"Whoo..."
The strong wind caused the trees to sway back and forth, hitting the greased paper window and occasionally making a soft sound.
In the study room, Lucas gazed at the greased paper window as they trembled from time to time, listening to the wind outside whistling, sounding as if a "tiger" was roaring in anger.
Winter had arrived, and the whole world seemed like it had been put into a giant refrigerator. The trees on the mountain were covered in frost and snow. Except for the rushing Whispering River, all the other small rivers and lakes had been frozen solid.
Lucas stared blankly at the greased paper window with his dark eyes, lost in thought. Today marked the eighth day since Aiden, Chris, and the others left Sedona City. It had started snowing heavily today, which made him a bit worried.
In the study room, Annie, Helen, and Mina exchanged glances, and from each other's eyes, they could see a hint of concern. Today's snow was indeed heavier than usual.
Today, the ice hockey match between Team Three and Team Four was halted. Everyone had retreated indoors, warming themselves by the stove.
Annie, with her brown eyes, looked at Lucas's back, gestured to Mina with a nod, and mouthed silently, 'Go comfort the young master.'
'Let the young master stay quiet for a while.' Mina shrugged and shook her head. She thought the young master was pondering what to do.
'No.' Annie shivered her fox ears and silently indicated, 'The more he thinks, the more negative he'll get.'
"..."
Helen stared blankly at the silent exchange between Mina and Annie, surprised that they could understand each other's meaning without speaking.
In fact, this was a skill that Annie and Mina had developed over the years. For example, when Mina went to "borrow" something, Annie would stand guard outside and direct her. Over time, they had developed a form of silent lip-reading that only they understood.
"Awoo, awoo..."
The panda, Caesar, who had been sleeping with its back leaning against the desk, suddenly tilted its head, causing its entire bear head to fall off the edge, and its head hit the floor, making an annoyed "awoo" sound.
Annie, Mina, and Helen all stared blankly at Caesar. The panda blinked, then opened its mouth wide…
"Aw-woo~~"
Caesar scratched its head with its paw, then rolled over and over, finally grabbing Lucas's foot with a paw and starting to play.
"Hmm?" Lucas looked down at Caesar, who was acting cute with his foot, and couldn't help but smile. This little guy just ate, slept, and then hugged his foot all day long.
"Caesar, why are you so clingy?" Lucas lifted his foot and, like playing on a seesaw, gently rocked Caesar back and forth.
This scene made Annie, Mina, and Helen all breathe a sigh of relief. They didn't know why, but whenever they saw Lucas looking worried, it made them feel a sense of oppression.
"Young master, according to the plan, they should have retreated yesterday."
Mina, flicking her cat tail, gently comforted him. "With the compressed rations you provided and the coal stove, they will be fine."
"I'm not worried about Aiden and the others."
Lucas picked up Caesar, stroking the panda's soft head, and frowned. "What I'm more concerned about are the War Wolves. In this kind of weather, if they don't follow the methods I taught them, they might get frostbite."
Yes, Lucas wasn't worried about whether the War Wolves could outrun the beastkin Knights, but about the cold. He had checked online from Earth and found that many people suffer amputations due to frostbite each year.
"Young master, you should trust them," Mina said, placing both hands on Lucas's shoulders and gently massaging them. She softly continued, "They are the ones you personally trained. If you don't believe in them, then who will?"
"You're right." Lucas chuckled softly, then hugged Caesar's head and kept changing its shape, making it look like a triangle, a circle, and so on.
The War Wolves had been trained entirely according to Lucas's methods. Plus, he occasionally provided direct guidance or called the team over in the evenings to give them lectures and lessons.
"Awoo, awoo..."
Caesar wiggled his body, broke free from the hands that were rubbing him, stared at Lucas blankly, opened his mouth in a silly way, and then started climbing down Lucas's body.
"Hey! Caesar, are you throwing a little tantrum?" Lucas shook his head, amused.
"Awoo..."
The next moment, Lucas looked at Caesar, who was holding his foot and playing with it, and chuckled. He seemed to prefer holding onto his foot rather than just being cuddled.
"Young master, I'm so bored. Let's play some cards," Annie raised her hand and shouted.
"Bored?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, saying helplessly, "You're just being lazy. Nicole and the others are in the lab making perfume. Why don't you go help them?"
"No way!"
Annie flicked her fox tail and scratched her cheek. "Freya and the others went to the greenhouse to pick flowers. They said there are enough people, so they didn't need me."
"Yeah, right!" Mina rolled her eyes and exposed her, "You went there to cause trouble. Even Freya told you not to help and just stay out of the way."
"Who—who caused trouble?" Annie turned her head, her brown eyes drifting slightly. "I was just curious and wanted to try a few things. How can that be considered causing trouble?"
"So, what about Helen? Why didn't you go to the greenhouse? Don't you usually enjoy going there?" Lucas curiously looked at the rabbit-eared girl.
"Uh..." Helen's cheeks suddenly turned a little red, and she lowered her head, her long rabbit ears drooping down.
"I know, I know why the silly rabbit didn't go." Annie called out with a grin.
"Oh? What's the reason?" Lucas's black eyes were full of curiosity. Among the beast-eared girls in the castle, the rabbit-eared girl was the most quiet and eager to learn.
"The silly rabbit, she's writing a novel," Annie shook her fox ears and said seriously. "I read it, and it's really good."
"Writing a novel? Well, let me see it too." Lucas looked at Helen in surprise. He hadn't expected the rabbit-eared girl to start creating stories.
"Master, it's not very good," Helen blushed and said shyly, "I just wrote it casually. Please don't laugh when you read it."
"Mm! I won't laugh, definitely not." Lucas nodded confidently. Being able to create was a good thing, and he was even thinking of starting a stage play in Sedona City. If the theater were built, the ticket sales alone would be a source of income and help boost the atmosphere in the city.
Helen handed Lucas the notebook on the table and nervously grabbed her rabbit ears, anxiously watching him.
"Oh?" Lucas opened the first page; it was blank with no title. Turning to the second page, his expression started to change as he read—this scene felt so familiar…
Cough, cough, cough... "It's really well written. Keep it up!"
Lucas said seriously, handing the notebook back to Helen. The scenes inside were clearly about his daily life with the beast-eared girls, but written from the rabbit-eared girl's perspective.
"Really?" Helen's light red eyes brightened, looking at Lucas with hopeful anticipation.
"Really!" Lucas nodded affirmatively.
He was thinking, perhaps he could have Helen try adapting Journey to the West—maybe turning it into a stage play or a shadow puppet show.
With this thought, Lucas's eyes lit up. If a stage play wasn't possible, then a shadow puppet show would work.
Sedona City still had very few entertainment options. If they could make a shadow puppet show, it would be like having a "television"—although it would be a live-action version.
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