The Eminence In The Shadow

Age in the mid-thirties. A well-trained body and sharp eyes. Swept back grey hair.

His footsteps stopped as he reached the end of the tunnel. In front of him was a door protected by 2 soldiers.

"Is the Kagenou girl inside?"

"Yes, Olbsama."

The soldier that he addressed saluted, then unlocked the door.

"Sir, please mind yourself in there. Though restrained, she is extremely aggressive."

"Hmph, who do you think I am?"

"!! I"m very sorry, sir!"

Olba opened the door then walked in.

The room beyond was an underground stone-walled jail. A single girl was affixed to the wall with with magic-sealing chains.

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"You must be Claire Kagenou."

At Olba"s voice, the girl called Claire raised her head.

She was a very beautiful girl. As she had been kidnapped while sleeping, she was still wearing a thin negligee that could not hide her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s nor her luscious thighs. With her silk-like black hair cut in a straight line behind her back, the girl glared up at Olba with with strong-willed eyes.

"I"ve seen your face at the royal capital before. If I remember correctly, you are Viscount Olba, are you not?"

"Hou, you were with the Imperial Guards previously... Ah, no, it was at the tournament during the Festival of the G.o.d of War?"

"Festival of the G.o.d of War, heh. Oh yes, that time when Princess Iris cut you up every which way."

Claire laughed in merriment.

"Hmph, it was within the limits of a match, and thus didn"t mean anything. In a real fight, there"s no way I"d lose to her."

"Nothing would be different in a real fight, oh Viscount Olba who lost in the first round in the tournament."

"Fool. You don"t even know how much of an honor it is to simply just stand on the stage of that tournament, you ignorant girl."

Olba glared back at Claire.

"I will be able to stand on that stage just 1 year later."

"Too bad for you, you don"t have a year left."

The chains restricting Claire clinked.

Immediately afterwards, her teeth snapped just barely short of Olba"s neck.

If Olba hadn"t tilted his head that little bit, then his carotid artery might have been torn out right there and then.

"The one who can"t live for one more year – will that truly be me? Or will it be... you? Do you want to bet on it?"

"No need for the bet, Claire Kagenou."

Olba"s fist slammed into the chin beneath Claire"s dauntless smile.

She crashed onto the stone ground, but her strong eyes never left Olba.

Olba lowered his fist, having felt less resistance on his fist than expected.

"You jumped backwards."

Claire smiled dauntlessly.

"Was there a fly in the room?"

"Hmph, seems you"re not just led around the nose by your large magic capacity."

"I was taught that magic is not about amount, but control."

"What a good father you have."

"I"ve never learned a thing from that baldy. It was my little brother."

"Brother...?"

"My impertinent little brother. Every time we fight, I"d win. But I"m always learning from my little brother"s sword. But he never learns anything from my sword. That"s why I pick on him everyday."

So said Claire in an impish tone.

"What a pitiful younger brother. That would make me an ally of justice who saved him from his tyrannical older sister. Anyways, that"s enough pointless banter."

Olba cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on Claire.

"Claire Kagenou. As of late, have you felt anything strange with your body? For example, your control over your magic slipping, or your health being unstable, or a sharp pain whenever you try to use magic, or black rot appearing on parts of your body? Do any of those symptoms bring anything to mind?"

"After going to all the trouble of kidnapping me, what you wanted to do was to play doctor?"

The edge of Claire"s glossy lips raised into a sneer.

"I, too, previously had a daughter. I do not wish to employ more violent means. Answering my questions honestly would lead to the best outcome for us both."

"Ooo, is that a threat? Unfortunately, I have a personality that makes me want to rebel when threatened. Even if my head understands that it would not be logical to do."

"So you mean to say that you have no intention to cooperate?"

"I wonder~"

Olba and Claire glared at each other.

The one who broke the silence first was Caire.

"Very well. It"s nothing big anyways, so I"ll tell you. You mentioned instability with my body and magic, right? Now I"m perfectly fine, aside from these chains."

""Now"?"

"Yes, "now." It was about a year ago when I had those symptoms that you listed."

"You mean to say that you no longer have them? They went away by themselves?"

To Olba"s knowledge, there"s never been a case of "that" being healed.

"Hmm, I didn"t really do anything spe-... oh right, my little brother had me do something he called "stretches"? I don"t really know the details, but he asked me to practice it, and before I knew it my body returned to being in top condition."

""Stretches"? Never heard of it... But the fact that you had the symptoms before means that there"s no mistake, you are indeed compatible."

"Compatible? With what?"

"There"s no need for you to know. You"ll be broken before long anyways. Ahh, I"ll need to investigate your brother too then..."

Something suddenly smashed into Olba"s nose, cutting off his words.

"Guh?"

Olba retreated to the door, glaring at Claire while suppressing his nosebleed.

"Claire Kagenou, you b.i.t.c.h...!"

All four of her limbs were supposedly restricted, but for some reason her left arm is currently hanging free, with blood dripping down from it.

"You sc.r.a.ped off your own flesh and dislocated your finger...?!"

The chains binding her were not normal chains, but magic-sealing chains. In other words, Claire had used pure brute strength to chafe off her own skin, crush her finger bones, and thus free her arm from the chain. That"s how she was able to hit Olba.

Olba was greatly shocked at that truth.

"If something happens to him, I will never forgive you! I will kill you, your loved ones, your family, your friends, and everyone else that means anything to you...!?"

Olba"s full power punch landed on Claire"s stomach. Bound in place by the magic-sealing chains, Claire had no way to evade to evade Olba"s magic-strengthened blow.

"You brat!"

Olba spat on Claire"s crumpled body.

The blood that flowed from Claire"s left hand was pooling together into a dark red stain on the ground.

"No matter. You should now understand..."

So muttering, Olba reached towards that blood. But right at that moment, a soldier breathlessly rushed into the room.

"Olbsama, it"s terrible! We have intruders!"

"Intruders?! How many?!"

"Unknown! They seem to be few in numbers, but we are being completely run over!"

"Kuh, very well, I"ll go out myself! You lot fall back and set up a defensive formation!"

After clicking his tongue once, Olba turned around.