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The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 4
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 4
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is
coincidental.
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E3-20220427-JV-NF-ORI
Contents
Cover
Insert
Title Page
Copyright
Appendix
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
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The three of them leave the base in the dead of night and silently race across
a snow-covered field.
Rose spots a fortress off in the distance.
An attractive girl stands on a small hill overlooking it.
“There you are,” she says as she turns around.
Her strawberry blond hair sways elegantly behind her. Illuminated in the
moonlight as she is, even a fellow girl like Rose can see how sublimely
beautiful she is.
She’s the Shadow Garden’s one and only Number 559.
“Our apologies for keeping you waiting.”
“You know the details?” 559 says, succinct as ever.
“No, we were just told that it would involve Fort First.”
“I see.”
Number 559 exhales a puff of white as she turns her back to them and
begins explaining.
“Two days ago, Fort First fell into the Perv Faction’s hands.”
At the moment, the Oriana Kingdom is locked in a fierce conflict between
I sit in a tavern in Fort First’s castle town, drinking my apple juice and
listening to the exposition.
After fleeing from Delta, I ended up dashing all the way over the border
and sneaking into the Oriana Kingdom.
“War’s broken out. Lord Kouadoi controls the area around Fort First, and
many of the residents here have died.”
“Hmm. Hmm. I see.”
I idly murmur every so often to show I’m paying attention. The hostess is
a bombshell named Marie. I feel like I’ve seen her before, but I’m probably
just imagining things.
From what I hear, 90 percent of the guys in this tavern are trying to get in
Nobody is at Fort First when I go to check it out, but I sense people using
magic in the forest right beside it. When I get there, I spot a familiar-looking
girl with strawberry blond hair who looks like she’s in a bit of trouble.
If I remember correctly, her name is Victoria.
I met her last year when I was on one of my cross-country strolls. She had
the possession, so I cured her, then left her with Alpha.
She was so timid she wouldn’t hurt a fly back then, so I’m kinda surprised
to find her fighting for her life while totally drenched in blood
I can see she’s in pain, so I heal her, but she should still probably take it
easier in the future. Then, I slice up the old guy who was bullying her.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
“Yes, sir,” Victoria replies.
Well, that’s good, at least.
It does beg the question, though: What was she doing brawling with all
these soldiers?
“What happened here?”
“I made a mistake. The Cult of Diablos has already put their plan into
motion.”
A mistake, huh?
It must be something she’s too embarrassed to tell anyone about. She was
probably doing something illegal, and the soldiers caught her. I’m impressed
she was able to come up with that cover story about the Cult of Diablos so
quickly, though.
Marie’s eyes snap open in the dead of night. It’s quiet and oh-so-very cold.
Her window is slightly ajar. That’s odd; she’s sure she closed it before she
turned in for the night.
Her breath hangs white in the air as she gets out of bed. The moment she
does, something moves beside her window.
“Wh-who’s there?”
“………”
There’s a person standing there. Moonlight streams into the room.
Thanks to Epsilon, I get waved right on into the castle. Once we’re in, I’m
immediately captured by its gorgeously artistic decorations.
“They don’t call it a land of art and culture for nothing, huh?”
“It’s often said to be the most beautiful castle in the world,” Epsilon
replies.
The two of us walk side by side through high-ceilinged corridors and
exchange pleasantries with the people we pass.
“In Oriana, people respect the artistically talented, no matter what race
they are or what their social status might otherwise be.”
People flood into the hall when they hear that Shiron has an apprentice.
In the Oriana Kingdom, she’s hailed as the greatest pianist in the world.
Her name carries a lot of sway.
When she burst onto the scene a few years ago as a complete unknown,
her pieces took the world of music by storm. Their innovative artistry and her
polished technical skill became the talk of concert halls everywhere.
It’s said that the world of fine art has two rising stars that shine brighter
than all the rest—Natsume for literature, and Shiron for music.
When people hear that Shiron’s taken on an apprentice, it’s hard to blame
them for sitting up and paying attention.
In the Oriana Kingdom, talented musicians are a big deal. Even if
nothing’s official yet, nobles hoping to become their patrons latch on to every
rumor and scrap of information.
For Oriana nobles, the renown of the musicians they have working for
them plays a huge role in how they’re viewed by their peers.
When I finish the performance and rise from my seat, I’m greeted by a
thunderous round of applause.
Heh-heh-heh, you see that?
Now, you know the power of a Moonlight Sonata specialist. I’ve practiced
that piece in my head so much I could play it in my sleep.
Rose sits by the window and looks despondently up at the heavens. It’s
almost as if the ash-gray winter sky is a reflection of her own heart.
Rose agreed to marry Perv in exchange for her mother’s safety.
She managed to save her mother. However, she has no idea if she’ll be
able to save the kingdom.
The Shadow Garden will probably make a move before long. Although
she had her reasons, the fact remains that Rose disobeyed a superior officer.
She has little doubt that they’ll brand her as a traitor.
And the Cult of Diablos is going to make a move, too. They’re definitely
up to something.
The Oriana Kingdom is about to become a mere stage for those two
powerful forces to clash.
However, Rose is under house arrest. She’s helpless to do anything but
stare at the ashen sky.
“Cid…”
Whenever she feels like things are too much to bear, she thinks of his
face.
Tap.
Someone knocks on her window.
She heads over and looks outside, and when she does—
“It can’t be… Cid…?”
—she sees the very boy she’s been dreaming of.
Her cheeks flush as she stares at the dark-eyed, black-haired youth.
She wonders if she’s dreaming. She was so sure she’d never get a chance
to see him again.
“You know, I think this is the first time you’ve failed a mission.”
Epsilon raises a wineglass to her lovely lips as she gazes down at the
Oriana night skyline.
“My deepest apologies.”
Number 559—Victoria—stands beside her.
The two of them are in the Super Royal Suite at the Mitsugoshi Deluxe
Hotel right beside their Oriana Kingdom branch store.
The room’s furnishings practically scream classy, and the window has a
gorgeous view of the entire royal capital.
A single night there costs a million zeni and is restricted solely to nobles,
and yet even so, it’s booked solid for the next year.
“I saw your report on Number 666,” Epsilon comments.
“She needs to be dealt with promptly.”
“While I agree that her actions were rash, I think it’s a bit premature to be
branding her a traitor.”
“But…”
“Your loyalty is admirable, but you have a tendency of getting
overzealous. I plan on having you stand shoulder to shoulder with the Seven
Shadows someday. Don’t let me down.”
Number 559 squeezes her fists tight. “…Yes, ma’am.”
“Also, the fault for the operation’s failure doesn’t fall solely on you. I
didn’t warn you about Number 666’s mother, and that’s on me.”
The cool morning sunlight washes over me as I make for Oriana Castle.
Last night, I got to stay the night at a swanky suite for free. Can I get a
hell yeah?
The breakfast this morning was buffet-style, which was excellent, and
between that, the quick soak I took, the sauna, and the massage, I can’t think
of a better way to start the day.
I’d say that it’s nice to have friends with connections, but from what I
hear, Mitsugoshi is thinking of opening a line of beauty salons catering to the
wealthy. They’re probably just using me as a guinea pig.
Plus, they based practically all of this stuff off the stories I told them
about cosmetic surgery and cosmetology. Now, they’re planning on making
money hand over fist off my knowledge.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve got my happiness, and you can’t buy that with
money.”
I’m not sour about it. No way. Not me.
Now, Epsilon’s got work this afternoon, so it looks like I’m flying solo.
Thanks to my investigation yesterday, I discovered that Rose is only
going along with the wedding because her mom’s been taken hostage. All I
have to do is save Queen Reina to snap Rose out of her funk, kill Perv, and
seize the throne.
It’s the perfect solution. Sometimes, life throws you an easy one.
“First things first, let’s figure out where Queen Reina actually is…”
I can picture it now—the eminence in shadow swoops in, conducts a
flawless rescue op from the shadows, and fuels the birth of a legendary
monarch.
“Heh-heh-heh…”
My status as Epsilon’s apprentice lets me stroll right on into the castle,
and loads of people greet me as I head to the music room. My cover is that
I’m heading there to tune the piano.
I gotta say, though, this place is seriously hardcore about their art and
I don’t end up spotting any black roses, but I find the queen’s room pretty
quickly.
Oddly, it doesn’t look like anyone’s guarding it. I peek in the window and
spot Queen Reina and Duke Perv.
“Huh?”
It looks like they’re talking, but something feels off.
“Oh, Perv… Are you sure we can’t make our love public yet?”
“Just a little longer, honey. We have to finish the wedding and get what
we need out of Rose first.”
“Sometimes, it feels like you actually want to marry her…”
“No, no, honey. You’re the only one I have eyes for.”
“And you promise you’ll kill Rose right away so we can get married?”
“Of course, honey.”
Perv and the queen exchange a passionate kiss.
OH MY GOD.
“Honey, it’s time. Work calls.”
“It’s always the same with you. You say that, and then you go off to see
the girl. Still, I only have to put up with it for a little longer, so I’ll be patient
for you. You’ll come and visit me tonight, though, right?”
“Of course, honey. I’ll see you then.”
Queen Reina watches Perv leave the room with a great deal of reluctance.
“Well, that’s not good,” I mutter to myself as I quietly step away from the
window.
Perv and Queen Reina are in cahoots.
In other words, saving the queen won’t accomplish squat.
What to do, what to do…? Wait, that’s it!
“I just have to tell Rose!”
When she finds out they’ve been pulling one over on her, flames of rage
Rose waits nervously for the madder-haired maid to brew her tea.
When she takes a sip, it fills her mouth with a delightful floral flavor.
“This is wonderful. Thank you, Margaret.”
“………”
Margaret doesn’t reply.
She gets through her work dispassionately, ignoring Rose all the while.
Rose stares sadly at her back. “Excuse me…Margaret?”
“If that’s all you need me for, I’m going to take my leave.”
“Um…”
As Rose fumbles over her words, Margaret exits the room.
The door clicks shut, and Rose lets out a sigh.
She and Margaret grew up together. She loves the way Margaret’s smile
I smile meaningfully. I’m sure of it. She’ll awaken, and she’ll kill that
Perv guy dead.
Heh. That’ll be a fun shock for the guests.
Duke Perv stands on the second floor and gazes down at the ceremonial hall.
“Our defensive perimeter is airtight, I assume?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, make sure it stays that way. The Shadow Garden could be planning
something.”
The Cult agent disguised as a guard bows to Perv, then leaves.
Word of the Shadow Garden’s raid on Fort First has reached Perv’s ears.
The Cult took every precaution so as not to be detected, and yet they’d
been a hairbreadth away from having the Ring of Succession stolen away
from them anyway.
Once again, the Shadow Garden is being a thorn in Perv’s side.
Shadow was the one who ruined his scheme back at the Bushin Festival,
too, and that’s forced Perv’s plan to take quite a detour. The Cult is finally
starting to get serious about wanting to crush the Shadow Garden, but Perv
has seen Shadow’s prowess firsthand, and he fears that the Cult is still
underestimating the threat he poses.
As further proof of that, the Cult has yet to succeed in pinning down the
Shadow Garden’s base of operations.
In fact, their intel on the Shadow Garden is lacking on all fronts. In Perv’s
eyes, that’s gross negligence on their part.
Even now, the Cult still believes its grip on the world is as firm as ever.
“Still, I have the Ring of Succession. Once the right to succeed the throne
“Man, this fantasy world doesn’t mess around. Even their bats are
ginormous,” I remark as I face off against the massive flaming bat.
My original plan, for a variety of reasons, was to watch the birth of Rose
the Monarch from off in the distance, but then there was this huge monster
outbreak.
No biggie, though. I get what’s going on.
This is the forces of darkness working to hinder the monarch. When the
redheaded dude summoned the bat, it was to stop her from coming into her
own.
No matter the era, people will always have power struggles.
“Y’know, you look kinda badass. You’ve got the whole ‘demon king’
vibe down pat,” I say to the bat, who’s still pretty pissed I chopped its wing
off.
It responds with a growl.
Apparently, it’s gonna take more than a single severed wing to bring this
bad boy down. Its wound has already finished regenerating. Plus, the thing’s
one hell of a tank, and the amount of mana it’s working with is unbelievable.
If I try to fight this thing fair and square, there’s a good chance it’ll
trounce me.
Good thing I’m not planning on fighting fair, huh?
“Shall we begin?”
As an eminence in shadow, it’s my duty to take it down in a single stylish
When the light dies down, the world stands completely altered.
The sky is blue again, and the sun’s rays are streaming down. Rose can
see her breath in the crisp, clear winter air.
Shadow stands at the very center of the world, raising his jet-black sword
to the sky.
“Are you…? Are you really…?”
Rose starts to say something, but then goes quiet.
For some reason, two piano players are starting to overlap in her mind.
There’s no way. It simply isn’t possible. Yet she finds herself drawn to
Shadow’s each and every movement all the same.
“So, that was Master Shadow’s plan for the Black Rose…”
Beta and Epsilon look up at the sky. There, they see the shattered Black
Rose.
Not even it survived Shadow’s mighty attack.
As they watch, it slowly crumbles to pieces. As it does, a small mass gets
sucked into it.
The mass is covered in blackened skin and red hair. It’s Mordred, now
reduced to nothing more than a head.
Then…
“I give myself to the ebony vortex, and vanish into the world of
darkness…”
With that, the shadowy figure dives straight into the Black Rose.
“Huh?”
The two of them bump into each other by the gate, just like always.
The night’s passage has done a fair bit to quell Akane’s rage. After all, it’s
not like Minoru meant any harm. There’s no sense in getting so worked up
over a mere misremembered name.
She decides to greet him like normal and just forget about what happened
yesterday.
“Morning, Kageno.”
“Morning, Nishimura.”
You’re right back where you started!
Akane wants to scream, but she hides that urge behind a steely smile.
The part that she finds most obnoxious is the way Minoru is acting as
though the conversation they had yesterday didn’t even happen.
He’s calling her Nishimura just like he always does, and just like always,
he isn’t even looking at her.
He does technically turn his eyes her way whenever they greet each other
or chat, but it never feels like he’s actually seeing her. His gaze is distant, like
it’s focused on something far off in the distance.
More than anything else, that’s what really pisses her off.
The name thing is annoying, but it’s not that big of a deal.
But the way she never feels like she even enters his gaze? She can’t stand
it.
Once she notices that about Minoru, she starts hating his guts.
From then on, Akane starts going out of her way to avoid interacting with
him.
She still greets him each morning, but that’s all. He keeps getting her
name wrong, but she doesn’t bother correcting him anymore.
She also avoids talking to him whenever possible, despite the fact that
they’re seatmates. If she absolutely doesn’t have a choice because of
“Urgh…”
When Akane opens her eyes, she finds herself in a dimly lit warehouse.
Her wrists and ankles are bound, and there’s a gag shoved in her mouth.
She’s still a little out of it. She remembers the black car; she remembers
the man choking her, and…she remembers spotting someone, maybe?
“Mmm! Mmmm!!”
The next day, despite her parents’ concerns, Akane heads to school like
always.
Thinking about what happened yesterday still fills her with fear, but for
some reason, remembering the Fancy Hoodlum Slayer makes her want to
break out laughing.
“Heh-heh… He was so dorky.”
She walks through the gate and, as usual, runs into her least favorite
classmate. “Morning, Kageno.”
“Morning, Nishino.”
“…Huh?”
Akane is so surprised, she forgets to keep walking.
Minoru got her name right. And what’s more, she gets the feeling that
he’s actually looking at her this time.
But that’s not all. There’s something about his voice.
“…There’s no way.”
She shakes her head to banish that ridiculous thought, then chases after
Minoru.
“Kageno, wait up!”
She wants to give chatting with him another go.
The Tanaka house is in a sorry state. The building itself has fallen into ruin,
and the food is too rotten to eat.
I start out by rummaging through the rooms and grabbing whatever
articles of clothing catch my eye.
I end up settling on a hoodie, some jeans, and a pair of sneakers—the
perfect outfit for an autumn afternoon like this one.
Then, we have Beta.
“Master Shadow, I really do apologize for all the trouble.”
She’s modeling yet another outfit.
“What do you think about this one…?”
“…Beta, that’s what we call a ‘school swimsuit.’”
When Beta comes out from behind the door, my eyes meet navy fabric,
The sun begins setting, and honestly, the vermilion autumn sky is super
pretty.
We could’ve made it to the university in no time if we’d just dashed there
at full speed, but Beta was having so much fun sightseeing, and I was having
so much fun giving her exposition that we ended up taking it fairly slow.
It’s fine, though. Either way, we’ll get there by the end of the day.
As we walk, a serious expression crosses Beta’s face. “After seeing all
this, I got to thinking…”
“Oh yeah?”
“The alphabet this ‘Jappan’ uses looks oddly familiar.”
Akane Nishino arrives in the abandoned hospital with four teammates in tow.
Her black hair is elegant and tidy, and her eyes are a striking shade of red.
“This is where the three of them were searching before they went
missing.”
“By all accounts, yes.”
After that, Akane and her squad find the three knights’ bodies and return to
Nishino University.
The gate to the base is locked tight.
Night is when the guards are at their most alert.
After all, that’s when the beasts are active.
The bulwark’s perimeter is illuminated by bright lights, and keen-eyed
knights patrol atop it all through the night. The purpose of the tall walls is
twofold: to stop beasts from getting in, and to make it easy to sound the alarm
if any draw near.
This day, though, what the guards find isn’t a beast—it’s Akane and her
squad.
“And that’s all you have to report?”
The first one to come meet her is her brother, Akira Nishino. He’s
wearing glasses and a lab coat and has an anxious, puckered-up look on his
face.
“Yes. I take full responsibility for what happened.”
Akane’s just finished handing over her wounded squadmates to the
medical team and telling her brother what went down.
She’s the one who took a bunch of knights off-base at night without
permission. She still thinks her brother was in the wrong, but she has no
Akane left the two refugees in the infirmary in the base’s residential area.
Like every base, their residential area is wildly overcrowded. Even in this
section, where Akane’s room is, there are people conspicuously sleeping in
the hallways.
“They’re in here,” Akane says.
When she enters the room, she’s greeted by a chipper voice from within.
“Akane, is that you? Perfect timing. One of the kids just—”
A woman comes over wearing a lab coat and a friendly smile.
Cid’s voice echoes through the dimly lit infirmary. “The room’s clear.”
It’s been a little while since the earlier conversation, and the lady doctor
has left, too, meaning that Beta and Cid are now alone.
“Master Shadow…”
When Beta opens her eyes, she finds her lord sitting on the windowsill
and looking up at the moon. She can see the anguish lurking just below his
expression’s surface. Those ebony eyes of his are fixed on the distant future;
he’s surely weaving elaborate plans in his head.
“I can’t believe you’ve learned to speak this world’s language already.”
Out of everything that’s happened so far, his earlier conversation with the
locals is what surprised Beta the most.
His learning to read the language in just a few short hours came as a
shock, sure, but who could have even dreamed that he would be able to figure
out the pronunciations as well and actually be able to put that knowledge into
practice?
“I listened to their conversations while we were pretending to be
unconscious and pieced together their meaning through a combination of the
sounds they made, the way they moved their mouths, and the expressions
they made. It’s a simple trick.”
Shadow’s nonchalance toward his own feat makes Beta’s awed gaze grow
even more fervent.
He may have listened to a conversation, but it was only a short one. Plus,
Beta could tell from the locals’ reactions just how absurdly proficient her
lord’s pronunciation was.
The feat he’s performed—arriving so directly at the answer to
understanding a language’s underlying logic, even going so far as to master
its phonetics—can only be described as divine.
A new morning has arrived, and hot damn, how I’ve waited for it!
As soon as the sun comes up, I immediately pawn Beta off on Akira
Nishino and suck in a big lungful of the brisk air.
That should do a pretty good job of restricting her movements.
It’ll also inhibit her ability to study Japanese, and all my lies will be safe
for that much longer. Now, I just have to use this time I’ve bought to find a
way to get back to our original world.
“Heh-heh-heh… It’s the perfect plan.”
The question is, how long will it take her to learn the language? I mean,
she has always been a smart one.
I wanna say…six months, probably?
I should keep my estimate conservative to be safe, though, so let’s go with
three.
With three months to work with, I’m sure I can find a lead on how to get
us back home. The fact that we got here in the first place means there’s gotta
be something somewhere linking back to our world.
For the time being, however, as I’m gathering intel on the black hole and
any powerful magic I can find…I don’t see why I can’t have myself a little
fun here in Japan.
I’m, like, pretty much certain that this is the world I lived in during my
old life.
It’s got my house—destroyed as it is—and it even has my old classmate,
Akane Nishino. When I saw her just now, she looked like she was about
The sun begins setting, casting the sky a brilliant shade of vermilion.
Akane looks up at it and sighs. She’s finally done with work.
She’d had the day shift, which is divided into two main responsibilities—
patrolling the outside of the base, and patrolling the inside.
The former mainly involves making the rounds and catching new beast
nests before they grow out of control, but there are sometimes other things
the knights are asked to investigate as well. Apparently, Akira told the
It’s still the dead of night, but the base is completely astir.
Even with the beast attack repelled, there are still tons of people milling
about. However, there’s one knight who manages to slip away from the
hustle and bustle.
The man—who has a decided air of roughness about him—is none other
than Vice Commander Yuudai Saejima.
“Tch. This is some bullshit.”
He spits the words out as he heads around the darkened school building.
Out back, removed from the main walkways, there’s a quiet, unlit alley.
“The Black Knight, huh? I don’t like this guy. I don’t like him one bit. I
dunno what base he’s from, but he can’t just stroll in here and do whatever
the hell he wants.”
He stomps through the darkness, hurling invectives as he goes.
Judging by his stride, he has a clear destination in mind.
“Is he with the Alliance? Nah, they’d have told me he was coming. But if
that’s not it, then what…?”
Clop. Clop.
He hears footsteps behind him.
“Oh hey, you’re early. Your intel was—”
Right as he turns around, though, he hears another noise.
Ptchoo.
“Huh?”
Something pierces him in the chest.
He clamps his hands over the wound to try to stem the bleeding.
Dr. Yuuka sits down in front of Akane. “This is some pretty serious
business.”
“Huh?”
237: FallenAngelofRebellion
xXxSilverHairedElfBabexXx is a pretty cringe name, you might wanna
change it
238: Anonymous Victim
another weirdo showed up lmao
239: Anonymous Victim
“Fallen Angel” LMAOOO “of Rebellion” LMAOOO “ ” LMAO “ ”
LMAOOO “ ” LMAO
240: xXxSilverHairedElfBabexXx
I not cringe. FallenAngelofRebellion is cringe.
241: Anonymous Victim
SilverHairedElfBabe vs FallenAngelofRebellion! Round 1, fight!
242: Anonymous Victim
bruh you’re both cringe
243: FallenAngelofRebellion
I am a knight of darkness, a fallen angel who lurks in the shadows and
seeks rebellion. How can I be cringe when I have ultimate power on
my side?
244: Anonymous Victim
knight of darkness lmaooooo fallen angel lmaooo who lurks in the
shadows lmaooo seeks rebellion has blessed us with his presence
I head back to my room, but my plans to report my findings are dashed when
the person I was going to report to isn’t there.
“Where’s Akane?”
The bed she should’ve been sleeping in is empty, and Dr. Yuuka is sitting
over on the couch.
“She had to go in for a checkup. She won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay.”
Given how emotionally unstable she was, I guess that checks out.
“Also, Minoru, do you have any idea what time it is? The stampede’s
right around the corner, so you should really start coming back sooner. It’s
not safe out there.”
“Sorry about that. I did find an important clue, though.”
“What do you mean…?”
I tell her the shocking news I learned today that all but disproves the
theory that Akane is the killer.
“Bullet wounds?! If that’s true, it will clear Akane of all suspicion. How
did you find that out, though?”
“I, uh…I guess you could say I know a good information broker?”
“A what now?” Dr. Yuuka eyes me suspiciously, then sighs. “Well, if you
say so. I’ll go tell the knight order about the bullet holes. With any luck, we
should be able to get them to take another look at the body.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
“Make sure you don’t tell anyone else what you just told me. Otherwise,
the killer might come after you.”
“W-will do.” I give her a picture-perfect “scared background character”
nod.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Dr. Yuuka replies before hurrying out of the
room.
That should be enough to help solve the Gorilla Murder Case and free
Akane. Good stuff all around.
Night comes.
“Hmm?”
Right as the perfect time to go for a nighttime stroll rolls around, I sense
someone loitering outside my room.
A burglar, perhaps?
Damn, I guess things in Japan really have gotten bad.
I muse on the situation and decide to wait and see how this plays out. Not
a moment later, bullets tear through the window.
Shards of shattered glass come crashing down with an earsplitting noise.
“Wait, for real?”
Who’da thunk a forgettable background character like me would ever end
up getting shot at?
I feel the bullets slam into my skin.
So, this is what nobodies feel like when they get gunned down…
Suddenly, I realize that this might be the last chance I ever get to use a
certain Hidden Technique of mine!
When the bullets crash into me, I manipulate my body and pour
everything into that one moment.
Get ready to see how a nobody dies, folks.
Behold the power of Hidden Normie Technique: Swiss-Cheese Dance,
Bloody Marionette!
My body dances in tune with the bullets striking it. I look like I’m a
puppet or something.
To complete the image, I secretly tear open blood pouches and make a
beautiful shower of blood rain down around me.
The knights gather on the base’s wall and begin fighting back against the
beasts.
The beasts, in turn, drive their sharp claws into the wall and climb it
practically like they’re running. The knights’ efforts to stop them are marred
Akane Nishino feels like she’s gazing at some sort of distant, far-off world.
In her heart, however, she knows that it’s all happening right in front of
her.
She knows all too well that the sensation of her arm rending flesh and the
sight of Dr. Yuuka collapsing are both terribly real.
She knows, because she remembers having the same thing happen long
ago.
She wonders what, exactly, happened back then.
She wonders how many people she killed.
Recollections flood back right as the feeling in her arm does.
“Ahhhh… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The memories are etched deep in her heart. They’ll never go away.
She crushed towns, slaughtered people, and destroyed Arcadia, all
because she couldn’t control her magic and her urges.
It felt like she was gazing at a distant, far-off world back then, too.
Because of that, she knows what’s about to happen.
She can feel her magic starting to run wild.
Beta watches through a gap in the rubble as the bluish-purple magic heals
Akane.
“Tee-hee-hee… This am magnificent.”
She uses the digital camera in her right hand to capture an image of her
esteemed master, and at the same time, uses her left hand to write out
passages of The Chronicles of Master Shadow. It’s quite the party trick.
“This camera can preserve Lord Shadow’s image in all its majestic glory.
Is am like this device were invented just for me.”
“Shadow is back?”
At the moment, Alpha is listening to a report while in the director’s office
of the Mitsugoshi Deluxe Hotel.
The moment she heard about Shadow getting sucked into the Black Rose,
she immediately rushed over to the Oriana Kingdom to take charge of the
damage control operation.
I’m getting to the end here, so I’d like to say some more words of
gratitude.
Thank you to my editor for helping me through the entire publication
process. Thank you to Touzai for the best illustrations I could ever hope for.
My thanks to Araki at BALCOLONY. for the incredible designs that adorn
this book. I’d also like to thank everyone working on the anime. And last, I’d
like to thank my readers for their support. Thank you again from the bottom
of my heart.
Let’s meet again in Volume 5!
Daisuke Aizawa
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