Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"Eh, does my older sister not like me calling her that? Then how should I address her?"

"No, I really like it when you call me that. Now that I think about it, I actually want a little sister too. You have great taste."

"Really? That's wonderful, my dear sister."

"By the way, how does Sid usually talk about me?"

"Hmm... she seems to be very beautiful, highly talented, and powerful."

"Haha, I'm not that good! Is there anything else?"

"Yes... she treats him very well, has the responsibility of an older sister, and has always protected him."

"Oh, oh, oh!!! There's more, there's more."

"besides……"

Watching the two women chat together, which was clearly Sid's initial plan—to get their attention so he could slip away—he felt a tightness in his chest.

Sister, where did that sworn enemy look on your face from before go? You've just made up with Nagisa like that? Aren't you usually averse to people trying to get on your good side? Nagisa said a few nice things, and now you're acting like you're about to become sworn sisters with her. What's going on?

Also, Nagisa, when did I ever tell you about my sister? Why do you know so much about her? Have I lost my memory?

Even though there were three people on the field, Sid felt that the two in front of him were excluding him and wouldn't even look at him. He could only turn his grief and anger into his appetite and try his best to eat.

Hmm... it seems like we've already finished eating.

"Hey, Nagisa, where's Kojo? Why isn't he here?"

"Ancient City? He can't get up and is still sleeping. Sometimes I really wonder if he's turned into a vampire."

"What's wrong, Sid? What do you want to see Gu Cheng about?"

Akatsuki Nagisa didn't seem to care much about it, and took a moment to reply while chatting enthusiastically with Claire.

"You forgot? It was yesterday that you arranged for me to go to the water park with Gu Cheng."

"Since the ancient city still hasn't woken up, I'll go and wake him up for you."

Upon hearing what Sid said, Akinagi stopped talking abruptly.

With his mouth agape and eyes vacant, he stood before Claire, lost in thought. Only when Sid was almost at the gates of Akatsuki Castle did a glimmer of light return to his eyes.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Sid, when did I say yesterday that I invited you from the ancient city?"

"Didn't Gu Cheng tell you? We made plans to go out on Sunday last week."

After saying that, ignoring Akatsuki Nagisa who wanted to say something more, since nine and a half out of ten of her chatter was nonsense anyway, Sid opened the door and went into Akatsuki Kojou's room.

Watching Sid ignore her and enter Akatsuki Kojou's room, Akatsuki Nagisa was at a loss for words and turned to look at Claire beside her.

"Big sister, please help me."

"Ehhhhh!!!???"

Claire was completely bewildered.

Chapter Fifteen: Illusion and the Nun

Upon opening the door, Sid saw Akatsuki Kojou sitting on the bed, his hand pressed against his head.

Ha, what a convincing act. Judging by the noise in the living room, they must have woken up long ago.

"Hey, Gucheng, you're finally awake. Here, take your clothes, I'm off."

As Sid turned to help Akira get his clothes, he felt a gaze fall on his neck.

Ah, here it comes again. That gaze that looks like it wants to tear my neck open and drink my blood. As expected of a natural Shadow-level user, its aggressiveness is almost overflowing, yet it hasn't revealed a trace of killing intent.

Ancient City, you should be glad that, thanks to my sister's special training, I've been able to control my subconscious retaliatory actions. Otherwise, if I didn't react in time one day and accidentally killed you, it would be troublesome.

"Sid, um... huff huff, what are you doing in my room?"

When he turned around and threw the clothes over, there were two lines of blood under Kojo's nose. Sid knew that Kojo was suppressing his bloodlust.

After all, if he went on a killing spree on Itogami Island, he would be discovered in no time, and his carefully concealed identity would be exposed. Unlike him, who could go out and rob the rich to help the poor and return on the same day if he wanted to.

"What else could it be? Didn't you ask me to go out with you on Sunday?"

"When... Yes, I did make plans to go to the water park with you. I'll get up now."

Ignoring Kojou's initially puzzled but suddenly enlightened expression, and disregarding his new sister who was staring at him with strange looks from the living room sofa, Sid left the Kojou family home.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Ancient City, I suddenly remembered something. I'm sorry, I have to leave for a bit."

Standing in front of the water park, Sid suddenly stopped and spoke to Akatsuki Kojou and Akatsuki Nagisa beside him.

"Hey, we're almost there."

"Yeah, Sid, can't we finish playing first before going? I've already prepared my swimsuit, my swimsuit!"

"I'm sorry, Kojo, Nagisa, it's really urgent."

"Sid, what happened? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Hmm, maybe if we help Gu Cheng, we can get it done faster, and then we'll still have time to come here."

"It's a private matter; I can handle it on my own."

Without bothering to explain why he was leaving, Sid pushed the two aside and ran.

After Sid left, Akatsuki Kojo and Akatsuki Nagisa looked at each other in dismay. Akatsuki Nagisa's expression was one of great disappointment, a stark contrast to her enthusiastic and clingy demeanor on the way there.

"What... what do we do now, Nagisa?"

"Let's go back, old city. I'm not in the mood for wearing a swimsuit anymore since Sid isn't here. Let's wait for Sid to come back and ask him what happened. Sigh!"

Akatsuki Nagisa answered Akatsuki Kojou's question in a very dejected voice.

"Ok."

After leaving the Akatsuki siblings, Sid shook off the surveillance he had felt since the Akatsuki family's time and ran at the fastest speed he could muster to a side street without surveillance cameras, turning into an empty alley.

The moment Sid entered the alley, a large amount of black liquid appeared out of thin air, forming a spiral that enveloped him. The next second, when the spiral disappeared, a man wearing a long black coat appeared in the spot.

His hood was pulled low, and he wore a black mask that resembled that of a magician.

Without pausing, the man took to the sky, using the secrets of nature to avoid being noticed, and flew in a chosen direction.

In just a few seconds, the man appeared on the roof of the harbor on the other side of Itogami Island.

The man glanced at the unsuspecting people below.

"That's strange, why is nobody here?"

Sid was puzzled. He had clearly sensed someone using his magic to call for help, but why hadn't he seen a single employee of the Mitsukoshi Trading Company when he arrived here?

He once gave Gamma a sliver of magic to convert into magic, and that sliver of magic was divided by Gamma into more than eight hundred parts. All eight hundred parts of magic are in the core employees of the Mitsukoshi Trading Company, who are "possessed by demons" like Gamma and the others.

They used his magic in countless ways, borrowing his power, communicating with him, calling for help, and so on.

After all, they were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. The little bit of magic he borrowed could be restored in a few seconds, and saving people was just a matter of course. It didn't cost him anything, so he couldn't be bothered to care.

Just now, he sensed a surge of magical distress here, but when he arrived, he didn't see a single core employee of the Mitsukoshi Trading Company, though there were a few ordinary employees.

"Could it be that he's already been killed? No, that's not right. I didn't feel any injury from the magic fluctuations. Wait, did the magic just now convey any information about the user's physical safety to me?"

Sid closed his eyes, and after a long while opened them again, his face pale.

He thought back and realized that he didn't seem to have felt any physical information accompanying his distress call.

In fact, he also sensed whether there were any magic users around him. The closest one was in the Gamma Building. Then he sensed the whole world and found that there were exactly the same magic users he remembered.

...Wrong, or just an illusion?

The figure on the rooftop swayed for a moment, then knelt down on the ground in an "orz" pose.

Damn it, he abandoned the weekly Shadow Warrior Trials, which increased his suspiciousness in Akatsuki Kojo's eyes, and now he's telling him that the magical distress signal he sensed was an illusion.

His current rage is ten times, or even nine times, greater than when he was woken up this morning and had several parts of his body crushed into mincemeat by magic.

But who can he blame? Him?

After jumping off the roof, Sid began to think about where he should go. He knew he couldn't go to Akatsuki Castle anymore and had to be careful to avoid it.

He had just said he had something urgent to attend to and was leaving when he was found wandering the streets. Sid didn't know what others would think, but he was sure his impression of this person would plummet.

So... go pet a cat, use the cute cat to comfort him on this unfortunate day, and while you're at it, see if Natsume Yase came today.

With a clap of his hands, Sid left without a word, his figure vanishing instantly, unaware that a blonde nun was running towards him from behind.

After the blonde nun ran to where Sid had been, she looked around in confusion and grabbed the old man next to her.

"Sir, did you see a person wearing a black overcoat just now?"

The old man who was pulled away was initially quite angry that someone was trying to annoy him, but his attitude changed when he saw that it was a young girl.

"No, little girl."

Sid was standing right next to him just now, but now he's saying he didn't see him. Of course, that's not his fault.

Sid's natural secrets allow anyone to see him as if he were a speck of dust. Despite his lack of concealment, no one can see Sid's true nature because of this technique.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir."