"Oh? You know that town too."
The hunter's tone seemed much more relaxed.
"I thought you were a group of... adventurers. After all, on an ordinary day, you wouldn't run into two Dwarf gentlemen at once."
He looked at Gravel, then at Kuru.
The camp was lightly veiled by mist, making him think there were only three "people" before him.
"Shave off his goat beard. Why do you humans always call every short person a Dwarf?
This Kobold is so skinny. I wouldn't object if you called him a Gnome or a Halfling!"
Gravel stomped his feet in anger.
"We're the sturdiest and strongest. Halflings have the pointiest ears. Gnomes have the biggest heads—Is that so hard to tell apart?"
"Forgive him. You should know that the people of Star Plum Town almost never leave this forest.
The only short people they've seen in their lives, besides you, are children who haven't grown up yet."
Tang Qi held back a smile as he soothed him. Seeing that Kuru had already buried the bodies with Earth Shaping, he felt somewhat relieved and called out to the distant hunter.
"Actually... we just left Star Plum Town. With everyone from the whole town."
The words clearly stunned the hunter for a moment. He hesitated before confirming.
"Sorry, perhaps I misheard—you said you brought everyone from the entire town?"
"Yes. The town was raided by Beastfolk. Didn't you know?"
"Beastfolk!?"
He looked startled.
"How could Beastfolk appear in this forest? I've never seen them!"
"Those Beastfolk came from the south. If you live farther north, it's normal not to have encountered them. In any case, I'm trying to lead them to Dragon Gold City. Do you want to catch up with your old acquaintances?"
"No, better not."
The hunter raised his completely wolf-like hands.