To Be a Power in the Shadows! Chapter 9

I have finally become 15 years old, and have matriculated into the Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy. It is known as one of the top leading magic swordsman academies in the continent, gathering talents from both inside and outside of our country.

In the two months that I've been here, I have purposely maintained my grades somewhere slightly below average, the most optimum position for a mob character. And in the meantime, I have been keeping an eye out for protagonist-like characters.

Among the few that I have my eyes on.

Princess Alexia Midgar. The most promising one is her.

Even a chimpanzee would be able to figure her for a big potato just from hearing the title 'Princess Midgar.'

Incidentally, above her is someone even bigger and more famous called Princess Iris Midgar, but unfortunately she has already graduated from the academy.

And it is this Princess Alexia that I am going to have participate in a super important mob event. To be more specific, it is a penalty game.

Yep, you guessed it. It's that one where the loser has to confess to a girl.

Thus, I am now on the school roof, standing a certain distance away from Princess Alexia and facing off against her.

She has shoulder-length silvery white hair, and her red eyes are enchantingly…… arg anyways she has pretty eyes too, and…… her brows are, um…… screw this, I give up. In short, she is really beautiful in the well-featured cool beauty kind. Unfortunately, thanks to Alpha and the others, I've gotten used to seeing pretty faces. I think it would be better if you let some of that tension out of your face, you know? Showing a bit more emotion would make you look a bit more human.

Well, let's set that aside for now. Naturally, I am not the first to attempt this foolhardy challenge. After entering the school for 2 months, already more than a hundred retards have approached her and gotten shot down with the same emotionless phrase.

"Not interested."

It's not like I don't understand. She's probably already got a political marriage lined up for after graduation, and she simply isn't interested in this kind of child's play. But the large majority of the nobles that tried to confess to her should also be in the same boat. After graduation, it'll be straight off to arranged marriages for most of them. That's why they are hoping to have a love affair or two while still in the academy.

Well, whatever their motivations, in the end it is all but the mere frolicking of those who know nothing of the world of shadows.

However, as a mob character, I am also fated to take part in this frolicking. Forced through a punishment game to confess to the school idol and get turned down in the harshest and most heart crushing manner – it is truly a mob-like event, is it not? By completing this event in the most mob-like method possible, I would get one step closer to the most ideal image of a mob character inside my head. And that, in turn, would bring me that much further down the path towards becoming a power in the shadows.

For the sake of this moment today, I stayed up all night deep in thought. What can I do…… How can I confess to make this into the most mob-like confession ever?

Word choice is of course important, but there is also articulation, pitch change, and vibrato, to list only a few. After the whole night of research, I have attained the ultimate mob-like confession, and am now standing at the decisive battle.

Battle.

Exactly. For a mob character, this is nothing short of a great battle.

Power in shadows have power in shadows battles to fight, while mob characters have mob battles to fight.

And thus I, at this moment, as a mob character, must give it my very best.

With resolve in my chest, forward I face.

Princess Alexia…… you might be standing there looking composed and all, but if I really wanted to cut you down, your head would leave your body before you even know what happened. In the end, that is your limit as a person.

Therefore, watch closely.

This is the world's most mob-like confession!

"P, P, P…… Priness Alexia……"

I reveal the 'Stutter' attack card, then display my nervousness through the (in)articulation of 'princess," followed by a pitch change when saying her name.

"…… I, I like you……!"

My eyes leap away from Princess Alexia to swim all over the ground, while my whole body trembles at a barely perceptible degree.

"P-, please go out with me……?"

My word choice is kept to the basics, with no fancy additions, while my pronunciation, pitch, and articulation are flying off to god knows where. Then I ended it all with a rising inflection to exhibit my lack of confidence.

It was perfect……!

Now this, this was the perfect mob-ness that I have been aiming for!

Satisfaction. I feel pure satisfaction.

"Very well. Please take care of me."

"Nn?"

Feeling satisfied, I was preparing to go back when I heard an auditory hallucination.

"You, what did you just say?"

"Please take care of me."

"Ah, ok."

Something doesn't seem right here.

"F-, for starters, let's go back together after school."

Still not fully wrapping my head around this development, I meet up with Princess Alexia after school, we walk back to the dorms together, and part smilingly with a promise to see each other again tomorrow. Then I go back to my own room, dive into my bed, bury my face in my pillow, then scream.

"HOW THE FUCK DID I ENTER THE MC ROUTE OF A GODDAMN LOVE COMEDY?!?!?!?!"

Chapter end