Chapter 1-5 (2/2)
”I understand”
She nodded Blond hair, blue eyes, white skin, outstanding beauty, she's very much the stereotypical elf
”And as for your duties……”
I stop talking and take a moment to think This part is important
Her job is to support me as a power in the shadows, that's for sure But then I'd have to clarify exactly what a power in the shadows means, and what my actual aim is In other words, I have to tell her the fundamentals of my role in this world as a power in the shadows
The setting of any plot is iot pissed after losing at pachinko” then that'll just be dumb
In that area, I a to this world, and certainly after co to this world, I've continuously drea a power in the shadows
Coether the several thousands, several tens of thousands of patterns that I had thought up previously, I instantaneously arrived at the optimum scenario
”From the shadoe shall interfere with, and stop, the resurrection of the demon Diabolos”
”The demon Diabolos……?”
Alpha tilts her head in puzzlement
”I'm sure you already know that in distant history, the demon Diabolos had almost completely destroyed the entire world However, three heroes – one an elf, one a beast person, and one a hu the world”
”I've also heard that before, but isn't that just a fairytale?”
”No, it actually happened Though the truth was much more complicated than the fairytale……”
So saying, I smile wryly
For soends into a believable struggle in the shadows scenario is a piece of cake
”Right before he died, Diabolos casted a curse on the three heroes That is called the Curse of Diabolos”
”The Curse of Diabolos? I've never heard of such a thing……”
”No, the Curse of Diabolos truly exists But it is commonly known by another name – 'demon possession' Indeed, it is exactly what you had been suffering from”
”How could that be……”
Alpha's eyes open wide in shock
”The descendents of the heroes who defeated Diabolos will forever suffer froo, that Curse of Diabolos was treatable Just as you were”
The fact that Alpha's skin is nohite and unblemished – as if she had never been afflicted with de
It's all a big, fat lie though
”De a descendent of one of the heroes As the children of those who had saved the world, they were valued, protected, thanked, and extolled All in past tense though”
”But noe are not thanked Rather, we are……”
Alpha's face scrunches up, unable to continue her sentence
”So the sy theit as 'deet of scorn”
”WHO?! Who would do so like that?”
”They are those who are plotting the resurrection of the de frohheavily inherited the blood of the heroes In other words, they are our precious th, and thus obstacles to Diabolos”
”Which is why they call it demon possession and execute them? They're the lowest of the low!”
”Having been branded with the fabricated sin of de been chased from your home and family, do you feel hatred?”
”I Hate Them How can I not?”
”The Order of Diabolos That is our enee As such, we too must lurk in the shadows We will lurk in the shadows, and ill hunt the shadows”
”To possess that e…… In other words, it means this Order must have many members in very powerful positions, and that there areof their existence”
I nod gravely
”It will be a path filled with thorns and thistles However, this is soth?”
”If it is your wish, I am resolved to even offer my life On top of which, this is my oish as well We shall succeed without fail”
Alpha fixes her blue eyes onand beautiful eyes are filled with resolve and determination
I uts pose
daullible!
Naturally, the Order of Diabolos does not exist, so no matter how hard she searches, there's no way she'd find anything Every once in a while, we'll go take out so a ht between sos like ”The destruction of this world is nigh!” or ”The resurrection of the de a flashy exit Or we can flashi+ly show up on a battlefield and say ”Oh ye foolish sheep who know not that you are being s that we can do! The sky's the limit!
Oh right, as for the all-ianization……
”We shall be known as Shadow Garden…… We who lurk in the shadows and hunt the shadows……”
”Shadow Garden What a wonderful name”
Today, at this moment, Shadow Garden came to be And at the same time, the enemy of this world, the Order of Diabolos was also born I have taken onea power in the shadows
”Well, for now, let's just iic control and swords I will take on, but I will assign you to deal with the sh to handle that much”
”I understand The eneth”
”Yep, yep, exactly”
”And we must also search out the other descendants of the heroes and safeguard them”
”Um, yea, that too In moderation”
Playing as a power in the shadoith anization feel, but we don't really need tooI'm fine if it's just the two of us
”Well, for the near future let's focus on getting stronger first”
So saying, I bring up my wooden sword and parry Alpha's attack She has
Her sense is great, and she has ic Seems she'll be of quite some use
So I thought as I continued swinging ht
It has been about 3 years since the establishment of Shadow Garden Alpha and I have both become 13 years old, and my older sister Claire is now 15 There is no particular e 13, but that is not the case with the age 15 When the children of nobles reach 15, they have to attend a school in the royal capital for 3 years Nee-san is pretty enou baron fa up the farewell party and all that Yep, rising hope indeed
(T/N: 'Nee-san' is what the MC calls his older sister)
All that's fine and all Really But problem is, when it came day for her to actually set off for the capital, she up and disappeared Thus the enorenou house at the moment
”When I came into the room, it was already like this”
So says my father in a dandy voice His face isn't too bad either
”There is no sign of a struggle, but the as indeed forced open from the outside The fact that neither I nor Claire was alerted means the kidnapper very skilled indeed”
My dandy dad places one hand on the sill and looks off into the distance All that's lass in his hand
And hair……
”So?”
A chilling voice is directed at him
”Very skilled, so there's no helping it? Is that what you're trying to say?”
It's mom
”No, no of course not I wasthe facts……”
So answers my dad as cold sweat rolls down his face
”You STUPID BALDYYYYYY!!!!!!”
”Hiii, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry!!!”
By the way, I' is expected of me, and neither do I cause any trouble That's the position in this fa to maintain
But well, Nee-san was a pretty good person, so it's a bit of a pity The crie, so there was nothing that I could have done either
I quietly listen to et, return to ether in the direction that Nee-san had disappeared, then dive into my bed
Then
”You may come out now”
”Yes, my lord”
Iirl wearing a black slime bodysuit steps out
”Beta, huh”
”Yes, my lord”
Sairl But where Alpha has blond hair, Beta's is silver
She of the cat-like green eyes and a mole under her eye was the third person to join Shadow Garden Even though I told Alpha ”in s therowing
”Where's about Alpha?”
”Searching for traces of Claire-sama”
”Fast reaction You think Nee-san is still alive?”
”Likely so”
”Can she be saved?”
”Possible, yes…… but ht require Shadow-sama's help”
Ah by the way, they're calling me 'Shadow' Cus I'm the master of Shadow Garden, fufufu
”Is that what Alpha said?”
”Yes, e, it would be best to bring our full force”
”Heeh~”
To be frank, Alpha has gotten quite strong The fact that even Alpha is asking for help nificant power is involved
”My blood boils……”
I clench ic to create a small explosion
There's no particularto it, but I like this kind of theatrics
I can hear Beta”As expected……” with surprise
As of late, I haven't been in lack of a sparring partner, ith Alpha and Beta and Delta and the crew, but soood every once in a while Above all else, I want to play at being a power in the shadows, so this seeood opportunity
”It's been a while since I last got serious……”
Just like so, I've also gotten used to exuding the aura of a power hidden in the shadows
Also, lately Alpha and Beta have taken to fleshi+ng out our setting even further, so it's been a blast
”The criminal is, as expected, part of the Order of Diabolos Even more, he is one of their upper echelons”
”One of their echelons, huh So why did they kidnap Nee-san?”
”They suspect her of being a Descendent of the Heroes”
”Hmph, those sharp-eyed bastards……”
So yea, like that
Furthers like ”As expected, your words were entirely correct……” and ”About a thousand years ago, Diabolos' descendents……” and ”Frolean clues that point to the existence of the Order of Diabolos……” and other similar such I mean, I can't read ancient letters so hoould I know? I bet Alpha can't really read thein front ofso the Order I'm sure that must be it
”Please take a look at these docuht be held in, based on our latest intel”
After saying that, Beta plonks a huge pile of paper on my table Ok seriously, I have no idea what to do with all this More than half of it is in an ancient language and the rest is filled with indecipherable otten good at otten even more pro at it than me
While ignoring Beta's 'explanations,' I take out a throwing knife and throw it at the map on the wall
Thunk
With a dull sound, the knife pierces a certain point
”There”
”That place? What is there?”
”That's where Nee-san is”
”But that place, there's noth-…… no, wait, could it be……!”
Beta hurriedly ruh the
Uht?
Butyour acting is good, Beta I can see where this is going – you're going to tell me that there is a secret hideout at that location, aren't you?
”In conclusion, after coh possibility that there is a secret hideout at the location that Shadow-sama just pointed out”
Called it
”But still, to read through this enormous amount of materials in a split second and even deduce the location of a hidden hideout…… as expected of Shadow-sama”
”You still lack training, Beta”
”I shall double ence”
Seriously, she's good Even though I know it's acting, but I can still feel the eot all the important points down pat, Beta
”I shall inforht?”
”Mm”
Beta bows, then takes her leave Her eyes are glittering and all, such that I can totally feel the respect and whatnot Cheers to her Acade
A round tunnel
Age in the rey hair
His footsteps stopped as he reached the end of the tunnel In front of him was a door protected by 2 soldiers
”Is the Kagenou girl inside?”
”Yes, Olba-sama”
The soldier that he addressed saluted, then unlocked the door
”Sir, please gressive”
”Hmph, who do you think I am?”
”!! I'm very sorry, sir!”
Olba opened the door then walked in
The rooirl was affixed to the ithchains
”You enou”
At Olba's voice, the girl called Claire raised her head
She was a very beautiful girl As she had been kidnapped while sleeping, she was still wearing a thin negligee that could not hide her full breasts nor her luscious thighs With her silk-like black hair cut in a straight line behind her back, the girl glared up at Olba ith strong-willed eyes
”I've seen your face at the royal capital before If I remember correctly, you are Viscount Olba, are you not?”
”Hou, you ith the Imperial Guards previously…… Ah, no, it was at the tourna the Festival of the God of War?”
”Festival of the God of War, heh Oh yes, that time when Princess Iris cut you up every which way”
Claire laughed in merriment
”Hmph, it ithin the liht, there's no way I'd lose to her”
”Nothing would be different in a real fight, oh Viscount Olba who lost in the first round in the tournament”
”Fool You don't even kno e of that tournairl”
Olba glared back at Claire
”I will be able to stand on that stage just 1 year later”
”Too bad for you, you don't have a year left”
The chains restricting Claire clinked
Immediately afterwards, her teeth snapped just barely short of Olba's neck
If Olba hadn't tilted his head that little bit, then his carotid artery ht there and then
”The one who can't live for one more year – will that truly be me? Or will it be…… you? Do you want to bet on it?”
”No need for the bet, Claire Kagenou”
Olba's fist slammed into the chin beneath Claire's dauntless smile
She crashed onto the stone ground, but her strong eyes never left Olba
Olba lowered his fist, having felt less resistance on his fist than expected
”You jumped backwards”
Claire smiled dauntlessly
”Was there a fly in the room?”
”He ic capacity”
”I was taught that ic is not about amount, but control”
”What a good father you have”
”I've never learned a thing from that baldy It was my little brother”
”Brother……?”
”My iht, I'd win But I' fro from my sword That's why I pick on him everyday”
So said Claire in an impish tone
”What a pitiful younger brother That would make me an ally of justice who saved hih pointless banter”
Olba cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on Claire
”Claire Kagenou As of late, have you felt anything strange with your body? For exa, or your health being unstable, or a sharp pain whenever you try to useon parts of your body? Do any of those sy to mind?”
”After going to all the trouble of kidnapping me, what you wanted to do was to play doctor?”
The edge of Claire's glossy lips raised into a sneer
”I, too, previously had a daughter I do not wish to e my questions honestly would lead to the best outcome for us both”
”Ooo, is that a threat? Unfortunately, I have a personality that makes me want to rebel when threatened Even if ical to do”
”So you mean to say that you have no intention to cooperate?”
”I wonder~”
Olba and Claire glared at each other
The one who broke the silence first was Caire
”Very well It's nothing big anyways, so I'll tell you You ht? Now I'm perfectly fine, aside from these chains”
”'Now'?”
”Yes, 'now' It was about a year ago when I had those symptoms that you listed”
”You er have them? They went away by themselves?”
To Olba's knowledge, there's never been a case of 'that' being healed
”Hht,he called 'stretches'? I don't really know the details, but he asked me to practice it, and before I knew itin top condition”
”'Stretches'? Never heard of it…… But the fact that you had the symptoms before means that there's no mistake, you are indeed compatible”
”Compatible? With what?”
”There's no need for you to know You'll be broken before long anyways Ahh, I'll need to investigate your brother too then……”
So off his words
”Guh?”
Olba retreated to the door, glaring at Claire while suppressing his nosebleed
”Claire Kagenou, you bitch……!”
All four of her limbs were supposedly restricted, but for so free, with blood dripping down from it
”You scraped off your own flesh and dislocated your finger……?!”
The chains binding her were not nor chains In other words, Claire had used pure brute strength to chafe off her own skin, crush her finger bones, and thus free her arm from the chain That's how she was able to hit Olba
Olba was greatly shocked at that truth
”If soive you! I will kill you, your loved ones, your fa to you……!?”
Olba's full power punch landed on Claire's sto chains, Claire had no way to evade to evade Olba's thened blow
”You brat!”
Olba spat on Claire's crumpled body
The blood that flowed froether into a dark red stain on the ground
”No matter You should now understand……”
So ht at that moment, a soldier breathlessly rushed into the room
”Olba-sama, it's terrible! We have intruders!”
”Intruders?! How many?!”
”Unknown! They see completely run over!”
”Kuh, very well, I'll go out myself! You lot fall back and set up a defensive formation!”
After clicking his tongue once, Olba turned around