The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 2 (Light Novel)

by Daisuke Aizawa

  Even when he squints, all he can make out is an endless black abyss.

  But amid that darkness, where left and right, up and down, and even his perception of self start to fade away, he senses something floating up.

  It’s a hideous left arm bound in chains.

  It looks like it’s far off in the distance, yet if he reached out, it seems almost close enough to touch.

  Suddenly, the chains crumble, their fragments cascading downward.

  The arm, now free, reaches out as though to grab Cid.

  Cid readies his obsidian blade, and the world…is engulfed in light.

  It’s early in the morning, and Cid finds himself standing in a forest. It’s where he was when he first went through the door.

  He glances around, but the arm is nowhere to be seen. He squints as the morning light strikes his eyes.

  “You got stabbed through the heart, but you seem none the worse,” he hears a voice call out from behind him. He turns to find Aurora there, looking somewhat fuzzy.

  “I shifted it out of the way. I’m a little tired, though…”

  He looks up at the morning sky, sighs, then steadies himself against a tree as he sits down.

  “You’re just full of surprises. More than little old me…” Aurora sits down beside him, reaching out to touch the wound on his chest.

  When she pulls her hand back, though, there isn’t any blood. Her hand has passed right through him.

  “You’re disappearing, huh?”

  “It would seem that way.”

  The two of them sit side by side and gaze at the splendor of the sunrise.

  “I was the one who called you there. I’m sorry for lying to you.”

  “It’s all good.”

  “I lied about other things, too.”

  “It’s all good.”

  Small birds start chirping. The morning dew glistens in the sunlight.

  “For so long, I’d just wanted to get it over with and disappear. I wanted to forget everything.”

  “Mm.”

  “But now, I was able to make a memory I never want to forget. Even if I disappear, I hope to carry that one with me.” She smiles. “Thank you for giving me something so precious.”

  With that, she begins fading away. Her forced smile is sorrowful.

  “Hey, I had fun, too. Thanks for that.”

  “If, by any chance, you ever find the real me…” She cups Cid’s cheek in her hand as she speaks, but he can’t even see her anymore.

  There’s nothing before him but the silent, lonely forest.

  “‘Please kill me,’ huh…?”

  Cid reaches up and touches his cheek as he murmurs Aurora’s final words. He can still feel her warmth on it.

  Alpha and Epsilon gaze down upon Lindwurm from atop the mountain’s summit.

  Alpha’s dress flutters in the wind, exposing her pale legs.

  “The Sanctuary has been annihilated.”

  “I noticed.” Alpha squeezes the bridge of her nose. “Were we able to recover the holy sword?”

  “It evaporated.”

  She sighs. “What about a sample of the core?”

  “All gone, too.”

  Alpha shakes her head. “He chose the simplest, most decisive solution. Very like him.”

  “That’s what makes him Master Shadow, after all,” Epsilon replies triumphantly.

  “His path is the one we must take.” The morning sunlight reflects off Alpha’s luscious blond hair, causing it to shine. She squints at Lindwurm, off in the distance. “And Beta?”

  “She’s guiding the princesses. She says that if she plays her cards right, she might be able to infiltrate their ranks.”

  “I see. And the survey of the Sanctuary?”

  “We’ve completed everything we still can.”

  “What do we know?” Alpha closes her eyes as she listens to Epsilon’s report.

  Her head is clear, and she’s able to sort through the information instantly.

  “That’s plenty. And what about the other matter?”

  “It appears our hypothesis was on the mark.” Epsilon wavers for a moment, then delivers her answer as simply as possible. “Aurora the Calamity Witch…is also known as Diablos the demon.”

  Alpha’s blue eyes are fixed on the distant sunrise. “I see… That explains why he…”

  Another piece of the puzzle clicks into place.

  After Alexia leaves the Sanctuary, she finds herself in a forest.

  When she looks around, she discovers Rose and Natsume are standing beside her.

  The three of them had all been near each other when they fled the Sanctuary.

  Rose tilts her head. “Where are we…?”

  “Lindwurm Forest, I think. I can see the town off in the distance,” replies Natsume. The other two check, and sure enough, they can make out the town, too.

  It’s impressive that she noticed, given how hard it is to see between the slim gaps in the trees.

  “I think we should head back.”

  “Agreed.”

  Before Rose and Natsume can get far, though, Alexia calls out to stop them. “Wait.”

  “What is it?”

  “Is something the matter?”

  The two stop and look at her.

  “Hey, don’t you hate it?”

  “What do you mean…?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t quite follow.”

  Alexia looks back and forth between them. “We were completely powerless back there. But that’s not the worst of it. We couldn’t even tell who was good and who was bad. We were useless spectators who couldn’t so much as make out who was in the right…”

  “Alexia…”

  “If we keep on this way, if we stay in the dark, then we’re sure to eventually lose everything we hold dear. I can’t be the only one who thinks that, right…?”

  “Alexia, the truth is…something’s been on my mind, too. Back when the academy was attacked, I think there were powerful organizations secretly pulling the strings. After all, we don’t know anything about either the Shadow Garden or the ones opposing them…”

  “I understand how you feel, but what are you planning to do, Princess Alexia?”

  Alexia crosses her arms. “We’re weak and missing vital information, but surely, there’s at least something we can do together. I’m a princess of the Midgar Kingdom, and Rose is the princess of the Oriana Kingdom. You’re an author, so you must have made some connections that way. What say we gather information, then share it?”

  “You’ve laid out the beginnings of a plan. What’s the endgame?”

  “That depends on what we find, but if the three of us join forces, we can probably fight back or something. Or we can try to gather allies, or…”

  “Your plan seems alarmingly vague.”

  When Natsume points that out, Alexia glares at her. “Th-that’s why I’m saying we need to gather information, so we can scrutinize it and decide what to do from there!”

  “That’s all well and good if you’re smart enough to parse intelligence,” Natsume quietly mutters.

  “I’m sorry. Did you say something?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  Alexia continues glaring, and Natsume flashes a wide smile. The two stare at each other for a little while.

  “So what will it be? Will you form an alliance with me or not?”

  Rose is the first to extend her hand. “I’m in. I’ll try finding out what I can in the Oriana Kingdom.”

  Next, Natsume lays her hand atop Rose’s. “I’ll use my connections as an author to dig around, too.”

  Finally, Alexia places her hand on the pile. “Then it’s decided. From now on, we’re allies. We come from different countries and backgrounds, and none of us really knows what lies in one another’s hearts, but I have faith we’re on the same side.”

  Rose smiles. “I like the sound of that. Allies trying to lay bare the world’s hidden truths… It’s like the start of a legend or something.”


  “We have the roles of hero, sage, and deadweight all present and accounted for,” remarks Natsume, smiling at Alexia.

  “With you being the deadweight, of course,” counters Alexia, grinning back at Natsume.

  Their pact sealed, the three of them stride forth side by side.

  Off in the distance, the morning sun shines bright on the town of Lindwurm.

  The vast majority of Gamma’s job is taken up managing the business side of Mitsugoshi, Ltd.

  Whether she’s content with this or not, the fact of the matter is that her lack of combat prowess leaves her with few other options.

  In truth, she dreams of fighting chicly by her master’s side, but that’s her little secret.

  This is what compels her to spend another day dutifully minding Mitsugoshi’s affairs.

  Her job has taken her to Madlid, which is on the outskirts of the Velgalta Empire. Currently, she’s in the middle of negotiating with a feudal lord about opening a new storefront for Mitsugoshi.

  “Ms. Luna, I personally recommend this property.”

  Gamma’s guide, Rude, bears a flashy smile. He’s the eldest son of the lord in question.

  Luna is the name Gamma uses in public when she’s acting as the president of Mitsugoshi.

  “It faces out onto the main road, and it gets great sun. The property boasts a generous frontage. With the land, it comes out to one hundred forty million zeni, but as a special favor, I’m prepared to let it go for one hundred twenty. We would be overjoyed to have Mitsugoshi here.”

  “I see.”

  The man is right; the plot is excellent. The building isn’t bad, either. It’s a bit on the older side, but it’s three stories tall, spacious, and sturdily built.

  A little remodeling is all it would take to establish a usable storefront. Demolishing the old and constructing a new building is another option. Most of the property’s value is in its location, after all.

  However, the problem lies in the fact that he’s willing to give up a prime piece of real estate for a mere 120 million zeni.

  An identical plot in the capital of the Midgar Kingdom would easily run ten times that, and even in other similar provincial areas, it would probably go for five times more.

  However, there’s a perfectly good reason this bargain is still on the market.

  The issue isn’t the plot but the town as a whole.

  Madlid is a minor region of the Velgalta Empire, and to be blunt, its population is in decline. There are all sorts of reasons for that, but of them, two are most prominent.

  The first is its location. It’s horrible.

  It takes over a month for a carriage fully loaded with goods to get from Madlid to the next closest town. Considering the time and cost involved, it quickly becomes clear why the town is ill-suited for commerce.

  The second is that the imperial capital of Velgalta is experiencing a new wave of prosperity, drawing all of Madlid’s youth and merchants to uproot their lives and move there.

  Well, much of this is due to Mitsugoshi opening up a branch in the capital and the subsequent redevelopment, but both she and Rude are avoiding making any allusions to that fact.

  Anyhow, for these reasons, Madlid as a town is rather short on merit.

  Furthermore, firms are the only ones who would want to buy such a ridiculously large parcel of land off the town’s main drag. Similar lots could be found all over town.

  In other words, opening a new store is financial suicide unless you can come up with a way to solve those fundamental problems.

  “We would love it if you opened a store here!”

  Rude is visibly desperate. He had, of course, heard rumors about the effect Mitsugoshi had on the imperial capital.

  If the retailer opened a store in Madlid, it would stop the city’s population from dwindling further, and the graph of their failing financial situation would suddenly soar—or at least, that is what Rude has deluded himself into thinking.

  That’s not how it’d actually go down.

  Until the underlying problems were solved, a new branch would be nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

  “Should I…?”

  “I—I hear you loud and clear. I’m willing to drop it to a flat one hundred million zeni!”

  Seeing Gamma’s indecision, he slashes the price even further.

  However, Gamma has no intention of giving him an answer for a reduction of a mere twenty million zeni. She’s already spent over a week indecisively touring the town’s real estate, and she hasn’t given him a single definitive answer yet.

  She’s already seen everything she needs to.

  Now she’s just waiting.

  “—Ms. Luna.” And there it is. An attractive young woman dressed in a Mitsugoshi uniform comes up behind Gamma and whispers in her ear. “We’ve finished the survey.”

  “And?”

  “It will work.”

  “Is it here?”

  “Petroleum? We’re certain of it.”

  “—I see.”

  That day, Gamma shows Rude a smile for the first time. “I’ll take it.”

  “Oh my, you will?! In that case—”

  “In fact, I’ll take every plot along this road.”

  “—Excuse me?”

  “I’m saying if you’re willing to meet our conditions, we’re prepared to redevelop Madlid into the best town in the empire.”

  “—What?”

  “Would you be willing to expand the Nyle River’s tributaries and build a canal?”

  “Um…yes?”

  “Excellent, then let’s get started.” Gamma begins issuing orders to her subordinate. “Buy up all the necessary land downstream of the Nyle. We’re about to have a real estate bubble on our hands…”

  With that, they take off briskly. Eventually, only the dumbfounded Rude remains.

  He gapes at his surroundings, then mutters, “Oh, right… I have to report to Father…”

  —The weak are worthless.

  Born and raised a therianthrope, she had this lesson drilled into her by her family.

  Her clan was large, even for canine therianthropes, and her father—the chief—had over a hundred children to his name. She had been born to one of his lower-ranked mistresses, so no one expected much from her.

  At mealtimes, her portions were meager, and she was always skinny and famished.

  When she turned three, they eventually stopped feeding her altogether.

  She was little more than skin and bones by the first time she staggered into the forest to hunt for herself. There, she slew a boar twice her size by bashing in its skull, then she drank its lifeblood and gorged herself on its organs.

  She realized then that not only could she sustain herself with her own two hands but doing so was surprisingly easy.

  Now she knew that was what it meant to live.

  Food handed to you was worthless.

  It only held value if you hunted it yourself.

  After she returned to her village, drenched in her prey’s blood, word began to spread.

  Even among therianthropes, a three-year-old girl killing a boar was hardly normal.

  Yet that was precisely what she had done.

  Her senses and physical strength were superlative, and she could even use magic despite never having had any formal training.

  If a child her age came picking a fight, she’d take them down in a single blow, and whenever she got hungry, she’d go off and hunt her own food.

  Her malnourished frame quickly filled out, and before long, she’d grown into a young girl with fair looks and supple muscles.

  By the time she turned twelve, the only person in her clan who could best her was the chief.

  It would only have taken a few more years—or maybe even just one—and she might well have surpassed him, too.

  However, that never happened.

  Instead, black bruises spread all across her body.

  She was…one of the possessed…

  …and the p
ossessed had to be driven from the pack. That was an ironclad rule.

  After fleeing with her disease-ridden body, she began hunting throughout the forest and prowling aimlessly.

  She loved to hunt.

  Hunting had given her life. Every instinct in her body told her that hunting was what she had been born to do.

  Consequently, being driven from her pack didn’t bother her much.

  As long as she could keep on living and hunting, she was fine with that.

  However, the illness ate away at her. Her body rotted, and she gradually grew so weak that it became impossible for her to hunt.

  She collapsed by a woodland stream and looked up at the heavens.

  “I can…still…hunt…”

  She could smell the beasts, sense their footsteps, hear their cries.

  The forest was massive, but she could make out traces of distant prey like it was right in front of her. If her body would only move the way she wanted it to, she could hunt them all down with ease.

  “My prey…calling out…to me…”

  But even though she extended her blackened, rotting hand, all she caught was air.

  “But I…can still…hunt…”

  Eventually, her vision grew dim.

  Knowing she didn’t have long to live, she smiled when she heard a wolf howling nearby.

  The wolf had come to hunt her.

  This was her chance.

  She couldn’t move anymore, but she could lure her prey to her.

  The moment the wolf tried to bite her, she would tear out its throat with her teeth.

  She stifled her breathing and waited for the wolf to come.

  But it never did.

  “Wh…y…?”

  The wolf’s presence grew distant, and a blond elf appeared in its place.

  “It’s progressed pretty far… You must have an incredible force of will to be able to stay conscious in that state,” the elf observed. She offered her hand but was frantically forced to retract it a moment later.

  Chomp.

  The therianthrope girl’s fangs met empty air.

  She turned her inflamed face toward the elf, glared at her, and smiled.

  “Looks like…I found…a big one…”

  With the last of her strength, she willed herself to her feet.