To Be a Power in the Shadows! Chapter 28: Otherworld-Style Valentine’s Day

Alexia is lying in a clean bed, looking up at her older sister’s very serious face.

“I understand.”

So says Iris from her position beside the bed.

“So the slasher incident was not actually Shadow Garden, but some other group that was using their name.”

“That’s what Shadow said.”

“ ‘Shadow’…… In the end, we are still no closer to their true identity.”

Iris ponders a bit while looking down.

“During that previous royal capital incident, I also came across a very powerful swordswoman who also seemed to be a member of Shadow Garden.”

“You said that she named herself Alpha, right?”

Iris nods.

“Judging from various other reports, we know that the organization called Shadow Garden possesses extremely high fighting strength. Then from your report, we also know of the man called Shadow, and the name of their organization. But those are literally the only facts we know. Everything else is wrapped in a mystery, including the aim of the organization.”

“I saw that Shadow is hostile against the Order of Diabolos. Perhaps the their aim lies with the Order?”

“So the lead lies with the Order……”

Iris heaves a sigh.

“Nee-sama……?”

“I had thought them to be a mere gathering of eccentrics who worship the demon Diabolos, but their roots seem to be much deeper than expected.”

“You’re talking about the arson case?”

“The arson too, but actually the budget for the Crimson Order is not being approved. I’m going to have to shoulder our expenses out of my own pocket for a while.”

Alexia frowns.

“So they have infiltrated not only the existent Knight Order, but also the civil officials?”

“I do not know. Maybe it’s people from the Order, or maybe they’re merely being controlled by money…… The establishment of our knight order was also a bit forced, so I can’t insist too vehemently either.”

“I can also help you with the expenses.”

“Thank you, but the thought is enough. You know how many people we have in the Crimson Order, right?”

“Eight people.”

“Exactly, we only have eight people. My personal assets can easily last us more than a decade.”

“But in this state, we cannot expand the knight order.”

“At the moment, there’s no point in us expanding. We still don’t know who else we can trust.”

“Nee-sama, um……”

Alexia looks up at her sister, clearly having difficulty getting out her next words.

“Who is our Crimson Order enemies with – Shadow Garden or the Order of Diabolos?”

Iris smiles while answering.

“Both. As long as they are within our borders, I will not allow them to do as they please.”

“Nee-sama…… we must not fight against Shadow.”

Alexia grabs her sheets tightly.

“Alexia, there you go again about that……”

“It is only because Nee-sama has not yet met Shadow that you can say that. Didn’t you also see that attack that colored up the royal capital’s sky?!”

“It has been determined that that was an artifact going berserk.”

“I clearly saw Shadow release that attack! With my own two eyes!”

Iris draws closer to the bed and looks into Alexia’s red eyes.

“It is physically impossible for a human to control that much power. Either your memory is muddled due to your long period of captivity, or else you were hallucinating due to being drugged. I know you’re not lying, but you were indeed very tired at that time.”

“Nee-sama!”

Iris wraps Alexia hand with both of her hands.

“Even if it was indeed an attack released by that man called Shadow, I still cannot run away. If I run away, who will protect our country?”

“Nee-sama……”

Iris pats Alexia’s head, then stands up.

“Rest up and get well soon.”

“…..Once I recover, I’ll come back to help.”

“There will be no need for that.”

“Eh?”

“I forgot to tell you, but you’re under house arrest for a while.”

“EHHHH?!”

“Theft of evidence.”

Iris takes out a red lozenge, causing Alexia to be struck dumb.

“Properly reflect on your actions.”

The door shuts with a ‘patan.’

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

I’m being stared at.

The moment I step into the classroom, I feel stares boring into me from every which direction.

Everyone is looking my way and whispering up a storm.

“It’s him, it’s him……”

“Leaking shit while running……”

“I heard that he did it right there on the road……”

I glare at Hyoro and Jaga, whose eyes start swimming all over the place.

“H-, hey there, quite the misfortune yesterday eh?”

“G-, good morning. Bad day yesterday, wasn’t it?”

(T/N: I I tried so hard to refrain from using “shitty day” since it’s not in either of their character, but at least I gotta put it here in a T/N