Jacob was in a very dangerous situation right now and he was unaware of it. He was suffering from hypothermia. His body was rapidly losing heat and weakening due to fever. His breathing had become shallow and it was slowing down. If something was not done quickly, he would lose his life just after a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the small buildings surrounding the small street were not of any help either. The rain was falling at an angle due to strong winds. But those strong winds were parallel to the street in the direction they were blowing. As a result, the surrounding buildings could not hinder it.

There was no one to be seen in that narrow street. Even the main streets it interconnected had no one in them. All the people had already taken refuge in their homes, sleeping or awake under thick comfortable blankets.

The same was the case for the night patrol. But instead of being under warm blankets, they just stood still under large umbrellas or some kind of shade in thick comfortable clothing somewhere along their patrol routes. They were waiting for the rain to cease. After that, they would resume their patrols.

As Jacob's body temperature was about to reach a critical point after which his organs would start being damaged due to lack of nutrients, footsteps approached his unconscious body.

There was darkness in the street so the newcomer's face could not be seen. What could be ascertained was that it was a tall male holding a large umbrella in his right hand while carrying something else in his left hand.

A lightning flash occurred and the dark street brightened for a split second. If Jacob had been conscious and looking towards the newcomer at that time, he would have seen the smiling face of a bearded old man with eyes full of love and benevolence. It was the same old lonely old man who was present during Rosa's burial ceremony.

The elder sat down near him and set the umbrella in such a way that it covered both of them at the same time.

He was carrying several blankets and a towel in his left hand. They were folded and piled neatly onto each other. He also put them down on the ground.

The article that was at the bottommost position of the pile was the towel so it did not become wet much due to the water on the ground. Instead, it absorbed some of the water into it.

After that, the elder straightened Jacob from his fetal position. Jacob was supporting an expression of pain. The elder caressed his face with love and lowered his head to kiss Jacob's forehead.

After doing that, he quickly took the towel from the pile, stripped Jacob and dried his body with it. He was holding a towel with one hand and handling Jacob with another, so he dried him as much as he could.

After that, he wrapped Jacob in the blankets he came with. He used all of them except the bottommost one which had become wet after the towel was removed from under it.

He opened Jacob's bag. Some of his clothes were slightly wet due to rain. Fortunately, the paper pages were saved. He put wet clothes of Jacob into it in such a way that they only touched the clothes and the learning materials remained undisturbed.

He threw the wet towel and wet blanket to the side and carried Jacob in an upright position hold. Jacob's head was on his shoulder and he was holding him close to his body with his right arm.

Jacob's bag was stuck between their bodies. With his free hand, he carried the umbrella and started walking.

He quickly entered the main street and headed towards Maria's house. If someone had peered down the street from the second floor of their house then, he would have been able to see a tall white-robed person carrying something wrapped in layers of blankets while supporting an umbrella in his left hand walking down the street in a leisurely pace. He would find this scene very strange.

After a few minutes, the elder ran into a storm clan patrol right after taking a turn.

The patrol consisted of five guards. Seeing a man carrying a child in the dark of night while it was raining heavily was extremely suspicious and alarm bells sounded in their minds.

They looked towards each other and quickly ran towards the approaching elder.

"Halt!" The oldest of them shouted after they surrounded the suspect, one of their hands on the pommels of their swords. They could not see his face because of the darkness. The torches in the streets had already been extinguished. All they could determine was that the suspect was a bearded male carrying a child.

The elder stopped.

"Who are you and where are you going with the child?" The oldest guard demanded.

"This is my son. I am headed towards Maria's apothecary to get some medicine for him. He is sick." The elder replied with a calm thick voice. It was as if him being the father of the child he was carrying was a universal fact.

The response did not allay their suspicions. A younger guard gave him a stink eye as if mocking him for his poor excuse.

"As if we will believe in your pathetic excuse. You have clearly kidnapped him from somewhere" After saying his piece to the elder, he looked towards the older guard and said, "Captain, I think he is lying. Why don't we take him to the castle for further investigation?"

The squad captain nodded towards his charge as if agreeing with him. He then looked towards the elder and said,

"Your response is not sufficient. What is your proof that he is your son? If you cannot provide the proof here, you will have to come with us to the castle. If you are truthful, you don't have to worry about anything. But if you are not, things will turn ugly."

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The elder's expression did not even flicker at the blatant threat. He replied with his usually calm expression. "Lad, my son is sick and needs immediate medication. If you delay me any longer, we can lose him. Are you willing to see that? Why don't you come and check his temperature."

The elder's response stunned them. The child was about to die now? Hesitation appeared on their faces. After a few seconds of hesitation, the squad captain responded, "Very well. Let me check."

After saying that, he approached the elder. His right hand was on the hilt of his sword. He was holding it tightly. He would pull it out in a split second if the suspect tried anything funny.

But his worries were unwarranted. The elder did no such thing. He exposed the child's hand. The captain put his free hand on it to feel out the temperature. He found that the child's body temperature was fluctuating heavily. The child's life was indeed in danger.

"Ok. But we will accompany you to lady Maria's apothecary." The captain said and commanded the squad to fall into formation behind the elder.

The elder did not say anything and started walking. After about ten minutes, they reached the apothecary.

The elder knocked at the door and waited. After one minute, he knocked again. A half minute later, the door opened and Maria stood there with drooping eyelids. She was carrying a torch with her.

"Hello. How may I be of service?". She said while shifting her attention from the elder's face towards the child wrapped in blankets. She looked towards the guards behind him and then back at him.

This was not new. Sometimes, people came to her at night during emergencies. This was one of her duties. But being accompanied by a squad of guards was the first.

She failed to notice that the elder's white robes were not wet and free of any mud stains even when it was raining heavily.

It was due to the sleepy state she was in and all her concentration was on the elder's silver eyes. The guards were standing behind the elder at some distance so they could also not see much.

"Two injections. One for fever. Another for the common cold." The elder said in a calm voice.

Maria's eyebrow rose at the demand.

"Is his situation dangerous? Can you even use the injections?"

"Yes. And I can use the injections." The elder nodded confidently while replying.

"Very well. Don't blame me if something happens to the child." After saying her piece, she headed inside. Two minutes later, she returned with a small box and handed it to the elder.

Before she could say anything after handing over the medication, the elder took out three silver coins from one of the pockets in his upper garment and handed them to her.

"The injections cost only one silver and thirty-nine bronze coins." Maria said while looking towards the three silver coins on his right hand's palm.

"Keep the rest." After saying his piece, the elder sat down on a bench near him and exposed Jacob's left arm. He injected both the injections one after another at two different spots on his arm.

Maria was also standing there at some distance with her torch under an umbrella. So, everyone there could see each other's faces to some degree due to the light of the torch. But the torchlight was still not enough to fully illuminate bodies.

A young guard standing there flinched as recognition flashed through his eyes.

As if on cue, the elder instantly looked up from Jacob's exposed arm towards that particular guard.

"Young man. Why don't you tell your captain that you know me?"

The guard flinched again due to suddenly being addressed and stared at the shining silver eyes.

"Ah. Oh yes. I know him, captain."

"Who is he and how do you know him?" The captain raised his right eyebrow in annoyance. He was annoyed that they could not identify him earlier due to the lack of a torch. Some fool among them had managed to ruin the torch under the rain just when it started.

"He is a woodcutter. He had been coming to our city to sell wood for the past decade or so."

"There are many woodcutters who come to our city a daily basis. Do you remember them all?"

The young guard took a deep breath as if preparing for a large reply.

"I remember him because he is a bit strange. He comes on every first of every month, never late or early by even one day. He has peculiar silver eyes and has a strange name. He calls himself Father. This is why I could remember him."

The squad captain only nodded at his after listening to his reply and turned towards the elder.

"So....Father. What a strange name. Your love for the children should be amazing. Tell me. What are you doing in the city tonight? As far as I remember, there are still thirteen days to go until the start of the next month."

"I already told you. My son is sick. I have to look after him."

The captain became silent after the elder's reply. He was thinking about something.

Should I let him go? He clearly looks like a friendly old man next door, albeit with great vitality. No wrinkles at all. Just what does he eat? Isn't he too old to have a child? Maybe he married late. It is nothing new. What about his character? I should ask that junior about his nature.

The captain turned his head towards the previous guard and asked him a question. "Can you vouch for him? Did he do anything suspicious during his visits in the past years?"

"No. He didn't try anything. He just sold his wood logs every time and left in the evening of the same day. I vouch for him. I have talked to other guards about him. They also didn't notice anything suspicious towards him. Well, except his name." The junior guard thought for a few seconds before replying.

The squad captain looked back towards the elder and kept staring into those silver eyes as if in deep thought. After almost ten seconds of constant staring, he broke the silence.

"Very well. You can leave. Do you need any help from us? Do you have a horse?" The captain had decided to let him leave. He thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill here. There was no problem at all. It was just an old man trying to help his sick son. It was an emergency.

"I don't have a horse. Though I don't need any. But there is one thing you can help with. Can you send someone with me to the south gates? I usually enter from the west gates but since the south city gates are closer, I will leave from there. I don't want a repeat of this hassle there."

The squad captain did not find anything suspicious from it and ordered the guard who vouched for the elder to accompany him.

After that, the elder got up from the bench and started walking towards the south gate. He left everyone standing there without even saying a thank you or a farewell. The young guard almost broke into a run to catch up with the elder before he lost him in the dark streets.

The guards looked at each other with strange faces. Some found it rude while some strange. It was only the guard captain who was trying to link this strange event with rationality. Maybe he is angry at us due to the fuss we created.

With a shrug, he along with his charges left to patrol the streets. Maria also entered her house and closed the door while thinking about the seemingly rude behaviour of that senior.

After about five minutes, the elder along with the young guard reached the city gates. The guards standing at the gates did not stop the elder and let him pass, seeing the guard who was accompanying him.

"Who is he and where is he going with that child? One of the guards at the gates asked the young guard who had accompanied the elder till the gates.

"He is a senior who lives outside. He came to the city because his child is sick."

"Did he get the medicine?"

"Yes. He did."

"Hey. Something is bothering me. Isn't he too old to have a child?"

Upon hearing a seemingly logical question from a fellow guard of the Storm clan, he looked towards him in disdain and said, "Ha. What do you know? Some great men can marry even when one of their feet is in the grave. We cannot even imagine ourselves at their level."

After saying his piece, he left them and hurried to catch up with his squad. The guard who asked the questions looked back towards the senior fading into darkness in the distance with a look of amazement.