"Welcome back, Lady Yukina, Lord Chiba!"
Holding Yukina's arm, Chiba stepped into the Ninja Engineering Corps camp. The moment he crossed the threshold, that call came from the watchtower.
"Good work."
Hearing the distinctly youthful voice, Chiba and Yukina both looked up and instinctively spoke at the same time. A familiar feeling welled up in their hearts.
It's been nearly a month, but not much has changed here.
That thought flashed through Chiba's mind along with that familiar feeling.
Is Xiao Zhe on duty today?
That was what Yukina thought.
"N-No, it wasn't hard at all. Please go inside quickly. It'll be dark soon."
The boy in the watchtower gave a simple, bashful smile as he spoke.
"Mm."
Chiba and Yukina both nodded at that, saying nothing more as they headed straight for the log fortress-like structure that served as the Ninja Engineering Corps camp.
After the two entered the log fortress, the somewhat chubby boy in the watchtower, his face still carrying a trace of guileless innocence, nodded and signaled to his partner in the opposite watchtower.
Once he received his partner's approval, he waved a flag and sent a signal toward one of the newly erected watchtowers inside the fortress.
"Creak..."
Then, after receiving a response from that new watchtower, the great gates of the log fortress slowly descended, sealing off the entire camp.
"What's going on?"
At that moment, hearing the enormous log gates closing behind him, Chiba frowned and turned back, the question escaping him instinctively.
Clearly, he had not expected something like this to happen now.
"I don't know either."
Yukina frowned as well. Though she could not see, the sudden development made her turn toward the slowly descending log gates, her brow creasing slightly.
She had not expected this to happen either.
"It's a