After weighing it over with a calm expression, Cid eventually knocked on the door of the Akatsuki household next door.
"Good morning, Nagisa…"
A long while passed before Nagisa Akatsuki finally opened the door, dazed and haggard. When she saw it was Cid, she tucked away the unhappy look on her face.
"Good morning, Cid-nii-san. Did you… need something from me?"
She forced a smile as she greeted him and leaned against the doorway, showing no intention of letting Cid inside.
"Uh… not really. I just wanted to invite you out for a walk, and check in on you while I was at it."
Seeing Nagisa Akatsuki's pale, hollow expression, as if her soul had left her body, Cid changed his wording at the last second and chose not to reveal his real reason for coming.
"Thanks, Cid-nii-san, but my head's still a mess right now, so I don't think I'll go out."
"I still think it'd be better if you got some fresh air, Nagisa. Don't think too much. Who knows, maybe Kojou Akatsuki isn't actually dead, and one day he'll suddenly come back to life?"
Cid looked at Nagisa Akatsuki with a strange expression, doing his best to tell the truth in the tone of a joke.
"…You don't have to comfort me, Cid-nii-san. It's been a few days since I got the news of his death. I've already accepted reality. You should accept it too."
Even as she said that, Nagisa Akatsuki's eyes filled with tears against her will, and her fists clenched unconsciously.
"If you've accepted reality, then you shouldn't be giving up on yourself like this. I haven't seen you leave the house once these past few days."
Cid spoke plainly. It was obvious that Nagisa Akatsuki had recognized the reality, but deep down, she had not fully accepted it.
Cid could understand that. From Nagisa Akatsuki's perspective, her brother, who had been alive and well, had suddenly died in a terrorist attack. Anyone would be stunned by that.
"Try to think of it another way, Nagisa. Just treat it as Kojou having to leave for a few months because something came up. He'll be back in a few months, and he definitely wouldn't want to come home and see you like this."
He gently patted Nagisa Akatsuki on the shoulder. If he could, Cid genuinely wanted to go to that place and fish out Kojou Akatsuki's soul, but if he went there, it would probably be several years before he got back out. Space and time in that place were basically a complete mess.
To Cid's surprise, after being comforted this time, Nagisa Akatsuki quickly stopped trembling. She only stared at him with empty eyes.
"Why?"
"?"
"Why do you keep saying such unrealistic things, Cid-nii-san? Why won't you accept reality?"
"?"
"Kojou is already dead! He was killed by that Shadow! I… I couldn't even…"
People lived in reality, and reality was cruel. Although Nagisa Akatsuki had not yet entered society, she already understood that much.
That was exactly why she knew how hopeless her brother's death was. Shadow was one of the true top-level powers in this world. The possibility of judging someone like him with weapons like law or morality was zero.
And under these circumstances, she truly did not know what she was supposed to do. After her parents divorced, her mother, Mimori Akatsuki, had barely taken care of them since they were young, while her father, Gajou Akatsuki, could only be called scum. He wandered all over the world, and before this, he had even called her over and caused her to be possessed by the Fourth Primogenitor, nearly killing her.
Her grandmother did seem to know many important people, but against a terrifying powerhouse like Shadow, that was useless. After learning about it, quite a few of her close friends had even advised her to let it go and stop thinking about something so unrealistic.
In other words, there was nothing she could do. At most, she could remember this hatred, then keep living as if nothing had happened.
Yet her neighbor and the person she admired was standing here now, acting as if he had been so badly shocked that he had lost his mind, insisting that Kojou Akatsuki was not dead. After that back-and-forth, Nagisa Akatsuki, who had almost managed to calm down, lost control of her emotions all over again.
"…"
Cid listened quietly to Nagisa Akatsuki's outburst, a thoughtful light flickering in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.
"I'm sorry, Cid-nii-san. I shouldn't have yelled at you, and thank you for trying to comfort me. But right now, I just want to be alone. Please don't bother me."
Nagisa Akatsuki took a step back and closed the door, but Cid could faintly see the tears falling through the air…
"I… don't understand people's hearts?"
Looking at the closed door, Cid felt that according to his rules for playing an extra, he should turn around and leave immediately. No matter how he looked at it, Nagisa Akatsuki and Kojou Akatsuki were not the kind of people an extra should know. That included Rias and the others too.
Theoretically speaking, he had no need to worry about Nagisa Akatsuki's condition at all. Kojou Akatsuki would resurrect in a few months anyway, and during these few months, Nagisa Akatsuki would at least put on a brave face.
He also bore no responsibility whatsoever for Kojou Akatsuki's death. For the sake of his friendship with them, he had already done more than enough. When Kojou Akatsuki went berserk, Cid was the one who cured him. The two times Kojou Akatsuki was captured, Cid merely beat him apart to save him. Now, he had even installed a navigation system in Kojou Akatsuki's soul.
So all he had to do now was leave and give Nagisa Akatsuki some time to calm down. Time would smooth away every trace, and in the end, everyone would be happy.
"But… this really pisses me off."
It felt like some idiotic pretentious writer insisting on calling himself Shakespeare and forcing in some tragic plot. Even though the ending was obviously happy, they had to add a flaw in the middle and call it art. It was disgusting.
Rationally speaking, he was a cold, heartless guy without the slightest bit of humanity. That much was obvious from the fact that he hoped the world would be filled with disasters, just so he could appear as an Eminence in Shadow.
Theoretically speaking, even if everyone in the world died, he would not so much as blink, because he did not have even a shred of humanity.
In that case… why am I pissed off?
Cid closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about that baffling question. After standing there for almost an hour, he finally opened his eyes and turned toward his own home.
One question. What is an Eminence in Shadow?
It is the kind of overwhelmingly powerful character in a story who stands neither with good nor evil, and can beat down both the protagonist side and the villains.
All right, then what is the purpose of that character? Not the character's setting, but their role in the work as a whole. Is it really just to beat up the protagonist side?
The answer is deus ex machina.
As he recalled his past life, Cid walked through the front door of his home. His gloomy expression startled Asia badly, but Cid only apologized before entering his room and opening the closet.
It was like a story where, according to the author's setup, the villain could never be defeated no matter what, or where certain tragedies were destined to remain beyond the protagonist's power to change. An Eminence in Shadow existed to overturn that tragedy without making the protagonist's side inflate wildly in combat power.
If an Eminence in Shadow appeared only to destroy the world, then that character had no right to call himself an Eminence in Shadow at all. He was nothing more than a deus ex machina in a garbage story by some third-rate author chasing tragedy for its own sake.
So...
Cid took a white mask from the cabinet, then pulled an elegant, noble-looking pure white formal suit from his wardrobe.
Why had he always admired the Eminence in Shadow? Because a character who stood neither with good nor evil could definitely change everything. Sure enough, he really did… hate that kind of shitty plot!
He had originally planned to bury this identity as part of his dark past, but since Nagisa would not believe anything said by the extra Cid, then he would simply switch to someone Nagisa could believe in.
He put on the white mask and donned the formal suit. The Netheril Emperor, Roland Augustus, made his entrance!
Let him say this in advance. He, Cid, was both director and screenwriter, and he held all rights of priority interpretation for the Eminence in Shadow!
...
The lights were off, but the faint sunlight seeping through the curtains illuminated specks of dust on the floor. It was clear that Nagisa Akatsuki had not cleaned the house in several days, something unimaginable for the lively, cheerful Nagisa Akatsuki who loved housework.
"Uuuaaah…"
A faint, hoarse sob came from Nagisa Akatsuki, who was crouched on the floor with her head buried between her knees, her legs wrapped tightly in her arms.
What did I just do?
Thinking back on what she had done, Nagisa Akatsuki found it hard to believe. Cid-nii-san had gone out of his way to come and comfort her, yet she had shouted at him and even shut him outside the door…
Taking out her pain on a friend who cared about her and using harsh words to vent at him was not something she should ever have done.
Her heart was torn. She wanted to go out right now and apologize to Cid, yet the pain of losing a family member and those inexplicable thoughts kept her sitting there, unable to move.
"Uu… uu…"
Her lips trembled slightly, and low sobs spilled from Nagisa Akatsuki's mouth, echoing through the room. Her eyes, already red from crying, were squeezed shut, as if she were trying to escape, or as if she had fallen unconscious.
"Avrora, what should I do?"
She murmured to herself, but the sleeping soul inside her body could not answer her at all. Avrora could not respond, but someone else could. She was not the only person in this room.
"How about… taking me as your teacher? I can help you."
A calm, gentle voice rang out in the room, where only Nagisa Akatsuki's crying and silence had existed. In an instant, Nagisa Akatsuki's mind, drowned in grief, anxiety, and conflict, snapped awake.
"Who are you?!"
Light instantly flooded the dark living room. Nagisa Akatsuki endured the sudden brightness and stared in shock and suspicion at the man before her, dressed in white formalwear and as elegant as a noble.
"Does who I am matter? What matters is… I can help you obtain what you want."
"What I want?"
It was a whisper as bewitching as a Devil's. Even though Nagisa Akatsuki had no idea who the man before her was, she could not stop herself from repeating his words.
"Yes, what you want. Say it. Young lady, what is it that you seek?"
Cid strolled over to the sofa and sat down. Looking at the girl standing before him, he showed a confident smile. He was already prepared for Nagisa Akatsuki to ask him to resurrect Kojou Akatsuki.
"Can you… kill Shadow?!"
Nagisa Akatsuki spoke hesitantly. The situation made her involuntarily think of scenes from stories where Devils used the desires in people's hearts to lure them into corruption.
"…If that is what you want."
Nagisa Akatsuki's shocking words were completely outside Cid's expectations, making his answer come several seconds late. Fortunately, Nagisa Akatsuki did not notice that nearly imperceptible pause.
"But is that truly what you want, young lady blinded by hatred?"
"Hatred is not the entirety of a person. Rather than losing more, why not try to gain something instead?"
"For example, try resurrecting your brother, Kojou Akatsuki."
Cid's tone was low, but that speech was useless against the current Nagisa Akatsuki. She cared far more about his final sentence.
"Resurrect… Kojou!"
"To be precise, he was never dead."
As if they had been pulled into a spatial turbulence, the living room around them began to change. Blood-red light and flesh flashed past them, and after a burst of light, they arrived inside a river of blood, surrounded by broken walls of flesh that were slowly repairing themselves.
"Where… is this?"
"Inside Kojou Akatsuki's body."
"!"
As shock appeared on Nagisa Akatsuki's face, Cid began to explain.
"As the Fourth Primogenitor, Kojou Akatsuki possesses an absolutely powerful immortal life force. As long as his soul can return, resurrecting will naturally be easy for him."
"His soul?"
"That's right. His soul. Accept me as your teacher, and I will help you retrieve your brother's soul."
Silence fell. Nagisa Akatsuki went silent. She looked at the mysterious man sitting on the sofa, her mind racing, and finally spoke.
"How can I trust you?"
"That is an interesting question. Taking you as a student was only a spur-of-the-moment idea, so suddenly asking me to prove it does put me in a slightly difficult position. In that case…"
He lightly snapped his fingers. Nagisa Akatsuki did not know if it was her imagination, but after the mysterious man snapped his fingers, the room, which had been quiet yet still faintly filled with background noise, seemed to have been muted all at once.
Thinking of a certain possibility, Nagisa Akatsuki mechanically pulled open the curtains. When she saw the world outside frozen in place, she could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
"Well? Will you become my student?"
With a smile at the corner of his mouth, Cid walked over to Nagisa Akatsuki and spoke teasingly.
"…What is the price?"
She asked hesitantly. The man before her had proven his power, but Nagisa Akatsuki did not believe such an enormous windfall would simply fall into her lap. Yet she had to admit that this windfall had struck directly into her heart. She absolutely had to take it.
"…The price? You already said it."
"When did I…!"
After a moment of silence, the mysterious man before her said that with slight confusion. Nagisa Akatsuki instinctively wanted to question him, but halfway through, she suddenly realized something and stopped.
"Correct. Become enemies with Shadow. Of course, I only want you to target Shadow a little. Whether you succeed or not, whether you do it or not, none of that really matters."
"…So you came to me because of Shadow?"
"In a sense, you are correct. So, what is your choice?"
"Is there any other answer? Mas…"
She wanted to call him Master, but halfway through, Nagisa Akatsuki's throat could no longer produce a sound.
"Teacher and student is close enough. Master and disciple are too intimate."
As Cid lowered his finger, Nagisa Akatsuki suddenly felt that she could speak again.
"I understand, Teacher."
"Mm-hmm. I look forward to working with you from now on, my student."
Looking at Nagisa Akatsuki with her head lowered, Cid showed a satisfied smile.
"Now, let's begin our first lesson."