Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"That won't do, Sid, you're bleeding. I'll take you to the school clinic now."

Although Sid said he was fine, Kiba Yuuto didn't seem to believe him and insisted on taking him to the infirmary.

"No need, Yudou, look, it's just a little scratch. What kind of man goes to the infirmary for something like this?"

How could he possibly go to the infirmary? He wasn't really injured; if he went, he would be exposed.

To convince Kiba Yuuto that he was truly unharmed, Sid had no choice but to pull open his shirt to show Kiba Yuuto his chest.

Thanks to the magic's ability to disguise itself, as long as no one touches it, no one can tell that his injury is fake.

"How...how is this possible!"

"...Okay, Sid, you sit here for a bit. I'll talk to the teacher and ask to find someone else to spar with. If you have any problems later, come find me, and I'll make it up to you."

After checking Sid's injuries and finding that Sid hadn't been seriously hurt, Kiba Yuuto, though still uneasy, didn't press the matter. He simply told Sid repeatedly to come to him if he had any problems.

"Sorry, Sid, I don't know why we ended up using real fighting."

Kiba Yuuto apologized to Sid again, feeling very guilty. He had used magic to launch a sneak attack during a basic sword sparring session and injured his friend with all his might, which was against his own code of chivalry. Fortunately, Sid didn't seem to have suffered any serious injuries.

Yuto Kiba is still puzzled as to why he made the wrong judgment and used his full strength to fight his friend.

Originally, it was just because he happened to be assigned to the same class as his demon contract partner and friend that he used a sword technique that was slightly better than Sid's usual sword technique to clash with Sid. However, he found that Sid actually blocked all his sword moves, and there were even faint signs that he was being suppressed.

He was naturally happy for his friend's progress, thinking that his friend's swordsmanship had improved considerably. However, if he was suppressed by Sid instead, it would not serve the purpose of training.

In order to determine his friend's current skill level, he closed his eyes, intending to rely on his swordsman's senses to feel Sid's current swordsmanship level so that he could hold back and use swordsmanship commensurate with Sid's level.

But the moment he immersed himself in the sensation, in that very instant, something unexpected happened…

Danger!Danger!Danger!

The demonic blood within him was telling him of despair, that he should commit suicide now. His soul trembled, and a sudden surge of guilt made him want to die. In his perception, everything around him—above, below, in front, behind, left, and right—was a dead end.

Boundless fear filled his heart, as if the God of the biblical pantheon was standing before him, ready to judge him, the traitor who had fallen into demonic ways.

Driven by fear and his pride as a swordsman, he swung his sword with all his might, ready to die.

When he finally snapped out of his daze of waiting to die, he saw Sid lying on the ground and his classmates around him, who looked surprised because he had injured Sid with his magic.

His brain, which was working somewhat slowly due to fear, took a few seconds to process what he had just realized: he seemed to have used magic during his sword training out of fear, injuring Sid.

Realizing what had happened, he rushed over to help Sid up, intending to take him to the infirmary, only to find that his friend seemed to have suffered little damage from his full-force attack.

Completely baffled, he could only attribute the incident to his lapse in concentration due to fear, and Sid's fall had prevented most of the injury, resulting in only minor scrapes.

Although he was still uneasy about this, wondering if Sid had some hidden danger that he hadn't noticed, after Sid's repeated assurances and several examinations, he had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​sending Sid to the infirmary.

As for that moment that made him feel desperate, he hoped it was just an illusion, but reason told him that it was impossible. He should tell his master about it when he got back to the club.

Sitting in the chair, looking at Kiba Yuuto's worried gaze, Sid gave him a thumbs up and a gentle smile, telling him that he was alright, and then put his thoughts back on what he had been thinking about.

His sister is coming.

After being unintentionally prompted by Asagi, he checked his information and found several new messages.

He had been wondering why his sister had suddenly come to his place, and now the information he had received gave him the answer.

It turns out that his sister had said she was coming back three weeks ago, and her purpose was to choose an adventure team for him.

According to his sister, those squads were basically composed of a king and his pawns. She wanted to send him into one of the squads and use this opportunity to show his face to a powerful force, boost his achievements so he could get a good job, and ideally become a new nobleman.

His sister revealed quite a bit of information, including but not limited to the purpose of the adventure team's formation, the time of its formation, the team's approximate composition, and the attitudes of various factions towards the adventure team.

Of course, none of that matters. Whether he becomes a doorman after graduation or a parasitic extra in Gamma, it makes no difference to him.

What he was particularly concerned about was that his sister said she had an A+ level of ability.

Has his sister cheated? Her strength has increased so quickly.

To be precise, his sister's strength began to increase like a cheat code more than a year ago. During the Martial Arts Festival, she was probably at the B+ level, but after returning from a trip to the City of No Return, her strength began to increase like a rocket. Now she is at the A+ level, surpassing even their kingdom's strongest princess, Alice.

Wow, I really don't know what to say right now.

Chapter Thirty-Five Rias

If this world is a play on a stage, then what is the most prominent element in this play?

He's an extra.

What is a Shadow-level user?

It is a mechanical deus ex machina that transforms from an ordinary extra into a mysterious and powerful being to help the protagonist overcome insurmountable difficulties.

He'll still beat up the protagonist over the smallest thing, an invincible villain who does whatever he wants.

Or perhaps he's the mastermind behind a conspiracy, and he actually does it?

Both.

What is Sid Cagaino?

They are extras, but extras are also categorized.

He's not a minor villain who gets slapped in the face by the protagonist; he's a character with a little bit of information in the story who unintentionally reveals some new urban legends to the protagonist, and these urban legends then become the protagonist's next adventure. He's just an ordinary extra with average abilities.

The kind of minor character he wants to play is the kind of character who goes to a tavern to gather information and happens to reveal seemingly insignificant but crucial information while drinking.

What are Shadow, Sid Cagano, and Roland Augusta to Sid?

It's a disguise.

What is the essence of Sid?

It is "Shadow, Sid Cagaino, Roland Augusta".

So what role does Sid's essence play on this stage?

It's not the character, it's the director—a scumbag director who acts recklessly to satisfy his own desire for power as a shadow figure.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Hey Hey hey."

After parting ways with her classmates, Yukina Himeragi was walking absentmindedly down a path when she encountered someone she never expected.

"Senior, why are you here?"

Seeing Sid running towards her, Himeragi Yukina looked around to make sure no one was around and that he was calling her before she went over to meet Sid.

Seeing Himeragi Yukina's question, Sid waved his hand and took out a student ID card from his backpack, handing it to her.

"Here you go, I forgot to give it to you last night."

"Ah, oh... I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it, senior."

Upon hearing Sid's reply, Himeragi Yukina remembered that her student ID was still in Sid's hands, and quickly took it from him.

Sid didn't care about Himeragi Yukina's current mental state. Instead, he glanced behind Himeragi Yukina a few times, and after confirming that she was alone, he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Are you alone? Where's Nagisa?"

Sid felt he knew Himeragi Yukina quite well. Given Nagisa's personality, once she found out that Himeragi Yukina lived next door, she would definitely pester Nagisa to go to and from school together.

"Eh! Nagisa-chan? Let me think... Nagisa-chan said she has some things to do, so she told me to go ahead."

"Wait, how did you know I was here, senior?"

Seemingly surprised that Sid asked her about Akatsuki Nagisa, Himeragi Yukina thought for a moment and realized that Akatsuki Nagisa had indeed come over after school today to say that she had something urgent to attend to and asked her to leave alone.

After answering Sid's question, Himeragi Yukina suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Sid in return, her right hand behind her back unconsciously leaning against the guitar case containing the Snow Wolf.

She initially thought it was just a coincidence that she ran into her senior, which was fine, but Sid said he came specifically to find her, so there was a problem.

She was sent by the Lion King Organization to monitor the legendary Fourth True Group—Akatsuki Kojou. However, for some reason, the Lion King Organization arranged for her to attend a different school than Akatsuki Kojou's. This meant that during class, she could only have her shikigami monitor her remotely, and after school, she had to rush to Akatsuki Kojou's school.

The path she's on isn't the way home, and as the Lion King's mechanical swordswoman, she couldn't possibly be followed. So how did Sid find her?

In that instant, a number of thoughts flashed through Yukina Himeragi's mind.

Thinking about it carefully, could Sid, who was the neighbor of the Fourth Progenitor Akatsuki, really be an ordinary person?

How can I allow others to sleep peacefully on my bed? If what the Lion King Organization said is true, then Sid, who is a neighbor of Akatsuki Kojo, should have been transformed into a vampire long ago and become a member of Akatsuki Kojo's demon army.

Now her identity may have been exposed to Kojou Akatsuki. Senior Sid has a tracking ability, so Kojou Akatsuki sent people to kill her.

"Uh... I have a feeling you're imagining something incredible. I just asked some pedestrians if they'd seen a cute girl with short black hair, brown eyes, wearing the same school uniform as the one in the photo. Most of them said yes, and that's how I found you."

Looking at the tense yet wary expression on Himeragi Yukina's face, Sid immediately figured out what she was thinking.

He knew that expression all too well. Before his lie about the Diablo Cult that he had told Alpha and the others was exposed, they would always make that face whenever they imagined some kind of Diablo Cult setting.

"!!!"

"I'm so sorry, senior, I absolutely did not mean any harm to you."

Upon hearing Sid's explanation, Himeragi Yukina suddenly realized that no one was following her, but she hadn't deliberately avoided pedestrians on the roadside either. Some people had noticed her and told Sid that it was normal when he caught up from behind and asked her about it.

After realizing what had happened, she quickly apologized.

"It's okay, anyway, I don't know what you were thinking about me just now."

Sid shrugged, indicating that he didn't care.

Actually, he lied earlier too; he didn't ask any pedestrians on the street.