"Wuwu... wuwuwu ah ah ah ah...!"
But when the boy's hand, which had been caressing little Najenda's beautiful silver hair, fell limply, the child, who had been silent and quiet all along, finally burst into loud sobs.
Perhaps she didn't fully understand what death meant, but her instinctive biological resistance to death made her realize that the person who had always cared for her and helped her survive had left her forever.
Suzaku silently watched the boy, letting out a soft sigh.
"As you said, Big Sister, this child truly is a strong one."
"Mm."
Lin lightly nodded, not saying a word.
She already knew about the fighting and abuse of children happening here; the noise was so loud, and this dilapidated house was drafty on all sides with zero soundproofing. Even at the entrance of the slum, Lin could hear the shouting and beating from here. However, such things were far too common in this kind of place, and trying to intervene in every single case would be meaningless. It would only exhaust her to death without any results. Even now, such cruelty towards orphaned children wasn't limited to just this one spot; people were doing the same thing three hundred and five hundred meters away.
Actually, Lin only noticed this place when she heard the boy call out Najenda's name. After all, this was a person crucial to the future direction and development of the world. So, she quickly rushed over with Suzaku, but by the time she arrived, it was still a bit late.
Heroes don't always appear at the last moment of crisis; if they do, it only means they were watching from the beginning.
Though it was late, it wasn't too late; at least the Little Najenda, whom Lin truly cared about, was still alright.
Children are always sleepy. After all, they are small and lack energy, and having been hungry for a long time and sleeping in the cold, Little Najenda fell asleep on the boy's corpse not long after crying.
"Big Sister, what should we do?"
"We will raise this child. It can be considered fulfilling a karmic connection with this boy. For his body, use the Five Weapons of the War God to dig a burial place for him and lay him to rest. Don't let him be eaten by wild dogs like these aimless, indifferent people."
"Understood."
Lin gently picked up the sleeping Little Najenda. Suzaku bent down and carried away the boy's body. A moment later, she returned empty-handed to rejoin Lin, and then the two of them, with Little Najenda, walked in the direction of leaving the slum.
"That child just died like that, truly… 103. What a pity."
"Indeed, for a true powerhouse, no matter the field, to truly grow, talent, mindset, opportunities, and luck are all indispensable. Otherwise, they either die young or eventually fade into mediocrity among ordinary people. This isn't some special human tragedy, but a perfectly normal phenomenon."
Lin and Suzaku talked and chatted as they walked. Along the way, or rather, from the moment they stepped into this area, all sorts of people attempting to make advances, ogling Lin and Suzaku's beauty, and the various ugly displays of human desire were laid bare before them.
"Bang!"
Suzaku grabbed a lowlife scumbag they encountered at the last corner exiting the slum and hurled him directly into the distant ruins of a dilapidated house, collapsing the house and burying the man beneath it, definitely beyond saving.
"Endless scum and degenerates! These lowly commoners show no value in their existence whatsoever. As expected, it would be better to just kill them all in one go!"
Provoked along the way, Suzaku was now at her limit, her fury reaching the heavens! The Five Weapons of the War God, in its portable state, slid directly from her sleeve into Suzaku's right hand. Just as she was about to unleash her weapon and embark on a massacre in the slum, Lin placed a hand on Suzaku's shoulder.
"It's useless, Suzaku. Even if you kill them all today, it means nothing. Moreover, if you destroy this place, those homeless poor people in the Imperial Capital will lose their last refuge. Then, they will be driven out of the Imperial Capital in the name of the Empire's might, eventually dying outside as vagrants. Do you really want to see such a sight?"
"This…"
Although there were endless depraved scumbags here, there were even more pitiful people who had nothing: orphaned mothers abandoned by their debt-ridden husbands, children with no place to go after their parents died in an accident, and disabled individuals abandoned due to congenital disabilities. These people made up a larger proportion.
Finally, Suzaku indignantly put away the Five Weapons of the War God and left this filthy place with Lin. After exiting the slum, Suzaku let out a big sigh of relief. She never wanted to go to that wretched place again. Then, she asked Lin, who was holding the child:
"Big Sister, where are we going now?"
"Find a baby clothing store to buy some clothes for Little Najenda, and then go to a shop to buy a few bottles of milk."
Suzaku was stunned, surprised:
"Big Sister, you're not really going to adopt this child, are you?"
"Of course! I'm quite fond of this child, you know. That's why I gave her the cake back then. Now that she's all alone, what if she gets abused if I don't adopt her myself and she gets sent to someone else's home?"
Lin adamantly hugged Little Najenda tighter, clearly intending to take her home and raise her. Knowing that Lin would never allow her decisions to be defied, Suzaku could only sigh helplessly, reaching out to stroke Little Najenda's silver hair.
"What a lucky Little One. She did nothing, yet she was adopted by the strongest person in the Empire. Her fate changed a bit too suddenly, didn't it?"
Afterward, Lin and Suzaku walked down the commercial street of the Imperial Capital with Little Najenda. At this time, the streets of the Imperial Capital were brightly lit, with people coming and going in a continuous stream. The noisy sounds of the street woke the drowsy Little Najenda. The tiny girl opened her large, weary, crystal-blue eyes, her still-sleepy gaze bewildered yet curious as she surveyed the bustling commercial street.
"Oh, you're awake, Najenda. Is the street too noisy? It's best to go back to bed in your room after dinner."
Lin smiled kindly at Little Najenda:
"This is…"
Having lived in the slum since birth, Little Najenda curiously observed the crowd. In her past, she and her older brother, who cared for her, only begged along the streets during the day. In her memory, nights always meant falling asleep amidst shouts and the bitter cold.
"From now on, Little Najenda will live with us. The older brother who found you is gone, and I will take care of you from now on."
Lin smiled and rubbed Little Najenda's small head.
"Come, let's go to that shop and buy Little Najenda some new clothes."
Afterward, Lin took Little Najenda to a children's clothing store and bought her several fitting new outfits. Her original clothing… couldn't even be called clothes. It was just a tattered bedsheet with two holes torn in it; she would put her arms through the holes and drape it over her body. That was Najenda's current attire.
"Welcome again!"
Lin didn't even look at the children's clothing, which cost over a dozen Imperial gold coins, and simply had it packaged, paying quickly without any fuss or picking. Although the shop assistants were curious about how the girl being measured looked like an orphan from the slums, when a wealthy patron is paying, who cares whether they are a rich person or a beggar?
To prevent the military from knowing she had returned, Lin did not go back to her general's small courtyard in the Imperial Capital. Instead, she went directly to the most luxurious hotel in the Empire and booked a royal suite. It was said that the hotel's owner was from the imperial family; otherwise, the title "royal" would not be something ordinary wealthy people would dare to use.
"Come on, Najenda, let's take a bath together."
Lin said to Najenda while she and Suzaku took off their clothes. The fireplace, burning precious fragrant sandalwood charcoal, made the room very warm. Little Najenda looked around at the luxurious and extravagant furnishings of the room, feeling bewildered and at a loss. Finally, Suzaku personally tore Najenda's original rags into several pieces and threw them into the trash can.
"Ah! My clothes…"
"Alright, alright, Najenda. From now on, you'll say goodbye to those rags. Come, let's get you all clean before bed."
Najenda, experiencing a hot bath for the first time, was held by Lin and placed into a bathtub filled with rose petals. As Lin and Suzaku playfully splashed around, they accidentally dunked the short Najenda into the water several times.
After several twists and turns and narrowly escaping death, Najenda finally finished her bath. Completely clean, her small body looked like a perfect crystal doll, almost glowing under the bright lamplight.
Finally, Rin put a silver-blue silk nightgown on Najenda, tied the ribbons, and handed her a bottle of deluxe sweet milk.
"If you suddenly eat a large amount of food after being in a state of long-term hunger, your spleen and stomach won't be able to handle it. For tonight, just drink milk to adjust your digestive system."
Najenda also felt the world was changing too fast and she needed a bottle of '82 sweet milk to calm her nerves, but Rin clearly couldn't find such a high-class item, so she could only give her a bottle of fresh produce from the Imperial Year 999.
"It's so delicious..."
After tasting it, Najenda exclaimed in surprise, then quickly drank all the sweet milk in the bottle in one gulp, as if afraid someone would snatch it away, almost choking herself. This was probably an experience gained from having food stolen by other street children in the slums; if she couldn't protect her food, it would be taken if she didn't eat it quickly.
Rin knelt down and tenderly ruffled little Najenda's silver hair. Her tiny stature was less than fifty centimeters tall, small and short like a hamster.
"Slow down, no need to rush. No one will snatch your food anymore. You can sleep on a bed in a warm, comfortable room, and you won't have to beg on the streets again. Come live with us."
Little Najenda paused, blinking her big eyes, looking timidly at Rin, but her voice was mournful: "Brother... is gone."
"Yes, so you must always remember him, and don't let that memory fade with the passage of time. You must inherit his optimism and strength, and live on with his passion and persistence for life."
Rin gently stroked Najenda's silver hair, then stretched out her arms and lifted her into her embrace. Little Najenda looked at Rin with some confusion and said, "Then, who... who are you?"
Rin was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood that little Najenda wasn't asking her identity or name, but rather how she should address her, what Rin should be to her.
"Big sister"? She's 17 this year, nearly 16 years older than her. Calling her "big sister" would definitely seem like trying to act young.
"Auntie"? Forget it, Rin still hadn't recovered from Illya calling her "auntie" back then. The mere thought of that memory made Rin's whole body prickle.
"Master"? The trope of slave and master is too cliché, too monotonous and boring.
"Hmm... 'Then just call me Mom,'" Suzaku said, emerging from the bedroom with a jealous look, "'You two are so affectionate, it's like a mother and daughter reunited after many years.'"
"I say, Big Sister, you weren't pregnant when you left the Balutes Tribe, were you? Abandoned by a man, that's why you're not interested in them, gave birth to a child, left her in the slums to pursue your career, and now you feel that harm shouldn't befall the child, so you're pretending to be indifferent, but actually, you're holding onto a sliver of hope and specifically went to the slums to find the abandoned infant. I remember you suddenly got excited and dragged me over when you heard someone call Najenda's name. There must be a story here..."
Seeing Suzaku's eyes deepen and she gradually entered a state of mind, almost ready to concoct a tragic and inspiring mother-daughter drama script based on the facts, she was already spouting nonsense, completely oblivious to the angry cross marks appearing on Rin's forehead.
Rin gently knelt down and placed little Najenda on the soft, warm carpet, then softly said to her with a benevolent smile: "Wait here for me."
Although Rin's face was full of kind smiles, it made little Najenda tremble with fear, not daring to utter a sound, nodding repeatedly like a pecking chick. Then Rin looked at Suzaku, who had completely entered a delusional state, indicating that verbal communication was useless now. It was time for physical dialogue!
"...And then Big Sister, ah!"
"Are you out of control?! Have I spoiled you too much lately that you dare to make fun of me?! I'll make you remember right now who's the Big Sister and who's the General!"
"Ah! It hurts! Big Sister is angry and embarrassed, so it's probably true, isn't it? Whose child is it? Someone from the Balutes Tribe? I can't believe there's actually someone... Ah ah ah ah!!!"
"Crack!"
"You brat, I'll beat you until you lose your memory, forget all those dirty, despicable delusions! You disgust me!"
"Ah!... Indeed, there's, a, problem..."
"Problem, my foot!"
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