Thank you to "Book Friend 161216093812533 (Heartbroken and in Pain)" for the tip.
The next morning, Bai Ina came out of his room fully dressed, a sword at his waist.
"Hey, kid, you're up!"
Zongcilang greeted him with a lazy yawn, then said, "Come on, I'll take you to the dining hall!"
From the way he acted, it seemed yesterday's fight hadn't affected him at all.
"Where's Loxi?"
Bai Ina nodded slightly and asked.
"He's in the dining hall too..."
Zongcilang pursed his lips. He didn't think much of that helpless little kid.
Bai Ina nodded and followed Zongcilang to the dining hall.
The dining hall was noisy that morning. Groups of eleven- and twelve-year-old kids crowded around the tables, happily playing as they ate.
Bai Ina frowned at the sight. He still wasn't used to all that noise.
"Oh, Ina, you're awake!"
Just then, Loxi came out of the kitchen carrying a bucket of food.
At the sound of his voice, Bai Ina looked over, and his brow immediately furrowed.
"Don't worry!" Loxi said with a smile when he saw his expression. He set the bucket on the counter, flexed his muscles, and said, "I volunteered to help, and I've recovered. A little exercise like this is no problem."
Only then did Bai Ina nod.
"Pfft... Ina?"
Hearing Loxi call Bai Ina by that name, Zongcilang spat out the water he'd just taken into his mouth. He stared at Bai Ina in astonishment and asked, "You're a girl?" He stepped closer and gave Bai Ina a careful look, then nodded. "You really don't have an Adam's apple. I never would've guessed you were a girl!"
"..."
Bai Ina's mouth twitched. His expression darkened, and he glared at Zongcilang with murderous eyes.
Seeing this, Loxi hurriedly said, "Ina's a boy!"
"But he doesn't have an Adam's apple, and what boy would be called 'Ina'?" Zongcilang said, completely unperturbed, as if he hadn't noticed Bai Ina's face had gone dark as a pot.
The long sword in Bai Ina's hand suddenly slid from its sheath and came to rest against Zongcilang's neck. He said, each word deliberate, "I'm... only nine!"
If not for his nature, he really wanted to yell, What nine-year-old boy has an Adam's apple?
"Oh, oh, I see. You're only nine!" A flicker of mischief passed through Zongcilang's eyes. He'd been deliberately teasing the kid, who seemed to have no emotions at all.
"All right, Ina, bring me that stack of bowls."
Loxi stepped in to smooth things over. He knew Bai Ina wouldn't actually cut Zongcilang, but putting a blade to someone's neck was already rude enough—especially since they were still living under someone else's roof.
At Loxi's words, Bai Ina glared hard at Zongcilang, sheathed his sword, and went to place the stack of large bowls on the counter in front of Loxi.
"Heh, let's eat first." Seeing Bai Ina looking so aggrieved, Loxi couldn't help smiling. He took a bowl, filled it with rice, ladled curry over it, and handed it to Bai Ina. "Go sit down first. I'll finish serving the boys, then I'll join you."
Bai Ina nodded and found an empty table in the dining hall.
The children grew curious at the sight of Bai Ina, a new face in the dining hall. They weren't particularly surprised, though. The children here were all orphans whom the dojo master, Kubo Yamato, had taken in, so they instinctively assumed Bai Ina was another orphan like them.
A few even wanted to go over and make friends, saying something like, "Little buddy, we'll look after you from now on..."
It had to be said: at a glance, Bai Ina was the youngest person in the entire dining hall.
Fortunately, the delicious food soon captured the children's attention. Otherwise, it would've been a real trial for Bai Ina, an adult in a child's body, to call a bunch of actual kids his big brothers...
"Mmm, this is really good."
"Yeah, it's way better than what Big Brother Tufang makes."
"Big Brother Tufang's cooking is okay. Big Brother Zongcilang's is the worst!"
"..."
"Tch, you brats..."
Looking disgruntled, Zongcilang carried his bowl over and sat across from Bai Ina.
Bai Ina frowned at the sight and looked around. Seeing there were no other empty seats, he pursed his lips and went back to eating.
"What, you can't stand me that much, Nana-chan?"
Crack—
The spoon in Bai Ina's hand bent out of shape. He gritted his teeth and kept chewing, his teeth grinding as if he held a deep grudge against the food.
"Looks like little Nana's still at the age when kids grind their teeth."
A huge vein popped on Bai Ina's forehead. His face darkened as he said, "Bastard, want me to cut out your tongue...?"
"Ah, how scary... Mommy, help me!"
"..."
Bai Ina shoveled the rest of his rice into his mouth, got up, and left. He really didn't want to sit with that sharp-tongued bastard any longer. He couldn't cut him, and besides, he and Loxi had been rescued by the dojo. Bai Ina would never repay kindness with ingratitude. Now he only regretted not using a little more strength during yesterday's sparring, so the bastard couldn't talk at all.
"Oh, you're leaving already, Ina-chan—"
Bai Ina stopped for a moment, then walked out of the dining hall without looking back.
"Haha, just like Tufang, he's so much fun to tease when he's cold."
Watching Bai Ina's retreating figure, Zongcilang spoke with amusement.
"If you keep that up, Ina really will get angry!" Loxi said with a wry smile as he walked over and heard Zongcilang's remark.
Zongcilang smiled at his words. "It's fine. You can tell that kid may be cold, but he's still got a lot of heart." He turned to Loxi and asked, "So, I heard from Tufang that Teacher Kubo asked you to stay, but you turned him down?"
"Yeah!"
Loxi nodded and said softly, "Ina doesn't like being around people he doesn't know!"
"Then you stay. What's so great about following that little ice block? The food here's delicious!"
Loxi shook his head and smiled. "Ina isn't cold. He just doesn't know how to express his feelings. I can tell that he's always been wary of this world, unwilling to trust anyone. It's as if there's an invisible wall between him and the world."
"Tch, how sappy!"
Zongcilang pursed his lips and sounded thoroughly annoyed, but his gaze toward Loxi had grown much friendlier.
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