The black-haired benefactor

Anna was fidgeting in place, unable to contain her excitement at the thought of a delicacy such as an actual skewer. She was gulping her saliva so as to not start drooling all over the place, and her stomach was growling louder with each second that passed.

She clenched her fists on the worn-out fabric of her dress and…

"THIEF!"

"!?!?"

Someone shouted, startling the child so much she almost fell down.

Even though she had never taken anything without permission, Anna trembled, on the verge of tears, as it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to make her a scapegoat…

"...!"

With her chin trembling as she barely held back tears, Anna crouched, hiding her face in her knees, and covered her ears with both hands.

But this time, she wasn't the target.

"LET GO OF ME!"

"YOU LITTLE THIEF! HOW DARE YOU!?'

Anna's big brother flailed desperately as the shopkeeper picked him up by the wrist and roared, shaking out the almost stolen skewer out of the boy's hand.

"..."

"A thief!?"

"Call the guards!"

"Forget the guards! There's only one way for a filthy thief to learn their lesson!'

The bespectacled black-haired customer stayed silent, but some of the passersby and other stall owners felt obliged to join the fray, and a commotion began.

It took only a few seconds for the horrified boy to be dragged away by the bloodthirsty crowd, leaving the indifferent black-haired man and the skewer stall owner behind.

"I'm terribly sorry for that, kind Sir…! Here, I'm certain that filthy little thief didn't touch the meat, but I'll make it free. Here's the box and the change."

"You are too kind."

The shopkeeper exclaimed, bowing his head repeatedly while packing all the skewers, including the one the boy almost stole in a crude box, and pushing it together with half a small copper into the black-haired customer's hands.

*CHOP*

"UAAAAAAAAAGHH!"

"Good, that's what those filthy thieves deserve!"

"..."

Right then, a rather unpleasant sound followed by a high-pitched cry of pain resounded from behind a building where the little thief was dragged, and the shopkeeper snickered with a nod while the black-haired man remained silent.

His attention was focused somewhere else, after all.

Namely at the terrified little girl who was standing up on her trembling legs, looking around while tears and snot were dripping down her chin.

She calmed down, at least a little bit, and began looking around, disoriented very clearly in search of someone.

The street returned to how it used to be, with the sellers back at their stalls and the people going around their business, but it was obvious that the person the child searched for wasn't there, and the tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes once again.

"..."

"...!"

It just so happened that the bespectacled black-haired man who bought the skewers moved only a few steps after meeting the child's gaze and motioning behind one of the buildings with his chin.

At first, that startled the little girl, but after some more time, she hesitantly trotted in that direction, looking over her shoulder a couple of times to check if the black-haired man would follow her with bad intentions.

"...ghh…"

"B-big brother!?"

But all of her previous worries were blown away by the sight she witnessed after walking around the corner - her big brother was curled up on the ground in the puddle of blood, clenching the blood-gushing raw wrist of his right forearm, as his amputated hand was dropped abandoned a few steps away from him.

"B-big brother…! Uuuuueeeeeeeeeeeee…!"

Anna saw him like that… and burst into tears, running to him and clinging to his side.

"...L-Anna… g-go… tell father Leo… tell him to get some bandages… please…"

"Uuuuueeeeee…! Bigh brotheeuuuueeee…!"

The boy gritted his teeth and wheezed, but the little girl did not register even a single word he said, only crying even harder at the sight of his agonized expression.

"Oh my, oh dear…"

"...!?"

Suddenly, someone other than the pair of siblings spoke up, causing the boy to flinch and look around in fear.

"...!"

It wasn't difficult to find the owner of the voice.

He wasn't hiding at all.

It was the bespectacled black-haired man who was buying the skewers right as the boy decided to steal one.

And he was approaching him and his sister.

"Uuuueeeee…! Hewp…! Hewp mhy bwothweeer…!"

"GH... A-Anna…!"

As the man approached and crouched in front of the wounded boy, he accidentally brushed against the little girl, who immediately clung to him and mumbled through tears, causing her brother to grit his teeth and hiss.

Not trusting strangers was the number one rule everyone in the orphanage knew.

And the black hair of that bespectacled man was so unique that the boy was absolutely certain it was a complete stranger.

"Yes, of course… Happens to the best of us sometimes..."

"!"

But to the boy's great surprise, the stranger let out a compassionate sigh and nodded. He even put down the box with the skewers to pat his little sister's head reassuringly.

"My master's heart would break if she saw this… I definitely can't leave you alone."

"...?!"

The black-haired man said softly, making confusion break through the wall of pain shrouding the boy's mind.

"I know it hurts, but please bear with it for a bit longer. I swear on my compassionate master's name that I will help you."

"..."

The black-haired man declared, leaving the boy baffled.

The next moment, the man seemed to spot the boy's amputated hand and reached for it.

"Luckily, it wasn't cauterized."

"...?"

The man checked the spot of the cut and let out the relief gaps, but the boy couldn't understand what he meant.

With or without the child's understanding, the black-haired man took out a silver box from within his clothes and opened it. From within it, he took out a dark green marble…

"...!"

…and the boy's eyes widened…!

Even though he was an orphan from a poor orphanage, he at least heard about magic pellets, the little pieces of miracles - the ancient magic available for the rich and powerful.

"It will sting, but grit your teeth and bear with it. You're a tough one, that's for sure."

"..."

With the boy's little sister clinging to him and drenching his clothes in tears and snot, the black-haired man nodded at the wide-eyed child.

"...ghhh…!"

And then he pressed the amputated hand back into its rightful place, making the boy flinch and let out a pained hiss before…

*crack*

"...!"

Crushing the dark green magic pellet against the boy's arm while firmly holding both parts of his limb together as the green light burst forth and then immediately started sipping into the injury.

"For someone who met with such ill fate, you ended up very lucky."

"...?!"

While the miracle of magic was happening right before the boy's eyes, the black-haired man spoke up, making him flinch.