Modret glanced at the maid bowing slightly toward him, and his brow furrowed in deep thought as he turned to the fairy hovering silently for an explanation. He didn't understand what was going on.
Noticing his confusion, the fairy exhaled slowly, then began explaining.
{Every shadow servant regains their mannerism of speaking and faint memories from when they were alive.}
Modret was slightly stunned. He pointed at the shadow servant in front of him. "So you mean she recalls what transpired before being killed?"
{Quite plausible, but there's a slight certainty that she does.}
"Isn't that dangerous?" Modret hastily asked, fearing the worst.
At that, the fairy's voice contained a hint of amusement as she answered tentatively,
{You don't have to worry about that. As your shadow servant, she's bound to you and is unable to fight back.}
With that, Modret nodded in relief, then turned his attention to the shadow servant standing in front of him.
"You can understand me, right?"
The shadow servant nodded.
"In that case, can you recall who ordered you to assassinate me?" Modret's eyes were filled with curiosity he could hardly suppress. Perhaps he would finally understand who his killer was?
Hearing his words, the face of the maid twisted repeatedly, and after a while of tense silence, she finally replied, "I can't seem to recall her name or her face, but I do remember we were supposed to meet under the umbrella tree for me to hand her your head. Perhaps she's still waiting there."
Modret's eyes lit up instantly. If he followed her to the meetup place, wouldn't he be able to easily find out who was after him?
However, at that thought, he quickly shook his head. 'That's too dangerous. What if it's some sort of complex trap?'
Modret had heard of scenes where the mastermind would be watching from a mile away. By then, it would be pretty easy to catch him.
The fairy beside him just rolled her eyes. {Still so cautious about everything. If that's the case, you can just let her go, then use the shared vision. It can be used for one minute currently. Perhaps tell her that when she gets to the umbrella tree, she should activate it.}
'Huh? There's something like that?' Modret's eyes went wide in amazement as he glanced at the fairy, his gaze filled with astonishment.
{Of course there's something like that. It's basically called Shadow Sense, and it enables the Lord of Shadows to use all five senses of his subordinates. You can hear what they hear, see what they see, and even control them to speak in words you want.}
Hearing the fairy's explanation, Modret nodded in understanding, but the joy in his heart was hard to suppress. He was pleased by this development.
'Time to try it then!' He clenched his fist and began plotting silently in his heart, running through simulations with the fairy.
Time passed swiftly like the spring breeze, and in the blink of an eye, night arrived. Under the cover of darkness, Modret lay quietly in his room. However, from his shadows, something slipped out unnoticed.
Then, the figure of the maid formed outside his house and began swiftly heading in the direction of the umbrella tree.
The distance was slightly farther than expected, but soon she arrived at the umbrella tree. Upon reaching it, she called out lightly, "Master!"
The place was silent, save for the faint rustle of branches and leaves. The hum of crickets danced in the air, and the hoots of owls echoed through the night sky.
Just as the servant had been waiting for a while and was beginning to think no one was coming, a faint creak echoed in the depths of the night. Along with it came the deep voice of a female.
"I thought you died?" the voice was laced with faint curiosity.
Hearing her, the maid quickly bowed, reiterating the words Modret had told her to reply with.
"After failing to kill the boy, I quickly hid my presence for fear of incurring the wrath of his parents and the other noblemen…"
The figure nodded, feeling it was reasonable. Then she stepped out of the shadows. The moment she did, just as Modret had ordered, the shadow servant immediately activated the Shadow Sense—causing Modret to… become her!
Modret felt his vision shift, and the next moment, from the familiar wooden bed and lavish furniture, his gaze was met with a tree that looked like an umbrella, its branches sticking out and completely blocking the moonlight.
In front of him stood a figure clad in a flowing green robe. Her aura radiated a sense of myth, but something about her caught Modret's eyes. On her face was a blue mask.
The eyes beneath the mask stared down at the servant. However, just as everything was going smoothly, the woman's pupils suddenly shrank, and her solemn voice resounded faintly from beneath the mask.
"Who are you?"
Modret's eyes widened in alarm. It seemed the blue-masked figure had sensed the subtle change?
He didn't believe it at first and quickly masked his surprise, using the maid's voice to speak. "Master, what do you mean, who am I?"
Hearing her words, the blue-masked woman sneered. "I can sense the subtle shift in aura. Tell me—who exactly are you?"
At this, Modret knew he'd been caught. According to his guesses, this woman should be a very strong awakened. It seemed it was impossible for his first shadow servant to leave here alive.
'In that case, might as well give them a show…' Modret thought with a playful smirk.
His voice deepened, becoming masculine as he spoke evenly, glancing directly at the eyes beneath the mask.
"They call me… the Enigma."
"What?" The lady took a step back in shock. She hadn't expected the warning from the organization to be true. Her pupils shrank drastically.
"The Enigma?" she asked tentatively.
The maid didn't reply. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her back and spoke in a deep, somber tone. "I am the being that walks the land of death. Embraced by the shadows, I live in the shadows, and I'm the Lord of the Shadows. Meeting this ant-like vessel of mine can be considered your luck. Don't worry, I'm sending another vessel of mine here. Tell your master that the Enigma says hello."
After Modret finished speaking, he disconnected his link to the shadow servant — another feature he had discovered from the fairy.
The moment he did, the lifeless body of the maid dropped to the ground with a thud. The eyes of the blue-masked woman showed a look of shock.
She hesitated for a moment before approaching the body and placing her hand on it. "Dead? I was actually speaking to a dead person the whole time?"
"Just who the hell is… the Enigma?"