The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

What was the best thing to do in a fight? It was to win without even fighting at all.

Reina had admirably thrown a wrench in Davey’s plan to fight by fleeing. Of course, she probably did not mean for this to happen as she did not know his true identity. All she had done was simply release the traces of holy power left in her sword to activate teleportation magic while keeping Davey away. After all, he was a difficult opponent for her to face right now.

Although teleportation magic wasn’t something she could use as it was magic at the 7th Circle, Reina had still escaped from Davey in some unknown way. However, Davey knew where her power had come from: Goddess Freyja.

[A final helping hand to the poor child yearning for salvation despite her imminent death.]

—Davey, is it okay if you don’t follow them?

“With what?”

Perserque looked at Davey like she didn’t understand.

—Do you think I am an idiot who is going to buy that act? I saw you embed a tracking magic spell in that girl before she left, and now you are pretending to know nothing? You might have to suffer from not knowing what is going to happen in the future, but you’re not one to not get anything out of such situations.

-From you. Just a little while ago.

Perserque did not back down one bit.

Davey could indeed track where Reina and her group had disappeared to. However, he undid the tracking magic that he had put on Reina without hesitation.

—Davey?

“Now I don’t have anything.”

—...Are you joking around with me?”

Perserque pulled on Davey’s ear incredulously.

Patting Perserque’s head with his finger, Davey simply said with a bitter smile, “Just let them go.”

—What?

Perserque looked confused by Davey’s depressing comment. She didn’t understand his sudden change of heart.

—Why? To be honest, I thought you’re going to go crazy from foolishly missing them in front of your eyes...

“I wasn’t going to let them go before checking, but…”

Although he was still confused as to why Reina had been here, Davey no longer had to do any checks of his own. He already knew who Reina was.

“And we’re going to see each other again soon.”

Perserque looked a little puzzled.

—Davey, why are you doing this?

“See for yourself.”

Perserque could read Davey’s most recent memories, especially those that had happened just moments ago.

Davey could now remember everything. The bright light that Reina had desperately shone at him with her last hope was quite a shocking sight.

“Because I wasn’t there.”

Everything was different.

—Oh my, this… This is possible?

Perserque, who had put her forehead on Davey’s to read his memories, froze in shock.

The memories that involved the others were ordinary. The beastfolk man, the little mage boy, little priest girl, and the electricity-type swordswoman who had a bright smile were all ordinary but talented people. They were just following Reina as they aspired to be warriors like her.

As for Reina, she was distinctly different from the rest of them. Aside from being a foreigner, she was the most familiar yet unfamiliar person to Davey.

Why did Davey see what he did when Reina had grabbed him? The reason was simple when he thought of it. It meant that Goddess Freya, the being who had the ability to send Reina here, had thrown something at him.

“Perserque, who can your Abyss Authority read?”

—Everyone within the laws of this world… No one can escape it, even if they are from another dimension… But, if they are from another timeline…

This was the reason why Reina could not be read by Perserque’s authority.

—But isn’t it weird? Is that even possible?

“How can it be possible?”

In a way, time itself was a physical law that could be changed and distorted by gravity. However, they were forgetting one thing: the flow of time was controlled by the divine will. The past, present, and future could not exist together, but that was the reality in front of Davey.

Davey could think of a lot of reasons how this had happened, but it would be best to hear it directly from Reina.

Reina’s strong yearning did not have the current version of Davey but the Heins Territory’s seigneur version of him. They would be able to meet again if he waited there.

Davey, who was left alone in the silent and ruined underground space, suddenly saw a large crowd of people rushing over to where he was. He stared at them from right where he stood.

The guards of the capital of the Boltis Kingdom had realized the disturbance from earlier on. After all, it would be impossible for the Boltis Kingdom to not notice such a huge explosion.

“Don’t move!! You are surrounded!”

Dozens of soldiers pointed their spears at Davey with tense faces. As for the bowmen, they also loaded their bows and pointed their weapons at him as well. To them, Davey was a terrorist who had come to their kingdom and bombed it; whatever actually happened here did not really matter to them.

“You bastard!! How dare you cause a disturbance here! This is the Kingdom of the Great Sword! The capital of the Boltis Kingdom! I do not know why you caused this kind of terror here, but you are done now that I’m here! Make this easy and retrieve your aur…”

Davey interrupted the man who was shouting confidently. He said, “Tell me your affiliation.”

Davey wasn’t in the position to say something to these soldiers as he wasn’t a royal of the Boltis Kingdom. However, with the fact that people from his Heins Territory had been sold here…

Davey, who took off his mask, stared at the man. “I am Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. You are?”

“W… What…?”

“I happen to have something to say to the Boltis Kingdom as well. How nice. I heard that His Majesty the King of the Boltis Kingdom is in critical condition. Is Duke Allua, who is taking care of state affairs in his stead, at the capital?”

Flustered by Davey’s unexpected question, the man hesitated. He yelled, “D-Don’t try to trick me! Do you think I would fall for that lie…?!”

Light spread all across the devastated area as soon as Davey gently waved his hand. Those who did not know any better would think that he had performed a miracle as a Saint.

“Oh… Oh my…”

“M… My Lord…”

Upon looking at that sight, the soldiers fell to their knees. It was as if they had seen God descend from the heavens.

“If you have eyes, you should know if I’m the real thing or not. You guys may not know why I’ve caused this situation here, but I think Duke Allua may have an idea.”

“...”

“Isn’t that right? Captain Holson, captain of the East Door Defense.”

Captain Holson was silent.

* * *

Of course, the Boltis Kingdom denied the incident. However, they did not think to turn this around and use it to attack Davey. As they had eyes and ears, they knew what Davey could do with just brute force alone.

Not wanting to sour the relationship between them, Duke Allua tried hard to connect with Davey. He even declared that he could find everyone associated with the black market from this incident forward.

Even if it was just a formal declaration, Davey found that to be sufficient. Now, the moment the Boltis Kingdom turned around to do something else, Davey would have a proper reason to take action against them.

“Welcome, Your Highness,” greeted Attendant Bernile with a bow.

Davey glanced at Attendant Bernile and lightly nodded. He asked, “How are the ones we’ve sent over first?”

“Due to the overwhelming number of people you’ve sent over, the process was a little delayed. We did manage to have them all shower and get checked out by a doctor without any difficulty. But…”

“Their minds aren’t normal, right?”

“Yes, the doctor states that none of them have any physical problems. However, most of them have lost their minds…”

It was a weird description, but it wasn’t incorrect to say so.

“I apologize for sending across even more people than I planned. You probably weren’t expecting that.”

“That’s alright. I am just touched by your warm heart, Your Highness.”

“How embarrassing.” Davey clicked his tongue in disagreement.

Bernile shook his head with a soft expression. “No one would be able to save anyone in misery this quickly and realistically. But you did it, Your Highness.”

“And if this whole incident causes a bigger problem?”

“The person I know would have already prepared for all that.” Bernile chuckled.

There was no way that Davey would be able to beat Bernile in this argument.

“Lead the way. I have to undo their mental subjugation,” said Davey.

Attendant Bernile stepped back and bowed as if he had been waiting for Davey’s order. He led the way.

The seigneur’s palace was bustling with people as the number of people had suddenly increased to about forty. The number included those Davey had rescued from the black market and the ones who had been kept in that underground jail.

“...” Yuria frowned as she glanced at the female elf who was staring into space. She said softly, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to take care of them…”

“This isn’t your fault. It’s my fault for not taking proper care of the territory.”

Aina Helishana was heading to the capital of the Rowane Kingdom, working to find out who was behind this. She also had to figure out the whereabouts of the two criminal organizations.

It would take a while for him to get the necessary information, since the organizations had a lot of members. However, Davey was ready to take action whenever the opportunity presented itself.

“But…I can’t undo the subjugation orb even with my spirit magic. According to Elder Goulda, it’s going to take a while to break the orbs as they are made from a very durable material…” Yuria said.

Davey nodded in understanding. “An elf wouldn’t be able to undo it since it was made for elves.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do it like this.”

Davey snatched the subjugation orb that was on the female elf’s neck and crushed it with his bare hands. He also suppressed all the mana that was flowing out of it to protect her.

“Oh, how violent.”

As the tough metal pieces of the subjugation orb crumbled to the ground, the female elf who had been staring into space finally regained light in her eyes. She moaned, “Oh… Oh.”

“Are you awake?”

At his question, the female elf looked up at Davey with a blank face. “Prince…Davey? This is…?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’ve rescued you and brought you to the Heins Territory. Other than that, are you hurt anywhere?” Davey asked as he checked the female elf’s pupils by holding her eyes wide open.

He also checked the female elf’s mouth by holding her mouth open. Then, he pulled up her shirt to reveal her stomach before placing two fingers on her.

“Kyahh?!”

“I’m examining you. Don’t move,” said Davey in a low voice as he had a habit of being all serious when he examined patients.

The woman flinched as if she was fearful of Davey. “Oh… Yes.”

In actual fact, she was somewhat embarrassed by the situation. After all, a man was touching her bare stomach without any qualms. Davey gave her a medical examination, but it seemed like she was thinking of something else.

The woman lowered her flushed face. She was flustered by Davey’s bold method of conducting a medical examination.

Strangely, Yuria Helishana was snickering at the entire situation.

“I respect your taste, but know the place and time. It’s not just anyone, but your people.” Davey clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“But you still rescued her, right?”

Perhaps Mary, the female elf, being all flustered and confused was quite to Yuria’s taste.

“Y-Your Highness. I’m fine…”

“Exhaustion… I expect a bit of a viral infection. Other than that… What is this? Hey, what did you eat?”

Davey used mana to look inside of Mary since they didn’t have an X-Ray machine like on Earth, and he could see an unexpected drug in her stomach. It was an aphrodisiac, or a drug that typically caused hallucinations.

While feeling disappointed in himself, Davey patted Mary on the head before pulling her into his arms. He stroked her back and burned away all the drug remains within her by releasing his mana.

“I’m sorry. I should have protected you. I found you too late.”

“...N-No! You saved me, Your Highness, right?! I-I’m fine!” Mary shouted as she was flustered.

Davey walked away from Mary without hesitation.

“Alright.”

“Pardon?”

Davey thought that the first thing he should do was comfort Mary, who had just gone through something so traumatic. Only after she tried reassuring him that he believed that she would recover without any problems.

Leaving behind the others who had dumbfounded expressions on their faces, Davey said to Attendant Bernile, “Bring me the next group. I’ll check every one of them.”

“Your Highness, what are you going to do with them?”

“If they want to return to their hometown, let them go. I’ll pay for their trip.”

“And what about the ones who do not want to go back?”

“Give them a job at the palace.”

If he played his cards right, Davey would be able to have some beastfolk citizens in the Heins Territory after this. He chuckled when he thought of that.

* * *

With a huge sound, five people fell onto the ground of a quiet warehouse.

“Agh!”

They were none other than Reina and her group, all of whom had run away from Davey.

“Ha… Ha…” Reina tried to catch her breath as she looked around at the others, who were all unconscious and still on the ground.

Then, she picked up her sword with a tense expression.

It was almost a miracle that Reina had escaped from Davey. There was no way a person who didn’t even bat an eyelid at the light of holy power would have been subdued by the flash of light she had created.

Davey also could have held onto Reina at the end, so why did he ultimately let go? After being exposed to the flash of light, he had let go of her as if he was letting her run away. He could have killed her if he wanted, so why didn’t he? More than that, how was he able to recognize her sword?

Beneath her mask, a streak of blood was flowing down her face. She stumbled before collapsing to the ground. “I…don’t have much time… I have to gather the others…”

She was thinking of Grand Duchess Kathryn and Saint Davey O’Rowane, the seigneur of the Heins Territory. She had found out about Davey only after coming here. To her, he was the only variable here.

Reina had to protect herself so that a horrendous future like that did not come again. Her small hands gripped onto her sword, not letting go.