In the silent alley, Cid paced back and forth in front of a motionless girl dressed in a nun's habit, her long golden hair hanging down her back. Every now and then he stopped to examine the frozen expression on her face.
Maybe ten minutes had passed. Maybe several hours. Or perhaps only a few seconds. Who knew? In a world where time had come to a complete halt, time itself had long since lost any meaning.
In any case, after a stretch of silence that even Cid found unbearably long, he let out a deep sigh, wearing the expression of someone who had truly tried his best.
"I seriously can't remember who you are. Ah, whatever. It's not that important. Let's think about how to deal with this situation first."
Magical Power seeped out from Cid's body, allowing him to float slightly in the air as he settled into a seated position in front of Asia. For the first time, he examined the blonde nun who claimed to have come to repay him, Asia, from a distinctly male perspective.
Smooth, beautiful golden hair that looked as if it were glowing in the faint sunlight even in this dim alley.
A pair of deep, emerald-like eyes, clear and captivating.
A delicate face that matched her petite frame perfectly.
Hmm…
Even by Cid's standards, standards raised since childhood thanks to his sister and seven childhood friends, she was unquestionably a classic beauty.
The only slight imperfection was probably her chest. It could not exactly be called nonexistent, but it definitely had room for future potential.
Of course, none of that was important. The real issue was that no matter how long he thought about it, Cid still could not figure out what she meant by "repaying a favor" or calling him her "life-saving benefactor."
For someone like him who occasionally went out solo hunting and had even competed with the joint bandit suppression forces of three worlds for jobs, it would not be strange if he had saved a few people along the way.
The main problem was this.
He had never used the identity of Shadow while hunting bandits. Whenever he carried out those activities, he always acted under the persona of a mysterious, elite bandit hunter. He had never once used the identity of Shadow.
After all, an Eminence in Shadow going around taking money from thieves would look ridiculously lame. There was no way he would do something that self-defeating.
So for more than half a year, he had operated under the image of a mysterious bandit-hunting expert. After a few months, when only a handful of bandits remained, the kind with barely any money left to squeeze out and who might even turn themselves in sooner or later, he finally washed his hands of it.
He retired and returned to being the Eminence in Shadow, Shadow.
The mysterious bandit-hunting expert was destined to remain nothing more than a legend.
And after becoming Shadow again, as far as he could remember, the only people he had saved were core employees of the Mitsugoshi Company, basically actors hired by Gamma. He had not rescued anyone else.
So what exactly did Asia mean when she called him her life-saving benefactor?
Was Asia lying?
That did not seem likely.
It was not because she was a beautiful girl. He was not the type to blindly trust someone just because they were pretty. It was simply that he did not think someone whose eyes were as pure as Delta's would be capable of lying.
By the way, Delta could probably be considered the dog he raised. Her intelligence was higher than a Husky's. Probably.
If Asia was not lying, then had he remembered wrong?
That did not seem likely either.
So what was the answer?
He did not know.
He had absolute confidence both in his own memory and in the character of Asia. The same kind of straightforward innocence he had noticed immediately, just like Delta.
Most people would probably get stuck obsessing over the problem here. But Cid did not really have many virtues, except for one. He had a very relaxed mindset.
So he simply treated it as some kind of accident that had led this blonde nun named Asia to mistakenly believe Shadow had saved her life.
See? Problem solved instantly, right?
Next, all he had to do was coax out two pieces of information from Asia. How she discovered his true identity, and when exactly "Shadow" had saved her according to her memories. After that, he could simply erase her memory.
Now he just needed to think of a convincing excuse to trick her.
Hmm!
Wait a second.
If all he thought about was escaping the risk of his mob character identity being exposed, what kind of Eminence in Shadow mindset was that? Such mundane thinking did not suit him at all.
This was clearly a perfect opportunity. Would it not be a waste not to rack up a few Eminence in Shadow achievements?
Floating in the air, Cid, who had been rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger, suddenly jolted slightly. A sly smile spread across his face as he looked at the frozen Asia.
Right now, what identity did he have in Asia's eyes?
Shadow?
No.
Cid?
No.
Then what?
Shadow disguised as an ordinary student.
Oh, oh, oh!!!
Asia was different from Alpha and the others. She did not think he was a chuunibyou with something wrong in his head.
She genuinely believed he was an Eminence in Shadow.
A mysterious powerhouse who would descend from the heavens at the crucial moment and change the course of events.
This really moved him. After all, in a good story, if there are not one or two characters who know the true identity of the Eminence in Shadow, or at least have some clue about it, the story loses major points.
Just think about how much effort he had put into creating characters who knew the true identity of the Eminence in Shadow.
Shadow Garden and Netheril were both the results of his hard work. And yet...
On the Shadow Garden side, it took less than three years for Alpha and the others to see through his act. Out of gratitude they did not expose him directly, but their hints had been quite obvious.
It was not like he could not keep asking them to play along, but a fake was still a fake. No matter how well it was performed, it could never reach one hundred percent authenticity.
As for Netheril, he had not been exposed there. He had simply played that identity into the ground.
What kind of Eminence in Shadow was the "Netheril Emperor"? One of these days he would just let that identity serve as a stepping stone for Shadow.
Things never happen more than three times. After two failures and the lessons he had learned from them, he was confident that this time he could definitely fool Asia.
Even if he succeeded, Asia would still have her memory erased after he got the information he wanted. But that did not matter. He would just treat her like a one time prop and use the opportunity to rack up achievements.
In short, Asia's memory had to be erased to prevent his identity as an Eminence in Shadow from being exposed, and he also wanted the Eminence in Shadow achievement.
Both of them.
He wanted both.
Having made up his mind, Cid quickly drafted an Eminence in Shadow scenario in his head. Then he dropped from the air to the ground, placing one hand against the wall beside Asia and recreating the same kabedon pose he had before time stopped.
If Asia had not looked extremely agitated, almost angry, the scene might have looked like a perfect match between a handsome man and a beautiful girl.
After setting the pose, a strand of Magical Power shot out from Cid's body and flew toward the entrance they had come through. It formed a Magic Circle on the wall at the entrance of the alley before disappearing.
Time began to flow again.
"Hmph. Interesting. Under normal circumstances I might have been slightly interested in hearing your explanation. Unfortunately, I have no interest in that right now. I will simply search your memories and then erase them."
"Eh?!"
Hearing Cid's words, Asia, who had only just managed to gather a bit of courage, froze in shock. When she saw his hand slowly moving toward her head, she realized he was not joking, and panic set in.
Her first instinct was to run. But then she remembered that the man in front of her had saved her life.
Gritting her teeth, she forced down her fear, closed her eyes, and waited for her memory to be erased.
Watching Asia close her eyes, Cid fell silent.
Wait, why are you not following the script?
Well, whatever. Running or not running makes no difference anyway.
"Relax. It will not hurt much. Just close your eyes and it will be over quickly. There will not be any aftereffects either."
Yeah right. With the difference in mental strength between us, if I actually searched your memories, your mind would collapse.
Perhaps she truly believed what Cid said. The trembling in Asia's body, which had been shaking in fear at the thought of losing her memories, slowly stopped.
Just as innocent as Delta. You really believe whatever I say. Good thing I am faking it. Otherwise you would be heading straight for a mental breakdown.
While Cid was silently complaining to himself, the sound of footsteps came from the entrance of the alley.