Wow, it’s been a whole month, huh…? I think as I recall my first encounter with the mound and heave a sigh, back in the same abandoned village.

I wonder why things turned out this way.

All my experiments on the flesh were going swimmingly—well, until recently. I spent my days pumping the flesh with magical energy. I mean, it wasn’t my body, so I could go buck wild on it. I was plugging away at my little experiment, testing this and that. In all honesty, it was fun. After all, one of my greatest joys in life is sensing that I’m getting closer to the essence of magic and watching my power grow before my eyes. I pushed forward, inching toward the boundaries of magic with more precision, power, and detail, until I finally had the magical overload under the tip of my thumb when…a blond elven girl appeared.

I guess it would be more accurate to say I was too fixated on improving my command of magic to notice the flesh was a blond elf until that moment. Huh. To think that stinking pile of flesh would return to its original form. I tried sending her off with a lighthearted farewell—you know, the typical You’re a free elf and Happy trails and You’ve got a bright future ahead of you. But she said she didn’t have a home, insisting on repaying me for saving her life, which, er, I didn’t actually do. It was all a coincidence.

I considered ditching her before things got annoying, but I ended up making her Shadowbroker Subordinate A. I mean, she doesn’t strike me as the type to betray me, and she seems smart… There’s something about her that makes me suspect she has too much talent.

And even though she’s also ten years old, she’s more than enough proof that elves develop faster mentally than humans.

“And from this day forward, you will be Alpha.”

A or Alpha. Either works.

“Understood,” she replies with a nod.

She’s your stereotypical elf—a beauty with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.

“And your job is…” I stop to think for a moment.

This is a big one. Her job is to be the assistant to a shadow commander. No mistakes there. Which means I gotta set the scene by answering some basic questions. Like, what exactly is an eminence in shadow? And what purpose do they serve?

Flushing out the appropriate narrative is key. I mean, if I said I was fighting to get revenge for losing at pachinko slots, I wouldn’t seem too cool, right?

I have to choose wisely. I mean, all my daydreams are filled with puppeteers from even before I came into this world and certainly after. I’ve mixed and matched thousands—no, tens of thousands—of possible scenarios in my mind. And I have the perfect one for the occasion.

“To hide in the shadows and prevent the resurrection of Diablos the demon.”

“Diablos the demon…?” Alpha cocks her head in confusion.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of him. You know, the stories of long, long ago. Diablos brought our world to the brink of destruction when three brave warriors—a human, an elf, and a therianthrope, or a hybrid beast—teamed up to destroy him and protected the world.”

“Oh yeah. But isn’t that a fairy tale?”

“Nope, it really happened. But the truth is way more complicated than that…,” I continue, as a small, wry smile appears on my face. I mean, getting to my level and twisting out a scenario from a legend is a piece of cake.

“Just before the heroes slayed the demon, with his very last breath, he put a curse on them, which is known as the Curse of Diablos.”

“The Curse of Diablos? I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Oh, but it exists. It’s the curse of the possessed…and the very disease that ravished your body.”

“What? No way…” Alpha goes bug-eyed in horror.

“The descendants of the heroes have suffered from this illness. Back in the day, the Curse of Diablos used to be curable. Just like yours.”

No one would believe that Alpha was possessed until recently. Her smooth and unblemished skin is evidence to back up my story.

I mean, even though this is a big fat lie.

“It’s proof that one is a descendant of the heroes who saved the world. You know, the possessed used to be lauded, appreciated, and protected—in the past.”

“But no one appreciates us anymore, let alone…” Alpha trails off, screwing up her face.

“There’s someone out there who twisted history—erasing the truth about the lineage of the possessed and hiding the cure to the curse. What’s worse, these people became targets of shame.”

“Ngh…! Who would do such a thing?!”

“Those who scheme to resurrect Diablos. That’s because those with the curse carry the bloodline of the heroes and high levels of magical energy. In other words, they serve as a major military force for us. On the flip side, they’re a nuisance to his supporters.”

“Which is why we’re called the possessed and disposed of…”

“Exactly. You lost your hometown and family—all because you’ve been accused of committing a false sin. Aren’t they despicable?”

“Yeah. There’s no way I wouldn’t find them absolutely detestable.”

“The Cult of Diablos. That’s our enemy. They only work behind the scenes, which is why we must conceal ourselves, too. Lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows.”

“I’m guessing they’ve gotta be formidable if they have enough say to pull the strings behind the scenes. Which means that our enemies hold positions of power…and that hordes of people under their control don’t know the truth…”

I nod seriously. “Our journey may be perilous. But we must go forward. Are you with me?”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll devote my life to it. We’ll punish these sinners with death…” Alpha stares at me with her intense blue eyes and smiles defiantly. Her face is lovely even in its youth and teems with determination and resolve.

I fist pump in my mind. Whoo-hoo! This elf girl is super-gullible!

Obviously, the Cult of Diablos doesn’t exist, which means we’ll never find them. It also provides grounds for me to accuse and slaughter any thief syndicate in the area for being in the Cult. And I bet we can stake out battles between fighters and intervene as shadow commanders. And—and we can say fake-deep stuff for our parting words! Like The end is near… Or The resurrection of the demon is nigh… And it would be so cool if we could arrive with the wind on a battlefield, saying You fools… You’re being controlled…, before completely wiping everyone out…! Wow. I could honestly go on and on.

Right. I almost forgot. The most important part. This name of this organization…

“We are the Shadow Garden… We lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows…”

“The Shadow Garden. That’s a nice name.”

I know, right? It’s sick.

This is the very moment the Shadow Garden and the World’s Greatest Enemy—the Cult of Diablos—is born. I move one step closer to becoming a mastermind.

“I guess we can start by wielding our magic and practicing sparring with each other. I’ll act as the main fighter in battle, but you’ve got to get stronger to wrangle in the small fry.”

“I know. We’ve got a tough enemy on our hands. I have to raise the bar for myself.”

“Right. That’s the spirit.”

“And we have to find other descendants of heroes and protect them.”

“Uh, erm, yeah. All in moderation.”

It would be fun to play shadowbroker with more people, since that’d make it feel more like a legit organization. But I don’t need that many people. I honestly wouldn’t have a problem if it just stayed the two of us.

“Well, for now, let’s just focus on getting stronger,” I suggest, readying my wooden sword.

I block Alpha’s attack, which has an unexpected bite to it. To think she was only a novice until recently. Alpha has a good feel for things and plenty of magical energy, which means I can make good use of her.

Under the moonlight, I swing my wooden sword as these thoughts run through my mind.