Chapter 194: That Man Is Just Too Scary
Sayu woke up right when Bai Luo was halfway through warming up the milk.
The moment she opened her eyes, she gave Bai Luo a very peculiar look—and then promptly dove headfirst into Sveta's arms.
Too scary. That man is way too scary.
In her mental list of people she should never, ever provoke, Bai Luo had just rocketed up several spots—nearly catching up to the terrifying Guuji herself.
Back when she was still in the water, Sayu had noticed him stuffing something into her breathing reed. But before she could even process it, that dreadful taste exploded across every nerve in her mouth.
It wasn't even taste anymore.
It was pain.
Like… a full-body sensory overload that froze her brain for several whole seconds.
Everything after that was a blur.
Sveta, meanwhile, looked thoroughly out of her depth.
It was the first time someone had ever snuggled into her like that, and she had no idea where to place her hands.
She awkwardly patted Sayu's back—then immediately drew her hand away like she'd touched a kitten that might bite.
"...Mmh?"
Feeling the soft squish of Sveta's chest, Sayu looked up and saw that masked face peeking out from above the valley of warm softness.
Her sleepy eyes blinked once. Then—
She took a slow step back.
Standing there in just a cropped vest and shorts, the little ninja looked up at the towering woman in front of her.
"...You're so tall..."
She lifted her hand to compare heights.
Even though she's standing on her tiptoe, Sayu barely reached Sveta's collarbone.
She wasn't even as tall as Sveta sitting down.
"Um... how'd you get so tall? Do you eat a lot of carrots?"
Her voice was timid, but earnest, eyes shining with envy as she asked the important question—completely ignoring Bai Luo and the lingering trauma he represented.
Sayu's small stature was a sensitive subject for her.
One by one, all the other kids her age had shot up like weeds, while she remained as tiny as ever. It was like the whole world was stretching up, leaving her behind.
Height had slowly become her greatest obsession.
At one point, she had even asked that woman for advice on how to grow taller.
"Little one," that woman had said with a sly smile, "do you know why I'm so tall? It's because I've spent the past few hundred years... sleeping."
"Ohh! So that means... if I just sleep enough, I'll grow taller?"
She had taken that answer as gospel, never noticing the mischief in the woman's smirk.
From that day on, she grasped every opportunity to sleep—or slack off.
No opportunity? She'd create one.
No good sleeping spot? She'd find one.
At this point, Sayu had become so efficient at dozing off that she could nap while running, eating, or even standing up.
"..."
Sveta's response was a long, heavy silence.
To her, this kind of topic was a no-go.
It's strictly off-limits.
Something that absolutely could not be shared.
Bai Luo, having caught the drift of the conversation, casually picked up a full bowl of warm milk and walked over with a big, sunny smile.
"That's because," he said brightly, "she drinks... oh, I'd say about ten bowls of milk a day. Plus meat, eggs, fish, and never skips a meal. That's how she got so tall."
"...Huh?"
Sayu instinctively looked over at Bai Luo, but her eyes drifted past him—to the campfire, and more specifically... to the little tanuki outfit hanging by the flames.
That wasn't the real problem.
The problem was how it was being roasted.
"Eep!"
Sayu's whole body shuddered as a terrifying rumor popped into her mind.
They said that the Fatui had a horrible tradition...
They would skin any raccoon dogs they caught—and ship their pelts straight back to Snezhnaya.
Because the climate of Snezhnaya was so relentlessly cold, thick and warm pelts like that of tanuki were deeply treasured by the people there.
"Rollin' Mujina Escape!!"
Sayu instantly turned into a wobbling daruma, a blast of chaotic wind elemental energy exploding outward and sweeping across every inch of the surrounding forest.
In the blink of an eye, her little tanuki outfit hanging by the fire vanished—disappearing without a trace.
"Honestly... what a naughty little troublemaker," Bai Luo sighed with a shake of his head.
He handed the bowl in his hand to Sveta, rolled up his sleeves, and walked off into the dense, overgrown forest.
Ten minutes later, he returned—dragging behind him a small, sulking ninja who reeked of fish.
Sayu was covered in grains of sand from head to toe. Judging from the state of her fur, she had probably tried to sneak off toward the beach again.
"Why... why can you always find me!?" she demanded, struggling fruitlessly.
Her ninjutsu had only ever been cracked by one person before—the Guuji.
Normally, no one else could even spot her, let alone catch her.
Whenever she used her escape techniques, she'd vanish like smoke in the wind, impossible to trace.
So why?
Why did nothing work on this man?
No matter how she hid, no matter how she ran—he'd always catch her like it was easy.
Bai Luo smiled like he was stating the obvious.
"Because you always run for that little boat. All I have to do is go there first and wait for you."
"..."
Sayu froze.
She didn't know it, but he was lying through his teeth.
Hei, Bai Luo's first Class, was a master of assassination and tracking. Anyone marked by Hei could forget about hiding—even if they somehow fled to Celestia itself, he'd probably chase them up there just to have a chat.
While the technique had its limits in distance, covering all of Kannazuka was child's play for him.
Bai Luo looked down at the tiny ninja in his grasp, who was now dangling by the scruff of her neck.
From the expression on her face, she seemed to be deep in thought.
That alone made the corners of his lips curl into a playful grin.
"Let me guess—you're thinking, next time, I'll run to Kujou Encampment instead of the beach... right?"
His words struck like lightning.
Sayu's eyes went wide, her fur practically standing on end beneath her hat.
"Y-You..."
"I can't read minds."
"I... I didn't say—"
"Go ahead. Take a guess."
"..."
"And if you call me names in your head, I'll give you a thump."
At this point, Sayu wasn't just scared—she was terrified.
She stared at Bai Luo as if he were some inescapable demon from a bedtime horror story.
How?
How did this guy know exactly what she was thinking?
And not just once—every time!
No!
She couldn't let herself think anymore—he'll hear it!!
Resigned to her fate, Sayu curled up into a little ball, still held by the scruff, and began muttering to herself over and over:
"You can't see me... You can't see me... I'm invisible..."
Of course, Bai Luo couldn't actually read minds.
But Sayu's thoughts might as well have been written all over her face.
Her expressions were vivid and unfiltered, betraying every emotion without the slightest attempt at concealment.
For someone who worked under a secret intelligence division, she was shockingly easy to read.
All Bai Luo had to do was make an educated guess—and then respond out loud to what she was probably thinking.
That alone was enough to convince her he'd peered into her soul.
As the head of Fatui's Pyro Agent, Bai Luo had mastered these sorts of psychological tactics.
In interrogations, they were especially effective.
And in Sayu's case... he didn't even need to try very hard.
. . . . .
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