The Eminence in Shadow

Chapter 1

Lawless City Bandit Hunting!

It’s fall break.

Claire and I make our way to the Lawless City.

“So this is it, huh? It kinda stinks.”

“Don’t blame me. It is a slum, after all.” She glares menacingly at the houseless people around us as she talks.

Off in the distance, I can make out three towering spires. It’d be a hoot if someone knocked ’em over like bowling pins.

“So we just have to head for the tower, right?”

“You want us to just immediately charge the enemy’s stronghold?” she asked. “Good grief. The Dark Knight Association has a base set up, so we’re going to head there first and get the lay of the land.”

“Ah.”

I follow Claire through the slum. After a little while, we arrive in an area lined with street stalls.

It’s bursting with activity, and the merchants are selling all manners of strange foods, sketchy drugs, stolen goods, and odd pets.

“Hey there, pretty lady! Come have a gander! I just got some real lively pets in!”

“Who—me?”

“But of course! You’re the prettiest young lady to ever walk this planet, ain’tcha?”

“Heh, someone’s got a good eye. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a little look.”

“Sis, he’s just trying to butter you up.”

“Shut up.”

Claire drags me over to the stall.

“Now, this little lovely one just came in!” The shopkeeper drags over a young blond man in a collar. “If you need a dark knight slave, young Goldy here’s your man! What do you think? A hottie like him would go great with a beautiful young lady such as yourself!”

Goldy’s face is covered in lacerations and bruises like he’s been in a bar fight, and he groans, “Mmph, mmph!” as if trying to tell us something.

“He seems a little worse for the wear,” Claire observes.

“Huh. I feel like I’ve seen this guy before.”

“Ha-ha! Maybe he got scuffed up a bit in transport, eh? All right then, how about I drop him from thirty million

zeni

to twenty-seven million?”

“That’s pretty expensive.”

“Oh, no, missy. A dark knight slave of this caliber’d run you double that anywhere else. You won’t get prices like this anywhere but the Lawless City!”

“Well, I’m not in the market.”

“Hey, hey, hey, looks like someone knows how to haggle! Well then, just for today, how about I throw in another fine stallion?!”

“You call them stallions?!”

“Feast your eyes on this beaut of a dark knight! This here’s Quinton!”

The man the shopkeeper drags out has the face of a pro wrestler heel and a large gash across his belly. At least it looks like the wound’s been treated.

Quinton groans, too. “Rngh, rngh!” I wonder what he’s trying to tell us.

You know, he also looks kinda familiar…

“Goldy and Quinton, forty mil for the set!! You won’t see deals like this anywhere else!!”

“What about that cut on his stomach?”

“Oh no, he got knocked around during transport, too?! Then hey, thirty-seven mil for the set! I can’t go any lower than that!”

“Like I said, I’m not in the market.”

“What?! Say it ain’t so, miss!!”

“I’ve got the only one I need here, after all.” Claire roughly musses up my hair.

“Ah, so the kid’s your…”

“Please don’t get the wrong idea,” I beg.

“Come on, we’re going.” Claire grabs me by the scruff of my neck and drags me off.

As she does, someone else calls out to the shopkeeper.

“Hey, Shopkeep. If you were serious about sellin’ those two for thirty-seven mil, you’ve got a deal.”

“Oh, I’m always serious about prices! Pleasure doing business! Hmm? Wait, you’re…”

“Mmph, mmph!”

“Rngh, rngh!”

I guess the two of them got sold after all.

I was kinda worried ’cause I felt like I’d seen their faces somewhere before, but all’s well that ends well.

Wait a minute…

If they just got sold, that means that the stand has at least thirty-seven million

zeni

on hand. All I have to do is attack it, and…

No, no. I can’t let myself be distracted by chump change.

It’s better to dream big.

“Come on, pick up the pace.”

“I can walk just fine without you dragging me, you know.”

“If I don’t haul you along, I’m sure you’ll find some way to get yourself lost.”

“What? No, I won’t.”

As we walk, I gaze up at the three towering skyscrapers.

One red, one black, one white.

Eenie-meenie-miney-mo…

When we arrive at the Dark Knight Association’s base, my sister immediately gets called into a meeting. Apparently, they’re getting all the notable dark knights together to have some sort of discussion.

I don’t get an invite.

Claire tries desperately to get me in, but her efforts are in vain.

“Wait here like a good boy and don’t move an inch,” she commands me, then joins the assembly.

The moment she does, I decide to go for a stroll. Like a good boy.

When I get outside, I find the sun has already set. The sky is still bright from its afterglow, but the reddish moon has begun making its heavenly ascent to the east.

With each passing day, the moon seems to get even redder, and I’m pretty sure I’m not just imagining things. I guess the moon in this world really is different from the one back on Earth…

The people of the Lawless City pay the moon no heed as they mill about on their business. They focus on the things they need to get through the day—for some, that’s their next customer, and for others, their next mark.

To honor that spirit, I mark the occasion by crossing paths with ten different pickpockets.

I leave my wallet in a super conspicuous pocket, so it keeps getting snatched, but whenever someone steals it, I make sure to return the favor.

In other words, I take my wallet back, and theirs along with it.

Survival of the fittest, baby.

Remember, getting revenge is fair play.

Just today, my wallet’s contents have swelled from forty thousand

zeni

to a hundred and ten thousand. What a strange world we live in.

Maybe my true calling is to become Background Resident A in the Lawless City.

As far as I’m concerned, any city where you can make money just by going on a stroll is basically paradise.

As I walk along, struck by the urge to start humming, I hear a scream.

“A ghoul! There’s a ghoul!!”

Huh. And pretty close to where I am, it sounds like.

The Lawless City’s residents react quickly. The people who can’t fight immediately flee the area.

However, a bunch of the stalls continue doing business as if they didn’t even hear the shriek. Another group of people even head toward the direction it came from with grins on their faces.

“Ghouls, huh? We’ve been getting a lot of those lately.”

“Perfect. I need to relieve some stress.”

One guy cracks his knuckles, and another draws a knife.

Yeah, I feel that. I like to rubberneck whenever stuff’s going down, too. I stealthily tail them to the scene.

When we get there, the ghoul’s already been captured.

Looks like someone broke its legs. It’s rolling around on the ground.

Someone kicks it. “Take that! That’s what you get for biting my arm!”

Someone stomps on it. “Dammit! I lost big on my bet!! And it’s all your fault!!”

Someone snaps its bones. “I gave Marie a million

zeni

, but she dumped me anyways!! And you’re to blame!!”

A pool of blood spreads across the ground.

Ah, I get it. Ghouls are hard to kill, so they make for satisfying punching bags.

The ghoul groans, completely at their mercy. That’s the Lawless City for you.

Stuff like this probably happens all the time around these parts.

A city drenched in blood and slaughter—I like the sound of that.

“Heh-heh-heh.”

I lean against the wall with my arms crossed as I let out a low chuckle. Being in the Lawless City is getting me in the mood to do my “mysterious young man” shadowbroker routine.

Eventually, the ghoul collapses lifelessly to the side, and the mob gets bored.

Guess the show’s over.

Also, it’s gotten pretty dark.

The moment I start thinking about heading back, though, I sense the ghoul regain its strength.

“Ahh!! N-no!”

A man’s scream and a spray of blood fill the air.

The reanimated ghoul drives its teeth into one man’s neck and rips out his trachea.

“Wh-what’s happening?! They aren’t supposed to do that!!”

Another victim falls.

However, despite their agitation, the other men draw their swords.

The risen ghoul is…red.

Its skin and eyes are both as red as blood, and it bares its jagged fangs and claws as it roars. “GROOOOOAH!!”

Then, it launches into a bestial leap.

Its claws cleave through one man’s neck, slicing it clean off.

“R-run!!”

That’s enough to make even people from the Lawless City start to scramble.

The ghoul sinks its teeth into one of the corpses and begins chewing. I grin, lean against the wall, and chuckle. “Heh-heh-heh…”

Now what?

Should I flee like all the other background characters? Or should I continue playing the part of the mysterious young man?

I’m probably never gonna run into any of these people again, so I do have the option of not pursuing an NPC lifestyle this time around.

“Heh-heh-heh…”

Hmm.

As I ponder my choices, I sense a presence overhead.

No sooner do I look up than a slender warrior comes swooping down on the red ghoul from above. Upon landing, the warrior brings their sword down and bisects the red ghoul starting from the head.

The blow is clean.

Having slain the red ghoul in a single strike, the warrior swings their sword to shake it clean of blood.

Our eyes meet.

She’s a thin, attractive redhead dressed all in black and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. We stare at each other for a little while.