"Mm, well it said something more like vermin, so I wasn't expecting quite so many creatures to fit in that category, I guess," and who was to say, with all the other weird things that went on here, that the animals didn't just decide to start talking?

Lan Zhan's suggestion did make sense though, if anyone knew about this area, this world in general, it would be the little animals, right?

"Oh! That's a good idea! They might know something, right?"