CH 18

Chapter 18: How to know when someone left?

Since they had enough wood, and only the roof was left.

Thanks to the grooves left in the walls in advance and Mu Liang’s strength, it took about ten minutes to complete the wooden structure of the roof.

“Mu Liang, I’ll lay the stone bricks and you’ll give me the stone bricks.” Mino lightly climbed onto the roof.

“You should be careful and stand firm.” Mu Liang handed her the stone brick and warned.

“I know.”

Mino happily laid the stone bricks. She was already imagining what it would be like to live in the new house.

Their work was only half done when it got dark.

A bonfire was lit in the courtyard, and the two of them kept working.

One hour later, the roof of the house was completed.

Then the rock armor tortoise connected all the stone bricks into one, and there was no fear of leakage when it rained.

“It’s finally done.” Mino excitedly jumped down from the top of the house.

Her hands were tightly clenched into fists. She had been excited all day, but now she was able to calm down.

“Let’s start moving and bring everything here.” Mu Liang patted the young girl’s shoulder.

“Hmm.” Mino nodded heavily.

The young girl didn’t have to move many things.

There was only one pillow, a wooden board for making the bed, two wooden bowls, a wooden bucket, and the door of the wooden shed.

Mino planned to lay the wooden board on her own bed.

Yes, she had even taken away the wooden door of the wooden shed. She planned to use it as the door of her room. It could be considered a reminder of her life with her sister.

In the end, everything else, except for the wooden shed that she did not want to break, was moved away.

“……” Mu Liang held the torch and silently stood at the door of the wooden shed.

He watched as Mino held her pillow and stood still in the middle of the wooden shed.

Mu Liang didn’t stop the young girl’s behavior.

He didn’t have much hope that they would be able to find Mino’s sister in the future.

The young girl kept some things that her sisters had left for her, but it was also a different kind of companionship.

“Let’s go.” Mino bit her lower lip and turned around with the pillow in her arms.

She really didn’t know if she could come back again after leaving.

“……” Mu Liang didn’t comfort her. Anything he said now would be pale.

He led the young girl towards the rock armor tortoise.

She still looked back several times, even if the wooden shed couldn’t be seen in the dark night.

When Mino returned to the rock armor tortoise, she revealed a happy smile and started to run in and out of the room.

She hugged the pillow, approached Mu Liang, and excitedly asked, “Is this room really mine?”

“Yes, you can do whatever you want with it.” Mu Liang smiled affirmatively.

“Hehehe~~ I’ll go clean up my room.”

Mino let out a melodious laugh and ran into the room once again.

“Let’s clean up tomorrow.” Mu Liang looked at the things piled up in the courtyard and hall.

He was already hungry, so he decided to prepare the fire pit in the hall for dinner.

The fire pit was a square, just like the one in the wooden shed, with a layer of soil at the bottom and a layer of sand for insulation.

Then its roof was connected to a smoke exhaust pipe to make an outlet for smoke.

“The fire pit and the chimney are done.” Mu Liang clapped his hands and looked at his masterpiece.

He joked to himself, “This Earth Rock Burst ability is considered to have developed a new use today.”

He made a simple hanger, hung the steel pot, poured water to stew broth, and started preparing the barbecue.

“Sniff~~” Mino sniffed her nose, and her head poked out from the door of the room.

She blankly stared at the fire pit, as well as the barbecue and the stew on the flame.

“Why are you stupidly standing there? Aren’t you hungry?”

Mu Liang turned over the meat. Since there was no seasoning, they had to enjoy the original flavor of the eat.

“Of course, I’m hungry.” If Mino wasn’t very excited about building a new house, she would have been so hungry that she would not even want to move.

She sat near the fire pit, stared at the stew and barbecue. She opened her mouth to remind him to save meat.

Looking up, Mino saw Mu Liang’s dirty face, and she changed her mind. “Is it done yet?”

As they had been busy for the whole day and had moved to a new home, they should eat more as a celebration.

“The soup needs to be stewed for a bit longer before it will taste like meat.” Mu Liang stared at the young girl in surprise

He had already thought of an excuse because he thought that he would be lectured by her.

“Didn’t you say that thief scouts would come tomorrow?”

Mino became embarrassed upon being stared at and shyly changed the topic. “Then how are we going to make the camp look like the people just left tomorrow?”

“Let’s suppose you are a scout, and you come to the camp.”

Mu Liang turned over the barbecue and gently asked, “How are you going to know when everyone left?”

He couldn’t directly give her the answer of some things. He wanted to give the young girl something to think about.

Since both of them were going to live together in the future, Mu Liang would slowly teach her some of his survival skills and experience.

“Let’s see……” Mino pursed her lips, her rabbit ears tangled together, and thought hard about it.

When she lowered her head to think, she saw her feet and toes.

“I know. You check footprints, right?” Mino raised her head and excitedly shouted.

“That’s right. The depth of the footprints can be used to calculate the time when someone left.”

Mu Liang nodded in appreciation and continued speaking, “They can also use another simple method besides footprints.”

“What method?” Mino blinked her curious blue eyes.

“The degree of burning and temperature of the charcoal.”

Mu Liang taught the girl what he had learned from the army. “If you know how long it takes for the charcoal to burn up, and the soil under the bonfire to cool down…… You’ll be able to calculate the time when someone has left.”

“I understand.” Mino nodded in confusion.

“Hurry up and eat. You will have the strength to work when you are full.” Mu Liang handed a skewer of grilled meat to the girl.

“Okay.” Mino absent-mindedly took the barbecue. She was still thinking about what he just said.

“Snap!”

Mu Liang bent his fingers and flicked her forehead.

“Ah!” Mino let out a cute cry of pain.

“Concentrate on eating.”

Mu Liang filled a bowl with broth and shoved it into the hands of the young girl.

“Oh.” Mino pouted and took the wooden bowl grievously.