Shadow Author

Stupefied I tried to make sense of what was happening.

Currently, Miss Smith, a teacher at Griffin, an extremely strong warrior, and seemingly straightforward character was kneeling before me, calling me lord.

This was not what I had planned in the slightest.

My end goal was simply for Miss Smith to think that I was stronger than I really was.

Then after revealing some of my secrets it would be easier to make use of her. I wouldn't have to hide everything and by having everything out on the table she would be able to tell me ways to improve them.

Plus what I was truly after wasn't exercising because I could do that in my own time but rather swordsmanship.

However, it seems that my plan backfired because instead of having Miss Smith on my side she was offering her servitude.

This normally wouldn't be that big of a deal. In fact, it could be seen as a huge success as rather than getting a backer I got a free helper.

The only problem with this scenario was that I wasn't this so-called 'lord.'

That meant some other student or maybe even teacher was the true 'lord' and I just stole their position.

Then bringing in the fact that this mysterious 'lord' managed to get someone as powerful as Miss Smith to serve them revealed just how powerful they were.

But that wasn't even the worst part of it! What truly terrified me was that I had absolutely no idea who this 'lord' was nor that they existed in the first place.

I never wrote anything about a hidden 'lord' who had unfounded power to put teachers under him or her.

'Fuck! Why must everything be so complicated?'

Changing my mindset into that of some all-powerful lord I cleared my throat and tried to get as much information as possible.

"It's alright, I'll forgive you this one time, but-"

Before I could even come up with an imaginary threat Miss Smith slammed her head into the ground and praised me — or rather the lord.

"Oh merciful lord I thank you for sparing this pathetic ant's life."

'Oh no, this isn't good.'

Still needing to make sense of this mess I tried to get Miss Smith to answer some questions.

"Yes, of course, you are lucky that this merciful lord is in a good mood today! But by ignoring me for so long I command you to praise my glory! Specifically, all the great things I've done and the type of person I am."

Miss Smith thinking that nothing was wrong went right into giving compliments and explaining everything about the lord.

"Forgive my impudence for not recognizing-"

Getting annoyed by her over-apologetic tendencies I cut her off feigning to be angry.

"Enough of that! Answer me!"

"Yes, my lord! Your graciousness is the leader of The Untouchables!"

"The Untouchables?"

"Indeed! A group that does not exist within this plane of existence that consists of beings that cannot be killed and solely serve you to maintain balance!"

'Immortals?'

"And what is this balance that we must protect?"

Miss Smith, who believed that she was being questioned about her loyalty, began to sweat and explain herself meticulously.

"That's of course mana!"

"Yes, yes, mana, but what exactly must we keep it balanced with?"

"Aether!"

'Aether?'

My wrist buzzed but I ignored it.

"What is Aether?"

At this point, something felt off for Miss Smith. Up until this point she thought she was being blessed with the privilege of meeting a lord but if he didn't even know what Aether was then that meant the person in front of her wasn't who he claimed to be.

Picking up on Miss Smith's feeling by the fact that she stopped kneeling and stood up I realized my blunder. But before I could try to salvage that conversation Miss Smith took the lead.

"Forgive me for this but since you're my lord I'm sure that you can give a better explanation as to what Aether is."

'Shit.'

That was an incredibly smart reply from her because she is testing whether or not I know what Aether is while still downplaying herself in the instant she is wrong.

"Ha, you are right I do know better! But I think this is as far as you need to go with your praise. Why don't we get back to what we were doing?"

Trying to change the conversation I ended with my questions for the time being but it seemed that Miss Smith wasn't willing to let it go so easily.

"Okay I understand, but first my lord I didn't catch your name."

"It's Lucas…"

"No, not your alias, your true name."

'True name? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?'

"Ah well, you see…"

Knowing that I had gotten myself into quite a sticky situation where my life was on the line I tried to think of a way to escape.

I couldn't back down because Miss Smith had just revealed that she was part of a secret force and it wouldn't be long before she realized I wasn't part of it, and when that happened I would be dead.

I was also out of lies as my lack of knowledge made any future attempts at fitting in seem suspicious.

Therefore I took advantage of everything I knew so far and started filling in some holes to create the perfect backstory.

Yet while I was desperately racking my brain Miss Smith continued to add more to my plate while throwing shade.

"Oh and now that I'm thinking about it, why should we keep training? After all, you are so much stronger than me, what could I possibly teach you?"

'Oh no, she's not even calling me lord anymore!'

I continued to remain silent as I tried to wrap everything that I had together to make it make sense.

Finally, a few seconds later I came up with something good enough.

I sighed as if giving up but also brought Miss Smith's attention to focus on me.

"You figured it out."

Miss Smith had a bright smile on her face and she reached toward her side to pull out her sword.

Yet just before she touched the hilt of her sword I began explaining myself.

"Congratulations you passed!"

She paused.

"Huh?"

"You managed to deduce that I wasn't actually the lord you were referring to!"

She left her hand hovering just above the top of her sword still skeptical.

"Then who are you?"