Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"Hehehe... Buy it, I have money now."

"Then get ready. We'll exchange money for goods tomorrow. Also, what's with that laugh of yours? I've never heard you laugh like that before."

"A suggestion from one of my closest friends—don't you think this laugh fits my wicked nature?"

"Your close friend... has very good taste. Next time, please smile in front of others."

"A guy who doesn't know how to appreciate evil."

Chapter 112 Rias Doesn't Like Sid's Attack on Blue Feather Asagi

Rias doesn't like Sid!!!

However, it was during her second time with Sid that Rias came to this answer.

When Rias first met Cid, her initial impression of him was that he was a shy and rather weak young man. However, she felt that as long as he was willing to work hard and not give up, she would treat him as her family.

So even though she knew that the order to have Sid train alone and Claire join the training first to build rapport was a reasonable arrangement to achieve victory, she still felt guilty and went to Sid to explain so that Sid wouldn't have too many complaints about them.

However, during that time they spent together, the kind older sister who had comforted the gloomy boy, as she had expected, did not happen. On the contrary, she developed a sense of rejection towards Sid.

Rias is proud to be a member of the Gremory family, but she also hates the name Gremory because it binds her no matter where she is.

Having A+ level skills at such a young age should be praised anywhere, but people only praised her with one sentence, "As expected of the Gremory family princess," and that was it.

That one sentence encapsulates all the effort she put in to surpass her peers!!! (The original work states that only four leaders of the new generation in the Underworld underwent special training; I've adopted this setting from the original work.)

She wanted to break free from this constraint; she wanted everyone to know that she was "Rias," not "Rias of the Gremory family."

Sid and she are very similar. Sid's impression of others is "Claire's younger brother," while she's her impression of others is "Rias from the Gremory family." They are both appendages of someone or something.

That's why she was so agitated when she saw Sid say that he got all of this because of his sister, because she couldn't refute it... she couldn't refute that Sid didn't take Sid as his familiar because of Claire, which meant that she had also labeled Sid.

After Sid said she was used to it, she began to reject Sid because it was a denial of her goals.

She didn't want to become the "habit" that Sid talked about, so she had to make achievements. She wanted to use achievements to get rid of the "Gimmonri" label on her, and the first achievement was Lysa.

Until... after the match against Leza began.

Knocked to the ground by Lessa, and watching Lessa's attack get closer and closer, Rias felt a pang of regret and a desire to give up.

Give up. Even if you win the game, people will only say, "As expected of the Gremory princess," and you'll never be able to shake off the Gremory label.

Yeah, just give up. Can't you just honestly admit that you're Rias Gremory?

But I'm so unwilling to accept it.

The magic she was summoning was simultaneously in a state of condensation and dissipation. Lying on the ground, Rias, who was about to self-destruct, watched as Raiza got closer and closer to her.

"call!"

A silver sword flashed through the air, knocking Raiza away, and Rias was surprised to see someone appear on the scene.

"I must give you a good beating to vent my anger, you dare to hurt my treasure (a vulgar expression). You better prepare to die."

Sid spoke angrily, as if the wounds gushing blood didn't exist.

Who is the treasure? Me?

Rias subconsciously thought this but quickly dismissed it. She was proud, but not stupid. She and Sid had barely spoken, and Sid had never shown any affection for her.

So... he only appeared here because Claire paid a heavy price.

Seeing the wounds on Cid's body, who should have been watching the battle with Levi, and recalling Claire's sudden burst of terrifying combat power, coupled with her understanding of Raiza, Rias quickly guessed what had just happened.

“Peng…”

Having figured everything out, Rias fell silent as she gazed at the figure that had fallen and risen again and again.

"bump!"

Fists collided, and Sid's fiery, angry eyes gleamed.

Now, who can say that the boy in front of them is Claire's vassal?

Falling down again, ignoring his wounds, the boy, more like a phoenix than the weary Lysa, charged forward once more.

I want it! I want it! I want it!!!

Rias's yearning gaze fell upon Cid, who had already defeated Lysa. Whether it was admiration, longing, or worship was unclear, but she knew...

Sid, I want you to be part of my family!

"sorry!"

After apologizing, the red-haired beauty in front of her brushed her right fingertips shyly across her hair, pressed them against her ample slime, took a deep breath, nervously raised her head, her eyes bright and piercing, and spoke in a firm tone, extending her left hand to invite Sid.

"Sid, be a [soldier] in our country's international competition."

What's wrong with you?

"You look so distracted. Are you still thinking about being expelled by Rias-senpai?"

Relax, I watched your game. Sid, you did very well. People with discernment won't think it's your fault.

If nobody wants you in the future, then... then you can join my team. I'll save a spot for you.

A pat on the shoulder, and Aoba Asagi's cheerful voice interrupted Sid's reverie.

"I didn't care about Rias-senpai's matter. Anyway, I was always a loser, and now I'm just back to where I started."

"...Asagi, it sounds like you're planning to try and acquire pieces."

Taking the jade-like hand off his shoulder, Sid noticed the implication in Lan Yuqiancong's words and raised an eyebrow, asking a question.

"...Yes, sometimes you really have to fight for it, otherwise you'll feel a little unwilling."

After a brief silence, Asagi Lanyu nodded, acknowledging her thoughts, but as she explained her reasons, her eyes unconsciously glanced to the lower right corner.

Sid noticed this but didn't expose him; he simply smiled and offered his blessing.

"Well... I wish you all the best in achieving your dream soon."

"Don't act like I'm dreaming when I get the chess piece. I just said I'd save you a spot after I got it. Shouldn't you be a little grateful?"

"Devil Piece..."

Spare me, do it again. Even if Asagi is just a supporting character to me, I might still choose to release the chess piece directly, allowing the transformation ritual to proceed, and causing you to be devoured by the chess piece and die.

"Ahhh... I know it's wishful thinking to think I can get a piece on my own right now, when the price of family pieces is skyrocketing, but can't you wish me luck? If I actually succeed, you'll get a soldier position without even lifting a finger."

It seemed that Sid's mutterings touched a nerve with Asagi, who listlessly slumped onto the table and began to complain.

"Soldiers?"

"What? Not enough soldiers? You went to be Rias's servant once and now the price has gone up?"

"Right."

Sid was saddened that his role as an extra had been relegated to the status of a soldier twice in a row, and he always felt that his role as an extra had been reduced to that of a nobody.

"Hmm... what's with the crazy price increase of the family pieces you mentioned earlier? What's been going on lately?"

As his thoughts raced, Sid noticed another piece of information that Asagi Aiba had inadvertently revealed earlier.

"You... never mind, you just woke up this time, so I won't complain about you."

Aiba Asagi pretended to be shocked by Sid and wanted to complain, but then suddenly thought of something.

"Is it my fault? I'm injured, after all."

Sid noticed Ai Yu Qiancong's hesitant expression and immediately began to criticize her.

He slept for a few days as planned, but when he woke up, he saw Rias acting crazy and saying a bunch of nonsensical things, extending an invitation to him to form a team for future international competitions.

He almost thought his plan had failed, that his body hadn't developed the constitution to reject destructive magic.

He later learned through explanation that Rias's invitation was not an invitation to become her kin, but rather referred to an international competition similar to the Olympics that was already being prepared.

The international tournament is a ranking game held between various factions. Unlike other ranking games, the participants do not participate as familiars, but as teams. This means that Rias's familiars can join other participants to form teams and fight against Rias, their master, in the tournament.

During Sid's coma, Rias tried several times to integrate the Devil Piece into his body, but all attempts failed. When she asked Prince Beelzebub to check, she only received the reply, "The rejection is too severe. It should be due to the failure of reincarnation, which caused the body that was not suitable for reincarnation to mutate, and the rejection has become more severe."

Rias was devastated after receiving this answer. Seeing her sister's heartbroken state, Sirzechs couldn't bear it and told her about the international tournament that was being prepared. Although the teams in the international tournament were not as close as those with familiars, it still gave Rias some comfort.

Chapter 113 The Value of the "King" Piece, and the Unusual Blue Feather Onion

"It's because I know you've been through a major battle that I didn't say it directly, although I feel that even if you hadn't experienced that battle, you would have reacted the same way."

"Defamation! I'll sue you for defamation!"

Seeing Asagi Aoba take her laptop out of her backpack, Sid felt he still had to make an excuse.

"Ah!"

Faced with Sid's threats, Asagi Aiba simply smiled contemptuously, her meaning clear without a word.

"Alright, enough joking around. Let's proceed according to our usual procedure. How much do you know about the information circulating in the market right now? Do you know about the Evil Dragon Invasion?"

"That's going too far. I know about this kind of information."

He knew, of course, that after dealing with Rias, who was spouting a bunch of nonsensical nonsense, the first news he would hear was "the evil dragon has invaded."

If he remembered correctly, the white mist that moved the Underworld venue to the dimensional rift was created by that bespectacled, artsy young man next to Cao Cao, a guy named something like Ge Ke, using his artifact "Ze Wu".