"I'm home!!"
Well, that was awesome.
The me before was totally reflecting an example of a true Mob Character that Operates in the Shadows!
I must thank Mr. Kidnapper for allowing me to play such a role.
Anyway, I hope the little girl was okay. I really like the fact that I manage to say all those cool speech to her.
Opening the Mansion front door, I'm greeted by the sight of my Sister glaring at me, which is scary.
"Where've you been, Finn? You're late for an hour!
Yup, I know it's going to be like this. So I already prepared an excuse for me to not get scolded.
"I'm sorry, Onee-Chan, I got lost on the way here."
As tears fall from my eye, I look at her with my meek eyes.
"...Very well. Next time you shouldn't go alone! I knew it was far too early for you to do this."
"B-but, I got what mom said I had to get, here!"
"Let me see. Hmm, not bad; you actually got everything right."
"I can do it alone if I try!"
Hearing this, my Sister's angry look came back again.
"No! Today you're lucky enough to find a way home when you get lost, but what if you don't?"
"But I do though! I can do it by myself!"
"Enough, Mother will hear about this. Next time you won't be doing an errand anymore, what if something bad happens to you when I am not there?"
Actually, running an errand is pretty troublesome. So if somehow you managed to convince Mom to not let me do a grocery errand anymore, I would appreciate it deeply within my heart.
"Onee-chan~"
Still, I can't just let her do that. In order to perfecting my Shadow persona, I'll need to play the role of a good child so when I'm doing my shadowy stuff it'll feel a lot more cooler and secretive.
"Huft... can't be helped. But you need to be more careful next time, you're a clumsy child, so you tend to worry me a lot."
Eh? Onee-chan, maybe you should try harder with the convincing things that you're planning to do. And here I thought I'd finally got a good excuse to not do any errands in the future.
"B-but if Onee-chan sees me as unfit, maybe you should talk to Mum about this?"
"...You're right. I'll ask Mother that next time you go out to town, I'll always be there with you."
"What-"
"Now then, Mother is still busy with something else. Why don't you bring the ingredient to the kitchen so we can start training together?"
"Training? But it's a day off."
"Because it is a day off and you don't have to attend your private lesson, you need to use this free time wisely."
"Ehh, I don't want to! Swinging a sword is tiring and scary."
"You must, your skill was only below average compared to other nobles your age! You must train to get stronger so no one will pick on you in the future!"
And with that, I got dragged to my daily beating without my conscience.
◆
*Tap tap tap*
Midnight has come—finally the time for my Shadow persona to go all out.
The boy who got beaten up so badly that he ended up crying and whining during the day is actually a Mysterious Powerhouse who secretly operates at night.
Right now, I'm currently going to the shack where I keep Mr. Kidnapper. No, I didn't kill him—not until I found out who this client of his was anyway.
I can't forgive someone who dares to hurt the innocent like this, I'll make sure this client gets what he deserves and is brought to justice!
Also, this seems like fun.
Opening the door of the shack, there sat Mr. Kidnapper, who was tied to a chair.
"Now then, you have two choices."
"It is useless to ask me anything, young man; my client never told me anything about themselves."
"For now, just tell me everything about him. Cooperate if you don't wish to die."
"..."
"I see. It looks like some torture is in order."
"...Aggh-!?"
All of a sudden, the man's body started trembling uncontrollably, and panic could be seen in his eyes.
4th Tier Darkness Magic "Inflict Fear" This spell causes the target to feel that they're a mere weak creature in front of the caster, and the caster looks superior to them.
"Now then, you'll answer me."
"Y-yes, just please don't kill me!"
After he explained everything while stuttering every word, I deactivated the spell.
"See, that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?"
Apparently, this client of his ordered him to kidnap the baker's daughter when he was busy working at the sewer, he's indeed wanting to make quick money, and before he knows it, he's already taken the job.
He's not even sure what's happening at that time, it's just that he has a feeling that he must take the job no matter what.
He doesn't seem like he's lying.
My suspicion lies on mental magic, the magic that has mostly been banned from being used or learned unless you have a royal or church archbishop permit.
To be able to use one, they must've been someone with a high position in the kingdom.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I'll still need your cooperation a little."
"A-alright, Just don't kill me! This is the first time I've ever kidnapped somebody; I'll never do it again!"
"There's no need to worry so much. Do what I say, and your life's spared."
"Really?"
"This world is terrible wasn't it; so many deceits, lies, and betrayals. You got tricked into doing this, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I got deceived by them!"
"Indeed, you shouldn't believe someone so easily."
"Then-"
"This is what I need you to do."
After I explain my plan to him, he looks at me with horror.
"...You're Insane. I don't get you at all."
"And you shouldn't."
After finishing the preparation of my plan, we don't need to wait that long until we hear someone knocking on the door.
"...You're there?"
"Come in."
The man who enters wears a butler suit and a monocle, with a domino mask covering half his face. His combed-back gray hair tells he's already in his 50s, but even though he's old, he's still able to stand straight, and the way he walks has an air of intimidation.
I can't lie but admit this old man has style; a butler suit and a domino mask truly are a combination to wear at midnight.
I'm sensing this old man is one of my people, the one who acts like a mob character during the day but does some shadowy things at the night.
Pretty cool old man, I already like you.
"...What's this?"
"Umm, this is..."
What he looks at is me, wearing my daily clothes and tied down to a chair while knocked out.
"What the hell is this? Where's the girl?"
"I'm very sorry. When I kidnapped the target, this boy charged me out of nowhere, and she got away!"
"Hmph. So you catch me this useless flea instead? Are you perhaps taking me lightly, you ape?"
"N-no! How could I? I captured him in wonder if I could beg for your mercy and punish this annoying young boy who doesn't know his place!"
Huh? This guy has a knack for this, or maybe he's just really scared... Anyhow, this is a brilliant show in which I'm participating.
The underling who reports to the crime boss, The crime boss hears the reports of the job, and because he's wearing a butler suit, he may report to a bigger boss, the true boss.
Then there's me, the poor victim boy that got knocked out cold but is a hidden powerhouse pretending to be weak.
All of this exchange is happening in a random shack in the slums at midnight, where no one knows, the evil in the shadows is making their moves.
How many times have I imagined this?
"You utter fool, why should I spare you if you can't even kidnap one little girl?"
"My lord, please! Anything but my life!"
Mr. Butler raised his arm and began casting his magic. Soon, a Crescent Blade made of wind appeared from thin air and flew through Mr. Kidnapper's body, splitting him in two.
"Agghhh-"
Instant death, shame. Even though I already had some scenarios in my head of how he should be killed.
But, oh well. He's only an erasable mob character anyway, I guess giving him a dramatic death would be an exaggeration of the main story.
"Now then, Kid. You're lucky to die in your sleep."
The butler created another wind blade, but before he threw it at me, he stopped his hands as if he were realizing something.
"You, upon closer look... Kukuku, yes, you're fine too. To think he found quite a specimen by sheer luck."
Mr. Butler carried me on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and start walking.
Alright, Mr. Butler, let us see what kind of evil plan you have in mind, do not disappoint me.
◆
We arrived at a huge mansion in the town.
I still pretend to be unconscious. I got thrown into the basement prison with two other kids locked up here.
"How is it?"
A man dressed in a scientist's robe, accompanied by two others wearing a dark robes, comes to greet the butler.
"The girl we targeted managed to run away because of this boy, but it looks like we found something better."
Mr. Butler gave his monocles to the scientist to use.
As the scientist started analyzing me with a skeptical look before he smirked.
"Hooh... Indeed, this one's potential is enormous.
"Lady Isabell will be pleased by this."
Thank you for the information, Mr. Butler.
Isabell, I know that name. I remember her from when I was reading the novel of this world in my original world.
Now that their motives have already been cleared, I could kill them easily, but... that won't do.
After that anti-climatic show of Mr. Butler killing Mr. Kidnapper, I'll need to do something dramatic to finish the night or I won't be able to sleep.
"Lady Isabell will come tomorrow night. For
now, we must prepare the ritual ceremony."
"Indeed, Indeed. You children wait here. We have some adult business to do."
Walking out of the Basement Prison, I thought to myself
'Now then, how should I proceed?'
"Hey, are you okay?"
There are two other kids my age that was kidnapped here.
One of them is a boy, and the other is a girl. They both have black hair and brown eyes, siblings.
Opening my eyes, I answer the girl's call.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you both?"
The girl was startled a bit, maybe she wasn't expecting me to answer her so nonchalantly.
"Eh, eh, we're fine too."
"My name is Finn. What's yours?"
"E-Emma and this is my older brother Ethan. As you can see, we're twins."
"I see. Did you both know why you were kidnapped here?"
"We don't know. When we were coming home to the orphanage, the two men in black robes abducted us all of a sudden."
"I see. In that case, would you both mind hearing me out for a bit?"
"...?"
"The people who kidnapped us before were members of the Demonic Cult."
"...! Demonic Cult?"
The older brother, who had been silent all this time, starts to speak up.
"Yes. Based on your reaction, you must already know about them."
"...A little. I read it about these people in one of the books in the orphanage."
"Oh, so you can read?"
In this world, a book is pretty expensive. Let alone an orphan, some poor commoner is not even able to tell letters.
"...Yes."
"Then, why don't you explain what you know about them?"
"The Demonic Cult is an organization that always moves behind the scenes. They do all kinds of crimes like Arson, Kidnapping, Murder, and Learning Demonic Magic. The book said their motives are to resurrect the Ancient Demon Lord.
"Anything else?"
"...That's it."
"I see."
Yes, what he said exactly was right.
The Demonic Cult! The real one! An underground organization that operates in the shadows—oh, how I imagine meeting them in this world.
They're the main antagonist group in the story that targets the Main Character. Their goal is to use the MC as a material to create a beast called "Abyss" and eventually wake up The Ancient Demon Lord.
"Both of you, do you know a creature called an Abyss?"
"I know, they're a beast that the Demonic Cult is using to cause destruction. Their only goal is to follow the orders of the cult."
"Indeed, but how do they appear?"
"The book said they're summoned by the cult by a certain demonic ritual, though this is not yet confirmed."
"The ritual part is right, but they're not summoned, but created."
"Created?"
"The Abyss is a creature made out of children."