To Be a Power in the Shadows!

Rose kept running in the rain.

I just kept running, not knowing where I was going, and it only stopped raining for how long.

It was in the woods there.

The leaking sun is slipping through the gaps in the rain-wet trees.

Rose sat the tree down on his back and gave him a rough breath.

Various thoughts circled through my head. About my father, about my country, and what's to come......

They intertwined in my head and disturbed Rose's mind.

Whatever the reason, she is the murderer who killed King Oriana. I wasn't going to deny that, and I wasn't willing to try to escape from that responsibility to death anymore.

She was going to bear the responsibility for killing my father and for being a princess, everything.

But that's too big.

The more I thought about it, the more Rose trembled anxiously.

Readiness and conviction, responsibility and heavy pressure crush.

She can still fight. We have to fight. But what can a seventeen-year-old little girl do...

Rose leaned down and buried her face between her knees.

And get smaller and tremble.

She did so until the sun's light stained the sea.

"Let's go......"

Rose gets up saying that to tell herself.

I don't know where I'm going.

But we have to move on.

She walked out looking forward, then.

"You have two choices"

A beautiful voice came from behind me.

"Huh!?

Rose looked back and there was an elf wearing a pitch-black dress.

Golden hair, blue eyes. Beautiful face as neat as a sculpture.

"You, Alpha..."

Alpha smiles demonically in arms.

"Fight alone or with us... choose"

"Together...?

The enemies of Rose and Shadow Garden are the same.

But the enemy is the same. That doesn't necessarily mean we can fight together.

But it is also true that there are few options.

The chaser will be hanging soon. If you want to fight alone, you need to lurk somewhere, but you'll have to cage in the mountains for a while... no, some hands are lawless cities.

Now Rose is the murderer of King Oriana. Even entering a lawless city would be targeted for a prize.

"Can we save the Kingdom of Oriana?

"It's up to you. There's nothing we can do for you right now. Show value if you want to save your country."

"Value......?

"Your worth... and the value of the Kingdom of Oriana..."

"If you show that, you can save...?

"That's all we have."

Alpha's answer was concise. She's just offering options.

I won't lead Rose, I won't reach out.

Rose is the one giving the answer.

"... Mr. Slayer... no, Shadow is the head of your organization?

"... yes"

Saving Rose at an early age, his figure comes back to mind as he continues to fight evil.

And Rose chose the path to believe in him.

"... I vow to fight with you"

"Yes. You're welcome. Follow me."

Alpha says so in an emotionless voice and proceeds to the back of the woods.

"May I ask you one thing"

Rose asked as she followed Alpha.

"Yes."

"Who the hell is Shadow...?

A strong heart that keeps fighting evil from an early age. And the overwhelming power to destroy evil. I don't know the secrets of power, the beliefs, the origins. He was a mysteriously wrapped being.

"If you want to know that, earn your trust"

"Trust......"

"If you are worthy of believing, you will soon find out…"

And they went silently through the woods.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

It was going through a deep mist that didn't even reach the light of day.

"This place, no way..."

"Abyss Forest."

I don't even know where it is. But once in, it was a forest of legends, supposedly never to leave again.

I'm even going to lose sight of Alpha, who should be right ahead.

The blue-purple fog is full of intense magic and disturbs Rose's senses.

"This fog is a dragon's exhale..."

"Dragon..."

Witness testimony is rare, but there is no record of crusades over the last hundred years, the existence of legends.

"Once upon a time, visiting the land, he fought the 'Misty Dragon'"

"Him...?

"He, who was young, could not destroy, even if he could defeat the Misty Dragon. The dragon recognized him and breathed the dragon's exhale"

This fantastic blue-purple fog exhales dragons......

"This fog is poisonous."

Rose's body trembled in a freak.

"So don't leave me. If you leave me, you will die soon."

"Ok......"

They proceeded through the thick fog, and suddenly their sights opened.

"This place..."

White old castle with the sun's light falling.

"Alexandria, the ancient capital destroyed by foggy dragons. This is our stronghold."

Alexandria, the ancient capital. I once read only names in books.

But this was a beautiful city that could never be painted in a book.

A vast field stretches around the capital, producing crops that have never been seen there. The girls are eager to harvest their crops.

"It's a cacao harvest. Chocolate ingredients. I'll have you do it eventually."

"That's for chocolate...... no way, the Mitsugoshi Chamber of Commerce is in Shadow Garden?

Alpha just smiled.

Chocolate is still only commercialized by the Mitsugoshi Chamber of Commerce. I don't know anything about raw materials or manufacturing methods.

They went through the castle gate and into the castle.

"Is there a lambda?

"Here."

To Alpha's call, one woman appeared and knelt.

"I'm new here. Work out."

"Ha. Whatever you say"

"Show strength first. You would have paved the way..."

That's what I told Rose, and Alpha's gone somewhere.

Rose and a woman called Lambda are left behind.

She had gray hair, golden-eyed, brown elves. You can tell from above a black bodysuit that you have long, supple muscles.

The eyes are sharp and the lips are plump.

"I'm a lambda instructor. Follow me."

"Yes."

Moving on after the lambda, he went out behind the castle.

There many girls were encouraged to work out.

"Wow......"

I can tell from a glance. There are only powerful people here.

"664, 665!

"Hi!"

"Ha!"

When Lambda called, two girls ran from the group.

It's an elf girl and an animal girl.

"Are you calling, instructor?

An elf girl told me to scream. The Beast Man girl is upright immovable next door.

"I'm new here. Join your detachment."

"Roger that!

"666, take it off."

"Huh?"

Rose couldn't understand what they said.

"666, it's about you. Here's your number."

"I'm number 666..."

"Take it off if you know what I mean."

"Huh?"

"Don't make me say it again!

At the next moment, Rose's clothes were mutilated.

It was a moment of early work.

Rose's nakedness becomes dew.

"Hey, what!?

Rose sits back hiding her body with both hands.

"From today on you are a bovine worm. You are nothing more. Drop your name! Drop your clothes, too! Throw everything away. Be a pure soldier!

And a black chunk was thrown down at Rose's feet.

That's a black slime bouncing with a boyon.

"664! Slap the worm into the use of the sole."

"Hi!"

"Hmm? What is this?

From the wreckage of Rose's garment, a slice of paper gushed into the wind.

Instructor Lambda picks it up and lists it at Rose's present.

"That's...!

That's the gift Rose got from Sid. Which wrapping paper was the tuna.

At that moment, I overflowed with thoughts about him that I was suppressing in the back of my mind.

It was her first love.

He fought in the game, saved his life in the raid, and traveled alone.

irreplaceable, precious memories.

Until just a week ago, Rose dreamed of accompanying him.

But Rose can't go back.

There will never be another way for them to cross.

"What's that face? I told you to throw everything away!

Wrapping paper that will be mutilated unbroken at Rose's present.

The pieces of paper rise high in the wind.

That's the wreckage of a dream that won't come true anymore......

From Rose's eyes, a large grain of tears fell.