Reincarnated Hero System

“…”

After saying his piece, Rathal brought out a memory gem with a recording of his exact words just now, along with two others containing recorded messages.

He passed them to Bianca and spoke.

“Give those to Rizass, one’s from Kolvar and the other is from Evan.”

Bianca pressed her lips into a thin line, but before she could speak, a large shadow loomed over the ground, drawing her gaze skyward.

Five winged creatures descended from above, landing in a formation that encircled them.

Each one boasted two pairs of wings, robust bodies, sturdy scales, sharp claws, horns, spiked tails, and slit reptilian pupils. Two white scaled, two red scaled and one black scaled.

“Looks like your escorts are here.”

Rathal spoke with a gesture toward the group of five dragons, four of them High Dragons, led by the Elder Black Dragon.

The Black Dragon’s body emitted a brilliant flash of light that faded a second later, revealing their polymorphed human form: a woman with amber eyes and curly black hair.

“Been a while, Ciarrucrorth.”

Rathal greeted the Black Dragon Sovereign, who nodded silently in acknowledgement before turning her attention to the frowning Bianca.

“Lady Bianca-“

“Ciar, I specifically said only one of you needed to come. Why are there four more?”

“One escort is not enough, Lady Bianca.”

“I’m going to see my boyfriend, not fight a war! What do I need Four Living Legends and a Sovereign for?!”

Bianca’s exclamation inadvertently revealed her original destination before encountering Rathal, and Ciarrucrorth frowned at this.

Rathal, though not adept at reading dragon expressions, could sense the displeasure radiating from the other four dragons.

‘Are they angry that she says she doesn’t need them?’

He thought that was the case, but he was quickly proven wrong when Ciarrucrorth turned to him and made a request of him.

“Sir Rathal, would you help me advise Lady Bianca about her poor choice of partner?”

“Oh, it’s the boyfriend you’re pissed about.”

Rathal realized, nodding in affirmation. He recalled that Bianca’s boyfriend was a common point of contention among the diverse dragons of Dragondune.

“What? You got a problem with him?”

“Lady Bianca, please consider your status.”

Ciarrucrorth’s words about her ‘Status’ made Bianca finally snap.

“Status, you say? Evan Eris walks around with Two in his party and nobody bats an eye! Need I remind you of the fact that he’s the current Leader?!

You all don’t have a problem with that so why do you have a problem with me dating one?!”

Hearing Bianca’s solid argument, Rathal nodded in agreement.

“Gotta say, she does have a point.”

“Don’t encourage her!”

Ciarrucrorth screamed at Rathal and the other four dragons simultaneously turned their glares on him, but he shrugged off the pressure in their gazes like it was nothing.

“Bianca, don’t forget to pass on my message.”

“Don’t worry, I would not. I’d try finding them after I talk to Emrel.”

Bianca’s face brightened at the mention of her boyfriend’s name, her earlier annoyance vanishing as if it had never been there.

“Knowing him, he’s probably sleeping and has likely forgotten to eat. Maybe I should cook for him today…”

As Bianca muttered to herself, Ciarrucrorth sighed, returning to her dragon form and gently lifting the young woman onto her back.

“See ya later.”

Bianca waved as the five dragons took to the sky, and Rathal watched until they descended into the ancient city ruins at the foot of Meekdune before shaking his head and turning around to leave.

“I’ve met Five out of the Current Seven, and I gotta say; Kolvar’s boy is the sanest of them all. The other four all have a screw loose.”

After casually labelling Abigail, Evan, Laurene, and Bianca whom he had just met as crazy, Rathal’s body erupted into a pillar of light, and he vanished.

◇　◇　◇

Zlunard Metropolis Tourist Line

Osaburg Region

December 2nd

Year 1054

Evan succeeded in getting a meeting with Emperor Lloris on the 30th thanks to Isobel, and he was able to give the Emperor a rundown on the situation with the Celestials, as well as invite him to the strategy meeting that he planned to have with everyone involved.

Thanks to Leviah, Evan had more than enough proof to make the man see that the threat of the Celestials was real. But even then, Death Celestial Mortis going around to cemeteries and unearthing corpses of powerful soldiers and adventurers was not something that Lloris could ignore.

Only Isobel was aware of this meeting, and the Half-Dragonkin woman was shocked at the level of threat that the Fallen Celestials Deities posed.

After that meeting, Evan and his party departed from Saharion.

Their next destination was Naxetus, the rendezvous point for those involved in the mission against the Fallen Celestial Deities. The journey required a connecting train trip, with the first leg bringing them to Usrolis Station City.

With some time to kill before their next train, they decided to explore the neighbouring city, Zlunard Metropolis.

Roselia and Amy went to check out the Libraries and bookstores, Nadarus and Milena were looking around for betting stores, while Kuro was being dragged around by the playful Kayla.

Evan had felt that Kayla had been feeling very off recently, like she was extremely worried about something but she had been keeping said worries to herself.

He’d tried probing her but the Spirit skilfully avoided his questioning, and that was the cause of the sighs escaping Evan’s lips now.

“What’s wrong, E-. What’s wrong?”

Eliza’s voice in his ears brought him out of his sea of thoughts, and he just shook his head and told her it was nothing. Eliza obviously didn’t buy that, but Evan diverted her attention by pointing out how she had almost called him by name just now.

Before they entered Zlunard, Evan had all of them use recognition inhibition magic—kind of necessary since they were famous—and told them to avoid calling each other by name.

His very specific request made everyone instantly understand that them ending up in Zlunard was not a coincidence and Evan had chosen a connecting trip on purpose.

Evan did not reveal his plans to them, instead, he just said they should have a fun time as they split up.

The impromptu excursion turned into a casual date for him and Eliza, a rare moment of normalcy amid the current high-stake event they were here to prevent.

Zlunard, known for its vibrant markets and bustling streets, offered a perfect backdrop for their brief respite.

They strolled through the lively streets, sampled local delicacies from food stalls, and marvelled at the diverse array of goods in the marketplace.

Although passers-by could not put a name to their faces due to the recognition inhibition on them, they were still a good-looking couple so they attracted a fair bit of attention.

To avoid this, they slipped into a random clothes shop and added some extras to their outfits to reduce their conspicuousness.

“But this isn’t working. Now we just look like celebrities going incognito.”

Evan commented as he looked at Eliza who was sporting a new look.

She wore white jean trousers that made her legs look longer. She had tucked a black baggy shirt into her jeans and completed the ensemble with stylish sneakers.

Her hair—its colour changed to black—was packed up into a bun, and she wore a face cap and glasses.

Evan himself had changed into shorts and a white shirt, layering a black jacket on top. He added a cap and glasses just like her. In a bid to match her, Evan covered the white highlights in his hair with Body Transformation, making it completely black.

However, the effort to go unnoticed only seemed to make them stand out more, looking like famous personalities trying to hide in plain sight.

They could tell this from the number of gazes they were getting from the other patrons in the store.

Eliza smiled wryly at Evan’s words, muttering that unless they wore masks, it couldn’t be helped that they’d draw attention.

A strand of hair covered her face and Eliza turned to the full-length mirror beside her, her smile brightening as she spoke.

“I don’t like tampering with my hair or appearance, but when I do change my hair to black, I resemble my mum a lot.”

“…”

Evan had no words to say, as he had realised how the simple change in hair colour made Eliza resemble Deborah Laneford so much.

In his opinion, Eliza was prettier though. He didn’t say this out as Eliza could already tell what he was thinking with a single look at his expression, instead, he called over a store attendant so they could pay for the new stuff.

“Let’s just go, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“True, let’s.”

The attendant was worried about Evan dressing lightly despite the cold winter, but her worry was unneeded.

Even if you took Evan to a place with negative 100 degrees, he would not feel it. His Harbinger of Ice and Mesarthim skills made him highly resistant to Cold and Heat respectively, so he didn’t have issues with extreme temperatures.

As for Eliza, she did know a bit of ice magic and that was enough for her to deal with the current temperature.

Leaving the store, they headed down the street, and Evan noticed a sapphire brooch that a roadside stall was selling.

“This looks nice.”

“Indeed, it does.”

Eliza affirmed his words, and the eyes of the stall owner shone as he began speaking.

“Yes, dear customers have wonderful taste. I got this brooch from a renowned artisan in the northern mountains. It’s said to bring good luck to its wearer.”

Evan knew the man was just saying that to get them to buy it, as he had appraised it and knew it had no such functions.

‘I don’t really have any intentions of getting one.’

He had just put it down when his eyes caught sight of something in the corner of the stall’s display—a mask.

It was a half-face mask, covering the lower portion of the face, emitting a faint aura of magic. Though lacking in elaborate designs, it was crafted from robust monster materials, ensuring exceptional strength and durability.

Taking off his glasses, he put on the mask and after checking how it looked in a mirror, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s got you laughing?”

“Nothing serious. Just that if I had a scar over one eye, I’d look like a certain copy ninja.”

Eliza’s confused expression at his words was expected, as the young woman had never seen an anime before, so there was no way she’d understand.

“Gimme two masks, please.”

“Why two?”

“The second one is for you.”

Evan replied to Eliza as he paid for the only two similar masks available and put one into his inventory. He was about to give her the second one when a sudden wave of magic power washed over them.

“?!”

The couple, as well as every other adventurer or soldier in the city, turned their gazes towards the source, seconds before a massive explosion erupted.

**KAAABOOOMM!!!