The Enviable, Jealousy-Inducing Red-haired Brat

In the dead of night, the darkness was at its deepest.

The torrential rain had eased considerably, and only thicker mist could vaguely be seen gradually rising.

A massive, entirely black ship passed through the river mist and slowly docked at the harbor.

The woman on duty at the harbor merely glanced at it from afar. She seemed to recognize the ship’s owner and wore an ordinary smile. She did not even step forward to question or inspect it, simply letting it pass.

But just as the woman was about to leave, a shout came from the ship.

"Zhouyu!"

The woman called Zhouyu halted and turned to look at the two figures approaching from afar.

Especially when she saw the little girl running toward her on her short legs.

The woman instinctively opened her arms.

"Auntie Zhouyu! Hug!"

Plop! Plop!

Little Rain threw herself into the woman’s arms and rubbed against her fiercely, burying her little face in the woman’s softness as she coquettishly whined in a milky voice.

"Eh! Little Rain?"

A gentle smile appeared on the woman’s face. She looked up at Baiyu as he approached and said in surprise, "Baiyu, weren’t you out purchasing supplies? Why are you back so soon?"

"Sigh, I ran into a group of water bandits on the way. What rotten luck."

Baiyu stopped, scratched his head with a simple, honest smile, then casually sat beside the woman. "Speaking of which, your life really is carefree."

"A woman no one wants can only muddle through life like this." The woman covered her mouth and chuckled, seeming to mock herself, though there was a trace of resentment in her gaze toward Baiyu.

"…Do you have time now?"

Baiyu scratched his head and hesitated for a moment, as if finally making up his mind. "Want to have a drink? I’m friends with the owner of the newly opened izakaya next door. The food and Sake there are both quite good."

Hearing that, the woman raised her brows, seemingly surprised by his initiative today. She teasingly asked, "Is today some kind of festival? I remember neither your nor Little Rain’s birthday is today, right?"

"I just got lectured, that’s all."

Baiyu sighed, recalling the conversation aboard the ship.

"Forgive my presumption, but as far as I know, your wife passed away three years ago, correct?"

Yun Chuan’s tone had been full of sympathy. "Perhaps for some reason I don’t know, Little Rain had a nightmare last night. She kept calling for her mother. Later, I woke her up and held her while telling her a story before she finally fell asleep."

"You don’t need to be so polite. Little Rain really is adorable, well-behaved, and sensible. I like her very much too. But sometimes, she’s so sensible that it breaks my heart. If I remember correctly, she’s only three this year, isn’t she?"

"So she died at the hands of water bandits… Is that so? What a pity. Still, although saying this may be overstepping my bounds, for Little Rain’s sake, I hope you can move on."

"…Wait a moment. What exactly do you think I am?"

"Don’t treat me like some guy who ought to be hanged from a streetlamp. I’d say I’m a leader of noble character who cares about his subordinates, wouldn’t you?"

"I’ve told all of you many times: with me, as long as it doesn’t affect the bigger picture, you can choose your own life."

"Of course, of course. When I truly need you, I won’t hold back either. Rather, you’d better be prepared for me to wake you from your tender embrace. I hope you won’t resent me when that time comes."

Yun Chuan’s troubled expression still seemed to echo in his ears, making Uncle Plum Rain shake his head with a laugh.

Then he came back to himself and looked at the woman before him.

This woman who had waited for him for three years, who had waited for him at the harbor day and night.

He had known the answer long ago, hadn’t he?

"Damn, damn! So I really was seen through, hahaha!"

Baiyu laughed heartily and scratched his head. Looking at the bewildered woman before him, he reached out and took her hand. "Sorry for making you wait so long."

The woman froze for a moment. Once she understood, a faint flush spread across her pale face.

"S-So even oblivious Baiyu has such a bold side!"

She instinctively jabbed at Baiyu, but she did not pull her hand from his.

They gazed at one another as the atmosphere gradually turned intimate.

Only when faint laughter reached her ears did the woman snap out of it. Blushing, she withdrew her hand and looked down at the giggling girl in her arms.

"Then can I call you something different from now on?" Little Rain blinked and smiled, enunciating each word. "Auntie Zhouyu—no, it should be… Mommy."

At those words, the woman’s face turned even redder. She put on a fierce expression and kneaded Little Rain’s chubby cheeks. "That’s right. From now on, I’m your wicked stepmother! You’d better prepare yourself!"

After saying that, she looked at the smiling Baiyu beside her and feigned composure. "Baiyu, I’ll take Little Rain to change into clean clothes first. Please excuse us for now."

She stood and had only just taken a step when she suddenly stopped. In a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, she said, "If possible, please thank Lord Yun Chuan for me. Otherwise, who knows how much longer I would have had to wait before hearing you say those words."

Watching the two figures, one large and one small, gradually depart, Baiyu instinctively pulled a roll of cigarettes from his clothes. The smile on his face slowly faded and became solemn.

"Land of Rain, Wind Country, Earth Country, Water Country, Land of Fire, Land of Whirlpools, Land of Lightning… War. That hateful war is coming again."

He was already old.

Too old to work on the front lines.

His only daughter did not possess the slightest talent for becoming a Ninja.

"Although Lord Yun Chuan has given us the chance to choose a way of life suited to ourselves, and although I don’t want my daughter to choose the most dangerous frontline work either, but…"

As he thought, Baiyu suddenly sighed. "When I think about eventually dying of old age in bed instead of dying on the path toward peace, and about my daughter being unable to inherit my responsibility, I can’t help feeling a little unwilling."

As he pondered, raindrops as large as beans struck the fingers holding his cigarette.

He came back to his senses and looked up at the night sky, still thick with dark clouds. Then he turned to look at the room from which faint sounds of laughter and play could be heard.

After a moment of silence, Baiyu tucked the cigarette back into his clothes, and a smile returned to his face.

Yes, war. That hateful war…

But to protect everything they had gained with such difficulty, they could only keep moving forward. Otherwise, just as three years ago, they would be left helplessly watching everything be taken from them, watching their whole, happy family shattered to pieces.

So that his daughter would have the chance to choose her own life in the future, so that they could achieve the noblest goal, he and his companions were willing to use the most despicable means.

Even if that despicable means was the war they hated!

Baiyu believed that every old companion gathered around Lord Yun Chuan possessed that resolve.

"Oh, right. Come to think of it, Lord Yun Chuan brought back a red-haired brat before as well."

He suddenly recalled a striking shade of red, narrowed his eyes slightly, and muttered, "I wonder whether the children brought back this time can compare to that little fellow in terms of talent?"

That little fellow whose talent for both ninjutsu and Assassination Art was so outstanding that it inspired envy, even jealousy.

That red-haired brat who was fortunate enough to be granted a surname by Lord Yun Chuan.