Watching Sid close the door, Gamma suddenly felt her face grow wet. She reached up and wiped it, only to realize they were her tears. When was the last time she cried?
It must have been when she was still in the countryside and was defeated by Delta. She knew very well that her athletic and combat talents were poor, and she couldn't deny it. Despite being the third person Sid rescued, she was surpassed by newcomers who joined later.
She was the weakest existence among the Seven Shadows, also known as the weakest Gamma. Numerous defeats had told her this truth.
She had intended to dedicate her new life to her savior, only to find that her own strength was utterly insignificant. Isn't that ridiculous?
Rather than living like this in such a disgraceful manner, I might as well die.
With this thought, she was called out by him and taught a fighting style called "Wisdom." Like a drowning person clutching at a straw, she greedily absorbed this knowledge.
Relying on the knowledge he imparted, she established the Mitsugoshi Company in her original world to provide funding for Shadow Garden. Even after the worlds merged, she used the banner of the World Battlefield to make a name for herself, and with advantages in quality and price, she encroached upon the civilian market of the new world.
She thought that through this achievement, she could tell him that she was useful, that she was an indispensable member of the Seven Shadows.
But just over two months ago, her master—Shadow—suddenly summoned all members of Shadow Garden, telling the Garden, which had originally been in darkness, to step into the light, while he himself would remain alone in the darkness.
At that moment, she knew they had been abandoned, simply because their master was too gentle.
If Shadow Garden was to move to the surface of the world, now was the best time—the integration period of the three worlds, when various forces would employ all sorts of dirty tricks in the shadows.
No one would investigate what happened during this integration period, because it would mean making enemies of half the world. Therefore, even if a second-rate force suddenly appeared in this world, no one would care.
"An audience should act like an audience."
How ironic. In their original world, this was what they said to the people living on the surface. Yet, in this new world, this very sentence was returned to them by their master, word for word.
No one objected or asked their master to retract the order, because they were too weak, so weak that they were of no help to him at all.
There was no need to refute it, nor to question it.
In their original world, Shadow Garden had once been an enemy of their master, Shadow. It was during that time that their master, Shadow, proved with facts that they were useless beings who could be easily destroyed if he wished. It was also then that the dignity of Shadow Garden was shattered.
Shadow Garden, which could contend with the Diabolos Cult that secretly ruled the original world, was merely a second-rate force in this new world. And their master, the god of Shadow Garden, even in this new world, only four individuals were qualified to fight him.
That's right, they were holding him back. For their master, he was one of the strongest in the world, and no one could defeat him. But if they were included, even if he was still one of the strongest, there was a possibility of him losing to weaker opponents.
If there was no possibility of defeating him, enemies would only show their fangs in the dark, and no one would dare to show hostility towards him openly. But they had become their master's weakness; enemies would frantically attack them to defeat him.
This was not without precedent. In World No. 1, there was once a war primarily involving demons, Fallen Angels, and angels.
Although the god on the angel's side was theoretically a powerhouse of the same level as their master, he was dragged down to mutual destruction by the four Demon Kings on the demon's side. Perhaps there were various reasons, but it was undeniable that the angels held the god back; otherwise, even if the god was weak, the four Demon Kings would not have been qualified to achieve mutual destruction with him.
Although his appearance was very cold, their master was very gentle; it was impossible for him to abandon them because they were weak.
He taught them fighting methods, guided their hearts. Although their plight had nothing to do with him, he saved them, who had been abandoned by their families and countries, simply out of sympathy.
To repay this kindness and for revenge, they established Shadow Garden. Most of its members were like them, girls who had been possessed by demons and then abandoned by their families or countries.
But did this make a difference to him?
No. Everyone in Shadow Garden believed one thing: even if they chose to leave after being saved by him and not fight the Cult, he would still choose to fight and save more girls like them who were possessed by demons.
Could the Cult defeat him?
Impossible. In the face of his absolute strength, the world would still be saved by him, and those possessed by demons would be healed and reborn by him.
Perhaps in the master's eyes, the so-called Shadow Garden fighting the Diabolos Cult was no different from a game.
But even if it was a game, in the original world, they had the ability to protect themselves in the game and even contend with the Cult. Now, they didn't even have the ability to protect themselves.
So, being abandoned was probably natural. If their master were an evil person, there would be no need to consider this, as they were more than capable of being cannon fodder. But unfortunately, their master was very gentle.
He hoped they would take this opportunity of world integration to step into the light, rather than remaining in the darkness until the Diabolos Cult was destroyed. He would face the Cult and any darkness that might appear in this new world by himself.
"Nu, did you hear what Master just said clearly? If so, have the intelligence team focus on investigating the control of transportation lines and goods by various countries in our world."
"I heard clearly, Gamma-sama. I am currently notifying Zeta-sama to have the intelligence team infiltrate various countries to collect intelligence."
Suppressing her tears, Gamma gave orders as if nothing had just happened.
Gamma, just as Sid had thought, immediately understood the words he left before he departed.
"Gamma, think carefully about what I told you before."
These words were telling her that her report just now indeed had a problem, and the answer was hidden in the knowledge he had taught her previously.
This was his teaching style for her: rather than telling her the answer, he preferred to give her hints and let her solve it herself. They could also choose to ignore it completely, and before the problem erupted, Sid would transform into Shadow and solve it for them, but this also meant that they had disappointed him.
She briefly recalled what Sid had said before, then opened her eyes.
"If things go too smoothly, stop and look behind you. Otherwise, how can you be sure that your so-called smoothness isn't something someone else planned?"
Thinking carefully, she seemed to have taken the neutrality of the Mitsugoshi Company for granted. In the original world, Mitsugoshi Company could control the world's economy and issue currency because various countries needed them for economic flow and development. Therefore, it was best for them to be a neutral faction, and they could only be a neutral faction.
After the world integration, Mitsugoshi, through its own advantages, had a tendency to become an economic giant in the new world, only needing to declare its neutral stance to gain the trust of the forces from the other two worlds. But the question was whether the countries of the original world wanted Mitsugoshi Company's neutrality to be neutrality between their own worlds or neutrality among all three worlds. The answer was self-evident.
She had taken the neutrality of Mitsugoshi, which resulted from compromises between the countries of the original world, for granted in the new world, but overlooked whether the countries of the original world were willing.
She believed that various countries had already employed some tactics, more or less, against Mitsugoshi Company, attempting to stab it in the back when Mitsugoshi Company declared its neutral stance, thereby tying Mitsugoshi Company to their own faction.
Although the possibility of destroying Mitsugoshi was not nonexistent, it was too low. Without Mitsugoshi, the suspicions among countries would not only cause the already largely established economic system to collapse, but what would they use to counter the economic invasion from the other two worlds?
If she hadn't known, their small tricks might have succeeded. At that time, Mitsugoshi, having lost its neutral stance, no matter how angry it was, could not act against the countries on the same boat.
But since she already knew, it was simple: find the bombs planted by various countries, then resolve them, and even counterattack.
"What I can do is remove the darkness from your path to the light. And, Gamma, think carefully about what I told you before."
Correction, they were not abandoned by him; he merely intended to give without asking anything in return from them. He still regarded them as children who needed to be saved. It was they who unilaterally felt they had been abandoned.