In the world of the game, Belda von Slash was depicted as an enemy of the heroine.
Upon joining the Student Council and proceeding down the Castor Route, the player would inevitably become embroiled in an accounting fraud scandal at the Academy.
The House of the Marquess Pentagram and the House of the Marquess Slash were lineages that had traditionally served as the Prime Minister and his assistant for generations. If those two families were further united through marriage, they would effectively hold the nation's finances in the palm of their hands.
Consequently, both Castor and the heroine would find themselves subjected to immense political pressure from both houses.
In this specific route, the emphasis was placed on power struggles among the domestic nobility rather than heroic battles against demons or international warfare. As a result, the Battle Parts were few and far between.
Since Castor himself had virtually zero combat ability, the player had to recruit allies like Edward and Clive to fend off attacks from rival noble factions while investigating the corruption within the nobility to expose it to the light of day.
In the final stages, their connection to a neighboring country would be revealed, leading to a confrontation with a powerful enemy general from the hostile nation. Edward, Clive, and Castor would suffer near-fatal wounds, but their plight would serve as the trigger for the heroine to awaken as the Saint, forcing the enemy to retreat.
Because both House Pentagram and House Slash understood the immense value of a Saint’s blood, Belda would be ordered to stand down by her superiors, bringing the issue to a resolution.
I never learned what became of Belda herself in the end, but since she was merely a pawn following orders, I believe she escaped without any significant punishment.
A relatively shrewd woman—that was my assessment of her.
Would someone like that really be so careless as to use a ridiculous video to stir up trouble against a first-year Student Council composed of such high-ranking members?
Well, I didn't know the specifics.
She was Castor’s fiancée, and I had killed him in a duel. It was only natural for her to harbor a grudge against me.
"—Either way, if she becomes an obstacle, I’ll simply eliminate her."
Whether it was her or the two families backing her, if they came for me, I would crush them without mercy.
I muttered those words to myself while standing atop the library roof.
It was midnight. A new moon hung in the sky, and the world had dissolved into absolute darkness.
"This is the Inverted World of the Dark Night. The Academy’s lanterns look like a sea of stars, do they not, Recklessness?"
"...Why are you here?"
Emerging silently from the gloom was the Masked Bald Robe.
I had certainly let my guard down, assuming no one else would be on this roof, but the fact that I hadn't sensed him meant he was utilizing that Robe of Concealment.
I suppose it made sense that he’d start roleplaying a secret agent while calling himself a shadow. Just when I thought he’d stopped his "incognito" outings, he’d started doing some hardcore "ninja" work in a completely different sense. It was pathetic to watch.
If he wasn't kept in check, he’d likely continue this nonsense even after ascending the throne, troubling everyone around him forever. His personality seemed hardwired for this...
Unless, of course, he actually became a man of true ability.
"I am here because I am the Empress’s shadow."
"Right, sure."
"Pray, be at ease. You, who embody Recklessness, are far more worthy of her than I, the fool. I have no right to love anyone."
He started monologuing despite the fact that I hadn't said a word.
Well, it wouldn't be surprising if he thought it was unpleasant for me to watch another man kneel and call my fiancée "Empress."
"I don't care about any of that."
It wasn't that Alicia had forgiven Edward; she simply let him do as he pleased because he refused to listen to reason. Whether Edward had the "right" to love someone was irrelevant to me. He might intend to prove himself through his actions, but even that didn't matter. This wasn't a question of forgiveness.
If you want to suffer, suffer on your own.
"I’ll give you one piece of advice, though."
I spoke without turning to look at him.
"If you're under the delusion that you aren't in danger of dying, then you have no right to claim titles like 'Shadow' or 'The Mask.' You’ll only end up throwing away the life that was spared for you in a fleeting, meaningless way."
I had come here tonight because I suspected the mages of the Dark Section hired by the nobility might be plotting something under the cover of darkness. A battle with tactical-grade mages was likely on the horizon. If Edward got in the way and died in the crossfire, I would simply consider it an unavoidable accident.
"Of course. I am well aware. I understand perfectly. That is why—"
Edward floated softly into the air.
"Oh?"
Wind magic. Furthermore, it was chantless.
He was flying through the sky using the power of the wind. The logic seemed simple, but the execution was incredibly difficult. Humans aren't built for flight, after all. Simply pushing your body with wind pressure is easy, but you’d almost certainly lose control and crash.
Headmaster Volsea moved through the sky by manipulating atmospheric moisture to create a sort of viscosity, "swimming" through the air. In a similar vein, the flow of magic power Edward wore seemed to interact with the atmosphere to suspend him in mid-air.
Naturally, I can do it too. It’s just that running through the air on barriers is faster, so I don't bother.
"—Please, leave tonight's intruders to me."
"Since when could you use chantless magic?"
I leaped up to Edward, who was hovering far above, and deployed a barrier to stand level with him as I asked the question.
"I saw it up close. I experienced it firsthand. If I remained unable to grasp it after that, I would have no right to call myself a shadow, would I?"
"I suppose that's true."
To observe my magic and Mariana’s, and then master advanced chantless magic on his own... the guy was a genius in his own right. As expected of a high-spec prince.
Hovering in the air was proof of his growth. If he insisted on taking down the mages of the Dark Section himself, I might as well let him.
"I won't help you even if you're about to die. Are we clear?"
"Naturally. I shall settle this in an instant."
He certainly talked a big game for a Bald Prince. He was declaring that he would kill people here; I decided to see if he could actually back it up.
"Then go, Shadow."
"It is not baldy, it is Shadow."
"I said Shadow."
This ridiculous alias business was getting tedious.
"Now, Watchdog, I shall prove that I am worthy of the name Shadow. I shall commit a sin this night. However, is it not the destiny of the Royal Family to shoulder the weight of the people's lives? To grant life or to deal death—that is our burden."
With those words, Edward descended toward a group of mages from the Dark Section who were stealthily infiltrating toward the student dormitories.
Edward must have obtained intelligence on this beforehand; that was why he had appeared before me. I almost wanted to laugh at how much he was actually acting like a proper "shadow."
As for me, I had just been hanging around on the off-chance they might show up. If they hadn't, I would have just gone home. My house was right there, after all.
"Let's see your resolve, then."
I decided to stay out of it.
House Etherdam was a prestigious lineage of the wind attribute, and the Royal Family claimed to be the sky that governed all. While wind magic could be flashy if one wished, its true value often lay in subtle, invisible spells like wind blades.
Would he decapitate them all in an instant? But if he did that, the mages would notice the fluctuation and counterattack. Or perhaps he would—
Just as I was speculating, Edward, who had quietly descended below, snapped his fingers.
I wondered why he’d intentionally make a sound, but then the mages—a group of dozens—all collapsed simultaneously.
"Impressive."
I thought he might be messing with the oxygen levels, but he had actually altered the composition of the atmosphere itself.
At the sound of the snap, the stealthy mages had all looked up instinctively. In that moment, they had taken a sharp, deep breath of the air he had manipulated.
The result was immediate. They lost consciousness and fell, some struggling in their final moments. He finished them off by pinning them down with silent wind pressure from above, killing them with clinical efficiency.
Edward looked down at the fallen mages.
"I shall leave only one alive. I will roast him with fire until he yields his secrets. Do not fear for his life—a mage does not die easily, even if half his body is charred."
...This baldy is actually strong.