On the day of the anniversary.
At the cocktail party.

Welrod Does it look weird, Commander?

Commander No no, I'm just...a little surprised.

It is indeed true that Welrod startled me when she snuck up beside me.
Not because she does not greet me whenever she shows up. That is something that I've gotten used to.
But because Welrod is dressed in an exquisite, fashionable dress, the kind that one would find in a 21st-century detective movie.

Welrod Surprised?

Commander It's not often that I get to see you in a lace-trimmed mini dress.
(Although you still have a military greatcoat on top of it...)

Welrod Huh? Commander, don't you think you're being too—

Commander (Er, was I too straightforward...?)

Welrod Unprofessional!

Commander Sorry... Eh? What?

Welrod What did you expect?
I would immediately stand out if I didn't dress like this.
How would I be able to devote all my efforts to the protection of the jewel then? Do you wish to see the mission fail, Commander?

Commander No, I, ah...
Er...sorry, Welrod...

Welrod In any case, please shift gears and focus on our work.

Commander I'll try my best. (What the heck, why did I end up getting lectured...)
Right, work. Ahem...find anything suspicious?

Welrod Speaking of suspicious, you look quite suspicious right now, Commander.

Commander How?

Welrod I dressed myself as a scion of a once-great English noble house, a frigid heiress of indomitable will, yet possessing of a noble, cool beauty that makes her difficult to approach, seeking to lay eyes upon the fabled jewel of old in order to regain her sense of honor and duty.

Commander Does your story really need to be this intricate? I never said...

Welrod And to onlookers, you look like you're desperately trying to make advances toward me.
And you resemble the sort of thick-skulled swine that just can't take a hint.

Sticking true to her character, she has not smiled even once.

Commander (Why would she make a backstory like that... I feel like my heart has been torn apart...)
Th-Then, I'll go look elsewhere. I'll leave the venue to you girls...

An hour later.

In a corridor.

Welrod How did things end up like this!?

Using the evacuating crowd as cover, Welrod, Grizzly, and Zas M21 successfully take possession of the jewel while SAA is busy duelling IDW. They then hide themselves along the side of a corridor.
After seeing that nobody has noticed them, Welrod growls with barely suppressed malice.

Grizzly Shh!
Stay quiet, Welrod, we still don't know the enemies' numbers.

Welrod Enemy? Numbers?
That was SAA! How could she...how could she be an enemy...
And by numbers you mean that she has other Griffin Doll accomplices?

Grizzly No, I never said that...

Zas M21 Calm down, Welrod, the word "enemy" is just in reference to our circumstances.
Maybe the word "opponent" would be better.

Grizzly Your explanation isn't helping, Zas...
I think that since she's a Griffin Doll, she wouldn't go as far as stealing the jewel.
There must be some other reason which we don't know about.

Welrod I can't make sense of this...
However, evil must be stopped. As she is an ally, I shall be the one to save her!

Zas M21 Hey, we still don't know what's going on! Don't just jump ahead to talking about saving people.

Welrod Dammit!
Why did she have to become an agent of darkness? How I wish I could go up and grab her by the collar and get the answer out of her...

Grizzly Then you'd better hurry, not all of SAA's outfits have collars.

??? Uwah!

Trio of T-Dolls Eek!

Someone appears all of a sudden and plants herself right in the center of the hallway.
Grizzly darts in front of Welrod and Zas and raises her gun at the person before them.

Grizzly (Whisper) Be careful.

EVO 3 Ahoj — I am the one you should be concerned about, not Welrod.

Welrod Urgh...EVO 3!
Why is it that even you have become an incarnation of evil!?

Zas M21 Calm down, Welrod.

Grizzly Why don't you give up what you're doing? There's three of us and only one of you.

EVO 3 Haha, you do have a point. One against three certainly isn't very favorable.
In that case, I'll be making my retreat~

After her words, EVO 3 motions to run.

Welrod Stop! Hold it right there!
I won't let a single evildoer out of my sight!
(Turns head) Grizzly, Zas, take the jewel to our client and escort her to safety!

Welrod opens fire in the direction of EVO 3 and chases after her.

In that moment, nobody realized that EVO 3 had a faint smile on her face in the midst of the smoke.

Zas M21 You know, Welrod's a fine leader, but she comes off more like your sidekick when you two are together...

Grizzly ...Yeah, it always feels like she treats me as her big sister.

Zas M21 Yet she's the oldest one among us...

Grizzly and Zas M21 look at each other with a smile before running together in the direction opposite of Welrod.

Two hours later.

Griffin base.

I happen to be near the warehouse as I receive Welrod's message. Dim light spills out from the doorway.
standing in the doorway, I knock on the door.
Welrod immediately gets up to her feet and faces me.

Commander Sorry for returning late.

Welrod You don't need to apologize to me, Commander.

Commander How did it go?

Welrod ...
I heard the jewel was taken away in the end.

Commander Mhm, so the mission was accomplished.
Yet you're still not smiling, Welrod.

Welrod How could I smile at a time like this!?
Commander, the fact that the jewel was stolen clearly means we failed the mission, right!?

Commander No, you've already done very well...

Welrod This failure was all because I wasn't good enough.

Welrod slowly lowers her head, and her expression is concealed behind her bangs.

Commander Welrod, actually...
The plan intended for the jewel to be taken.

Welrod Eh?

Commander You've already done very well.
Grizzly said that you were just like a detective during the operation, Welrod.
So you really did complete this mission very well.

Welrod Oh... I-Is that so...

Welrod falls silent for a moment, then looks up at me.

Welrod Commander, I believe that EVO 3 and the others would never turn their back on justice.

Commander (Laughs) Of course.

Welrod I'm sorry for making you reveal so much about something I shouldn't know about.

Commander Not at all, I didn't say anything at all~

Welrod What I understand is...light originates in the darkness, and that light comes forth from the darkness.
Therefore...some things must be kept hidden in the shadows.

The confusion in Welrod's eyes has now been replaced by her usual conviction.

Commander Yes, that's right.

Welrod So...thank you, Commander. I won't dwell on this matter any further.

Commander Ha, there's no need to thank me~
All this light and darkness stuff sounds straight out of a light novel.
But when it comes to defeating evil, I have complete faith in you, Welrod.

Welrod Huh...?

Commander Because you're an agent of justice, Welrod.

Welrod But...everyone says I'm...how shall I put this...
Delusional...?

Commander Not at all. If you have the strength to back it up, then you're not delusional, but a true agent of justice!

Welrod ...
Haha, that's right!
You're right, Commander!

I let out a sigh of relief at Welrod's sudden smile.

What the heck was I saying...
Zas would never let me live it down if she heard my words.
But I suppose it's worth it if I could cheer them up.
After all, it's rare to see Welrod smile.