Li Ke and Jinx's New Home

At the Fugen Tavern, Silco tapped his fingers against his forehead, a flicker of anger crossing his eyes.

On the second floor of the Fugen Tavern, Sevika sat on the couch with her face covered, looking dejected and uneasy. Beneath the rag covering her face, two layers of cloth still couldn't hide the blue-purple light spilling out. That was enough for Silco to guess that something had happened to her.

"So not only did you fail to bring her back to me, you let her get the better of you, too?"

Silco looked up at Sevika and spoke.

"Yes," Sevika replied.

"That doesn't make sense. I know Jinx is capable, but she still isn't as capable as you. Do you understand what I mean?" Silco looked at Sevika. As soon as she saw him looking at her, she turned her head away.

She really couldn't face anyone now.

That wretched little brat!

She'd drawn all kinds of things on Sevika's face that wouldn't wash off: a little bear, a little monkey, even a pig's snout. All sorts of things.

How could Sevika go out and face people looking like this?

Would she ever be able to hold her own in Zaun again?

If Silco hadn't pressed her so hard, Sevika would have first found a tattoo artist to cover up all those designs on her face.

"It was an accident." Sevika opened her mouth.

Silco cut her off. "An accident?"

"I thought you were different from those people." Silco spoke to Sevika with earnestness. "I thought you wouldn't make excuses, but now you've disappointed me."

Sevika fell silent. Then she said helplessly, "It wasn't Jinx. It was a kid."

"Wait. Explain yourself." At Sevika's words, Silco sprang to his feet. "There was someone else with her?"

Even when he was disappointed in Sevika, Silco had managed to keep his composure. But hearing what she'd just said left him unable to stay seated.

He came out from behind the desk and walked over to Sevika.

"Li Ke. A kid from Black Alley. You know him too, don't you?" Sevika said helplessly.

"Li Ke? The black-haired kid who's a little afraid of me?" Silco furrowed his brow. "Don't tell me he got the better of you."

Li Ke?

Silco had almost forgotten the name. If the kid hadn't had black hair like him, Silco wouldn't have remembered him at all.

But him?

The kid who hid behind the other children, got scared whenever he saw Silco, only dared to approach Vander, and couldn't even hold his liquor despite being from Zaun—he'd managed to get the better of Sevika?

Who the hell would believe that?

Silco looked at Sevika's bowed head. The curse on his lips was practically lodged in his throat, and he could barely keep himself from letting it out.

"It was him. He's changed. He still calls me Big Sister, but the kid isn't afraid of me anymore. He—he's faster than the alchemical monsters we modified, and he's strong, too." Sevika lifted her head and met Silco's eyes.

"I'm not lying. Jinx got away because of Li Ke."

"Heh. Heh heh." Silco looked up, covered his face with one hand, then smoothed his hair back.

"Get everyone out there. Turn Zaun upside down if you have to, but find Jinx and bring her back to me!" Silco shouted.

"Now?"

"Now!"

"But Piltover is watching us. Making a big move right now will cause trouble," Sevika said quietly.

"The biggest trouble for me is that she isn't by my side. Understand?" Silco lowered his head, his voice already edged with a threat.

Sevika met his gaze and took a deep breath. "Understood."

Sevika got up and left, but her expression remained dark and uncertain.

He'd changed.

Silco was becoming more and more like the man Sevika knew.

Weak!

"Vi, your plan failed."

"Failed? She'll come back eventually. How does that mean it failed?"

At a street corner in Black Alley, Vi leaned one foot against the wall, hands in her pockets, and looked at the tall woman beside her with a cocky air.

"We've been waiting all day. And why did you leave me alone in a place like that?"

"Huh? You looked like you were having a great time there. I came looking for you, but you were busy chatting away with them, weren't you?" Vi rolled her eyes, unimpressed by Caitlyn's complaint.

When they'd gone in, Caitlyn had acted all prim and proper. But after the girls surrounded her and she'd had a couple of drinks, her true colors came out. She'd been showing off and flirting with the girls. Hah. People from Piltover were all two-faced!

"That—that's different!"

"I was trying to get information!" Caitlyn retorted.

"Enough, badge. I don't have time to waste on this. If you're tired of waiting, go back to your Upper City and live in peace." Vi waved a hand.

Caitlyn stood up straight and looked at Vi seriously. "That's not happening. I brought you out, and I told you I'd only truly give you your freedom once you finished the mission. If you accomplish nothing, you're coming back with me."

Vi glanced at Caitlyn and smiled.

Go back?

Back to Stillwater Prison?

Don't make me laugh. What was wrong with this badge's head?

Who the hell would want to go back to that pigsty? Now that she was out, Vi wasn't going back, no matter what.

But Vi didn't argue with Caitlyn.

At the same time, at Zaun's Mid-level Plaza, two figures—a tall one and a short one—pushed open a door.

The old door creaked as it swung open. Dust billowed out and hit them in the face.

"Cough, cough!" Jinx covered her little nose with one hand and waved the other in front of her.

"Damn, this dump costs that much? Li Ke, do you think he's ripping us off?" Jinx looked at Li Ke and shouted.

"This is the Mid-level Plaza. That's just what it costs. He isn't ripping us off," Li Ke told Jinx.

The owner hadn't cheated Li Ke and Jinx. Unlike the lower levels, the Mid-level Plaza sometimes saw people from Piltover coming to buy things, so enforcers occasionally patrolled the area to protect the upper-class Piltover residents.

That also meant the place wasn't as chaotic as the Sump.

Naturally, housing here cost several times more than it did in the Sump.

"Tsk. I thought we'd have plenty of money to spend, but now it looks like we don't have much at all."

"Don't worry. We can earn more together later," Li Ke told Jinx.

Jinx always said "we." If Li Ke talked only about himself, she'd look very unhappy.

Clearly, Jinx was deeply fixated on the word "we."

"Earn money? How are you planning to do that?"

"Maybe find a job here?"

"No way! I'm not working for them. Do you want me to be a little waitress at some restaurant? I can't do that kind of work!" Jinx immediately shouted.

"Then we'll make money on the side," Li Ke said.

"That's what I'm best at. So, whose stuff are we stealing?" Jinx said at once, excitement brightening her face.

It really was something she was good at, and she wanted to show Li Ke what she could do.

She wanted to prove to Li Ke that she was useful.

"We'll see. More important than money, Jinx, is that we clean this place up first." Li Ke rolled up his sleeves and surveyed the filthy, messy room.

No one had lived in the house for a long time. Though the Mid-level Plaza was relatively safe, that was only compared with the Sump. Besides, people with money and power who didn't rely on the gangs would go to Dance Hall, the area bordering Piltover, to live. They longed for life there.

Those without money, on the other hand, had no choice but to live in the Sump.

As a result, the Mid-level Plaza wasn't very densely populated. Most of the time, it served as a waystation.

"Me? I have to clean, too?"

"Didn't you say Sevika couldn't even clean? Then you must know how."

"I think you're trying to provoke me." Jinx walked over to Li Ke, clasped her hands behind her back, and gently twirled one of her braids.

"This is our New Home. We're going to live here for a while, aren't we?"

"..."

"Fine! Let's clean!" Jinx jumped up, spread her arms and legs, and struck a bold pose.

Home.

She liked that word!