I Won't Come Whether There's Something or Not

Jason's original intention in asking Roy to help take care of Jentis wasn't just to assist the little girl who lacked life skills but more so to have someone protect her, not from outside criminals, but from these strange entities.

He couldn't be entirely sure why the individuals Jentis named Cinderella weren't harming her, but there was definitely a part of the reason being that he was here, deterring them from making a move.

During his absence, if Jentis didn't have someone to protect her, given her ghost-fearing nature, she wouldn't be able to live alone. He couldn't shake off his worry.

But who would have thought that Roy, this guy, would also be afraid of ghosts, with a fear level almost equal to Jentis's?

Jason rubbed his temples and kicked away the guy who kept sticking to him, disdainfully saying, "Get lost! Stay away from me! Stop clinging to me!"

Roy, getting kicked, restrained himself a bit, but still said, "I'm scared, who knows if those two guys will come back again?"

Jason: ...After being exposed as being afraid of ghosts, this guy really has no shame left.

"Unless you get me a magic dagger too," Roy made a demand.

Jason: "Go get one yourself!" Wasn't he into archery? Why does he need a dagger?

The next day, the girl slept well. Perhaps she had become accustomed to being scared at night, or perhaps it was the psychological effect of the magic dagger, but she slept through the night without waking up.

Jason walked out of another room, yawning. "Good morning, Jenny."

"Morning, Jason." Jentis glanced at his complexion. "You don't seem to have slept well."

Jason rubbed his messy hair, a trace of helplessness flashing in his blue eyes. "It's okay."

There was no food left in the house, the fridge was empty, and you could tell Roy hadn't gone to restock.

After Jentis finished washing up, Roy reluctantly got up, feeling spiritless. He had had nightmares last night. Two female ghosts fighting in his dream. When they noticed him, they pounced on him and tore him apart. It was probably the weirdest scene he had ever seen in his life, even weirder than Jason raising a child.

"Good morning, girl, looks like you had a good dream last night." Roy said wearily.

Jentis stared at his expression and said, "Because Jason came back." She felt very safe.

Roy instantly looked like he had been struck. He waved his hand and sat down at the only intact chair at the dining table. The others had been damaged in the fight between the two female ghosts.

He had intended to sit on the sofa, but when he saw the scratches left by the female ghosts, he wilted.

So, after finishing a hearty breakfast prepared by Jason, he left in a hurry, leaving behind only one sentence, "I won't come whether there's something or not, and if there's something, I still won't come! Goodbye, girl! Come find me to play if you have the chance!"

Jentis: He seems even more scared than me.

Jason: Who says he isn't? He might as well have "fleeing in panic" written all over him.

"Alright, let's go. I'll take you to school." Jason was about to turn back.

"I'm off today."

A sentence changed Jason's plans. "Okay, if you're off, let's go pick out some furniture and buy some food."

"Okay."

"Does that guy Roy take you out to eat takeout every day?" Jason was highly skeptical of this.

Jentis recalled, "No, we ate at restaurants outside."

Jason reluctantly accepted this. He didn't expect Roy to be much good, as long as the little girl didn't look thin.

He even found it might not be a bad thing to leave for a few days. The girl's ability to take care of herself had improved significantly. It showed that even if he was outside, she wouldn't revert back to her previous ghostly state, but Jason wasn't going to abandon her.

...

Jason knew the girl missed him very much, so he gave her a big hug when they met. But that didn't mean he would agree to her following him on nocturnal activities. Jason refused her again, "No, Jenny, stay at home."

"I won't," Jentis was very stubborn. She looked at Jason resolutely and said, "I can, and you need me to."

"Jenny..." Jason wanted to say something more, but Jentis continued, "I've learned a lot. I can use everything Roy gave me."

"It's not because of this," Jason sighed. "You know you're still a child, right? I taught you all kinds of martial arts not to make you my assistant or to go into battle, but to give you the ability to protect yourself. And having Roy make those things is for the same reason."

"No," Jentis pursed her lips, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes, but she quickly strengthened her resolve. "I listen to you, learn from you, because I want to be your teammate, a trusted partner, just like you and Roy."

Jason sighed silently. How could he not know? The little girl was trying so hard, but she didn't understand the cruelty of battle. Perhaps the next second she would die, and that was something he didn't want to see.

"Can I still turn into a bird and follow you like before?" Jason compromised. Did he really have no intention of treating her as a partner when he let Jentis train? No, he did, but he still couldn't get past the psychological barrier of letting a child go into battle. He didn't want her to experience the pain he had experienced.

Jentis was satisfied, Jentis was happy, Jentis turned into a little bird chirping happily.

Jason: Good, still can't understand her bird language.

In the depths of Gotham at midnight, the rain was fine but it couldn't deter their determination and actions to combat crime.

Batman swiftly flew through the night, leaving no trace behind.

Red Hood rode his motorcycle through the streets and alleys of Gotham's East End. He hadn't appeared recently, and inevitably, there were some rebellious elements in the forces he controlled. When they found he wasn't appearing, certain activities became more rampant.

The fine rain dampened Jentis's feathers. She now pitifully stood under the eaves, shaking her wet feathers. Fortunately, only the surface feathers were wet, and the deeper layers remained dry.

Today's heavy rain in Gotham seemed to be washing something away, pouring harder and harder, not considering the people who were running around the city from east to west, from south to north in the dead of night.

Jentis never thought this city was gentle. On the contrary, those who lacked power couldn't live freely in this city. But even if you had power, you couldn't truly live freely. Here, in the darkness, there were countless pairs of eyes watching you.

But even in these cities, there were still people who appeared ferocious on the outside but were gentle inside, such as Red Hood, which Jentis personally verified.

She stretched her wings, about to leave when she noticed something was off, like why was that camera constantly pointing at her?

She tilted her head in confusion, looking at the camera that kept flashing red to indicate it was working, but it was clearly aimed at her.

But she didn't understand, what use was it monitoring her as a bird?

"Hey, little bird? Do you know where Red Hood is?" Suddenly, a very young voice came from not far away.

Jentis turned her head to look, and on a billboard not far away, a young man appeared, a guy who had appeared alongside Batman before—Robin.

She squinted her eyes and didn't speak. Robin didn't mind either. He smiled and said, "Red Hood is your master, right? Can you take me to him?"

Jentis moved to the side, turning her head in the other direction, indicating her refusal to communicate with him.

"Little Sparrow, if you don't go find your master now, you might be caught by someone," Robin said with a smile. On his way here, he saw many people chasing after the little bird with bird-catching tools.

Jentis wasn't stupid. This guy was looking for Red Hood because of Batman behind him. She couldn't possibly do those things.

She shook her wings, and when she heard the commotion not far away, she spread her wings and flew into the rain curtain.

Robin thought she was going to find Red Hood, but instead, she flew towards the people trying to catch her. High up and silently, if it weren't for her conspicuous color, he might have lost sight of her already.

The little bird hovered about five or six meters high, visible but out of reach. Even if those people had guns, it was no use. The bird didn't seem to sense the danger approaching, which Robin had planned to intercept.

But when the gun fired, the little bird moved aside, the bullet grazing her, and the men below cursed angrily. The bird chirped as if mocking them.

Robin: Truly worthy of being Red Hood's sparrow, even dodging bullets.

The little bird didn't seem to care about being discovered for her special abilities, perhaps not considering it special.

The little bird chirped mockingly a few times and looked in Robin's direction. She thought he was more interesting than Robin.

She flew to a place not far from Robin in the pouring rain. "Chirp."

Robin: ...

The people over there looked in the direction the bird was flying, and when they saw Robin, they were suddenly shocked and fled in panic.

"Isn't that the bird of Red Hood? Not Robin's?"

"Who the hell knows?"

Jentis chirped a few times, wondering why they were so afraid of Robin.

Robin didn't understand. After pondering for a moment, he said to himself, "Look, I helped scare away the enemy for you. How about you take us to find Red Hood?"

Jentis wanted to roll her eyes, but couldn't succeed. Was he really trying to get her to betray Jason like this? That was impossible.

Robin wasn't really expecting the sparrow to take him anywhere. If it did, the bird would be too clever. He was just playing with the bird. However, the bird's reaction made him feel like it really understood everything he was saying.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Robin asked cautiously, staring closely at the bird's reaction. Through the rain curtain, he couldn't see very clearly.

Jentis shook off the rainwater from her feathers, spread her wings, pushed off the ground with force, and flew into the night of Gotham, leaving Robin far behind.

It became more difficult to travel and find people in the rain at night, and the rain kept getting heavier. In the end, Jentis stopped under the eaves to take shelter from the rain.

Of course, even if she didn't go find Red Hood, based on the tracker on her, Red Hood would come to find his little sparrow whose progress was hindered by the rain.