"Clink, clink, clink…"
Cid gently shook the glass bottle in his hand, letting the small pills inside strike against the glass and produce a series of crisp sounds. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Master, these are carefully refined pills created using the Shadow Wisdom you taught me. They will definitely suppress the distracting thoughts you mentioned.
According to the machine's examination results, as long as this data report is accurate, then Master, your current condition is likely caused by your own understanding of common sense. You believe that at your age you should be experiencing the adolescence every boy goes through, so your mind has begun influencing your body, causing certain changes.
If that's the case, then the solution is quite simple.
You are already dissatisfied with your current condition, and these pills can suppress the desires currently arising in your body. If we suppress them for now, then once you pass through what you believe to be this adolescence stage, your body should naturally return to normal.
That is the conclusion I reached based on this report and Master's own description."
Eta's usually quiet voice carried a trace of pride as it came from the side. Even though this was not the first time, Cid still could not help admiring her.
Eta is amazing.
She actually managed to create something from the nonsense I casually said.
"I hope so."
That was what Cid thought internally.
But to maintain the dignity of an Eminence in Shadow, he needed to appear indifferent and skeptical on the surface.
His fists clenched.
Inside Eta's inner world, a miniature version of herself tightly clenched her fists.
Calm down, Eta. Stay calm.
Master has always been like this, and what he said is also the truth. Compared to Master, the knowledge I possess is still insufficient.
It hasn't been long yet. I still do not have enough capital to drag Master down from his throne.
I cannot take that gamble.
Think about Alpha's fate. Remember this, Eta. You only get one chance.
If you fail, your resolve will shatter just like Alpha's.
After giving herself a stern mental warning, Eta barely managed to calm down.
Even so, she could not help feeling a little relieved that Cid still held some trust in her, even though she had only barely inherited Shadow Wisdom.
"Master, you're leaving already? Aren't you going to run more tests? Didn't you say you wanted to hear other people's opinions?"
"There's no helping it. I cannot disappear for too long if I want to maintain my identity. There's no need for further tests either. Our relationship is good, so of course I trust you. And if this medicine turns out to be useless, I can always solve the problem myself."
As he spoke, Cid shook the small bottle in his hand again, letting the pills inside rattle.
How could it be useless?
I didn't lie.
Eta watched as Cid opened the laboratory window, allowing the scorching sunlight to pour into this place that rarely saw daylight. Then he leapt out and disappeared into the sky.
Eta turned around and walked to the machine on the far right. She pressed a button.
The machine began to operate with a humming sound, printing out stacks of documents.
She reached out and picked up one sheet. Lines of data filled her view.
"Master's latest data. How long has it been since the last update? I forgot."
After memorizing all the numbers in front of her, black magical power gathered in Eta's hand and formed a dark aura.
Boom.
The black aura burst out violently, destroying the papers that recorded Cid's physical data along with the expensive instruments surrounding them.
Footsteps quickly approached.
"Eta-sama, what happened…"
Two girls pushed the door open after hearing the explosion. When they saw Eta standing in front of the ruined laboratory, they instinctively began to ask a question.
But their voices suddenly stopped halfway through.
"Nothing serious happened. Just a small accident during an experiment. Remember to inform Gamma to send over a new batch of research equipment as soon as possible."
Wearing a white lab coat, Eta casually brushed off the explosion as a simple accident. At the same time, she pushed past the two girls standing in the doorway and slowly walked away.
"No. 424, I think I just had a hallucination. I swear I saw Eta-sama, who always has that blank expression, smile at us."
"What a coincidence, No. 425. I had the same hallucination."
The two girls fell silent.
One person might have imagined it, but it was unlikely that both of them hallucinated the same thing.
Then they looked at the destroyed equipment in front of them. Their functioning brains quickly realized there was probably some huge secret behind this.
They exchanged a glance.
Both of them could see from the other's eyes that they had reached the same conclusion.
"Yeah… what a coincidence, hahaha."
"Ha, ha, ha."
"Alright, stop laughing. We should hurry up and clean up the equipment Eta-sama accidentally damaged."
"Right. Don't go through the front. There are a lot of people at the training grounds around this time, and we might disturb them. Let's go around the back. There shouldn't be anyone there now."
...
Walking to her desk, Eta began writing formulas using symbols that only she could understand. After finishing the calculations, she quietly sighed.
"As expected of Shadow-sama."
"Of course. Though I'm not bad myself."
She had every reason to feel proud.
This was the first time she had used Shadow Wisdom to conceal the truth, and the person she had deceived was Shadow-sama himself. On top of that, she had succeeded.
If any of the Seven Shadows had accomplished this, they would be proud.
"However, these Calming Pills suppressed the desire I finally managed to guide out of Master. With Master's physical abilities, it will be extremely difficult to get another chance like this."
What she gave Cid was the real thing.
It was a genuine medicine capable of perfectly resolving Cid's current condition.
Not only that, but throughout their entire conversation, she never once told a lie. After all, she did not believe she could deceive Master with lies.
She had clearly stated that the conclusions she told Cid were based on the assumption that the stack of data in his hands contained no errors.
Machines could occasionally malfunction and produce incorrect data. The probability was small, but it was not impossible.
The effect of the Calming Pill was also real. She never believed her knowledge of medicine could surpass Master's. The reason Master accepted the pill was probably just convenience, and because it genuinely worked.
Thinking about her success this time, even knowing how dangerous the situation had been, Eta could not suppress the excitement rising inside her.
After all, what she was attempting was…
Blasphemy.
How long had it been?
How long had it taken for her to finally touch Master's back?
Even though she reached it through such underhanded means, it was still far better than someone who tried to reach God through force, only to be crushed so thoroughly that she was still trapped in a shattered state of mind.
Yes, Alpha.
What exactly is Shadow to the Seven Shadows?
It is an interesting question.
In the past, before that fragile layer of self-deception was torn away, everyone except Eta would probably have answered the same thing.
Family.
Alpha was like a mother.
Shadow was like a father.
The other six were children.
But now?
After that thin veil had been ripped away, everyone had recognized the truth.
Not family.
God and believers.
Except for Eta.
From the very beginning, Shadow's seemingly omniscient mind had shattered her pride. After being crushed into silence by that realization, she accepted the truth long ago.
So Alpha is really weak.
She only collapsed after being crushed twice.
Does she even understand the value of being crushed dozens of times since childhood until you become emotionally numb?
What Eta intended to do now was drag this god down from the heavens.
Even if she had to use such despicable methods.
Even if the knowledge she used came from that very god.
Of course, it sounded like a joke.
Knowledge learned from someone else could never surpass the total knowledge of that person.
But what if that person simply did not care?
That was her Master.
So arrogant.
He said he wanted to ask an observer for advice, but in this entire world, the only observers he might acknowledge were probably just two.
Eta, who inherited part of his Shadow Wisdom.
And the Emperor of Netheril.
And it was precisely because of that arrogance that Eta had even the slightest chance of pulling Master down from his divine throne.
...
While Eta was indulging in her own thoughts, what was Cid thinking about as he flew through the sky toward Itogami Island?
Nothing.
He was not thinking about anything at all.
...
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