“Alpha, bad news!! Plergh!”
The door flies open, and Gamma tumbles in. She slides across the floor, then crashes skull-first into Alpha’s desk.
“What is it? You seem to be in rather a hurry to tell me.”
Gamma presses down on her nose with tears in her eyes. “Owwww… Bad news. Th-there are counterfeits…”
“Counterfeits…?”
“Counterfeits of the MCA’s currency have entered circulation!”
Alpha’s eyes go wide. “Tsk… How many?”
“Not much, for now.”
“Does the MCA know?”
“Not yet, I don’t think.”
“Start spreading rumors. We need the MCA to realize what’s going on.”
“Understood.”
“Meanwhile, we’ll open an investigation into where they’re coming from. This mission takes top priority.”
Gamma nods solemnly. “Agreed. We have to nip this in the bud.”
“If a credit crisis happens, we won’t get away unscathed, either… Don’t tell me this is…”
“What is it?” Gamma looks quizzically at Alpha, who’s lapsed into thoughtful silence.
“It’s nothing.”
“I certainly hope so. I’ll mobilize the Numbers and begin the investigation.”
Gamma bows, then leaves. Alpha watches her go, then turns her gaze to the window.
The roadside trees sway in the wind, their red and yellow leaves twirl in the air.
“Don’t tell me this was part of their plan… No, I’m just overthinking things,” she quietly murmurs as she shakes her head.
“We’ve discovered counterfeits? Is that what you’re telling me?”
When he hears the news from Garter, Gettan doesn’t have to feign his astonishment.
“W-we’re looking into the details as we speak…”
Garter’s voice shakes, but the reprimand he’s bracing himself for never comes.
“Um, Mr. Gettan…?”
“…Find out where they’re coming from. Now.”
“Y-yes, sir! At once!” Garter quickly rushes out of the room before Gettan can start yelling at him.
Gettan crosses his arms and starts thinking.
The discovery of counterfeits isn’t the bit he’s surprised about.
After all, “having counterfeits discovered” had been his plan all along.
Once counterfeits make their way into circulation, a credit crisis is bound to happen, and the MCA’s bills will become little more than scraps of paper.
That’ll make the people start casting doubt on Mitsugoshi Bank’s bills, too.
The credit crisis will spread like wildfire.
The MCA’s been printing paper money for credit creation, but Mitsugoshi Bank is no different.
In other words, Mitsugoshi Bank won’t have enough reserves to meet people’s increased desire to trade in their paper currency. The MCA will go bankrupt, but Mitsugoshi will follow soon after.
Mitsugoshi Bank’s bills are incredibly precise. Any counterfeits would get spotted immediately; they’d never make it far in the marketplace.
However, if the MCA printed low-quality, easy-to-copy currency, then that wouldn’t pose a problem.
That had been Gettan’s plan.
Except the counterfeits weren’t supposed to be found until later.
The Cult still has a good deal of money tied up in the MCA. They weren’t supposed to start introducing the counterfeits into circulation until they’d transferred it all to safety.
“Did the schedule change…?”
If that was what the Cult’s leadership had decided, then Gettan has no choice but to follow along. Still, though, they could have at least told him.
“What exactly is going on?”
Gettan needs to check in with his bosses. If anyone messes up here, the Cult stands to lose a huge amount of funds.
He rubs the aching scars on his eyelids.
Just as planned, we’re slowly introducing the counterfeits into the system and cashing them in.
As John Smith, I stand atop the clock tower and gaze down upon the city’s unprecedentedly prosperous nightlife as I try to predict what the organizations working behind its scenes will do.
“This presence… The organizations’ plans are coming into motion…”
I smile meaningfully.
Who will be the first to detect our schemes, I wonder?
As I idly enjoy the nighttime view, I spot a carriage trying to leave the capital inconspicuously.
I also spot the three figures trailing after it…
“I see… Well, it makes sense that the first ones to notice would be…”
Following the figures, I leap down from the clock tower.
The moment I saw their slime bodysuits, I knew they were associated with Mitsugoshi.
“Sorry…but I can’t have you knowing the truth just yet.”
Even though it’s ultimately for their sake, I am currently pretending that I’ve betrayed them.
Only when the dust settles will they finally learn the truth.
As Number 664 stealthily follows the carriage leaving the capital, she turns around and glares at Number 666.
“Number 666, you really, really can’t act on your own, got it? As your squad leader, I need to know you’re going to follow my orders.”
“I know.”
“Clearly you don’t, or we wouldn’t need to have this conversation. Good grief… You rushed off on your own last time. I know everything ended up going okay, but still, what are you in such a hurry for?”
“I’m just… It’s nothing.” Number 666 hangs her head as she offers a brief denial.
“See, you’re always trying to shoulder everything on your own. I won’t know what’s going on in your head unless you tell me, you know.”
“Maybe it’d be best if we just focused on the mission.”
“Oh, yeah, no kidding. But in order to do that, I have to start by telling off a certain someone who likes to take a little too much initiative.”
Number 664 looks away from Number 666 and sighs.
As she does, she hears a yawn coming from behind.
“Hey, 665, did you just yawn?”
Number 664 turns around. This time, it’s Number 665 she glares at.
“Noooope.”
“You did. You totally did. I heard you. You need to focus on the mission, too, all right? I already went over just how important it is.”
“Oh-kayyyy.”
As Number 665 gives her listless response, Number 664 turns her glare back toward the carriage running in front of her.
Their mission this time is to find out where the MCA counterfeits are coming from.
Gamma of the Seven Shadows narrowed down the list of suspicious trade routes, and the carriage running in front of them is traveling along one of them.
It has been impressed upon Number 664 just how important their mission is.
That is precisely why she’s so worried.
For one, Number 666 is rushing things. Now, everyone knows how strong she is, and it’s thanks in large part to her that their squad is regarded so highly.
Recently, though, her habit of acting on her own has started to become intolerable.
Number 664 doesn’t know what’s gotten her so riled up, but at this rate, she’s bound to eventually make some major blunder.
In this world, there are some screwups that just can’t be fixed. Given the kinds of missions they go on, a single mistake can easily prove fatal…
As she starts concentrating again, Number 664 prays they’ll be able to complete their mission without anything going wrong.
However—her wish goes unanswered.
“Below us!” Number 666 abruptly calls out.
They all react to her voice and try to leap away.
However, Number 666 herself is the only one who makes it in time.
“Hwah?!”
“Ah!”
Numbers 664 and 665 tri
p on something and tumble to the ground.
When they catch themselves and rise back to their feet, they discover something thin and threadlike tangled around their legs.
“Is this…thread?” Number 664 asks.
Number 665 answers, “It seems like steel wire with magic running through it, maybe…”
The two of them cut through the wire with their slime swords, then brace themselves for the follow-up attack.
In their peripheral vision, they can make out Number 666 staring intently at the darkness with her sword at the ready.
They can’t sense any other presences.
However, a man is clearly walking toward them through the night.
His shoes click against the hard ground as he strides forward.
He’s wearing a suit, and his hair is parted to the sides. His face is obscured from view by some sort of inorganic mask.
Notably, he’s empty-handed.
He isn’t holding a single weapon.
When they strain their eyes, though, they can make out the wire that surrounds him flashing in the moonlight.
It’s drifting freely through the air, as if it has a will of its own.
“Be careful. He’s the one using that steel wire,” Number 664 warns the others as they square off against the wire-user.
There’s a man wearing a strange mask surrounded by countless wires gleaming in the moonlight. The whole scene seems almost fantastical.
“My name is John Smith. Begone—you don’t need to know what lies beyond yet.”
His voice is as artificial as his mask, and it’s impossible to get a read on his emotions.
The steel wire scatters through the night sky.
As it does, it shines under the moonlight.
Number 664 relies on that faint glimmer to dodge the wire as it coils around.
Its speed doesn’t pose much of a problem. The issues lie in how difficult the wires are to make out, how unpredictable their movements are, and their sheer quantity.
John Smith has only ten fingers, yet somehow, the number of wires he’s controlling far surpasses that count.
They come rushing in from all directions.
Between the angles and the timing, it’s a mean piece of work.
They seem to be predicting Number 664’s movements, as they always seem ready to cut off her escape routes. Then, by limiting the directions she can dodge, they’re functionally controlling where she can go.
As a result, she can’t approach him.
The wires have a longer range than their swords. If they can’t get close, they can’t attack.
Even knowing that, none of them has been able to close the distance by even a step since the fight started.
In fact, they seem to be losing ground.
It took the man only a scant few seconds to completely control the battlefield—and he hasn’t taken a single step.
By just manipulating the wires with his ten fingers, he’s been able to send the three women scurrying. They’re like puppets, dancing on his strings.
“Everyone, fall back.”
Number 664 issues the order, and the three of them move out of the wires’ range.
As long as they’re in John Smith’s reach, all they’re doing is burning their own stamina.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that they have no way to attack him.
As they exchange glances, all three of them shake their heads.
This man—he’s strong.
They’d been thrown off by his unconventional weapon, but even taking that into consideration, his ability to control space is phenomenal.
After all, accurately controlling dozens of wires, predicting the Numbers’ movements, and leading them exactly the way he wanted? Not many could pull that off.
Number 664 knows plenty of people who are stronger than her.
Number 666, for one, as well as the Numbers’ leadership, and the overwhelmingly powerful Seven Shadows above even them. All of them are far, far more skilled than she is.
But this John Smith is in a different league than any of them.
His power doesn’t stem from his magic, his strength, his speed, or even the technical talent that lets him wield them all.
True, the skill required to manipulate his wires is high. However, the true nature of his power lies elsewhere.
John Smith’s true power…is his ability to control the battlefield.
As a squad leader and as someone who gives orders to two others, Number 664 can tell. John Smith’s skill is born from a profound ability to envision the battlefield from above and a keen eye for understanding a fight’s progression and predicting its future developments.
In other words, he’s endowed with an incredibly sharp ability to think battles through.
“What’s wrong? Not approaching?”
John Smith still hasn’t moved a toe. He’s simply standing in place and gazing down at the three Numbers.
That’s how composed he is.
He’s confident he can deal with any situation that might arise.
The wires he’s deployed under the night sky have completely cut off their ability to fight back.
One wrong move, and they’ll get completely tangled up.
Retreat seems like an increasingly attractive option.
Number 666 will probably object, but Number 664 will just have to shut her down.
A voice breaks her from her reverie.
“If you won’t approach, then I suppose I’ll just have to come to you—”
“Wha…?!”
John Smith’s finger twitches.
When it does, Number 664 suddenly notices the thin wire wrapped around her neck.
What?! When did that happen?!
She should be outside of his range right now!
“Nobody ever said the wires were all the same length. And their thickness varies, too, of course…”
“It can’t be—!”
Now that she gets a better look at the wire around her neck, Number 664 can tell just how thin and discreet it is.
The only wires they saw up until then were the ones John Smith let them see.
“You mean, from the very beginning…?”
“That’s right—from the very beginning.”
Number 664 has been dancing on the palm of his hand.
She grimaces, and the wire around her neck tightens.
It’s filled with incredibly dense magic. All he needs to do is put a little more strength into it, and her neck will snap like a twig.
“If you’re going to kill me, get it over with. I-I’m not telling you anything.” She glares at John Smith.
Number 665 and Number 666 are bound, too. Number 664 braces herself for the inevitable.
That’s when Number 666 makes her move.
She steps forward.
She simply steps forward, faster than John Smith can pull his wire.
“HRAAAAAGH!!”
Then, with her entire being devoted solely to speed, she charges at him.
“Good choice—”
However, his composure remains unbroken.
He simply gives his right hand’s fingers a light tug.
“But nobody ever said the wire around your neck was the only one I laid.”
Suddenly, Number 666 tumbles to the ground.
Then, midway through her fall, she comes to an unnatural halt suspended in the air.
There are countless wires already wrapped around all her limbs.
Then, out of nowhere, the same happens to the other two. They were bound head to toe from the very start. The moment they failed to noticed that fact, the battle’s outcome was decided.
“Rgh…! Just kill me!” Number 664 moans.
For some reason, however, the man stops at binding them, making no effort to end their lives.
“This is a warning.”
His voice is cold and unfeeling.
“Don’t get involved—you don’t need to know any more than that for now.”
With that, he casually frees them.
“Akh, akh!” Number 666 glares at John Smith as she coughs.
Number 664 immediately dashes forward.
It’s to hold Number 666 down.
“That’s enough! We’re withdrawing.”
“—!”
“We can’t beat him; surely you realize that! You’ll end up dead!”
Number 666 hangs her head in frustration. “I…”
“We have to warn Gamma about him…about John Smith…”
Until they get rid of him, they’ll never figure out where the counterfeits are coming from.
Number 664 stares fixatedly at John Smith as he leaves.
“…And that concludes our report.”
Alpha and Gamma listen as Number 664 relays what happened on their mission.
“—The three of you together couldn’t lay a finger on him?”
“That’s correct…” Number 664 shakes her head under the weight of Alpha’s gaze.
The day she joined the Shadow Garden, everything about her life changed.
The world she’d taken for granted was shattered. She lost her friends and family. But in exchange, she gained both truth and power.
She’d never even held a sword before, yet now she’s strong enough to wipe the floor with just about any dark knight.
That said, there exist people she knows she can never beat.
Alpha, the head of the Seven Shadows, is a prime example of such an entity.
As Number 664 quakes in her boots, Number 666 steps forward from her side.
“John Smith was incredibly talented, though. His power was on par with the Seven Sh—”
“Y-you’re out of line!!”
Number 664 frantically clamps her hand over Number 666’s mouth before she can say any more.
“Mmmph, but if we could just get another chance to…mmph!”
“Be quiet, 666! I’m the squad captain here!”
As they watch Number 666 trying to keep talking through Number 664’s forceful gag, Alpha and Gamma sigh.
“We aren’t here to scold you. You did good work out there. That will be all.”
“’Kaaay.”
Number 665 responds unenthusiastically, then drags her teammates away with her as they grapple with each other.
Alpha sinks into her seat, then turns to Gamma. “…So what do you think?”
“John Smith… He certainly sounds formidable. But I can’t think of anyone in the Cult who matches his description.”
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 3 (Light Novel) Page 16