The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

Chapter 398

As Davey continued to listen to Aeria's words, he sensed that something had changed. He considered whether it might be an aftereffect of her near-death experience, but he knew deep down that it wasn't the cause. He was convinced that some external force had tampered with her memory, likely resulting in short-term memory loss. Despite this, Davey thought it wouldn't be a significant issue.

Aeria had lost her memories of their first meeting and all information about the Heins Territory. What remained were her feelings of tenderness and affection for Davey, as well as the knowledge that he had cured her illness. Her open display of affection, characteristic of the Nine Tails Race, further confirmed this.

However, there were still scattered fragments of her memories. When she heard about the survival of Grand Duchess Kathryn and Sir Belross, she appeared relieved, but she didn't seem to care about the death of the knights who protected and escorted her.

Davey knew Aeria well enough to understand that she was a selfless and compassionate girl who would grieve even for the commoners who sacrificed themselves to protect her. This discrepancy in her reactions puzzled him.

"Uhm… Is there something wrong?" Aeria asked, sensing his concern.

Davey shook his head, deciding not to burden her with his unconfirmed conjecture. He didn't want to add to the distress of the already vulnerable princess who resembled a small, pitiful animal.

"No. There's no problem," he replied with reassurance.

.

“Phew… That’s fortunate.”

"What's fortunate?" Aeria asked, her face still red with embarrassment. "It's because you are being subjected to this because of me... I'm afraid I have caused you another inconvenience..."

Not knowing what to do next, Aeria played with her fingers, and a very small sound rang from her stomach, signaling her own hunger. "Ugh..."

Flustered, Aeria turned even redder, her body trembling. She nervously looked at Davey with eyes that seemed like they were going to cry at any given moment. For someone like her, who grew up beautifully inside a protected space, this situation might definitely be a source of shame.

Of course, Davey was not the kind of person to mind such things. However, there was nothing he could do about how she felt.

Aeria most definitely did not want to show others her embarrassing side. This was only natural, especially if someone was in front of the person they held dear in their hearts.

"Let's first have a meal," Davey suggested.

In fact, there were quite a lot of ingredients ready for them to consume from the bottom of this ship. It was not like they could not eat it, right? All Davey needed to do was cast some purification magic, and it could be eaten. However, there was no reason for the two of them to eat those things, especially when they had something else to eat.

Unlike the world where the judges and the dokkaebis were, the world that he fell in with Illyna, there seemed to be no major restrictions regarding food in this place. So, he was free to take out whatever he had in his Pocket Plane.

"S-Sorry..." Aeria spoke carefully, her voice stained with tears.

Davey just silently covered her with a blanket and stopped himself from taking out the three clown bastards from the card album. Well, there was nothing else that he could do. He did not know what these lunatics would do. They might not be able to control themselves with Aeria right next to them. So, Davey pulled two strands of his hair and created a clone that he left beside the surprised Aeria before slowly standing up.

"W-Where are you going?" Aeria asked with a trembling voice.

Davey answered calmly, "No matter what I do, I can feel something gross and strange. I have to check it out. Wait here for a moment."

‘Don’t even think about following me with your body’s current condition.’

The words were unsaid but Aeria could tell that was what Davey had wanted to say. So, she remained silent and bowed her head carefully.

***

Davey felt not even a single movement inside the ship where he and Aeria had fallen. The only living beings in the ship were the cockroaches that Davey first encountered when they arrived here, which the three lunatic clowns had cut up in excitement.

The atmosphere surrounding the ship was eerie and gloomy, to the point that a ghost might pop out at any moment. However, Davey could sense that the ship had been constructed with a great purpose in mind.

As he walked past the deck, Davey reached the door leading to the interior, which appeared to be the cabin. The door was covered with slashes that were obviously made by someone: the culprit likely being those cockroaches.

Creaaaaaaak…

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

As Davey expected, the moment he opened the door, he could hear something stirring in the darkness. Without hesitation, he swiftly took out his card album and summoned the three lunatic clowns once again.

Vwooooooong—

At the same time, the three gray-skinned crazy lunatics appeared with dignified and majestic postures.

Kahahahahahahaha!

One of the bastards laughed loudly with his teeth clashing against each other.

“Bwahahahahahahaha!” There was also one that burst out in a strange laughter.

“…”

As for the remaining one, he stared silently at Davey with shining eyes as his hands trailed toward the string that tied his pants to his waist.

There were no children in existence that could be said to be perfectly healthy.

"If you don’t want to go back, then you better behave and organize yourselves. Try to take that hideous thing one more time, and I will cut it off myself," Davey warned coldly.

The last guy clicked his tongue before taking out his weapon. Then, he turned his shining eyes toward the darkness to look at the beings that were making a sound there.

[Light]

"Five minutes is more than enough, right?" Davey asked, but the three clowns didn't bother answering.

Instead, they pulled out their aura blades and charged at their opponents. As mentioned before, their temper might be unruly, but their power was remarkable. They would grow even stronger as Davey's soul found his original power.

Although they were only slightly stronger than a Sword Master, given who they were, Davey could confidently say they were formidable opponents.

"Bwahahahahahahaha!" One of the guys guffawed strangely as he attacked the hiding cockroaches.

In response, the cockroaches fought back, but...

Fwoosh! Bang!

The lunatics ran wild, massacring every single one of the cockroaches without a care in the world. Ignoring the mess they were creating, Davey slowly walked past them. The ship was covered in stains, presumably blood, but there wasn't a single trace of a corpse to be found.

"Did they eat everything?" Davey wondered as he continued walking.

After a few moments, he arrived at a place that was firmly locked behind large doors. Davey silently examined the door before snatching one of the lunatics, who was riding on the back of a cockroach like it was a sled, and brought him to his side.

"The master key," Davey demanded.

The lunatic glared at Davey in dissatisfaction but then took out his ax and slammed it against the huge wooden doors.

Crack!!!

At the same time, the large and thick wooden door collapsed completely, revealing the messy and broken interior of the room to Davey.

The cabin was huge, and it appeared to be the command room, which was not surprising. However, one thing caught Davey's gaze and attention inside the room—the pattern carved on the most eye-catching and visible stone. The pattern allowed Davey to quickly deduce where they were and why this place looked the way it did.

The pattern he saw was none other than the twin-headed dragons, the symbol of the Lyndis Empire's imperial family, and it was stained with blood.

Two worlds could not exist under the same sky; it was set so that only one would prevail. Thus, there was only one explanation for this.

***

"What do I do…? What should I do…?" Aeria twisted her body in embarrassment before gazing at the serene and calm sea in front of her.

The sea was exceptionally tranquil and peaceful. This should have made her feel very scared, but for some strange reason, she felt relieved just because the person named Davey was there with her.

‘I wonder why?’

The reason was actually simple. For Aeria, Davey was a reliable person, someone she could feel comfortable with. Regardless of his powers, she found herself both relieved and excited that he was with her. However...

"But... Why do I feel this way whenever I see Prince Davey...?"

Since when did she harbor such feelings for him? When did she develop a crush on him? Aeria was certain that her feelings for Davey were genuine, but no matter how hard she tried to find the reason why she felt that way, she couldn't remember.

Aeria had a vague sense that she liked the man, but did that mean she loved him just because he was handsome? Was there no other reason? That was the point that felt a bit strange to her. There must be something more precious, something like a deep connection or necessity.

The girl desperately tried to trace back her memories and recall the reason behind her feelings.

‘Just a bit more… I just need to think about it a bit more… Only a bit more and I’ll get there…’ Aeria thought as she constantly tried to find the scent of something from a while ago, something that for some reason she could not remember.

As she thought like that, a sudden ringing struck her head which made her reel and stumble. “Heuuup… urgh!!!”

Then, her eyes grew wide as she collapsed on the ground.

“Ah… Aaaaaaaaaaah… aaaaaaaaah…” A loud and desperate scream was ripped out of Aeria’s mouth.

‘Why did I forget?’

She was alive, but she had died before. It was a terrible nightmare, a night when they were raided by that strange woman, and she was killed while Kathryn was left on the brink of death. Even Sir Belross had been left in a state where they did not know whether he was alive or dead. Aeria had experienced it personally. So, why did she fail to remember the deaths of the countless knights who followed and escorted her?

"Aaaaah… Aaaah…"

Although her eyes were wide open, they were completely out of focus. Her already weak body had collapsed as she scratched the wooden floor with her shaking hands. She looked like she had broken down.

Scratch, scratch… scratch…

In the end, the nail on her index finger broke. Tears continued to drip down her cheeks. She wanted to cry out, to shout at the world. However, her voice could not come out of her throat.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…

Squish!!!

The sound of someone running rang in her ears as warm hands wrapped around Aeria's collapsed body.

"Ah… Aaaaaah…"

"It's alright. It's fine. Everything's okay."

"Aaaaah… P-Prince… Knights… The knights… Because of me, those knights!!!"

Why on earth was she heading to that place called Heins Territory?! She couldn't even remember that place or the reason why she was going there! If it weren't for that, then she would not have died, and those knights too would not have died.

"It's okay. It's alright. All of them have survived. All of them are alive."

Despite Davey's calm and serene voice, Aeria still failed to calm down. She had completely fallen into a panic as she continued to groan and cry, like a broken doll.

"It's alright."

Davey could have found it both irritating and annoying, but he continued to comfort Aeria as if he was treating something very precious and dear.

"Everything is fine, Imperial Princess."

Why did she feel stable and comforted in this man's arms? Aeria could tell that she obviously loved this man. But she could not remember the reason why she loved him. It was true that the man had treated and cured her illness. However, Aeria was sure that it was not because of that.

"I believe we have to look around some more. I believe this is a very familiar place to us."

Aeria's shaking pupils turned to Davey, her expression still stiff and scared. "P, Prince…"

"Please get some rest. I will be here until you wake up."

The moment Davey's words ended, Aeria felt drowsy. In the end, she collapsed and fell asleep without even responding to Davey.

***

Chaotic and confusing memories? Bullshit. Aeria had a short-term memory loss. No, to be exact, it was not a short-term memory loss but a complete erasure of memories.

[The most precious things that the target cherished dearly in their entire life will be deleted.]

At first, Davey thought that the penalty would be given to him. But after thinking about it, why would the penalty be given to him, right?

However, the most ironic thing here was the fact that the most precious thing that she cherished dearly in her life was not her family or something else, but her memories of Davey, someone she had only met a few times.

It started with Aeria forgetting about the information about Heins Territory as well as her first meeting with Davey. This confused her greatly. The problem was that this was just the beginning.

From this point on, she would start to forget more about Davey. She would forget how she met him, what happened in the imperial palace, and so on, until this very moment.

Davey could not actually say anything. For one, he felt that it was very miserable that the most precious thing in her life was the memories and things related to one person.

However, there was something a bit strange about the process of the deletion of her memories. Why were her memories erased, but her affection for Davey did not get erased?

Was it because Aeria still remembered him? Originally, if her memory of their first meeting had been erased, then it would not be strange for her affection to either disappear or be halved. The Nine Tails Race's trait ability could only be expressed based on their memories and instincts. Davey did not know when everything would be deleted. However, after evaluating things calmly, he could say that this was truly the best way to save her.

Right now, the sea where they were currently at was most important. The Moon of Beginning, Syras, and the Moon of the End, Cryas. There was only one world where these two moons existed and that world should be somewhere else. There was only one variable that Davey was aware of where the same world yet different circumstances existed at the same time.

Davey immediately activated the God of Archery Apollo's Eye of the Sky, strengthening one of his eyes to the extreme. After scanning the area, he slowly released his magic and extended one of his hands forward.

[Tempest(Storm)]

Davey gathered a massive amount of mana, transforming it into a storm. With the force of that storm, he propelled the enormous ship forward, sailing toward the dark mass of land he had seen earlier.

Once he confirmed the ship's condition and that they were sailing smoothly on the calm sea, Davey carefully carried the unconscious Aeria.

In the meantime, one of the three lunatics caught sight of Davey and immediately approached, his hands trailing toward the laces of his pants as he taunted.

Kick!!!

Without hesitation, Davey delivered a swift kick to the bastard's stomach. However, the guy simply stared back and clicked his tongue before turning away.

‘This lunatic…’

"Main Body," one of the clowns, who had been playing around earlier, asked Davey in a strange tone of voice, "Think hard."

"That's right. I'm contemplating. I'm pondering whether I should mention her memories getting deleted or not."

Although she cherished those memories dearly, she wouldn't know what they were once she forgot about them. The question here was, should Davey let her know and allow her to remember, even for a very short amount of time, or should he not say a thing? It was bound to be a source of concern for him in so many ways, wasn't it?