Cid filled his scrolls up with various food: fruits, veggies, meat of all kind, cold dishes, hot dishes (thanks, scrolls, for your ability to, heh, 'freeze' the temperature). Shadow Garden members only looked at it with wide eyes as the stock that was enough for Mitsugoshi to sell for months to come slowly disappeared into the unending amount of paper.

At some point point one of the employees hesitantly came up to their leader.

"E-Excuse me, Lord Shadow…" her shaking voice betrayed the mask of confidence she tried to maintain.

"M-m-m?" he turned around. Also, damn: is it the rule that all Shadow Garden members are beautiful? Or is it because of Possession they were cured of afterwards?

She inhaled to calm herself down a little and continued.

"T-These scrolls…"

"Oh, yeah, sealing scrolls. Very neat stuff, you can store items there and they won't get wasted, like, ever… Or at least, until the scroll itself breaks down," he shrugged.

"Y-Yes, so…"

"Oh, yeah, I will give the production technology to Eta…" how will she use it, though, is a mystery…. But he believes in his little smart lazy cookie!

"Thank you for your support, Lord Shadow," the employee relaxed and bowed slightly, "Forgive me for questioning you."

"M-m-m, don't mind it," oh, is that Mitsugoshi's brand chocolate? Don't mind if he takes that one!

"Heh…"

At the hallway, one small blonde boy stood in front of the exquisite mirror in a strange pose: his face was covered by his left hand while his right one reached for the horizon.

"I am the fire itself… I am the shadow of it… I am… I am…" he suddenly went limp, "Goddamnit, how does dad even do all of that? It's so hard!"

Yes, Naruto tried to mimic Cid's cool poses and speeches, but apparently, you needed a lot of knowledge and experience to make cool speeches… Which Naruto did not have!

"Damn, how was it, again?…" he took out a small notebook that he started using after listening to auntie Beta's stories… also because dad himself used these, too, "'I am the fire, incarnate. I am the one who grants salvation, salvation from freezing, dark nights…' Aha, so it's like this!" he nodded in enlightment and struck the pose once again, "Ahem…"

He allowed his chakra to slowly release itself into the air, attempting to recreate Fire Stance that his dad taught him not so long ago.

"I am the fire, in-car-nate… I am the one who grants salva-tion, salvation from freezing, dark nights…" he stopped, "I-I think I did well…?"

He himself did not believe in it. After all, compared to how Cid delivered his speeches, Naruto was still… very lacking. But he was working towards it! As dad said, "Nobody starts perfect. You will always have problems at the beginning. What matters is how can you use these problems to become a better version of yourself," and yes, Naruto did write it down!

So, he continued doing speeches. Because that speeches were important for making people believe in you, as aunties and mom said. Also because trying to do speech is so damn fun! What is not fun is doing all this maths stuff in academy! And looking through history book to see who and when jumped on tree! Bleh!

So yes, Naruto continued trying to mimic dad's speeches! Because they are cool!

"Hi-hi-hi… I see…" Eta smiled widely as she stared at the samples of that kid named Naruto and her beloved Master Shadow.

Indeed, despite being drastically different from each other, the energy they carried and used followed the same principles. It was heavily related to the body, it was capable of reinforcing it way greater than magic, and it also had a solid, strict structure. However, just as she said back then, kid's structure was way more underdeveloped compared to Master Shadow, whose structure was akin to intricate web reaching to every part of his body. In comparison, kid's energy system had a core and multiple channels going through it, and most of them didn't even have proper way to release the energy itself… At least, that's what she gathered after running multiple tests with Master's gifts that allowed to get a crude picture of their structures.

She has only managed to get a brief understanding of how the system works, but if she had to guess, this energy, being tied to body, moved together with it. And if she saw it correctly, there are big release centers, from which the energy can be used. She couldn't watch it properly, though… How she wishes she was able to just look at it…

Eta froze.

Look. Of course. Master Shadow himself said that his gift was her to study and learn from. Who said she can't try to create something more… compact that would allow her to peek at world's secrets? For example… Glasses!

Enlightened, Eta jumped up and carried herself with slime suit to her work station. Yes, yes… If she gets the ability to just see it in an instant, she would not need to bring all her test subjects into the room… Time saved!

Now, where were the examples of rune circles…

Eta quickly flipped through the vast collection of books.

Ah, there they are.

"Alpha, you need to loosen up already…" Gamma sighed as she sat down and looked at the nervous First Shade.

"Yah, it's not like Lord comes away for a long time, right?" Zeta's cat ears twitched as practically lay on her chair.

"I am very well aware that this is not permanent and that for me not a long time will pass, but…" Gamma sighed again as she listened to Alpha's nervous speech.

As it stands, the first time their Lord did it he simply sent Victoria as messenger, so they were informed of his actions post factum. Now, however, they all could see for themselves that their Lord will leave soon.

"Look at it from the bright side, Alpha," Beta gently smiled as she placed the book on the table, "He promised to come back at some point and even take you to see the other world. As of now, only Victoria was worthy of this."

"Yes, yes, you are right…" Alpha mumbled.

Their meeting was not full, not at all: Delta was once again with 'pup', teaching him how to hunt, while Eta… Eta was being Eta, which meant experimenting and creating something new. Epsilon was also missing from the meeting, being busy with taking noble's eyes… And it's better that they are not corrupt, because in that case the eye taking will be literal.

"But honestly, if I didn't know about it…" Zeta shook her head, "You two are, like, the splitting image of each other."

"Indeed…" Alpha smiled, "And to think Cid decided to take the weight with me, together…"

"…Yeah, now she's completely out," Zeta whistled, "I would be too."

"Zeta!" Beta blushed to her elf ears, "D-Don't say that!"

"Don't say, what?" therianthrope cocked her eyebrow.

"…That!" steam almost came out of poor elf's ears.

"Pfft…" Alpha and Gamma tried to hold their chuckles.

Hmm, is there something he forgot? Nah, ain't no way…

But just in case, let him recheck. Food, clothes, some resources, and other stuff that he foolishly did not place into Soul Space back then… because he had no place to place it to begin with. Now he has! Muh-ha-ha!

Though Hams had a lot of stuff to talk about with him, but… That's something for later! He-he-he… Muh-ha-ha!

"Lord Shadow is at it again…" the Shadow Garden members whispered around him.

"I wonder what magnificent plan he came up with now…"

"I have heard his gaze even reached outside our world…"

"I wouldn't doubt it…"

"I want to bear his children…"

"You? Maybe after you beat Lady Alpha…"

Alright, he did not hear the last ones. He did not. Not!

Anyway, back to the topic.

Cid packed up everything that he deemed necessary (and even a bit more after some employees brought out some good stuff), and now he only had to wait until Naruto comes back from his hunt with Delta. Also that fox, yeah. Delta was growling at the fox a lot, but did not attack it, that's a plus. If she did, that would mean the fox was somewhat hostile, and he did not want to disappoint the kid. Did not want to, but would if fox tried to attack his friends… and lovers, yes…

And, yes, it is at this time Victoria decided to come closer with her shining fanatical eyes (honestly, his organization is full of fanatics; it's not like he is complaining, he just wants to have some fun sometimes with trying to do a prank, but he knows for sure that they would take everything seriously…) and reaffirm her faith in him. How? By falling on her knees and giving prayers, of course. As Shades said, they went a bit too far in making Cid an object of fanaticism, and now these were the results. On the plus side, Victoria really was the most nuts case out of all, so it's not that bad, actually.

"My Lord, please, give me a task!"

"Umu…" he took a Profound Master Expression №17, "So you say you want to prove your worth to me?" and a bit of aura to look cool and dominant.

"Yes, my Lord!" and insane gaze of adoration. Seriously, these women…

"Well then…" now, what to give so it would still look important but otherwise nigh impossible to do until he returns…? But of course! "Heed the mission, Victoria," she straightened her posture… and goddamnit, why the hell did he think that making his mob persona a bit shorter was a good idea?! Victoria looms over him, just a bit, but anyway! "You are, with help of Shades, to crack how Black Rose works and use it to travel to the distant world we have visited in the past… Yes, the one where you have installed the faith."

"Ah, I see! You want to know whether or not we have managed to spread the Shadow Wisdom!" her eyes somehow turned even more fanatical.

"…Precisely."

What else could he say?

"Understood, my Lord!" and she didn't even question him. Sometimes having organization full of fanatics is good.

And, yes, Victoria after confirming her 'holy mission' bounced away happily.

Hmm… Well, it was not that bad. Good rest and all. Hams also has finished drafting the 100:1 time dilation, now Cid only has to apply it. After he gets to listen to all of Hams' insane ramblings, of course…

Excerpt from research about magic vision:

'…Magic. Something that allows us to control the laws of nature and make them our own tools. It's wonderful. It washes over our bodies, filling us with sense of power. Some even could say that it's intoxicating. I, however, know more. Magic is beautiful…'

'…The first moments after I created the prototype of Vision Glasses were… indescribable. I merely wore the glasses, and a brand new world has opened in front of me. I saw the magic particles in environment, floating around me. I saw my slime suit being held by mana. I saw my own hand emitting mana in the air, only for it to return back to its still state…'

'…I was in ecstasy. Brand new world has just opened in front of me. New world that barely anyone touched. It is way better to see magic by yourself than to use tools that can do it for you. I did not want to remove the glasses ever again…'

'…However, everything has a cost. Our brains were not created with seeing magic in mind, and so, shortly after I felt headache. With great reluctance, I took the Vision Glasses off and returned back to our bleak, gray reality…'

'…When I asked Master Shadow whether or not he knew about magic particles, I only got one thing as an answer: "Ah, so you saw them too…"'

By Eta, Seventh Shade of Shadow Garden, Head of Research Department.

So, I have an important announcement to make.

On the 1st of July I am entering the military service of my country which will last for an year. During that time, I will have no access to Internet (as it's supposed to be since, well, military is all about secrets), other than maybe at the holidays when we could take a day off and go out of the military unit to wind off. As you can guess, in these conditions I will not quite be able to continue writing this (or any) fic.

I will still write down the small notes into my notebook, of course, but without really good circumstances (which will probably not happen, since it's freaking military) you may not expect the update until after 1st of July of the next year. Yes, it is a bit hard for me, too... Especially because my cat will probably miss me, but maybe not: my relatives are great people.

And so, I give you my will... Ptui! In short, if anyone wants to write about Hero of Crowbar or Naruto that got chuuni disease from Cid, you are my guests. You can even ask up until 1st of July before I go out. Seriously. Do it. Go wild.

See ya, guys.