"Huh? They're not crying?"
The woman gripped her leather whip, looking at the group of children huddled together, trembling with fear but not wailing loudly. She was completely surprised.
This almost never happened. These annoying kids, when had they ever not cried their eyes out and driven her crazy...
But... it was better if they didn't cry. It saved her the effort.
The woman scanned the group and saw two children who couldn't hold back their tears, but were desperately covering their mouths to keep from making a sound. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"So sensible..."
She pursed her lips, not really caring. After another scan, she bent down and picked up the enamel basin she had brought earlier.
"Here, this really is for you to eat. Eat up now."
She gave it a hard shove, pushing the enamel basin—which was chipped in many places and didn't look very clean—toward them.
The contents of the basin were revealed.
