Chapter 2 - Leirion

One day later, she was awake.

That day, it’s after turning her over that I could confirm that this person was a woman. Because in difficult times, she could be mistaken for a skinny guy looking at her back. Luckily she was a woman, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to move her back before nightfall with my weak strength and skinny limbs.

She suffered no injury on her body, only had a fever. Her forehead was boiling, yet her limbs were ice cold. I placed her on my small bed, wiped her dry, covered her with a thick blanket, and put a cold towel on her forehead. After thinking for a while, I chopped up a piece of ginger and garlic, boiled them into a bowl of thick ginger soup. I fed her the soup while she was still in a trance.

I was glad that no one had seen it when I was doing all these. These were not something a six-year-old girl who lived in a mountain would know.

The adults were taken aback when they came back, but they didn’t doubt much with the excuse I had prepared in advance. The woman that I was supposed to call Mom was reluctant to let her stay. But after seeing the person wearing clothes that a poor commoner couldn’t afford, she kept quiet. Out of a sense of crisis—the lady looked like she was in her late twenties, though her features were not the finest, she was still good-looking and even more appealing when sick—in short, she didn’t allow my hunter dad to get close to that person, only asking me to take care of her.

This was exactly what I was hoping for.

The next morning, the lady was awake. Dad had gone out by now, and the wife was occupying herself in the backyard. When she opened her eyes, I was the only one inside the small house, a little child who should be harmless in other’s eyes.

But the moment she opened her eyes, her gaze was so sharp as if it could kill.

A chill struck my heart, I suppressed my unease while maintaining my composure, giving her a naïve, harmless smile.

It was not that I hadn’t thought about the worst possibility that I might bring in an atrocious person. It was just that I couldn’t let go of any opportunities at any cost. We couldn’t judge people by their appearance, but looking at her, the chances of her being a malicious person were slim—though this was just an intuition.

But the minute I saw her sharp gaze, I genuinely doubted my intuition.

“Where are my clothes?” She asked after realizing the situation she was in. Her eyes were still sharp, but she couldn’t hide the huskiness in her voice because of the cold.

My eyes were wide open: “Sister’s stuff? It is right next to the pillow. There was no one at home yesterday, and your clothes were all wet when San’er helped you to change. So, I put it next to you after I’d dried and folded them.”

After listening to what I said, she turned back and checked at once. I was frank about this. I didn’t coax her, anyway. I dried all those clothes myself, only dried and folded them without rummaging through them, not even opening her small pouch because the knot on the pouch was rather bizarre. I couldn’t guarantee I could tie it back after I’d opened it.

After seeing all her stuff was still there, she heaved a sigh of relief, then she remembered something and asked sternly: “Where’s my sword?”

I’ve been waiting for this question, so I didn’t panic, only smiling more innocently.

“Shh, sister, keep your voice down.” I lowered my voice and leaned over with the gesture of whispering beside her ear. A hint of alertness flashed in her eyes—probably considered me as a kid, so she didn’t stop or dodge me.

“I’d hidden sister’s sword in the firewood pile behind the house. I can’t take it out now. Otherwise, San’er will be in big trouble.”

I pretended to be mysterious, yet she frowned.

“Why?”

“My dad and mom told San’er before that this world is bad. Bandits and evil people are everywhere. They told me to keep away from whoever has a sword and do not bring them home. San’er hid away sister’s sword first so dad and mom wouldn’t know about it.”

Perhaps because of the naïve and innocuous answer from a child, after hearing this, she seemed a little more relaxed. She looked at me as she raised her brows: “Really? Wouldn’t you be afraid that I might be a bandit or evil person?”

“Sister doesn’t look like one. San’er likes you.” I smiled at her. Turned over, I jumped off the bed and went to the stove to get a bowl of aromatic rice porridge for her. The people living in the mountain were unsophisticated. The family was poor and didn’t seem to be very hospitable, but since this had happened, I tried to prepare better food for her.

I handed her the porridge and looked at her in anticipation. She hesitated for a moment before taking it, but she didn’t drink it, just carried on asking me questions.

“Your name is San’er? Are you the one who saved me yesterday? Can you tell me what happened?”

I nodded and retold the story. It was the truth anyway. All I had to do was to hide my thoughts at that time. Then she asked me a few more questions, and I answered all of them honestly. At this moment, the woman I should call Mom came in. She was a little constrained, maybe because she was facing a noblewoman. She didn’t boss me around like she always did. After chattering for a while, she walked out of the room, leaving me to take care of her.

After all these soundings, she probably cleared her worries, and for the first time, she took a sip of the porridge in her hand, which had become lukewarm.

I daren’t treat her lightly, so I went to her side and asked tentatively: “The porridge has become cold. How about San’er help sister to reheat it?”

She shook her head, seemed to have something to say, then she noticed: “Little kid, although I’m not as old as your mom, I’m also about the age of being your senior. Why have you addressed me as ‘sister’ since the beginning?”

I didn’t expect this question, so I was rendered speechless. I couldn’t tell her that this was an act of flattery to the seniors in my past life by addressing them younger. Since I didn’t have any relatives in this place, I’d kept this habit. Besides, I was pretending to be a good girl just now, so unconsciously, I behaved like how I used to.