Beta

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**Beta** (ベータ, *Bēta*?) (Βήτα) is the second member of Shadow Garden, being one of the original Seven Shadows. Functioning as an archivist, she accumulates information through research or pilfering. Her public identity is Natsume Kafka, a renowned author whose novels are stories from Earth recounted to her by Shadow.

## Appearance

Beta is a young, voluptuous elf with blue irises and a beauty mark underneath the corner of her left eye. She keeps her silver hair shoulder-length with an accent braid on the left.

Her Shadow Garden uniform is a cutout dark slime suit with golden decorations around her chest, shoulder, arms, and waist. Beta's collar is styled with shoulder guards that latch onto two ribbon capes, each ending with golden clasps adorned with tassels. The sleeves are black, with matching bracers and gloves. Bellow the neckline, two golden stripes run parallel to a black belt with golden buckles. The legs on the suit are asymmetrical—a single belt loops around her right thigh with no ornamentations on the left thigh.

Beta's civilian attire comprises a white ruffled top, a high-waisted mid-thigh skirt, black tights heels, and a scarf that wraps around her body. Beta frequently wears glasses for Natusume's responsibilities and general writing.

## Personality

Beta is a dedicated and loyal subordinate to Shadow Garden with the intent of pleasing Shadow. She has articulated her devotion towards him, accepting all theoretical paths, including one of evil. Beta will unhesitatingly sacrifice herself for the mission or things she deems valuable to Shadow.

Her internal dialogue is antithetical to her personal demeanor presentation. She maintains an air of sophistication and serenity when conversing with others, not expressing her genuine thoughts and saving outbursts for private moments. Miss Natsume is an extension of her public persona as a calm and humble young woman to her adoring fans.

Shortly after joining Shadow Garden, Beta's lack of direction and motivation made it difficult to become desensitized to bloodshed. Violet physical reactions and trouble sleeping were common occurrences. Cid later recounted Beta tales from Earth—her favorites were Cinderella and Snow White. A self-proclaimed bookworm, she found solace in Shadow's bedtime stories. Over time, Beta conquered her trepidation and found a reason to fight, forever grateful to Shadow for the wisdom he bestowed.

## Powers & Abilities

Beta's battle capabilities fall in the middle of the Seven Shadows' power curve. Described as *so-so* by a fellow Shadow, she has demonstrated competence in many combat-related fields without excelling in any—*a jack-of-all-trades*, *master of none.* Her specialties lie outside the battlefield, handling numerous Shadow Garden's intelligence operations.

### **Swordsmanship**

Beta is an experienced swordswoman, one of the seven direct pupils under shadow. Her fencing performances are limited relative to other Shadow Garden personnel; however, she has engaged and survived prolonged exchanges against powerful monsters and senior Cult members.

#### **[Game] Archery**

The sword is not Beta's only weapon for engagement. Emboldened by Alpha's promotion of adapting personal techniques, she abandoned the vanguard position and took up a compound-like bow made of slime. Her archery focuses on ranged support and bombardment. She has exhibited precision in exactitude, but piercing attacks against high magical enforcement remain inadequate.

### **Magic**

Irrespective of her relative capacity towards the Seven Shadows, Beta's magic ability dramatically surpasses the average Migardian magic knight. Control over internal magic circulation is sufficiently adept at preventing further degradation by forced demonic possession relapse—magic overlord.

### **Physical Capabilities**

Beta has demonstrated proficiency in body reinforcement, increasing her endurance. After magical reinforcement, her body becomes impenetrable to modern firearms and can endure rapid attacks from significantly more powerful opponents.

### **Intelligence**

As one of the academic Seven Shadows, Beta's Shadow Garden administrative role manages intelligence assimilation and discernment. Frequently employed in the field, she has developed versatile faculties, utilizing everything from strength to sex appeal.

Beta has shown proficiency in linguistics, fluent in ancient and modern Other World languages. Immersion and exposure on Earth provided adequate circumstances for her to learn another language. Beta could converse Japanese after a few days had elapsed.

## Equipment

* **Slime Bodysuit**: per the Shadow Garden standard, Beta is equipped with a Slime Bodysuit based on Shadow's original design, improved and upgraded upon by Eta.
* **Slime Weapons**: her weapon in the game is a bow and arrows created using slime.

## Trivia

* Beta is secretly writing a book titled *The Chronicles of Master Shadow,* a recounting of Shadow's escapades. It is a popular series among the Shadow Garden ranks.[KAGE-JITSU! ONLY]
	+ The transcriber has taken creative liberties and changed some elements, such as describing the princess Shadow rescues as an "elf with silver hair and a mole under her blue eyes.
* Beta's shares her pen name, Natsume Kafka, with the real word Japanese author Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) and the Austria-Hungarian—now the Czech Republic—author Franz Kafka (1883-1924).
* Beta's participation in the assault on Midgar Academy is manga exclusive. In all other adaptations, Gamma was the only available Seven Shadow.
* Beta used a push-up bra made by Eta to increase her breasts further when she was in her Natsume alias.[KAGE-JITSU! ONLY]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Volume 3 Chapter 2: Storming the Crimson Tower!*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Volume 2 Prologue: To Lindwurm, the Scared Land!*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Volume 1 Chapter 1: Starting the Shadowbroker Tutorial!*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Volume 2 Chapter 1: Fun Times at the Goddess's Trial!*
5. ↑ *Volume 2 Chapter 3: When Things Get Boring, It’s Time for Explosives!*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Volume 4 Epilogue: Behold, a Full-Fledged Eminence in Shadow!*
7. ↑ *KAGE-JITSU! Episode 2*
8. ↑ Manga Chapter 12
9. ↑ *Kage-Jitsu Episode 16*