To Be a Power in the Shadows!

Sid has disappeared.

Claire dashes through Outlaw City in the night in search of her younger brother.

“Sid you baka!! I said to quietly wait for me, didn’t I?!”

The moment Claire heard that Sid had left the base on his own, the inside of her head went completely white.

After punching the magic swordsman who laughed while saying that Sid’s probably been caught and sold by a slave merchant by now, Claire flies out of the base.

Outlaw City in the nighttime is dangerous. Outlaw City is not just any normal slum. A student of Magic Swordsman Academy is just prey in the eyes of the residents here.

“Have you seen a black-haired boy around 15 years old pass by?!”

Claire desperately continues searching while asking the people passing by. All the residents who assail her are mercilessly driven back.

Relying on eyewitness reports, Claire finally finds black hair.

However.

He is currently being fed on by a ghoul within an alleyway.

“St-, STOP!!”

Claire draws her sword in a flash and dices the ghoul up.

Then she falls to her knees before the mangled black-haired male corpse.

“No…… this can’t be happening……”

The blood-soaked black hair. Sid’s hair is also around this length.

The body is mangled, so it’s unidentifiable.

However, this was the only reliable piece of eyewitness information.

“I’m so sorry, Sid…… I shouldn’t have brought you to Outlaw City……”

It’s still not certain that this corpse is Sid.

However, Claire still hugs the blood-soaked black hair while crying.

Her heart is almost about to break from the overwhelming regret and guilt weighing on her.

Behind her, a certain presence draws near.

“…… What do you want?”

So asks Claire while still hugging the black hair.

“Are you the one searching for a black-haired boy?”

“…… Eh?”

Turning around with the intention of clutching at straws, she sees a beautiful swordswoman with red hair.

“You are……”

“I am Milia. A Vampire Hunter. I’ve seen two other black-haired boys.”

“?! Tell me, please!”

“One, I saw a short while ago. He was chuckling like ‘fufufu’ before a rampaging ghoul.”

Claire tries to picture that, then immediately dismisses it.

“That’s not him. My younger brother doesn’t laugh creepily like that.”

“I see. The other one was a magic swordsman. He was attacked and brought away by underlings of the Queen of Blood……”

“!! What was his face like?!”

“Kind of plain and not very conspicuous……”

There’s no doubt, that must have been Sid.

“Ahh, how can this be…… Oh, Sid……”

“I’m sorry, I tried to save him, but couldn’t make it in time……”

“…… W-, wait, if he was brought away, it means that he isn’t dead yet, right?!”

“Most likely…… he……”

Milia looks conflicted about whether to speak further.

“You know something, don’t you?!”

“He…… will be sacrificed. The Red Moon will begin very soon. If he is not saved before then……”

“Tell me! Where is Sid?! How can I save him?!”

Milia’s eyes swim for a while as she thinks quickly, until she sees the diced up ghoul.

“Were you the one who did this?”

“Eh? Yes, I did that.”

“If you agree to cooperate with me…… then perhaps…… My aim is Elizabeth, the Queen of Blood. Your aim is to rescue your younger brother. What do you say we join hands?”

So saying, Milia holds a hand out to Claire.

“If you cooperate with me, then I’ll tell you everything.”

Claire grabs that hand without hesitation.

“I’ll cooperate. If Sid can be saved, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Follow me.”

Milia proceeds deeper into the alleyway.

Claire stands up, and indifferently chucks the blood-soaked black hair away. Now that she’s taken a second look, it doesn’t look anything at all like Sid’s hair.

“Wait for me, Sid. Onee-chan will definitely come to save you……”

Then Claire also disappears into the darkness of the depths of the alleyway.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

When I return to the base, Nee-san is not there.

It seems that she had gone out for a walk and we had just missed each other.

I sit down at the windowsill of the room that I had been allotted, and look down upon a street of Outlaw City. The unique smell of a slum stimulates my nose.

The instant I smelled this smell when I entered the city, I knew for sure that ‘this is the kind that’s going to make my nose hair long.’

This is something that only people who’ve experienced it first hand know, but people who live in environments with dirty air have longer nose hair.

And longer nose hair naturally means……

Dig, dig.

“Ah, got a big one.”

Nose boogers also get big.

I look down on the street and confirm my target.

It needs not be said, I was not digging my nose for no reason. It is with a certain noble intention in mind that I did so.

The target is a hoodlum walking by on the street. He was the one who almost managed to shake me down just now. I got away with Mob Escape, but a mob’s tenacity is not to be underestimated.

Let’s do this, Mob Revenge.

I ready my hand in a finger flick style, and carefully aim at the target.

“Fufufu…… eat my Booger Bomber!”

Then I launch the ball of booger. My aim proves true, and the booger becomes plastered onto the hoodlum’s face.

Mob Revenge, accomplished.

A bright red moon hangs in the night sky. I really want to go out to play soon, but I can’t do so until Nee-san comes back and goes to sleep.

“Nee-san sure is late……”