The Eminence In The Shadow

I wait for a while, but it seems that I had successfully gotten away. Heaving a sigh of relief, I return to my usual appearance.

I hope this was enough to gloss over the issue. At the moment, the venue must be bustling with talk of the "mysterious intruder," and no one should even remember about the mob character from the Magic Swordsman Academy.

I worked extra hard today, so let"s go into a hot spring, then straight to bed. Or so I had thought while getting up, but then suddenly a strange door appears before me.

This dirty and shabby-looking door is floating in midair, here in the middle of nowhere. There"s a dark stain on it that clearly is dried blood no matter how I look at it.

"What is this."

This is not even on the level of being "suspicious." Even I would opt out of touching this thing.

So I turn my heel.

"Oi."

Then I turn around again.

"You gotta be kidding me."

I jump backwards.

"Seriously?!"

The door is following my movements with everything it has.

I try to take a distance, I turn to a different direction, I somersault backwards with a hundred spins, but the door appears in front of me after every single thing I do.

Then what other choice do I have?

"Le"s cut it then."

Immediately, I draw my sword and slash the door.

But.

The place that I had cut returns to normal.

I sheath my sword and take a moment to think.

It"s out of the question to return back to town with this dirty door in tow. It"s going to make me stand out so badly.

In the first place, what even is this door? There is no human presence anywhere in my current vicinity, so it"s unlikely to be a prank. There"s nothing behind the door either.

"Otherworld version of an Anywhere Door?"

I somehow feel a desperation in the way it keeps on following me, so perhaps everything would be resolved if I enter it. But today, I really feel like going to a hot spring and then straight to bed.

After thinking seriously for 30 seconds, I come to a conclusion.

Screw it, let"s quickly get this over and done with.

Opening the door reveals a deep darkness that seems to be sucking me in. Please don"t let this be the pattern where going in means instant death. With that, I dive into the darkness.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

When I come to, I find myself in a stone-walled room.

It is a dreary room, with a single door, and a woman bound to a wall by all four limbs. Oh, it"s Violet-san.

"Hey there."

I call out to her. She looks at me, then her eyes open wide in surprise.

Then she copies my "Hey there."

"Haven"t seen you since the last few minutes."

"Pretty much. So, was it you who called me here?"

"Called...? No, I had no such intention. But it was fun, wasn"t it?"

"Yea, that was really fun."

"My memory is incomplete, but from the parts that I do remember, you are the strongest by far. How great it would have been if you had been there during my time..."

"Well, that"s an honor."

"So then, why are you here?"

She looks at me in puzzlement.

"A door appeared, so I went in, and this is where I ended up."

"Not sure I follow."

"I"m quite confused about it too. You wouldn"t happen to know a way out of here, would you?"

"I wonder? I don"t remember ever having gotten out."

"You were fighting with me just now, though?"

"I was just suddenly there. That was the first time that had happened. From what I remember, at least."

"I see. That sucks."

I wrack my brain for what to do.

There is a door, so I guess I might as well open it and see where it goes. But the moment I decide so, Violet-san calls out to me while pouting.

"Before your eyes is a pretty girl bound by all four limbs."

So she says, so I look the crosswise-bound girl, and nod.

"There is indeed."

"Why not try freeing her first?"

I tilt my head slightly, then realize that I had been under a misunderstanding.

"Aah, sorry. I thought you were in the middle of training."

"What, why?"

"I did that training myself a long time ago."

I destroy Violet-san"s bindings with my Academy-issued sword. Apparently I can"t use my slime sword here.

She stretches in satisfaction, then flashes me a smile that seems nostalgic to me somehow.

"Thank you. It"s my first freedom after around a thousand years."

"Good for you."

"Just a rough number. Because I don"t remember. But at least a thousand."

She straightens her thin robe, then tucks her glossy black hair behind her left ear. That"s her style, apparently.

"Well then, our interests seem to coincide."
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So she says with a nonchalant tone.

"Un?"

"I wish for release, and you wish for escape. Am I right?"

"Aah, yep."

"Let"s cooperate, then."

"I don"t mind, but do you know the way out?"

"Not really. But I know the method for release. The Holy Ground is a jail of memories. In the center of the Holy Ground is a Magic Core. If that gets destroyed, I can be free."

"Just you?"

She shoots me a sidelong glance, then smiles impishly.

"Everything and everyone. So, you too."

"Would the Holy Ground collapse?"

"Who cares about that? It"s not like it"d bother you, right?"

I ruminate over Violet-san"s question in my head.

"Now that I think about it, you"re right, I don"t care. Alright, let"s go with that then."

"So we"re agreed. And I believe you"ve already noticed it, but magic can"t be used here. This place is close to the center of the Holy Ground, so any magic you weave gets immediately sucked up by the Core."

"So it seems."

It"s a much more powerful version of what the terrorists had that time. The moment I weave any magic, it immediately disappears. I"m trying various things at the moment, but it seems like it"d take quite a while.

"No problem, I"m good at destroying things."

"How rea.s.suring. So, I"m a fragile, dainty girl who can"t use magic. I"ve always dreamed of being protected by a knight-sama."

She smiles impishly again. That composure does not belong on a fragile, dainty girl.

She proceeds forward as if to guide the way, and opens the door without hesitation.

"Hey, so after you are released, what do you plan to do?"

So I ask Violet-san"s back.

"I"ll vanish and disappear. I"m only a memory, after all."

She does not turn around.