Ruca was startled by the voice. He didn't notice the man's presence before. In his surprise the boy completely forgot that the man asked him a question and only after a while he remembered about it.

"Ah, I-I... I don't know." he answered timidly. "I feel so cold... I think I'm probably sick."

That was the only reasonable explanation for it. Yet apart from shivering from cold he didn't have any other symptoms.