[Nurturing Action: Through sheer grit and guts, you have provided food for an almost-starving child.]

[Considering Target Response...]

[Malnutrition levels shifted slightly. Hunger has been satiated. Investing in physical growth leads to a healthy, strong child.]

Lucien rested on a bed, his gaze affixed upward, locked on the series of text floating on the system screen. He’d read them over and over at the food joint, and even on his way here to Lector’s place with Mikky.

Lector’s place was a brown, spacious tent with nothing other than four comfortable beds and a small wardrobe where countless clothes were stacked.

With no furniture in the room, the place smelled of clothes and a damp air freshener.

When they got here, the duo had freshened up with a shower, changed into fresh clothes, and were told by Lector to spend the rest of the day resting until it was nighttime, when Shaw would be less bustling, then they would eventually slip through the border and walk into Sector 4.

Mikky was currently asleep, lying on a bed opposite Lucien. Heavens knew the kid deserved some rest.

Anyway, as soon as Lector brought them here, he left for the heart of Shaw to discuss something with the Leader of Migali and the rest of the gang.

Lucien had told Lector about his need for raw ingredients, and the blond man had promised to bring a sackful of foodstuffs with him on his way back from the meeting.

Well, none of that currently mattered.

Lucien, feeling nervous and a bit rattled, was having difficulty sleeping.

And that was the exact reason why he kept gazing at the system screen floating above him like some source of entertainment.

Oh, how he missed his webnovels.

Sighing, he read through the screen once more.

[Evaluating the Grade of Nurturing Action...]

[Evaluation Complete.]

[Nurturing Action Grade: E (low)]

[Calculating Nurturing Returns...]

[Calculation complete! Returns Granted in Sufficiency:]

And then there was a list just below the screen. This time, the list wasn’t golden. It was just blue.

[1.) Basic Hand-to-hand Combat Knowledge.]

[2.) Strong Liver.]

Only two returns.

And Lucien had already integrated both of them the moment they got here.

But looking at the returns now, he couldn’t help but feel like they were mediocre.

’Guess it’s just how shitty a Grade E return is.’

In the first place, the system hadn’t been triggered by anything big or extremely significant. What’d triggered it was Michael finishing his food, feeling satisfied, and the consequences of said food on his health.

’I didn’t expect much. But it doesn’t even matter. A reward is a reward. It’s better than nothing anyway.’

Like last time, after integrating the returns — and the process still didn’t hurt — information about the skills went straight into his mind.

The [Basic Hand-to-hand Combat Knowledge] was self-explanatory, and it would become very useful as Lucien grew. It wasn’t just a skill capped at E-rank.

But [Strong Liver], on the other hand, was... different. It didn’t have any hidden effects. It wasn’t even a skill. It was just exactly what the name had implied. Strong liver. Integrating the skill had made his liver stronger.

Lucien chuckled softly.

Hilarious.

Either way, that was enough staring at a screen for one day. He’d done enough of that in his past life to know how the habit slowly degraded the eyes.

He shrugged the system screen off.

And as he did so, he remained silent in the room, staring at the tent ceiling.

With nothing left to do, his mind drifted to something else.

To the things he’d said to Lector back in that food spot.

Lucien crossed his legs, head resting on folded arms as he stared at the ceiling.

’The way I felt back then...’

His heart had stirred uncontrollably, the man had made Lucien’s feelings mix and turn, and before he knew it, he was already heartfully spouting his true intentions.

’Might as well have told him about the rest of the calamities, you fool.’ He cursed himself inwardly.

Actually, feeling that in person felt a little bit...

So that was the effect of conversing and being around The Rock of Mariva. There was just something about the man. That thing always made Sky Ravensborg, the protagonist, open up to him.

That charisma...

Lucien shook his head, sighing as he raised a hand and glanced at the camo-watch strapped to his wrist.

His eyes narrowed.

Why had Lector been so fixated on this watch? Lucien hadn’t missed that. It was hard to miss, really.

He turned his wrist, inspecting the watch.

Was something wrong with it? Was the model an outdated one? Did he recognize it?

It kinda seemed like he did. With the way he–

"Luci?" Mikky’s soft voice echoed.

Lucien’s eyes widened.

’He isn’t asleep?’

"Yes, Mikky? You weren’t asleep?"

The boy remained silent for a while. Then, with a soft voice, he said:

"I was just... thinking."

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

Just as he was about to speak, a memory flashed through his mind.

What nurturing gaze had shown him. Those plagues...

Lucien remained silent, pressing his lips together in a thin line. He’d avoided thinking about this because he just wasn’t sure what to do. Or how to alleviate those plagues. He wasn’t even certain he was capable of doing so. But the system had said something; it’d told him that plagues 1 and 3 were slowly melting.

Which meant that something Lucien was doing was working. He didn’t know what exactly, but it was. And it was better than nothing. So Lucien had decided to take it gradually. Slowly. Let them melt away.

Devastations like that never instantly dissolved.

Lucien sighed.

"Where exactly are we going?" Mikky asked. "What are we even doing? I feel– I feel lost, Luci. I don’t think this adventure is a fun one. You don’t even tell me anything, even though you promised that we were a team."

Lucien winced. He could already feel Michael’s pout from a distance.

How was he going to respond to this?

The kid was right. Lucien hadn’t exactly been transparent with him. He’d just been sharing enough not to bother him, but nothing concrete.

He needed to be sincere to Mikky, even if he couldn’t fully explain everything. After all, they were teammates.

"Michael," Lucien said softly, "you remember what I told you the other day? About having company soon. Four more kids your age to play with?"

"Mn hm."

"Well, that’s what we’re currently doing. We’re on our way to meet them. One by one. All four of them."

Hearing this, Michael shifted on his bed, facing Lucien.

"So we’re going on this trip because of me?"

"Well." Lucien shrugged. "Partially, yes. I don’t want you to feel lonely anymore. It’s bad. I want you to be in good company. And I want you to feel the warmth of a family, knowing that you’re loved."

"..."

"You know you’re loved, right, Michael?"

"Y-yes."

Lucien smiled warmly.

"Right. Get some rest then. Sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Mikky turned.

"Mn."

Right then, Lucien felt his chest ease as a subtle weight fled.

And finally, for the first time since he arrived here, he closed his eyes.