As the sky gradually darkened and the crescent moon appeared on the horizon, the owner of the Sea House, Kai, finally resorted to practically begging and promised not to charge them for their meal. Only then did a certain troublesome little girl, who had barely eaten her fill, and her dog Tibbers contentedly leave the seaside restaurant one after the other and step onto the beach in Mineral Town, where the crowd was growing.
"Mm-hmm..."
(￣~￣) Chew!
"Tibbers, there are suddenly so many people here... Look, they've all come! Even Uncle Jeff and Uncle and Auntie Duke are here, and Rick, that little four-eyes, is over there too... Huh? I think he heard me!"
(????-)?
"But where are the fireworks they promised? Maybe they haven't started yet because it's not completely dark?"
(??????)????
Annie paid no attention to the bespectacled young man glaring at her. She just wandered aimlessly along the beach with Tibbers, eating the special apples she'd extorted from the merchant Huang two hours earlier. They'd cost 500G apiece.
"Hey~?!"
"Little Annie, you lazybones actually came? That's a surprise! I haven't seen you in days. I thought you definitely wouldn't show up tonight either!"
"What, did someone invite you to watch the fireworks?"
The young lady named Karen called out to Annie, who was wandering across the beach without even taking off her shoes, her steps sinking at different depths into the sand. Karen had a bottle of red liquid in her hand.
"Invite me?"
∑(′△｀)?!
"No one invited me..."
く(＾_?)ゝ
"Karen, you're so strange. Why can't I come watch the fireworks by myself? I can come whenever I want. Why does someone have to invite me?"
(*?′?`?)
Annie didn't think much of what Karen had said. She just immediately talked back.
"Is that so?"
"But I don't