"Casualties across the global battlefields have been stabilized. The factions of World 1 and World 2 have freed up their resources, and we project the next Tri-Realm Joint Conference will convene shortly."
"When that happens, the advantages we secured last time through your power, Lord Shadow, will inevitably be diminished."
"However, the Mitsugoshi Company has successfully monopolized thirty percent of military supplies via the dimensional battlefield. On the civilian front, we've established a reputation for unbeatable price-to-performance ratios, utterly crushing other corporations in both quality and cost."
"We hold the trump card of being the primary supplier for the war effort, and since the other factions pay little heed to civilian logistics, total global monopoly is merely a matter of time."
"In light of this, I am formulating a plan to transfer the benefits we are destined to lose at the conference onto the nations of our world instead."
"This will preserve Shadow Garden's interests and sever the Cult's economic chain, all while maintaining Mitsugoshi's stance of neutrality."
Standing by the window, gazing out at the school grounds, the boy seemed to catch a fragment of the report that piqued his interest.
His eyes, deep, unfathomable pools of darkness that seemed to contemplate the past, present, and future all at once, flashed with a crimson glint.
He turned his gaze toward the beautiful elf with azure hair at his side. She was a breathtaking beauty with the proportions of a supermodel, clad in a black high school uniform.
Behind her, a bevy of other beauties, elves, beastkin, and humans, were buried in their administrative work.
The elf, who had been delivering this earth-shattering intelligence with supreme confidence, froze the moment the boy's gaze fell upon her. Panic instantly seized her.
"My Lord? Is there a flaw in my intelligence? I will have the network reinvestigate immediately!"
Seeing this, the boy simply raised a hand, silencing the elf and the others behind her who were already scrambling to execute a new directive.
"Gamma. I have told you this before. There is no need to burden me with these reports."
The boy's voice was low, resonating with a solemn gravity.
"We do not walk the same path. Seize this chance. Lead the Garden into the light of the sun. Remember... flowers cannot bloom in the eternal dark."
He paused for effect.
"The darkness and the sins of this world... are for me alone to bear. You need not face them. You should not."
His words hung heavy in the room. The girls bowed their heads in silence, but their trembling shoulders and bitten lips betrayed the stormy emotions raging within them.
Witnessing this, the boy let out a soft, melancholic sigh. He turned and walked toward the exit, only to stop with his hand on the doorframe.
"All I can do is sweep away the darkness that lies upon your road to the light. And, Gamma... reflect well on the words I once spoke to you."
Without looking back, the boy departed the innermost sanctum of the Student Council.
….
The moment the boy stepped into the hallway, the transformation was instantaneous.
His spine, previously rigid with authority, rounded into a slouch.
The broad shoulders that carried the weight of the world dropped, exuding an aura of utter mediocrity.
In the blink of an eye, he went from an absolute powerhouse who commanded attention simply by existing, to a background character, a "mob", with zero presence.
"How'd it go, Cid? Is President Luna in a good mood today? She isn't mad, is she?"
The crowd gathering near the door didn't notice Cid's transformation. To their eyes, Cid had always looked like this.
"Oh, for sure. President Luna is in a super good mood today. I even cracked a joke and she didn't yell at me."
In front of the crowd, Cid flashed the standard, harmless smile of a mob character as he briefed them on the situation inside.
"That's a relief. The President has been terrifying lately. One wrong move and you get an earful. Good thing we have you as our vanguard, Cid. You're the only one of us who seems to live in the same world as her."
The guy talking... Saji Genshirou, right? Pretty sure he's Vice-President Sona's lackey.
"Yeah, well, that's the gist of it. Anyway, reporting to her now should be safe. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna head back."
"Yeah, go ahead. See ya."
Hearing Saji's dismissal, Cid hurriedly shuffled away from the crowded corridor.
As for the rumors that would later spread about the President screaming in rage for hours, or the school training grounds being razed to the ground by elemental magic... well, that had nothing to do with him.
Campus gossip wasn't his concern. Wait, no. Mob Character Cid would definitely care about gossip, so he'd make sure to hear about it. As for why Gamma was actually mad? He honestly had no clue.
Cid Kagenou. That is his name.
He is a man who, even in his previous life, burned with the desire to become an Eminence in Shadow. Now, he is simply roleplaying the part of a mob student to perfection.
So, what exactly is an Eminence in Shadow?
Before answering that, let me ask you this: didn't everyone admire heroes when they were kids? The Hero who slays the dragon, the masked crusader fighting monsters on TV... didn't you feel that urge to be just like them?
He was the same.
But the object of his admiration wasn't the hero. It was the Eminence in Shadow.
Neither the protagonist nor the final boss. They are the beings who intervene in the story from the shadows, displaying overwhelming power before vanishing into the night.
He idolized that archetype. If you asked why... well, because it's cool.
Think about it. Appearing out of nowhere, effortlessly crushing an enemy the protagonist couldn't scratch, dropping a few cryptic, profound-sounding lines, and then leaving with a swish of a cape.
Or appearing at the grand finale to fight both the hero and the villain, beating them both, and whispering to the protagonist: "Is this the extent of your power? What can you hope to protect with that?"
That is objectively super cool.
Especially if the character is usually a mediocre, lower-tier mob. But when the chips are down, they stab the enemy in the back and unleash a monologue of pure chaos.
Sure, at that point they might technically be a villain, but the "Eminence in Shadow reveals their true power" trope is a masterpiece that never gets old.
Unlike most kids who grow out of their phases in three minutes, perhaps he was a natural-born Chuunibyou.
To become an Eminence in Shadow, he sacrificed everything in his previous life. Kendo, karate, grappling... he learned every killing art he could find.
But reality is a cruel mistress. No matter how many martial arts he mastered, if a guy showed up with a gun, he would probably lose.
He couldn't accept an Eminence in Shadow that weak.
And so, he began to seek a different kind of power.
Magic. Spirit energy. Sage arts. Mana. Qi.
I didn't give a damn what it was called. As long as it granted me the power to become an Eminence in Shadow, I would take it.
I knew looking for that stuff in reality was ridiculous. But let's be honest, wanting to become an Eminence in Shadow was already peak insanity. So what if I added a little more crazy to the mix?
No one could prove supernatural powers existed. But by that same logic, no one could prove they didn't.
In my book, even if I died chasing the supernatural, I would die chasing my dream. A life well lived.
And then, lo and behold, I actually died while chasing the supernatural.
Thanks to that little mishap, I successfully reincarnated into a world that looked roughly like the First Industrial Revolution, and found magic.
However, this other world was... disappointing. I wouldn't say it was perfectly peaceful, but there were no cataclysmic disasters. There was no stage suitable for an Eminence in Shadow to make his grand entrance.
My daily enemies were bandits. Maybe the occasional campus kidnapper or a rebellious noble trying to usurp the king.
But a secret cult ruling the world from the shadows?
An immortal organization seeking eternal life?
Not a chance.
….
This is a repost and rewrite with more version of the fanfic.