“W-what do you want to know?” the young boy stammered weakly whilst avoiding the glance.

“Name, age, whether you have family, why you’re out thieving, and how you’re going to repay the girl for saving your ass and feeding you.”

“I’m Fino and I’m 8 years old!” the boy recited proudly, before deflating, “what were the other questions?”

Groaning with a defeated sigh, Leonardo couldn’t help but distinguish between the kid and his bright little fox.

“A family. You got one?”

“Ah, my pater. But he isn’t home. He goes on a ship on faraway lands and comes back every few moons… he’s late this time and we ran out of food… the auntie who took care of me was sick this week and I was left all alone.”

The boy took to crying the longer he carried on with his narration, and it quickly became apparent he wouldn’t survive long on his lonesome.

“Well, there’s no way the orphanage can take care of you, so let’s go see that aunt of yours. Your legs are fine so lead the way.”

Tossing away the bone he picked clean, he stood up and put out the campfire. After directing Yuki to return to the monastery, he stashed the pot and caught up to Fino, before making their way together back into Valetta to see his irresponsible caretaker.

Led by Fino, they made their way to the upper side of the Fort, where the military bigwigs and noblemen resided. Caught somewhat surprised, he shot the kid a sideglance and for a moment wondered if they’d be stopped at the gates.

Fortunately, it was peaceful these years and regulations were lax. The guards paid them no heed and they made it through. After cutting a few alleys, they made it in front of a tidy single floor manor. It wasn’t the greatest house in town, but it was a house nonetheless.

As Leo appreciated the view with some clear envy in his eyes, Fino strode to the door and knocked forcefully with his elbow, the only thing intact in his arms.

“You mentioned she’s sick, no? Doubt she’ll hear it if she’s asleep.”

After waiting for another minute or so without any sign of response, Leo grew tired of waiting. His eyes flashed with a subtle prismarine-blue hue. Guiding energy into one of the acupoints near his eyes, he’d activated his Life Sense. After a momentary pause, he further activated another two points beside his entorhinal cortex. This in turn activated his Spatium Senses.

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Having combined the two, he grunted to deal with the headache and quickly scanned the manor, his eyes flickering from time to time. Any life signatures around him were as obvious as a lamp in the dark, their brightness ascertaining their condition. From small lizards and other critters to a woman seemingly laid on the floor in a side room… wait a minute, a woman on the floor?

Exhaling with some difficulty, he dispelled the combination perception spell and made his way to the door, tugging it with some urgency.

“It’s locked, damn it.”

Looking left and right and ensuring no one’s around, he pressed a hand against the lock and closed his eyes. As he shook his hand gently, it sent out a pulse of chi into the lock. Were he to advance in his magic, it’d be a simple task to force the pins away with his energy. Now, he could mostly use his Materia spells to understand the internal intricacies of such objects.

Not to say that he was helpless, however. He took out a pair of metal pins from his undershirt and skillfully drove them into the lock. As if playfully toying with it, a few moves was all it took to make the lock open.

“Come on in, kid. Stay by the door and make sure no one’s coming. That’s an order.”

Prying the door open, he rushed into the back of the house. As if it wasn’t his first time here, he hurriedly guided himself through the corridors to reach the woman. Pushing his way past the last door, however, he ground to a halt and balked like a moron.

A woman in her late-twenties was passed out on the floor of what seemed to be a bathroom. Needless to say, as was probable given the environment, she was stark naked, hence the self-afflicted freeze spell. It took some time for the teen boy to recover from the unveiling mystery that should’ve remained unseen.

Finally making his way past her, he laid a hand in the tub, meeting with room temperature water.

‘Definitely been there a while’ he pondered as he once more activated Life Sense to closely ascertain her condition.

Patting her hand with a pair of fingers, he took her pulse and promptly made sense of what ailed her.

‘Mononucleosis?’ a term immediately sprung into his mind, despite not quite knowing how or why it was called that way. Another random puzzle piece he’d inherited.

Focusing, he briefly ruminated over the disease and tried to recall everything tied to it. Owed to his eidetic memory, he quickly defined the source, matching symptoms and recovery methods.

Gently lifting up the woman’s arms, he quickly identified the swollen lymph nodes around around her armpits and confirmed his diagnosis.

Leo pondered for a while, before reaching her back and slipping his arms around her chest to drag her away.

For some reason, this dragging posture seemed a little off…

Ignoring the spring-loaded milkers bouncing around his hands as he dragged the woman into her bedroom, he pushed her onto the bed with some difficulty and covered her up with a thin quilt.

“Fino! Get over here!”

Having ensured the woman’s rest posture was comfortable, he pondered briefly and then ordered Fino just as he’d entered.

“Fetch a jug of clean drinking water from the well, and don’t touch her. I’ll go prepare some broth or something…” he stopped in his tracks and finally remembered the kid’s arms were broken. “Ah... never mind. Just watch her and let me know when she wakes. Remember, do not touch.”

Without even bothering to explain to the kid why he dragged his aunt to bed, he made his way into the kitchen and readied the fire. Rummaging through the woman’s supplies, he helped himself to her ingredients whilst licking his lips in the process.