To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter Pr1

Prologue

The Case of the Missing Students and the Not-So-Peaceful Academy!

“Man, I really cut it close there…”

I sigh with relief as I step out of the Midgar Academy for Dark Knights auditorium. My breath fades to white in the morning air. The third-term opening ceremony just finished.

“What the hell, Cid? Where were you all winter break?”

“Yeah, remember how we promised to go hit on the cute Mitsugoshi girls together?”

Ah, how I’ve missed Skel’s and Po’s oh-so-forgettable faces.

“Sorry, guys. There was some stuff I had to take care of.”

Between the battle for the Oriana throne and my impromptu return to Japan, my winter break was jam-packed with excitement.

“You really left us in the lurch there, man,” Skel says reproachfully.

“Yeah, your sister put the screws to us,” Po agrees.

“She did?”

“She was looking for you. I told her I had no idea where you were, and she turned my head into a pincushion…”

“I told her she was hot and asked if she wanted to go out with me, and she nearly used her sword to turn me into a human shish kebab…”

“Damn, that’s rough. Sorry about that, guys.”

What I’m hearing is, I need to give Claire a wide berth for a while.

“Oh, and speaking of crazy shit that went down: You know how President Rose went missing?” Skel asks. “Well, now she’s the queen of the entire Oriana Kingdom. The whole country’s freaking out.”

“Yeah, I actually did hear about that,” I reply.

Heh-heh-heh, little do they realize that I am the one who paved the way for her. No one has any idea that there was a shadowbroker behind the monarch’s rise, much less that the shadowbroker was a run-of-the-mill academy student. That right there—that’s what being an eminence in shadow is all about.

“And that’s not all. People are talking about the Oriana Kingdom getting swarmed with magical beasts and the whole country getting hijacked and stuff.”

Oh, I know. Who do you think it was that set the whole thing up, and who do you think it was that saved the day? These guys don’t realize they’re talking to one of the star players behind the whole thing.

Skel goes on. “Looks like Midgar’s gonna be breaking off its alliance with the Oriana Kingdom now.”

Huh?

We’re gonna what?

“Yeah,” Po agrees. “I never thought President Rose would turn evil like that… She’s never going to be able to get public opinion back on her side.”

“You never thought she’d turn what? Huh? What do you mean?”

“I just told you, she summoned a bunch of magical beasts, killed everyone ahead of her in the line of succession, and hijacked the country by force,” Skel says. “Her name’s gonna live on in infamy forever.”

“She seemed like such a nice person back when she was here at the academy, too,” Po adds. “I can’t believe things turned out like this. But then she went and murdered her own dad at the Bushin Festival. Goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’d still marry her, though.”

“Y-yeah,” I reply. “When you put it like that, I guess she does sound pretty evil…”

I assumed that she was in one of those stories where a mighty monarch is born and leaves their mark on history, but now she’s taking a sharp left turn into a villain arc. But y’know what? That’s kinda badass in and of itself. The evil monarch shocking the world to its core, the shadowy puppet master manipulating her from behind the scenes… Yeah, I can work with that. Never let it be said that I can’t pivot when the situation calls for it.

“There’s also a bunch of shady rumors about her,” Skel continues.

“Yeah, yeah, like how she’s got secret ties to that Shadow Garden organization—”

Skel hurriedly cuts Po off. “Whoa, ix-nay on the Adow Garden-shay.”

“Oh, shoot, you’re right. If I talk about that, I’ll get disappeared.”

“Huh? What’re you guys on about?” I ask.

Skel’s expression turns serious. “We had four students go missing over winter break. People are saying that the group that tried to take over the school is behind it.”

“Word around campus is, anyone who tries to investigate the organization gets silenced for good.”

I hem and haw. “Hmm, I dunno about all that…”

“Oh, there’s no way it’s actually true.” Po turns around, his expression the picture of confidence. “But a couple of students did actually disappear, so everyone’s having fun coming up with conspiracy theories. The Knight Order looked into things just to be on the safe side, but they didn’t find any evidence that anyone had broken onto campus.”

“It’s that time of year when people who failed too many classes start looking for a way out,” Skel says. “They didn’t get disappeared. They probably just ran off. How’re you doing credits-wise, Po?”

“Urgh… I’m just barely in the clear. What about you, Skel?”

“I-I’m doing all right, I think. And you, Cid?”

“I’m…probably fine?”

“W-well, hey, go us. Sounds like we’re all gonna make it to the next grade.”

“Y-y-yeah, for sure, definitely,” Po stammers.

“Ayup.”

“By the way, what do you guys wanna do now?” Skel asks.

“Today was just the opening ceremony, so it’s not like we have classes,” Po says. “We could go play cards back at the dorm.”

“Wait, cards?” I ask.

“Yeah, check out what Mitsugoshi just put out!”

With a shit-eating grin, Skel pulls out a deck of cards. It’s the spitting image of the ones I saw back in my past life. Have they seriously started mass-producing them?

“Nina gave these to us,” Po explains. “Let’s go play Presidents or poker or something!”

“This’ll be Cid’s first time playing cards, right?” Skel asks Po. “Let’s show him just how cruel the world of gambling can be.”

“Hee-hee-hee… In that case, it’s gotta be poker. We can take him for everything he’s got.”

Poker, huh? Odds are we’ll be playing Texas Hold’em. I taught the Seven Shadows the rules way back when, and I remember leaving them in tears after taking them for everything they had. Ah, the good old days. I was being kind enough to teach them just how cruel society could be, so I figured it was only fair that I get paid for my services…but they started getting scary good at it, so I decided to quit while I was ahead.

This looks like a golden opportunity, so I decide to charge Skel and Po for a crash course of their own.

I crack my knuckles. “All right, bring it on. I can’t wait to see how cruel this world of gambling of yours is.”

Skel grins. “We’ll be playing for ten times the usual stakes. Man, I can feel my pockets getting heavier already.”

Po nods. “You know what they say about suckers and their money.”

“Heh…”

Oops, almost laughed in their faces. I quickly cover my mouth with my hand.