Reincarnated Hero System

Fear.

Pure unadulterated fear.

That was what Aldric was feeling from the depths of his soul when he gazed back at the pair of grey eyes that looked at him in silence.

◇ ◇ ◇

As the Imperial Army swept through the state, banners of conquest unfurled and soldiers occupied strategic points in the main city and the towns that surrounded it.

Citizens watched in fear as the once-familiar streets were transformed by the presence of the invaders.

Yet, to their surprise, the Imperials refrained from wanton destruction or violence against civilians. In fact, it was as if they didn't care what the civilians thought of the change in government.

Regardless of their initial apprehension, life under occupation would soon settle into an uneasy routine.

The patrols they're so scared of would become a common sight, and so would the murmurs of discontent they elicited from the populace.

But in the end, that's all they'd be able to do. Just talk.

The citizens would have no choice but to begrudgingly accept their new reality, and resign to voice their grievances in hushed tones rather than open defiance.

Beluar occupied the governor's office, where Doulton and all the Commissioners of the state stood, their hands cuffed by magic sealing chains.

Aldric, whose injuries had been treated was present as well, gritting his teeth indignantly as he saw the Imperial Generals under Beluar move around in the office and sort out things.

It was then that Beluar suddenly raised a brow and looked up, before muttering words that seemed plastered confusion on the faces of those who heard.

"He's here…"

'Who?'—was the question that floated in their minds, but very soon, Beluar's Major Generals sensed the familiar aura and nodded in understanding.

It was still scary as fuck, but at least they knew it wasn't hostile.

For the Liegan grandmasters, they weren't so calm. They felt chills run down their spines, and an instinctive desire to flee washed over them.

Funny enough, the Master Level existences could not perceive this threat the same way the grandmasters did, so they just looked on in confusion.

The few A-rank Adventurers and Mercenaries in Liegan were shocked out of their wits, and even though they raised alarm, the Imperial Soldiers didn't agree to let them move.

The next thing they heard was a sonic boom, and then the skies went silent.

The silence lasted a minute before the door to the Governor's office opened and a teenager stepped inside.

It was now, that the people below grandmaster in the office finally understood why the grandmasters reacted like they did.

"Outside is messy as hell"

"Of course, it is. it's only been an hour since the battle."

Beluar replied to the boy wearing a hooded grey jacket, black jeans and casual sneakers, strutting into the office and plopping down on one of the seats in front of the Governor's desk.

"How many died?"

"On our side? 1000.

They had 3000 in casualties and thrice that in wounded."

"So 4000 dead. Damn."

The boy ran his hand through his hair and sighed in light exasperation and seeing this, Beluar felt the need to make something clear.

"Things would not always go the way you want them to, Evan."

Evan looked at Beluar with a gaze that said 'You think I don't' know that?', while the Governor and the other Commissioners finally realised why the boy looked so familiar.

'He's Evan Eris!! The one who's been making headlines every month for the past year!'

'The Rumours didn't do him justice!'

Aldric sensed just how much more powerful than him and even Beluar that Evan was and he couldn't help but question.

'This…is supposed to be a teenager?'

Meanwhile, Evan continued his conversation with Beluar, ignoring the rapidly changing expressions of the Liegans around him.

"I have loads of expertise with things not going the way I want. I mean, look at Lacertilia. Things looked all nice on the outside and everyone thought I had the situation under control and planned 3 steps ahead.

You all have no idea that all I did that day was just improvising on the spot! My months of planning went down the drain simply because the Dungeon Break happened 3 days earlier than I predicted.

I was still busy stopping a train from getting hijacked when the Dungeon broke open.

I still thank my luck to this day that Dandeyr was close by because of David. Who knows how long it would have taken to break the barrier if he wasn't?"

Evan shook his head with a sigh, wondering if that was fate's way of giving him a last chance to stop attempting to prevent Disasters from happening in the first place.

"Dandeyr Eladi?"

"Yep. Anyway, the reason why I'm not liking the casualties is not because I don't want people to die or something.

I mean, I don't want unnecessary deaths, but I understand it is unavoidable in situations like these."

The boy shrugged as he spoke, before proceeding to drop a bombshell of a statement on all of them.

"You see, I kinda just declared to the Kings, Emperors, Presidents and Prime Ministers of like…half the continent, that I was gonna make sure this War ended with the least casualties in history.

So, I intend to stay strong on that."

"What the hell did you do in the Capital?!"

Beluar could not hold back his shock, wondering how a visit to the capital because he wanted to see Eliza ended up with that sort of outcome.

"Nothing much, I just joined in on Emperor Isaac's meeting with the Alpha continent's leaders, spoke with my fellow Heroes and together, we showed the continent's leaders that we are very much on board with the plan to annex Wolfen.

Thanks to David and King Kolvar, we did successfully prevent a lot of countries from sticking their noses."

When he heard Evan's phrasing, Beluar narrowed his eyes and asked.

"A Lot, you say?"

"Yes. 'A lot', not 'all'. We're still gonna have those who try to milk the situation. They may not interfere directly and may try to turn public opinion against the GEE, but you guys can handle all of that.

I've done my part, enhanced yours and my justifications which are actually the same, and…"

Evan trailed off for a moment, before sighing softly and continuing.

"It's really cool to be a child of one of 'The Five' strongest beings in the World."

"What happened?"

"Well, the amount of power and influence David has simply just being King Kolvar's son is far higher than the amount of power and influence I have amassed saving millions of people over the past 2 years.

Damn…life's unfair."

Beluar closed the books he was reading through before giving Evan an incredulous look as he spoke.

"You of all people are talking about 'Unfair'? Boy, I'm twice your age and you're higher level than me.

What's more, you were just a Bronze level in 1051. It's only been two years and you've surpassed what people need ten to achieve."

"Don't sweat the small stuff."

"How on Aidos is that 'small stuff'?!"

The man could not hold back his voice when Evan spoke, and the Major Generals in the room nodded in agreement with his words.

Evan on the other hand, just pulled out a takeaway pack from his inventory and started eating his pasta as he replied.

"Well, for starters…you're a Duke and I'm a Count. Last I checked, Dukes are people who have a lot of duties that would take away the time needed to level up from them.

Look at my 'father', for example. The man's even weaker than you are because he's too busy running a country of hundreds of millions of people to bother with levelling up."

"I understand the busyness part, but don't call ranks. I recall Emperor Hayes stating you'd become a Marquis when you come of age."

"I'm fourteen. That's in four years, it's so far away it feels like 40 years."

"Four years is a lot to the average human, but for us who have surpassed the Gold level and can live for hundreds of years, it's not too much time."

Beluar didn't seem to view the four years as something that'd pass before one realised it, and Evan felt he needed to remind the man that 4 years was nearly 30% of the entire time he'd lived.

'At least, that's the case for this body.'

The Age tab on his status was a constant reminder of his mental age; even though he clearly didn't act like someone at that age at all.

Evan turned his gaze towards the Liegan General who had been cuffed with Magic sealing chains and appraised the man. He did raise a brow in confusion when the man flinched under his gaze but didn't bother with it too much.

'Oh well, good thing Beluar didn't kill him like in the game. I guess it's because of my talk of needing Manpower for the demons.

We're gonna need every grandmaster we can get against the mid-ranked Demons.'

Such thoughts passed through Evan's mind as he ate the pasta that Eliza packed for him with a small smile on his face.