Princess Connect Side Story: When the Shadow Guild Master Fell in Love - A Girl Blooming in the Shadows ~The Morning Market Mask and Unreachable Feelings~

Morning. The main street of Landsol had been bustling since before dawn. Beneath a sky still dim, colorful awnings lined both sides of the cobblestone road, and shopkeepers called out in booming voices. The smell of freshly baked bread, the smoke of grilling fish, the scent of flowers drifting from somewhere. All of it mingled together to form this city's morning. Mio walked through the crowd like a shadow gliding past. Her black hair was cut in a short bob, with a small braid woven along the side. A white blouse, a brown vest, and practical black shorts. A small ring of keys hung at her hip, and with every step she took, they jingled softly. "Good morning, Thomas. Your apples look lovely today." The greengrocer's face crinkled into a smile the moment he saw her. "Oh, Mio. You're even more fired up than usual today. Here, these apples were picked just yesterday morning — they're sweeter than the rest, I tell you." "Is that so? Then I'll take one. Oh, but actually, that one in the back with the bruise is fine. You'll give me a discount on that one, won't you?" Mio pulled a small notebook from around her neck and scribbled something in it while speaking in an offhand tone. Thomas laughed heartily. "Sharp-eyed as always. Fine, how about half price?" "Thank you. ...By the way, I heard there've been some strange people around the main street lately." She lowered her voice, pretending to browse the apples. Thomas's hand stopped for just a moment. "...Mio, you've got sharp ears, too. It's like this — people say there've been folks in black cloaks wandering around late at night. The bakery across from us found some strange graffiti in front of their shop the other morning." "Graffiti?" "A black lily blooming upside down. Creepy as hell, I tell you." Mio's fingertips turned just slightly cold. An upside-down black lily. That was the emblem of Nocturne, the secret organization operating in the shadows beneath Landsol. On the surface, they were called "night merchants" — just a group that brokered illegal deals. But no one knew their true purpose. About three hundred members. Former mercenaries, former nobles, former researchers. What they wanted, who led them — everything was shrouded in darkness. "...I see. You'd better be careful." She said it with a smile and handed over the payment. Thomas, knowing nothing, waved and said, "Come by again." Mio moved on to the fishmonger, then the bakery. Everywhere she went, she smiled, everywhere she blended in naturally, plucking information from conversations. Several of Nocturne's people were staying at an inn in the mid-layers. Near the entrance to the deep layers, unfamiliar men had been carrying cargo. Mio quietly assembled these fragments in her mind. This morning market was the greatest melting pot of information in Landsol. About eighty shops set up here, and merchants, adventurers, craftsmen — even those from the underworld — all passed through. For Mio, this was her workplace and her battlefield. On the surface, Mio was the head of a small odd-jobs guild called "Shade." A tiny guild of five members, taking on anything from finding lost cats to helping at shops to carrying packages. A bright, quick-witted girl who charmed everyone. That was the Mio everyone knew. But the truth was different. Among the roughly one hundred twenty licensed informants in Landsol, Mio was one of the "Shadow Rulers" — those who stood at the very top. Being an informant was a profession built on hiding one's identity; if your true self were known, you'd be socially finished. So no one knew the real Mio. They must never know. By the time she'd made her rounds through the morning market, Mio spotted an unfamiliar man standing at the entrance of an alley. He wore a dark coat and was glancing around warily. At his chest, something small and silver glinted. An upside-down lily brooch. Mio's eyes narrowed. The man slipped into a back alley, avoiding the crowds. Mio followed behind him with an unconcerned expression. She silenced her footsteps, moving from shadow to shadow along the walls. There was not a sound in the way she walked. The alley was narrow, and the morning light didn't reach inside — it was dim. The man quickened his pace. Mio touched her right hand to the shadow on the wall. —Shadowstep. An instant later, Mio's body slipped out from the shadow at the man's feet. "—!?" Before the man could even cry out, Mio twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him to the wall. "Don't move. If you make a sound, I'll drag you into the shadows next." The blood drained from the man's face. "W-who the hell are you...!?" "Answer my question. You people are after an adventurer named Yuuki. Why?" The man didn't answer. Mio reached her hand into his shadow. The shadow rippled and warped. "If you don't answer, I'll leave just your right hand in this shadow. Do you know what happens to a limb left behind in the shadows?" It was a bluff. Shadowstep was an ability for moving herself — she couldn't leave someone else's body in the shadows. But the man didn't know that. And because he didn't know, he was terrified. "S-stop...! I'm just a grunt, I don't know anything detailed...!" "Whatever you do know is fine. Why are you after Yuuki?" "...It's orders from above. That man has some kind of special power, so we're supposed to bring him in. If he resists, we're allowed to kill him..." Something dark and viscous churned deep in Mio's chest. "Who's giving the orders?" "I-I don't know... I really don't. I just do what I'm told..." Mio stared at the man's face for several seconds. He wasn't lying. The grunts truly knew nothing. "...I see." Mio struck the back of the man's head without holding back. He let out a short groan and crumpled to the ground. She propped the unconscious man against the wall and quietly exhaled. Her heart was pounding. Her fingertips were trembling. It was always like this after using Shadowstep. It drained her stamina completely. And that wasn't all. Every time she touched the shadows, she remembered. Her mother. A dark, dark place. The smell of rain. Screams. And the warmth of her mother's hand as she pushed her away. Mio gently touched the old leather bracelet on her left wrist. Her mother's keepsake. For years now, she had lived while confirming its texture against her skin. "...I'm fine. I can still do this." She murmured softly and left the alley. When she returned to the morning market square, a crowd had gathered. Wondering what was going on, she approached and saw a boy in the center, holding a small child's hand. Light brown, fluffy hair. A bit of bedhead, which was oddly endearing. His clear amber eyes were looking straight at the crying child. Yuuki. The leader of the adventurer guild "Astrum," and one of the most capable men in all of Landsol. The head of an elite group that specialized in high-risk requests. But right now, he was just a kind older brother. "It's okay. We'll find your mom soon. Let's look together." He crouched down, met the child's eyes, and smiled warmly. At that smile, the child finally stopped crying. Mio watched from the shadow of the crowd. The center of her chest tightened. It hurt. It ached. And yet, she couldn't look away. The first time she'd seen that smile was five years ago. Mio had still been twelve. That day, it had been raining. An orphan, Mio hadn't eaten anything in three days. With a dizzy head, she'd been wandering in front of a bakery in the market. And then she'd stolen. It should have gone well. But she was so hungry that her hands trembled, and she dropped the bread. She'd nearly been caught by the shopkeeper and ran desperately. In a rain-soaked back alley, covered in mud, and still the footsteps of her pursuer drew closer. She'd thought it was over. Then, suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. "This way." The one who said that and hid her behind a cover was a boy she'd never met. Yuuki had been thirteen then. Smaller than he was now, but his eyes were direct and strong. After the pursuer passed, Mio looked up at the boy, trembling. "...Why did you help me? I'm a thief." "I saw. But you looked really hungry." The boy said that and grinned. "I was like that once, too. So I couldn't just leave you." Then he took her to a diner. He treated her to a warm stew. He said, since he didn't have money, they'd split his portion in half. She still remembered the taste of that stew. Warm, and sweet, and a little salty. It tasted like tears. From that day on, Mio's world began to revolve around Yuuki. But he didn't know. That the girl he'd saved that day was now watching him from the shadows like this. That she was doing a job she could never tell anyone about, just to protect him. To Yuuki, Mio was just one of the odd-jobs girls. That was enough. That had been enough. —So she had thought. Yuuki found the child's mother, and the parent and child embraced, crying. Yuuki watched the scene with a satisfied look. That was when Mio felt it. Behind Yuuki. Amidst the bustle of the market, there was a gaze watching him. A black coat. A silver ornament at the chest. Nocturne's people. Mio's hand unconsciously gripped the ring of keys at her hip. (I won't let them.) Deep in her heart, a flame quietly blazed. (I will never, ever let them lay a single finger on Yuuki.) Mio left the spot. Silencing her footsteps, she circled behind the watcher. Fortunately, the man was alone. Mio waited from the shadows for him to leave. She tailed him. To find out where he would take his information. But the man must have sensed her presence quickly — he vanished into the crowd. "...Damn." She clicked her tongue softly and breathed heavily. Right after using Shadowstep, her body wouldn't move the way she wanted. With no other choice, Mio headed for Shade's office. Three alleys in from the main street. An old two-story building. Forty years old, with a leaky roof, creaking stairs, and a sign whose letters were half faded. But this was Mio's castle. The first floor was the request reception area. An old sofa, a reception counter, and a request board. The second floor held Mio's private room and a locked information vault. Inside slept about five hundred intelligence files. When Mio opened the door, a bird was perched on the windowsill. A messenger bird. A small tube was tied to its leg. She opened the tube and spread out the paper inside. 'Nocturne movement around Yuuki. Be on guard. Never let your true identity be discovered. Roan.' A short, brusque message. But she could tell, somehow, that those words had been written out of concern for her. Roan. A former informant, and Shade's previous guild master. Now retired, living freely in the outskirts. An easygoing old man with salt-and-pepper silver hair tied carelessly at the back, his left eye covered by an eyepatch. Only his sharp gray right eye still retained the keenness cultivated over decades as an informant. He was the one who had permitted Mio to live as an informant, and who had raised her. He doted on her like his own granddaughter. But that same Roan had made Mio promise one thing she must never break. —Never let Yuuki learn your true identity. An informant must never reveal their identity to anyone. That was the absolute law of this profession. If discovered, you'd be targeted for your life. The people around you would be dragged in, too. So Roan had said it sternly. "No matter how much you care for that boy, never reveal your true self. That is also what protects you." Those words were right. But precisely because they were right, they hurt. Mio read the paper over several times, then gently pressed it to her chest. "...I know, old man." Outside the window, the bustle of the morning market could be heard in the distance. The sun set. Mio was at the counter on the first floor, organizing requests. Two new ones today. Finding a lost dog, and repairing a shop's shelves. Either

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Episode 1

Name: Princess Connect Side Story: When the Shadow Guild Master Fell in Love
Author: Novelia

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