"Yo." Ging waved his right hand at everyone from a distance, while keeping his left hand in his pocket. He smiled. "I'm back."
No one had expected Ging's first words upon returning to be so casual and natural.
His old hat was long gone, replaced by a strange straw hat with ornaments sticking out like antlers.
He had changed his clothes, too. They were no longer so tattered, and the material looked like some kind of soft, sleek animal hide.
This outfit was probably one of the things he'd acquired during his recent outing.
Everyone exchanged glances, but no one said a word. Their gazes shifted from Ging to the group of "people" some distance behind him.
Ging smiled, slipped both hands into his pockets, and fixed his gaze on Gelman. "Gelman, you're back too? What a coincidence."
"We only got here a few days ago." Gelman tipped down the brim of his triangular hat, then looked past Ging. "Ging, who are they...?"
"Oh." Ging seemed to have only just remembered. He stepped aside. "Let me introduce you. They're friends I met while I was out."
"Friends"?
Gelman, Biscuit, and the others all felt a strange stir in their hearts.
Once Ging had stepped aside, the group of "people" slowly approached, their hooves clopping against the stone floor as they revealed their tall, powerful frames.
There were five of them, and they all looked very much alike. Their lean upper bodies resembled those of primates, but they were attached to horse-like lower bodies supported by four black hooves.
They looked just like centaurs from legend, except their heads were those of enormous moose, held proudly high.
As a matter of fact, Gelman, Biscuit, and Shizuku were fairly familiar with "them." Menchi and Buhara recognized them a moment later.
But the