Ryan stood there observing Janina. He kept his eyes fixed on the dragon woman; she, upon noticing his fixed gaze, raised her face to return the eye contact.

"Do not look at me like that, I just arrived."

Janina said with a completely flat and cold tone, without displaying a single emotion on her face. But Ryan immediately began to think about what he had just witnessed.

He reviewed in his mind the exact moment when the leather bag flew straight toward his face without any prior warning.

’I didn’t even notice her until she spoke; her stealth skills far surpass Beatrice’s.’ He evaluated in silence, comparing the two women.

His companion back in the village was an expert at moving through the shadows without making a sound in order to hide her presence. But this dragon woman’s level of stealth surpassed absolutely anything he had ever seen before.

Then, Ophelia walked right past Ryan.

The sound of her shoes echoed on the balcony floor as she advanced with firm steps toward the front. She walked straight to where Janina was standing, stopping right by her side with her arms crossed.

"I had Janina listen to my entire conversation with Ivis, so with that this matter is completely resolved; now you must leave, Ryan."

Ophelia said with a firm voice, raising her right arm toward him. She handed the portal stone directly into his hands, pressing the cold rock against his fingers.

Ryan took the portal stone with his right hand. And in his left hand he held the brown leather bag that Janina had handed him a moment ago.

Ryan opened the leather bag with a quick flick of his fingers.

He pulled the top drawstrings and looked directly inside the package.

He noticed that inside there was a sheathed weapon, and some simple cloth garments folded very neatly at the bottom.

Then he raised his gaze in the direction of the demon queen and her dragoness.

"Alright, this will serve its purpose." Ryan affirmed, verifying that everything was in order.

"Tell Ivis not to arrive late this time." Ryan added in an ironic manner, curving his lips slightly.

He was making a direct allusion to his past memories. He perfectly remembered the sheer frustration of when he had to wait for her for long hours at the entrance of the dungeon in the sky.

Ophelia smiled broadly at Ryan’s response.

"Ha, ha, ha, alright." She responded, letting out a light laugh that contrasted with the wind blowing across the tower.

"It is a true shame that we cannot talk for a little longer." Ophelia said with a heavy sigh, letting her shoulders drop with some disappointment.

Ryan nodded, putting an end to the conversation between them. And right when he was going to activate the portal stone to leave and completely disappear from the tower.

A timid voice distracted him, completely halting the flow of his magical energy.

"Hey..."

The voice echoed from behind, originating directly from Roxy. The green-haired young demoness had remained completely unnoticed near the entrance to the tower.

Despite remaining completely naked behind them beneath the strong current of freezing air, she had been totally ignored.

"Lady Janina, did you bring clothes for me too?" She asked restlessly and with a tone that sounded almost like a plea.

While she spoke, she covered herself clumsily right in front of them.

She kept her left hand pressed against her dark panties to cover her crotch. And she used her right hand to try to cover her enormous breasts, but their sheer size did not help at all, leaving her pink left nipple entirely visible, bristling from the cold.

Janina shot her a cold look from her position right next to the queen.

She observed the trembling girl without displaying a single drop of empathy or compassion for her current state. Then she averted her gaze with total indifference toward the empty horizon.

"Of course not." Janina responded in a sharp manner, without adding a single word of consolation.

The tower guard formed a small pout upon hearing such a dry rejection from the dragoness.

"But, but Your Majesty..." She said timidly in the form of a complaint.

She directed her tearful gaze at the demon queen, silently begging for a solution to avoid continuing to humiliate herself.

"Ha, ha, ha, sorry about that, I had completely forgotten." Ophelia said with a smile, casually bringing a hand to her cheek.

"I will send the twins over right away, do not worry."

Roxy had no other choice but to settle for her sovereign’s promise.

"Okay, Your Majesty." She said, puffing out the cheeks on her face with evident resignation.

Ryan looked at them closely for a moment, observing the rather strange dynamic among the three women of Morrisen.

Something about the behavior of this group made him feel a strange sense of familiarity.

It was very similar to what he experienced with his own group of girls almost daily back in the corridors of his village.

He let out an involuntary smile at that simple comparison taking place inside his head.

And he activated the portal stone without saying another word of farewell.

He sent his mana directly into the rock’s runes.

Snap.

The environment suddenly changed, blurring the image of the tower and the women in the blink of an eye. He was now standing on a hill entirely covered in green grass. The breeze blew forcefully in that high area, hitting his face and immediately messing up his dark hair.

To his back was the enormous bluish sea crashing against the land; he looked upward and noticed the sky rapidly darkening. The orange tones announced that night was about to arrive in that part of the world.

He immediately put on the new clothes that Janina had brought him inside the leather bag. He took off his outfit and stored the rest of his things inside his magical inventory, including his weapons.

He checked the bottom of the bag searching for the object he had seen earlier.

Janina had left him a rather generic dagger with a wooden sheath. It was a cheap weapon, of rare rank, perfectly suited to avoid drawing the attention of any curious guard or soldier.

Ryan adjusted the new clothing, checking the fit of the fabric all over his body.

Now with his new attire, he wore a full suit, tailored with very light fabric that allowed him to move with total freedom. It was brown in color, and it featured a long scarf with a hood that served to conceal his face completely.

He wrapped the scarf around himself and pulled the dark fabric up. He adjusted the hood over his head, leaving only his green eyes free so he could see the path ahead of him.

With that worn-out appearance, he could very well pass as a low-level adventurer looking to earn a few coins.

’It seems I will have to fake my identity once again.’ Ryan thought, touching the hilt of the dagger resting on his hip.

He adjusted his shoulders and began to descend the hill with a firm pace along the dirt path.

He arrived at the outskirts of the place shortly after. He entered the city of Friah Village without any major problems or inspection at the gates.

Being a city very far removed from danger and the frontlines, the security was highly basic and the men on guard barely paid any attention to him as he passed by. He walked through the cobblestone streets looking for a suitable place to rest.

Therefore, it did not take him long to find an inn to spend the night. However, he first stopped to eat in the main hall of the place, looking for a free table in the back.

He took a seat in a secluded corner and ordered a plate of hot food. And while he was sitting at the table waiting for the waitress to bring him his order, he could hear the conversation of other adventurers nearby.

"Were all of them really here?" An adventurer said, raising his deep voice.

The burly man slammed his drink against the wood of the table, staring intently at his party members.

"Yes, that is exactly right. I saw them myself." One of the adventurer girls sitting at the table directly behind Ryan said.

"It was a meeting of heroes, but I found out that they all left already, except for William." The girl added with a tone full of sheer amazement.

"And what did they come here to do? That is what I do not understand."

The man with the deep voice shook his head, looking rather confused by the news.

"Can they really take the time off like that?" The adventurer questioned, unable to find any logic as to why such important people would be passing through a fishing town.

"I do not know, but William is walking around with a woman." The adventurer girl responded, lowering her voice a little.

"Even though we couldn’t find out who she was."

Ryan received his food and picked up the wooden spoon.

And so they continued while Ryan ate in complete silence, sitting right at the table in front of them.

He kept his gaze fixed right on his plate of stew, while the adventurers exchanged opinions attempting to guess exactly why there was a meeting of S-rank heroes in such a remote place.