Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"for you."

"Oh, no need, senior. My living expenses will arrive in a few days. I can manage for a few more days. There's no need to trouble you so much."

The girl... no, it should be Himeragi Yukina, seemed to take Sid's behavior as if he wanted to borrow money from her, and quickly waved her hand to indicate that she didn't need it.

After placing the two gold coins on the table, Sid pressed his right hand to his forehead and looked at Yukina Himeragi before speaking.

"You've misunderstood, this is your money."

"My money?"

Himeragi Yukina was completely bewildered by Sid's words, but after a moment's thought, she seemed to realize something.

"Could it be that you are..., senior?"

"Yes, I'm the one who found your wallet."

"Eh!?"

As he said this, Sid took out a white wallet from his backpack, but when he looked up, he saw Himeragi Yukina's unnatural expression.

"You...you didn't mistake me for someone else just now, did you?"

"No, no, no."

Upon hearing Sid's question, Himeragi Yukina quickly shook her head in denial.

"Fine, it doesn't matter who you think I am. Let's talk about compensation."

"Compensation?"

"Yes, compensation. How much do you want? As compensation for making you go hungry for three days, I will give you whatever you want. Please forgive me."

Sid never considered himself a good person, which can be seen from the fact that most of his Shadow Funds came from thieves. His behavior was essentially no different from that of a thief. The difference was that thieves robbed civilians, while he robbed thieves. It was a classic case of double-crossing.

He might occasionally help civilians who have had their treasures stolen to reclaim their wealth, but he won't do that all the time, after all, he's not some kind of champion of justice.

He wouldn't indiscriminately kill innocent people or rob civilians, but he would kill thieves and rob them of their wealth. If you think about it carefully, isn't that quite hypocritical?

He felt the same way, but if he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it. If he had to give a reason, what kind of Shadow Power would it be if a Shadow Power user degenerated into a third-rate villain because of money?

Sid and Shadow are both one person and two people, because he is not schizophrenic, he is just a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur). The background Sid and Shadow Sid are both disguises of Sid who always wanted to become a Shadow.

It's perfectly normal for someone to find a wallet full of money on the street but not actively seek out the owner because of greed, right? It's only human nature.

Here's a question: Do you think this person might be a shadow-level powerhouse with some mysterious identity behind the scenes?

Of course not.

Yes, he wanted others to think that Sid, the extra, was ordinary, but not in this way.

He wanted others to think that this person was very ordinary, and that he couldn't possibly be the legendary Shadow. This kind of contrast was what he wanted.

Instead of letting others think, "How could someone who does such a despicable thing be the legendary Shadow? He could just be some low-life villain."

He doesn't care about the rumors others spread about him, because falsehoods are falsehoods. But what happened today is true. If his identity is exposed one day, what happened today will deal a devastating blow to his status as a Shadow-level powerhouse.

and…

Sid glanced at Himeragi Yukina, whose face was pale from not eating for several days.

Let's just consider it as his lingering, questionable conscience. As long as he doesn't ask for an outrageous price, he'll treat it as a lesson learned.

It seemed that she had received too much information at once, and her brain couldn't process it all. It took her a while to figure out what had happened, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

"Senior, you're a good person."

???

No, are you all blind? You all say I'm a good person, which makes me doubt whether I am a good person or not.

"So, you're saying you've forgiven me?"

That's what he thought, but Sid said it in a completely different tone.

"Yes, I forgive you, senior."

Unaware that the man in front of her was secretly doubting whether she was blind, Himeragi Yukina nodded slightly.

"Then... compensation?"

"No need, senior has already returned the money to me, so I haven't lost anything... No, I suddenly feel that I need something as compensation."

Sid, who had just breathed a sigh of relief when Himeragi Yukina said she didn't want compensation, was alarmed again when he heard the second half of her sentence.

Although he felt that Himeragi Yukina's behavior of messing with people's minds was terrible, it was still his fault after all, so Sid was mentally prepared.

"What do you want?"

"Give me a sandwich as compensation, I wasn't full earlier."

Shaking the wrapping paper in her hand, Yukina Himeragi smiled playfully, giving off a very cute vibe.

"this one?"

Completely oblivious to how adorable Himeragi Yukina was, Sid stared at her in disbelief.

"Yes, this is it. Is there a problem, senior?"

Nodding, Yukina Himeragi asked Sid in return.

"No problem, in fact, it's too easy. I just can't believe you made it so easy."

"Relax, relax, I've already forgiven you, senior. But you mustn't do it again in the future."

Sid looked directly at Himeragi Yukina for the first time, and their eyes met.

"Senior, what are you doing?"

Himeragi Yukina blushed under Sid's gaze and subconsciously looked away.

After a long while, Sid was certain that Himeragi Yukina truly didn't care that he had made her go hungry for three days, because he didn't see a trace of resentment in Himeragi Yukina's eyes.

"Okay, I have reservations about what you just said about me being a good person, but you are definitely a good kid."

"Huh!!!???"

After saying that, ignoring the bewildered Yukina Himeragi, Shido walked straight to the front desk.

"Hello, if I remember correctly, VIP members here get a free couple's meal when they buy something."

Coincidentally, the waiter standing at the front desk was the same one he had met when he came with Natsumi Yase last time. At this moment, his gaze was sweeping back and forth between Shido and Yukina Himeragi.

"Mmm...yes, sir, this...this is a complimentary couple's set meal, please accept it."

Ignoring the waiter who clearly misunderstood something and looked at him like he was a jerk, Sid carried the two complimentary sandwiches back to his original spot.

After the initial awkward atmosphere dissipated, the two—one a transfer student who had been trained in a special institution since childhood, and the other a high school student from the era of the First Industrial Revolution—quickly started chatting.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Relatives and the King

"Oh, so you came here to break free from your family and establish your own household through your own efforts?"

Himeragi Yukina's eyes were wide open, her small mouth slightly agape, filled with obvious curiosity.

"More or less, but my family has never really treated me badly; this was just something I was forced to do."

Walking down the street, Sid put on a helpless look and explained to Himeragi Yukina.

"Forced into helplessness?"

Faced with Himeragi Yukina's question, Sid thought for a moment and then began to explain his specific situation.

"Yes, I was forced into it. My family is not a great noble family. There is only one position for the head of the family, and the remaining children will most likely have to go out to marry into other families. The position of head of the family has basically been reserved by my sister, but I don't want to go out to marry into other families. I can only work hard to improve my strength and strive to establish my own family."

"Why doesn't the senior want a marriage alliance? What if the marriage partner is a great beauty? Aren't noble daughters all beauties?"

Sid looked at Himeragi Yukina, who was walking beside him, with a speechless expression.

"How could such a good thing happen to me? You know, the selection of the head of the family is not based on gender. This means that most of the heads of the family are basically the most outstanding people in that family. This leads everyone to assume that the head of the family is half a rank higher than the other head of the family."

In this situation, the remaining offspring decide whether to marry into the family or take a wife, depending on the power of both sides in the marriage and the situation of their own offspring.

As for nobles, those who know, know. Except for the position of head of the family, which is truly chosen based on talent, other positions are determined by background, money, or some other factor.

In marriage alliances, the family with the superior social standing generally has the first choice in terms of offspring. After all, for a family, as long as the purpose of the marriage is to serve as a link between the two sides' power, it doesn't really matter who marries whom.

As someone from a lower-ranking family, you naturally have less say in the other family, and sometimes you might die without anyone even knowing.

The highest-ranking nobles are all the same, so there is no possibility of them marrying into another family or moving into another's home. They basically marry normally. In this case, the best ones are quickly reserved, and even childhood betrothals are arranged.

Those in the middle group picked from each other, grouping together those they liked.

But there's still a worst group left. They either have character flaws, or a bad reputation; they're either ridiculously ugly or genuinely unwanted. What should be done then?

"Yes, what should we do?"

As Yukina Himeragi became more and more engrossed in Sid's words, she couldn't help but repeat a sentence, which made Sid give her a strange look.

"They're recruiting, of course, but they can't be nobles of the same rank as them. They can only choose nobles one rank lower. Naturally, the lower-ranking nobles won't let go of this opportunity to deepen their relationship with the higher-ranking nobles."

So don't expect to meet any stunning beauties on blind dates. Most of the good-looking ones are already taken. After all, if we don't care about talent, we can only look at appearance.

There's nothing to worry about with my sister. Even if she weren't the head of the family, with her talent, there would be a bunch of top nobles vying to marry into her family.

"I'm different. I'm too picky about what I want and not good enough for what I want, so I'll most likely end up marrying into the family. Then I won't be able to predict what kind of people I'll be set up with, which is why I want to start my own business."