~VWUUSH~

A swirling blue portal, like a vortex imprinted in midair, appeared a short distance from the Southern Gate of the Adventurer City.

For a moment, it merely stood still, merely illuminating the night with its bright hue and causing the air around it to tremble.

Then, silhouettes began to emerge from within it.

Nine humans, along with a rabbit, marched out of the spatial rift. There was purpose in their aura, and their footsteps interrupted the silence that filled the barren path.

Once they all came out, the warbling space collapsed on itself and vanished from sight.

In no time at all, the darkened path returned to the way it was, save for the ten strangers that now stood there.

"I can't believe Sir Ralyks just dropped us off without even bothering to show us around." The first to speak was, of course, Justin Blake.

His face dragged around as he complained, pointing towards the entrance of the city that stood at least a hundred meters away from them.

"The least he could do was transport us straight to the entrance."

Everyone ignored Justin's complaints. They knew the true reason why he was complaining, and that was because Ralyks didn't respond to any of his jokes.

Even when he was being serious, he was treated coldly.

Of course, the same applied to everyone, but it seemed Justin took it personally.

The only one who reacted as strongly as he didperhaps a bit more extremewas Belle Vanitas.

"Hicc hicc Sir Ralyks, why were you so cold to me?" Her muffled whispers quietly echoed in the night. "Even after we haven't seen for so long?"

Everyone ignored her too.

Belle had been sobbing like this for a while now, and since she showed no signs of stopping anytime soondespite the initial attempts to pacify herthey all gave up on the cause.

A few students still shot her concerned looks, but most just paid attention to the task ahead of them.

"Sir Ralyks was probably busy. He has a lot on his plate, and he did previously mention that he was going to be investigating some matters." Adonis had to speak up and address everyone, even though he already did so before they appeared here.

"So please, let us all cooperate and behave ourselves well."

None of the Otherworlders were aware of this, but the real reason 'Ralyks' didn't speak to them was because he was a mere duplicate hurriedly charged with bringing the students to the Adventurers City after a specified period of time.

Before transporting them to the checkpoint, the duplicate was to spew out exposition about the Adventurers City, as well as to once again guide the actions they were to take once they arrived.

Once it was done with the task, the clone transported them to the city and vanished itself.

"Hm. Even if he was busy, I feel like he should have at least lodged us somewhere." Alicia spoke up, her tone hinting a little concern.

"EXACTLY! Alicia gets it!" Justin yelled out, though he was ignored yet again.

"Isn't it a bit irresponsible on his part, as an adult, to just drop us off in a City we've never been to before? What do you think, Rey?"

"I completely agree with you, Alicia." Rey responded to the inquiry with a sharp, almost preplanned tone. "It's pretty late. It's not safe for us to be out so late at night without adult supervision."

In a way, Rey just rephrased everything Alicia complained about, yet somehow managing to make it worse.

"T-that's not really what I" Alicia slightly slapped her palm on her face and sighed.

Rey had completely missed the point.

"We're adults in this world, Rey, Alicia. Sir Ralyks was generous enough to save us days of travel by transporting us here despite his busy schedule." Adonis spoke up, finally gaining everyone's attention once again.

"We should be grateful to him and focus on the mission we have been tasked with."

Once again, none of them realized just how wrong they were in their line of reasoning.

Who could blame their ignorance, though?

The real reason 'Ralyks' didn't transport them so close to the City, or lodged them into an inn, was because the man behind the mask didn't want his face to be seen in the Adventurers City.

Chances were high that he would be exposed as a fraud once the Otherworlders noticed that no one was paying him any mind, despite supposedly being a strong Adventurer.

Even if he could escape such accusations by claiming to be in disguise, Rey didn't want to take the risk of drawing attention to Ralyksespecially when he wasn't in full control of the version he sent to fetch everyone.

Besides, he was still unsure if Adrien was pulling the strings from the shadows.

For the safety of his plan, it was better to dissociate Ralyks from the Adventurers City, instead placing the focus on Jet and from the shadows.

For the safety of his plan, it was better to dissociate Ralyks Lux.

"Just as planned, we will have to change our names and faces before entering the city."

The reason for that was simple.

Since they would soon be officially recognized as the champions of mankind and heading to the front lines, they couldn't be seen as Adventurers.

As such, no one in the Adventurers City, not even the higher-

ups, could know of their true identities.

Even if the Guildmaster and his posse were in support of the alliance now, there was no knowing how things would be in the future.

In order to play it safe, they had to take on different monikers and disguise themselves using the ultra-rare sets of rings that could cast a disguise on the wearer.

The set of nine rings was a courtesy gift from the Reaper Group, a newly established business that desired to forge a relationship of interest with the Royal Council.

Of course, many considered this incredibly convenient and guessed Ralyks was behind it. However, without proofand with the need for the ringsthey quietly accepted the presents.

"Alright everyone. Let's go!"

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Thanks for reading!

Haha! I wonder if Noah will end up bumping into the old team, or maybe Esme meeting Rey in his new disguise. It's gonna be so much fun.