The only one among my companions utterly lacking in strength—Rubia.

Worrying about her was justified; she could barely handle a few flights of stairs, let alone confront hundreds of imperial soldiers.

Seeing her unharmed and looking almost the same brings a wave of relief.
‘But maybe she hasn’t changed enough.’

Her words are now so jumbled with tears that it’s hard to distinguish them from baby talk.
And, to make matters worse, her pajamas are all scruffily put on under a hastily donned black robe, the buttons are all over the place.

There’s a gap where she skipped a button, revealing a sweat-soaked, translucent pajama underneath.
Even after three years of experience, she still manages to be clumsy in moments like this.
If anything, it seems she’s gotten worse.

“Without you, everyone leans solely on me… but I never had the ability to fill your shoes…”

Rubia, in her evidence-of-crying state, starts sharing her embarrassingly inadequate experiences as proof.
From how she sleep-talked and wore her clothes inside out while giving a speech in front of thousands, claiming it was a fashion choice,
to the time she got caught in a diaper incident that ended with her dad giving her that ‘I can’t believe you’ look.

Various dark stories from her past spill out impulsively.
If only I were the only one hearing this, I might consider myself lucky.

Unfortunately, this feels like a live-stream.
Speaking loudly in this underground space naturally amplifies her voice.
Her subordinates, and everyone in the mining camp, are likely tuned into her tales.

I tried signaling her to stop early on, but it failed miserably.
No matter what I say, she’s too emotional to hear me.

Watching her dignity as a person be chipped away in real-time is frustrating, and I can only stand there helplessly…
But maybe the heavens decided to intervene.
Someone stepped in to halt this terrible tragedy.

“…Y-You!”

A voice comes from behind. Rubia snaps back to reality and straightens her clothes. The boy who evacuated all the kids returns.
The boy, wide-eyed, points shakily at Rubia and exclaims,
“The Third Claw has come personally to this place…!”

However, it looks like the heavens aren’t here to save Rubia but rather to fully drag her dignity into the abyss today.
Honestly, I want to pretend I didn’t hear what he just said for her sake…
But there’s a limit to how much I can overlook.
I turn to her and ask the obvious question.
“…The Third Claw?”

Naturally, I never came up with such a bizarre title. If that’s the case, someone else must have coined that title for her.
There aren’t many suspects I can think of here.

Sure enough, her face turns as red as a ripe tomato, almost confessing to her sins.
Why in the world is she associated with “claws” when her group is the Black Fangs? Did she think that sounded cool when she made it up? Asking her that would probably make her explode with embarrassment.

“That’s… um…”

Rubia fidgets and attempts to respond, but unfortunately for her, another person steals the opportunity to answer.
“Have you never heard of the Third Claw, the ‘Endless Depths’ Rubia?!”

The boy shouts in surprise.
What isolated spot did he hide in for three years to not know such a famous name?

In that moment, Rubia looks like she wants to bite her tongue off for directly associating with that title.
I want to comfort her, but saying, “What a cool name, Rubia!” would only serve to double her embarrassment.

So, I try to rein in the boy…
But sadly, he’s too worked up to be calmed down at this point.
“Then, you’re telling me you didn’t know she overwhelmed five hundred imperial soldiers without lifting a finger, earning the title ‘Unrivaled Rubia’?”

He must feel the need to fill us all in for the three years he missed, introducing her exploits and impressive alias.

With each word, Rubia’s mental state is nearing its breaking point.
She’s trying to bolt from the scene, but this time, for a completely different reason.

I can almost predict what’s going to happen next.
Stumbling, her legs tangle, and before long, she takes quite the fall, causing her hood to slip off.
In front of her a hundred or so direct subordinates, Rubia rolls over roughly, landing a perfect “I just tripped and fell” spot. I urgently dash over to cover her embarrassing display with my body.

Otherwise, she would have ended up as a spectacle in front of her subordinates. It was a close call, a real superhero save.
As I look down at her, sprawled out in her pajamas, I silently extend my coat.

Tears stream down her cheeks as she wordlessly accepts my coat and puts it on.
…Seriously.
She remains quite the handful of a lady.

*

Nothing happened, really. Despite some chaotic events, today turned out to be uneventful after all.
After giving orders to the subordinates Rubia had brought, I comforted her, and finally, the situation was somewhat under control.

Admittedly, it’s hard to completely silence the kids who escaped, which could cause the Black Fangs‘ status to make headlines for the wrong reasons…
But sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
I kept those thoughts to myself and observed Rubia’s condition.

She seemed to still be struggling to shake off her embarrassment, but fundamentally, she transforms when it counts. I figured we could have a proper conversation now.
“How did you know I was here?”

So, I bravely posed the question that had been on my mind.
“The World Tree has vanished,” she replied.

She couldn’t quite meet my gaze, instead clearing her throat a few times before sincerely addressing my question.
“The tree that had grown where you vanished overnight disappeared too. I thought something might be amiss, so I searched every location related to you.”

Is that how elves manage to survive?
Well, if I disappeared for three years, it would be disastrous for the elves’ survival. Maybe that goddess had some plan up her sleeve for them.

But really, to go searching for me based only on that lead?
Given her personality, she must have worn herself thin trying to fill my shoes and reducing her sleep. Now that I hear she was running around looking for me, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.
Could her recent clumsiness be a reflection of all the mental turmoil she’s endured?

That thought makes me feel slightly apologetic, so I face Rubia and say,
“Thank you for all your hard work, Rubia. I feel like I’m always depending on you.”

She instantly responds with a wave, saying it’s just what she was supposed to do. But in doing so…
I can see the corners of her mouth twitching just a tad. Seems she’s quite happy with the appreciation.

I, too, subtly smile, thinking how fortunate I am to have such a companion. I even think I might owe the spoiler writer a thank you.
What would’ve happened if they had portrayed such a person as a villain? It’s too scary to even imagine.
While I was lost in that sweet nostalgia of reuniting with my companion… I snap back to reality.

Sure, I’m glad to see her again, but important issues haven’t been resolved yet.
Not to mention the Emperor’s incident, but I’m also worried about the other companions’ situations.
Despite my concerns, our organization’s weakest link, Rubia, looks perfectly fine, even brimming with some odd accomplice.
But still, there are several kids that come to mind who might not have fared as well while I was gone. I wanted to check on them quickly.

However, sensing my feelings, Rubia shakes her head for some reason.
“It seems like there’s a lot we need to discuss… but this doesn’t seem like the right place for important matters.”

Now that I think about it… come to think of it, Rubia hasn’t asked me why I vanished. Maybe she’s worried about security.
Right, I can hardly believe it, but we are, after all, the Black Fangs.
The nation’s ultimate enemy and a secret organization dreaming of overthrowing the state. Naturally, keeping secrets is the way to go.

“I made my subordinates swear not to reveal anything about you to the kids who’ve escaped from here.”

As I’m impressed by her meticulousness, she puts on a slightly guilty look.
It seems her secrecy not only pertains to my resurrection but also includes some of her darker stories. But for now, I’ll turn a blind eye to it.

“Since we’ve silenced everything, there’s no need to converse in such a perilous place anymore.”

Rubia extends her hand to me.
Is she suggesting we head to the mansion or something? I take her hand as I think that. But then… I hear something absurd.

“Let’s go, to our underground city, ‘Eden’.”

…Looks like I’ve inadvertently acquired an underground city without even knowing it.