Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"Lord, Lord?"

The voice coming from the phone was that of a woman, filled with doubt, surprise, and joy.

"Yes, it's Gamma. I need to talk to you."

Sid's reply was bland.

"I've made a fuss over nothing. I wonder what instructions Your Majesty has for me?"

"Uh... Gamma, you don't have to be so polite... Never mind, call me whatever you like."

It's nothing serious, I just want you to help me draw up a cohabitation agreement for the place I'm currently living in.

If I remember correctly, you told me before that the apartment I'm renting now belongs to Mitsukoshi Real Estate, right?

"Yes, my lord, I'll have my men draft the contract right away. Is it alright if I set the lowest possible rent?"

"can."

The voice on the phone stopped, and Sid could roughly guess that Gamma was giving instructions to his men.

A few minutes later, the phone rang again.

"My lord, the contract has been finalized. I'll have New send it to you right now."

"Ah That's good."

"..."

"..."

"My lord, if I may be so bold as to ask, who is this person who has the honor of living with you soon?"

Upon hearing Gamma ask this question, Sid's lips curled up, and his voice carried a hint of smugness.

"Ah, it's nothing."

She's just a new member of my 'Shadow Guardians,' a bit like you guys before, but also a bit different. Since we had nowhere to live, I had her stay with me for now (just like you guys before, except this time she didn't lie, but I still fooled her).

"jump!"

A loud bang came from the phone; Sid knew that Gamma had been so shocked by the news that he had fallen flat on his face.

After all, the reason he was able to expose the Diablo Order's colossal lie in the Seven Shadows was because communication technology wasn't very advanced, and he had exaggerated the Diablo Order too much. These factors combined allowed him to keep it a secret for three years.

Now that the world is more integrated, coupled with his high standards for choosing people to fool and his habit of making grandiose promises that are never actually made, it's truly remarkable that he can still succeed in fooling people.

"My lord, didn't you say you would walk alone in the darkness? Or do you intend to retract your fame? If so, may I join your newly formed Shadow Guardians...?"

After a long while, Gamma's voice trembled with a hint of excitement.

Unfortunately, Sid can't do as she wishes. Since she's already said she doesn't plan to play the Diablo Cult's chuunibyou games anymore, then it's impossible for her to play them again.

"Sorry, Gamma, she's different from you. She's more suitable to be my subordinate than you are, and you're all too busy right now, aren't you? (This time I'm not lying. I only managed to win her over because of my personal charm. She's different from you, so don't even think about causing trouble. I have no interest in exploiting our relationship.)"

"...Yes, I understand."

Gamma said this in a barely suppressed voice and then hung up the phone. Looking at the short call, Sid had only one thought.

Why does Gamma seem angry?

On the other end of the phone, the moment the call ended, Gamma could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face, and her mouth opened silently.

After a long while, Gamma came to his senses, touched a button on the table, and New opened the door and came in.

"New, find out who this person is who wants to live with Lord Shadow. Find out what makes Lord Shadow change his mind. Whether our Shadow Garden can welcome back our Lord Shadow depends on this."

"Yes, Lord Gamma."

Chapter 82 They are your seniors

Sid casually placed his phone on the table, walked out of the room, and spoke to Asia, who was wiping a chair with a cloth in her hand.

"Asia, someone will come to the door later to sign a contract with you. Pay attention, and if there are no problems, sign the contract."

“Oh, I see. Um… Mr. Sid…”

Upon hearing the voice, Asia instinctively responded, but then looked at Sid with a hesitant expression.

"What's wrong, Asia?"

Seeing Asia's confusion, Sid asked directly.

"Um, Mr. Sid, who was the person you just called? Why are you acting so... so..."

"Alright, I think I know what you mean."

Although Asia's explanation was a bit unclear, Sid still understood what Asia meant.

He must have been a little careless on the phone with Gamma, speaking a bit too loudly, and Asia heard some of it. She became curious, but worried that it was a private matter she couldn't tell him and was afraid of an awkward situation, so she didn't know whether to ask.

"Hmm... telling you isn't impossible, but let me think about how to explain it to you."

First, I can't tell Asia that this is a friend who used to play those cringeworthy games with him, otherwise I'll lose all my coolness. I need to come up with a suitable reason to explain. Let me think...

Got it!

"They must be your seniors, right?"

"senior!?"

"Hmm, have you heard of 'Shadow Garden'? They were the ones who called me just now."

Sid's explanation made Asia understand why Sid had spoken in that tone earlier, and it also answered her questions from the journey.

Why did Mr. Sid say that the Shadow Guardian is only the newly joined one?

This is a question I've been thinking about all along the way in Asia.

During her three months of wandering, she kept an eye on news about Shadow in order to find her savior.

She scoured through most of the information circulating online. Many of these so-called pieces of information seemed impossible to her, but many others were quite reasonable and well-founded, leaving her unsure whether to believe them.

Although the intelligence was chaotic and difficult to verify, one thing was generally accepted: Shadow had a force that was completely subservient to her, and this force was composed entirely of powerful and beautiful young women.

For some reason, after the world merged, this organization called Shadow Garden suddenly disappeared, which is very different from Shadow, which appears from time to time in some corner of the world.

When Sid first heard that she was the only member of the Shadow Guardians, and when Sid repeatedly emphasized that she had no need or obligation to join the Shadow Guardians, she thought that something had happened to her predecessors.

After all, although Sid didn't say it explicitly at the coffee shop, she could still tell that he didn't want her to join. This made her wonder if something had happened to her predecessors and they had all perished. It was because of this incident that Mr. Sid had a severe psychological trauma, which was why he didn't want her to join and follow in their footsteps.

Because of this suspicion, she didn't even dare to ask Sid about it on the way, for fear that it would evoke bad memories and make Sid sad.

But judging from Sid's words now, it seems that her predecessor did not die, but is even alive and well.

Why did Mr. Sid say that she was the only member of the Shadow Guardians besides him?

Small head, big doubts.

"Since the seniors are still around, why did Mr. Sid say that I am the only member of the Shadow Guard?"

Asking questions when you have an idea is an excellent quality.

"Because they have already withdrawn."

Although on the surface it seems like I dismissed them, it was really just them saving face for me.

"Why, why?"

"There's not much to it, they've just grown up and matured."

"But isn't this going too far? Just because they're grown up they want Mr. Sid all to do it. Don't they think that's excessive?"

"No, they're still great. And isn't growing up about leaving behind things that aren't so important?"

Strictly speaking, the Shadow Garden probably wasn't even that important to them.

After all, the identity of being a member of Shadow Garden was imposed on them. They were willing to join Shadow Garden because of me, and our friendship is the most important thing.

Although I'm a little reluctant to part ways, I'm not the kind of kid who throws a tantrum if my friends don't play with me. I'm happy enough if they're willing to hang out with me occasionally. Besides, friendships that are constantly exploited won't last long.

That's true. When Shadow Garden was founded, Alpha and the others called themselves the Seven Shadows entirely because of the lie he spread about the Diablo Order. After they grew up and discovered that the Diablo Order didn't exist, they stopped staying by his side and playing games with him.

In a sense, this is just like his past life: children admire heroes, but when they grow up, they forget their childhood dreams and become dirty adults.

Looking back now, even knowing that he lied to them first and they became independent later, he still feels a little sad and reluctant.

Well, it's only human nature to save face. Don't be so self-righteous and try to use emotions to blackmail Alpha and the others into pretending not to know. As I always say, if you keep exploiting emotions, those emotions won't last long.

Seeing the sadness and reluctance in Sid's eyes as he explained, Asia felt a little...heartache, and her hand involuntarily took Sid's hand.

"I won't..."

"?"

“I will not be like them; I will stay with Mr. Sid all the way.”

"Ah!"

chuckled.

"Don't speak too confidently. Maybe when you find out my true colors, Asia, you'll choose to leave like them?"

"No! No, I will never leave Mr. Sid and leave him all alone."

Sid was skeptical of the credibility of this statement; he was somewhat aware of his true nature, which was that of a complete lunatic.