The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 1 (Light Novel)

by Daisuke Aizawa

  Here’s a simple summary of their findings.

  Their first claim is that the heroes who slayed Diablos the demon were all women, which is why they’re the ones who suffer exclusively from the curse.

  How creative. But I hate to break it to you that all the heroes were men in the most common theory. Oh, wait, I bet they came up with that since the Shadow Garden is comprised of seven women apart from me.

  Their next report was on how the curse was most common among elves, followed by hybrid beasts and then humans. According to their research, it has to do with the life spans of the respective species. With humans living short lives with weak traces of the heroic bloodline, they’re least susceptible to the curse. On the other hand, elves have long life expectancies with potent concentrations of blood, which makes them the most prone to fall victim to the curse. The therianthropes, or hybrid beasts, are in the middle.

  Now that I think about it, I’m the only human in the Shadow Garden, and I’ve never been possessed. Besides me, we have two therianthropes and a posse of five elves—and all seven have been possessed. You know, they did a stellar job coming up with this backstory.

  And then they proceed to report on a bunch of other things, which I pretend to absorb.

  They move on to their reports about the Cult, which is supposedly a massive organization that operates on a global scale. Fascinating.

  In terms of being the possessed or cursed or whatever, they tell me the Cult calls them “compatibles,” and their members are supposedly going the extra mile to locate, acquire, and wipe them from existence or some crap.

  Anyway, they suggest that the Shadow Garden scatter across the world to prevent this from spreading. Their plan would leave me with one rotating subordinate, the rest of them scattering to every corner of the world to protect the possessed, investigate the Cult, and sabotage their activities.

  When they suggest this new plan, it hits me all of a sudden: They must have realized that the Cult doesn’t exist.

  They’re through with this stupid charade and demanding their freedom. What else could scattering across the world mean? I’m guessing they feel indebted to me for curing them, which is why they’re going to stick with me on a rotating basis. I just have to deal with it. I know that’s what they’re trying to tell me.

  I’m bummed out. In my past life, the kids idolized the heroes as much as I adored masterminds—until we grew up, and they didn’t even notice that they’d forgotten all about their precious heroes. I was left alone. I guess the girls have grown up, too.

  I’m feeling all soppy but agree to send them on their way. I never planned on having seven members to begin with. If they leave me with one subordinate, that’s enough for me. I see them off, and we reluctantly exchange good-byes.

  I make a vow to myself: I’ll never stop trying to become a mastermind, even if that means I have to face this world alone.

  She no longer fears killing others.

  Beta whips her inky katana, splattering congealed blood off her blade and onto the ashen ground in a clean line. She stands cloaked in the darkness of night and surrounded by a group of soldiers lying facedown.

  “End him,” orders Beta.

  The girls in black bodysuits pierce their blades into the guard. One of their hands in particular shakes violently, but it doesn’t stop the girl from thrusting her sword into his pressure point.

  “Guh… Gaaaah!” shrieks the soldier with his final breath, causing her blade to freeze in place.

  It’s the type of cry that’ll haunt her in her sleep until she becomes accustomed to killing.

  Beta envelops the girl’s hands on the helm with her own before giving the blade a sharp twist. Together, they feel the soldier’s life leaving his body.

  “Ah, ahhh…!” gasps a voice.

  This time, the cries are the girl’s.

  Beta wraps her arm around her subordinate’s trembling shoulders and issues her next instructions. “Secure the target.”

  The group makes its way to the carriage, boarding the loading deck. Following the shrill sounds of a chain snapping, the girls emerge from the wagon with a dark mound of rotting flesh.

  It’s still breathing.

  “Return to Lady Alpha—fast.”

  They haul the mound, carrying it tenderly, and start to pick up speed, followed by the member of their order previously nestled in Beta’s bosom.

  Beta squints slightly, watching them go.

  She’s raising them well.

  These girls used to know nothing about combat. They’d never held a sword, and it goes without saying that they’d never murdered anyone before meeting her.

  Beta is reminded of her own past, and old memories begin to resurface.

  She still remembers how it felt when she killed for the first time—her sword piercing their heart, their hand grabbing hers. Beta couldn’t believe the strength of their grip even as they suffered a fatal wound.

  “There’s a short period of time when people can move after they’ve been stabbed through the heart. Don’t let your guard down. Hey, Beta, are you listening?”

  Beta was listening to Alpha’s calm voice but couldn’t understand what she meant for the life of her.

  She was paralyzed with fear—incapable of moving or thinking.

  “You’re impossible.”

  The head of her enemy soared through the air.

  Alpha had beheaded him.

  The corpse dropped to the floor, spurting blood that splatted Beta, and large teardrops fell from her eyes.

  “Find a reason to fight.”

  Those words sounded so cold.

  Beta was a child who had trouble doing things on her own.

  After joining the Shadow Garden, she always followed Alpha around. After all, they were old acquaintances, and she knew she would go down the right path if she stuck by Alpha’s side.

  But Beta couldn’t find a reason to fight by following Alpha’s footsteps—or understand the importance of finding said motivation. As a result, she couldn’t get used to the idea of murder, vomiting violently after killing someone on a mission and shaking in fear every night as she tried to fall asleep. It wasn’t unusual for her to wake up screaming in the middle of the night.

  On one particular evening, Shadow approached the tormented girl.

  “Do you seek wisdom…?”

  “Y-yes?” Beta answered all jittery as she cocked her head to the side.

  In her eyes, he was enigmatic and extremely powerful.

  “If you seek wisdom…I shall give it to you.”

  He might mean the knowledge of easing my emotional turmoil from murdering others, she thought.

  With great expectations, Beta nodded. “I—I want wisdom.” Her voice trembled.

  “Then I shall give it to you…”

  Shadow began telling a story. “Once upon a time, in a faraway place, there was an old man and an old woman…”

  It was an ordinary fairy tale—no smidgen of wisdom or anything else.

  What the heck?

  She wasn’t sure how to respond—not that she was brave enough to oppose the one revered by Alpha—and shut her trap to listen to his story. It was more interesting than she’d initially imagined. In fact, she realized she’d been so absorbed in the tale that she’d forgotten the time.

  That evening, Beta had a deep, peaceful night’s rest.

  And ever since then, Shadow recited a bedside story to Beta before she went to sleep.

  Beta had always been a bookworm, but she’d never heard any of his tales before. They were gripping and original to her ears. Time flew by as she listened to them, and she’d be fast asleep in no time—and stopped jolting awake in the middle of the night. Her favorites were “Cinderella” and “Snow White.”

  This may have been around the time Beta began chasing Shadow with her eyes.

  She noticed she was spending more and more time around him. At first, she observed him with a timid gaze. But after a year had passed, Beta was attach
ed to him at the hip.

  Shadow was indispensable to the Shadow Garden—absolute strength, knowledge, and wisdom. His unconditionality comforted Beta. Soon enough, she found he’d become a necessity to her, too.

  She realized her doubts had disappeared somewhere along the way.

  Without Shadow, Beta would have been killed for being possessed.

  She’d been disowned by her family, chased out of her home country, and this series of tragedies made Beta slow in processing her new situation. She’d lost too much to notice her gains.

  With her skepticism gone, Beta was able to realize something: Shadow had given her a new life and strength.

  She could feel this truth swelling in her heart.

  Beta had found a reason to fight.

  She began keeping a journal to write about him every day—for her to keep in touch with her memories and feelings, for her to never doubt anything again.

  Beta had found a reason to live.

  At first, she’d jotted down words and adjectives, but she noticed it had turned into sentences, and that flourished into a story somewhere along the way.

  The faint sound of movement brings Beta back to reality. She unsheathes her sword before approaching the loading deck and peers under the wagon.

  “Eek!”

  She locks eyes with a young soldier about her age.

  He panics and drags himself out of the confines, trying desperately to escape.

  He didn’t know a thing when he chose to guard the carriage hauling the possessed—and he will know nothing in death.

  “S-stop…!”

  Beta swings her sword down without hesitation, and blood squirts out of his neck as he sprints for his life.

  He staggers a few more steps before collapsing to the ground. Swiping the blood spatter off her cheek, Beta gazes at the night sky, where a full moon peeks out from between the clouds. Under the moonlight, she smiles innocently—as if she’s a lovely flower fraught with danger in the night.

  Beta has no doubts.

  If it would make him happy, she would even walk down the path of evil.

  Chapter 2

  Assuming the Role of a Side Character at School!

  I turned fifteen and started attending the Midgar Academy for Dark Knights at the royal capital. This academy is known as the crème de la crème of schools on our continent and where promising knights gather not only from this nation but all over the world. I kept my grades on the meh tier to blend in with the crowd and my eye on the protagonists of my dreams.

  One of them is Princess Alexia Midgar, the biggest fish of them all.

  Honestly, even a chimpanzee would know she’s on the top tier.

  I’ve heard there’s an ultra-famous super–big shot named Princess Iris Midgar, but she already graduated, to my chagrin.

  Anyway, I’ll have you know that I unlocked a special event with Princess Alexia…er, I mean, my punishment for losing a game. Yeah, you’ve heard that right. I’m about to take part in your ye old punishment of confessing to a girl.

  Which brings us to the rooftop of the school. I face Princess Alexia from a distance.

  Her platinum hair is cut straight across at her shoulders, and her red eyes are almond-shaped and, um, pretty? And she looks all aloof with her perfect face. It’s like Yeah, yeah, we get it already. She’s gorgeous. Yeah, whatever.

  I hate to break it to you, but I’m bored of beautiful women, thanks to Alpha and company. I prefer a touch of ugliness. It makes you unique, you know.

  Anyway, I’m not the only reckless challenger who’s gone after Alexia. It’s been two months since the beginning of school, and more than a hundred schmucks have already tried to win her over.

  And all of them were met with one bitter phrase: “I’m not interested.”

  I mean, I get it. I’m guessing she’s got a political marriage or something lined up for her when she graduates. I bet she’s trying to say she doesn’t have time to engage in child’s play.

  That said, the aristocratic students in love with her share the same fate—political marriage and all. But I think that’s why they want to have a little fun while they’re still in school.

  Well, it doesn’t matter either way. In the end, it’s nothing but the amusement of those who know nothing of the shadow realm.

  And it’s my duty as a background character to join in on this charade. To get brutally rejected by the most popular girl in school? I can’t think of a role more fitting for an extra. If I can get through this event and play the role of a real loser, I will become my ideal and take another step toward becoming a hidden mastermind.

  I stay up all night to prepare for this moment. What should I say? How should I confess to her…? This is gonna be the greatest confession by a minor character of all time.

  Choosing the right words is a given. But I take it a step further by experimenting with articulation, pitch, and vibrato. I finally master the ultimate confession.

  On this day, at this very moment, I’m standing on the battlefield of a lifetime.

  Ready, fight.

  It’s a momentous battle for a background character.

  Sure, shadowbrokers have their own way of combat, but fighting as a side character creates a breed of its own.

  Which means I’m gonna pull out all the stops as one.

  I’m secure in my decision when I turn toward her.

  Princess Alexia… She’s standing there looking all high-and-mighty, but I could unsheathe my sword and detach her neck from her torso in a heartbeat. You’re a human like the rest of us.

  Watch closely.

  I present to you, the greatest confession in the world!

  “Pwinshesh A-A-A…Alexia.”

  Did you hear how I stuttered on the A-A-A? And that staccato? I threw in a bit of vibrato, changed pitch midway through, and added a lisp to Pwinshesh to give a convincing performance.

  “I—I love you…!” I lower my eyes to evade her gaze, making sure my knees are knocking against each other. “W-will you be my girlfriend…?”

  I choose to go with your average confession—cliché, if not boring. But I let my pitch and tone go hog wild. And that upward lilt at the end? It shows my complete lack of confidence.

  It’s perfect…!

  This is the performance of my dreams. I’m satisfied! I’m completely satisfied!

  “Sure.”

  “Huh?” I’m pleased with myself and just about to leave when I experience an auditory hallucination. “What did you just say?”

  “I said…sure.”

  “Um, okay.”

  Something’s not right.

  “L-let’s head back to campus together.”

  From there, I walk Princess Alexia to her dorm room. After a “See you tomorrow” with a smile on my face, I head to my own room, bury my face in my pillow, and scream at the top of my lungs.

  “When did I become the protagonist of a roooooooooooomcom!!”

  “It’s weird, right?!”

  “Bizarre.”

  “Absolutely bonkers.”

  It’s the next day. I’m having at lunch in the cafeteria and just told my two friends about yesterday. We’re all in agreement: There’s definitely something strange going on.

  “No offense, but Princess Alexia is way out of your league. If she said yes to me? I’d still think it was fishy. Right?”

  That’s Skel, the second son of the Baron Etal. He’s slim and tall, and though it seems he cares about his outer appearance, he has zero style. If you look at him from far away, he could trick you into thinking he’s hot. Erm, maybe not. I take that back.

  Either way, Princess Alexia is way out of Skel Etal’s league, too. I know this for a fact, because I consider him my “minor character” friend.

  “If Cid’s good enough for her, I bet I would’ve been good enough, too. Gah, I really should have confessed to her earlier.”

  That’s Po, the second son of the Baron Tato. He’s short and somewhat stocky. You know how there’s one
potato-esque guy on every baseball team? That’s basically him.

  It doesn’t matter if you look at him from afar, from up close, or from any and all angles. With his looks, he could never scam anyone into thinking he’s cool. It goes without saying that he has absolutely no chance with Princess Alexia. After all, he’s your cold, hard background character.

  Oh, and by the way, my name’s Cid. When I’m playing the part of Cid Kagenou, I’m also playing the part of your average Joe.

  “To be honest, it’s terrible. I have a feeling she’s got an ulterior motive, which freaks me out. Plus, we basically live in two totally different worlds.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. And unlike me, you’re not blessed in the looks department. I’d give it a week before she calls it quits.”

  “Three days. Just look around you.”

  I scan the cafeteria and see everyone whispering and observing me.

  “Over there! That’s…”

  “You’re kidding! He’s super average…”

  “It must be some kind of mix-up…”

  “Oh, I think he’s pretty cute…”

  “No way!”

  Et cetera.

  “I heard he blackmailed her…according to Skel Etal.”

  “I’ll kill that son of a bitch…”

  “And make it look like an accident during practice…”

  “If I don’t do it now, I’d bring shame to mankind…”

  And the like.

  I’ve got pretty good ears, and I’d caught almost all their chatter. I take a moment to glare at Skel.

  “Hmm? What’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  I guess friendships between minor characters can be fickle and fleeting.

  “But seriously, what do I do? It’d be weird if I mentioned breaking up when I just confessed my love for her.”

  And it would break character to dump a princess—though I guess people in this role wouldn’t date them in the first place.

  “Come on, give it a try. If you’re lucky, you might make some nice memories,” Skel encourages with a sly grin.

  “He’s right. Let’s say this is all a misunderstanding. You still get to date a princess. Don’t waste your time dealing with bullies,” Po adds.