To Be A Power In The Shadows!

Through empty hallways, Zack headed towards the bas.e.m.e.nt .

Going past aged corridors that stank of rusted iron, he stopped before a large door . He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and turned the lock . Checking behind him to make sure he hadn"t been tailed, Zack entered the room .

I heard the lock click as soon as the door was closed .

I too checked my surroundings and seeing no one there, I revealed myself .

I turned the door handle . Locked, as expected .

I jutted some slime into the keyhole and picked the lock . Lockpicking is something I learned in my past life so it was a breeze . What"s a power in the shadows if he can"t open a few closed doors?

Incidentally, I have my slimes hidden inside my body so they won"t find anything even with a full pat down .

I checked the presences on the other side and, determining it to be safe, stealthily entered the room .

It was a large, dimly-lit room . A celler of sorts .

At the back of the room, there was a lit lamp with a number of men gathered around it .

I sneaked closer and hid behind a crate . I checked and the crate was empty .

The men were discussing something in the dark room . Zack was among them .

“Boss, we"re all here like you ordered . ”

“Seems so…”

The man who the others seemed to defer to as their boss stepped forward . I"d imagined him to be something like a boss grunt, but he turned out to be a lot younger .

In his early 20s, most likely .

He had gray hair extending down to his shoulders and was well featured . He was no grunt . In fact, he even looked sort of intelligent .

From his musculature and posture, I could tell that he was trained in martial arts .

He didn"t have the air of an prisoner at all .

I like it . Breaking the mold and all that .

“Well met, brothers . The Doem Faction is pleased with your various contributions . ”

The boss said with a practiced voice, casting his gaze over the surrounding men .

He then proceeded to ask each one of them what he desired .

I see, so the thing about giving it to a guard was a lie .

“Zack, what about you?”

“I want— food . Good food and more of it . Enough for two people at least . ”

Nicely done Mr . Zack!

“Gonna put on "em pounds, Zack!”

Zack cringed from the surrounding jeers .

“Boss, let"s have another stripper show with the boys!”

“That s.h.i.+t"s great, boss!”

“Again? …Try to keep it in moderation, men . ”

Like that, Mr . handsome bossman listened to everyone"s requests one by one .

And once he was done, his face turned serious for the first time .

“Brothers, we are in difficult times . Lately, there have been more attempts to cull our numbers . Why only yesterday, a coach carrying officers was a.s.saulted, resulting in 7 dead . ”

For a moment, I thought that was talking about me, but I didn"t leave the camp yesterday, so it must be someone else .

“He"s skilled . Every time he"s killed, he"s done so without a sound . We"ve taken to calling him OWL . ”

OWL, eh… sounds important .

“And believe it or not, there are signs that this b.a.s.t.a.r.d OWL is in this camp . ”

That got a slight reaction out of Zack .

“Zack, something the matter?”

“N-nothin", boss…”

Zack lowered his gaze to escape from his boss"s overpowering stare .

“This OWL likely wants to get in contact with Clara Oriana . We must find him before he does . Is that clear?”

All the men nodded .

“Then that is all for now… no, there is one last matter . We have a traitor amongst us . ”

The bossman drew a knife and poised it towards Zack .

“—You . ”

And with surprising speed, he threw it .

Other than me, none of the men gathered could dodge a throw like that .

The knife grazed past Zack"s ears and sunk into the face of the man behind him .

“This is the fool who dared to leak our info to the Royalists . ”

The other men simply looked on silently as the traitor bled and died .

“That is all . You all may leave . ”

And leave they did without a moment to spare .

“—Zack . ”

Zack, however, was the only one told to stay .

“You"re— not hiding something, are you?”

The bossman looked at Zack with chilled eyes .

“N-never, boss . ” Zack squeaked while seating bullets .

“—All right . I will believe you . ” The bossman patted Zack on the shoulder once, and left the celler .

Now left alone, Zack heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped off his sweat .

Which is when I decided to also pat his shoulder .

“Oo, ooooahh!? Wait what!! You!! What the actual f.u.c.k!!”

Mr . Zack got extremely freaked, and then seriously angry .

“Oops, didn"t mean to do that . Thanks for keeping the secret . ”

“Like I have a choice . He"d kill me soon as I told . ”

“Likely, yes . ”

“But d.a.m.n, so you"re really that OWL…”

“Truthfully, I"m really not . ”

“… Wait, you"re not?”

Zack didn"t seem very convinced .

“I never went out yesterday . This OWL is likely someone similar to me . ”

“Yeah, sure . You think you can pa.s.s any info about OWL to me? You saw it right? Bossman"s suspicious of me . Mainly "cause of you . ”

“It shouldn"t take me long to find out who OWL is . I can"t guarantee if I can have you know, however . There are few people in my line of business… those of reputable skill often turn out to be acquaintances…”

I said this so he doesn"t ask any more questions . Since I had no clue who OWL is .

“f.u.c.k me . You gotta help me out, man . Boss is f.u.c.king ruthless, you saw him right? You might be fine . You can use your mana . But me, I got nothing" . ”

“Oh, by the way, your boss"s mana seal coller . It"s a fake . ”

“Y-yer kidding me!?”

“Nope . ”

“Fuuuck… so he"s even stronger than you?”

“—What do you think?”

I did the instant mana release trick causing a small gust .

“Uh, yeah, maybe not…”

“It doesn"t really… oh? What"s this…”

Due to the sudden wind, a small piece of paper landed at my feed .

I picked it up— and got a brilliant idea .

“— Interesting . ”

I muttered cryptically .

“What"s going on?”

“A note from one of my agents . I know have a very good idea who this OWL really is . ”

“What!? That"s way too fast!”

“Take a look . ”

I handed over the blank piece of paper .

“I, can"t see anything!”

“It only responds to very specific mana signatures . Namely mine . It"s also an encrypted message . ”

“Seriously… looks completely white to me…”

Zack scrutinized the page from all sorts angles .

“Can"t you tell me something, even a hint?”

“… You"re sure?”

I closed in and whispered to him .

“Code 0 . ”

“Coat jeer?”

“Zero being the first of numbers, meaning—”

“Me-meaning what?”

Zack gulped .

“—All will begin at last . ”

I said while simultaneously erasing my presence and moving out of sight super fast .

“— HUH!? He"s gone!? f.u.c.kin h.e.l.l, the door"s still closed, how…”

Inside the empty crate, I stayed hidden until Zack left .

Through empty hallways, Zack headed towards the bas.e.m.e.nt . .

Going past aged corridors that stank of rusted iron, he stopped before a large door . He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and turned the lock . Checking behind him to make sure he hadn"t been tailed, Zack entered the room . .

 .

I heard the lock click as soon as the door was closed . .

I too checked my surroundings and seeing no one there, I revealed myself . .

I turned the door handle . Locked, as expected . .

 .

I jutted some slime into the keyhole and picked the lock . Lockpicking is something I learned in my past life so it was a breeze . What"s a power in the shadows if he can"t open a few closed doors?.

Incidentally, I have my slimes hidden inside my body so they won"t find anything even with a full pat down . .

 .

I checked the presences on the other side and, determining it to be safe, stealthily entered the room . .

It was a large, dimly-lit room . A celler of sorts . .

 .

At the back of the room, there was a lit lamp with a number of men gathered around it . .

I sneaked closer and hid behind a crate . I checked and the crate was empty . .

 .

The men were discussing something in the dark room . Zack was among them . .

“Boss, we"re all here like you ordered . ”.

“Seems so…”.

The man who the others seemed to defer to as their boss stepped forward . I"d imagined him to be something like a boss grunt, but he turned out to be a lot younger . .

In his early 20s, most likely . .

He had gray hair extending down to his shoulders and was well featured . He was no grunt . In fact, he even looked sort of intelligent . .

 .

From his musculature and posture, I could tell that he was trained in martial arts . .

He didn"t have the air of an prisoner at all . .

I like it . Breaking the mold and all that . .

 .

“Well met, brothers . The Doem Faction is pleased with your various contributions . ”.

The boss said with a practiced voice, casting his gaze over the surrounding men . .

He then proceeded to ask each one of them what he desired . .

I see, so the thing about giving it to a guard was a lie . .

 .

“Zack, what about you?”.

“I want— food . Good food and more of it . Enough for two people at least . ”.

Nicely done Mr . Zack!.

 .

“Gonna put on "em pounds, Zack!”.

Zack cringed from the surrounding jeers . .

 .

“Boss, let"s have another stripper show with the boys!”.

“That s.h.i.+t"s great, boss!”.

“Again? …Try to keep it in moderation, men . ”.

 .

Like that, Mr . handsome bossman listened to everyone"s requests one by one . .

And once he was done, his face turned serious for the first time . .

 .

“Brothers, we are in difficult times . Lately, there have been more attempts to cull our numbers . Why only yesterday, a coach carrying officers was a.s.saulted, resulting in 7 dead . ”.

For a moment, I thought that was talking about me, but I didn"t leave the camp yesterday, so it must be someone else . .

“He"s skilled . Every time he"s killed, he"s done so without a sound . We"ve taken to calling him OWL . ”.

OWL, eh… sounds important . .

“And believe it or not, there are signs that this b.a.s.t.a.r.d OWL is in this camp . ”.

 .

That got a slight reaction out of Zack . .

“Zack, something the matter?”.

“N-nothin", boss…”.

Zack lowered his gaze to escape from his boss"s overpowering stare . .

 .

“This OWL likely wants to get in contact with Clara Oriana . We must find him before he does . Is that clear?”.

All the men nodded . .

“Then that is all for now… no, there is one last matter . We have a traitor amongst us . ”.

The bossman drew a knife and poised it towards Zack . .

“—You . ”.

And with surprising speed, he threw it . .

 .

Other than me, none of the men gathered could dodge a throw like that . .

The knife grazed past Zack"s ears and sunk into the face of the man behind him . .

“This is the fool who dared to leak our info to the Royalists . ”.

The other men simply looked on silently as the traitor bled and died . .

“That is all . You all may leave . ”.

 .

And leave they did without a moment to spare . .

 .

“—Zack . ”.

Zack, however, was the only one told to stay . .

“You"re— not hiding something, are you?”.

The bossman looked at Zack with chilled eyes . .

 .

“N-never, boss . ” Zack squeaked while seating bullets . .

“—All right . I will believe you . ” The bossman patted Zack on the shoulder once, and left the celler . .

 .

Now left alone, Zack heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped off his sweat . .

Which is when I decided to also pat his shoulder . .

“Oo, ooooahh!? Wait what!! You!! What the actual f.u.c.k!!”.

Mr . Zack got extremely freaked, and then seriously angry . .

 .

“Oops, didn"t mean to do that . Thanks for keeping the secret . ”.

“Like I have a choice . He"d kill me soon as I told . ” .

“Likely, yes . ”.

“But d.a.m.n, so you"re really that OWL…”.

“Truthfully, I"m really not . ”.

“… Wait, you"re not?”.

Zack didn"t seem very convinced . .

 .

“I never went out yesterday . This OWL is likely someone similar to me . ”.

“Yeah, sure . You think you can pa.s.s any info about OWL to me? You saw it right? Bossman"s suspicious of me . Mainly "cause of you . ”.

“It shouldn"t take me long to find out who OWL is . I can"t guarantee if I can have you know, however . There are few people in my line of business… those of reputable skill often turn out to be acquaintances…”.

I said this so he doesn"t ask any more questions . Since I had no clue who OWL is . .

“f.u.c.k me . You gotta help me out, man . Boss is f.u.c.king ruthless, you saw him right? You might be fine . You can use your mana . But me, I got nothing" . ”.

“Oh, by the way, your boss"s mana seal coller . It"s a fake . ”.

 .

“Y-yer kidding me!?”.

“Nope . ”.

“Fuuuck… so he"s even stronger than you?”.

“—What do you think?”.

I did the instant mana release trick causing a small gust . .

 .

“Uh, yeah, maybe not…”.

“It doesn"t really… oh? What"s this…”.

Due to the sudden wind, a small piece of paper landed at my feed . .

I picked it up— and got a brilliant idea . .

“— Interesting . ”.

I muttered cryptically . .

 .

“What"s going on?”.

“A note from one of my agents . I know have a very good idea who this OWL really is . ”.

“What!? That"s way too fast!”.

“Take a look . ”.

I handed over the blank piece of paper . .

“I, can"t see anything!”.

 .

“It only responds to very specific mana signatures . Namely mine . It"s also an encrypted message . ”.

“Seriously… looks completely white to me…”.

Zack scrutinized the page from all sorts angles . .

 .

“Can"t you tell me something, even a hint?”.

“… You"re sure?”.

I closed in and whispered to him . .

“Code 0 . ”.

 .

“Coat jeer?”.

“Zero being the first of numbers, meaning—”.

“Me-meaning what?”.

Zack gulped . .

“—All will begin at last . ”.

I said while simultaneously erasing my presence and moving out of sight super fast . .

 .

“— HUH!? He"s gone!? f.u.c.kin h.e.l.l, the door"s still closed, how…”.

 .

Inside the empty crate, I stayed hidden until Zack left . .

 .