To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 1.8

Part 8

I love going for late-night walks.

The world is quiet in the moonlight, and it helps remind me about what really matters. I haven’t been losing my way much lately, but back in my previous life, the gap between reality and what I needed to accomplish to be an eminence in shadow caused my resolve to waver sometimes.

My go-to method for dealing with stuff like that was training so hard I couldn’t think anymore, but going for late-night walks and doing some self-reflection was a fine option, too. When I looked up at the moon when everything around me was still, that alone was enough to make me feel like a shadowbroker. There were occasionally hoodlum bikers out, loudly revving their engines, but that was what I had my crowbar of justice for.

Anyhow, long story short, I still sneak out of my dorm late at night to go for a little stroll every now and again. Recently, I’ve gotten hooked on heading up to the school roof and looking down at the night-shrouded world from atop it.

“Heh-heh-heh…”

All I have to do is let out a fearless laugh, and I’m the coolest guy in the world.

The moonlight is especially beautiful tonight. I already washed the spit off the red jewel Delta found, and I take it out and hold it up to the moon. The wondrously deep color makes it unbelievably pretty.

“Looks like there’s some sorta magic stored in it. I wonder how much I could sell it for?”

Dang, Delta, you did good.

I can’t wait till I get a chance to put it up for auction at Mitsugoshi. If it sells for enough, I’ll finally be able to buy the Eminence in Shadow Set from my personal wish list. I’m gonna get a black lion-mane scarf, I’m gonna get a dark crystal table set, I’m gonna get a—

“Huh?”

When I glance to the side, I see a middle-aged dude in a black robe over on the corner of the roof.

That’s an odd place to see a dude.

Wait—do my eyes deceive me? Now that I’m looking, is the robe he’s wearing made of darkspider silk?! That sheen, that deep black hue… It’s gotta be. No cheapo robe could ever boast that raw material quality.

“…You’ve got good taste.”

I take a moment to observe the fashionable dude. His hair is silver and goes all the way down to his waist, and his features are chiseled. His eyes are shaped like an eagle’s, which is kinda badass, too.

I strain my ears and catch him muttering something:

“It was supposed to have appeared by now. I checked the blueprints…”

Ah, he must be a burglar. That’s the only kind of guy I can think of who would use a blueprint to sneak into a school. It does make sense; I hear the school’s got all sorts of valuable artifacts.

What we’re dealing with here is a fancy thief.

Unaware that I’m watching him, the dude says something that sounds pregnant with significance. “They must have interceded. But that just means I have some obstructions to remove…nothing more.”

Would you look at that? This guy even knows how to set the scene.

Then the fancy thief turns around.

Our eyes meet.

I’m concealing my presence, but I’m not making any effort to hide my actual body. Naturally, this means he spots me.

“What?! How long have you been—?”

“Hey, don’t mind me. I was just going for a walk.” I have no intention of obstructing this guy’s plans, so I try to impress on him how harmless I am.

“You don’t look like you’re from the Knight Order. Who are you?”

“Just an ordinary old student.”

“A student, huh…? Given how you’re carrying yourself, I guess you’re telling the truth. I can’t believe a mere student spotted me on my first day here.”

“Look, man, happens to the best of us. Anyhow, see you later.”

“Hold it. Now that you’ve seen me, I have to eliminate you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna rat you out or anything. It’s no skin off my nose if a burglar happens to break into the aca—”

However, the fancy thief doesn’t seem to be in a listening mood. “Today just wasn’t your lucky day, kid.”

“Whoa, careful there.”

I sway my body to avoid the twin sickles cleaving at my throat.

This guy’s pretty fast. Those are some fancy moves for a burglar. I guess he really is a fancy thief.

“Wh—?! You dodged it?!” He backs off out of caution. His voice lowers to a growl. “You… You’re not just any old student, are you?”

“Seriously, I’m not gonna rat you out.”

“Considering that trick you just pulled, you must be with the Knight Order special forces. That’s the first time anyone’s been able to pull the wool over my eyes like that.”

“I really am just an ordinary student.”

“You think I’d believe that? You’re probably the one who killed the Wicked Smile. It was unlike him to call for aid. That’s why they sent in me, the Dark Spider.”

“Yeah, I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”

“But this is where your luck runs out.”

“My what?”

“The thing is…I’m stronger than the Wicked Smile.”

The fancy thief slashes my arm with his sickle.

Clang!!

A heavy noise echoes out from my arm, and sparks go flying.

“I—I can’t cut you?!”

I reshape my uniform.

Black slime flows down my arm, covering it up and coalescing into a talon where my hand is.

“That black weapon… You’re with the Shadow Garden…”

The fancy thief makes a desperate attempt to back off. However, nothing he does can change what’s about to happen.

“So fast—”

I close the gap and gouge out his heart with my talon.

“Impossible… Th-that power…”

“Huh?”

He clutches my talon with both hands and grimaces. “It can’t be… No, this is where you are… So you disguise yourself as a student. Forgive me… Lord… Fen…rir…”

With that, he hacks up a huge mouthful of blood.

“Aw man. There I go, murdering people again.”

I steal his darkspider silk robe, taking great care not to let any blood get on it, then kick him off the roof.

“Ah, shit.”

When I look down, I see that the fancy thief has fallen to his death.

That’s all well and good, but there’s a bronze statue right where he landed, and he had the unique misfortune of getting impaled on the sword the statue is holding up. It makes it look like he’s been brutally executed.

What should I do about the body?

“…Eh, I guess I’ll just leave it.”

There’s blood splattered everywhere, and cleaning it up sounds like a royal hassle. I can just write it off as a special gift from me to all the students enjoying their ordinary school lives.

“Hmm?”

All of a sudden, I notice an odd white fog drifting by. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t any fog there a minute ago.

“What is that stuff?”

I blink, and it vanishes without a trace.

“Huh. Did I just imagine that? I don’t think so…”

There’s no way that could’ve been a weird trick of the light. It was only there for a moment, but I definitely saw some fog there.

“I guess it’s just one of life’s many mysteries.”

It’s not like seeing some white fog is gonna change my life in any meaningful capacity, and if I wanna see more, I can always just head up into the mountains.

More importantly, I gotta go hang my new darkspider silk robe on my wall and catch some Zs.