Part 2
We end up playing poker over in my room.
The sun’s already set by now, and Po’s already started staring lifelessly at the ceiling after losing all his money.
I grab a fat handful of chips…
“Raise.”
“Rrgh… A-all in.”
With that, Skel takes his paltry stack of chips and puts the whole thing on the line.
I call, of course.
“Bwa-ha-ha… You fell right into my trap.” Skel shows me his hand, gloating all the while.
“Dang, that is a nice hand.”
“Sorry, Cid, but I’ve figured out all your tells. This is where my grand comeback begins—”
“Nah, we’re done here.”
“Huh?”
I show him my hand.
“No way… You seriously have three of a kind? Po and I trained so hard, and you tore through us like paper…”
“I can keep going if I take out a loan,” Po mumbles deliriously. “That was my food budget for the month. If I don’t make it back, I’m done for…”
“All right, time to pay up.”
After collecting my winnings from the hopeless duo, I kick them out into the hallway.
“Sorry, but if you’re broke, you’re useless to me.”
With that, I close the door on them. “Dammit, we’ll get you for this!” I hear them cry from outside. “Let’s cheat next time to really make sure we bury him!”
If that’s the way they want to play it, I’m happy to cheat right back at them. When I cheat for real, not even Alpha can suss me out.
After stashing away my earnings in my Eminence in Shadow War Chest, I turn down the lights and take a moment, listening to the sounds of the night. Then I call out into the darkness beyond my window:
“Apologies for the wait—you can come in now.”
“…Mm.”
With a muted response, a girl appears as though from nowhere. Those hiding skills of hers are top-notch.
You’ve really honed your talents, Zeta.
The girl is a slender therianthrope dressed in a jet-black bodysuit. Her eyes are icy-purple and catlike, and she focuses them straight on me. “Long time no see, Master.”
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“You’re a bit taller.”
“Am I?”
“Mm.” She nods briskly, then offers me a dried fish. “For you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s mackerel.”
“Huh.”
“I got it from the sea.”
“Dang, that’s a long ways away.”
“It’s extra fatty. The best mackerel of the season.”
“Is it, now?”
Zeta’s a feline therianthrope and the sixth member of the Seven Shadows. She’s pretty smart for a therianthrope, and she tends to be aloof and sparing with her words. She’s basically the polar opposite of a certain dog I know.
After I take the dried mackerel, Zeta stares at me like a cat waiting for its dinner.
“Thanks,” I say. “I’ll grill it up and eat it later.”
“Mm.”
Zeta’s golden tail twitches with a hint of delight.
“Now, then…” I put on my serious face. “Have there been any developments in…the matter at hand?”
Upon hearing my question, her feline eyes flash with pride. “The Cult’s been acting as expected.”
“Hmm.”
I step over to the window with a wineglass in one hand, and Zeta zips over and fills it with wine. As usual, her movements are clean. Zeta loves playing spies. She’s always been great at hiding and infiltration.
“They’re restoring the right arm,” she tells me.
“I see.”
“They’re running out of Beads of Diablos. That’s how this all started.”
“Makes sense.”
“The sealed right arm is in the campus ruins.”
“Figures.”
“They’re panicking. They’re afraid we’ll interfere.”
“That’s well within expectations.”
“There’s not much time left. They’re sure to make a move.”
Zeta looks up at me like she’s waiting for orders. At some point, she spread some documents written in ancient script out on my desk…but I can’t read a word of ’em.
“Any word on the missing students?”
“Not yet.”
“There’s already been four…”
“Right.”
“That won’t be enough.”
“No.”
The two of us stare out the window at the lights in the girls’ dorm, squinting to make it seem like we’re searching for something.
“There’s going to be a fifth victim.”
“Right.” Zeta peers up at me. “What should we do?”
“…Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fix your gaze, Zeta.”
“Mm… On what?”
“On the future…and on what we’ll need after it’s come to pass.”
“…If that’s your will, Master.”
The mood in the room is solemn. Tossing in that ad-lib section about the missing students, to make it feel more real, was a fine bit of work, if I do say so myself.
The story is as follows: Things seem peaceful at the academy, but behind the scenes, the Cult of Diablos is carrying out a diabolic plot. Zeta and I stare at each other, satisfied that we’re on the exact same page.
I nod, and Zeta nods, too. “Leave it to me, Master. I’ll make sure to fix my gaze.”
With a gust of wind, she vanishes into the night.
Before she does, though, she makes one superfluous move.
Don’t think I didn’t notice you rubbing that gold tail of yours all over my bed, girl.
“Dammit, Zeta, I told you to stop marking my stuff.”
I sweep off the fur, then look up at the night sky.
“To be in darkness eternal, or to wake from eternity…?” I murmur.
It’s getting pretty late, so I decide to hit the sack. I bet I’m gonna wake up tomorrow feeling like a million bucks.
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