Didn’t you hear me, boy?" Jacob asked as he walked towards the little boy who seemed frozen in place.

The boy gasped and tried to run again, but he wasn’t fast enough, Jacob grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, his tiny legs kicking with all the force he could muster.

"Let’s see what you have here," Jacob snatched the bag from him.

"No—please!" The boy damn near screamed, "That’s for mother, please don’t take it away, sir." The boy said, starting to sob.

Jacob looked at the boy, clearly this time. He was small and dirty, streaks of tears running down his face. He set him down and squatted.

"Tell me, boy. What’s your name?" He asked.

The boy rubbed his eyes slowly, trying to wipe the tears away. "E—Eren," he managed to say.

"Eren, huh? I still maintain my stance, Eren—stealing is bad—you should not be stealing from anyone no matter what. People work hard for these things, only for you to just come and steal them—Tell me, how is that fair?"

The boy continued sobbing, "I’m sorry sir, I’m not a bad person, I promise—it’s just... my mom is sick, she hasn’t eaten in a while. I don’t want her to die," he looked up at Jacob, his face a mess.

Jacob studied the boy for a moment. In his past life, he was very familiar with kids like this who were excellent actors.

They’d weep and cry their little hearts out on a lie. He wasn’t easily fooled.

"Eren. Take me to your mother." Jacob said to the little boy, if he indeed was lying, then surely, it wouldn’t go as far as hiring a woman to play sick on a bed, and not on such short notice.

The boy looked at Jacob with a confused expression. He wiped his eyes and said "Sir are you going to arrest her?"

"Arrest—no! What?" Jacob furrowed his brows, "Do I look like one of these officers, boy?"

"Well... kind of."

Jacob scoffed, "Just take me, will ya. You’ll find out when we get there."

They went through a couple of dark alleys and came to a small wooden door, a door that looked like it hadn’t been changed in decades.

The boy opened the door slowly, revealing a dimly lit room, Jacob could barely see inside. He bent his head to go through the door frame, and he immediately noticed a woman lying on the bed. She was groaning lightly, as though she was in pain.

She wasn’t old, she looked about the same age as his mother, she had long flowing brown hair, her cheek and collar bones were very visible.

Jacob shook his head. Now he knew that Eren wasn’t lying.

"Mother, I’m back." Eren announced as they both walked into the small room. "I have brought you some food from the market."

All he got in response was a wheeze from her.

"She’s too weak to talk, but I don’t care. Once she gets better, she’ll talk again." Eren said.

Jacob looked at the woman pitifully and then looked around the room. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it. It was a small space, not even a quarter of his room. The situation reminded him of his past life, how he and his mother lived in abject poverty. He made a silent promise that he would never live that way, even if it was acting.

"Oh, and look, mom, I brought a friend. His name is—what’s your name, sir, if you don’t mind."

"Jacob, my name is Jacob." Jacob finally spoke, introducing himself.

"Eren, I’m going to try something, and I want you to promise that if it works, you won’t tell anyone." Jacob gave the boy a serious look.

"As long as it helps my mom, sir. Not a peep from me." Eren said, performing a zip-lock motion across his lips.

"Smart boy."

Jacob then looked at the woman, and with a single thought, he pulled up his system interface.

’System.’

<Yes Host, how may I be of assistance?>

’Carefully analyze this woman before me, tell me what is wrong with her and if there is a possibility of healing her.’

<Affirmative>

<Analyzing 1%...25%...50%...75%...100%>

<Analysis complete>

<Subject is afflicted with the Dark Plague>

<Symptoms include loss of appetite, loss of speech, loss of hearing, temporary blindness, lack of mobility, loss of cognitive functions, severe constipation, and tremendous pain. After three weeks, the afflicted will pass away>

"Eren, how long has your mother been sick?"

"It’s been two weeks now, sir." Eren responded, unaware of what Jacob was doing."

Jacob turned his gaze away again, ’System, what is the cure for the dark plague?’

<Dark Plague can only be cured with the Elixir of Alvira, made from the Herb of Alvira, which grants total purity from darkness>

’Elixir of Alvira, can I use my Alchemy ability to refine the herb of Alvira into the elixir?’

<Yes Host> 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’Now, where can I get the Herb of Alvira,’ Jacob pondered, stroking his chin for a moment.

<As of today you have 5000 Herbs of Alvira stored in your Infinite storage space, as per the dictations of the Regulator, they were placed as a measure to heal you incase you ever fell to the Dark Plague>

"Ohh, how convenient!"

"Wha—what are you doing, sir?" Eren asked, startled by Jacob’s sudden exclamation.

"You’ll see," Jacob looked at him and smiled.

’System, refine those herbs and produce five elixirs’

<Refining herbs 1%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%>

<You have successfully produced 5000 Elixirs of Alvira>

<Alchemy Talent has gone up five levels>

Jacob carefully pulled out five crystal-infused dropper bottles containing a blue liquid from his storage space and set them down on a small table.

Eren’s jaw dropped as he watched the white-haired teenager pull out these bottles from nowhere.

Jacob grabbed one of the bottles and held Eren’s mother up, pouring the blue liquid down her throat.

"Sir, what did you do? what’s gonna happen now?" Eren asked, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"Well, I created a healing potion and gave it to her. It was no big deal, really. It should kick in about..."

The woman coughed loudly, over and over, her eyes opened, and she held her chest, rolling over and vomiting a dark liquid all over the floor.

"...there it is." Jacob said, smiling.

"Mother... Eren said and jumped on the woman, hugging her ever so tightly.

"Eren! My son!" She exclaimed, sobbing.

"I never thought I would see you again."

The both of them cried their hearts out for a bit.

"Thank you so much, sir, I..." Eren turned to thank Jacob, but he was gone.

He had vanished just as quickly as he had appeared, the boy looked so confused as he muttered, "Where did he go?" To himself.

"What is it, Eren?" His mother asked.

"There was a man here just now, he was the one who healed you."

"Oh—"

"Yes yes, he used this," Eren went to where the four bottles of the Elixir lay on the table and found a brown sack beside the bottles.

He carefully opened it, his eyes widening as the golden glow hit him.

Jacob had left them ten thousand gold coins in a sack before he disappeared.

Eren ran outside the house but still couldn’t find him, he just looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, "I’ll find you and thank you myself one day, sir."

Jacob was already back on the main roads, only one thought was on his mind.

"I have to get to the guest house soon, before I face Xenia’s wrath."