Entry #2 – April 22, Unknown Year

  The mission’s done. Lady Chihaya asked me to escort some supplies, important documents, and a group of her maids down into the Sideroads—one of the lower realms in the central core. The place is like a massive, shifting port town where people from all over the unknown cross paths. You get merchants, bounty hunters, outcasts, nobles, even cultists pretending to be saints. Anything can come in or out of there, and no one really bats an eye. It’s a useful spot if you want to move things quietly or meet people without raising too many questions.

  Officially, the trip was about safely delivering those documents. But the real reason I was sent became clear pretty quickly. Chihaya wants me to start rebuilding trust—starting with her maids. After everything my dark self did, I don’t blame them for being scared. Even though I’m not him, I still look like him. Walk like him. And my shadows don’t help with that either.

  Most of the maids tried to keep their distance from me. I heard the way they whispered when they thought I wasn’t listening. Always polite, but nervous. Careful. Like I’d snap at any moment. It wasn’t new, but it still stung a little. I didn’t say anything. What could I say?

  Except for one girl—Orinthia. She’s quiet around the others, but with me, she wouldn't stop asking questions. Not in a bad way… just, curious. She wanted to know how my powers worked. What I remembered. What it felt like to command the shadows. Some of the questions were… weird. Specific. She asked if my body still worked like a normal person’s, if I slept, if the shadows had names, if I ever forgot who I was. It caught me off guard. But honestly? Her talking to me, treating me like a person, not a monster… it helped. Even if I didn’t show it.

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  We were attacked midway—some local bandits, nothing organized. I restrained them using just a thread of my power and summoned a few weaker shadows to hold them down. That’s when it hit me. Just how deep this new power really goes. It felt like I was touching the surface of a sea that has no bottom. I haven’t even accessed five percent of it. I could feel it. The more I use it, the more I understand it—and the more I understand myself, the more the power opens up to me. It’s like the shadows grow as I do. A reflection of who I am now… or maybe what I’m becoming.

  I also started noticing something strange about the other shadows I command—some still hold traces of what they once were. Angels, demons, old warriors. Even if they’re mindless now, their fighting style, their movements, their instincts—they're still there. It’s like the essence of who they were refuses to completely fade. It makes my army versatile, unpredictable. Useful.

  Anyway… small side note—I’ve started trying to cook. Yuna’s cooking… yeah, it’s not the worst, but it’s definitely not the best either. I remembered my old master used to keep a cookbook. I found pieces of it tucked away in one of my old things. When I opened it, I remembered his handwriting, the way he’d scribble notes in the margins. For a moment, just a moment, I could hear his voice. Then it was gone.

  That’s enough for now.

  —Yourupt