.”

“I see…” The old man didn’t ask any further when he saw the look in the boy’s eyes. He clapped his hands to change the gloomy atmosphere and stood up using his cane. He then pointed at their surroundings and said, “Okay, I’ll go and get you something to eat, kid. Also, don’t mind the smell. Can’t help it since this is the only free room.”

“I-it’s okay…” The boy was clearly overwhelmed by the gentleness of the old man. He still felt a bit awkward by other people’s kindness and decided to change the topic.

Although this was not his first time experiencing this feeling, he would still feel uncomfortable. The boy just watched as the old man walked out of the room. After the latter had left the room, he looked at the grimoire in his arms.

“How did we end up at his place?”

The grimoire started telling him what had happened.

Apparently, when the boy had fainted, the grimoire tried to move him to the side, trying to ensure that the former would not get more soaked from the rain.

However, it proved to be difficult because of the boy’s injuries. It did not want to add more to his injuries as it carefully moved the latter. .

After some time, it finally managed to move the boy to a small alley, away from the rain. . It was fortunate that the buildings beside the alley had an awning that helped to protect them from the drizzle.

And they were lucky that no one ventures into these small alleys as it has always been used as a place for the dumpsters.

The grimoire leaned the boy against the wall and started to look for something that could help warm the boy up.

Once it had found the things that it had been looking for, it immediately covered the boy and waited for the rain to slowly let down.

At that time, the rain wasn’t as heavy as when they had been fighting Ted’s gang. The wind was no longer strong and the thunders weren’t as frequent as before.

A couple of hours later, it was almost dawn. The rain finally stopped and people were about to start the new day.

The grimoire was at the boy’s side. Both of them were inside the tattered clothes the grimoire found to cover the boy up. It leaned against the wall as it looked up.

Just staring at the calm early morning sky.

...

The sun just started to rise up in the horizon but the streets were already filled with people as they get ready for their daily work.

The grimoire was already inside the boy’s clothes when the streets started to get crowded.

The bakery from across the streets was already bustling with customers, filling the surroundings with freshly baked pastries and bread, making people walk past by, to salivate.

Due to the crowd waiting in line and walking around the avenue, carriages couldn’t pass through and this made the nearby people having to squeeze in to make way for them.

It was at that time when the old man noticed the boy, lying against the wall inside the alley as he tried to avoid the carriages.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the boy, looking overly familiar. “You… You’re the boy from the other day! What happened to you?” he exclaimed, rushing over. His eyes widened more when he saw the bruises all over the boy’s face.

The boy seems unresponsive, making the old man feel even more worried. He immediately called for help.

…

“So that’s how it is,” the boy murmured thoughtfully. “And he brought me here?”

“Yes. After they had brought you to a nearby clinic, he brought you here once you’re fully healed.”

“And that was when he saw you? Did the other people see you as well?”

“When they were about to treat you, that was when the old man saw me. But he quickly grabbed me and kept me inside this strange bag before the others saw me.”

“Strange bag?” the boy repeated, seemingly curious.

The grimoire nodded. “It was a bag with an unusual design. Inside, something was made of wood. It has a hole in the middle with strings attached to it,” it described.

The boy frowned. “Do you mean, a lute? But a lute doesn’t have a hole in the middle…” The boy began thinking for some time. He was clearly somewhat intrigued, but then shook his head. “That doesn’t matter for now. So, when did he know that you can fly and communicate?”

“...” The grimoire was silent for a while. “I peeked from the bag the entire time and when he finally placed the strange bag on a table and went to another room. I used that chance to check on you in this room. But then, just as I was flying towards you, he came into the room.”

“And then?”

The grimoire kept writing its reply. “I tried to escape from his sights but I was too slow. So, I just stayed beside you. That was when the old man realized how wary I was of him that he told me that he doesn’t mean any harm to us.”

“And do you believe him?” The boy asked seriously.

“No! I stayed vigilant and didn’t let him get near us. But he kept saying that he really didn’t have any ill intention towards us. He placed the things he brought for us on a table and immediately went out, leaving us alone here.”

“What things?”

“Water, clothes, bandages, and medicine,” the grimoire stated, gesturing at the table which was near the door.

Hearing that, the boy went quiet.

‘Why is he being so kind to me?’ the boy thought.

Then a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Boy! I brought you some chicken porridge! Come and eat it while it’s still warm,” the old man said as he walked into the room, carrying a bowl in one hand. He was holding a wooden item in his other hand.

The boy wasn’t sure what it was.

The old man placed the bowl on the small bedside table and helped the boy to sit on the bed, leaning him against the headboard. He then put the wooden item in front of the boy.

Apparently, it was a foldable small table. He unfolded the item and carefully put it in front of the boy and then placed the bowl of porridge on top of it. He then brought a glass of water and gave it to the boy. “Here, drink first before eating. You must be thirsty and hungry since you haven’t eaten for two days.”

Seeing the earnest look on the old man’s face, the boy felt even more awkward as he hung his head in confusion.

“Why are you being so kind to me? What’s in it for you? We don’t even know each other. I don’t have anything of value to compensate you. And if you want the grimoire, you could have just taken it when I was unconscious.”

The old man was stunned for a moment, but then he smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed. Then he looked up to the ceiling and started reminiscing. “I read this in one of my favorite comics—er… book a long time ago. In that scene, the wanted killer was about to fall from a staircase, but the main leads helped him. After he was saved, the killer pointed his gun at the both of them and asked,,

“‘Why did you help me?!’ However, the male protagonist just smirked. ‘Do you need a reason for that?’”

“‘I hate trying to figure out…as to why people kill…’” The old man recited and paused for a moment. “‘But you don’t need a logical reason...’”

The old man smirked and continued, “To save someone, do you?”

The boy’s eyes went wide, like a nail hit on his head.

He started to remember the feeling he had felt when he helped those kids. He wasn’t sure of the reasons as to why he had helped them, but then the old man’s words struck into his core.

‘You don’t need a logical reason to save someone…’

“That’s true…” Those words really opened up the boy’s mindset. He, who always thought that people would always do something for a price, was wrong.

Didn’t he help the kids for no reason but just because he wanted to?

Lady Jade didn’t even ask for a coin when she treated the kids.

‘I see… there are people with sincerity.”

Again, this was the second time the old man had shown kindness to him. Although the old man was the first person to show compassion to him when he gave him bread and a bottle of water, the boy was still on guard. It wasn’t until now, he realized the pure sincerity of the man.

The boy was so overwhelmed by the warmth he felt at the moment, tears started to form in the corner of his eyes.

He grabbed the wooden spoon and started eating the chicken porridge as he started sobbing.

“Th-thank you…”