Don't Take the King for Granted
"Ahhh—"
"Tibbers, I'm so bored—"
°(°°)°
"Tibbers—"
(﹏,)
"What should we eat for lunch? There doesn't seem to be anything along the way!"
(′~`●)
"Huh!"
|▽)
"Tibbers, look! There's an old ginseng root over there. Go dig it up. We can stew it with meat one night. It'll be delicious!"
(`)~
"Huh?"
|'-')
"There's a lingzhi spirit over there, too..."
|˙˙)
"Never mind, let's not attack it. Lingzhi doesn't taste good..."
(｀)
"Woof!"
(﹏)
"Tibbers, it's so hot and sunny—"
(ω‖)
Although Tibbers had been walking all this time, and the troublesome little master riding on its shoulders had been putting it through the wringer every step of the way, the journey that was supposed to take two or three days had turned into a meandering trek. They were still wandering around outside Sandgate Village. Who knew when they'd finally get there?
"..."
Anyway, Tibbers didn't really care anymore. Whatever. The troublesome little master could do as she pleased; it wasn't in a hurry.
After all, this time it had the rare chance to come out and wander around every day. It finally had a degree of freedom, even if it wasn't particularly pleased with the monkey exterior it was wearing.
But no matter what, it could at least occasionally take its frustrations out on a few rats or other demons. That was much better than being hung from someone's waist or used as a hand towel now and then.
"Hm?"
("ヘ)"
"Tibbers, what are those up ahead?"
(*--)
Suddenly, Annie, who had been sitting on Tibbers's shoulder, seemed to notice something and hurriedly stood up.
"That should be the Unfortunate Valley that Mouse Sikong mentioned, right?"
|ω`)
"Looks like once we pass it, we'll be outside Sandgate Village's territory!"
"And further east..."
(˙o˙)