A stone ceiling filled practically all of my vision. Far off to the sides, just within my vision, I could see the walls. Other than that, there was little to see. And it’s no surprise, since I’m lying down on a bed.

But… uh, where am I? My head feels muddy, pain is flaring up in different places across my body, and my arm feels restricted. When I tried lifting my upper body to a sitting position, the pain became far more intense, but I pushed through it.

My left arm was in a sling- Right, my shoulder had been fucked up. Was it broken or just dislocated? I don’t know.

Shadow, you’re finally awake. In the midst of me trying to figure out what had happened, Shade’s voice filled my head. Its words were slightly concerning though. ‘Finally awake’? How long was I asleep for, for those to be the words it used?

I remember… barely winning that fight and then leaving. My face twisted a bit from the pain in my head as I tried to recall. Um, it must’ve been the blood loss… What happened in the end? Where am I, and how’d I end up here?

Well-

“Ah, you’re awake!” Shade’s words were cut off by a girl’s voice. The high pitch hurt my ears, and when I turned to my left to look, I saw a commotion. Coal and Grass were there. Grass must’ve been the one to shout, and Coal was currently holding her back.

Uh, what is he doing that for? Or more importantly, what are they doing here?

You don’t remember, huh. Shade’s voice filled my head. I hope it’ll be quick, since it seems these two are here for me - for whatever reason. I tried to convince you otherwise, but you insisted on going through the abandoned district towards the area where your group would practice spells.

Hah, you didn’t even say anything, but that one - Coal - seems to think that you had encountered the ‘person who killed Dust’ and were attacked as a result. Hahaha, I wonder what his face will look like when he realizes that you’re the one who killed her!

Eh. That is indeed… quite something. I can pretty much guess what happened after. He must’ve taken me to the officials, and since he probably claimed that I was assaulted, there was no suspicion on me being the one to kill that official Sorcerer.

There’s also the possibility that they haven’t found him- No. That’s just wishful thinking. He knew I was the one who killed those Sorceresses, which means they must’ve found something. And that was likely from the clearing where I killed them, meaning they had a way to track down the dead.

Ah, all I can do is hope that they can’t find anything to trace things to me again. But if they do, then I’ll have no choice but-

“Shadow.” Coal’s voice cut into my thoughts. My vision is unfocused for some reason, so I hadn’t noticed when he moved to the side of the bed I was on. After turning to look at him a bit, I laid back down and turned my body to face away from him.

I don’t want to see this guy who must think that saving me would make up for all of his bullying.

A vague sound drifted into my ears. He was probably calling my name again, but I continued to ignore him. I’m glad that he was on my left, since I could only turn to the right. I can imagine that trying to lay on my left side would not end well.

Rather, something moved in front of me, and I could see two hands on the edge of the bed. Grass, right. I’d forgotten that she was here as well.

…My head feels heavy.

Shade, how long have I been in here now? I’m bored out of my fucking mind, laying in this room with nothing to do other than cleanse my meridians every so often.

It’s been six days since you fought against that Sorcerer.

Ugh. At first I was fine with it, since this is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever laid in. But I’ve gotten too used to moving around the city in the last two months, and now it feels more uncomfortable to not be moving.

“They still haven’t caught the person who killed Copper. Ah, but some crazy E-Grade - Rust, you remember him, right? Well, he was conducting some blood sacrifice thinking it would make him stronger. How gruesome. And why would that even do anything?”

I rolled onto my side to face away from Grass, who was here to bother me again. Her endless talking was so annoying. I almost - almost - regret killing Dust, since it seems she had been the one to deal with all this before. With her gone, Grass latched onto the only other girl in the group - me.

The only good thing is that she brings news from the outside. Copper… That’s the name of the Sorcerer who I’d killed. A typical, simple name. In the end, he was nothing special, yet I still almost lost my life to him. Why was he trying to kill me, though? Shouldn’t capture be the goal?

I’m not sure what she’s thinking since her face is outside of my view, but Grass finally shut up for a little bit. Then, “Shadow, are you tired of laying down all day?”

My eyes widened, and I didn’t bother to control them since she couldn’t see. How did she figure out what I was feeling so easily? Wasn’t I acting like I always did? Or at least, I thought I was.

Now’s your chance, Shadow! Get out there, bait out that Sorcerer, and then kill them once and for all! Shade is urging me again; of course it is. Ever since it told me that the black thread I’d found on Copper’s corpse was something condensed from a soul that points to the one they want revenge against, it’s been telling me to go out.

And so, I… shook my head.

Have you become a fucking coward after one glance with death?! As expected, the voice in my head started raging at me instantly.

“Shadow-” Grass started calling out, but I cut her off by moving onto my back and pointing at the door with my hand. No words came from my mouth, but she should still know what I’m trying to tell her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

She looked at me, before nodding and leaving. Her body seems smaller than normal… But there’s more important things to do.

Hmph, I’m not a coward, idiot. I couldn’t be bothered to watch my words anymore.

Idiot? You, are calling me an idiot? Hah. Shade simply scoffed at my words. Right, it practically never gets angry. So far, it’s only happened twice - one just now - and never for long.

But I’ll keep trying to make it mad, because I am mad at it. Yeah, you’re an idiot. You want me to go and bait out an unknown individual who uses Soul Law of all things and has an unknown background, while I’m still injured? You might as well tell me to just go die. How are you not an idiot?!

What do you know, you stupid girl? Now is the best time, since nobody would expect an injured person to be the killer! You’re smart with matters like this, so you obviously know I’m correct. My eyes narrowed as I glared at my shadow, but Shade continued anyway. You don’t want to go; isn’t that because you’re scared of dying? Hence, you’re a coward!

Hhhhhh… Even though I know that it’s trying to provoke me into going, I’m still… really fucking annoyed with it! As for how I know it’s provoking me, it’s because it would never bicker like this otherwise!

You’re the one who’s stupid! There’s no way this Soul Sorcerer isn’t suspicious of me already, and they’ve obviously told others. If they suddenly die when I ‘just so happen’ to be out, it’ll be as clear as the Sky Above at day that I’m the killer!

All you’re doing is making excuses for your cowardice, Shadow. You know just as much as I do that if this Soul Sorcerer told anyone about their suspicions, you’d already be caught. When you can interrogate a soul for information, you don’t have ‘suspicions’, but facts!

Should I just refute its words without any reason? At this point, this is simply an argument and nothing more. But in the end, I sighed and curled up on the bed. I’m done arguing with you. My choices are mine to make, not yours. And if you keep yapping in my head, then I’ll never listen to your suggestions again.

Finally, some fucking silence. What does Shade know about me? I’m not afraid of death. Even if I was unable to cast a spell, I’d still go kill that Soul Sorcerer if I wanted to. But there’s no reason to when I can wait and heal up before doing so.

It’s not a matter of life or death that I’m worried about, but of winning or losing. I refuse to lose, so of course I’ll do all I can to win!

Mmm. That’s right. It’s just that I’m taking my time so I can win. I’m not scared of death, I’m just making sure I won’t lose or fail.

Definitely not scared of death…

The next day, Grass didn’t show up. Don’t know why, nor do I care. I don’t have to listen to her talking, and that’s all that matters.

As usual, I began using my essence to clear out impurities immediately after waking up. My essence always fully - or almost fully - recovered during my time sleeping, and the faster I use up what I have, the sooner more will start condensing.

Unfortunately, since I’m unable to use Steal Yin, my speed of getting rid of impurities is very slow compared to before. At least it’s not long before it’s been long enough since the aptitude ceremony that I can reasonably show that I’ve reached the middle stage.

Probably two or three more weeks. I was originally going to reach the upper stage before that, so this might actually be a good thing. After all, I’ll be able to show that I’d reached the middle stage, and nobody would bother checking on me for seven or eight more months, so nobody will know that I’ve gone higher.

In fact, I’m lucky that the officials didn’t check my core while I was unconscious. Ah, it’s because they’d only do so if they thought something might’ve happened to it - but my injuries were just my head and shoulder, so there was no cause for concern.

…How can a core even be damaged, though?

“Shadow.” I’d thought I would have to deal with a boring- no, enjoy a peaceful day, but Coal just had to arrive. I quickly turned onto my side while continuing to grumble in my thoughts. My essence still hasn’t been used up yet, you annoying bastard. What do you even want?

As if he’d sensed the question I’d thought, he sat down on the edge of the bed. Ugh, I hate when he does this, because it means I won’t be able to ignore him as easily. …Why have I gotten used to this, though?

“I just wanted to check on you. Grass told me that you didn’t want to head out, but I can tell that you’re bored just sitting here.” It’s hard to focus on his words because one of his hands is resting on my waist. Having a man other than Flare touch me is…

My body shuddered, but hopefully Coal just takes it as me being cold or something. As for his words, I just ignored them and kept staring off at the distance.

After a bit of silence, he - after probably shaking his head or sighing, I’d imagine - asked, “Are you afraid that you’ll be attacked again?”

I thought I had good control over my body, but there’s a difference between Shade saying something like that purposefully to provoke me and when someone who knows nothing about me says it! So, I turned to glare at him so quickly that my shoulder flared with pain.

But I didn’t let it affect me, and I glared at him even as his eyes widened. There was silence, and I don’t know what’s in his head, but it better be regret or something similar for saying that to me.

“Alright, alright.” Eventually, he caved in. Yet it seems he wasn’t done bothering me. “But if it’s not because of fear, then why don’t you want to head out for a bit? I personally like being indoors, but even I’d want to go out if I were to stay inside for many days straight.”

Again, it seems I can’t deal with him without having to talk. Two times in less than a month… How annoying. But I have to, otherwise this guy will definitely stay and continue bothering me until I do. Men are so persistent, but there’s only one who I’d accept that from.

“...I want-” Ah, I almost bit my tongue. Also, I don’t need to be speaking so softly, it sounds strange. “Want to recover in case.”

“I see.” Coal nodded. Ugh, why am I staring at him like this anyway? I tried to turn away, but he moved to stay in front of me. If you have something to say, then just say it. There’s no reason that you need to be staring into my eyes when you do, bastard.

Of course, he wouldn’t follow my inner complaints. “Then what if I go with you, and we stick to the market streets?”

…Do you think that you being around would make me feel safer or something? What in Hell do you even want, you stupid bastard?! You’ve bullied me so much, but now you’re acting as if you’ve done nothing wrong, like you’re trying to get close to me for some damn reason!

Perhaps my inner hostility showed in my eyes, since Coal sighed. “Do you not trust me?” Never mind, he’s just delusional. “I took advantage of my aptitude to get a favor from the teacher, and he gave me the scroll for Blood Wall. So, I can protect you easily!”

Blood Wall…? I’ve not seen that spell in the library. A favor from the teacher, huh?

“So, do you want to head out for a bit, Shadow?”

Even after all that, I still plan on refusing. So what if he knows Blood Wall? This guy has never been in a real fight - even I had a hard time with my yin-enhanced spells, so he’d likely die in a moment!

Wait, why am I even caring about that? There’s no reason to use logic here; why in Hell would I head out with someone who bullied me all the time, and who I’ll eventually kill?!

Shadow- I ignored Shade’s sudden words and was about to shake my head, but it seems it was very confident this time. Just listen to me first. If you go with him and end up being attacked, then he can serve as an alibi for you, even if you end up killing that Soul Sorcerer. Or, you could use him as a hostage, or sacrifice him to block a powerful spell, and so on. There’s many options.

Shade’s words… I sighed, and nodded to Coal. But more importantly, “Tomorrow.”

“Go out tomorrow? Alright.” With that, he finally took his hand off my waist and got off the bed. Finally, I have all the space to myself again. “I’ll see you then, Shadow.”

I just nodded in response while laying back down. But today wasn’t over for me yet. I had to prepare, and for that…

Shade, teach me all the rituals I can use to become a Devil.