Morning sunlight spread across the island, casting a gentle golden glow over the shore.
Inside the wooden house, Tru was already moving around, preparing supplies.
“Check your belongings,” he said.
“We don’t know how long this will take.”
Ki packed his tools along with a few basic devices, while the Worker Girl carefully folded a small bag of food.
She still looked a bit nervous, but her eyes were more determined than before.
Near the door, Butterfly stood silently, inspecting her katana.
Ut 2 leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
“We’ll find Ut 7 today,” Tru said with certainty.
Ut 2 didn’t respond immediately.
“If you can,” she finally replied.
Tru frowned slightly, but didn’t argue.
“We will.”
…
Not long after, the group left the island and headed toward the mainland.
With Ut 2 leading, they began asking around.
Villagers.
Hunters.
Merchants.
Anyone they could find.
“Have you seen someone like this?”
“A person with high intelligence… maybe recently captured?”
But no matter how many people they asked—
The answers were always the same.
“Never heard of it.”
“I don’t know.”
“You should try somewhere else.”
Hours passed.
The sun slowly moved across the sky.
And still—
Nothing.
…
By afternoon, the group had searched through several areas.
Tru let out a long sigh.
“We’ve asked everywhere…”
Ki scratched his head, trying to stay optimistic.
“Don’t give up yet. We’ll figure something out.”
Ut 2 spoke calmly:
“There are no clues.”
Just that one sentence made the atmosphere even heavier.
Tru clenched his fists.
“There has to be something…”
…
While the others lingered, the Worker Girl slowly walked a little farther away.
I feel like something… isn’t right.
She stopped.
Near a tree, there was a small stone.
Nothing special.
But for some reason, it caught her attention.
She crouched down.
“…?”
Carefully, she lifted the stone.
Underneath—
Something was hidden.
A tightly rolled piece of paper.
Her eyes widened.
“Wait…!”
The others immediately turned toward her.
“What is it?”
The Worker Girl held up the paper, her hands trembling slightly.
“I found this… under the stone…”
Ki blinked.
“Hidden that carefully?”
Butterfly narrowed her eyes.
Ut 2 stepped forward.
The moment she saw the paper—
Her expression changed.
“…This.”
Tru looked at her.
“You recognize it?”
Ut 2 nodded slowly.
“The one who took Ut 7… often hides things like this.”
Ki frowned.
“Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“I thought it was just trash.”
Everyone:
“….”
She looked at the paper again.
“But now…”
“This is the only clue we have.”
…
Tru carefully unrolled the paper.
Inside—
Lines and markings appeared.
It was a map.
A very detailed one.
A location was marked deep within an unfamiliar area.
Ki leaned closer.
“This has to be it.”
The Worker Girl’s eyes lit up slightly.
“We found it…”
Tru smiled, relief clear on his face.
“Finally…”
Even Ut 2 now looked more focused.
Butterfly glanced at the map, then said casually:
“Even a blind dog catches a rat sometimes, huh?”
Tru immediately turned.
“HEY?!”
But even he couldn’t hide a small smile.
The heavy atmosphere from before had completely disappeared.
Now—
They finally had a direction.
Ut 2 tightened her grip on the map.
“Let’s go.”
No one hesitated.
With their only clue in hand—
The group moved forward once again.
Toward the unknown.
Toward where Ut 7 was waiting.
~End~