Mino carefully prepared breakfast, then walked out of the hall into the courtyard, ready to call Luciel to eat.
At that moment, Luciel was using a saber to slice wood. Two neatly shaved wooden boards were already stacked beside him.
"Luciel, breakfast is ready," Mino said, leaning forward slightly.
She tilted her head curiously. "What are you making?"
"A drawing board," Luciel replied, setting the wood down.
Brushing off the sawdust clinging to him, he stood and added, "After breakfast, we'll head to the camp for a bit."
Earlier, Luciel had used his mental power to wake the drowsy Rock Tortoise and directed it toward the camp.
"Why go to the camp? Didn't we move everything back already?" Mino blinked in confusion.
Suspiciously, she asked, "Shouldn't we be tracking the thieves' spies instead?"
"Don't you want to leave something for your big sister?" Luciel said as he walked back into the hall.
Sitting at the firepit, he continued, "What if she returns to the camp one day looking for you?"
Mino was still too young and inexperienced—Luciel felt he had a responsibility to guide her.
"That… makes sense." She nodded slowly.
She had only thought of searching for her sister herself, but hadn't considered that her sister might return someday. What then?
"Think about it. Leave behind a message only your sister could understand," Luciel suggested.
He glanced at the pot of broth simmering over the fire, faintly amused that the girl had finally managed to cook something.
"I'll need time to figure that out," Mino muttered, reading his expression. She ladled soup into a wooden bowl with a sigh. "We don't have much water left—it'll only last us a few more days."
She knew Luciel had worked hard all night, yet all he managed was this pot of broth. Otherwise, their breakfast would have been nothing but dried lizard jerky with water.
Luciel accepted the bowl and said calmly, "There's always a way."
"I hope so," Mino pouted, rolling her eyes in an endearing way.
She sat by the fire, sipping her soup absentmindedly. But no matter how much she thought, she still couldn't decide what kind of message to leave.
At last, she looked up at Luciel with pleading blue eyes. "What kind of message do you think I should leave for my big sister?"
Luciel already had an answer ready. "Did you two make any kind of promise when you were young?"
Mino's eyes dimmed. "We did… Big Sis told me to wait for her to come back. But with the Bloodbeard gang's attack, that promise can't be fulfilled anymore."
"Then what about a secret code? Something only the two of you know?" Luciel suggested again.
Her eyes lit up. "A secret signal! Like a password to open the door!"
Luciel raised a brow. "A password to open the door? What kind of password did you use as kids?"
Smiling faintly at the memory, Mino explained, "Mine was a long-eared rabbit, and Big Sis's was a short-eared cat. Back then I was too little to go outside, so Big Sis would leave to catch lizards. She worried about me being alone at home, so she made up the code—only if the right animal name was given could the door be opened."
"Then you can draw the symbols—your rabbit, her cat—and add whatever message you want to leave," Luciel said.
He set aside his bowl, cut two strips of white cloth with his saber, and stretched them over wooden boards.
After all, the girl couldn't read or write.
Luciel had been in this world for eight or nine days already, and he still didn't know whether its script resembled that of Huaxia. He hadn't even seen any writing yet, though the spoken language was the same.
"Isn't it wasteful to use cloth for this?" Mino asked, wincing.
"The message for your sister is more important," Luciel said, beckoning her over.
He carried the cloth-mounted board outside and nailed it firmly, preparing to sketch with the skills he'd picked up as a special soldier.
Mino followed obediently.
"Here—use charcoal to draw what you want to say," Luciel instructed, handing her the board.
"But… how do I draw?" she asked blankly.
"Start with the ground first. Sketch it out there, then copy it onto the cloth," Luciel suggested.
He set up a second board, nailed on the cloth, and sharpened a piece of charcoal against a stone.
"Oh…" Mino mimicked him, crouching down with the charcoal in her hand, still unsure where to begin.
Luciel glanced toward the edge of the camp, mentally commanding the Rock Tortoise to stop. Then he turned back to her with a smile. "Mino, draw a long-eared rabbit for yourself, and a short-eared cat for your sister."
"Got it!" she said, realization dawning, and began drawing eagerly atop the tortoise's back.
Meanwhile, Luciel positioned his own board atop the tortoise shell, overlooking the camp. Slowly, his charcoal moved across the cloth, sketching out the huts and the surrounding landscape.
Two hours later, he finally finished.
"Done."
He carefully wrote the word Hometown in the corner of the painting.
After putting his board away, he walked over to see Mino's drawing.
The corners of his mouth twitched—he barely suppressed a laugh.
The girl was clearly a born abstract artist:
A rabbit-like figure with a long face, crooked mouth, and far too many teeth.
A short-eared cat with tiny eyes but absurdly long legs.
A massive tortoise grinning like a fool.
The only thing remotely accurate was the hut, copied from Luciel's outline.
In short—it looked like a kindergartener's masterpiece.
"All done!" Mino beamed, brushing her cheek with her charcoal-stained hand, leaving four smudges across her face.
"Care to explain this to me?" Luciel asked, amused.
"No problem." She pointed at the figures with great seriousness. "This is me, leaving with you to find Big Sis. If she comes back and I'm not here, she'll know to follow after us. The goal is the little Black Tortoise."
Luciel studied it, still baffled.
Well… it was something.
In truth, he didn't expect her sister to ever return. This exercise was more about giving Mino comfort, even if the reality was cruel. Four years had already passed—if her sister were alive, she'd have come back long ago.
"Yes, Big Sis will definitely understand this!" Mino said happily, hugging the board.
"Good. Then put it in a wooden box and bury it inside the hut later," Luciel instructed with a faint smile.
Inwardly, he thought: If your sister really understands this mess, then she's a god.
For a brief moment, he even considered keeping the drawing—after all, it was Mino's "black history."
"Okay!" Mino chirped, dashing off to fetch a wooden box.