"Cough, cough!"
Annie came strolling out of the room belonging to Fia, the "Deathbed Companion," looking a little huffy. She still hadn't decided where to go when, quite unexpectedly, a strange fellow appeared in front of her. He wore armor and a crown, and his face was impossible to make out.
"I saw you wandering around. You've gotten familiar with this place, haven't you?"
"Little one..."
"You don't need to be angry with them. They're all just passing through here. You're different from them."
Then the other fellow bent down and started chatting with her, as if making a point of being friendly.
"??"
"Who are you, mister?"
ヽ(゜Q.)ノ?
Annie tilted her head and looked the fellow up and down.
Then, for some reason, she suddenly felt that the more she looked at his face, the more it resembled some villain she'd encountered in another world. Namely...
The master of the One Ring, who had made his lair in Mount Doom?
And so, quite naturally, Annie had already made up her mind. She permanently labeled him a "suspected villain," and there was no washing that label off.
(...)
(●￣?￣●)
"Hello, Annie!"
"Little Tarnished who possesses a Great Rune, my name is Gideon Ofnir. Of course, you may also call me 'Sir Gideon the All-Knowing.'"
"It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Clearly, Sir Gideon Ofnir seemed to know Annie's name already. Whether he'd overheard it or learned it through some other channel was anyone's guess, but that didn't matter for now. He simply introduced himself in as kindly a tone as he could manage.
Though, for some reason, his voice might not have sounded all that pleasant?
"Sir Gideon?"
く(＾_?)ゝ
Annie blinked, then scratched her head.
"Oh!"
(⊙o⊙*)
"Hello, mister! Goodbye, mister~!"
☆?(o*??)?
Of course, Annie had no intention of wasting