Its Friday! hurray!

im currently in class experimenting with slime.

Alrighty then, this could work...

What?

Basically knowing every answer had allowed me to stay consistently slightly above average in everything.

...Except for one thing.

My physical strength was at 100% while my magic was at like 000.1% total in order to create the illusion of me using magic while in reality im only using my physical strength.

Regardless of that i had noticed Eta was intently watching what i was doing.

I whisper softly using my Shadow voice to her so she doesnt think i have a problem with... well whatever shes doing staring at me.

"Something i was doing caught your interest, Eta?"

"Yes... the way... your slime suit moves... its... unique..."

"I see."

No, i dont.

Not at all actually.

I sigh as i train with the slime changing it into basically anything.

With Eta watching what i was doing very closely, i start using my chair to stretch. (this teacher sucks at teaching.)

Thankfully being able to forcefully wake up my brain with magic control through the nerves is saving my ass in this lesson...

...

Man...

What the hell can i do to finish this quickly..?

Oh! passing on Shadow knowledge!

"Eta, do you wish for some shadow knowledge?"

She straightened up in her seat and her eyes were gleaming despite her expression never having changed from the tired one.

I start telling Eta about microwaves and how they work until the lesson FINALLY ends to my relief.

"Hm. it seems thats all i was able to tell you this time, if you wish to acquire more knowledge, seek me out when we have no business to take care of in the evening."

"Yes... Master Shadow..."

Her eyes were gleaming as she took her finalized notes of what i said and walked with more energy then i have personally ever seen.

I sigh again.

I find myself doing that alot more recently...

I take a detour away from my apartment to let Eta get there first and to give myself some time to think.

Whatever, interesting thing to note is that the guy, Niko Shimi seems aware of what is going on around him to a certain extent.

This has me worried.

Now, when i came to the academy i had noticed a few... differences.

So i have been doing some thinking... (which is NEVER a good thing.)

I started investigating other things and noticed... slight? differences between every 'main' character...

I cant explain it...

Claire wasnt being so annoyingly clingy, Eta coming to school might have changed a bunch...

Events are even changing.

Some characters were outright deleted i think...

Skel? Po? nowhere in sight...

Asked everybody about them but not a single person had answered...

Klaus Midgar, king of midgar is making moves. the same guy who even if his chair was burning while he was sitting on it, wouldnt move in order to avoid a problem with another nation. that kind of person is now making power moves on other nations.

So is Oriana. they started encouraging people into becoming dark knights as of recent and their military power has grown by alot as a result...

This whole thing is wrong, just plain wrong.

I also noticed differences in Shadow Garden but dismissed them, as what could like 5 simple changes do?

But this wasnt a 'Big change' event.

This was the type of event where many small changes make a big one.

Honestly, the only thing keeping me from freaking the fuck out right now is... well Eta.

She had thankfully remained normal these last few days which brought a surprising amount of comfort for minimal effort...

I was relying on the LN and other things to get by but now?

That wasnt an option anymore.

If i ignore this, and continue as if nothing has changed (which i wish i could) i could make a EXTREMELY incorrect choice...

Thats not happening.

...

Oh and there was gonna be another major change...

I was so lost in thought i bumped into someone.

"Ouch- im sorry, i should have kept attention on where i was going..."

"No, its fine."

...

Speak of the devil.

Beatrix. bunshin festival winner as well as someone hailed to be the War Goddess.

That very same person, was our instructor.

I didnt bother to check if the very concept of Zenon also doesnt exist...

Im not going to do all that, besides if he does, ill know pretty quickly anyways thanks to Shadow Garden...

"Ill continue on my way if its of no bother to you then madam Beatrix."

She nods her head a tiny bit.

"Mhm..."

Everything is so wrong...

Honestly, im surprised i made it this far...

I cannot afford to be careless is the main takeaway from this.

I finally reach my dorm and open the door.

"Master... Your back..."

I sigh "Yes, i am."

"Is something... wrong, Master..?"

I move to the chair infront of the window and sit on it.

"The time of change has brought huge waves, and im not sure our walls can withstand such tides this time..."

I ominously stare outside the window at the setting sun.

Oh man im so good at this!

Bad mood is totally gone after using that crazy one liner!

But, this is indeed a real problem i need to convey to Eta in some way...

Eta looks a bit taken aback.

She sits straight..?

"Stronger then even you, Master Shadow?"

I stare at her from the corner of my eyes.

Oh what.

I guess i spooked her if she talked without any of the sleepy pauses...

"No."

She went back to being slouched.

"Then... its fine... isnt it?"

"Im more worried about you and the rest of Shadow Garden."

"..."

She looks down.

I think i said something wrong...

...Should i ask?

Oh what the hell...

"Something on your mind, Eta?"

She looks up to me almost surprised.

"No... nothing..."

"..."

"...If i tell you... it would have to be an order..."

"Its an order then."

"...All of us in Shadow Garden think your taking too much on yourself... Alpha is worried that were becoming useless to you and that you intend to abandon us..."

I look at her from the corner of my eye.

"..."

"Master Shadow?"

"...We will be making a visit to Alexandria in a couple minutes."

"Yes, Lord Shadow..."

"Bring only your slime suit."

I get up and transform into Shadow.

Eta follows my example and gets her slime suit on.

I carry her with a princess carry and start running over to Alexandria at my top speeds.

"Lord Shadow... are you upset?"

"...I would be lying if i told you i wasnt a little mad right now."

Eta goes to say something but i interrupt her.

"Dont bother apologizing, you've done nothing wrong."

Eta then looked surprised for a second but nods and waits for us to reach Alexandria.

...

We reach the fog after a while.

Or was it mist?

Does it even matter?

Eh, we eventually reached the poison mist but it of course, evaded us.

...

There, we finally reached Alexandria... (Improved serious dash is getting trade marked as we speak.)

I take us to the front of the huge castle.

"Eta, go to the meeting room."

"Yes, Lord Shadow..."

Eta goes on ahead as i inspect the area to calm down a little.

Do any of them know how much i appreciate them over-working themselves to this extent?

I guess i should have been more vocal about that...

Oh man i screwed up big time...

During this meeting, i have to remind them that although i am the eminence in shadow, they matter to me and as a bonus they are a part of my power so id never abandon them.

...

...Alright i think it has been enough time so i can drop in now.

I fly up to the meeting rooms frontal window and open it mid meeting.

They all stood up from their chairs and bowed.

""Lord Shadow!""

"Its been a while..."

I enter the room and sit one leg over the other on the throne made for me.

"Ive heard a bunch of... interesting things, told to me by Eta."

The other 6 shades just stared at Eta for an awkward amount of time...

I wave my hand.

"You may sit."

They stop bowing and sit.

Alpha was about to speak but i interrupt her.

"We will talk about this after the meeting is concluded so go on about as per usual."

""Yes, Lord Shadow.""

...Im not an idiot is what i like to think...

...So why are they nervously glancing at me?

Seriously, its like im threatening to put them in time out or something...

...

...

...

...

...

Man, how long do they spend reporting?

Ive become a statue for how long ive been forced to sit in the exact same fucking way!

"-And the war regarding Velgalta and Midgar, its nowhere near the end if things go as we predicted we should expect this war to go on another 5 years at the least..."

Im sorry what?

War?

Velgalta?

Midgar?

I mean i can see Velgalta having war but Midgar?

Are we talking about the same Midgar which refuses to act whenever the cult is involved?

Oh boy, i can make a plotline or two outta this...

I fight the urge to smirk with this information.

"-A-and like that this meeting is over..."

A nervous Alpha?

What am i, the boogey-man?

I stand up and put my hands behind my back.

OK! the sentence is going to be,

'Shadow Garden was very useful to me, however if you cannot realize this fact your unable to comprehend the true meaning of the shadows!' like a badass boss then give them a... ahem, 'second chance' (they never lost one in the first place) to switch into benelovent boss!

Flawless... how could it be interpreted wrong? there is simply no way...

"...Shadow Garden was very useful to me, however..."

I look down as if to show disappointment and shake my head for extra effect.

Everyone at the table looks like their world has shattered...

Why does everyone look so horrified?

Suddenly, Beta tries to speak up.

"Lord Shadow! s-surely there is another way!"

wat.

Epsilon shortly follows-up.

"W-we can still be useful!"

whar? (this was intentional.)

Even Gamma is speaking up!

"Lord Shadow, surely you dont mean you intend to... t-to..."

To?

Please finish the sentence!

The suspense is killing me over here!

...Oh well i guess i have to just do anything and pray that my luck is better then average at the very least...

I shake my head, turn around and look at them over my shoulder.

Clearly, THAT WASNT THE MOVE!

Beta is about to faint and Gamma looks as if i told her that im a cult member!

Not to mention Alpha!

How do you even describe the look of sheer sadness and betrayal on her face?

I cant even bring myself to look at the others!

I close my eyes and turn forward then walk to the window and stare out of it.

Ok! relax! this can still be salvaged... i just have to say 'it is about time you recognize your own worth, my shades' or something of the sort while looking outside the window for dramatic effect!

"...It is about time."

Alpha then finally decides to speak up.

"W-what was it! what was it that made you want to disband Shadow Garden?!"

IM SORRY, WHAT?

"Was it a lack of effort or a lack of performance? can i change your mind? is there anything i can even do to change your mind?!"

NO, NO THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO RE-ESTABLISH THAT I FUCKING NEED YOU GUYS, WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DISBAND'?

SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT-

UH... RANDOM BULLSHIT! GO!

"...I have been meaning to tell you for a while, however..."

Alpha cuts me off which she had NEVER done before.

"Please! there has to be something!"

Fuck.

I feel bad.

"I'm dumb, so I don't understand all the things you do! I'm weak, so I can't do all the things you can! But still, even so… I want to understand... so I can support you. You saved me, saved all of us, so I want to do whatever it is I can to help!"

Alpha is crying.

I cant see it but i can sure hear it.

Holy shit.

What the hell did i do..?

I turn to look at them over my shoulder once more.

I close my eyes and sigh.

Time to pull the card i really hate pulling...

"...Is that truly what you were expecting?"

I open them and stare directly at Alpha.

The ultimate 'this was meaningless' tactic...

"W-what..?"

"Was that what you wanted to hear?"

"N-no of course not Lord Shadow..."

"...Then explain to me why you thought i was going to do that before we had this meeting."

The 'It was just a test.' card.

Suddenly Alpha looks taken aback as if understanding what i meant.

"I... i see..."

Alpha then sits on her chair again shakingly.

"Ill talk to you all tomorrow about this, if you dont understand why this had happened..."

I look away before jumping on the window frame.

I look at them one final time over my shoulder.

"It will truly happen."

I then jump out of the window and go to my room in Alexandria to sleep the night over.


I look around the room to see similar reactions.

As soon as Lord Shadow left the room i slouched down on my chair with wide eyes filled with unshed tears.

"T-this..."

I try to put on a smile but its so weak anyone can see that its clearly fake...

"T-this was a test... why of course it was..."

I cover my face with my hands as i awkwardly chuckle a bit.

Beta finally recovered the ability to speak.

"Why... why would Lord Shadow do something like that?"

I answer her question instantly.

"...Its because we doubted him, beta..."

Everyone in the room seems to be able to wrap their head around the idea.

Epsilon spoke out first. she had looked as horrified as Beta.

"He was showing us that if we doubted him that we couldnt work with him..."

Zeta spoke up. still looking shocked.

"Im not going to lie... i didnt expect Master to pull such a move."

Then it was Eta. She seemed to have calmed down again...

"Lord Shadow... is a smart man... wouldnt do that... without any reason..."

Then Gamma. She was wiping barely unshed tears with her sleeves.

"I- ...i honestly thought it might have been truly the case..."

Delta seemed... relatively unbothered by this whole thing.

"Delta..?"

"Yes Lady Alpha?"

"How are you unbothered?"

"Lady Alpha, Even if boss man left Shadow Garden, we could have followed him regardless couldnt we?"

...I havent even thought of that...

"The dumb dog makes a smart and valid point for once..."

"Who are you calling dumb dog stupid cat!"

"Enough! we have enough as it is so dont fight!"

They instantly stop fighting.

"...Im gonna go confirm this with Lord Shadow..."

I get up on shaky legs and leave the room.

As soon as im out of sight i start trembling.

I was about to lose the one chance i had to repay my savior...

I mindlessly and shakingly walk to where Lord Shadow's room is replaying the scene that had happened in the meeting room on repeat.


As i was finally about to fall asleep a knocking sound came from my door.

I sigh, annoyed.

"Yes..?"

"...Its me, Lord Shadow..."

Oh! its Alpha!

"Ah, Alpha. come in."

She came in slowly.

She looked tired.

VERY tired.

She just flopped on the bed next to me.

"Alpha?"

...

I shake her a bit to see if she is awake.

...

Nope, she passed out.

I check her bodies physical condition using magic.

...

Holy shit this much stress should be illegal...

You know what? im taking over her paperwork tomorrow as an apology...

I lift her up and put her towards the middle of the bed.

I put the blanket over her to cover her.

I then go to the sofa in my room. (It has 3 of those...)

I use my slime to make it more like a pseudo half slime bed thing... if you can call it anything in the first place.

I get up one final time and go over to Alpha.

I head pat her for a bit and she seems to relax in her sleep.

I then go back to my slime bed thing and lay down.

I have to clear this misunderstanding up.

I also have to make sure i clear up Alpha's inferiority complex.

So many things to do but so little time...

I stare at the ceiling until i get drowsy.

Tomorrow is another day.

...