A Family of Three

Over the next few days, Li Ke passed messages back and forth with Malson while behaving himself at home and settling into a quiet life.

The Mid-level Plaza wasn't safe anymore, either. The Sump was in chaos, and small gangs were being driven upward to escape the Alchemical Barons. It was like big fish eating little fish, and little fish eating shrimp. With every step of the chain, the numbers grew, and the Mid-level Plaza was now overcrowded. The newcomers had caused quite a stir, too—you could tell from the fact that no Piltover citizens had been seen at the Mid-level Plaza in the last few days.

And going to the Dance Hall?

Don't make me laugh. Take Jinx in front of the enforcers? Although he didn't know how Silco had managed to bury the trouble Jinx had caused, Li Ke wasn't about to take that gamble.

The Dance Hall connected to Piltover; cross a bridge, and you were in Piltover. The cops were stationed at the checkpoint, and every day, the enforcers inspected the Zaunites at the Dance Hall. It was hard to stomach, but that was the truth.

In Piltover's eyes, Zaun had no say and no autonomy. The Dance Hall was the clearest example.

That was probably why Silco wanted the people of Zaun to unite and stand together against outsiders.

What kind of nonsense was it to have someone investigate and search you, and inspect your goods, in your own home?

Over the past few days, Li Ke had also learned the name of the little girl Jinx had brought home.

The girl was named Isha. She'd been born and raised in The Sump, and there was no need to explain in detail why she'd fled to the Mid-level Plaza.

Isha was nine this year, a year older than Li Ke had guessed. She was an incredibly clever child. Even at her young age, she could read an adult's emotions from their face and adjust her behavior accordingly. It was clear she was more mature and clever than other children, and very quick-witted.

She also had an astonishing talent. Li Ke had picked up one of Jinx's little toys and fiddled with it, but he couldn't make head or tail of it. Those toys looked simple, cobbled together from rubbish and scrap iron, but their inner workings were remarkably intricate.

Li Ke couldn't figure them out, but little Isha could. She could even take apart the "toys" Jinx had made and study how they worked.

And now she was learning from Jinx, starting to make toys of her own.

According to Jinx, kids like her and Isha were what real Zaunite kids were like. Li Ke and Vi were the same: idiots who only knew how to use their fists, dumb as rocks~

Zaun's children were supposed to learn to use whatever they could find around them to build their own future.

"Jinx, Isha, dinner's ready!"

In the kitchen on the first floor, Li Ke set the food on the table. He hadn't had enough money to buy many seasonings, but fried meat patties sprinkled with a little salt and pepper still tasted good.

The main course was bread—not the kind mixed with sawdust and crumbs they'd eaten in The Sump, but a big loaf of wheat bread that had been sitting around for a while and had gone hard.

It was tough and dry to chew, but paired with rich mushroom soup, it was just right. Dip the bread in the soup, then swallow it with a bite of meat patty while it was still soft, and you had a pretty good dinner.

"Coming!"

A high-pitched voice rang out upstairs. Li Ke looked up and saw Jinx laughing as she ran ahead barefoot in her shorts. Isha followed behind her with both arms outstretched, looking thrilled. She'd copied Jinx and taken off her shoes, too. Her little face wore a cool, serious expression as she chased after Jinx.

The house had been cleaned, but this was Zaun. No matter how thoroughly you scrubbed, the rooms would be coated in grime again within half a day. Jinx's little feet were covered in gray-black dust, and Li Ke found himself looking at them a few extra times.

Fair, rosy, with rounded toes, and such a contrast between the white and the gray-black.

How to put it?

That sort of contrast was just great!

"Huh, we're eating this again? Awesome! I love meat." Jinx hopped onto a chair and sat cross-legged, grabbing one foot as she rocked back and forth and gazed at the food on the table, her little face full of excitement.

Little Mute Isha was just as enthusiastic. She picked up her knife and fork in both hands and waved them. "Ah! Ah!"

Jinx let go of her toes and reached for the food.

"Smack!"

Li Ke slapped Jinx's paw away from the meat patty and stared sternly at her. "Did you forget?"

Jinx winced and pulled her hand back, blowing on the back of it as she muttered, "So many little rules."

She said that, but she didn't actually mind the rules Li Ke had set for the household. If anything, she was a little happy about them.

She liked the feeling of being "looked after" and "taken care of."

It made her feel like someone cared about her.

So she called Isha over and took Little Mute to wash their hands.

Back at the table, Li Ke gave the word to start, and all three lowered their heads to eat. They chatted as they went.

"Li Ke, I've finished making the latest batch of weapons, but I can't guarantee the quality. Still, they'll definitely work against idiots." Jinx said as she chewed noisily on a meat patty, eating without a shred of grace.

Isha nodded beside her and made two little sounds of agreement.

"What about against a professional gang?"

"Don't give me a hard time, okay? We don't even have decent tools here. Do you really think I can take junk I picked up in the Junkyard, put it together, and make weapons that can compete with things people spent a fortune making? Get real."

"Maybe I'm a genius, but you're definitely broke." Jinx rolled her eyes, exasperated by Li Ke's question.

She was already doing a great job, wasn't she?

She'd assembled a batch of weapons out of scrap. There was a simple iron gun that fired sharp pellets, a hook that could shoot out at high speed, though not very accurately, and a rope trap that sprang out when thrown and caught people if it hit something. The little gadgets she'd tinkered together were already impressive.

But using those things against a proper gang, whose weapons were in a different league?

Then she'd have to go back to Silco's place. Li Ke was too poor to even get his hands on decent materials.

So it wasn't her who couldn't do it. Li Ke was the problem!

Isha agreed with Jinx. She even hopped down from her chair and ran over to Li Ke, then took something out and handed it to him.

"What's this?"

Jinx explained from the side, "A Smoke Bomb Isha made. See that button on the iron ball? Press it and throw it, and it'll spew out a thick cloud of colored smoke."

"You can make weapons now, too?" Li Ke asked in surprise.

Li Ke didn't know much about Isha.

He'd never seen a character named Isha in either the League universe or War of Two Cities. He'd wondered if Isha might be a character who'd appear in the second season, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

What were the odds of that?

Still, Li Ke liked Isha.

She was quiet, clever, and well-behaved. And with her around, Jinx's mental state had improved.

Jinx had been doing pretty well with Li Ke, too. She'd only had two episodes, but Li Ke was an adult, and he couldn't truly set aside his responsibilities to play all those little games with her. Isha was different. She liked playing with Jinx.

After spending so much time together, Jinx had really become like an older sister to Isha.

Put it this way: if Li Ke had brought Jinx a sense of security, then Isha had given her a sense of acceptance.

And why did Isha feel so fond of Jinx?

Well, Li Ke figured that if he'd had the same childhood as Isha—if a pretty, crazy big sister had saved him, helped him take a bath, and slept beside him—he'd probably like her and stick to her, too.

"Impressive." Li Ke smiled and reached out to pat Isha's head.

Isha looked up with a smile, then ran back to her seat, climbed onto her chair, and started eating dinner. But once she was at the table, little Isha froze. She looked at her plate, where all that remained was a piece of bread with an uneven bite mark in it.

"Hm?"

Wait, where was her big meat patty?

Isha looked at Jinx and saw her turn her head away, her profile exposed. Jinx's mouth was moving as she chewed in silence.

"Ah!" Isha immediately realized what had happened and reached out to push Jinx.

"Hehe, serves you right for running all over the place. I confiscated your meat patty~"

Li Ke watched them and couldn't help laughing along.

The feeling was strange, but really nice.

In this strange and dangerous place, with Isha and Jinx by his side, Li Ke had begun to feel a little at home.

Had the place he'd lived before really been his home?

No. It hadn't.

Li Ke smiled and shook his head, then split his own meat patty in half and put a piece on Isha's plate.

Isha immediately stopped making her angry face.

Li Ke looked at Isha. "Go on, eat."

Touched, aren't you?

In this family, I, Li Ke, am the one who really matters!

But what little Isha did next made Li Ke's smile freeze.

Isha picked up half the meat patty with her fork and reached over to pat Jinx on the back.

Jinx turned around and looked at Isha.

Isha gave a cool little nod.

Jinx opened her mouth, and Isha put the meat patty into it.

The little girl beamed with delight.

Li Ke, watching from the side: "???"

What about me?