To Be a Power in the Shadows!

Chapter 81: Breakfast at the Special Seating NAO

Oh yeah~, that went well.

Oh that went well indeed.

As planned, I managed to fight while heavily stressing on beauty of form. For the sake of becoming a power in the shadows, I had a phase where I solely focused on mastering beautiful sword forms. It's so pretty that it's quite different from Shadow's sword, but I'm glad that my efforts from back then have finally borne fruit.

Thanks to Annerose, I've already accomplished around 70% of what I wanted to for the Festival of the God of War. The only task left is to bring things to a good conclusion. But I have several options that I quite like, so it's hard to choose.

The simplest one would be to win the championship, but after looking at the tournament brackets, it seems that the biggest climax to this narrative would be the next match, the one against Iris. Simply disappearing after defeating Iris is also worthy of consideration. It would totally give off the whole "mysterious powerhouse" kind of feeling.

After defeating the person that everyone acknowledges to be the strongest, then saying something like "My aim has been achieved……" and then vanishing.

Nice, isn't it?

If I defeat Iris and then disappear, then Nee-san would very likely win the championship.

Me turning out to be an evil assassin would be great too, it'd be so intense.

In the middle of the match, I can say "I am sent from an assassin organization…… your life shall be mine!" and then abruptly start fighting with complete disregard for the rules. The fact that this would enable me to leave the tournament in a natural way scores high in my book.

Ah~, but I guess ending by claiming the championship really would give me the greatest sense of accomplishment.

There are still several more options that could turn out really fun, so let's take the time to think this through before deciding.

As I return to the special seats while thinking such thoughts, I notice a random ossan that I don't know sitting in my chair. I quietly close the door and do an about face.

Nee-san's match is already over anyways, so it should be fine.

So I return to the dorms early to do a bit more image training.

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The next day.

I am sitting in the special seats and enjoying their complementary morning coffee. Apparently Mitsogoshi Co. still holds a monopoly over coffee. How impressive is that?

"Delicious."

By the way, I'm the type to add lots of milk and sugar.

At first I had really been leery of this special seating, but after getting used to it, I very much enjoy its convenience. Just by asking one of the maids, I can get most anything for free, so I get to feel like a celebrity.

After enjoying the atmosphere of the venue for a while, Princess Iris makes her appearance.

"Good morning."

"Mor—ning, good morning."

(T/N: His greeting started out casual, then he caught himself and added a suffix that makes it more respectful.)

"Oh, coffee. It's sure gotten popular lately. I like the fragrance, but I'm a bit bad with the bitter taste……"

"You can just put in lots of milk and sugar and turn it into cafe au lait."

"Cafe au lait……"

Princess Iris immediately calls one of the maids over to server her one, and gives it a taste. She sure moves fast.

"Oh, this is pretty good……"

"I know, right? It's like a magic technique to make all coffee taste the same."

With that, I also order some toast and eggs to make it into a classy breakfast.

If there was social media in this world, I would have totally snapped a smug selfie and wrote "breakfast NAO with royalty in special seating."

Around when I finish my breakfast, the other actually important people begin to slowly file into the room.

Then their gossiping—oh, I should call it 'socializing' I suppose?—begins. As someone from a baron family, naturally I'm not part of the conversation and am left behind. It's fine, I don't intend to be a part of it anyways. So please stop trying to be considerate by directing the conversation to me, Iris-sama.

Amidst this slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, it has become almost time for the second day of the matches to begin.

Everyone else also heads towards their own seats, and the mood starts to calm down.

At that moment, the door to the special seats opens again.

When I turn around, I see a figure clad in a faded gray robe.

As before, her face is hidden inside her robe, but that's unmistakably Beatrix.

She notices me and gives me a small wave, to which I smile and nod in return. Kind of like a "hey, we meet again" feel.

However, the eyes of everyone else in the room grow harsh.

I can almost audibly hear "who the hell is this dirty-looking fellow why don't the guards kick her out already." So this is wordless pressure, huh.

"Dear customer, I beg your pardon, but……"

A maid calls out to her, but then at that moment.

"It's fine. She's my guest. Please, come sit here."

Iris calls out to Beatrix.

Beatrix sits next to Iris. Then I'm on the other side of Iris. Incidentally, the seat that Beatrix is in actually belongs to Alexia.

"Iris-sama, this person is……"

"She is the God of War, Beatrix-sama."

When one of the nobles approaches and asks Iris, her answer causes a great stir through the crowd.

"She is that……"

"God of War……"

"The legendary Sword Saint……"

Oooh, that sounds so cool! I also want people to say "that guy is the legendary Shadow……" one day.

"It has been quite a while since Beatrix-sama last came into the public scene, hasn't it?"

"Un. I'm looking for someone."

She nods in response to the noble's question.

"My niece, her face looks very similar to mine."

Clearly having learned her lesson, this time she draws back her hood immediately.

"Ohh, how exquisite……"

"Anyone recognize my face? I heard that lately there have been eyewitnesses in this country of an elf with a face similar to mine."

"Hou, in this country…… I do not think I would ever forget it if I see an elf as beautiful as Beatrix-sama."

"So, no recollection?"

"Unfortunately……"

All the nobles uniformly shake their head.

"I see……"

She puts her hood back on in disappointment.

"I'm sorry. Everyone here has a wide range of connections, so I thought you would get a clue by asking here."

Iris apologizes to Beatrix.

"No worries. I'm an elf, I have lots of time."

"Incidentally, has Beatrix-sama seen some of the matches of the Festival?"

"Not many."

"Is that so. Just within the range of the ones that you know, which participant do you have your eye on?"

"Participant…… u~n."

She looks around the room while considering.

"Sid."

Then she points at me.

"Umm, Beatrix-sama……?"

"I'm paying attention to Sid. Surely he can become strong."

"Uh, no I won't."

I deny her within a second.

The stares from all around hurt.

"This young man…… will become strong?"

"He is our kouhai, but his innate talent is a bit……"

"I mean, he is Claire-san's young brother, but his sense for the sword……"

"Since Beatrix-sama has said so, then it must be so."

With Iris' statement, the ambiguous atmosphere is settled somewhat.

However, the nobles' gazes towards Beatrix have turned skeptical.

Is she even the real one?

They can only see a dirty vagrant.

From my eyes, though, I see that she is, in a good way, in her most natural state.

Her appearance, personality, title, and strength too — she is not ornamenting anything, so the average person cannot see through to her true strength.

"Well then, if anything catches your attention in the match, then please point it out to us too."

For now, the general consensus is to prop Beatrix up, at least while in Iris' presence.

Then amidst this ambiguous atmosphere, the second day of the Festival of the God of War truly begins.