"Look, Long Yan! We have food!"
As the last enormous bird crashed to the ground, Hada Anna suddenly turned around, pointed at it, and spoke to the dazed Hada Ryuhiko.
"Mm..."
In response, Hada Ryuhiko could only nod blankly.
Anna really did seem favored by fate.
That thought passed through his mind.
At the same time, he recalled several occasions from when they had grown up together, times when her wishes had somehow come true.
"I know. I'll pick out the edible ones with the most meat, then we'll find some water and roast them."
Though the thought had crossed his mind, Hada Ryuhiko did not remain dazed. He stepped forward and began sorting through the animals on the ground.
"Mm!"
Hada Anna nodded vigorously, then skipped around from one animal to another. She looked at this bird, peered at that squirrel, and even inspected a rare tree sloth, humming a tune as she did so. She looked thoroughly delighted.
Mm...
These had probably been brought down by the poison from earlier. I still need to inspect them carefully. Animals killed by that poison should generally be edible, but there was no harm in being cautious.
Unlike Hada Anna's relaxed cheerfulness, Hada Ryuhiko remained extremely serious.
Of course, he did not truly believe these fallen tree-dwelling animals were a specialty of the Wishing Forest, delivered simply because someone made a wish.
Nor did he believe Anna was favored by nature—or some great god—and could get whatever she wanted with absurdly good luck.
If that were true, they would never have run into those Hidden Rain shinobi in the first place.
These arboreal animals had clearly been poisoned by the toxic fumes that had risen earlier. Perhaps the poison acted more slowly on tree-dwelling creatures, or perhaps they had been high