His sister Liliruca was barely a year old, and her dull, lifeless brown eyes made it clear that she had gone far too long without food, and that crying had done nothing for her, so she no longer cried when she was hungry or hurt.
"Look at that, now you woke up the other rat!" Mara shouted while anxiously rummaging through the house, "there isn't a single valis left, not one, Kael there's nothing left, if we don't get something for tomorrow's ration they'll tear us apart for a drink."
"I know, damn it!" Kael roared. His fingers clamped like claws around Luan's neck, hoisting him up until his feet dangled in the air.
"You're three years old now, so stop acting like a useless burden! Get out to the main street and don't you dare come back until you have enough for a bottle! And take the brat with you! A shivering baby always softens the wallets of those damn idiots!"
The lack of air turned Luan's voice into a high, broken screech."Leave her! I can go alone!" he pleaded, even as panic tightened his throat. "Lili is burning with fever! If she dies now, she'll be no use for begging!"
He tried to appeal to the only logic those addicted monsters understood, the value he and Lili represented as tools to get more valis.
Mara watched him for a second, her eyes bloodshot and void of any trace of motherhood. For an instant, she seemed to weigh her daughter's "worth," but the trembling of her own hands from the lack of alcohol made her snap. Her response was a sharp, brutal blow that sent Luan to the floor, knocking the sense of balance right out of him.
"Don't lecture us, brat! Get out!" she hissed, dragging little Lili by one arm as if she were a sack of trash.
They were kicked out of the dilapidated house without a second thought, the door slamming shut behind them.
The ground of Orario's lower districts was covered in mud and shards of glass, and Luan fell to his knees, instinctively making sure Lili's body was protected by his own.
The girl whimpered softly against his chest, and the beat of her tiny heart felt painfully familiar.
He forced himself to calm down.
He had the mind of a teenager, but he was trapped in the weak body of a three-year-old child, and the worst part was that he belonged to the pallum race, the weakest race in all of Danmachi, inferior in every aspect to any other race, and their only good trait was that they could see fairly well in the dark.
On top of that, he had barely eaten, he couldn't fight, much less escape, so he couldn't take risks like stealing food because it could end in something worse, and he also couldn't distance himself from his parents or the Soma Familia.
In the end, he didn't have many options, because any mistake would mean the end for him, so the only thing he could do was cling to his current role to survive until he grew a little more and could become independent.
He moved forward as best he could, dragging himself along with Lili in his arms, who despite weighing almost nothing due to being in just as miserable a state as he was, was still difficult to carry until he reached a more crowded area, and the sun beat down on them.
Finally, he settled into a shadowy corner next to a dilapidated tavern, close enough to the main road to watch people passing by while leaving a wooden bowl on the ground and readjusting Lili in his lap.
He spent hours watching all kinds of people file past, from adventurers in gleaming armor and merchants from various familias and merchants who belonged to none, to individuals moving cautiously through the crowd.
He also observed warriors who barely had enough for the cheapest food or who looked half-starved, forming a tide of different races that came and went without rest before his eyes.
If it had been under other circumstances, Luan would have been happy and excited to have reached Orario to see so many races, but right now he could not afford that luxury.
He sat there in the dry mud with his back against the stone wall, remaining almost motionless as time passed.
His only reaction was to lift the bowl toward the adventurers or merchants who looked more prosperous, forcing a pitiful face to try and attract their attention.
If this had occurred a long time ago, he would have grown tired of waiting to look for other alternatives, but his stay in the hospital had changed him.
Since he could not move there for absolutely anything, he ended up developing an infinite patience that was now his only tool to survive.
Hours passed, and the small bowl only held a few coins worth a handful of valis.
A middle-aged adventurer with armor that only covered his chest and a shield on his back stopped for a moment outside the tavern, his face marked by the exhaustion of a long expedition.
When he lowered his gaze and met Luan's empty eyes and Lili's extreme fragility, he let out an annoyed sigh, like someone seeing something they would rather ignore.
Without saying a word, he reached into his leather pouch, pulled out a handful of coins, and tossed them disdainfully into Luan's wooden bowl.
It was about 80 valis, far more generous than others, because up until now he had only gathered 120 from several people who gave between 5 and 20 valis.
The man didn't even wait for thanks, he simply adjusted his shield and disappeared into the crowd on the main street, and for him it wasn't even the cost of one of the cheapest health potions, but for Luan it meant whether Lili would make it through the night or not.
Luan didn't waste time, he quickly gathered the coins and hid them in the folds of the rags he wore as clothing, he carefully stood up, feeling dizzy from weakness, and walked past several restaurants checking the prices of the menus posted outside, until he found one offering a full meal including soup for only 140 valis.
When he entered, he tried to sit on a chair, but they were too large and he didn't have the strength to climb onto them, and even if he managed it his head would barely reach the table, so even eating would be difficult.
The waitress, upon seeing him, was confused for a moment at the sight of such a small child carrying a baby along with a tiny wooden bowl, and seeing his clothes, she assumed they had just come in to cause trouble, but despite her annoyance, her boss would scold her if she treated a potential customer badly, so she simply clicked her tongue before approaching.
"What can I get you, little one?"
"One full meal please, and could you give me milk instead of juice, please," he opened one hand while holding Lili and showed exactly the 140 valis he had already prepared.
Seeing that they had the money, she sighed, "fine, sit wherever you feel comfortable, I'll bring the soup and the glass of milk, you'll have to wait a few minutes for the rest."
She walked away, and when Luan looked at the chairs and tables that were too big for him, he simply sat in a corner on the floor.
When the waitress returned with the bowl of soup and saw him sitting on the floor, she said nothing, placing it near him before leaving again to bring a glass of milk.
Luan looked at the wooden bowl on the ground, and for his current body, the diameter of the bowl was almost as wide as his own torso, and the wooden spoon had a handle that was too thick.
He felt a stab of pure frustration, because in his mind he still saw himself as the young man who took care of his siblings in a normal kitchen, but the reality was that now he had to stretch and put all his weight forward just to reach the edge of the bowl, and the smell of the broth made his stomach churn with hunger, but seeing Lili so still in his lap reminded him he didn't have time for self-pity.
If I don't feed her now, she won't have the strength to recover, he thought as he swallowed with difficulty.
He grabbed the spoon with both hands as if it were an oar, dipped the tip into the broth, which to him looked like a small steaming lake, and lifted it with effort, slowly and clumsily bringing the wooden edge to the baby's lips.
"Drink, Lili."
Lili drank by instinct, and Luan repeated the process over and over, it was exhausting work because each trip of the spoon from the bowl to the girl's mouth required concentration to avoid spilling the precious liquid over their rags.
When he judged that Lili could no longer eat much more soup, he moved on to the glass of milk, the glass was so large that he had to use his knees to stabilize it on the ground while tilting it toward the spoon, and he gave her almost all the milk, leaving only a cloudy white residue at the bottom.
Only after making sure Lili was full did Luan allow himself to eat.
The soup tasted quite bland, but as he ate it, he felt like crying from happiness, because since being hospitalized he had only received nutrients through a PEG tube, and he had forgotten how good it felt to eat, and in Luan's most recent memories he had only received scraps and occasionally eaten leftovers from other Soma Familia members just to survive, so when he bit into the vegetables and the small piece of meat, he felt truly satisfied.
Even though he felt full after finishing a little more than half the bowl, he still felt completely satisfied.
Shortly after, the waitress returned with another plate.
"Here's the rest of your meal, today it's mashed potatoes, sausage, and bread."
When Luan saw the plate in front of him, he felt that eating more would do more harm than good, so he spoke.
"Excuse me, could you pack the rest to go?"
Normally, the restaurant wouldn't allow this, but seeing them, the waitress felt a bit of compassion, and it also suited her that they leave sooner because of their appearance, so she gladly agreed.
"Here you go, thank you very much for your visit."
When Luan received the bag and felt its weight, he realized he couldn't carry it along with Lili, so he had to rely on physics, he used his rags, looping the handle of the bag over his right arm up to his shoulder, letting the weight hang across his back like an improvised backpack, then with both arms he clutched Lili against his chest, pressing his chin against her head to stabilize her.
As he stepped outside, the light of the setting sun hit him, and at that hour his parents should already be on their way home, but when he thought about returning, he remembered a very important detail, he was now lost because of his poor sense of direction.
He had to spend hours walking, and it had already become very late, he lost hope of returning that same day, until he recognized another member of the Soma Familia who seemed to have been drinking, and he took the opportunity to follow him from a distance using his night vision.
In the end, he managed to find the house, but instead of going inside, he began to eat the rest of the food, taking the opportunity to give Lili mashed potatoes and a piece of sausage that he chewed before feeding it to her.
After that, he ate the rest of the food, and only then did he dare to knock on the door of the house, only to be beaten by his parents for returning so late and bringing back only 60 valis.