Ah Qing was silent for a moment, lowered her eyelids, and said, "But he's a samurai. There are no good samurai. We shouldn't stay here!"
"That's not wrong, samurai are all bastards, but... he seems a bit different." Ah Man hesitated for a moment, glanced at Harano and whispered, "Someone like me got caught by him... uh, saved by him, and he actually believed what I said, didn't kill me. That's kind of weird—no matter what a lowlife thief like me says, he should've just killed me on the spot, and even talking to us should insult his dignity.
But he didn't. He even treated my wounds, gave me new clothes, gave me chicken to eat, let me sleep on the dirt platform, and spoke to me very politely, almost like he took me for his equal... He doesn't really seem like a samurai—at least not like the others. I think staying a few days is fine."
Ah Qing said nothing, silently protesting in her own way, clearly disagreed with her, but didn't want to argue, so this was the only way she could show her dissatisfaction. But Ah Man couldn't care less whether she was happy or not; seeing that she had nothing more to say, she just waved her hand and made the decision. "Alright, alright, I'm never wrong about people! And besides, the old man's not here, so I'm the boss. If I say stay a few more days, we'll stay a few more days!"
She then turned around and called to Harano, "My little sister came here so late. Can you give her something to eat too, and let her stay here for a few days?"
She was already a part-time Blind Mage and sort of a beggar, with a skin thick as a city wall, and had no shame asking for food. Harano didn't mind and agreed right away without a second thought.
He was already planning to let Ah Man recuperate before leaving, so he was always supposed to provide food. Having an extra little sister eat a bit more was nothing—he wasn't about to go broke over a few pounds of rice.
Compared to the "intel" provided by Ah Man, spending a little more rice was really nothing to complain about.
......
That's how Ah Qing ended up forced to stay. She had worked so hard to come rescue her big sister, only to find her sister's greed acting up—wanting to eat a few more bowls of rice, insisting a total stranger was a good guy, and shamelessly refusing to leave. In the end, she couldn't leave either and just had to hole up here for now. Luckily, the two of them were just kids (in Harano's eyes anyway), didn't take up much space, could share a bed without feeling squeezed, and the dirt platform was big enough for both.
Twenty or so minutes later, Harano barely managed to cook up a pot of runny rice porridge and also boiled an egg for Ah Man to use on her bruised eye. But as soon as Ah Man grabbed the peeled egg, she stuffed it into her mouth in a flash, afraid Harano might snatch it back, but before her neck even straightened and she could swallow, she hesitated, spit out half of it, and—very reluctantly—dropped it into Ah Qing's bowl. Harano was left speechless—people in this era, as soon as there's food, they all act like maniacs. Honestly, it was hard to watch.
Ah Qing, meanwhile, sat off in the dark corner of the hearth with the little monkey, quietly sipping porridge, always wary and distant. If her eyes accidentally met Harano's, her gaze was icy and would avert in a flash, showing zero intent to interact, a bit like a proud, cool, slender little heron, refusing to mingle with mortal rabble.
Harano could even faintly sense a hint of hostility in her look, which made no sense to him, but since he couldn't be sure, he didn't push it—didn't insist on ladling more porridge for her to show his hospitality. Seeing his presence was making her uncomfortable, and with nothing else to do, he simply excused himself and went back to the dirt platform to rest.
Sure enough, once he left, Ah Qing seemed to relax a bit, started helping herself to more porridge and occasionally chatted with Ah Man. Of course, most of the time, it was Ah Man doing all the talking, while Ah Qing just gazed at the fire and sipped her hot porridge in silence.
Harano, listening to the soft chatter, slowly closed his eyes, and as he hovered half-asleep, he suddenly remembered something. He jerked upright and asked Ah Man, "By the way, do you have any more younger siblings?"
If so, might as well call them over too. Worst case, he'd just buy another sack of rice—money wasn't an issue. But seriously, if someone new tried to assassinate him every night, his heart couldn't take that shit. This time he'd just gotten lucky Ah Man happened to sleep outside. If not, he'd probably have woken up with a knife at his throat, and even if he lived, he'd shave three days off his life. And if the next one was dumb enough to just chuck a shuriken at his head from across the yard, killing him first and asking questions never, then who would he have to complain to?
"That's it, that's it!" Ah Man was slurping her porridge like she could never get full, mumbling, "There's just the two of us from Haidong County, you can sleep easy, nobody else will bother you tonight."
"Good, that's what I like to hear!"
Harano finally relaxed, tucked his silly kid in, and lay down, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep.