Reincarnated Hero System

“There was a time when I barely gave two shits about unrelated people in the world I came from, and with that kind of history, it’d be weird to expect me to care about the fate of another world that isn’t the one I came from”

As I spoke, I remembered the incident with Kayla and the unexpected revelation of her being the Spirit Empress.

“I’ve had companions who fought in wars to conquer worlds. One of them wholeheartedly believed that if I ever found out about her past, I’d hate her. She thought I’d see her as no different from the invaders of my world, and that I’d turn against her.”

“That sounds like a bit of a stretch, doesn’t it? It’s not like she tried to invade your world, right?”

“Nope. The irony is, the ones who did try to invade never seemed worried about what I thought of them”

I couldn’t help but find the situation amusing. Kayla had invaded other worlds, but not Aidos, yet she was the one with such fears. On the other hand, Roselia and the other Deadly Sins, who should’ve been the ones to care, didn’t.

“So, what did you tell her?”

Beatrix’s question pulled me out of my thoughts and I recounted the details of my talk with Kayla, keeping things concise.

“That’s the business of those other worlds.

I mean, if she had invaded my world instead, do you think the Heroes of those other worlds would’ve cared?”

Hearing my reply, Beatrix nodded, seemingly approving of my perspective before speaking.

“They most likely wouldn’t.

People can act like they care and all, but the truth is that deep down, we only care for ourselves. If it’s not happening to us, there’s a part of us that’s relieved, maybe even a little happy.

But acting like you care, showing a bit of sympathy—it makes you seem more compassionate.”

“I get. People would see you as someone who understands.”

With her left hand, Beatrix gave me a thumbs-up while sipping her wine, clearly in agreement.

“Normally, I wouldn’t be bothered about another World’s fate, it becomes a different thing if I’m involved in shaping that fate, no matter how small my contribution is.

From the way I see it, Gozon is going to win this war. The Aramisians have been pushed back too far.

It seems Alvey’s been holding back, but there’s only so much he can do before he has to go all out. When that happens, I’m not sure this continent will hold.”

I refilled my wine glass as Beatrix examined the pineapple wine bottle, her fingers tracing over the unfamiliar label. I wasn’t concerned about her deciphering anything since the language on it was from a future thousands of years from now so she didn’t know what the text on it meant.

“Right now, I’m completely unrelated. But If I were to take part in just one battle, I would have incorporated myself into this World’s fate, contributing to bringing about the outcome I’m trying to prevent for my own world.

Got me feeling hypocritical.”

“You may feel hypocritical, Evan, but I want you to answer one simple question.”

Beatrix snapped her fingers, causing her couch to levitate and glide toward me. Then, she leaned in, her gaze intense.

“Which is more important to you: Aramis, or your world?”

“Obviously, my world.”

She smiled at my immediate reply and returned her couch to its original position before speaking.

“There you have your answer.

Your world is more important and you want to protect it. To do that, you have to be alive and well.”

Beatrix set down her glass, looking up at the shiny night sky as she spoke.

“Alvey and McEnda are different. If you had encountered another High-Rank Demon, you’d probably be in a cell by now. You wouldn’t even have limited freedom.

Luckily for you, Alvey was the one you ended up encountering. But even so, your choices are very limited and I’m sure you’ve realised it as well.

Looking at your situation, I only see one path that has a 99% guarantee of survival.”

“99%?”

“There’s always the 1% chance that shit can hit the fan.”

I could only laugh depreciatingly at her words. That 1% seemed to be my constant companion lately. If it weren’t for those unpredictable odds, I wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

“Anyway, your best bet at survival is…”

She let the sentence trail off and I raised a brow, offering a completion.

“Sticking with Alvey?”

“Technically, you’d still stick with Alvey, but personally, I feel you should be closer to Arthur.”

Beatrix said this was an expression that seemed uncharacteristically serious, especially considering the variety of expressions I’d seen in the past few two days.

Her words were a little bit unexpected, as I’d thought she’d tell me to be around Alvey who was pretty much the strongest Demon on this planet.

“Why do you say so?”

“Arthur is…rather special.

You know he’s from another Universe. Until I met him, I didn’t know other Universes even existed, but they do.”

She flicked her fingers, and a shimmering display of light appeared between us, forming a projection that looked like an Aristocracy ranking chart—kings at the top, nobles below, and commoners at the bottom.

“Arthur is not just anyone from another Universe, he’s Royalty.”

Her words made me think back to one of the titles on Arthur’s status: Prince of Hell’s Devildom.

According to him, he was from the ‘Hell Universe’, and that title made it clear what his position in Hell was.

“Can you imagine that? His family controls an ENTIRE Universe.”

“It’s like foreign royalty from another Empire coming over to yours, except scaled up universally.”

“It’s even more than that. And Arthur’s royalty isn’t just him claiming it. There’s hard evidence.

From what I know, his great-grandfather was a ‘Devil King’ who aided the previous generation of DKs in a war against the gods a really long time ago.

So, the DKs know Arthur is legit, and they treat him accordingly.”

Beatrix’s words painted a picture of Arthur that I wasn’t aware of before, showing that his godslayer nature wasn’t the only reason for his presence among the Gozonians.

“They gave him a rank in their military because he wanted to join the war and acquiesce to requests he may have.

For Example, Mine and Artemisia’s presence here is a result of Arthur wanting us around.

Alvey and McEnda were ready to send us back to Aidos, but because Arthur insisted on studying us for reasons I don’t fully understand, one of the Supreme DKs personally negotiated with our parents to let us stay.”

“…”

Though my mask covered it, my jaw dropped in shock when I heard what she’d said. I’d just been told earlier today that the Supreme Kings are the top dogs amongst the 72 DKs, and now I’m hearing this.

“His military rank here was also endorsed by SEVEN DKs. And not just any random ones, but renowned ones like Westley, McEnda II, Malorum, Valren and some others.”

“I’m beginning to see what you’re getting at…”

Arthur was the guy with the connections to this World’s future rulers, is what she was saying.

“Sticking with Alvey would afford you a degree of freedom, but with Arthur, you’d be free to do whatever you want, and go wherever you want.

The most even Alvey would be able to do is assign a Shadow Demon to keep an eye on you, but he CANNOT restrict your movements, not if you’re with Arthur.”

Beatrix yawned, setting the half-finished wine bottle on the stool in front of me as she stretched her body.

“All this was just a long, convoluted way for me to get to the main point.”

She turned to me, her eyes carrying a mixture of resignation and quiet regret as she spoke.

“Evan, in this Universe, we have to do whatever it takes to survive…even if it means fucking up someone else’s world.”

Beatrix said these words with a chilling calm, a wry smile playing on her lips as she continued.

“To ‘survive’, you need to be strong. And to be strong, you need to Level Up.

Didn’t you hear how much Arthur’s power surged over the past 7 months? Even if his levelling speed is exceptional, he must have faced an untold number of opponents and gained a kill count in the tens of thousands to level up that fast.

If you use this world’s war as a chance to level up yourself—something I advise you to do as Prime World inhabitants yield more EXP upon death due to their higher existential quality—then you would experience a similar surge in power.”

The girl got to her feet, tossing her half-eaten bag of chips into her inventory and picking up her tablet.

“If you surviving and securing yourself a good position in this world requires you to join the Gozonians’ side and fuck up the Aramisians, then do it without hesitation.

That’s my best advice for you.”

As she said this, she looked up at the midnight sky and for a moment, I saw a sight that made my eyes widen in surprise.

‘Her eyes…’

Within Beatrix’s eyes, I saw different lights. It felt like I wasn’t looking at someone’s eyes but at the night sky with stars in it.

‘It’s just a reflection…right?’

I stopped my brain from forming a conjecture based on the possibility that it wasn’t.

Just then, the door I had closed earlier swung open, and the familiar face of the goddess who had brought me to Aidos stepped through.

“There you are. Why are you still awake?”

“Arty!”

Beatrix’s face lit up with delight as she spun around and rushed to Artemisia, jumping on her and hugging her. Artemisia caught her effortlessly, before turning her gaze over to me.

“What was she up to? Was she eating something?”

“Yeah?”

I responded with a raised brow and I saw Beatrix’s body silently flinch, right before Artemisia’s deadpan gaze turned towards her.

“What did I tell you about late-night snacks?”

Artemisia’s voice was stern as she flicked Beatrix’s forehead. Beatrix recoiled slightly, clutching her forehead with an exaggerated pout.

“Come on, Arty. It’s not like I can get fat.”

“You wouldn’t if you ate normal snacks. But the things you eat are all made with magic animals and plants.”

Artemisia responded with a sigh, before moving forward and hoisting Beatrix over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“You feel a few kilograms heavier than the last time I carried you.”

“Arty, if you’re gonna complain about my weight, then at least carry me princess-style.”

Beatrix requested as she wiggled her arms and legs, but Artemisia ignored her and began walking out of the room. Due to how she was being carried, her head was facing me so she waved and spoke.

“Go to sleep, Evan. You’d certainly need it.”

Leaving behind those words, she was carried out by Artemisia and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the two girls’ interaction with each other.

“They are certainly very close.”

I returned my gaze to the night sky stretching endlessly above me, a canvas of stars flickering softly.

Sitting alone on the balcony as I watched them, I couldn’t help but feel both insignificant and connected to everything beyond.

Contradictory feelings.

I remembered Beatrix’s earlier words which basically meant I should do whatever was best for me, even if it negatively affected the Aramisians.

“If the only way forward involves fucking up the Aramisians, then I guess I’d do it without hesitation.

That wouldn’t be hard. I already have a history of fucking other people’s things up—I’d only be adding an entire world to that list…”