East of Dovaru Village, north of Karthus Forest.
"Lulala lulala lulu lalala~?"
??(′?｀?)???
At that moment, Annie was sitting on Tibbers' shoulders, humming some unknown tune, while the occasional roar of monsters rang out from the dense woods lining the road.
Annie didn't pay it any mind, though, and simply let her Little Bear Tibbers keep walking.
After rescuing Hein, Elwin, and that nice young lady Liana, and successfully persuading Lyon, the Imperium of Man's legion commander, to withdraw, Annie hadn't accepted the villagers' and the Lord of Salrath's thanks or invitation to stay. She'd simply carried on wandering around the world.
Before long, she spotted a village ahead. When she and Tibbers walked in, they saw a group of burly village men gathered together, loudly discussing something.
"Gah!"
"What are we going to do now?"
"What do you mean, what are we going to do? If those things dare come, we'll fight them, just like last year!"
"Right!"
"We'll fight them!"
"But..."
"This year's signs are nothing like previous years. That terrifying monster leader, the striped, white-browed tiger, is probably going to come out in person. Can we really beat it?"
"Fight!"
"If we don't try, how'll we know whether we can beat it?"
"Exactly!"
"We'll take it on! Otherwise, what's the point of us forming this 'Village Guard'?"
"Huh?"
"Weren't we forcibly conscripted into this village guard? Who wanted to form it?"
"!!"
"Keep your voice down! If the captain hears you, you're done for!"
"Tch! You think I'm scared of him?"
"He only became captain of the 'village watchdogs' a few years before we did. If it came to a fight, who'd be scared of whom?"
"You!"
"I'm not talking to you anymore..."
And so, the armed villagers gathered there and loudly discussed something.
"..."
(ˉ▽￣~) Tch.