And thank you, whoever you are.

Bam.

Wham.

And the arms?

And what about the hair?

In which we enter a period of quiet introspection

The reappearance of an old acquaintance

More perils of public transport.

OK, this wraps up this story arc for now. Next time we'll rejoin our little protagonist on his urgent mission to the shop to buy some mints for his god.

Small town.

Just a gentle reminder to anyone who might be slightly befuddled that I'm telling two slightly different stories at the same time here: there's this business with the freakish chimaera god-thing and there's the business on the bus. The business on the bus happens before this little bit of stuff and, very soon, our man is going to get off the bus and that little story will resolve itself. Then I'll do my very best to tell one story in a fairly linear, straightforward way. At least I'll try. If I fail miserably it'll all come together in the next book.

Some people just can't help showing off.