The light of dawn filtered through layers of leaves, gently spilling over the mountains and fields and dispelling the lingering chill of night.
Birdsong rang clearly through the woods as a gentle breeze drifted past. The campfire still held some warmth, and wisps of cooking smoke curled upward.
Yuzuriha had risen early to prepare breakfast. A simple meal of wild greens and dried meat sat steaming on the stone table.
The five of them sat together and quietly finished breakfast. Once the dishes and utensils were put away, they quickly divided up the work.
Building a new house required plenty of materials. Stone, clay, timber, and volcanic ash all had to be gathered and hauled over beforehand. Naturally, the girls did not need to worry about such physically demanding work.
Senku offered a few brief reminders to stay safe. Brimming with enthusiasm, Taiju set off with the other two men, heading straight for the building-material gathering area behind the mountain to collect everything they needed for the new house.
The camp immediately fell quiet, leaving only Li Xiang and Yuzuriha.
Watching the three men recede into the distance, Li Xiang instinctively braced a hand against the ground, intending to get up and follow them to help.
The slightest movement of her broken right arm sent a deep, piercing ache through her. The area secured by the bandages felt tight and sore, and she could not put any weight on it at all.
Even so, out of habit, she still wanted to get up and lend a hand.
But the moment she shifted, Yuzuriha hurried over and gently reached out to stop her.
The girl's expression was gentle, her voice full of concern as she softly urged, "Li Xiang, please don't move around."
"Your arm is still badly injured. Just stay here and get some proper rest. It's all heavy work, and with Taiju and the other two there, we don't have anything to worry about. We can just wait here."
Yuzuriha's tone was gentle but firm.
Yesterday's brush with death was still vivid in her mind. She could not forget either the danger or what she owed Li Xiang for even a moment. How could she let the injured woman strain herself again?
Seeing the young girl's earnest concern, Li Xiang gave a helpless chuckle. She could only give up and nod lightly in agreement.
"All right. I'll listen to you."
She stopped insisting on getting up and obediently stayed in camp to recover.
The open mountain campsite was quiet, and for a while, there was nothing to do.
Li Xiang leaned against one of the wooden cabin's posts, settled into a comfortable position, and quietly watched Yuzuriha work beside her.
The girl sat on a flat stone slab, holding thin, tough vines and strips of fabric cut from fire felt grass, quietly working on her sewing.
Her nimble fingers moved with gentle, practiced ease. The little scraps slowly took shape in her hands, becoming neat, delicate pieces of fabric. Her handiwork was astonishingly fine.
Sunlight fell across her soft hair, making her features look gentle and serene. Everything about her exuded warmth and steadiness.
After watching quietly for a while, Li Xiang casually spoke in a soft voice.
"Yuzuriha, do you really like making things by hand?"
At the sound of her voice, Yuzuriha looked up without stopping her work. Her eyes curved into a smile, and she nodded.
"Yes! I love it."
"When I have nothing else to do, I like weaving things or doing a little sewing and mending. It's quiet and really helps me relax. I used to make little things like this at school all the time, too."
Li Xiang nodded lightly, a faintly reflective look in her eyes. "I see."
They chatted on and off, the atmosphere in the mountains lazy and pleasant.
After a few seconds of silence, Yuzuriha stopped working and turned her face toward Li Xiang, who was resting against the post. A hint of curiosity entered her eyes as she quietly asked a question.
"Li Xiang, there's something I've been wondering."
"Where are you from? Your accent always sounds a little unusual to me. It's different from any accent we've heard before."
Li Xiang paused, then laughed softly and answered frankly, "I'm from Flower-Country. I'm not a local like you."
"Flower-Country?" Yuzuriha blinked. "No wonder I always felt there was something different about you."
Seeing her curiosity, Li Xiang could not resist a teasing reply. "Is it that obvious? I thought my Japanese was already pretty standard."
Yuzuriha nodded earnestly and honestly shared what she had noticed. "You can tell! Sometimes your words come out in a strange order."
"The way we usually speak is pretty much the reverse of yours, for example. You often put the particles and word endings at the back. Your sentence structure is different from ours, so it sounds really distinctive."
Li Xiang listened to the young girl's detailed observations.
She shook her head. "So it's because of the inverted sentences."
"We often speak that way in my native language. I never thought that little habit would stick even after I switched languages."
"Oh, Li Xiang, what did you do for work before?"
Yuzuriha looked her up and down. "You look so young. You don't look old enough to have a job at all."
At that, Li Xiang's eyes curved with amusement, and she smiled. "I already had a job."
"I'm a doctor, and I'm twenty-four this year. That makes me about ten years older than you, I suppose."
The moment she said that, Yuzuriha's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.
She stared blankly at Li Xiang. "I never would have guessed!"
"You look so young, Li Xiang! You don't look like you're in your twenties at all. I'd believe you if you said you were a teenager!"
Once her surprise passed, deep admiration immediately filled the young girl's bright eyes.
"A doctor? That's amazing!"
To ordinary people, doctors were people who saved lives and healed the injured.
It was an incredibly noble and impressive profession. In a world this desolate and undeveloped, a doctor's presence was all the more precious.
Yuzuriha turned her gaze slightly, her gentle eyes resting quietly on Li Xiang.
"No wonder you're so reliable."
"No matter what danger we run into, you're always so calm. I really admire people who give so much of themselves."
She thought back to yesterday. Li Xiang had been frightened herself and was only an ordinary young woman, yet she had shouldered everyone's safety all the same.
"You're such a good person, Li Xiang," Yuzuriha murmured.
"You feel pain and fear too, but you never let us see your vulnerable side. You just keep quietly protecting everyone."
Those gentle words drifted softly into her ears.
Li Xiang froze slightly at that. It was just a mission, wasn't it?
Do I really matter that much to them? But at first, I only wanted to take advantage of their status as the main cast, didn't I?
She raised a hand and lightly touched her bandaged arm. Feeling the faint, dull ache deep in her bones, she was overcome with mixed emotions.
In this petrified world that had been reset to zero, she was alone, with no one to rely on.
At first, she had only wanted to survive and live peacefully in this desolate world.
She had encountered the system, and to fulfill her wishes, she needed to earn popularity.
So she had met Senku, then Taiju, the gentle and sincere Yuzuriha, and the powerful, taciturn Tsukasa.
Before she knew it, she had companions, people she cared about, and people she wanted to protect with her life.
Actions could be faked, but the heart could not lie.
She had always thought she was merely taking things as they came, simply doing what she could.
Yet in Yuzuriha's eyes, she had become someone dependable, someone who could be trusted with another person's life.
She had become a gentle yet strong adult who could protect them all.
Li Xiang lowered her head to look at her bandaged arm. A faint warmth rose in her eyes as she murmured to herself.
"Have I... already become someone others can rely on?"
Once, she too had been just an ordinary person who needed protection.
A breeze passed through the camp, stirring the young woman's hair.
Maybe, Li Xiang thought with a trace of self-mockery.
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