"So are we gonna just stand there in the line? I think we will only get in by the evening if it goes like this, y'know that?"

"U-Uh…"

Cid was watching from sidelines as Alexia kept poking Iris on various themes: Knight's Order, investigation, what to expect in the store, how much compensation can she expect for everything they put Cid through ('But it was supposed to be my money!')… And looks like confidentiality of some of these themes was a joke to her as she didn't even bother about Cid being near them.

'Well, looks like we are gonna be here for a while, might as well recap everything I need to do in the future…'

First: since he's committed to being Alexia's boyfriend, might as well pump his shown abilities up a bit. Just a bit, because by his expectations being way too average will bring too many attention on him because of difference in power, both political and own; however, if he was stronger, but not strong enough to be hailed as a genius, people would just assume he's there as a part of her inner circle and forget about him pretty soon. Does this make sense? Cid thinks it does. Conclusion: situation isn't that bad as he thought at first.

Second: contact with Iris. Apparently he has a small edge over her with him being subjected to torment and whatnot, so as long as his mob persona doesn't overstep the boundaries she will close her eyes on some of his actions. What actions? Well, Cid doesn't know it either, but it's better to have that advantage than not to have. It also could serve as a good training for his "Eminence in Shadows controlling the ruling class from curtains" role! Conclusion: very good situation, suitable for his Shadowy needs.

Third: Claire. She was probably worried beyond imagination (of an average mob; him inside knew her very well to understand her emotions) so he has to appease her anger before she decided to choke him (again)… Iris mentioned this place having lots of good sweets, maybe he should get some?

Fourth: his Shado-

"Excuse me, Princess Iris, Princess Alexia, Lord Kagenou?"

Cid blinked and looked at a woman in store's uniform. Her dark brown eyes were locked at them as she sized them up, though Cid could swear she was eyeing him with way more attention than princesses. 'Wait, did she just emphasize "Kage" part of my last name?'

"Yes, that would be us," quirked a brow Alexia. "How do you know about Po- Khm, Cid Kagenou? I don't think he's that much known to be on your list… Unless?" her gaze darted towards Iris that tried her best to mimic surroundings.

"Thank you very much for visiting our establishment. Please, allow me to escort you."

And with that their group just skipped hours of standing in the queue. Cid prayed to every existing God out there it will not affect his mob life even further…

'Now this is some bullshit.'

Once inside, a marvelous sight greeted them. Everywhere where their gaze went were shelves filled to the brim with unseen before food, high-quality clothing, jewelry that a high-ranked noble would boast about for weeks to come.

'This is not a store…'

And that's where the problem lied.

'IT'S A FUCKING SUPERMARKET!'

How? When? Who? Where? Was there another reincarnator in his Eminence fantasy? Who could bring concepts like these that clearly belonged in his past life's world, Earth? And more importantly: why didn't he think about doing that?!

"Alright, I'll admit, I am impressed. Even though I clearly see people buying lots of stuff, your wares simply do not seem to end, huh?" Alexia was curious at how many manpower would it need to operate such a titan. And that's not even to mention there are probably other stores like that.

"We place our value in our ability to produce merchandise of highest quality that will leave no customer unsatisfied. Moreover, our products come at affordable price in comparison to the quality of materials used."

'Affordable? Affordable?! That thing costs 59.990 Zeni! And we're basically at the entrance! And I am pretty sure that price was set up deliberately because I heard about that tactic! Something about human mind first picking up the most left number and rolling with it before considering all that come after?…"

"Hmm, yes, I can see that… It does look good. What do you think, Iris-nee-sama?" Alexia turned back into her "cute innocent student" mode.

"Now, please, come after me, we have reserved a place for you."

'Wait, the VIP treatment? Sorry, princess, guess you're broke now…'

'Yep, totally broke.' Cid's apathy broke through as he looked at the price tags. 'One million and two hundred thousand, six hundred thousand, nine hundred thousand…'

"Thank you for your patience, Lord, Ladies," brown-eyed clerk bowed, making her brown-colored hair fall down a bit. Though why she put him first is a mystery indeed… "Please, allow us to offer our brand new product that is not released yet for public. We call it "Chocolate", and it will come out in limited amounts."

'Sure, yeah, make it seem like rare thing to rile up their interest.'

And sure enough, upon tasting it once girls took out their wallets and started throwing their money away like nothing. And after tasting chocolate they were offered another yummy thingy… Then another… Then they tried out jewelries, though Alexia tried more to show off in front of him. Of course, he tried to warn her about spending personsibly, but did she listen? Of course not. He could only steel his heart as he watched beautiful golden roundels disappearing among the sea of store goodies. And then this happened…

"Excuse me, your Lordship, may I ask you to fill out a survey for us?" clerk bowed (he noted it was way lower than when she bowed to princesses even though with their status it should be the other way around) and asked him to go with her. "Our next wares are more… maiden-oriented. In the meantime you're free to check out everything else on your own, this assistant will help you out on everything you ask," she nodded at unassuming woman in the corner.

"Nah, let him st-"

"Please proceed, Kagenou-kun. We will fare on our own here." Iris smiled. That smile was suspicious, so he agreed and went out with brown-haired woman.

"Hey, now wait a minute, that's my boyfriend over there, not yours!-"

'Isn't it taking too long?'

By all accounts, they should've been in a room not that much far from one where girls were, yet clerk decided to lead him some strange ways, and it has been a good couple of minutes already. Not only that, but the hallways turned somewhat purplish compared to usual red-and-gold coloring once they passed certain point. Strange symbol adorned every corner on their way. If he were to describe it, it looked like a half-closed eye in the middle of a four-pointed star.

'Am I getting abducted by some king of a cult? I mean, I didn't play out that role yet, so why not?'

Once they came in front of massive doors, the clerk subtly changed. Her once professional attitude of store worker was changed into no less professional attitude of an experienced fighter. Two women guarding doors glanced at them, then their eyes widened once they saw him. 'Damn, what's with these store workers? Did I forget to apply my mobfu technique when coming? Nah, I'd never…' Clerk nodded at them and they slowly opened the doors.

"Please, enter, your Lordship," she once again deeply bowed.

And, well, Cid was not ready for the view inside.

Right from doors and to the spacious room's end was spanned by red carpet, adorned by golden-colored edges. From each side of it stood a row of women clad in black-purple uniform, all looking at them with anticipation. Once his gaze deeper inside the room, he noticed It. Big, outlandishly so, throne, standing on marble elevation to which the carpet was leading. Crimson colors were prevalent in it, however near the edges color slowly shifted to purple. And, of course, Symbol. Right above the throne gigantic four-pointed star eye was embedded, as if observing everything that happens in this world.

Cid would for sure think that it really was some kind of a cult if not for two simple things.

One: the throne was empty.

And two: he saw a familiar face right near it.

"We welcome you, Shadow-sama, in this humble place. We hope everything is to your liking," indigo-haired woman bowed slightly as she was watching him slowly walking towards the throne.

"Gamma," that was her name.

'There were no reincarnators. It's just girls took everything I told them and used it to make profits.'

He stopped in his tracks and scrutinized Gamma standing above.

'They took everything I taught them and didn't even bother to tell me.'

For a moment Cid thought Gamma was looking nervous. Sure that can't be, considering the disrepancies in their current status?

'AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A SHARE?!'

He lost control of his magic for a moment. It's fine, it's fine… Nothing too bad happened… At least now he knows that there are no reincarnators in his fantasy, only girls that robbed him of ideas…

"F-Forgive me, Shadow-sama, did we do something wro-OAGH!" that was Gamma trying to play along the role of horrified subordinate once she saw him showing a displeased expression (it wasn't on purpose though, he just couldn't control his emotions)… and tripping on the stairs.

'Yep, her DEX was all traded in favor of INT and WIS,' Cid thought while holding somewhat pale shaking woman in his hands. And now that he thinks about it, other girls were shaking, too! Where did she even find such good actors? Did she pay extra for that? And how many did she pay to build this room, actually? Hnm, if it's how she chose to repay him, then he might not give that much thought about idea plagiarism… Just think about it: if he had to do it all by himself, he would be practically stuck at work day and night! No time for Shadowy activites! While here he just dropped some Wisdom for her and she did it all by herself! Yeah, that's how Eminence in Shadow works! Oh, but he has to answer quickly, the "frightened subordinates" act got kinda prolonged…

"It is of not your fault, Gamma. I merely thought about… disturbing things," mysterious-looking-master-look-№4, go! "I assure you, I am absolutely pleased with how you ran this place."

"Ah! Thank you for your kind words, your Lordship!" man, she's so-o-o good! She blushed atomically in his hands!… Oh, and now she got out, lame. "Now, please, allow me to take you to your rightful place," wait, that throne is really for him?! Man, how much money she actually makes?

"Hmmm…" her beloved Lord was observing the room with his piercing eyes. Sometimes she could notice a faint purple glimmering as he scrutinized every last bit of this place from his Throne. Not many knew, but inspiration for their Symbol actually came from one time he released a bit of his power whilst looking at Mist Dragon daring to challenge him. 'And now that beast is nothing more but a pet- Nah, scratch that, a mere servant whose only purpose is to release concealing mist,' that was her sadistic thought.

"So, Gamma, I assume you took my Wisdom well?" smile formed on his face as he looked at her.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Ah, don't mind that. That's just her poor heart trying to contain excitement from being in presence of her All-Encompassing Shadow-sama.

"It is as you say, your Lordship," her smile matched his, "as of now, our current revenue exceeds one billion Zeni and comes close to billion and half, and that's just from Midgar. If we count other countries…"

"How much?" he raised his eyebrows.

'Is he disappointed?! Please, no! I did everything in my power! Don't tell me it wasn't enough!'

"Y-Your Lordship-!"

"… Ha-ha-ha! Excellent, Gamma! You have exceeded my expectations! I was not mistaken for trusting you with that!"

"! T-Thank you so much for your kind words, Shadow-sama!"

And yet she was mistaken. Her lord was not disappointed in her in the slightest. In fact, he seemed elated at her achievements.

"Your job deserves a reward. Not just you, Gamma, but people who helped you build this powerhouse, too," he spoke in confident, but kind tone. "Now, behold!" he raised his hand and concentrated his magic power. She couldn't take her eyes off it, and she was sure no one else could, either.

As her Lord's power passed through her body, whatever pain was there from her tripping has now disappeared. And, judging from gasps around her, whatever hidden injuries Numbers had were now completely healed.

'Ah… So that's how it is…'

A crazed smile forced its way on her face.

'In his infinite kindness he took a clumsy girl like me that couldn't even fight properly and made her into someone who is able to crash this world's economy… And even now he still consoles me… Just you wait, Shadow-sama! We- I will bring this world to you on a silver plate!'

'A billion and half. A billion and half. Just from Midgar. Please tell me she gives me at least ten gold coins from their share!'

Was he jealous? Oh, he was jelly alright! While he was forced to woof for princess to get some Zeni, they were practically swimming in it! But he should play the role of a benevolent boss, so it is what it is… Come to think of it…

"Say, Gamma?" he turned his head to her

"Yes, your Lordship?!" 'Please stop trying to eat me with your eyes, I'm getting nervous!'

"You don't mind giving me a small sum for my Cid Kagenou persona?" and smile.

"Right this moment, my Lord!" and as she nodded to the workers, they brought two large chests right to the room.

'Is she trying to get me in debt for her?! Because that sure looks like a credit offer!'

"Hm, Gamma, I said small sum," he turned his gaze from chests brimming with gold coins (by quick count there was no less than a thousand gold coins in each, or roughly ten million Zeni… he's not jealous) to the woman.

"I understand that you have your plans, your Lordship…" 'Yeah, trying to play my Shadow role, we both know that,' "But please, consider taking it. I understand that for you saving us was merely something you do every day, but for us? It was a moment that changed out lives for the better. It was our chance to turn a new page, to feel alive again. Yes, this mere amount of money will never compare with what you did for us, but… Please, accept it."

'…Naruhodo-ne… So that's girls' opinion about it… Now I kinda feel bad for thinking all of that… I mean, these two chests alone will allow me to play out whatever I want in years to come… And throne room...'

"Then you don't mind me leaving them with you? Because as of now my Cid persona has no place to keep them, and it would certainly be suspicious for an average guy like him to have this amount of money on hand."

"But of course, Shadow-sama," and smile.

"Neat! While we're at it, can I also get a sweets discount for my friends and family?" back to Cid persona.

"Of course, Shadow-sama. We will offer you an exclusive 100% discount on all sweet products."

"…You mean you give them for free?"

"Indeed, Shadow-sama. How many do you wish to take?"

"Uhm, three boxes will do."

"We will prepare them immediately."

"Neat, thank you. If there's nothing else, I'll go to princesses then."

"Ah, right, Shadow-sama, Alpha-sama asked to relay this message for you: Zeta finished her overseas mission and is ready to serve you at the Capital."

'I don't know what mission they're talking about but cool, more lore I guess…"

"And enhanced magic-suppressing cuffs development led by Eta is almost done. We will deliver them to you in a week."

"Got it, thank you, Gamma. Continue working for Shadow Garden development."

"As you command, your Lordship!" he could swear he saw either stars or hearts in her eyes. Though he had one question...

'...What cuffs?'