Early the next morning, when the orange glow of dawn lit the treetops of most of the trees in the Spirit Tree Forest, Guts, who had finally gotten a good night's sleep somewhere other than the Goblin mine, said his farewells and set off, resuming his journey.
But unexpectedly, the one leaving with them this time was not only Annie. The apprentice little witch from the Spirit Tree Lodge, the one with short green hair, Schierke, was coming too.
"Strange!"
|ω`)
"Big Sister Schierke, why are you coming with us?"
(ω)
"Is there some reason?"
☆(o*ω)
Annie couldn't keep her curiosity to herself, of course. So, after the three of them left the Spirit Tree Forest and stepped onto the country road outside, she couldn't help but move closer to Miss Schierke and ask her with a curious look.
"..."
"The Age of Darkness is upon us, so..."
"Teacher Flora told me to take this opportunity to go on a journey with you and gain some experience."
Schierke first glanced at Guts, then made no attempt to hide it and told them what her teacher had said to her.
Of course, she didn't dare mention the other things her teacher had said, such as that Guts might be her "destiny." She only glanced up at the tall black figure striding ahead and leading the way, frowning.
"Oh!"
(⊙o⊙*)
"The Age of Darkness?"
Annie nodded, then gave a casual response after learning the basic reason.
She'd only asked on a whim, so she naturally couldn't be bothered to ask what the Age of Darkness was.
After all, as far as she was concerned, what age this world was in—dark, bright, or some mix of the two—had absolutely nothing to do with her!
"You just said the Age of Darkness?"
"What is