(˙˙) What are you guys playing at?
Annie had no idea what Frieren and Fern had been up to.
After all, the commotion outside hadn't affected her in the slightest!
By the time she'd finished her bath, changed into a little pink dress, and stepped out of the bathroom with her hair still wet, the carriage—which had stopped earlier—was already racing along again.
Since the carriage was moving again, that naturally meant Frieren and Fern had finished their "quest" to exterminate the monsters—the phantoms.
"??"
(.)
Then, as Annie walked toward the living room, drying her hair with a towel, she couldn't help asking curiously:
"What's wrong with you two?"
(˙˙)?
Annie could tell that something was off about the atmosphere in the living room. More specifically, the mood between Frieren and Fern seemed a little strange. Fern in particular seemed kind of weird?
"Ugh..."
"Because we just ran into a group of phantoms."
Seeing Annie come out and ask, Fern pouted. Then she curled up on the sofa, hugging her legs, looking a little listless and perhaps somewhat downcast.
"And then?"
(_)
"Did you lose to those ghosts, Big Sister Fern?"
(^▽^)
Seeing Fern like that, Annie instinctively assumed it was because she'd lost the fight and Frieren had scolded her. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't be acting this way.
"No!"
"That's not it!"
Hearing Annie underestimate her, Fern hurriedly corrected her:
"I took out two of them!"
"I let Lady Frieren handle the rest!"
That was right. Phantoms weren't difficult to kill. Fern was confident she could have taken out more, too, but that had nothing to do with why she was upset now.
"??"
(^)
"If you won, what's there to be sad about?"
(ω‖)
Annie didn't understand. She was even starting to regret not taking her little