Only seven shadows knew that John Smith was their esteemed master.
If people in Shadow Garden knew the truth, they would be disappointed.
Gamma thought she was right as she looked at Alpha who lowered her eyes listlessly.
The fire was burning brightly in the fireplace.
âMaster must have his reason to do thatâŠâ
âI think so.â
âHe didnât mean to abandon us, right?â
âHe wonât.â
âMaybeâŠ?â
Such conversations repeated.
Even though Gamma had comforted her many times, Alpha got sadder.
Gamma had the same feeling.
Alpha couldnât made decisions as usual.
Only Gamma could lead the Shadow Garden now, so she couldnât be shaken anyway.
Gamma carried such a great burden that she kept dealing with business without having a rest.
Dark circles under her eyes and her sunken cheeks that couldnât be covered by makeup showed that she had reached her limits.
Gamma listened to Alphaâs words, comforted her, and changed the subject.
âThe Great Commerce Association is losing customersâ trust. Today so many people rushed into the Great Commerce Association and changed their bills. I am afraid that tomorrow there will be more.â
âReallyâŠâ
âBesides, a lot of people who request changing also rushed in Mitsugoshi Company. Iâm afraid that tomorrow there will be more people. As soon as the Great Commerce Association break down, all the people will rush into Mitsugoshi Company.â
âReallyâŠâ
Alpha heard Gammaâs report with a blank face. Then she said,
âCan we resolve it?â
She asked Gamma.
Gamma suddenly stopped talking when she saw Alphaâs expression. Then she told Alpha all the truth.
âMitsugoshi Company and Mitsugoshi Bank had collected as many funds as they could. But⊠if all of the bills produced in Mitsugoshi Bank have to be changed, it will be far from enough.â
This was the truth they faced.
Even if they could collect inestimable coins, itâs not enough to pay for what circulated bills needed. Of course not everyone wants to change bills.
The chance they success was 50%.
âSoâŠâ
She was smiling.
Seeing her sad smile, Gamma felt that her eyes were also filled with tears.
âWe will pull through it successfully. If we show customers our mountains of goldâŠâ
âCut it out.â
Citizens seeing the Great Commerce Association was breaking down wouldnât trust them anyway.
Gamma and Alpha had no idea about what to do.
âIâve had enough of itâŠâ
âAlphaâŠâ
Alpha stared at Gamma with a sad smile on her face.
âThis is what he wants. He chose to abandon usâŠâ
âThatâs impossible! Mr. Shadow wonât abandon usâ!â
âWe didnât live up to his expectations. This is the end.â
âHowâŠHowâŠâ
They were not useless.
They were no match for their master in many terms: main combat power, creativity and wisdom. They were presented with the strongest magic and highest wisdom, but they were just no match for their master.
Master abandoned them because they were incompetent.
âWhyâŠâ
Gamma felt weak in the knees.
She collapsed into sofa.
âIf this is what he wants, let us make him. As we have promised, we will do anything for him, even if he wants us to dieâŠâ
Alpha looked desperately sad, but she was fairly determined.
âLetâs finish our final job.â
Then she stood up.
At the moment.
âAlpha!â
Beta rushed in the room without knocking the door. She took a piece of paper.
âEta in the institution decoded Mr. Shadowâs cipher!â
Eta was the seventh shadow whose job was to decode cipher. Eta has said that she got masterâs cipher and was entrusted with decoding the cipher.
âHere it is.â
Alpha read the paper which Beta gave them.
Alphaâs expression turned bright as she was reading the paper.
âAlphaâŠ?â
Gamma asked in amazement, but Alpha burst into laughter, the sadness on her face disappearing.
She was crying out of happiness.
âWe are not abandoned by the masterâŠâ
Alpha said and gave the papers to Gamma.
âThis, this is-!â
Eta wrote down a truth which amazed them all.
It readïŒ
Iâm sorry as I lied to you.
Yukime from White Fox Co and I want to make counterfeit bills to collect gold.
Do you remember that?
There is a factory where we saved my elder sister, which was used to make counterfeit bills. I have collected a lot of gold there.
I got so much gold that even a bank canât hold it.
But itâs not a betrayal because I need these money to help you.
Can you understand me?
Gamma was crying when she came to herself.
Alpha and Beta were crying too.
They were laughing as well as crying.
âMr. Shadow has planned everything in advance.â
Betaâs voice was full of respect.
âIf he has betrayed us, there is no need for him to write this.â
Alpha said in amazement.
âHe cannot be a fool like that. Sure enough, he is still the kind Mr. Shadow.â
Gamma sounded a bit tired.
âBeta is right. He works behind the scenes for us, and we cannot disclose the relationship between Shadow Garden and Mitsugoshi Company.â
âYes, Mr. Shadow has prepared enough gold for us to exchange for the counterfeit bills.â
âThen we go there and take the gold back. The road to the factory is marked, and we are familiar with that place.â
âEven though we endure this hardship, we can  easily get over it and brought huge profits to the Shadow Garden. With these gold, we can pay for bills and Mitsugoshi Company wonât lose its credit. On the contrary, it will develop further.â
Someone sighed.
âWell, it is written here that he wants to save us so he lied to usâŠâ
âIf you want to fool the enemy, you must first fool yourself. I got it.â
âHe has considered everything from the beginning⊠But how about Delta?â
Gama was very uneasy, but there was nothing change in Alphaâs eyes.
âWe donât need to worry about him.â
At this moment, someone was coming in from outside.
The window was opened slowly and Delta showed up.
ââ You see.â
âDelta!? Are you OKâŠâ
Gamma was overjoyed.
âEmmm⊠Alpha⊠I am executing some âsecret-secretâ, soâŠâ
Delta noticed Alphaâs expression and started trembling.
âI know. You are working for master right?â
Delta became relaxed and kept nodding.
âI put the black potatoâŠ! Aaah, I canât tell you because itâs a âsecret-secretââŠâ
âDelta, mind your wording. The âsecret-secretâ is not correct.â
âB⊠but bossâŠ!â
âHe doesnât know how to say correctly. But itâs OK because you come back safelyâŠâ
Alpha hugged Delta who was trying to explain, fondling his head.
Gamma and Beta also hugged Delta, then they smiled and wiped away tears.