Jingle, jingle!
A round pumpkin carriage swayed along the winding path through the Silent Forest.
It was a very ordinary four-wheeled pumpkin carriage, the kind many wizards used. Beneath its huge pumpkin cabin were four wheels: the two smaller front wheels were for steering, while the two large rear wheels bore the weight. A section of not-yet-dried pumpkin vine drooped from the roof, with a swarm of Firefly Beetles clinging to it and sucking the remaining juice within. Their swelling bellies bloomed with clusters of orange-red light that complemented the carriage's color, giving it a warm, cozy look.
Four plump Big Rats pulled the carriage.
Their bodies were short and stout, covered in white fur. Their tails seemed to have been cut off, so they could not run very fast.
That also made the pumpkin carriage travel exceptionally smoothly.
The driver was a delicate-looking, diminutive male wizard, just over four feet tall and clad in a loose pale-green cloak. However, he looked deeply troubled. Every time he cracked his whip, he could not help letting out a sigh.
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Sigh!
"Ding Dang! We've already come this far, so stop sighing!"
A complaining voice came from inside the pumpkin carriage. "The talisman I was just drawing got ruined because you sighed and the tip of my brush shook! The final stroke went crooked! You owe me a sheet of talisman paper!"
Hearing the complaint, the Rat People student driving the carriage twitched his round ears and nearly sighed again. But when he thought of the talisman paper he would have to pay for no reason at all, he ultimately swallowed that sigh.
"I'm Ding Dong, not Ding Dang," the driver muttered under his breath, then cracked his whip with a snap.
The white rats pulling the carriage twisted their rumps and