After the earlier commotion—and with Ellen clearly teetering on the edge of snapping—Ruby didn't dare tease her any further. She bowed her head obediently and focused on eating her noodles like a well-behaved child.
About half an hour later, even Ellen—the slowest eater of the three—had finished and licked her plate clean. She accepted the napkin Phaga handed her and dabbed at the corner of her mouth.
"Alright, let's talk business. Ruby, you showed up bright and early today—surely you didn't come all this way just for a free meal?"
Having finished her own bowl, Corin had gone to wash the dishes, leaving Phaga free to sit down and question Ruby properly.
"Of course not."
Ruby placed her hands on her hips, puffing up proudly. "I came to mooch lunch too!"
The moment the words left her mouth, her vision went black.
"Ow!"
"Ellen…"
Ruby clutched her head, looking pitifully up at Ellen, completely lost as to why she'd been smacked.
"I haven't even settled the score from your nonsense earlier! Behave yourself!"
Ellen showed not an ounce of mercy, glaring at Ruby, her cheeks puffed out in irritation.
Ruby immediately tensed up, realizing she'd better stop fooling around. "Uh, actually, I still have my investigator assessment! I came to ask for your help with that."
"Investigator assessment?"
Phaga frowned, one eyebrow rising in mild confusion as he looked at Ruby.
That soon?
Sensing his doubt, Ruby raised a finger and began explaining enthusiastically. "You guys didn't know? Listen up! The future Legendary Investigator is about to enlighten you!"
"The investigator exam is kind of like getting a driver's license—you just book an appointment, and you can take it any day!"
She stuck out her tongue playfully. "Except on holidays, of course."
"I see. I've never paid attention to this sort of thing before—didn't realize it worked that way."
Phaga nodded, then said with quiet concern, "But don't you need to rest? You nearly died at Nineveh's hands yesterday."
Helping Ruby out wasn't a big deal—he'd already accompanied her to Hollow Zero to test her mettle, so going into a smaller Hollow for an assessment didn't seem too troublesome.
But what surprised him was Ruby's complete lack of fear or exhaustion. After nearly dying just a day ago, she was already ready to dive back in.
She really had the heart of a lion.
"Hmph!"
Ruby crossed her arms proudly. "A few measly Ethereal aren't enough to scare me!"
"Would a future Legendary Investigator be frightened by something like that?"
"A little Nineveh is nothing! I'll send my mighty general Phaga to deal with her!"
…
The air froze. The room's temperature plummeted.
For a long moment, silence reigned.
Phaga wordlessly turned away, looking to Ellen instead. "Anyway, since we've got nothing better to do today, how about we catch a movie? We can swing by Phaethon's place, see if there's anything good playing, and support their business."
"Hey! What do you mean 'nothing better to do'?! Weren't you supposed to help me with my assessment?"
Ruby shot up from her seat, practically leaping behind Phaga's chair. She began pounding his shoulders and massaging his neck, words tumbling out in a rapid blur:
"I'm sorry! I was wrong! I got carried away! Please forgive me! I'll even play Shark Girl if that helps—just please, this exam is really important to me! …Ellen, help me out here!"
Ellen blinked at Ruby's plea, then nodded softly. Raising her head slowly, she met Ruby's eager gaze and said gently,
"Alright. After all, the Hollow Zero trip was made possible thanks to Phaethon's help. It wouldn't hurt to return the favor by supporting their business."
Thud!
Ruby clutched her chest in mock agony, staggering backward as if struck.
She gave them both a wounded look before puffing out her cheeks.
"You two…!"
…
"You two are the best! I love you both!"
At the entrance of the Investigator Association, Ellen and Phaga stepped out of the car one after the other—only for Ruby to rush forward and wrap them both in a hug.
Ellen immediately swatted her hands away, annoyed. "Alright, enough with the dramatics. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home!"
"Oh, and don't forget to send me that Shark Girl photo later!"
"Hehe, got it!"
Ruby giggled, hands clasped behind her back as she skipped ahead, confidently leading Phaga and Ellen into the waiting area.
Before long, an announcement came over the loudspeaker:
[Candidate Ruby and accompanying personnel, please proceed to Vehicle 2 for examination preparation.]
[Repeating: Candidate Ruby and accompanying personnel, please proceed to Vehicle 2 for examination preparation.]
Ruby sprang to her feet. Turning to Phaga and Ellen, she said, "That's us! Let's move out!"
She pointed ahead dramatically and ran off. Phaga and Ellen exchanged a helpless glance, shrugged, and followed after her.
Before long, the three boarded the assigned vehicle. Ruby took the front passenger seat, while Phaga and Ellen sat in the back.
"Ruby, first time taking the Investigator exam, right?"
The examiner—a broad-shouldered, good-natured man in the driver's seat—glanced over his documents before turning to her with a friendly smile.
"Yes, sir!"
Ruby responded loudly. For some reason, despite her usual bravado—even daring to joke about Nineveh in front of Phaga and Ellen—she felt uncharacteristically nervous in front of the examiner.
Her hands were clenched into fists atop her knees, her back perfectly straight. She hardly dared to breathe.
"Hahaha, no need to be nervous. Everyone has a first time. Just relax—it's not that hard. Yesterday, I supervised six candidates, and half of them passed! You know what that means? Getting in my car means you're already halfway to passing!"
He gave her a reassuring grin, still trying to ease her tension. "And even if you fail, it's no big deal. Rest up for a couple of weeks, and you'll be back at it—uh, a hero again… wait, no, heroine… hmm, that doesn't sound right either."
He scratched his head. "Ah, forget it."
Giving up on his phrasing, the examiner flipped a page in his notes, then turned toward the back seat, brow furrowed.
"Confirming accompanying candidates: Phaga Kunmutu, Ellen Joe. That correct?"
"Correct."
Both nodded.
"Alright then, let's go over the exam rules."
The examiner started the engine and steered through several turns, heading toward the outskirts of the city.
"Soon, we'll arrive at a Hollow. You'll wait at the entrance while I go in and hide this music box. It'll keep playing once I set it down."
"Your mission is to retrieve it—intact—from the Hollow within twelve hours."
"And of course, you all have to make it out intact too. However many go in must be how many come out. Lose even one person, and it's an automatic fail."
He handed a stack of documents to Ruby. "Here, take this. Basic Hollow data. You can start planning your setup."
Half an hour later, the car came to a stop before a Hollow.
Thud.
The examiner got out, glancing over each of them before saying sternly, "I'll go hide the music box now. You may enter in ten minutes."
With that, he turned and headed toward the Hollow, the music box in hand.
Ruby cupped her hands around her mouth, calling out cheerfully, "Be careful, Mr. Examiner!"
"Hah! It's just a small Hollow. A few stray Ethereal are nothing to me. Watch me find the perfect hiding spot for this thing!"
The man laughed heartily, waved, and disappeared into the Hollow.
Meanwhile, Phaga started a timer, watching the clock on his phone tick down.
Tick-tock… tick-tock…
Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, the timer beeped.
"Let's go. Time to head in."
Phaga pocketed his phone and strode toward the Hollow. Ellen and Ruby nodded, following close behind.
Then Ruby suddenly froze. "Wait—shouldn't the examiner have come out by now?"
Phaga and Ellen stopped too, exchanging glances.
Right. He hadn't come out.
After a brief pause, Ellen said, "He never said we had to wait for him to start."
"Really?"
Ruby tilted her head, trying to recall. "Yeah… I think he did say it would start automatically after ten minutes."
Phaga adjusted his monocle, calm as ever. "Even if he hasn't come back, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Come on—nothing serious ever happens during a junior assessment."
After thinking it over, Ellen and Ruby both nodded. They followed him into the Hollow.
...
Outside, only the examiner's empty sedan remained.
Then, suddenly, the car's radio crackled to life:
"Warning! Examiner of Vehicle 2 has met with an accident. Possible ambush by the gang [Mountain Lion Gang] within the Hollow. Assessment terminated!"
"Repeating: Examiner has met with an accident. Possible ambush by the gang [Mountain Lion Gang] within the Hollow. Assessment terminated!"