Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 24 – First Villain…
Adam was seated inside the carriage beside Evelyne Ravenshade as it steadily made its way toward the royal capital.
After confirming each other’s identities in the village, Evelyne had insisted that he travel with her the rest of the way to Arcanis Academy.
Adam had accepted mainly because the alternative was walking for hours, and honestly, he didn’t have the energy for that after the night he had...
They had been talking for the past half hour about what had happened.
Adam told her an edited version of the events: the ambush by the noble hunters, the fight, and his victory. He omitted important details such as Nox, the new ability, and the fact that the leader had escaped alive.
He only told her what was necessary to explain why he was alone and walking through the forest.
Evelyne had listened attentively, growing more surprised with each thing Adam recounted.
"That must have been hard, fighting against that group," she commented when Adam finished speaking, her voice carrying a tone of sincere concern. "The noble hunters are known for being ruthless and specifically trained to kill people like us."
Adam shrugged as he looked out the window, watching the scenery pass by.
"It wasn’t a big deal. I’m still alive in the end."
Evelyne looked at him for a moment before offering a faint smile. "You must be strong to have survived that. Most nobles our age would have died within minutes against a group like that."
"I got lucky," Adam replied simply, not giving much importance to the compliment.
Evelyne had immediately offered to send one of her soldiers back to the Shadowend manor to report what had happened and confirm that Adam was safe
He accepted the offer with a grateful nod.
The soldier had departed a few minutes ago with clear instructions on what to say and who to seek out first.
Adam turned his attention back to Evelyne as a question that had been bothering him finally slipped out. "How did you know me?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Evelyne blinked in surprise at the question before letting out a small laugh. "How could I not? You’re a Shadowend. All the members of your family are known in certain circles."
In the end, Adam realized how foolish his question had been and could only look out the window, unwilling to pursue the topic further, but Evelyne continued speaking.
"Dorian, your brother, is an instructor at the academy and is famous for his mastery of magic," Evelyne said as she counted on her fingers. "Your older brother Kaelen was also known during his time there for being... well, intimidating. And your two sisters, Layla and Selene, also left their own marks when they attended."
Adam simply listened without saying anything. That already answered his doubts about why she knew him.
"When word spread that another Shadowend would begin attending this year, naturally everyone placed their expectations on you," Evelyne added with a small smile. "And when we heard that you had started training seriously after... well, after your previous reputation, that only increased the curiosity."
Adam frowned slightly at that. "My previous reputation?"
Evelyne seemed uncomfortable for a moment. "Uh... yes. You know, the stories about how you were before. Someone who didn’t train, who spent his time... doing other things."
’Ah, right.’ Adam thought with a hint of bitterness, recalling the memories of the original Adam. ’The lazy, womanizing idiot who did nothing productive.’
"But that changed, obviously," Evelyne added quickly when she saw his expression. "The fact that you survived an ambush is more than enough proof of that."
Adam decided to change the subject before it became more awkward. As he looked at her, he remembered something he wanted to try.
’Status.’ He thought while focusing his attention on her.
But instead of the usual translucent screen with the information he needed, a different message appeared.
[Tamer System]
[ERROR: Data display function temporarily disabled]
[A malfunction has been detected preventing the display of information about other individuals. Only the host’s statistics are available until the issue is resolved]
Adam frowned at that. ’What the hell is wrong with this piece of crap?’
[Excuse me? Piece of crap? Listen carefully, host—]
But the system cut off abruptly before finishing the sentence, as if something more important had captured its attention.
And then a new message appeared that made his entire body tense.
[Tamer System]
[Alert: First villain detected]
[Name: Evelyne Ravenshade]
[Classification: Main Villain #7]
[Conquest Status: 0%]
[First individual of the main mission detected]
[Note: This is one of the twenty villains the host must conquer to complete his final objective. Proceed with caution and build a genuine relationship]
Adam read the message twice, then three times, slowly processing what he was seeing.
’What?’ was the only thing his brain could formulate coherently.
He looked at Evelyne, who was still sitting across from him, unaware of the chaos that had just erupted in Adam’s mind.
She was a villain.
’You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Adam thought as he tried to keep his expression neutral so as not to reveal anything strange. ’Seriously? The first person I randomly meet after surviving an ambush turns out to be one of the damn villains?’
He didn’t even remember her face from the novel, and there were only two possibilities: either she was a new character who appeared, or after he stopped reading the novel, she showed up later. He would never know...
[Welcome officially to the game, things are about to get very interesting...]
Evelyne tilted her head slightly with curiosity when she noticed Adam had suddenly gone silent. "Are you alright? You look... thoughtful."
Adam blinked several times before responding, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Yeah, just... tired from everything last night."
"Understandable," she replied with a nod. "You should get some rest. We still have several hours before we reach Thornwick."
Adam nodded distractedly as he leaned back against the carriage seat and closed his eyes, pretending he was going to sleep.
But his mind was completely awake and active, processing everything.
Evelyne Ravenshade, one of the villains... daughter of low-ranking nobles according to what she had mentioned earlier during their conversation.
’But why is she a villain? It doesn’t make sense.’ He wondered mentally while keeping his eyes closed. ’What makes someone like her classified as one of the main villains of this story?’
He didn’t have an answer yet.
But one thing was certain, and that was that things were indeed about to get very interesting.
’Great.’ He thought sarcastically.
The journey continued in relative silence after that, with Evelyne apparently respecting his need to rest while Adam pretended to sleep.
If Evelyne was the first villain he encountered... that meant the other nineteen were waiting for him somewhere.
’This is going to be a disaster.’ It was his last coherent thought before real exhaustion finally began to overcome him and his consciousness slowly started to fade into a restless sleep.
