Under the sunshine, beside the lake, a gentle breeze swept by, stirring ripples that shimmered with phosphorescent light.
"..."
(ψ｀▽′)o--
At that moment, a little girl who was occasionally a bit of a handful but was, all in all, clever, cute, sweet, and bright, sat on the trunk of a crooked tree growing at an angle over the lake. She held a lure rod she had somehow gotten her hands on, swinging her feet as she sat there and occasionally fiddling with the rod. She looked utterly carefree and content.
That's right!
That clever, cute, sweet, and bright little girl was none other than Annie herself!
After following Miria and watching the whole show as she "colluded with the enemy" alongside that strange man in black, Annie had come here and stayed for well over an hour.
"..."
() o-
She had a thousand ways to catch any big or little fish she wanted from the lake, but she wasn't very hungry yet, dinner was still a long way off, and she didn't feel like going back so soon. So she kept absentmindedly fiddling with her fishing rod, which had a strange, lifelike lure on it, making the lure imitate a bug hopping back and forth across the surface of the lake.
Unfortunately, it wasn't working very well. So far, not a single fish seemed interested in taking the bait.
Perhaps the fish in this world didn't recognize that kind of artificial lure. Perhaps her movements weren't right. Or perhaps there was some other reason?
In any case!
Whatever the reason, even though she had been at it for quite a while without a single fish taking the bait, she wasn't in any hurry. She simply continued to hum a tune and fiddle with her rod.
All around her lay