Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged: Volume 5 (eBook)

Washiro Fujiki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-2294-3 (ISBN)

Infos

World saved and invasion quelled, Raid and Eluria have every reason to breathe a sigh of relief and pat themselves on the back-but their work is far from over. Past mistakes must be rectified, old grievances must be settled, and most of all, an entire abandoned timeline still needs saving! With countless lives once again resting on their shoulders, the most powerful couple sets out into a ravaged world where everything they know only remains in tragic traces and bittersweet memories. Many problems await on the other side-from the devastated environment to the vicious empire coming after their heads-but surprisingly, the key to it all has already been by their side this entire time...in the form of a certain ordinary girl from the boonies!

Textauszug

“Millis is such a fast learner,” Eluria mused.

“More like she just straight-up rewired her brain,” Raid said.

Dian whipped his head around with a glare. “You two shut up. It’s all your fault.”

“But, um...” Millis said, fidgeting. “Can’t you join us too, Mr. Dian? I think it’d be better for the whole operation if you—and, well, whoever else came with you—joined us and guided us while we’re there, right? I mean, compared to filling us in as complete newbies over here...”

“No can do. The others are one thing, but I can’t afford to go back.” Dian’s face warped in disgust. “In our world, the Hero is embedded with a rule of absolute subservience to the emperor. It’s to keep us in check since we hold the power to overthrow the nation overnight.”

“Oh... So, you can join, but then you’d be forced to fight us?”

“Got that right. As for the others, no use bringing them along either. Their self-destruct spells will go off with a single word from anyone with enough authority.” Dian and his men were only free because they were here in the Second World. The moment they stepped back into the First World, they would once again fall under Altane’s influence. “So we can give you all the info you need, but that’s it.”

“I can’t join either...” Elise meekly added. “Wallus’s memory succession magic was made by Eluria back when she was the Demon Lord. The First World is brimming with her mana, so who knows what’ll happen if I go there? Worst-case scenario, I could also end up turning against you all.”

Alma sighed, scratching her head. “It’s not just Elise—the other special-class magicians wouldn’t be of much help either. It’s not like we have experience dealing with all the anti-magic technology they’ve got over there. At best, they could probably provide a little support...”

Not to mention, besides all the reasons that barred them from going to the First World, there were also circumstances that begged them to stay in the Second World.

“By now, the higher-ups have probably assumed that our operation has failed and started prepping a second invasion plan,” Dian continued. “But setting aside those two exceptions, this world’s fighting force ain’t all that promising. Take that woman over there, for example,” he said, glancing at Alma. “With magicians on your level, you’d need several to even dream of just holding off a Hero.”

Alma scratched her head. “We’re the strongest magicians in this world, though...”

“For this era, sure. To us, though? You’re all just tossing around a buncha outdated tech. It was developed differently from ours, but we’ve still got countless ways to shut it all down.”

“Well, credit where credit is due, they can still hold off a Hero,” Elise said with a rueful smile. “So the other special-classers can stay here and buy time until Raid and the others come back from the First World.”

Speed was the key for this expedition, hence they settled on sending a small elite force into the First World with Raid and Eluria in the lead. Regardless, many foes stood in their way.

“They’ve got Viteos with them,” Raid sighed. “Since this whole invasion was his idea, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made a few more reckless attempts.”

Viteos had been the Altanian emperor a thousand years ago when Raid was active as the Hero. He was a tyrant at worst and a fool at best, but nevertheless he sat on the throne for half a century thanks to the authority he was born with and the support of his vassals. After Raid’s death, the Hero and the Sage’s subordinates led a rebellion and took down the empire, at which point Viteos fled and vanished off the face of the world—not so figuratively, as Dian’s information had revealed to them.

“By the way, is that guy back on the throne over in your world?” Raid asked.

Dian sighed. “Do I even need to answer? Sounds like you know him well enough.”

“Oh, I know him very well. Let’s see... He’s an arrogant dolt who thinks the world revolves around him just because he was born with imperial blood. He can’t do anything on his own yet acts like we owe him the air we breathe. Yet, for all that he’s a hopeless idiot, he can still be so devious in the most annoying ways. A real piece of work, that one.”

“N-No mercy!” Millis whispered, aghast. “Is he really your former boss?!”

“I had to deal with that guy for decades. So yeah, I’ve got a bone or two to pick with him,” Raid grumbled. Viteos’s arrogance and recklessness had caused unending grief for the soldiers and citizens alike.

“Yeah, sounds about right... But unfortunately, he’s not just an emperor in our world,” Dian mumbled, his expression warping bitterly. “Our forces came to the Second World to assassinate the Demon Lord, but nothing changed—naturally, since our timelines had already diverged. So they set their sights on recreating Hero, and that led them to reach out to Viteos.”

“They got him to retrieve my sword, didn’t they?”

“Right. In the First World, Emperor Viteos Altane was a prominent historical figure. He took over his father’s imperial expansion project and succeeded in colonizing more than half of the continent. He was someone we could rely on... Well, that’s what they were hoping for, anyway.”

In a sense, they hadn’t been wrong to make such an assumption. Altane had military superiority over other nations thanks to their advanced machinery. Without variables like the Hero and the Sage in the First World, the empire must have steadily expanded its territory. But at the same time, this steady success meant Altane never learned from its vicious ways, eventually leading to the birth of the Demon Lord...and the impending end of their world.

“Add to that glorious past his current achievement of bringing us the Hero’s sword, and, well...” Dian shrugged. “Viteos is now enjoying power and authority an emperor could only dream of. He’s practically a living god over there.”

Raid groaned. “As if his head wasn’t big enough already...”

“Hah, you said it. The empire’s bigwigs have been reduced to a flock of brainless yes-men.” From their perspective, a great hero of the past had returned and brought them a sliver of hope amid their dying world. Deplorable as it was, their blind devotion was understandable to an extent. “But the results speak for themselves: We’re just barely holding on. Only three people, myself included, were found to be compatible with the Hero’s power. Two of us were sent to the front lines to repel the Calamities, but things are steadily getting worse. We’re even starting to see casualties among noncombatants.”

“So, in typical Altane fashion, they decided to switch over to this Second World invasion plan, right?”

“Probably. I mean, it’s already been ten years since Viteos crossed over to our world. Was about time for a change in strategy.”

Raid scoffed. “I’m sure there’s more to it than just that.”

The Viteos Altane that Raid had known wasn’t one to strive for a noble cause—he was selfish and materialistic through and through. Most likely, his thought process went a little more like this:

Since crossing over to the First World, he had been enjoying power and status like never before. But ten years had gone by; he wasn’t getting any younger, nor was their world’s situation improving. If he wanted to keep reveling in luxury, then he needed to come up with a better plan.

That sounded a lot more like Viteos as Raid knew him.

“On top of the Calamities, you’ll have to deal with those old fogeys in Altane too. It’d be one thing if you could just kill ’em all—”

“But you don’t want that, do you?” Raid said.

Dian pursed his lips and shook his head. “I’ve watched far too many people die in this conflict. The only reason I’m not among them...is because I just so happened to be a Hero.”

Raid could sympathize with the sentiment. Not many were lucky enough to survive like him; most were powerless in the face of the world’s tragedies and perished namelessly in some forgotten corner. Raid had witnessed such deaths time and time again, many of which he’d had to avert his eyes from because of the weight of his responsibilities.

Death was a constant presence in his life, a shadow that always lingered. He used his immense power to escape its clutches, then reached out to bring along whoever he could. In time, the desire to save two more lives for every death he witnessed permeated his very being.

And that must have been why he became the Hero.

“It wasn’t just some coincidence,” he told Dian. “You were chosen as a Hero because you understood the weight of life. Isn’t that why those guys entrusted you with theirs?”

“Hah... You tryin’ to comfort me? What, ’cause you’re an actual hero?”

“I’m just speaking from experience. Think of it as an old man’s ramblings.”

“Oh yeah?” Dian’s lips curled into a small, almost soft smile. “Guess I’ll keep that in mind, then.”

Suddenly, Millis shot her hand up into the air. “Excuse me! I am still very much confused and would like to ask a question!”

...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.9.2025
• Reihe/Serie: The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged
• Illustrationen: Washiro Fujiki
• Übersetzer: Washiro Fujiki
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: light mystery • Magic • overpowered couple • Reincarnation • Rivals to Lovers • wholesome
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-2294-1 / 1718322941
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-2294-3 / 9781718322943