Shadow Slave

"Boss... are you okay?"

Alko's voice sounded a bit confused as she glanced at Sunny with a dubious expression. The petite girl was floating near the ceiling, taking inventory of their liquor shelf. He, meanwhile, was busy cooking and cursing under his breath.

There were a lot of customers today, but Sunny could not even manifest an avatar to keep up with the flood of orders.

‘That third guy! Selfish bastard!'

He gritted his teeth.

‘Where did all my essence go?!'

The gloomy shadow, left to its devices for once, was staring at him mockingly. Sunny glared at it back.

'What? I know we're the same person! It's a figure of speech, okay?!’

The phrase "you have no one to blame but himself had never been so poignant.

The last few days had not been easy on Sunny, and it was all because of his third avatar. First, there was the problem with Weaver's Mask... he had intended for the Lord of Shadow to wear it at all times, but in practice, it made having any kind of sensible conversation impossible.

Well,,, not impossible, maybe, But definitely way too frustrating.

So, Sunny had been busy crafting a special Memory for the third avatar ever since returning from the mirror maze beneath Bastion.

He could not really reproduce the [Mantle of Lies] - Weaver's Mask was a Divine Memory, after all, so making a copy of even a single enchantment was utterly beyond his ability.

He could create a knock-off Weaver's Mask, though, by using an alteration of the Nebulous Mantle's enchantments. He had even added a bit of the [Autumn Leaf] - one of the Memories he had lost-into the mix.

As a result, the Lord of Shadows could still remain a mystery. His voice, height, hair color, and mystical traits were either hidden or distorted. Of course, he was not immune to all forms of divination unless the real Weaver's Mask was summoned... but since Cassie already knew the truth and had agreed to hide it, there was no need for such a level of secrecy. For now, at least.

Until the forces of the Great Clans arrived at Godgrave.

In any case, creating this Memory, which Sunny lazily named [Definitely Not Me], had kept him awake for a few nights. It was imperative that he created it, though...

Awakened with affinity to shadows were already very rare, and if the humble shopkeeper in Bastion was discovered to not only share this rare trait with the mysterious Lord of Shadows, but also have similar height and build as the mysterious Saint... his peaceful life would be over.

Pulling a few all-nighters was a bit of a chore, but he could manage it.

But then, he had to go and waste an ocean of essence in Godgrave, as well!

fighting Great Beasts was already bad enough. But then, Sunny decided to transport the two Sleepers back all by himself... the ruins of the forgotten city

well within his power to make three or four consecutive jumps while carrying two Dormant humans, and then come back the same way. The essence cost of such travel was very high, though, draining his reserves to a

So, now...

an additional avatar, let alone do something more strenuous. Whatever essence he had left

Nephis had left Godgrave with the Fire Keepers, Gods knew, he wouldn't

no choice but to suffer and curse

to

hall, and he finally had a

[Sunny.]

suddenly resounded in his head, creeping

was still not used to

time, it strangely felt too

[Yes, Saint Cassia?]

her soft voice

the Memory commission. I'll send someone to

He raised an eyebrow.

ear... figuratively speaking. Was there really a need to send someone?

Cassie was conserving essence,

He shrugged.

else? Sorry, I'm a bit busy... lots

remained silent for a

actually, I

Had she received a vision and wanted to hint at something? That couldn't be right... hadn't Cassle told him that the future could not be seen clearly

He looked down.

[I'm all ears.]

enough, she lingered for a while this time. Eventually, though,

advice... in the future, you might want to avoid using words like "heavy" and "burden" when speaking to women. You know, just thought I would

His eye twitched.

he couldn't help but feel that

Sunny cleared his throat.

own, but just a couple of days after the woman in question showed up on my doorstep, there was suddenly a Cursed Tyrant trying to gobble me up. A person with less decorum

There was no answer.

a while, then took a

"Damnation."

starting to realize what the most terrible thing about Cassie's Ability was

the one in control of who had the