Chapter 345: Because I Am Shadow
“In my personal opinion, this must be yet another of Shadow’s evil schemes. He must be trying to use the deaths of Earl Shoddi and the others to sow discord, plunge the Kingdom of Midgar into civil war, and carry out some sinister plan of his!”
“Then may I ask, Princess Iris, what would Shadow’s purpose be in doing that?”
Standing before Iris, Cid found himself having to speak up since, for some reason, neither Christina nor Alexia seemed remotely interested in interjecting. It was the perfect chance to play one of those minor background characters who often appeared in stories, asking questions on behalf of the main characters while somehow knowing all the relevant lore.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
After clicking her tongue a few times, Princess Iris straightened her back and looked down at Cid with a smug, condescending gaze.
“Cid, I already said it. Every living creature in this world acts with some purpose, but Shadow doesn’t. An inherently evil existence like him cannot be judged by any ordinary logic. With someone like that, there’s no telling if he might suddenly decide to destroy the world one day.”
Cid, who had already secretly collected maps of the major factions’ territorial defenses and was planning to put a little pressure on the world, suddenly felt strangely guilty.
“I think what you’re saying, Princess Iris, actually does make a tiny bit of sense.”
Cid nodded along with Princess Iris’s outrageous theory and forced a smile. He remembered having quite a lot of fun playing “Jenga” with the First Princess and that warrior goddess Beatriz last time, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t hit Princess Iris in the head, had he?
“Right?”
Iris gave Cid an approving look. Now that she had gotten going, she showed no intention of stopping and continued excitedly.
“Think about it. It hasn’t even been that long since I returned from the World Battlefield, yet the evil Shadow has already openly joined forces with the evil Fallen Angels and nearly destroyed the world once. The only reason he failed was because the Biblical God Faction stopped him.”
“As for what happened behind the scenes, according to the intelligence agents I dispatched, that apocalyptic dark star from over ten days ago appeared from that location on Itogami Island. Shadow happened to be there at the time, so I have more than enough reason to suspect that the apocalyptic dark star was something Shadow created to destroy the world.”
“And that’s not all. You may not know this, but the reports from more than twenty days ago claiming that the Three Dragon Gods attacked the top combatants of various factions and Shadow helped repel them were actually false. The truth is that the evil Shadow manipulated the battle between the Three Dragon Gods, using it to severely injure the top combatants of most factions, then tried to kill everyone at the very end. Fortunately, there were enough powerful people present, and they all managed to return safely.”
“Shadow has already caused this much trouble in the short time since I came back from the World Battlefield. I don’t even dare imagine what he was doing behind the scenes during the year or more that I spent fighting bloody battles there.”
“As expected, the so-called ‘world’s strongest,’ the Dragon Gods, and other powerful beings like them are nothing but parasites on the world. Keeping people like that alive only lets them cause trouble in the rear, damage morale, and bring destruction upon the world.”
“Cid, look. So many incidents have already proven Shadow’s evil nature, and the Kingdom of Midgar is where he originated. Back then, for whatever reason, Shadow tried to disguise himself as some righteous organization and fabricated the existence of a group called the Cult of Diablos. Whatever he’s planning this time must be connected to that fake Cult of Diablos. So this incident must be Shadow’s doing again. Shadow is definitely the one who killed Earl Shoddi!”
“…Clap, clap, clap!!!”
Cid stared at First Princess Iris, whose face was filled with absolute conviction, and found himself applauding her in genuine admiration.
A genius!
She was an absolute genius. Her intelligence was a bizarre mixture of truth and fiction, and her reasoning followed the classic pattern of shooting the arrow first and painting the target around it afterward. Yet somehow, despite getting almost the entire process wrong, her absurd logic had led her to the correct answer.
He really had done all those things.
And he really had killed those people.
She had somehow seen straight through the appearances and grasped the truth.
Princess Iris, you’re incredible!
“You’ve seen through it remarkably well, Princess Iris-sama. In your opinion, what will the evil Shadow do next?”
Cid asked with complete sincerity, eagerly awaiting the answer from the princess he deeply respected.
“Shadow’s next move?”
Hearing Cid’s question, Iris fell into thought.
“Although I said Shadow operates according to the logic of chaotic, innate evil, that isn’t necessarily absolute. I have tried to understand how Shadow thinks. Let me see…”
“Based on my earlier analysis, the evil Shadow’s goal is to divide the Kingdom of Midgar, and his current plan is nearly complete. He has pinned the blame for the disappearances across the various territories on Earl Shoddi and his associates, spread false rumors about the Thirteen Nightblades, and now he has even threatened Isaac and the others into attacking Christina.”
“However, I’ve more or less seen through Shadow’s evil scheme now. If I’m not mistaken, Shadow’s next move will be to claim that the Thirteen Nightblades are members of the Cult of Diablos while simultaneously slandering Earl Shoddi and the others. He’ll say that the people who killed the Alliance members were actually assassins from the Thirteen Nightblades, while Shadow Garden was merely eliminating members of the Cult of Diablos. This has already become one of Shadow Garden’s standard tactics. What I need to do now is seize the advantage in public opinion. The kingdom cannot afford to be divided right now. After that, Shadow will probably…”
She’s completely figured me out.
Cid stared at Princess Iris in mild astonishment.
How had he never thought of doing it that way?
He silently memorized every detail of the plan Iris had just laid out. Compared to hers, his own plan suddenly seemed far too crude. It couldn’t hold a candle to the meticulously crafted scheme Princess Iris had devised.
It was decided.
He would simply follow the plan Princess Iris had written for him.
With a mole like him on the inside, Shadow would have no trouble arranging his moves around Princess Iris’s defenses.
“That’s enough, Onee-sama. How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?”
Just as Cid and Princess Iris were enthusiastically discussing how to counter Shadow, Alexia, who had been watching from the side the entire time, finally couldn’t take it anymore. With a dark expression, she interrupted them.
“I don’t know where your prejudice against Shadow comes from, Onee-sama, but from what I’ve seen, Shadow doesn’t consider us enemies at all. We have no reason to make an enemy of him either. In fact, given our current situation, unless we have absolutely no other choice, we shouldn’t be making Shadow our enemy!”
As she listened to the two of them excitedly discuss their plans, Alexia’s expression had grown darker and darker. Remembering the conversation she had with her father the previous night, she became worried that her sister might really cause some major disaster and finally stepped in.
“Alexia… you shouldn’t have interrupted me. I admit that what you’re saying makes sense, but even so, we cannot simply let the evil Shadow run rampant across the lands of the Kingdom of Midgar just because he’s powerful. This is our country. Are we supposed to ignore incidents like the large-scale disappearances within the kingdom and the deaths of Earl Shoddi and the others simply because Shadow exists!?”
Iris spoke with righteous indignation, her expression darkening in turn when Alexia stepped forward. Although the sisters normally had a good relationship, Princess Iris strongly rejected this sort of surrenderist rhetoric from Alexia.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, Onee-sama! Do you seriously not think there’s anything wrong with your logic? Stop blaming Shadow every single time something happens!”
Alexia shouted in exasperation. She genuinely had no idea what to say about the way her sister’s mind worked.
She had originally thought that after spending a year fighting on the World Battlefield, her sister might finally have gotten over this.
Instead, it seemed her condition had only gotten worse.
“Powerful people have their own pride. Shadow’s reputation is already as terrible as it could possibly be, and with his overwhelming strength, if he wanted to kill Earl Shoddi and the others, he could simply walk in openly, kill them, and leave. Why would he need to play some childish Vampire Slayer game? Can his reputation even get any worse?”
I’m terribly sorry that the Vampire Slayer game I’m playing is so childish. I’m even more sorry that I don’t have a shred of dignity as a powerful person.
Cid gave Alexia a hollow stare.
If he weren’t the person directly involved, after hearing Alexia say all that, even Cid himself might have started wondering whether he was really Shadow.
So this was how other people saw him?
“Does someone as inherently evil as Shadow really need a reason to do something like this? Maybe he simply went insane. Shadow is a madman.”
Alexia was worked up, but Princess Iris was even more agitated.
If her own little sister turned out to belong to both the surrender faction and the Shadow faction, she was going to lose her mind.
“Why? Why, Onee-sama? Why would you rather believe that Shadow fabricated the Cult of Diablos and then blame everything on him than accept that the Cult of Diablos really exists in this world? We could clearly cooperate against the Cult of Diablos.”
Sorry, Alexia, but the Cult of Diablos really is something I completely made up.
“Accept the Cult of Diablos? Alexia, how exactly do you expect me to do that? None of the intelligence or investigation reports in my possession contain the slightest evidence that the Cult of Diablos has ever existed or operated anywhere. Are you saying you’re better at intelligence gathering than I am?”
Iris’s face twisted with frustration. Her younger sister’s stubbornness was beginning to wear through her patience, and she decided to confront her with evidence directly and prove that she was right.
“If you want to convince me, fine. Show me your evidence. Either way, whether it’s Shadow Garden or the Cult of Diablos, I will protect this country.”
“Guh… I don’t have any evidence right now, but Onee-sama, think about it carefully. With Shadow’s terrifying strength, what reason would he even have to deceive us? Wake up already! We can cooperate with Shadow!”
Hahaha, Alexia, don’t jump to conclusions just because you don’t understand Shadow.
Precisely because I have no need to deceive you, there’s also no reason why I can’t deceive you.
And if that’s the case, whether I tell you the truth or make up some enormous lie is entirely dependent on my mood.
“That’s exactly why I’m saying you’ve been deceived by Shadow, Alexia. That is precisely why he fabricated this enormous lie about the Cult of Diablos. He’s trying to give himself legitimacy while dividing us from within. You and some of the kingdom’s officials have already been so taken in by this lie that you’ve started making excuses for Shadow, that terrorist.”
Iris looked at Alexia with the frustration of someone watching a hopelessly misguided child. She could keenly feel just how deeply the kingdom had been poisoned by the rumors Shadow had spread.
Her once innocent and adorable little sister had already begun to believe that Shadow was in the right.
Good officials like Earl Shoddi, who had devoted themselves to the kingdom and its people, had merely been framed by Shadow for a few murders.
Even the future middle and upper ranks of the kingdom had been frightened so badly that they were voluntarily trying to defect to the completely clueless Marquis Despoht.
Truly, Shadow was evil by nature!!!
“Uwaaah… But I really did encounter the Cult of Diablos’s minions myself! I just didn’t manage to get any evidence. But if I say that, you definitely won’t believe me, Onee-sama. Fine, then let’s go with majority rule. We’ll ask Po… Cid. Let’s hear a third party’s opinion.”
Huh?
What just happened?
Why did this suddenly involve me?
Cid had been happily enjoying the spectacle, watching the whole farce from the lofty perspective of the mastermind behind everything. When the two of them suddenly turned to look at him, he froze.
“Settle this for us, Cid. Let Onee-sama and me hear what an ordinary citizen thinks.”
“Although I won’t change my opinion, the people are the foundation of the kingdom, so I have no objection.”
I have an objection.
Cid desperately wanted to say that.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t help.
Let me think. How is a background character supposed to answer in a situation like this?
Cid pondered the question for a moment before reaching his conclusion.
Either side was fine.
There was nothing he could do about it. In his previous life, this argument between the two sisters would have been the equivalent of arguing over whether America had actually landed on the moon, the kind of subject that could make people online fight endlessly.
In that case, he might as well play the impartial observer.
“First of all, I don’t think Shadow would lie…”
Alexia’s eyes lit up.
Iris’s expression darkened.
“But I also think Princess Iris makes a lot of sense…”
Iris looked surprised.
Alexia froze.
“So I think we should start from the assumption that the Cult of Diablos exists, then examine the suspicious points from Princess Iris’s perspective.”
“Whose side are you even on!?”
Furious, Alexia grabbed Cid and started squeezing him.
“Uh… uh…”
“So that’s how the public sees it? I can accept that. Then we’ll leave it there.”
Iris watched the two of them scuffle without interfering, then smiled in understanding and nodded.
“You three clearly get along quite well. So why do all of you have completely different opinions when it comes to Shadow?”
Christina, the one true bystander who had watched everything unfold, couldn’t resist commenting once the discussion was over.
“Because I want to protect this country, Shadow is my enemy.”
Iris answered without hesitation.
“Well, Shadow did save me once, and I’ve personally seen the Cult of Diablos, so I’m willing to trust Shadow.”
Since her sister had answered, Alexia followed suit.
“Because I am Shadow… Sorry, I misspoke. Because I’m an impartial observer. The Cult of Diablos, Shadow, and all that are far too removed from someone like me.”
When everyone turned to stare at him, Cid realized he had just said something extremely dangerous and hurriedly corrected himself.