Chapter 86: Super Elite Agent

It was a peaceful day, peaceful by the standards of Lawless City, where people occasionally get pickpocketed, mugged, robbed and killed. But the peace is broken when Yukime smelled blood in the air. She sensed something happening and as if to confirm her suspicion, Kana entered her quarters.

"Lady Yukime. He's here." Reported Kana.

"John Smith is it? What does he-" Yukime was about to ask Kana before a man's voice is heard behind her.

"I am here to offer my services, Lady Yukime. I heard your syndicate is in dire need of… reliable hands. I can fill that position." Said a man dressed in black suit wearing a white and black mask as he stood confidently with his arms crossed in Yukime's balcony. Yukime tried to hide her surprise by slowly turning around.

In contrast to Yukime's calm demeanor, a surprised Kana jumped in front of Yukime and with a hiss, throws knives from her pocket. The knives she threw never reached John Smith as they stopped halfway and remained suspended in the air, not falling on the floor.

"What!?" Exclaimed a surprised Kana.

"Steel wires, huh. Just like the reports." Muttered Yukime as she tried to maintain a nonchalant attitude in order to hide her nervousness.

This man… He's good. Too good. I get the feeling that he can be compared to Lord Claude when he appeared as Don Jon... and that Van Helsing fellow as well. Indeed it would be wiser to keep him close rather than have him work against us elsewhere. Thought Yukime.

Kana was about to throw more knives before she was stopped by Yukime placing her hand on her shoulder. "Stand down, Kana. Let the man speak." Said Yukime whilst giving a reassuring smile.

"Very well, Lady Yukime." Kana replied as she retreated, letting Yukime face John Smith.

"May I ask your intentions in serving me?" Yukime asked with a seductive tone, though John Smith seemed unaffected.

"Money." John Smith simply said.

"Oh? A man who enjoys luxuries that money can buy I see." Yukime replied, recalling the reports of how John Smith asked how much money that Don Jon has to the men he interrogated in Midgar capital's Soup Kitchen, leading her to conclude that as long as he is well paid, he will be obedient, though she is still cautious nonetheless.

"Money can be used in many things. There are many things that money can buy."

"Oh? And what is it that you want to buy with money?" Yukime asked curiously.

"Many things." John Smith answered vaguely.

"I see. Now then, Mr. John. I've seen your capabilities firsthand and I believe that we do need someone like you. From here on out you shall work for me. Let us discuss your employment terms, shall we? Including your salary."

"Oh, I can't wait." John Smith said while smiling.


Heh heh heh. Infiltration successful! Like a true Super Elite Agent! I'll even be paid 2 Million Zeni a month. How generous! Almost makes me wanna stay and work here forever! It's good that I repaid that kind bouncer for bringing me to her by stitching his arms back together.

But money is only one of the things I'm aiming at. What's more important is my mission… my shadowbroker play! No matter how much they pay me, I shall stay true to who I really am and proceed with my original plans.

Now comes my first job… which is to guard Snow Fox's distribution channels, namely the trains carrying their merchandise to various kingdoms. Lately the number of bandits trying to rob the trains has decreased but Yukime still wanted someone to guard them just in case, someone who's not a boar she said. I don't know what that means but no matter. Time to work!

I sat on a seat in the train while it's heading towards Midgar for the next distribution. The entire car is empty safe for me. Due to Midgar being the place where Gamma and the others started Mitsugoshi, Snow Fox Corporation has to focus their efforts there in order to compete with Mitsugoshi. Good for me! That means my job will not take me too far away and I can go home faster when morning comes so I can still attend school whilst being a secret agent at night!

I was expecting some bandits to attack so I can show off my skills but…

"How boring. Why is there no attacker?"

I sat there in complete boredom as the night ends uneventfully and I had to go back home and get at least an hour of sleep before I had to return to my mob life.

The next few days also proceeds uneventfully. How dreadfully boring. I almost decide to just quit this job and just storm the Don Jon Tower before something finally happens.

"Oh? I sensed a somewhat powerful presence entering the train whilst it's still moving. Good. I was so bored I almost fell asleep."

I get up from my seat in order to prepare to greet the infiltrator.

"Heh. You must be one of that fox's new employee." Said a tall middle aged man with a cool scar on his cheek as he entered the car I'm in. The man is wearing a black cloak and leather armor underneath it. He is also carrying a pair of Chinese Hook Sword with glowing runes. Must be one of the Necromancer's work.

"May I see your ticket please?" I taunted him nonchalantly.

"Ha ha ha! You're a funny guy! So I shall let you know the name of the one who shall send you to your grave! I am Sicherlich Nichtkabal the Sword Slayer and I shall take over Snow Fox Corporation in the name of the Cu-" His words are cut by several steel threads I already set in place to bind his legs.

"Steel threads? How clever. But it won't work against me!" The man shouted as he tried to cut the steel threads but failed due to how much I reinforced the threads with my magic.

"What!? Impossible!" He muttered in disbelief as I moved my threads to bind his hands too.

"You bastard! Don't you know who I am!?"

"Who you are doesn't matter to me. You're nothing but a butterfly caught in the spider's web." I replied as I tighten the binding of the steel thread, slowly digging to his flesh and making him spill some blood.

"UAAAAGHHH!" The man screamed in pain.

Now then… How should I finish him? I don't think tearing him apart will be cool. It will be messy instead and I don't think anyone would appreciate it, especially my employers.

"Aaaaghhh! Stop! STOOP!"

"Hmm… How should I dispose of this trash? Should I just throw him out of the window? Or…"

"Are you fucking listening!? I said STOP!" The man is being so noisy so I manipulated my threads to bind his neck and choke him in order to silence him.

"Hmm…. Come to think of it, I still need to train with this new weapon. My magic training and Shadowbroker act as the vampire hunter Van Helsing cuts some of the time I had to practice this weapon. But I think this is adequate enough for now. I'm sure I'll get better in time." I murmured before finally noticing that the man is already dead.

"Oh. That works too I guess." I shrugged as I pulled my steel threads back and let his body fall to the floor. His hook swords looks cool so into my Eminence in Shadow collection you go! And of course I didn't forget to take his wallet. Also found that red drug again. It's useless to me so I put it back on his pocket.

I left his body there to serve as proof that I did my job well. The cleaning staff will dispose of his body later. I should just sit back and relax whilst waiting for the night to… actually I have so much time to train my steel thread manipulation skills! Why didn't I think of this before!? I wasted few days being bored to death! That's it. No more idleness! I shall train my skills with this weapon whilst waiting for bandits to attack from now on!


"So you've hired John Smith. Where did you assign him to?" Lord Don Jon asked me as he sits on his usual sofa.

"For now I assigned him to guard the distribution channels. He's been doing well although I fear he's getting bored due to how small the amount of attacks are. He managed to defeat a Named Child of the Cult with great ease though." I answered him whilst letting my kimono down in order to expose as much skin as possible in my usual attempt to seduce him, which has been unsuccessful so far. This makes me even more jealous of Sherry who gets to receive his love and affection any day she wants.

"What do you think of him?"

"Well… he is quite handsome and reliable. He is very powerful and can be… quite cruel towards his enemies. Almost reminds me of you, Lord Claude." Lord Don—Claude frowned at my words.

"Hmph. Will he be satisfied with what you've offered?"

"He is a man of greed. He sought after us for money alone. I've made sure to keep him happy with my offer. Though naturally I'm still cautious of him and his intentions."

"A man like him must have ambitions greater than money. Make sure to keep watch over his movements at all times and do not, under any circumstances, trust him." Lord Don Jon sternly warned me. I can sense how wary he is of John Smith. Though… considering how he frowned when I called John Smith handsome… Am I sensing some jealousy here? Hee hee hee. I was right. I still have hope after all.

"Do not worry, Lord Claude. I shall make sure to keep him in check." I smiled and replied to reassure him.

In time I shall make sure to melt that ice cold heart of yours, Lord Claude… just like you did to mine.


"No. A man like him must have ambitions greater than money. Make sure to keep watch over his movements at all times and do not, under any circumstances, trust him." I gave my warning to Yukime, not wanting her to fall to John Smith's schemes. I'm certain that man is a reincarnator and we must be cautious of him. Who knows if he has some cheat like that Epsilon.

He must know about the Ponzi Scheme I'm enacting too. I must not let him ruin everything I've worked for!

Yukime just smiled after I gave my warnings though. "Do not worry, Lord Claude. I shall make sure to keep him in check." It seems that my words didn't get into her head. What useless big ears you have, Yukime. Though I should've known that as someone who does not recognize the dangers that reincarnators posed you would not be as cautious as you should be.

I can only sigh and let her do her thing for now as I'm still reluctant to reveal the knowledge of reincarnators to her... or to anyone for that matter.

Regardless. I shall keep watch on his movements myself. We shall see what plans you have in store for us, John Smith!

"Now, on to the next agenda. Gettan has finally made his move… but not against us. Against Mitsugoshi. We shall watch and wait as his effort bore fruit… for us." Yukime smiled wider when she heard my words, excited at the prospect of using her past lover as a pawn in our game.

Now that's a face of a true villainess.


Author's Note:

The 𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓐𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽 has made his move! And in true Eminence in Shadow fashion, Yukime misunderstood Claude's warnings and thought he's a tsundere! We shall see how that goes from here.

Sicherlich Nichtkabal is German for Certainly not Kabal. Kabal is a character from Mortal Kombat who wields the Chinese Hook Swords. Also Feigling Corporation from the previous chapter. Feigling is German for coward.

Anime0CC0Manga: twank u wuv u, let me know what you think about it, I'm always open to suggestions and advice and ideas on how to make the story better ~

Answer: I will. ^^

HundredMasks: a Ponzi scheme? Claude is definitely doing a villain 100% speedrun, respect, and yes author, be proud, you can cook, now all I want is for him to lose because of tax fraud, that'll be a good conclusion for a crime boss if you do decide to write off Don Jon, and definitely excited for more

Answer: Thanks for enjoying my cooking. If his tax fraud fails, maybe Politician Claude will be there to bail him out? Lol jk. We shall see what I will cook next.

DerTrap: Spicy chapter chef!

I would find it funny if John Smith actually manages to successfully steal the money from Don Jon, but then it turns out that it was all fake money or that the money is almost immediately worthless as a result of this arc, meaning that Cid got scammed again.

Also another iconic villain trope would be for Necromancer to get his own completely over the top villain song. That would be peak fiction.

Answer: Thanks. Glad you liked what I cooked.

I suppose I should figure out how to make that sort of thing happen.

I did think about villain songs for the Necromancer but I'm no musician and also not good at writing lyrics either so I'll just settle with the Necromancer playing Pipe Organs.

Fanatic1543: I was thinking necromancer or someone could imply there is a mole in shadow garden to cause shananagins. Also he was sleeper agent to control the underworld but he couldn't expose himself to alpha his first love at first sight so he let his rival take her for more shanangins.

Answer: I have a plan for sleeper agent within Shadow Garden. Hope you'll like it.