Synopsis

In a world ravaged by war and conflict, Hero Raid Freeden and Sage Eluria Caldwin clashed time and time again over fifty long years as the strongest soldiers of their respective nations. However, their long-standing rivalry came to an inevitable yet bitter end with Eluria’s sudden death. A thousand years later, Raid finds he has been reincarnated—and so has Eluria! The world may now be at peace, but the two have an unsettled rivalry between them and the mystery of their reincarnation looms ominously over their heads. There’s so much that needs to be done, so they decide to…get engaged and attend the Royal Institute of Magic together?! (Source: J-Novel Club)

A Love that Spans a Millennium!

Written by Washiro Fujiki and illustrated by Heiro, The Hero and the Sage, J-Novel Club’s latest title, features a love that has lasted an eternity.

The story of the series follows Raid and Eluria. Once fated rivals in battle, the sudden death of Eluria drives both their reincarnations to 1000 years into the future. Faced with a world at peace, the two come together to solve the mystery of their reincarnation and discover their new blossoming feelings for one another. 

While the synopsis of this series makes promises of an overarching mystery, it is best to think of this volume as a rom-com. Throughout the volume, most of the focus is on the history and present relationship between Raid and Eluria. The author is quick to set up the change in their relationship from rivals to romantic with an engagement and even gives them the perfect arena for their new love to blossom: a magic academy.

Their romance is cute and perfectly wholesome. The main attraction to following their romantic journey stems from the gap in their personalities, as these two seasoned warriors are turned immature by the prospect of their first love. Furthermore, the author has done well in the integration of this theme within the fantasy setting. Had it not been for the reincarnation segment at the start of the story, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between their romantic journey and one taken in light novel rom-com equivalents.

Away from Raid and Eluria’s lovey-dovey engagement, this volume does make the effort to lay the foundations of the series’ main mystery: Eluria’s sudden death and the impossibility of the two of them having been reincarnated. This comes into play towards the volume climax during the academy’s first exam of the season.

As is often the case with this genre, Raid and Eluria’s exam is interrupted by the appearance of extremely strong monsters. What sets these events apart from other examples also plays a role in the series’ mystery. Much like Raid and Eluria, the creatures that attack the exam can only be found 1000 years in the past, as they’ve long gone extinct. For Eluria and Raid, these moments prove that there’s something more than coincidence at play and that some sinister force may be at work in the shadows.

Overall, The Hero and the Sage’s opening instalment makes some good steps towards laying the foundations of the series. While the romance aspect of the story is off to a strong start, I hope that the subsequent volumes pay more attention to the overarching mystery, giving the story more dimensions to explore.

I Give The Hero and The Sage Volume 1: 7/10