The Villainess Who Was Dumped Got Married into My Family, a Mob Noble from the Frontier, and Turns Out, She's an Amazing Capable Wife? - Chapter 78: Not Baldy, But a Shadow

Chapter 78: Not Baldy, But a Shadow

In the world of the otome game, “Belda von Slash” was depicted as a villain against the protagonist. 

After becoming a member of the student council and progressing to the Castor route, she became involved in a school accounting scandal.

The Pentagram and Slash Marquis families have traditionally held the positions of chancellor and assistant chancellor. A marriage between these two houses would allow them almost complete control over the nation’s finances. Consequently, Castor and the protagonist faced strong pressure from both families.

In this route, the focus is not on heroic battles against demons or international conflicts but on domestic power struggles among nobles, with fewer battle scenes. 

Since Castor himself had almost no combat ability, he needed allies skilled in fighting, like Edward and Clive, to avoid attacks from hostile nobles and expose the corruption within their ranks.

Towards the end, their connection to a neighboring country becomes apparent, and they face a formidable enemy. Edward, Clive, and Castor suffer near-fatal injuries in this battle, which triggers the protagonist to awaken as a saintly figure, causing the enemy’s general to retreat.

Both the Pentagram and Slash families understand the value of the blood of one who has awakened as a saint, so Belda is ordered to withdraw, resolving the conflict.

Belda’s ultimate fate remains unknown, but she was merely following orders, so she likely faced no repercussions.

She’s quite a strong woman, in my opinion. 

Could such a person really start trouble using some foolish visuals and scheme something against the first-year student council, which holds considerable status?

Well, I don’t know the details.

She is Castor’s fiancée, and since I killed him in a duel, it’s understandable if she holds a grudge against me.

“―Either way, if whoever gets in my way, I’ll just have to kill.”

Whether it’s her or the families behind her, if they come at me, I won’t hesitate to crush them.

That’s what I muttered to myself on the roof of the library.

It was midnight, a new moon, and the world had completely merged into darkness.

“This is the reversed world of the dark night, where the school’s streetlights resemble stars, Barbarian.”

“…Why are you here?”

Emerging from the darkness was a bald man in a robe with a mask. 

I had let my guard down, thinking no one else would be on the library roof, but I hadn’t noticed him probably because he was wearing that robe of concealment.

So he’s calling himself a shadow and starting some espionage role-play.

Just when I thought he wasn’t sneaking around anymore, he started a different kind of serious sneaking, and it’s unbearable to watch.

If left unchecked, he seems the type to ascend to the throne and continue causing trouble for everyone around him—unchanged unless he’s truly powerful.

“I am the shadow of the Empress, you see.”

“Ah, right.”

“Rest assured. You, called the Barbarian, are more fitting than I, who am deemed a fool. I have no right to love anyone.”

He started speaking out of nowhere.

Well, it’s not surprising if he thought kneeling and calling himself the Empress’s shadow in front of me, her fiancé, was unappealing.

“I don’t really care about that.”

It’s not that Alicia has forgiven Edward or anything like that; she just lets him do whatever he wants because he doesn’t listen anyway. 

Whether Edward is worthy of love is none of my concern.

He might be trying to prove something with his actions, but even that doesn’t really matter to me—it’s not about forgiving or not forgiving. 

If he wants to suffer, let him suffer on his own.

“Just one piece of advice,” 

I said without looking at Edward.

“If you think you’re not going to die and can go around calling yourself ‘the shadow’ or wearing masks, you’re mistaken. You’re just wasting the life you’ve been given, and it will end cruelly and mercilessly.”

I had come here thinking maybe some magician hired by the nobility was up to something in this dark night.

Probably a battle with a high-level magician is about to start, and if he interrupts and ends up dying, that’s just how it’ll be.

“Of course, I’m aware. Very aware. That’s why—”

Edward floated up slightly.

“Heh?”

It was wind magic, and he cast it without chanting.

He was using the power of the wind to fly.

The principle might seem simple, but it’s actually quite difficult. 

Humans aren’t airplanes, you see?

It’s easy to push oneself with wind pressure, but you’d probably crash and die.

So, what does he do?

Vorsea makes the moisture in the air viscous, using it to swim through the air as if moving through water. 

Similarly, the flow of magical power surrounding Edward seemed to interact with the atmosphere, keeping him suspended in the air.

Of course, I can do it too. 

I just prefer using barriers to run through the air because it’s faster.

“―Let me handle this attacker myself.”

“When did you start using magic without chanting?”

I asked as I jumped up to where Edward was floating high in the sky, deploying a barrier in front of him.

“I saw it up close and had it used on me. If I couldn’t do it after all that, I wouldn’t deserve to be called a shadow, would I?”

“That makes sense.”

Watching me use magic without chanting and having Mariana use it on him must have been inspiring. 

It’s quite genius of him to master advanced chantless magic on his own. He really is a high-spec prince.

Floating in the air is proof of his skill. If he wants to defeat the dark magician here, I might let him try.

“I won’t help even if you’re dying, is that okay?”

“Of course, I’ll settle this in an instant.”

Bold words from Bald Prince.

He’s essentially boasting about killing someone here, but let’s see if he can actually do it.

“Then go, Shadow.”

“I’m not baldy, I’m the Shadow.”

Yeah, I said Shadow. 

This nickname thing is getting a bit annoying.

“Alright, Hound, I’ll prove that I’m worthy of the title Shadow. I’m about to commit a sin. But deciding whether to save or end lives is the royal family’s fate.”

With those words, Edward descended towards a group of dark mages stealthily invading the student dorms.

He must have had this information, which is why he appeared before me like this.

It’s almost funny how he’s really acting like a shadow.

Oh, I was just hanging around thinking maybe they’d show up.

If they didn’t, I’d just head back home—it’s right around the corner, after all.

“I’ll watch and see your resolve then.”

I decided not to intervene.

The Aetherdam family is renowned for their mastery of wind magic, and the royal family claims to rule over all as the sky itself. 

Wind magic can be flashy if desired, but its true value often lies in subtler spells like invisible blades of air.

Could he really behead every magician in an instant? But that would alert them, and they might retaliate.

As I was thinking this, Edward, who had descended quietly, snapped his fingers. I wondered why he made a noise, and then suddenly, dozens of magicians walking around collapsed all at once.

“That’s surprising.”

I thought he might be manipulating the oxygen concentration, but he had actually altered the components of the air.

The snap caused the covert magicians to look up suddenly. In that moment, they took a deep breath.

As a result, they passed out and struggled painfully. 

In the end, Edward quickly killed them with a silent blast of wind pressure from above.

Watching the magicians writhing in pain, Edward said,

“Let’s leave one alive who can endure. We’ll roast him with fire until he spills information. Don’t worry. Even if half his body is burned, a magician won’t die.”

…This baldy is really something.