“Whew…” Sherry stops analyzing the artifact and lets out a sigh.
She can’t focus on her work. Her head is too far in the clouds.
The afternoon sunlight flows into the study room.
No matter what she does, he’s all she can think about.
She thinks back to the moment he gave her the chocolate, about his unrelenting stance during preliminaries, about their conversation over tea—over and over again.
She thinks about him during class and as she conducts her research, right until she goes to bed.
“I wonder what’s wrong with me…?”
She retrieves the empty box of chocolate from a drawer in her desk.
Even though she had already eaten the contents, she could not find it in herself to throw away the beautifully decorated box.
The sweet aroma of chocolate still clings to it.
Sherry is also curious about a certain rumor.
From what she’s heard, Cid and Princess Alexia are in love.
She doesn’t know the specifics, but she imagines the rumor holds up for it to make its way from the Academy for Dark Knights to the Academy of Science.
“Mm!” Sherry stretches as she watches the curtain billow with the wind.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
She can’t concentrate on anything.
Sherry decides she has to talk it out in person.
Knock, knock.
Sherry gives a few quick raps on a door in the dormitory for girls. That’s where the student in question is supposedly under house arrest.
“It’s me, Sherry Barnett, the second-year student at the Academy of Science.” She introduces herself through the door and waits for a response.
“Hello,” replies a voice at the same time the door swings open. “Is there anything I can do for you, Sherry?”
“Yes. Apologies for the sudden visit.”
“Come on in,” suggests the room’s resident, Alexia.
Her place is spacious and serene, much larger than the average dorm lodgings. Sherry is told to make herself at home and perches on the couch.
“Would you like black tea? I’ve also got coffee. Seems to be really popular recently.”
“Oh, I don’t need anything.”
“It’s no trouble.”
“O-okay. I’ll take a coffee.”
“All right.” Alexia begins gracefully brewing a pot.
Sherry starts getting nervous. I’m in my second year, and she’s only in her first. No need to get worked up, she reassures herself with nonsensical logic, thinking it’s all good because she’s Alexia’s senior. But on second thought, Alexia is royalty.
Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.
No, no—she’s the upperclassman here. She has to be confident.
“I can guess why you’re here, Sherry.”
Sherry jolts at those words. “U-umm…”
“This is about the artifact, right?”
“Well, not exactly.”
There’s the clink of a coffee cup. Alexia places it on the table in the midst of an awkward lull in the conversation.
“Here you go.”
“Th-thank you very much.”
Alexia takes a seat opposite Sherry.
“Whoa, that’s bitter…,” Sherry whispers after taking a sip.
“It’s easier to drink if you add milk and sugar.”
“O-okay.”
Sherry didn’t mean for Alexia to hear that comment, but it looks like she did. Sherry’s automatic reflex is to add tons of milk and sugar and chug it.
“Oh, it’s so good.”
“G-great… Those are the finest coffee beans from Mitsugoshi. I’m glad you like it.”
“Mitsugoshi… Oh, the place that sells chocolate. You know, that place really is something. This coffee is so sweet and creamy.”
“Uh, yeah, it sure is…,” Alexia comments, looking as if she wants to say, Because you’re basically drinking sugar and milk.
“So what can I do for you?”
“Oh, right. Yes.” Sherry puts down her cup, looking slightly pained as she mumbles, “Actually, I’d like to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Um, like…if you’ve had a boyfriend recently and stuff.”
“I’m sorry…?”
“A-and if you went out with Cid Kagenou and whether you’re still together and stuff.”
“U-um…” Alexia scrutinizes her face to find out if she’s being serious.
Sherry’s eyes are darting around the room, and there’s obvious tension in her shoulders.
Alexia guesses she may not be good at conversation in general. She’s picked up that Sherry is nervous, but Alexia can’t figure out the reason behind her question.
“We broke up.” Alexia speaks as calmly as possible.
“Really? Phew…” Sherry sounds elated, as if she feels relieved from the bottom of her heart.
Alexia’s cup clinks as she sets it down.
“Oh, but…but does that mean you actually dated…?” Her tone changes drastically and sounds uneasy.
“It wasn’t a real relationship. There were some circumstances that required us to pretend.”
“Oh, I see. That’s great.” Sherry giggles cheerfully.
Alexia’s cup clangs.
“I just befriended Cid the other day.”
“What? Y-you don’t say…”
“Yes. I couldn’t stop thinking about your relationship.”
“Um, was that the only reason for your visit?”
“Yep! It distracted me so much, I couldn’t focus on my research. I’m just so happy to know you two aren’t dating!”
“Y-yeah, great.”
Alexia brings the cup to her mouth with a trembling hand. It’s empty.
“Thank you so much! Oh, and thanks for the coffee!” Sherry takes her leave with a bright smile—the exact opposite of the expression she wore when she came in.
The moment she steps out of the room, there’s a sound of something breaking, but Sherry is too ecstatic to hear it.
Chapter 6
That Scene Where Terrorists Take Over the School
The day after I return to school, my last class of the afternoon ends a bit early.
“The candidates for Student Council and our current student president will now give speeches. Everyone, please return to your seats.” The instructor addresses the students trying to book it out of class.
“Where are the third-year students anyway?”
“Who knows.”
I answer Skel’s random question with a yawn. He’s sitting next to me.
“The third-years are out the whole week for an after-school program…”
Right when Po turns back in his seat to inform us, the door swings open. Two girls enter as the instructor leaves the room. I know one of their faces. She was my opponent from the other day: Rose Oriana, the Student Council president. I’ve always wondered how a normal school uniform can exude chicness when someone trendy is wearing it.
“Um, today, our instructor has given us this precious time to tell you about the Student Council election…,” starts a girl in her first year stiffly, as if she isn’t used to public speaking.
Am I the only one who feels like this speech is going in one ear and out the other?
Skel and I yawn as we space out through the speech. Po seems to be taking notes.
Wait, I’m pretty sure I just made eye contact with the student president. I would be surprised if she remembered the insignificant background character she squashed in the first round.
“Hey, the student president just looked at me,” says Skel, fixing his bangs.
“Yup,” I respond.
“Hey, hey. She might scout me for Student Council.”
“Yup.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Being on the council would bug me. I’d hate it.”
“Yup.”
This is how we pass the time. Then, out of nowhere, my magic feels off.
�
��Huh?
“What is this?”
I’m constantly training by manipulating magic particles in my body, but now it feels like I can’t contain them anymore. Something is blocking my magic flow. I’ll probably have to pry it open or make the magic particles even smaller to permeate the barrier.
As these thoughts run through my mind, I feel something rush toward the classroom.
“It’s here…,” I say ominously, just because.
At that moment, I hear an explosion. The door flies off its hinges, and my classmates fall into a frenzy. Just then, men in black burst into the room with drawn swords.
“All of you, don’t move! We are the Shadow Garden, and we’re taking over this school!” they scream, blocking the entrance.
“Are you serious…?” My groan is muted by the clamor around me.
The students can’t move.
Maybe this is some kind of special training or a prank…or it was real. Most of the students can’t grasp that the Academy for Dark Knights is under attack.
I’m the only one who completely understands what’s happening. I’m the only one who knows they’re serious, that they’re blocking our magic, and that the same thing is happening in all the other classrooms.
“Incredible…,” I involuntarily utter in awe.
These guys did it. I mean, they’re really going for it. They’re doing what all the boys in the world dream about, what fills a page in the fantasies of boyhood adolescence.
They’re reenacting the scenario where terrorists take over the school!
I’m so moved, I’m shaking.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined this scene. Hundreds, thousands…millions of times. I’ve thought out countless iterations, and right before me, my dream is coming to life.
“Stay in your seats! Put your hands up!” The men in jet-black swing their swords to threaten the students, who are slowly piecing together the situation.
They must be high-spec professionals with a cult following. I mean, they chose to side with terrorists.
But the focus is, of course, on the student protagonists.
What will they do?
How will they act?
The possibilities are endless.
“You seem to have no idea where you are,” echoes a gallant voice across the room. A girl with a sword on her waist has confronted them.
“Take over the Academy for Dark Knights? You must be out of your mind.”
Rose Oriana is standing up to them, completely alone.
“I think we asked you to put down the weapon, missy.”
“No.” She wields her rapier.
“Hmph. You’ll be a good lesson for the others.” He readies his katana.
This is bad.
She hasn’t realized she can’t use magic.
“…What in the—?” With her sword at the ready, her face turns a perplexed shade of red.
“Seems you’ve finally caught on.” He sneers behind his mask.
At this rate, this is going to be really, really bad.
“But you’re too late.”
The all-black blade plummets toward Rose. She can’t possibly defend herself with her magic restrained.
I kick a chair over and run.
“—…nr!”
Stop. Don’t do that. I process the situation at a breakneck speed, and the world around me slows down. I’m both exhausted and furious in this moment.
“…Aaaah!”
If this continues, she’ll be the first person killed by the terrorists.
And that can’t happen. I won’t let it.
“Aaaaaaaah, AAAAAAH!!”
To be the first victim of these terrorists…is my duty…as an extra!
“Stooooooooopppppppppppppppp!!” I let out a soul-wrenching howl as I leap between them.
As she watches the bare blade draw closer to her, Rose knows this is the end.
Her fragile body can’t tame the magic. Neither can she block nor evade the attack. She tries to twist her torso to lighten the blow, but even that movement is frustratingly sluggish.
She won’t make it in time.
Her death has come. That’s reality.
At that moment, a shout rings out that she can feel in her eardrums.
“Stooooooooopppppppppppppppp!!”
Something shoves her out of the way.
“Aaah…!” She instantly switches to a defensive posture as she crashes to the floor. When she gets up, her eyes fill with a shocking view.
“What the hell…?”
In front of her…a stricken boy is lying helplessly on the floor. She can clearly see the pool of blood beneath him growing larger and larger.
He’s sustained a fatal wound.
“Nooooooooooooo!!” A scream reverberates through the classroom.
Indifferent to the blood staining her clothes, Rose cradles the boy in her arms—the one who’s recently left a deep impression on her.
“Cid Kagenou…,” Rose murmurs. The boy slightly opens his eyes. “You idiot. Why did you protect me?”
They only met the other day. They’ve never even spoken properly to each other. She can’t imagine why he risked his life to save her.
The boy opens his mouth. “Gack, kaff!”
He vomits a stream of blood.
“Cid!”
His hacked-up blood splatters across her porcelain cheeks, and he smiles at her…before drawing his last breath. He wears the dying expression of a man who completed his mission.
“Why…?”
A tear cascades down her face. She stops herself from weeping as she holds him in her arms. When she looks at the dead boy’s face, she feels as if she’s figured everything out.
She knows why he was so strangely persistent during the preliminaries.
She knows why his eyes burned when he gazed at her.
And she knows why he laid down his life to protect her.
They are all connected.
Rose isn’t dumb. Ever since she was young, she’s had suitors chasing after her for being a beautiful princess. But she’s never been pursued with this much fervor before. No suitor ever loved her enough to sacrifice his life.
“Thank you…”
She can never tell him how she felt, but she vows to avenge him.
“Let this be a valuable lesson for you.” The man in jet-black stands before Rose.
“—…h!” Rose bites down on her lower lip and glares up at him.
“Still thinking of defying us, huh.”
“Tch… I’ll obey your orders.” Rose hangs her head, knowing it isn’t yet the time to get her revenge.
“Hmm. Head to the auditorium!” the men in black order, making their move.
They get the students to stand, shackle their hands one behind the other, and lead them out of the room. No one dares to resist.
Two male students at the end of the line turn back toward the classroom.
“Cid…”
“Poor Cid…”
The boys stare at his stiff face, looking as if they have more to say.
“Keep it moving.”
The terrorists force the duo out of the classroom. The sound of footsteps in the hallway grows distant. It’s silent again.
And then, the arm of the alleged corpse begins twitching.
When I confirm the classroom is clear, I pound on my chest.
Beat! Beat, dammit!
I hit myself over and over, forcing myself to suck in air.
Up and at ’em!!
Until…
“Koff, hack, gak!”
It stirs, and my once-stopped heart starts pumping again.
This is another esoteric technique, Ten-Minute Death: Heartbreak Mob.
With this technique, I let tiny magic particles trickle into my brain from my stopped heart, preserving blood flow and allowing me to stay in cardiac arrest for a long time without any consequences. It’s a risky technique: One slipup, and I go to the other side. But sometimes, I have to endanger
my life for the art of performance. And that’s what happened today. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Oww…”
I check the gash on my back. I let him cut me because I knew I might be examined up close. I avoided getting fatally injured, of course, but it was deep enough to be convincing.
I try using my magic to heal myself. It looks like my magic can get around the barrier if I process it in teeny-tiny amounts. Alternatively, if I apply pressure and release magic, I think I’ll be able to remove the membrane by force.
“Good enough for now.”
It’ll take too long for them to completely heal, and I’ll be in a tough spot if someone catches me in the act. I heal to the point where I have no trouble moving, and with my trusty “I-somehow-miraculously survived” routine, I should be good to go.
“All right,” I grunt, rising to my feet.
I make sure I can control my body and magic, wiping the blood off my face and straightening the wrinkles out of my school uniform.
The white curtains ripple in the midday breeze that flows through the window. As they billow and fall, the patches of bright sunlight and black shadows change form.
The fallen chairs and scattered desks. The broken door and bloody ground. The sight announces the end of a normal life.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
“All right. Let’s go.”
I leave the classroom and start down the empty, silent hallway.
Sherry Barnett is too focused on deciphering the pendant-shaped artifact to notice the commotion right away.
“This is…”
She picks it up and studies it up close, noticing something and narrowing her light-pink eyes.
“This…can’t be.”
Her gaze remains focused on the artifact as her pen begins twirling across the paper.
She doesn’t seem cognizant of the chaos around her. The explosive sounds, the footsteps in the hallway—all of this is beyond her scope of awareness.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone is attacking the school.”
“You can’t use magic, so don’t be careless.”
Even the conversation between the two knights doesn’t reach her ears.
“But how…? There’s no way…”
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 1 (Light Novel) Page 16