Watching Cid close the door with her own eyes, Gamma suddenly felt her face grow damp. She reached up and wiped it, only to realize they were her tears.
When was the last time she cried?
It must have been back when she was still living in the countryside, after she lost to Delta.
Gamma knew very well that she had little talent for physical activities or combat. There was no denying it. Even though she was the third person Cid had saved, she had already been surpassed by newcomers who joined later.
Among the Seven Shadows, she was the weakest.
She was even called Gamma the Weak.
Countless defeats had made that fact painfully clear.
She had intended to dedicate the new life she received to her savior, yet in the end she discovered that her own strength meant nothing at all.
How laughable, wasn't it?
Rather than continuing to live in such humiliation, perhaps it would have been better to just die.
It was while she held such thoughts that he called her out and taught her a method of fighting called "Shadow Wisdom." She clung to it like a drowning person grabbing the last piece of driftwood, greedily absorbing every bit of that knowledge.
Using the knowledge he taught her, she founded the Mitsugoshi Company in their original world to provide funding for Shadow Garden.
Even after the worlds fused, she used the banner of the World Battlefield to build its reputation. With advantages in both quality and price, Mitsugoshi gradually began to eat away at the civilian markets of the New World.
She believed that through these achievements she could show him that she was useful.
That she was an indispensable member of the Seven Shadows.
But just over two months ago, her master, Shadow, suddenly summoned all members of Shadow Garden.
The Garden that once lived in darkness was to step into the light, while he alone would remain in the shadows.
At that moment, she understood.
They had been abandoned.
Simply because their master was too gentle.
If Shadow Garden was to step into the open world, then this moment was the best opportunity. The three worlds were still in a period of adjustment, and every faction was secretly using all kinds of dirty and underhanded methods behind the scenes.
No one would investigate what happened during this transitional period.
Because doing so would mean making enemies with most of the world.
So even if a second rate faction suddenly appeared out of nowhere during this time, no one would pay attention.
"Spectators should behave like spectators."
How ironic.
In their original world, those words were something they used to say to the people living in the surface world.
Yet now, in this new world, their master had returned those exact words to them.
No one objected.
No one asked their master to take back the order.
Because they were too weak.
So weak that they could not help him at all.
There was no need to argue about that.
There was no need to question it.
In their original world, Shadow Garden had once fought against their own Shadow-sama.
It was during that time that Shadow-sama proved a simple fact.
If he wished, he could destroy them effortlessly.
On that day, the pride of Shadow Garden was completely shattered.
In their original world, Shadow Garden had been capable of fighting against the Cult of Diablos that secretly ruled the world.
But in this new world, Shadow Garden was merely a second rate faction.
As for their master, the god of Shadow Garden, even in this new world there were only four people who were qualified to fight him.
Yes.
They were holding him back.
To their master, he was one of the strongest beings in the world. No one could defeat him.
But if they were taken into account, then even someone like him could end up losing to weaker enemies.
If defeating him were truly impossible, then enemies would only reveal their claws in the shadows. No one would dare show hostility toward him openly.
But they had become his weakness.
And enemies would attack them desperately just to defeat him.
There was already precedent for this.
In World No. 1, there had once been a war between the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and the Angels.
The God of the Angel faction was, in theory, a being on the same level as their master.
Yet he had been dragged into mutual destruction by the Four Great Satans of the Demon faction.
There may have been many reasons for that outcome.
But one thing was certain.
The Angels had held their God back.
Otherwise, even if that God had been weakened, the Four Great Satans would never have been qualified to perish together with him.
Although their master appeared cold and ruthless on the surface, he was actually very gentle.
He would never abandon them simply because they were weak.
He taught them how to fight.
He guided their hearts.
Their suffering had nothing to do with him, yet he still saved them, girls who had been abandoned by their families and their countries, simply because he felt compassion.
To repay that kindness, and to take revenge, they founded Shadow Garden.
Most of its members were just like them.
People who had been abandoned by their families or nations after becoming Possessed.
But did any of that make a difference to him?
No.
Every single member of Shadow Garden believed the same thing.
Even if, after being saved by him, they had chosen to leave and refused to fight the Cult of Diablos, he would still continue fighting.
He would still save more girls who had been Possessed, just like them.
Could the Cult of Diablos defeat him?
Impossible.
Before his overwhelming power, the world would still be saved.
Those Possessed would still be cured and given new lives.
Perhaps in their master's eyes, the struggle between Shadow Garden and the Cult of Diablos was no different from a game.
But even if it was just a game, in their original world they at least had the strength to protect themselves within it.
They could even fight against the Cult.
Now, however, they did not even have the strength to protect themselves.
So being abandoned was only natural.
If their master had been an evil man, then none of this would matter.
After all, they would still be perfectly suitable as cannon fodder.
But unfortunately, their master was very gentle.
He hoped they would seize the opportunity brought by the world fusion and step into the light.
Rather than remaining in the darkness until the Cult of Diablos was destroyed.
He intended to face the Cult himself.
And also face whatever darkness might emerge in this new world.
Alone.
"Nu, did you hear what Shadow-sama said just now? If you did, have the Intelligence Division focus on investigating how much control the countries in our world have over transportation routes and goods."
"I heard him clearly, Gamma-sama. I am notifying Zeta-sama now and having the Intelligence Division infiltrate the various countries to gather information."
Holding back her tears, Gamma issued orders as if nothing had happened.
Just as Cid had expected, she understood the meaning of his parting words immediately.
"Gamma, think carefully about what I told you before."
That sentence meant there really was a problem with the report she had just given, and the answer was hidden in the knowledge he had taught her in the past.
That was how he always taught her. Rather than giving her the answer directly, he preferred to give hints and let them solve the problem themselves. Of course, they could also ignore it completely. If things reached the brink of disaster, Cid would appear as Shadow and resolve it for them. But if it came to that, it would also mean they had disappointed him.
She roughly went over the things Cid had said to her in the past, then opened her eyes.
"If things are going too smoothly, stop and look behind you. Otherwise, how can you be sure that your so called smooth progress is not something planned by someone else?"
Thinking it over carefully, she realized she had taken the neutrality of the Mitsugoshi Company for granted.
In their original world, Mitsugoshi had been able to manipulate the global economy and issue currency because every nation needed them to keep the economy circulating and developing. That was why it was best for them to remain neutral, and why they could only be neutral.
After the world fusion, Mitsugoshi had begun to show signs of becoming an economic giant in the New World through its own advantages. All that remained was to openly declare its neutral position and gain the trust of the forces from the other two worlds.
But the problem was this. Did the nations of their original world want Mitsugoshi's neutrality to mean neutrality only among the countries of their own world, or neutrality among all three worlds?
The answer was obvious.
She had taken the neutrality Mitsugoshi gained through compromise among the nations of the original world and assumed, as a matter of course, that it would work the same way in the New World as well.
What she had overlooked was whether those nations were willing to accept that.
She was certain that the various countries had already used some underhanded measures against the Mitsugoshi Company, trying to stab it in the back the moment it declared neutrality and force it into their camp.
The possibility of destroying Mitsugoshi was not completely nonexistent, but it was far too low.
Without Mitsugoshi, mutual suspicion among the nations would cause the already established economic system to collapse. On top of that, what would they use to resist economic invasion from the other two worlds?
If she had never realized it, then those petty tricks might actually have worked.
By the time Mitsugoshi lost its neutral position, no matter how furious it might be, it would not be able to move against the nations on the same ship.
But now that she knew, things were simple.
Find the bombs the nations had planted, then remove them.
Or even strike back.
"All I can do is take away the darkness on your road toward the light. And Gamma, think carefully about what I told you before."
Correction.
They had not been abandoned by him.
He simply intended only to give, never to ask anything of them.
He still saw them as children who needed to be saved.
It was only they who had felt abandoned.