The campsite lay quiet beneath a pale dawn sky, the mist still curling through the skeletal remains of the wooden sheds. Inside one of them, the air smelled of dust, damp bark, and the faint iron tang of tools long unused.
Mino crouched beside a cracked wooden crate, hugging it to her chest as if it were a sleeping child. Her voice trembled slightly.
"Luciel, if we bury it here… no one will dig it up, right?"
Luciel looked around the ramshackle shed. The walls leaned as though tired of standing, and the floorboards creaked with every breath of wind. A crooked smile touched his lips.
"No one's going to bother with this place. There are too many huts around. This one barely stands. If anyone comes searching, they'll skip right over it."
He paused, his gaze sweeping the dim corners, then added in that quiet, matter-of-fact way of his, "And if someone does come poking around, it'll probably be your sister."
That last part made Mino blink. "My big sister?"
