The day is finally here.
The underground facility that once served as the counterfeit factory has shut down. Only a few employees remain, and all of them are working on teardown.
The factory has served its purpose.
"Mr. John, please take a look at this..."
As John Smith, I do as Yukime says and open the large iron door.
Inside, I find a mound of gold coins piled all the way up to the ceiling.
"It's magnificent..."
"We've liquidated almost all of the counterfeits. Satisfactory, no?"
The room at the bottom of the facility, which was once a prison used to confine my sister, has been transformed into a massive vault.
My heart sings upon seeing the nigh-uncountable mountain of glittering coins.
Nobody's found us yet.
Mitsugoshi and the MCA seem to have made it as far as the Lawless City, but I've been playing hooky at school so I can spend 24-7 keeping them from getting any closer.
Now that we're done, there won't be anything linking the Lawless City to our location.
"Now all we must do is liquidate the real MCA bills I've prepared and the deed will be done. The MCA has nowhere near enough funds to make the exchange, so the credit crisis shall begin."
As Yukime was trading the counterfeits for gold, she was also stockpiling authentic bills.
Once we trade them in, the MCA will go bankrupt.
After all, they'll be out of reserves. When people find out about that, they'll go nuts.
"That it will. The amount of money in circulation's increased, so the value of goods has begun rising as well. At the moment, the inflation rate stands at..."
I rattle off the numbers Beta told me. The goal is to impress Yukime with how knowledgeable and good at gathering information I am.
"To think, Mr. John, that you investigated it to that extent..."
"Heh... Child's play."
"Once more I find myself verily glad to have joined forces with you. Without you, this plan could never have come to fruition."
"Hey, it wasn't all me. You did good work, too."
Yukime grins. "You flatter me."
We extend our hands at the same time and exchange a firm handshake.
"Now then, let us put this to rest. Would you be so kind as to patrol the area between here and the Lawless City?"
"Consider it done," I tell her.
"In the meantime, I shall go exchange the real bills."
"—Huh?"
That doesn't sound right.
"What reason is there for you to go in person?"
Surely it would be smarter for her to send someone else in her place.
"There is... meaning to the act." Yukime averts her gaze.
Ah, I get it.
Well, I guess everyone has their own personal aesthetic they like to adhere to.
"Perhaps it's time for you to hear my tale..."
And with that, Yukime starts narrating.
"Earlier, I told you the story of my mother and me. But that was not where the tale ends. When my mother went out to hunt, our village was attacked by a hostile tribe. Besides my three-tailed mother, most of the villagers had no ability to fight, so they fled. I hid under my bed, trembling. But my door was soon kicked down, and a group of men came into the room I was hiding in. They dragged me out, and oh, the vulgarity in their eyes... The moment I thought I was done for, another man came crashing through the window and cut the cruel men down. The man, who had sleek black ears and tail, was part of the reinforcement from our allies the Great Wolf clan. He introduced himself as Gettan, then held me tight to quell my fear. I was fourteen at the time, and he was seventeen..."
Yukime's clear eyes seem to gaze off into the past.
<<•>>
Gettan was Yukime's first love.
After the attack, the Great Wolf clan helped rebuild her village.
At the time, the great hero Shiva had just fallen, and the therianthrope lands were rife with conflict. The stronger clans were terrorizing the weaker ones, seeking power in order to succeed Shiva.
Owing to the circumstances, it was only natural for people to want to form alliances to solidify their positions.
As a result, it was decided that Yukime, daughter of the village's sole three-tail, and Gettan, son of the Great Wolves' patriarch, were to be married.
Given her admiration for Gettan, Yukime agreed in a heartbeat. Her mother approved of him as well, in part because he'd saved Yukime's life, and Gettan held a great deal of affection for the fair girl, too.
Although everyone gave the betrothal their blessing, the formal marriage was postponed until Yukime turned of age at fifteen.
Until they were officially married, they weren't able to live together.
Despite their living in different villages, however, Gettan came to visit Yukime all the time. The days they spent together were irreplaceable treasures for them both.
They were the happiest days of Yukime's life, and although she was looking forward to the wedding, she also wanted them to go on forever.
But peace has a short shelf life.
There was a conflict between the major nearby tribes, and the Spirit Foxes and the Great Wolves got wrapped up in the conflict.
Yukime and the others were all forced to choose a side.
Whoever they allied themselves with would forcibly conscript them, and whoever they made enemies with would retaliate. There were no good options.
The Spirit Foxes and the Great Wolves talked it out among themselves, then came to a solution.
They would make neither allies nor enemies of any of them.
Their decision to fence-sit was made at the last possible moment. However, it was a foolish choice, one that utterly failed to take into account the cruelty of war.
The Great Wolves were blessed with strength.
The Spirit Foxes were blessed with wisdom.
They'd thought that by joining forces, they could ride out the war.
Reality, however, was not so kind.
Both the Spirit Fox and the Great Wolf villages were annihilated in a single night.
The ground was wet with blood as they burned.
Gettan, the Great Wolves' strongest soldier, fought valiantly. In the end, all he was able to accomplish was escaping together with his fiancée.
As the morning sun rose, the two of them stared out over their blackened villages.
"If only I was stronger..."
"Gettan..."
Gettan hung his head, his body covered in wounds. Yukime nestled close to him.
"All I needed was power, and they wouldn't have been able to take everything from us!"
"It wasn't your fault."
"Shut up!"
Yukime's fox ears drooped and quivered at Gettan's enraged cry. "...Sorry."
"It's okay..." Gettan continued hanging his head as he spoke. "I made a proposal to the others. I told them that with this power, we'd be able to ride out the war without having to ally ourselves with either side..."
As he spoke, he pulled out a pill as red as blood.
"By taking these, we could have become powerful. We could have survived the war. But that damn woman rejected my proposal! Because of her, nobody took the drug!"
Gettan tried to stifle his laughter, and Yukime took a step back.
"...I should have killed her back at the start."
"Gettan...?"
"I was the one who killed your mom."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Yukime's mother had gone missing as soon as the attack had begun. Yukime was sure she was still alive somewhere.
"All of this is her fault. If we'd just taken the pills and accepted the Cult's protection, we all could have survived."
"The Cult…? Hey, Gettan, I'm a little slow, so I'm not really sure what you're talking about, but...you were joking just now, right?"
"Like hell I was. I snuck up behind her and chopped her head clean off! If it weren't for that wench—!"
"Gettan, don't tell me you're serious..."
Yukime took another step backward.
"If I wanted to protect you and the village from the war, I didn't have any other choice."
"N-no! No! Stay away..."
"What's wrong? C'mon, let's go get our revenge."
Gettan offered Yukime a red pill.
"You have to take one, too. The only way to protect what's yours is to take from others. Now, seize this power so we can go slaughter the bastards who did this!"
"No! Stay away from me!!" Yukime finally turned around and began running.
"You're gonna reject me, too?!"
Something smashed into Yukime's back.
Then she collapsed facedown. Blood gushed from the sword wounds on her back.
"Don't reject power."
"G-Gettan... Why…?"
"Revenge isn't something to be afraid of. If you don't steal from others, they'll just steal from you."
"N-no... Please stop..."
"You're still rejecting me!"
As Yukime tried to crawl away, Gettan brought his sword down on her over and over.
Each individual wound was shallow, but
together they brutally shredded her back. Then he planted his foot atop the cuts and whispered in Yukime's ear as she writhed in agony.
"C'mon, Yukime. Take the pill so we can have our revenge together."
"No..."
As the pain caused her consciousness to fade, she heard a strange voice.
"Yahoo! Gimme all your money!!"
The voice itself was young and ungainly, in stark contrast to the violence in its words. She must have just been hallucinating or
something.
Then she passed out.
When she came to, it was night.
Her back felt strange. When she reached up and felt it, she found the bleeding had all stopped. There were probably scars, but it didn't hurt anymore.
She didn't see Gettan anywhere. For whatever reason, though, she saw blood and his fur scattered about her surroundings.
Yukime then went back to look for her mother's body. For some reason, her village was littered with the corpses of its attackers.
It didn't take her long to find her mother's body and severed head.
Its eyes were wide with shock, and the three fluffy tails Yukime had loved so much were all burned to a crisp.
"Mother...!"
Her mom had been killed.
Her friends and neighbors had been slaughtered, too.
Her village had been burned to the ground.
Their money had been stolen.
And finally, her beloved fiancé had become her bitter enemy.
"Sniff... Sob..."
As hot tears rolled down her cheeks, she burned the sight of her dear mother and her destroyed hometown into her mind.
She bit her lip.
Everything had been taken from her. All she had left was a single bitter enemy.
However, even surviving was a tough task for a fourteen-year-old with no money, power, or relatives. She spent her days traveling from place to place as a battlefield prostitute.
By the time she turned seventeen, she owned the brothel she'd been selling her body at.
She had money. Next, she wanted power.
Having had everything taken from her, she vowed to take everything from that enemy of hers in turn —
<<•>>
It looks like Yukime's done with her story.
I feel like I was part of a similar situation once, so I got distracted at about the halfway mark.
"I suspect you've had an inkling, Mr. John. You knew I had no interest in the companies or the money. My sole aim was to take everything from Gettan. His money. His power. And then, his life. Everything he's worked so hard to build. And to do that, I needed a company's power, as well as your help... But I had to deceive you, and for that, I beg your forgiveness."
"I see..."
Nope, my memory is failing me.
"I will settle the score with Gettan. I ask that you please believe in me and wait for my return."
Yukime smiles and stands.
There's no use racking my brain over stuff I can't remember, so I may as well get to work.
"I should get going," I say.
"Allow me to accompany you to the exit."
The two of us leave the room together.
<<•>>
The afternoon sky is pleasantly clear. As the gentle winter sunlight streams in through the windows, a furious voice echoes through the Garter Corporation headquarters.
"Why exactly are you having so much trouble locating John Smith?!"
President Garter hangs his head as Gettan slams his fist into the desk and screams at him.
"W-well, you see, we followed his tracks as far as the Lawless City, but any investigation in the Lawless City is incredibly risky, and we keep losing contact with the investigators..."
Garter murmurs his excuses.
"Can't you see we're out of time?! Rumors about the counterfeits are already starting to circulate around the capital!!"
"Well, um, yes, about that... There's been an increase in people exchanging their bills for gold..."
"Tch, it's too fast!"
"A huge liquidation request came in this morning, and we've only been getting more…! The other company presidents are saying this isn't what you promised... Th-they're asking if it would be possible to shut down exchanges..."
"Idiots, the lot of them! Go silence them! If we did that, word would spread like wildfire, and hordes of people would come breaking down our doors!!"
"B-but at this rate, our reserves won't hold out...!"
"I know that, dammit!!" Gettan slams his fist onto the desk again.
"Eek—!!"
The sturdy wooden desk splinters. Small shards fly into the air and scratch up
Garter's face.
Gettan bares his canines, then glares out the window with his blocked eyes.
"...A huge liquidation order came in this morning, you said?"
"Y-yes, sir."
"That's fishy... No one would have reacted that quickly. Look into who made it."
"Y-yes, sir!"
As Garter runs off, Gettan covers his eyes with his hand.
His empty sockets throb with pain, almost as though his missing eyes were still there.
Whenever that happens, he knows something related to his past is afoot.
"It can't be... No, there's no way..."
He presses his hand over his eyelids for a little while longer as he digs through his memories.
<<•>>
The Seven Shadows decide to keep the fact that John Smith is Shadow just to themselves.
Their rationale is that if the troops knew, it would strike a harsh blow to morale.
"It was probably the right decision," thinks Gamma as she looks over Alpha's gloomy visage.
The hearth crackles.
"He exists in a realm nobody else could possibly hope to reach..."
"Alpha..."
"That's why he doesn't need me anymore..."
"That's not true."
They've had this exact conversation several times now.
Alpha's sunken into the depths of despair. She's in no state to lead the Shadow Garden right now.
At the moment, Gamma's the only one who can take the reins.
However, no amount of makeup can hide Gamma's sallow cheeks or the dark circles under her eyes. She's close to her limit, too.
Even so, there's something she needs to report.
She steels herself, then speaks.
"The MCA's begun going bankrupt. Crowds of people have been trading in their bills since this morning. And it's probably only going to get worse tomorrow..."
"I see..."
"We don't have it as bad as they do, but Mitsugoshi is seeing an uptick in people making exchanges, too. Their ranks will likely swell tomorrow, and when the MCA goes bankrupt, all hell will break loose."
"I see..."
Alpha listens to Gamma's report with a vacant look on her face. Finally, she responds with a brief question.
"Can we weather the storm?" she asks.
Gamma looks at her face, wavers for a moment, then decides to rip off the bandage.
"...Not with our reserves."
That's the simple truth of it.
Gamma and the others have been frantically raising funds in preparation for the MCA's collapse.
However, even though they've been gathering gold from around the globe, it's nowhere near the amount their credit creation practices generated.
"I see..."
Alpha smiles.
It's a forlorn smile, and when Gamma sees it, tears well up in her eyes.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. When the people see the mountains of gold we've prepared, l'm certain it'll set their hearts at ease..."
"That's enough."
When the masses see the MCA go under, they'll know there's no guarantee the damage will stop there.
Gamma and Alpha are both all too aware of that fact.
"That's...that's enough..."
"Alpha..."
Alpha looks at Gamma, the heartbroken smile plastered across her face unchanged.
"He's the one who decided to circulate the counterfeits and cause the credit crisis. He's the one who wanted to cast us aside..."
"Th-that's not true! Master Shadow would never abandon—"
"We just weren't strong enough to live up to his expectations... And this is our punishment."
"That's not... That..."
She wants to say, "That can't be true," but the words won't come out.
Their lord's combat prowess, creativity, and ingenuity are all leagues above theirs. Even after being given the perfect environment and unbridled knowledge, none of them has been able to reach his ranks.
And now, their master's given up on them.
"Th... that..."
Gamma goes weak in the knees. She crumples down onto the sofa.
In contrast, Alpha rises to her feet. Her eyes burn, both from the glare of the fireplace and her newfound determination.
"If this is what he wants, then it's our job to fulfill his wishes. I took an oath... I said that if he wanted me to, I would even die... It was the first promise I ever made to him."
"Alpha..."
Then, an interruption.
"Pardon me."
The dark-brown-haired girl, Nu, bows as she enters the room.
"We've received new information. Gettan, the MCA's de facto leader, is without a doubt connected to the Cult."
"Go figure," remarks Gamma.
However, finding that out now isn't going to do them any good.
"He'd been coordinating with the Cult to bring down Mitsugoshi."
"What was his plan?"
"It was...to introduce counterfeits into circulation and cause a credit crisis."
"Ah... I see." Gamma looks up at the ceiling.
He got them good.
Nobody knew Mitsugoshi was a Shadow Garden front, so she hadn't expected the Cult to be willing to go to such suicidal lengths to take them down.
After all, sacrificing the MCA just to take Mitsugoshi down with them?
Even though it worked, surely the price was too steep.
Who would have thought they regarded Mitsugoshi as such a threat...? Gamma had overlooked the possibility.
"So in the end, the Cult successfully did us in, huh?"
"No, not quite... The Cult hasn't actually put their plan into motion yet."
"Wait, but that doesn't make any—"
Gamma feels as though the puzzle pieces are rearranging themselves in her mind.
Another interruption.
"Alpha!"
Beta comes barreling into the room without so much as a knock. She's holding a sheet of paper in her hand.
"Over at the lab, Eta decoded the encrypted message Master Shadow left us!"
Eta, the seventh member of the Seven Shadows, specializes in research.
When Beta's master gave her the encoded message, Eta was the one she'd entrusted deciphering it to.
"Look here!"
Alpha takes the proffered document. Light returns to her eyes as they trace over it.
"Alpha...?"
She responds to Gamma's puzzled voice by flashing her a broad smile.
A tear rolls down her cheek, but it's a tear of joy.
"He didn't abandon us after all..."
Upon hearing that, Gamma takes the page and reads it over.
"Th-this means—!"
The astonishing truth is laid out in Eta's handwriting.
"Sorry, but I have to betray you all. A partner and I are manufacturing counterfeits and using them to collect gold. We're squirreling away all the money in the old facility we saved my sister from back when we were kids. I know you all might resent me for this, but I believe every choice I made was for the best."
Before she realizes it, Gamma is crying, too. The puzzle in her mind's taken on a form that she hadn't dared imagine possible.
Alpha, Gamma, and Beta-all of them are beaming as the tears stream down their faces.
"Master Shadow set this all up for us," says Beta, her voice full of reverence.
"So he's been looking at the bigger picture... Who knew anyone could see so far?" Alpha's voice is thick with emotion.
Gamma's sounds relieved. "He saw through it all and made the best possible choice... An act truly befitting the man."
"He realized the Cult's plan sooner than anyone else."
"Then he used it against them. By making his own counterfeits before the Cult could act, he was able to amass a shocking amount of capital."
"With that gold, Mitsugoshi will be able to survive the credit crisis."
"When that happens, the Cult will have lost the MCA. They'll be the sole losers."
"The Cult picked a fight with the wrong man. Master Shadow's understanding of money creation was what made his plan possible."
"He understood how dangerous a credit crisis could be, and he came up with a bold, efficient method of raising funds... A class act all around."
"We didn't want to reveal the link between Mitsugoshi and the Shadow Garden, so our hands were tied. That's why he had to work behind the scenes."
"And that explains why he had to hide his identity, too — to remove the link between him and us. Now nobody has any clue that there's a connection between the corporation and the counterfeits."
"He even went so far as to set up his factory somewhere we were familiar with, then told us where the vault was."
"In other words, he's telling us that all we have to do is pick up the gold."
Everyone breathes a deep sigh of relief.
"It's just like he told me. 'Once all this is over, you'll realize this was for the best.'"
"To fool your enemies, first fool your friends... That's what he was doing all along."
"A perfect plan formed on a foundation of subtlety and precise calculation...That's Master Shadow for you. But what about Delta?"
Gamma's voice is still a little worried, but Alpha's eyes are filled with conviction.
"It's Delta we're talking about. I'm sure we don't have anything to worry about."
Suddenly, they hear a sound from outside.
Then the window slowly creeks open as Delta sheepishly lets herself in.
"—See?"
Gamma's face flushes with joy. "Delta?! Oh, thank goodness..."
"Oh-woof... Alpha... I was on a confidential secret mission, see... So..."
Delta waits timidly for Alpha's reaction.
"Don't worry, I know. He had a job for you, right?"
Delta's face immediately brightens. Her head bobs up and down as she nods.
"There was a black Juggler, and I...! Oh, it's a confidential secret mission, so I can't tell you..."
"Come on now, Delta, speak properly. Calling it a 'confidential secret mission' is redundant."
"B-but that's what Boss man said...!"
"Don't be silly, of course he didn't. Still, I'm so glad you're okay..."
Delta seems to still have something she wants to say, but Alpha just strokes her head and squeezes her tight.
Gamma and Beta hug Delta as well, and they all wipe their tears away with a smile.
"He's done so much for us already. We need to handle the rest ourselves. Let's go collect the gold he prepared for us."
"Got it!
"Sound like a plan!"
"Woof!"
And that night, the Shadow Garden makes their move.
<<•>>
I conduct a thorough sweep of the route to the Lawless City, then return to the underground base.
Yukime should be getting back soon.
When she does, it'll probably be atop a cart laden with cash.
Afterward, we can grab our gold from the underground vault and bail. At that point, all there'll be left to do is leisurely watch over the credit crisis from on high.
I mean, just picture it. John Smith, standing atop a high-rise hotel and gazing down at the capital with his arms crossed. All according to plan. The crisis has begun..., I'll murmur. Then I'll take a sip of some expensive wine, glance at the mountain of coins atop the table to my side, and grin meaningfully.
How cool is that?
I picture the scene as I walk through the facility's corridors.
It seems oddly quiet here.
All the assembly-line workers left, but there should still be some guards around.
Maybe they all dozed off because of how peaceful things are around here. You can hardly blame 'em. I worked my butt off making sure nobody could find us here, after all.
"Heh-heh-heh..."
I flash my pearly whites as I continue strolling. Finally, I stop in front of the vault.
"Huh...?"
Wait, why's the door open...?
It doesn't look like anyone unlocked it, either. It looks like it was forcibly broken down...
"No! There's no way..."
My patrols were perfect.
Not even a mouse could have made it here from the Lawless City.
My legs shake.
My hands tremble.
I break out into a cold sweat.
"Noooooo, no-no-no-no-no-no-no. It's gonna be fine, it's gonna be fine..."
I peer inside the half-open vault.
It's...completely empty.
That massive pile of gold has vanished without a trace.
"You're kidding..."
My knees go weak, and I collapse to the ground where l'm standing.
"How could this happen...?"
All my gold...
"Ha... Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Surely, this is all just a bad dream..."
I reach up with my trembling hands and re-part my disheveled hair. Then I stand.
It's all gonna be fine.
Maybe Yukime had some reason why she had to move it.
Also, even if it was stolen, it'd take a while to make off with all that gold. Unless they're crazy prepared, they can't have gone far.
I step out of the vault, knees still rattling.
Then, sensing two presences approaching, I feign composure.
"— Mr. John!!"
Two sexy women call out my name.
It's Yukime's attendants, Natsu and Kana.
Trust me, guys, I already know something happened. Something definitely happened. It's pretty obvious — the goddamn vault's been cleaned out, after all.
"It's Yukime — she's disappeared! It must have been Gettan!"
"Wh...What..?"
Yukime... plus... Gettan...I see!
I laugh as everything becomes clear to me.
"Mr. John...?"
"Ah, so that's how it is..."
Natsu and Kana seem confused, so I open the vault door up and show them what isn't inside.
Their eyes go wide in shock.
"Th-that's — !"
"D-did he do this —?! But there's no way he could act that fast..."
"Do you two know where he is?"
"Y-yes...!"
"Then we're fine. I'll get 'em back."
I stride between the two of them, letting my magic leak out so the air vibrates.
"Wh-what's with this incredible magic?!"
"I-is this John Smith's true power?!"
I follow up by making my steel wires go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. They leave elegant arcs of light in their wake as they slice through the air.
"Gettan... You pissed off the wrong guy...!"
Now then, time for revenge —
<<•>>
A little time passes —
Snow starts falling onto the capital right around when the sun makes its descent past the horizon. As the shadows gradually overtake the world's vermilion hue, the snowfall picks up in intensity.
A lone Spirit Fox stands still and gazes toward the capital's skyline as she stands atop a distant plain.
She exhales a cloudy breath, waiting for something with a melancholy look in her eyes.
A little while after the sun sinks fully from view, someone approaches her from behind.
"Was this all your doing, Yukime...?!"
The snow's begun piling up and dampening the night's sounds. As a result, the furious bellow carries well.
Yukime turns toward the eyeless, jet-black therianthrope.
"Gettan... You have no idea how long l've waited for this day."
"So you and John Smith were working together...! Is this your idea of revenge?!"
Gettan's face is contorted with rage, a stark contrast to Yukime's calm demeanor.
"It's over for you. Accept your fate..."
"No-not yet. If I take back the money you two stole, I can still fix this!!"
Gettan unsheathes his sword. It's almost as long as he is tall.
"Gettan..." Yukime draws her fans. "Alas, l'm not the little girl you once knew anymore."
The ground is piled high with pristine snow.
The pearly moon gleams overhead, accompanied by a host of stars.
With the beautiful black-and-white night as a backdrop, the blade and fans meet.
A burst of white snow flies into the air, accompanied by a shower of blood.
Vivid patches of red stain the blank snowy canvas.
"This... This can't be...!"
Gettan drops to one knee. When he looks up at Yukime, his eyebrows rise.
At some point, Yukime's body transformed.
Her nine silvery tails have grown even thicker and longer, and those eyes of hers that looked like pools of still water are now bloodred.
Even without his vision, Gettan can make out the dense magical energy she's mantled in.
"This is the true form of us Spirit Foxes... You cannot defeat me."
"So the legends are true... If you had that kind of power... If I had that kind of power, I wouldn't have everything taken from me — !!"
Yukime responds to the raw hatred in Gettan's expression with a sad smile.
"Gettan... What changed you so? Surely, you were not always like this."
"Shut up!!"
"It's over, Gettan." Yukime presses her fans against his throat.
When he feels the cold steel, his expression freezes.
"Yukime — !"
She looks down at him, fans still held firmly in place.
Her face is tinged with nostalgia, as though she's remembering events from days gone by.
Neither of them so much as twitches. It's as if time itself is standing still.
The only movement is that of the snow slowly piling up.
Finally, Yukime lowers her fans. Her eyes and nine tails return to their original states.
"What are you playing at...?"
"My revenge is now complete."
"Complete...you say?"
"I know not what it is that made you this way. But for all the sins you've committed, the fact that you once saved my village and my life remains unchanged... Sins do not erase good deeds, nor do good deeds erase sins. I choose to believe that the Gettan who saved me that day still resides somewhere inside you..."
Yukime turns and begins walking away across the snowy plain.
"Good-bye, Gettan..."
He watches her leave with his closed eyes and glares at her.
"I don't need...your pity..."
However, his resentment doesn't reach her.
He pops a red pill into his mouth. His wounds rapidly heal, and then — "...Ah — "
A flower of blood blooms atop the snow.
"How much of a mockery do you plan to make of me...?"
"Get...tan..."
Run through by his blade, Yukime crumples to the cold ground.
As her consciousness starts to fade, tears roll down her cheeks.
"Mr....John...forgive me..."
As she weeps, a fierce gust of wind blows, kicking up the lightly powdered snow. A dark figure appears.
"—?! Who's there?!"
A man appears out of the darkness of night and alabaster flurry.
The powdered snow dances around him as his steel wires slice through the air.
" — I believe you've taken something very important from me."
The man striding forward is clad in a black suit, his face concealed beneath a mask-it's John Smith.
"Mr. John..."
Yukime calls out his name, although it causes her pain to do so. For some reason, seeing John like this feels deeply nostalgic.
"So it's John Smith. You claim that I stole from you...but you took from me first!"
Gettan's closed eyes glare at John Smith.
"I'm only here to take back what you stole," replies John Smith. "Nothing more."
"What I took? Heh, good luck with that."
"I won't need luck."
"You insolent little... You know, I have something I need to take back, too. A little something that you two stole from me!"
Gettan readies his longsword.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's so typical of a lowlife to play dumb..." Gettan clicks his tongue. "This is a waste of my breath."
"And of my time."
John Smith deploys his wires.
The two of them glare at each other, their gazes dripping with hatred, and then —
"GETTAN — "
"JOHN SMIIIIITH-!!"
— the violent clash begins.
Gettan's longsword arcs toward him.
However, his enemy doesn't so much as attempt to dodge.
The blade plows toward his neck, then comes to an abrupt stop in midair.
"Eh — what?!"
Surprised by his sword's sudden halt, Gettan pulls it back.
John Smith calmly watches him, then murmurs, "You did something just now..."
Gettan clicks his tongue in annoyance. "You think you're so clever... Stopping my sword by running magic through those thin strings of yours."
"...Oh?"
"There are things l've lost, but there are things l've gained in their place, as well. When I lost my ability to see, I quickly gained the ability to use magic to sense the space around me."
Gettan's magic is spread out over the entire area.
"That means I can see them! I can see each and every one of your flimsy little threads!! True, I was surprised at how skillfully you manipulated them. But in the end — "
Gettan's lips curl into a wicked grin.
" — you picked a bad man to make an enemy of, John Smith!!"
He slashes at John Smith again. John Smith successfully deals with the blade by dodging backward, but his wires can't so much as graze Gettan.
"It's no use!! I told you, I can see everything!!"
[+]
John Smith falls back. Gettan presses forward.
Yukime watches the fierce battle through her tears. She sees John Smith, fighting as hard as he can...
In all the time she's known him, she's never seen him so visibly enraged.
Their relationship hasn't been a long one.
However, she's well aware he isn't the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
Right now, though, he's furious-furious from the bottom of his heart.
Furious at Gettan, the man who stole her away and ran her through.
"Mr. John..."
He looks like he's on the back foot, but Yukime knows this isn't the full extent of his strength.
Then —
John Smith fires off a question. "Is that all you've got...?"
"Rrr..." Gettan pants as he glares at John Smith.
He's been on the offensive this whole time, yet his blade hasn't reached John Smith even once.
To the contrary, Gettan's body is the one covered in countless tiny cuts.
He can see all the wires, true.
However, it's precisely his ability to see them that keeps him from advancing into their net.
John Smith's wires are spread out like a spiderweb. One step in, and escape becomes impossible.
Gettan senses its immaculate arrangement. It's perfectly designed to predict, trap, and capture its prey.
Each time he tries to push his limits even a little, he immediately finds himself riddled with cuts.
If he doesn't go forward, he can never slice his foe. But if he does — only death awaits.
Before he noticed, all Gettan became able to do was futilely swing a sword that could never reach its mark.
John Smith calmly steps toward him. At some point, he used his steel wires to cut off Gettan's escape routes.
"I think you have something you want to tell me. Say it..."
"Ahー"
When Gettan hears the order, he looks toward Yukime for the briefest of moments. However, he quickly shakes his head.
"I have nothing to say to you!!"
"Is that so — "
The next moment, blood bursts from Gettan's chest. The steel wires surrounding him just sliced at his guts.
Even as his face contorts in pain, however, he continues glaring at John Smith.
"I needed power! I sacrificed everything for it!! And I'm not about to back down now!!"
He pulls a heap of red pills from his pocket and swallows them all down. It's obviously far more than the recommended dose.
"I won't let myself be stolen from again... So if it's to keep what's mine..."
Gettan glances at Yukime for the second time. It's almost as though he can truly see.
Then his body rapidly darkens. His muscles expand and contort grotesquely.
Waves of magic burst from his body and blast away the falling snow.
"...then my life is a small price to pay."
Gettan opens his crushed eyelids.
The eyes beneath them are bloodred orbs.
Crimson tears stream down his cheeks.
His movements are leagues faster than they were before. The moment the snow at his feet flies up, he's already standing before John Smith.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
He brings his blade down with a roar.
John Smith's fingers twitch, and the steel wire cuts through the air.
"-Oh?"
When the longsword and steel wires meet, John Smith is the one forced to retreat.
A number of severed threads flop down from his fingers.
Gettan doesn't stop there. His movements are animalistic as he gives pursuit.
Once again, his longsword slices through John Smith's wires.
He swings his sword. John Smith's wires dance.
The exchange goes on for a little while, but eventually, John Smith runs out of wires.
"GRAAAAAAH!!"
A maniacal grin spreads across Gettan's face as he presses toward his disarmed foe.
However, John Smith just stands motionless and sighs.
"At the end of the day, it's just steel...," he murmurs uninterestedly as he fixes his gaze on Gettan's onrushing form.
Then...they meet.
John Smith evades Gettan's ferocious blow by taking a step forward and bending one knee. The longsword grazes his cheek, taking a tuft of black hair with it.
The dodge used only the bare minimum movement required.
The step was short and quick.
As such, he was able to perform them in one ideal, fluid motion.
In other words...it's an act of martial perfection.
"What?!"
As Gettan's eyes go wide with shock, John Smith's elbow collides with his jaw.
"Gluh-" He staggers backward. His enemy presses the attack.
A fist plows into Gettan's gut, and when he lurches forward, he receives a knee strike to the torso.
And John Smith doesn't let up there.
Nothing about his fists, elbows, or knees is special, yet they sink into Gettan's body all the same. Gettan's engorged flesh is getting tossed around like a toy.
A man's body is his final, most reliable weapon...and John Smith is the embodiment of that ideal.
Gettan frantically tries to retreat and put some distance between himself and the whirlwind of blows.
Thanks to the pills, his body heals as soon as it takes damage. The storm won't last forever, so all he has to do is weather it and get to safety, and — John Smith, however, doesn't stop.
With each step, he cuts off Gettan's escape routes, and with each blow, he saps power from Gettan's legs.
As he rains down the flurry of blows, he calculates and predicts Gettan's every move. That's how he continues his one-sided beatdown.
By keeping Gettan at point-blank range, he'll always be in John Smith's reach. No matter how his prey moves, he never lets it escape.
The dispassionate, almost mechanical beatdown continues.
"Gack... Gah-hah... Grah... Urk…."
Gettan's bones break, his fangs snap, and his organs burst. They immediately regenerate.
The torture seems never-ending. The sprays of blood paint a macabre carpet atop the fallen snow.
Eventually, John Smith's blows pick up in strength. They pick up in speed, too.
"You have something to tell me. Say it."
"Gah... Hur-guh..."
John Smith's words are accompanied by more blows.
Finally, Gettan reaches his limit.
The regeneration stops.
Seeing that, John Smith backs up half a step — then swings his right leg with all his might.
His foot slams into the side of Gettan's skull, and the therianthrope collapses violently onto the snow.
As Gettan tries to get up, John Smith stamps down on his chest.
He glares up at the man. Gettan's eyes throb, as though trying to remind him of the past.
"Gah..."
John Smith smashes his fist into his opponent's face.
"—Say it."
He punches him again.
"—Tell me what I want to hear."
"John Smith. I see... You're the one...from back then..."
Gettan looks up at John Smith, all sorts of emotions running across his face: rage, hatred, envy, regret...
"If I had power like yours, maybe things would have been different..."
The mixed feelings in his voice afford it a certain weight.
"I tried to flee from my own weakness, and look where that's gotten me... All I really wanted to protect was..." Gettan smiles. "But I feel...I can entrust it to you..."
Gettan's voice is weak now. His finger trembles as he points in Yukime's direction.
"I trust you...with Yu..."
"...Understood." John Smith clasps Gettan's trembling hand in his. "You can leave it all to me."
And then Gettan breathes his last.
Yukime buries her face in John Smith's chest. Her tears sink into his suit. "I finally remembered... You're the one who..."
John Smith runs magic through his hands, then strokes Yukime's wound.
"So warm... Like it was all the way back then..."
Thump. Yukime's heart pounds.
Ever since that day, that day when everything was taken from her, she's had to live alone with a frozen heart.
No matter what happened, no matter who embraced her, she'd vowed to accept it with a smile.
The ice was a wall she built to protect herself, one that she knew would never thaw.
Yet now, it was melting.
"...Thank you," Yukime says.
John Smith cocks his head to the side.
Then he lets out a quiet murmur. "I think he said it was buried under a yew tree over there or something, right...?"
<<•>>
"I've got one last job I need to do."
John Smith begins digging a hole, and Yukime returns to the capital on her own. He must be digging Gettan a grave. Perhaps that's what Gettan had been searching for-somewhere to die.
That's the impression his final look had given Yukime, in any case. He seemed peaceful, almost nostalgic.
After spending a night resting in the capital, Yukime picks up the gold coins she just traded for and heads back to their hideout.
John Smith healed all her wounds. Even the ugly scars across her back have vanished without a trace.
Once she reaches the base, she heads down to the vault with her gold in tow. However, what she sees within comes as a shock.
"What in the...?"
All of its contents are gone.
As she cocks her head to the side in surprise, a figure clad in black appears behind her.
"I see. You're Yukime, president of the Snow Fox Corporation..."
"—?!"
Yukime whirls around to find a platinum-blond elf beauty standing there.
"Who are you?" Yukime asks as she gets ready to draw her fans at a moment's notice.
"My name is Alpha. I'm with the Shadow Garden. Given the reception you're giving me, I assume he hasn't told you anything."
"Alpha...?"
Yukime's well aware that John Smith — aka Shadow — is the Shadow Garden's leader.
However, he never mentioned anything about the organization to her. It's strange, now that she thinks about it.
"I suppose you must have been his collaborator... As well as the woman the MCA's Gettan was fixated on..."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I have a letter for you. I'm afraid the seal is broken, but I thought it would only be proper to give it to you anyway."
Alpha hands her a timeworn sheet of paper.
"The MCA will fall soon, and there were some things we wanted to collect from them before that happened. We found this in Gettan's room. It's a letter... no, a will. And it's addressed to you."
"Gettan's will..."
Yukime takes it and starts reading.
The first thing that takes her by surprise is how messy the writing is. He must have refused to entrust it to anyone else, writing it himself even through his blindness. Yukime can sense definite fragments of the warmth of his handwriting in that messy scrawl.
Gettan starts the letter with an apology to Yukime and the people of her village, then goes on to curse his own weakness.
Finally, he reveals an alarming truth.
"The Cult of Diablos..."
It's the true identity of the organization that set him along his path.
"We of the Shadow Garden are fighting to take down the Cult of Diablos. And of course, he's no different..."
"Mr. John, too..."
"Also, Mitsugoshi is a Shadow Garden front."
"—?! Heavens! What a shock!"
"This entire incident's played out exactly how he wanted it to from the very beginning. Unfortunately, that does mean we had to take all the gold."
"Ah, and now Mitsugoshi will be able to ride out the credit crisis."
"We'll also be able to snatch up the MCA's assets. Our position will be nigh unassailable."
"And Mr. John...no, Mr. Shadow saw it all coming."
"If you want to curse him as a traitor, you're well within your rights to do so. I have no doubt he's prepared to accept that judgment."
Yukime shakes her head. "I have no intentions of doing such a thing. Mr. Shadow has saved me now twice over."
"...Very well" Alpha nods. "We're prepared to accept you into our ranks. Unless you have objections, we would have you keep continue managing Snow Fox so you could act as our liaison to the Lawless City."
"Ah. Very wise. You want Mitsugoshi to act as the public face, and for Snow Fox to handle the dirty work... A clever arrangement."
Yukime and Alpha have identical smiles on their faces.
It's clear they each hold the other in strong admiration.
"We're glad to have you on board."
"The pleasure is all mine."
After they finish shaking hands, Yukime lets out a quiet murmur. "Although it brings me no joy to discover just how many important people he has in his life..."
She and Alpha leave the base together, discussing their future plans.
<<•>>
The MCA's collapse is swift.
Knowing they won't have enough reserves to meet people's demand to trade in their paper bills, many merchants close up shop and try to flee in the night. Eventually, the Knight Order has to be called in to force them to open their coffers, but the amount of money within is nowhere remotely close to the amount of paper bills in circulation.
Eventually, all the merchants are rounded up. Their punishment will no doubt be harsh.
When the masses watch the MCA collapse, their gaze immediately turns to Mitsugoshi.
The morning after the MCA goes bankrupt, they all swarm Mitsugoshi Bank's capital branch office.
There are enough of them to pack the main street completely full.
The moment the bank opens, they all rush in, paper bills in hand. What they find inside, however, astonishes them.
Mitsugoshi Bank is using a large hall as their vault, and there's a dazzling mountain of gold piled up within.
The tellers all greet the throng with calm, composed smiles.
When the people in the crowd see Mitsugoshi Bank fulfill exchange request after exchange request after exchange request, one of them turns to leave, then another.
By the time noon rolls around, the line's dwindle to almost nothing.
Only about 30 percent of the people who lined up at the beginning of the day actually decide to trade in their bills.
Seeing Mitsugoshi Bank's reaction sets the people at ease.
The mountain of gold, the tellers' polite smiles, and the reputation that Mitsugoshi Group's built up over time certainly doesn't hurt, either. As further proof of that, it takes no time at all before customers looking for paper money loans appear once more.
Mitsugoshi Bank — as well as Mitsugoshi, Ltd., as a whole-is able to use the MCA's collapse to elevate their position and further increase their trust with the consumers.
At this point, they're so powerful, not even the government can stand up to them.
If Mitsugoshi were to leave, the kingdom's economy will be reduced to shambles.
This whole incident has caused the nation's leadership to view money creation with alarm. However, the fact does remain that the credit crisis Mitsugoshi and the others orchestrated brought them an unprecedented wave of prosperity.
As a result, they decide to hold a meeting with representatives from Mitsugoshi Group and Mitsugoshi Bank and eventually come to a set of agreements regarding credit creation.
With that, the series of tumultuous events finally comes to a close.
<<•>>
I dig through the earth with my slime shovel.
I've been digging this whole time.
So why is it, then? Why haven't I found anything?
And why haven't I heard anything from Yukime?
She was supposed to go grab the coins she stashed in the capital while I dug up the buried gold, and afterward, we could all live happily ever after. That was the plan, at least.
Except the gold isn't showing up, and Yukime's gone dark.
Also, now that I think about it, Mitsugoshi Bank survived somehow.
Why?
What does it all mean?
The only thing I know is that my plan is in ruins.
"Boss man, we're not finding anything," says Delta as she scrapes through the dirt with her bare hands.
"It's here... It's somewhere around here, it should be."
I keep digging. If all I needed to do was hollow out the ground, I could just blow it all up, but that'd blow up the gold, too.
In other words, hard labor is my only option.
Delta followed me here by tracking my scent, so I'm having her help me, too.
"Boss man, is this a confidential secret mission, too?"
"Yup, so you have to make sure you don't tell Alpha about it."
"Got it!"
"See, what we have here is a man's dying message."
"Dine-in message?"
"It's when someone tells you the truth right before they die. This guy and I hated each other, so we fought to the death, but in the end, we came to a mutual understanding. And the word he left me with on his deathbed was
'yew.' And he pointed here. In other words, he was telling me that he buried something important under the yew trees here."
"Wow!"
"It's elementary, my dear."
"Elementary!" Delta wags her tail, her eyes glittering. "When we're done digging, will you do whatever I say?"
"Huh?"
"Remember, you promised!"
"Huuuh?"
"You promised, Boss man!!"
"Huuuuuh?"
"Oh-woof..." Delta stares at me with upturned eyes.
"Sorry, sorry, yeah, I remember saying that."
"You did!"
"But I never said I'd do anything-"
"You said you'd do anything!"
"No, I definitely specified l'd only do stuff within reason."
"You said you'd do anything!!"
Crap. Delta's got herself totally convinced that's what I actually said.
"Delta, that's not what I said. Lying is bad, and if i had a voice recorder, your lie would totally get exposed."
"Boy's recorder?"
"It's a type of Shadow Weaponry. When you turn it on, it destroys the world."
"R-really?!"
"That's why you shouldn't lie. You don't want the world getting destroyed, do you?"
"Oh-woof... I don't want the world destroyed... B-but, Boss man, you promised..."
Delta looks at me sadly. Hell, she's on the verge of tears.
"All right, all right, let's settle on a compromise. I'll do what you ask within reason. But remember, Delta, there are things even I won't do. I'm not Santa, after all."
"Santa?" Delta tilts her head to the side.
"Santa Claus... The monstrous devil in crimson who rules over the world from the shadows..."
"A devil?!"
"His outfit is crimson, drenched in blood. He destroys people's dreams, fills them with despair, and paints his suit with their sinew..."
"That's awful!"
"That's right. He's an awful guy. Once, long ago, I, too, suffered at his hand."
"He even got you, Boss man?!"
"I had a dream that I wanted fulfilled no matter the cost, but he let me down at every turn."
"A dream?"
"I wanted to become an eminence in sha — no, l'd better not say. I swore to myself that l'd never put the one thing that truly matters into words. Anyways, ever since I was a kid, he betrayed me year after year, each time leaving another scar on my heart. Basically, Delta, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not Santa, so there are some wishes I won't grant."
For some reason, Delta stares straight at my face and blinks a few times. Then she cocks her head.
"But Santa doesn't grant all wishes, either, right? You said he betrayed your dream!"
True.
"Huh," I say.
"Huh!"
"You're right. That doesn't add up."
"It doesn't add up!"
The two of us both cock our heads.
"Eh, whatever. The point is, l'm willing to compromise, but there's some stuff I won't do."
"Oh-woof..."
"Now, I'm gonna head off on a journey, so why don't you have a good long think about what you want to ask me for."
"A journey?!"
"Yeah, a journey of self-discovery..."
Alpha and the others are probably livid, so it'd be better if I gave them some time to cool off. Emotions dwindle as the hours and days wear on. They say time heals all. Besides, it's winter break at the academy anyway.
All I gotta do is show up nonchalantly around Alpha and the others after break is over. I purposefully won't apologize. I'll just go on like normal, pretending like nothing happened.
The thing is, I've discovered an unbeatable Hidden Technique that lets you emerge victorious from any interpersonal conflict.
The trick is...you wear them out.
All you have to do is make them think, Ugh, there's no point trying to reason with this guy.
Nobody complains when babies do stuff, after all. In other words, that's the level I have to reduce myself to.
If I'm not careful, this Hidden Technique can become a double-edged sword.
The thing is, you win every argument, but in a way, you also lose them...
"Oh, and we can stop digging now. Thanks for all the help."
My plan was completely ruined. And Mitsugoshi ended up surviving anyway, so even if I find the gold, it's not like it'll do me much good.
"Now then, I'm off on my journey! Later."
"Wait, Boss man! Something just came out of the —!"
I hear Delta shouting at me from behind, but I dash off at full speed so she can't successfully complete her "request."
Now that I think about it, the first time Santa betrayed me was on a snowy night just like this one.