A Shadow in Orario (Danmachi/Shadow In Eminence)

A Shadow in Orario (Danmachi/Shadow In Eminence)

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Splendid

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“Shadow Garden? What’s that, Lili?” Bell cocked his head to the side, while Liliruca Arde sighed. For a guy who managed to save her life and get her out of her former Familia, he was lacking in critical information. Still, she couldn’t deny that he had the strength and potential. She just had to be patient and support him for everything he did for her. That included provided information. “Are they a strong Familia?”

“You could say that, but you could also say they’re not. No one knows who their Kami is, but the fact is that they’re all strong Adventurers. Ones that you’ll find selling you things past the Tenth Floor, despite the fact no one sees them outside of the Dungeon.”

“Eh? How!?” That was a good response. Bell had a good head on his shoulders. She just had to give him the right information. It was a good way for her to prove her worth in her new Familia. “Do they know some way to get in and out of the Dungeon besides Babel?”

Liliruca shook her head.

“No one knows, but a few decades ago, they started showing up, and next thing we knew they were trading things like healing potions, equipment, and other stuff for materials in the Dungeon. The Guild was furious, but they weren’t circulating things outside of Orario. Just taking it somewhere else.” It started during the age of the Zeus and Hera Familias, which was a time that had so many events happen that it beggared belief. Compared to then, Orario was at peace, even with all the terrible things that happened in the shadows. “Anyway, what you need to know is that it’s common for every Adventurer to put aside some of the Drops they get in the Dungeon to pay for the Shadow Garden’s materials. They don’t take any other kind of money… and they always have things that you need.”

“That’s… amazing! Who’s their leader? Can we work with them?” Bell asked and Liliruca was ready to shake her head.

“They don’t work with any Familia, though they do offer equipment and important supplies in exchange for information. This got them into a few fights, but they always win.” Liliruca tried to emphasize that fact, but she saw that Bell wasn’t perturbed. She sighed and put her sandwich down for a second before reaching up and pinching her savior’s cheek. He gave a yelp. “Bell-kun, listen. They’re people that no one understands, with lots of power, and if you go against their rules they will either cripple you or kill you. Not even Level 5s have won against them, and the one time that the Freya Familia tried to capture one, they vanished and returned with someone who destroyed a whole floor… including the Juggernaut that the Dungeon spawned.”

“O-oh, I see. Don’t try anything with them. I get it. Thank you, Lili!”

Liliruca felt her face flush at those words, before nodding and returning to her lunch.

Her thoughts, like many other’s in Orario, lingered on Shadow Garden before putting it aside for a moment.

They were a mysterious business that somehow operated in the deepest depths of the Dungeon, with the Loki Familia finding their awaiting outposts even as they persevered.

They were simply a part of the Dungeon.

A mystery amidst a sea of mysteries.

…

I tilted my head to the side.

Then, I tilted my head to the other side.

Then, back again to resting.

“A world where Adventurers fight a Dungeon, gain power with the assistance of ‘gods,’ and have lots of strange, different materials that we can use and their own form of magic.” Everyone started looking at the magic that sent me to Japan and got me back. It was complicated, but between Zeta and Eta, things were solved, progressed, and Shadow Guardian had a working portal to one world within a few months of my and Beta’s return. I really hoped that they’ve forgiven me for losing their money. “Interesting, but mostly because of the time-dilation effect. You’ve been using it to train new recruits, correct?”

“Indeed, Shadow-sama. You saw through our plans without us even mentioning it.” Gamma gave a prim bow and a few of the girls they’ve all been picking up like strays beamed at me. Some were looking a bit past second-year and third-year of highschool now. Most of Shadow Garden was around my age, since we only managed to start saving people from possession after I came across it. “We are using Shadow Garden’s ability to enter their ‘Dungeon’ and retain our secrecy. We’re also very capable of responding against any threat from to locals instantly with Epsilon’s subordinates Kai and Omega working on the other side.”

“I see.” I turned to the two Elves that worked under Epsilon. They were surprisingly not covered in slime like her. One was blonde, fair-skinned and the other was tanned and dark-skinned. The top halves of their slime suit were fashioned after blazers with a bit of gold on the pauldrons. A good look. I approved their sense of style. “Are the monsters in this Dungeon stronger the lower the levels go? Do the materials they drop become more powerful and worthwhile the further down we reach? Are their powerful monsters guarding the path down every ten or so floors?”

Both were surprised at my observation, so much so that Gamma gushed.

“Shadow-sama, you understand the nature of the Dungeon already? Even when the locals know so little about it?” Hell, yeah. This was straight out of a video game. Adventurers. Floors. Drops. Materials. Bosses. Levelling up. Magic. Gods. Guilds. This was a more RPG-oriented world than the one I found myself in. This was pretty rad! But, still, I couldn’t look too excited. I put a frown on my face. Gamma stepped back in surprise and almost tripped backward. Somehow. Omega caught her. “I-is something wrong?”

I needed to play things up, so that I can play around in this place and maybe clear it! Even Eminence in Shadows need to take a break in a while! Every day that passed here was a year over there, so that meant I could play around and practice at my leisure. My last few days of vacation was going to be great!

But, I couldn’t tell them that, so I called on my slime suit like I was ready to fight for my life.

A little bit of magic to make it clear I wasn’t playing around helped, too.

“Shadow-sama!?”

“I have suspicions that must be eased. Shadow Garden will continue to operate as it has in this world, but I will investigate on my own.” Hell, yeah! I’m going off into a time-dilated RPG. Instead of just training, I’m going to make tons of money, eat loads of food, and train all I want while only seconds pass in real life. This is great! “I will see if this world is truly a boon to our cause, or a curse as I suspect.”

Gamma moved to go after me, but I leapt into the portal without looking back.

Woo-hoo, time for a vacation!

…

Woo-hoo, everything’s coming up for the Shadow in Eminence!

“The time has passed for your existence, monster.” What a kick-ass line to say, while standing upside down on a stalagmite looking down on a massive, skeleton monster that fired beams, used swords, and summoned whole armies. “Perish.”

Now, I wouldn’t be a Shadow in Eminence if I said that and didn’t end the battle in one hit, so I did!

Woo-hoo and the massive monster literally blows up into magic particles that I can just take for myself! Dang, this world is really a cheat place. Over in my world, I had to go out of my way to find places with loads of magic. Here they just had to kill monsters and get power. Or, I guess, EXP? Well, whatever!

“Hmmm, let’s see. One-shotting a boss with a stylish descent IRL. That’s off the bucket list.” I sheathed my sword and snapped my fingers. My slime suit wrapped around the massive sword the boss monster dropped and started eating it up. As I suspected, like all the ‘materials’ dropped by the other monsters, this became ‘real.’ Not all of the monster turned into magic, but instead manifested something to leave behind. Still, that made me think. Unless the Adventurers here were as great as me (unlikely), lots of the magical energy would go to waste… back in the Dungeon! “Ah, this place is permanent unless all its magic is drained. That’s pretty cool. Maybe it regens magic, too?”

I wondered if I could solo this place.

Everyone in this world would be like ‘how is that possible!?’ and ‘who could’ve done such a thing!?’ and never find out.

Man, that would be great.

But… finishing a game without experiencing it’s story is the absolute worst!

“Yep, the gameplay is fine. But I shouldn’t do anything until I get the real experience.” The boss was obviously a few dozen more floors down. This sort of place had to have a 100 or maybe 120 levels. In fact, if I stretch out my magic detection… no, I shouldn’t do that. That would spoil my fun! “Let’s see… should I start off as a Level 1 Adventurer by going to the Guild and joining a Familia? Maybe, these ‘gods’ are going to be fun to fight?”

I thought about it, but… there was also another path that I could take.

“The secret boss after the final boss! The leader of the mysterious merchants that appear all throughout the Dungeon is the true final boss!” Yes. This is perfect. I could experience everything aboveground like a normal NPC, but in truth I’m actually the hidden boss and 'leader' of the mysterious Shadow Garden. Alpha was angry with me for losing her money, but I’m sure that she’ll let me ‘work it off!’ This shit slaps, so even if I get yelled at, it’ll be worth it! “I’ll need to make everything sound convincing though… but because of time dilation, I can just think up whatever I want before going back through the portal!”

Man, I had to stop playing RPGs because they were taking up too much of my training time, but with time-dilation I can really enjoy myself.

This world is awesome!

…

Slums!

Massive inequality!

Those who have power rule, while those who don’t suffer.

“Man, I can’t thank this world enough. It’s making my whole background for me.” I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a pastry, which tasted the same as any high-end shop back home (Japan, not Midgar). The money was purloined from my usual sources. Bandits and thieves were great sources of cash as usual. *Note: Protagonist.* “I’ll definitely be a final, secret boss who’s out to overwhelm the shitty status quo that’s putting everyone down.”

Orario was at the forefront of power and magic and wealth, but it was also a city of oppression, death, and decadence. People were being sold as slaves in underground rings, which were enforced by powerful people blessed by the gods. The rich and wealthy controlled even the gods with Valis, their form of money, and the whole world turned a blind eye to corruption and everything terrible because they were relying on the products of the city.

They were pushing bodies into the Dungeon for the sake of materials they couldn’t get anywhere else in the world.

The RPG was subverting itself… I love it!

“Oops, I should keep studying.” The language here was pretty easy to learn, since Shadow Garden’s members here had plenty of time to learn how to teach it. A few lessons with those here and I was good to go, but I still needed to practice. I had to deliver my lines perfectly, after all! “Let’s go and learn how to speak!”

A bunch of people looked at me funny, which made me feel bad, until they came along and started helping me read and write better.

This is the perfect even to recall when I give my real, final boss speech about this world being wrong, woo-hoo!

…

“H-h-hello, m-my name is C-cid! I just came here from far away!”

Liliruca sighed as she realized what Bell was going to do before he did it.

“Oh, hello! Nice to meet you, Cid! I’m also from out of town!” Bell had a big, wide smile on his face as he helped out the countryside hick that came into Orario. It was a typical case. Kid from outside comes in trying to be a hero and be a great person only to get a reality checked. At least, this kid was alive and working as a delivery boy. “Wow, you’re strong! Where are you taking all of that?”

“All the way to the G-Guild, sir!” At least, this kid knew how to respect others. He bowed to both of them… and he was carrying a lot. Maybe, he was going to be a supporter for one of the better Familias. “I’m a porter with the Porter Company. If you need anything m-moved, a-ask for me!”

The stutter was pretty annoying, but he was obviously learning new words. Maybe, the kid had a future, as long as he didn’t get wrapped up in anything terrible.

In Orario.

The kid was going to die.

“You should make whatever Valis you can and get out. This place isn’t like the stories.” Lilruca stepped and crossed her arms. She put on her sternest face, even when Bell tried to intercede. This was saving someone’s life, so she wasn’t going to back down. “Go start a food stall in one of the nearby villages, get family, get fat, and live a happy life or something. Being a porter here is just asking for trouble. I went through a lot as a Supporter.”

“S-supporter? What’s that?”

Liliruca cursed herself at slipping that bit of information, expecting Bell to spill the beans, but was surprised as Bell took a moment to think before speaking.

“It’s a very important job, but lots of people look down on it, Cid-san. I’m sure you can get into a Familia by saying you’re willing to be a supporter, but they’re treated pretty poorly, unless they start with great Skills.” Liliruca was surprised, but she nodded with her savior’s words. Those were the right things to say. She thought that Bell would support him, but instead he told him the truth. She should’ve expected that from the start. Bell was bright. He was just uniformed. “If you want, I can ask Hestia-sama to check your status before you decide to do anything.”

That was an impossibly massive gift and offer. Most people would never get offered a pact with a Kami just to ‘check’ their status and skills. People without lineage, talent, or connections were usually just taken in at face value and chucked out.

Bell was willing to give a mere porter the opportunity of a lifetime—

“Ah, it’s fine. Thank you. I-I don’t want to be an Adventurer. I w-want to make a l-living in town, that’s all!”

Liliruca didn’t know whether to hate Cid or applaud him.

This was a gift people would kill for… but he was also choosing a quiet, stable life!

What the heck was she supposed to feel after everything she went through!?