A Faint Signal (1)

"You! You! You!" they cried, boxing the ears of the first half dozen, or more, of his fellows, "where were you? Why was the tree not guarded? Why was there no one on the road, warning visitors or leading them off? Have you forgotten your duties, one and all? Where is The Puck!? Has one sent for Oberon and Titania? Where is The Puck!?"

"Maybe," Ryō asked carefully, with an expression Xiān hadn't yet seen on him and could not identify, "he dare not show his face? Maybe he… yet again… forsook his orders? He is The Puck, after all…"

"I AM THE PUCK," a voice declared over the din, sounding furious while striding into their midst, "who do dare belittle me!?"

"Well, you are little," Ryō said - his expression still one Xiān couldn't decipher - sounding apologetic yet not, "you lack another head's height to my chin. Not that it matters. What is this upheaval over some perfectly normal fruit?"