155. Soul Searching

I had left the kingdom of Midgar where I was born and raised, and now, have ended up in a concentration camp in Oriana. In this unknown land where not a soul knew me, I sought to find myself.

That’s what this was after all. I journey of soul searching.

 

All the actions I’ve taken in my life has been for one purpose: to be a power in the shadows.

But am I truly on the correct path to reach my ultimate goal?

Is there not something more I can do?

 

I’ve had various thoughts on the matter, and I’ve narrowed it down to one thing that I believe I currently lack.

That is— Overwhelming might.

 

A power in the shadows must be strong. That is a given fact.

The issue is how to display that strength to the fullest.

 

Instakill my foes— the simplest idea. But it’s dull and boring.

Show them power beyond imagination— of course I will. But that’s still not enough.

Be unharmed no matter what the enemy dishes at me— YES! This!

 

As a power in the shadows, I will let them know despair by showing that their attacks mean nothing to me, then use power beyond imagination to instakill my foes!

The point is to make sure the enemy has exhausted all their trump cards, and being fine regardless. That is the moment when they will drown in despair and truly lose to me, and any witness to such a feat would surely gain an instinctive sense of overwhelming might that is a power in the shadows.

 

So the question is, have I done that for my enemies so far?

Have I sent them to the pits of despair?

I have not.

 

This was what I was lacking all this time! Overwhelming might!

With that reasoning in mind, I tested it out with those 5 hoodlums, taunting them to give me everything they had. It wasn’t enough. It was not enough.

What am I doing trying to get some level 1 convict to throw out trump cards?

I should just instakill low-level plebs like that.

Here I was expecting those last 4 could launch a special combo suicide move or something. Imagine my disappointment.

 

Instakill any mobs, that’s how a power in the shadow rolls.

And for boss characters, I make sure they exhaust everything they have, that’s also how a taepodong dongs.

Though I’d need to kill some of them faster too. Depends on how much I can handle really. Gotta always adapt to the situation and get the best out of it. That’s how a power in the shadows should be.

And doing that, I’ll be one step closer to my supreme goal.

 

Happy with the knowledge that I’d learned and grown, I was on a stroll in the camp courtyard.

The icicles glistened under the morning sun.

My breath was white in the cold air.

Oops. Stepped on a body. Dead from frostbite.

Ah, what a refreshing morning.

 

As such, I was blending in with the all my other mob campmates when I noticed a familiar presence.

“Hm?”

Perhaps noticing me turning around, the other party did the same.

“—Eh?”

 

For a few moments, we stared at each other.

 

He… no, she looked like a man at a glance.

Her prison clothes were dirty and her head was wrapped up in a cloth, revealing only her amber eyes.

She was disguising herself to hide any feminine curves.

Epsilon uses her slime bodysuit to do something similar. Well, the opposite actually.

 

Yes, I know her.

“Miss… Rose.”

“C-Cid…”

Both of us were surprised.

 

After the thing at the God of War Fest, she was working part-time for Mitsugoshi Co. as I recall.

Then how come she’s here….?

 

Oh… I see. So she’s been thinking too.

You can’t be working part-time forever.

She’s clearly thinking constructively about her future.

 

And so, she’s also on a journey of soul searching.

She quit her job and is here— to take back her country.

In the first place, her killing the king was the start of all this.

So her being here is not surprise at all…

 

“Miss Rose… So, you’re…”

I was so amazed by her resolve that I was at a loss for words.

 

Incidentally, the mana sealing collar on her neck was a fake.

Which means that she too infiltrated this camp. And gathering all these clues, there is only one conclusion to arrive at.

 

She, Rose Oriana— is OWL.