Uchiha Hiko continued onward, wanting to see whether he might run into anyone else ahead. After all, he still needed to find some companions to walk the road ahead with him.
This long journey would be far too lonely if he truly had to travel it alone. Uchiha Hiko was gradually finding that loneliness harder to bear, which was why he wanted to find companions.
The weather had been especially good these past few days. With the sun blazing high overhead, it felt as though it reflected Uchiha Hiko's mood. That great sun made him feel as if none of the current hardships amounted to anything, that they would slowly scatter across the ground like sunlight and vanish without a trace.
"Big Brother, Big Brother, how did you get here? What are you here for? I'm in charge of watching over this patch of trees. If you want to chop down trees here, that won't do."
A tiny child suddenly popped out of the woods and said all that to Uchiha Hiko. Uchiha Hiko found it completely baffling. I have no intention of chopping trees. Why is he spouting this nonsense at me?
"You're overthinking it. Do I look like I'm here to chop trees? I don't even have any tools. How could I chop them down? Little brat, how long have you been here? You suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You can't be an ordinary child, can you?"
Uchiha Hiko found the child particularly amusing, so he wanted to tease him and see what was interesting about him, perhaps to relieve a little boredom himself.
The little boy could tell that Uchiha Hiko was teasing him, so he did not particularly want to tell him anything. Still, he cooperated and joked around with him.
The boy was stuck in