Chapter 171: Self Improvement

We had an emergency Seven Shades meeting after Lady Alpha recovered from her grief, though only her, me, Gamma, and Epsilon could attend as Delta, Zeta and Eta are not around. She told us her story… of her otherworldly journey to a ruined country called Japan, of how Mari Miyazaki, the person that we have buried in the Alexandria cemetery alongside other fallen Shadow Garden members, saved her from loneliness and isolation and even taught her the native language of the country and gave her shelter among other things. And together, she fought the forces of Necromancer and his Doomsday Cult.

What's so shocking to me is that… the poor girl… is actually that monster's sister. She loved him and missed him so… and he did more than just kill her with his own hands… he even desecrated her corpse!

"How could that…" Gamma mutters with a gasp when Lady Alpha dropped that bomb on us.

"His own sister…" Epsilon grits her teeth in anger and we understand why… because we experienced betrayal by our families when we suffered through Demonic Possession.

I myself… am speechless. But then, I remembered all the information we had on that monster, especially about his conflict with our Lord Shadow that spans several lifetimes.

"Lady Alpha… Mari… she loved him… because he was a good brother, right?" I ask Lady Alpha.

"… Probably."

"But one day… out of nowhere… it all changed. It was like he was… possessed by an evil spirit."

"What are you getting at, Beta?" Lady Alpha says with a frown as I probably sounded like I was defending that monster to her.

"Do you remember… about Lord Shadow's eternal conflict with him?" I remind her and everyone of how Necromancer is an ancient evil who has fought Lord Shadow for ages. Epsilon and Lady Alpha, who witnessed his memory back in Lindwurm's Sanctuary, immediately understands the implication.

"That means… that monster… that evil spirit… possessed Miyazaki Tetsuya…? That's why his reaction when he stabbed her was…" Lady Alpha mutters something quietly while covering her mouth in horror.

"Lady Alpha?" Gamma asks her with concern about her reaction.

"And that's why… he stopped himself from killing Delta…?" Lady Alpha mutters a sentence that catches all our attention. We know what she meant. We were there and were confused as to why he stopped himself back then.

"But… if he has already lost his sister… that means he is now lost forever… and only Necromancer remains!" Epsilon says what we're all currently thinking. Mari's beloved brother wouldn't desecrate her corpse like what that monster did after all.

"I suppose so. If only I… If only we knew this beforehand. We could've…" Lady Alpha says, regretting her inability to find the pieces of the puzzle before it's too late. We all felt the same. If it's Lord Shadow… he probably would've found out… if he hasn't already. That was why he sent aid to Lady Alpha while she was in Japan despite being trapped in another world entirely.

We sat there in silence and in contemplation… thinking of what we could've done to prevent all that has happened from happening, though as expected we couldn't find any ways to prevent Mari's death, which caused Lady Alpha so much sadness, and Necromancer's takeover of her brother as we had zero information about it all before today. We were simply too ignorant that we could only react to things after they happened, not before it.

"Lady Alpha." Gamma breaks the silence as she addresses Lady Alpha.

"Yes, Gamma? What is it?"

"What are your plans for those two girls?" Good job Gamma! At least that should change the depressing subject!

"Naturally I intend to not only give them shelter but also welcome them into the ranks of Shadow Garden. Do not worry about their aptitude. I trained them myself." Lady Alpha replies with a small proud smile, which suits her better than her previous sad expression.

"Is that so? How interesting!" Epsilon says, perhaps quite intrigued by the ability of the two girls who were trained by Lady Alpha herself.

"Though, obviously they still need more training, especially in regards to slime manipulation."

"Alright. I'll inform Lambda of that." Gamma says.

"Moving on. I want to hear the situation regarding Midgar. What happened in my long absence?" The three of us begin sweating when she asks that. We haven't been able to do much due to drowning in depression ever since our crushing defeat a few days ago.

"Don't tell me… you've been doing nothing these past few months?" Lady Alpha says with a normal tone that barely masks her anger. Wait… months?

"Months? What do you mean, Lady Alpha?" I ask confusedly.

"Yes. I've been gone for months. Don't tell me you've lost track of time?"

"But Lady Alpha. Only few days have passed since the… incident at Oriana!" Gamma explains, which perplexes Lady Alpha, who was sure that months have passed on her end. The wintry season still present outside the castle is proof of that.

"Perhaps… time flows differently in this world compared to the other world?" I make my hypothesis, which makes the most sense with our current knowledge.

"I suppose so. But that still doesn't excuse your neglectful attitude. Shadow was indeed banished to another realm, but that doesn't mean that we cannot do anything." Lady Alpha scolds us. It's true that we've neglected our responsibility while Lady Alpha kept fighting after escaping from Necromancer's lab despite having less cards to play. How shameful.

"""We're sorry, Lady Alpha.""" We apologize for our mistakes in unison and with our heads bowed down.

"Hmph. I'll think of your punishment later." Yes. We truly need to be punished for abandoning our duties so easily. Perhaps this punishment could even help us with self improvement so that we could serve Lord Shadow better.

"For now, tell me. Is it the 3rd week of winter yet?"

"Yes it is, Lady Alpha." Epsilon answers.

"And Lord Shadow has given us a sign!" Gamma says enthusiastically while taking out a playing card from between her breasts, which somehow makes Epsilon make a small glare for reasons I don't understand. Lady Alpha received the card and contemplates for a few seconds.

Afterwards she says, "I see. He shall handle The Thirteen Night Blades as Jack the Ripper whereas we should focus on the Fenrir faction. I assume Zeta is currently working on that front?" Lady Alpha asks while eyeing me… perhaps aware of my… recent collaboration with Zeta.

"Yes. Although she haven't reported anything as she usually does… last time I checked, she has pinpointed the location of the Sanctuary in Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy."

"And I heard that Eta is working alongside her?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why?" Lady Alpha's gaze is focused on me, putting me into a corner with both guilt and fear.

"I… don't know. They didn't tell me." I didn't lie. Despite me working alongside Zeta behind Lady Alpha's back, which ended up terribly back in Oriana, she still didn't trust me enough to tell me all of her plans.

"Is that so? Send her a message that I'd like to receive the latest report from her. I'm very curious of what she's been up to with Eta while I'm gone."

"As you command, Lady Alpha."

"Mr. Gettan. Thank you for your hard work today!" The branch manager of the Mitsugoshi branch I'm currently working on thanked me after completing my shift.

"By the way, if you have time-"

"No thanks. See you tomorrow." I cut her words with refusal before she could finish her sentence.

"I see. Alright. See you tomorrow." She replies with a somewhat sad tone. Even without my sight I know you're looking at me with pity right now. Don't do it. Please don't. I don't deserve it.

Yes. I am now working at the very same company that I tried to destroy a few months ago. Fate is truly strange. Very extremely strange that Shadow Garden, sworn enemy of the Cult, would actually trust a former Cultist like me this much after everything I've done.

But now that I know that they have former Cultists in their ranks too, I suppose it's not that strange. We're all victims of the Cult's atrocities after all.

I feel VERY out of place working in this company… not just because I was their enemy… but also because I'm… pretty much the only man in Mitsugoshi. Even the ones dressing up as men are actually women. They said my presence would help them distance the image of Mitsugoshi from Shadow Garden because otherwise people might suspect that Mitsugoshi, an economic titan with all female employees, is connected to Shadow Garden, an all female organization barring their leader, Shadow.

Of course, I'm just employed at Mitsugoshi, not a member of Shadow Garden in any way. I don't even know the requirements to be one, nor do I care. After my latest defeat, I've given up the sword and thus I would be useless in their ranks anyway.

Due to my status as a former enemy to both Mitsugoshi and Shadow Garden, I also distance myself from the Shadow Garden women, even if some of them tried to approach me, refusing to treat them as more than colleagues.

I'm a failure at relationships after all, be it family, friendship… or love…

Relying on my sense of smell and my sixth sense, I walk towards the local bar to drink my sorrow out, something I've been doing every day after my shift as of late.

I took a seat and ordered a pint of beer, planning on ordering more pints later, but as I was about to enjoy what I ordered, a voice interrupts me.

"Ah! It's you!" I hear a familiar voice calling out to me. It's the woman who defeated me during the night of the raid on Don Jon's bases, Annerose Nichtsehen, formerly of the Seven Blades of Velgalta. Her armor clanks as she walks closer to me.

Last I heard she is still fighting as a mercenary on behalf of the Royalist Faction of Midgar against the rebellious Thirteen Night Blades faction in the ongoing civil war.

"Long time no see, Mr. Gettan! And that uniform you're wearing… so you've started working an honest work after overcoming your drug addiction, haven't you? Thank goodness!" Looks like she recognized the Mitsugoshi uniform I'm wearing. But once again, she's mistaking me for a drug addict! Though… she's not entirely mistaken. I was addicted to a drug that the Cult supplied me after all… a drug called power. And it ruined my life just like how drug addicts ruined theirs.

"Yes… After our last encounter, I've given up not only on the drug, but also the sword."

"Is that so? But, why abandon your sword? You were an excellent swordsman!"

"No matter how talented I am with the sword… I still failed. At everything."

She didn't reply but instead she takes a seat next to me.

"If that is what you've chosen, I won't stop you. Just know that… sometimes, life can be disappointing. But… that doesn't mean you should give up on everything! Remember that you have obtained some success in your life! Overcoming your drug addiction is no easy feat!" Ugh… It is at moments like this that I curse my heightened senses. I wish I could just tune out the words of these women pitying me.

"I too… experienced failures in my life, you know?"

"What could Annerose of the Seven Blades of Velgalta have failed at?" I ask with curiosity.

"Well… I couldn't defeat my former colleague, Sergey Gormann." Sergey Gormann… now that's a name I haven't heard in years.

"Really? Last I heard it was you who defeated him."

"No. It wasn't me. My superiors just… didn't believe my story… that the ghost of my predecessor was probably the one who defeated him."

"Ghost?"

"Yes. The ghost of Dame Karen, my predecessor. I met her in person." Karen von Herzog, who is currently known as Chi of Shadow Garden. So Shadow Garden actually had some interest in Annerose that they would aid her in defeating my former rival within the Cult, even by posing as a ghost.

"I felt like I didn't accomplish anything. I felt so weak and useless. That's why I left my position as one of the Seven Blades of Velgalta and went on a journey of self improvement."

"I see. Good luck with that." I say coldly, but her next words suggest that she didn't hear the sarcasm in my voice.

"Thank you! I wish you luck on your own journey of self improvement, Mr. Gettan!" Self improvement? Me? Can I really improve? After failing so many times to do so?

"Now that you're free from the influence of the drug, I'm sure you can achieve it!" She's right… I'm no longer poisoned by the Cult's sweet whispers. But… why would I take the sword again? What could possibly drive me to take up the blade again?

As I contemplate on that, the image of a smiling Yukime in her youth flashes in my mind. That's right. She's still following the self destructive path that I doomed ourselves into. In fact, she is now one of that monster, Necromancer's minions. She may achieve minor successes for now but that monster would ultimately dispose of her once she has outlived her usefulness to him.

"That's… right. I still have something I need to achieve. Thank you very much for this conversation, Miss Annerose." I say as I stand up and leave the bar without even touching my beer.

"Y-You're welcome! Glad to be of service!" I hear her say behind me.

Instead of drowning my sorrows with alcohol, I need to train and grow stronger… so that I can save her from this cruel fate.

Author's Note:

Gettan is back! Good for him for overcoming his drug addiction! A round of applause everyone!

Now we've officially entered a new arc, which is a continuation of the previous Midgar arc before Japan arc. How will our heroes and villains tackle the mix of Fenrir arc and the Jack the Ripper arc? Find out in the next episodes of The Drug Addicts in Shadow!

Guest: "Resurrecting the dead is my shtick nemesis. I'm going to sue you for copyright infringement." - Necromancer, probably

Answer: LMAO XD

DerTrap: Oh wait I really forgot about the thirteen nightblades, before this chapter and Fenrir too. Man it feels like it has been an eternity since we left Midgar and it's actual main plot. Well let's see what will happen next. Sayonara Japan, I mean is there anyone still actually alive in Japan?

Answer: Yeah it's been a long time since we last left Midgar and started the Japan arc, which was around last year's June. Man, that's a longer time than I thought. Is anyone alive in Japan? Maybe yes, maybe not.

CrazedGod: ... oh so he shares cid's greatest superpower. Reality bending chuni nonsense, interesting. very interesting

Answer: Yes, though perhaps Cid is still better at the whole misunderstanding shtick.

Lordylen: Delicious

Answer: Thank you for enjoying the food. I will continue cooking good food your you all.