To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 2.3

Part 3

I wait and wait, and finally, nighttime arrives.

I sneak out of my dorm and stand silently atop the school roof like usual.

The campus is on high alert, the dorm’s exits are under tight surveillance, and the students are restless. Who knew that a little old night burglar would cause such a stir? It’s thrilling, how fresh this all feels.

Back in my old world, I was the kind of guy who got super excited every time a typhoon rolled in. Wind and rain buffeting the classroom, the sky getting dark in the middle of the day—it doesn’t get better than that. It always felt like something big was about to happen. It never did, but still.

After going through all that myself, I feel like I have a responsibility to make something big actually happen this time. The students are sick and tired of their ordinary lives. They’re desperate for something to shatter the monotony.

“How do I want to play this…?”

We’ve got four missing students, a cat-slash-dogfight, a burglar falling to his death from the roof… What would be a revolutionary way of tying it all together?

“I could make a huge magic circle, chant some sort of invocation… Nah, too plain. Hmm?”

At some point while I was busy brainstorming, my surroundings got covered in white fog.

“Hey, this happened yesterday, too… This is some weird weather we’re having.”

Eventually, my vision goes completely white, and I find myself in a white space that seems to go on forever.

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

This is some fantasy stuff. I’ve been teleported somewhere completely different. And if I remember correctly, the same thing happened back at the Sanctuary…

“Who are you?” comes a voice.

It’s a girl standing in the white space. She’s a little younger than me, and she’s wearing an all-white dress. Her eyes are a gorgeous shade of violet.

“Hey there,” I reply. “Long time no see.”

Her age has changed, but I’d recognize her anywhere. It’s Violet.

“Who are you? A new researcher?” she asks.

“Wait, do you not remember me?”

“I—I don’t know you.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. You did mention something about your memories.”

“Stay back…”

The young Violet seems guarded.

“Hey, there’s no need to be scared. I’m not exactly a good guy, but I’m definitely not some dastardly bad guy.”

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

“I dunno. One minute I wasn’t here, the next minute I was. What about you?”

“I…I… Unghhhhh…” She clutches her head and groans.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m… Why…? AhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

She claws at her head and screams.

It looks like she’s in pain.

“You don’t have to make yourself remember if you don’t wanna. I forget stuff all the time. I wanna be able to focus on what really matters, so I go ahead and forget stuff that doesn’t in order to save memory space in my brain.”

“I—I… No… Stop it, make it stop… NooooOOOOOOO!!”

As she screams, she starts releasing tremendous amounts of magic.

“Careful there. Like I said, you don’t gotta remember if you don’t want to.”

I fend off Violet’s magical outbursts and walk toward her.

“STAY AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!”

“What’s up with this magic?”

I gotta say, I’m shocked. Adult Violet was incredible, too, but this is on a whole different level. Still, deflecting magic attacks this straightforward is a breeze. I walk forward, shifting their vectors before grabbing hold of her.

“No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“It’s gonna be okay.”

I hold Violet tight and pour magic into her. It’s the same deal as when I’m healing the possession—the more surface area I’m covering, the more efficient it is.

“Let go of me… Let go…of me…”

“Just go ahead and forget all the stuff you don’t wanna remember.”

I keep pouring magic into her, and eventually, her outbursts settle down. She relaxes and goes limp.

“But…what about the things I can’t forget?” she asks quietly.

“Dunno. But if you try real hard not to remember them, you’ll probably forget ’em eventually.”

“…But I can’t.”

“Well, that’s a bummer. You’ve calmed down now, though, yeah?”

“Y…yeah.”

I let go of Violet, and she hangs her head in embarrassment.

“Cool. Now, how do I get out of here?”

“…You’re leaving?” she says.

When I walk off, Violet pitter-patters along after me.

“Eventually, yeah. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how.”

The white space seems to continue forever. There aren’t any obvious exits.

“Everyone always leaves me,” Violet intones.

“C’mon, I’m sure that’s not true.”

“They all died.”

“Ah. Well, that happens sometimes.”

“Are you going to die, too?”

“Nope.”

I’ve got a good six hundred years left in me, and I’m still searching for a way to bring that number up.

“Liar.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Please don’t go.”

“…You know that if I find an exit, you can just come with me, right? It’d be easier if I could just blow the whole place up, but I’m sure I’ll figure out something.”

Last time I tried that, Adult Violet ended up disappearing, too.

“I can’t leave here.”

“Ah, bummer.”

“Please don’t go.”

“…I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

“Liar.”

“That’s not a lie.”

“Then…let me have that.” Violet points at my pocket.

I reach in and pull out the red jewel.

“I dunno. It is mine.”

“It’s so warm. It makes me feel calmer.”

“You know it’s just a jewel, right?”

“It’s not. It’s something far more precious.”

“It is?”

“Yeah.”

Then I hear the sound of a door closing.

Violet’s whole body shudders.

It’s weird, ’cause this place doesn’t have any doors, but I definitely just heard one.

“What the hell? Where’d she go?!”

I can hear a voice, too.

“Are you hiding somewhere?! Number  !”

“I—I have to go.”

“Hey, hold on a sec.”

Cracks begin splintering across the white space.

“Cut the crap already!! Don’t make me hurt you again—”

“Hold on, I was gonna give you—”

I grab her hand, and the space shatters into a million tiny pieces.

“—this.”

The red jewel I try to hand her tumbles through the air.

I’m back on the roof where I came from.

The white fog, the white space, and the girl in the white dress are all gone.

The jewel makes a small noise when it hits the ground, and I scoop it up and stow it back in my pocket.

“I wonder if Violet’s somewhere nearby.”

I cast out a wave of magic particles and probe for her presence. However, I don’t find her. But I do find something…

“Are those presences Claire and Alexia?”

I wonder what they’re doing down there.