Light Novel/Volume 4 (2024)

This is the fourth volume of the light novel series, The Eminence in Shadow (陰の実力者になりたくて！, Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!^?).

Synopsis[]

Summary[]

Oriana's "Black Rose" Civil War Wedding Incident[]

During a mission in her home country, Rose Oriana finds out her mother is a hostage to Duke Doem, abandoning her mission and comrades from Shadow Garden and is then forced to marry him. Once Cid hears that she's getting married to Doem, he gets annoyed and frustrated that she will be handing over the throne to him once they get married and goes to confront her over her reason to marry. For that, he infiltrates the Oriana palace by playing the part of a music student of Epsilon, who has been acclaimed as a genius musician in Oriana by playing some of the songs taught to her by Cid.

Once inside, Cid is stopped by Doem who questions his identity and requests that he play a song on the piano to confirm his identity as the genius musician apprentice. He then plays Moonlight Sonata and awes every single person in the venue. Before leaving he steals a ring Doem kept in his pocket inside a box, planning to sell it to earn money.

Cid, as Shadow, saves Victoria, Shadow Garden member 559, the only other member of Shadow Garden directly helped by Cid, aside from the 7 Shadows and Rose Oriana. Victoria reports that Rose Oriana, operative 666, has betrayed them.

He then finds Rose by asking her maid, who wanted to garner favor and recruit him as a musician to her household, and questions her about what they talked about before. Cid tries to convince her by mentioning his often undermined dream(being an eminence in shadow) while Rose believes he is speaking of their future together, to which she cries and sends him out. Soon after, Doem shows up, once more reminding her of her mother's hostage situation and threatening her. They leave and Cid silently drops from the ceiling, having heard the entirety of the situation. Going to investigate, he finds out the truth: her mother wasn't a hostage, but Doem's lover and also participated in poisoning the king. Cid then appears to Rose as Shadow, showing her the truth. Rose, unable to take it, collapses. Once she wakes up, she is confused and feels betrayed, but manages to recompose herself thanks to Cid playing Moonlight Sonata for her at her Window and supporting her. Cid leaves, and Rose picks up something left at the place he was, assuming he left it for her: Doem's Ring.

Back with Epsilon, Cid contemplates where he lost the ring, regretting not being able to make money out of it.

At the wedding, Rose says she does not accept Doem as her husband, claiming to know the truth, and wears the ring Cid gave her. A projection from the late king Oriana is shown, surprising everyone. The ring was a key to a "weapon" that permitted Oriana to win an impossible war in the past, it belonged to the Oriana Royal Family and was being searched for by the Diablos cult, which acquired it after controlling the king. The king reports that he is being poisoned and will fall at the hands of the hidden enemy(cult), implicating that even his wife may be involved, and entrusts the Oriana Kingdom's future to Rose.

After the Ragnarok is activated, Mordred, the 9th seat of the cult, eliminates Doem, who messed up and fights the members of Shadow Garden. Shadow faces the Giant Bat (Demon King?) of another dimension called Hell. Shadow manages to kill it without injuries aside from a little burnt hair, saving Oriana. After the bat's death, Mordred absorbs his power. Shadow kills him and a dark portal opens up. Shadow "entrusts his body to darkness" going inside the portal, followed by Beta.

Return to Earth[]

The portal closes and Cid, who wanted to say something cool while disappearing and jumped in the portal, and Beta, who followed him, find themselves in a post-apocalyptic Japan, years after Cid's past self, Kageno Minoru's death, Remembering that his parent lived in the US with his dog, he is relieved. Cid pretends to have learned Japanese in a matter of seconds after arriving in Japan, astonishing Beta. They're attacked by monsters, easily defeating them. After detecting human life nearby, they pretend to be unconscious.

The group of humans who found him is led by Nishino Akane, Cid's former schoolmate whom he rescued from kidnapping as the Stylish Bandit Hunter Slayer with a crowbar. It has been 3 years since Cid's death, and it was revealed that, for some reason, Akane blamed herself for it. Also, she and Cid appeared to have had a more complex relationship, where they knew deep secrets about each other, such as Cid's secret life as a bandit hunter. In the infirmary, Cid tells Beta to pretend to be mute and not able to comprehend words, which she couldn't. Akane's older brother, the chief researcher who studies Awakening, the phenomenon called demonic possession in the other world, offers to help treat her condition. Cid tells her to keep an eye on him. In a matter of days, Beta manages to learn the language, as well as to use technological devices to the point that she's able to converse almost perfectly, despite her not-so-perfect accent. Meanwhile, Cid plays the role of a weak boy with amnesia, Minoru, who gets helped and protected by Akane. Akane protected him because he reminded her of Cid, and was reminded of her guilt regarding his death and that she couldn't forget him. An invasion occurs, and Cid becomes Shadow and slays the monsters easily. Everyone is dumbfounded. There was a spy in the group, it was the doctor who lost her husband due to Akane and her brother. Looking for revenge, she infiltrated the base and helped their enemies. She kills Akane's brother and causes her magic power to go berserk, becoming a monster guided by destructive instincts. Shadow stops it. When she is about to fall unconscious, Cid says: "Be careful not to be kidnapped next time" and she realizes Cid is still alive and saved her. Beta finds a way to go back home, using Mordred's head to open the portal once more. Cid goes back. Beta tries to take the computer and electronics with her to the other world, but the portal is too small to pass the huge bag she is carrying. She then decides to take Akane instead, so that she would help her reproduce the technology over there, leaving everything and shoving Akane in the bag.

Chapters[]

Note: The chapter count does not include the Appendix, which contains character profiles and 'The Chronicles of Master Shadow Complete Version: Volume 4.'

• Prologue: It's Time for a War in the Oriana Kingdom!
• Chapter 1: Putting the Kibosh on Rose Oriana's Wedding!
• Chapter 2: Begin Operation: Obstruction!
• Chapter 3: Crashing the Ceremony!
• Auxiliary Chapter: Rise of the Fancy Hoodlum Slayer!
• Chapter 4: Lurking in the Darkness in Fantastical Japan!
• Chapter 5: Sneaking Around in Japan, Just like the Old Days!!
• Chapter 6: Something Smells Fishy... But an Eminence in Shadow Always Cracks the Case!
• Epilogue: Behold, a Full-Fledged Eminence in Shadow!
• Appendix

Characters[]

In order of appearance:

Illustrations[]

Trivia[]

• From volume 4 going forward, the story of the light novel is different from the web novel.

References[]

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