Black Shadow
Among the fixers of the Dark Realm, there are few who know their faces accurately. All that is known is that they all have black hair and wear black masks.
They possessed terrifying skills. Countless organizations had disappeared after hiring them in the underworld of various countries, and there were even rumors that governments trusted them as much as their own special forces.
As long as they were paid, they successfully completed any request and then vanished like shadows, offering no threats to the clients. In fact, they were the kind of beings that justified the name “Black Shadow” even in the dark and murky underworld.
“…that’s what I heard, but this is really disappointing, isn’t it? They’re too weak, don’t you think?”
On a sea of blood made from their life essence, a man wielding a blue knife spoke. With short, sharp blue hair and lean, battle-trained muscles, he approached one of the fallen Black Shadows with his knife.
He reached out to the woman who had been alive just moments before, but there was no response. Noticing that blood was no longer gushing from her side and thigh, he commented.
“Well… she’s already dead. Can’t bring her back now.”
Irritated that he had deliberately punctured a less vital area of the last surviving Black Shadow, he used his communicator. Before long, an old man’s voice came through.
[“So, is the job done? Blue.”]
“Yeah, it’s done, Gold. Are these guys really the legendary ‘Black Shadow’? They were absolutely pathetic!”
The man known as ‘Blue,’ Dalos Galver, continued the conversation while wiping the blood off his knife onto the dead body. The voice of the old man on the other end continued.
[“Legends are always exaggerated, and what’s important is that we have disposed of potential hindrances to our plan.”]
They, the Connected Ones, were executing an important plan. A plan so dangerously reckless it could topple not just the balance of the underworld but the world itself. Gold had heard that organizations, upon discovering this, were trying to hire the Black Shadow to interfere.
Upon hearing that, Gold wasted no time. Adopting a ‘first strike advantage’ strategy, he sent in Blue, ambushing the Black Shadows when they were at their weakest while sleeping, and annihilated them.
“What a waste of a good knife. I’m heading back to the Triad now. Take care of the cleanup.”
[“Right, I’ll handle the aftermath, and you focus on the deal until the end.”]
From the inn turned bloodbath, Dalos calmly disappeared into the darkness. Afterward, the cleanup crew sent by Gold efficiently disposed of the bodies and blood, disappearing just like that. With such perfect handling, the Black Shadow vanished from the world, leaving no trace behind.
*
The journey to the Triad was approaching. Preparation for the trip was thorough. Clothes, gear, even combat magical tools were readied, along with emergency recovery magical tools made from Dragon Heart Stones for any minor injuries.
They even prepared masks for disguise. I wanted to bring a variety of colored masks inspired by my favorite game, but eventually settled for just masks and numbers due to Jiren, Sora, and Master’s objections. It was disappointing, but it had to be.
Then, we all transformed our appearances with transformation magic.
“This is transformation magic, huh.”
“Yuren with black hair is quite fascinating,” Sora remarked.
A letter from the organization responsible for the trip contained the following message:
『Changing to a completely different appearance is sufficient. However, please unify hair color to black for recognition.』
The ‘Illumity’ (transformation magic) was a magic that changed one’s facial features based on an imagined image. It seemed that it was considered difficult to perfectly envision a completely different face, so they only required subtle changes from the original appearance. Thus, we slightly altered our existing images and changed our hair color to black. With that, our preparations for the journey were complete.
“Then we’ll be off.”
“Everyone, be careful and come back safe!”
“Got it, Sylvia.”
“Then we’ll be off.”
As everyone sent us off, I, Master, Sora, and Jiren set off on our journey to the Triad. While riding in the carriage, I reiterated to everyone the rules for traveling in the Triad.
“Once again, when we go to the Triad, we can’t use our real names.”
One of the organization’s demands was to choose a code name and use only that, rather than revealing our real names. No matter how much we altered our faces, if our real names were exposed, we could be threatened by someone.
To prevent that, we were instructed to use aliases, and I came up with code names for everyone.
“Master is Ain, I’m Zweih, Sora is Dry, and Jiren is Bier. Don’t forget, and remember them well.”
“Got it, my disciple Yuren.”
“Master.”
“Ah…! Got it, my disciple Zweih!”
Ain / Zweih / Dry / Bier
These were German numbers from my previous life, names I liked from one of my favorite games. Everyone thought the names sounded cool, and in the Triad, we decided to address each other by those names.
“And the organization guide said they would treat us as if we were a professional broker and an actual gang the moment we meet. Let’s all act like real criminals once we enter the Triad.”
“I don’t think I can do that well… what should I do? Zweih (Yuren)?”
With her black hair and perked cat ears, Sora approached me and said. Jiren, beside her, let out a chuckle.
“You? Even a passing dog would laugh. Dry (Sora).”
“Shut it! Bier (Jiren)!!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dry (Sora) thrust her fist into Bier’s (Jiren’s) side.
In such a small space, for a fist to have that much weight—Sora, or rather, Dry, was extraordinary.
“Let’s start the acting from the moment we enter the Triad, my disciples.”
Our Master looked worriedly at the scene. Well, considering where we were headed, I had many concerns too, but given the significant money spent, and having confirmed multiple times through Apollo, I didn’t believe there would be major issues—provided we didn’t get caught in any strange incidents.
Hahaha!
*
The Triad was ruled by four organizations.
Sion in the southwest region
Baron in the southeast region
Waver in the northwest region
Karma in the northeast region
Including the common area, the Peace Zone at the southern entrance where no fights or crimes were allowed, the Triad could be divided into a total of five zones.
One of the members of Sion, a female named Shasha, waited anxiously in the Peace Zone of the Triad. With brown hair, black sunglasses, and dressed in a mafia-like suit, she was approached by someone.
“What’s up? Is that Shasha? What’s someone from Sion doing here?”
Upon hearing a familiar voice, Shasha turned her head. There stood a familiar blonde, gyaru-style delinquent girl.
“It seems stranger that a claw from Baron is here. Nevi.”
Shasha replied to the one called Nevi, trying to use the most degrading language she could.
Nevi, a member of the rival organization Baron, had joined around the same time as Shasha. They had collided over various incidents, developing a relationship akin to foes who were somewhat familiar with each other.
“So what brings you here? Waiting for a boss’s toilet delivery like last time?”
“Unlike a lowly one like you, I’m waiting for a VIP you couldn’t even imagine, so leave me alone.”
Remembering the significance of this task from her boss, Shasha felt a swell of pride. She had been ordered to handle a critical mission concerning the organization and the Triad crisis, hiring fixers and guiding them.
Having received such an important assignment made her heart race, and she didn’t want to linger any longer with someone like Nevi, who performed trivial tasks.
“Well, looks like you’re waiting for a toilet cleaner, take care of that.”
“What about you? What are you doing here?”
At Shasha’s words, Nevi then started bragging about what she wanted to announce.
“I, on the other hand, am expecting VIP guests you couldn’t even dream of. They’ve got a hefty seven bills!”
“Spending so much on a trivial trip? What a ridiculous wealthy person.”
“Your head must be sad for thinking only about such trivial travels.”
Most people travel to the Triad looking to enjoy what they can’t outside, and Shasha found such travelers spending seven bills to be pathetic. Nevi wanted to correct her, but this trip was one of Baron’s secret offerings, so she could only look at Shasha with pity.
“Well, take care, leftover from Sion.”
“Bier from Baron, do your best not to fall apart.”
With that, the two returned to their respective places, waiting for their VIP. Hours later, the fateful carriage arrived at the safe zone of the Triad.
