The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

Two elders of the Redstone Tribe were waiting for Davey at one of the inns in Heins Territory.

“Oooh! You came!”

“Hoo… You’re such a young human, but you possess great skill…”

The two red-bearded dwarves walked forward and openly showed their curiosity toward Davey. Their reactions were unsurprising, since this was their first time meeting with Davey. They both nodded as they reached their hands out for a handshake.

“It’s an honor to meet you, the Wise Teacher! I have been wanting to meet you ever since we heard that you’ve done us a great favor by recreating the Primordial Inferno!”

“I’m Garm! And this old man over here is Gaerm!”

“I’m Davey O’Rowane. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Davey responded in kind, following the dwarven etiquette.

His actions brought great delight to the Redstone Tribe’s elders.

“Hahahaha! A human who knows the dwarven etiquette! The more I look at you the more I grow fond of you!”

“Oho! You crazy old fogeys! Why are you showing that kind of attitude to the Wise Teacher? Have you forgotten just how much help and grace he has given our race?!”

Davey opened the small box to reveal a finely-crafted necklace that had been delicately inlaid with small jewels.

“You will have happy moments if you give this to your precious person and help them wear it. Well, it’s just half-superstition. Hohohoho!” Garm laughed heartily at his own words.

Looking over, Gaerm immediately knocked Garm’s stomach with his elbow.

“Shall we first go to the castle?”

“No need. We’re here as engineers. We’ve also come here on behalf of the other engineers and craftsmen. We already heard from the Yellowstone Tribe that you want to build an academy?”

“Yes.”

“Since you want the academy to be a place where everyone, including dwarves, elves, beastfolk, orcs, humans, and other beings, could attend classes…it’d have to be on a big scale. Alright. As long as you provide us with what we’ve asked for, we will build it for you. Just give us three months.”

“Three months?”

“Well, it wouldn’t really take that long. Our Redstone Tribe is the largest dwarf village and all of our men are engineers and architects. We have thousands of craftsmen who could work on this. We’re also very familiar with the use of magic tools, so we can speed up the process,” Garm said confidently.

Feeling Davey’s gaze on him, Elder Goulda said, “It’s not impossible. Well, Wise Teacher... It’s a bit hard to admit this, but our Yellowstone Tribe will require two to three years to finish this construction project if we decide to take it on.”

“Alright. You said you wanted to learn technological skills, no?”

“Of… Of course! We’re not asking for too much! We just want you to share some of the skills and techniques that you have taught the Yellowstone Tribe!”

This was a very easy deal for Davey, who thought it to be a no-brainer.

***

Elders Garm and Gaerm were both like reckless bulls, hurriedly leaving to deliver the good news to their village. They wanted to get started faster than what Davey had expected.

With the deal confirmed, Davey left Elders Garm and Gaerm in Elder Goulda’s care so that they could personally see the technology and skills that would be shared with them. He returned to the lord’s castle and saw Red Ribbon running around excitedly.

Red Ribbon ran over to Davey and immediately hugged him. “Ah! Daddy!”

“Oh my. You can’t run in the halls.”

“Yeees~” Red Ribbon excitedly answered as Davey held her high up.

Blue Ribbon, who had carefully been following her sister, stretched out her hands toward Davey. “Blue… Blue Ribbon too…”

“Of course.”

“Your Highness, the visiting students are waiting for you. Shall I guide you there?”

“Alright.”

Davey decided that the visiting students could explore Heins Territory by themselves. All he had to do was encourage and motivate them enough for a while.

“Where are they from?”

“The magic academy.”

“Aren’t there a lot of magic academies? Whatever. What’s done is done. There’s nothing else we can do. That Great Sage geezer already knew that we’re busy building our own academy, but he still requested to have some kind of field trip in here…” Davey continued to speak as he opened the door to the drawing room.

When he felt the room’s stiff and depressing atmosphere, he felt his curiosity growing as to who the students were.

“Huh?” Davey blinked in surprise upon seeing the visiting students’ faces.

“Hey. Timmy. Who am I looking at right now?” Alyssa Yosefov asked.

“An illusion,” Timmy murmured blankly in reply.

“It’s strange. Do I have some problem with my eyesight…?”

The other students also had the same reaction.

Davey could see the dozens of students present in the drawing room. He knew all of them by name. Once a question popped into his mind, he asked, “What are you guys doing here?”

Feeling dazed and absent-minded, one of the students quietly said, “That’s… We’re hoping you could give us an answer, Instructor Devy.”

***

The gears in his head turned quickly and he soon came to a single conclusion. Now, he had to make careful decisions and quickly follow up with his actions.

“I will stop by the Red Tower soon. Leave my schedule blank.”

“I’ll think about it once I get there. Leave.”

Attendant Bernile, who had been following Davey, bowed his head with a blank expression.

“Da-Daddy?!”

“That… That cute little lady, don’t tell me…?”

The students still had blank faces as they struggled to accept the situation before them.

After a long silence, the bravest student, Timmy, slowly raised his hand and asked, “Uhmmm… Instructor Devy?”

“…”

“Why… Why are you here?” Timmy asked, as if trying to make a final resistance.

Davey stroked the hair of Red Ribbon, who was pinching his cheeks, before answering, “Why am I here? What’s wrong with me being here in my own house?”

All of the students frowned as if they had been doused with a bucket of cold water. Among them, the one who reacted the strongest was…

“This, this can’t be… This is a disaster… a disaster!!!”

…the little boy named Derrin, who was panicking and holding his head in his hands.

***

Whenever humans experienced bad events, they would usually undergo several changes. The first stage was denial and the attempt to escape from reality.

“Ey… This is a joke. Right?”

“You know what kind of person Instructor Devy is. Something is obviously going on here, right?”

“That’s right. They’re similar in age, so they might be close friends.”

The second stage was anger.

“No! Damn it! This is impossible, right?!”

“How can the Saint, Prince Davey, and Instructor Devy be the same person?!”

The third stage was sadness.

“Everything has collapsed. How can this world…?!”

“This is a disaster… A disaster… It seems like Goddess Freyja is punishing all humans for our greed…”

The fourth stage was giving up.

“…”

“…”

Red Ribbon tilted her head and looked at the students who had fallen silent. Then, she jumped out of Davey’s arms and ran to Timmy, who was closest to where Davey was, and patted his arm. She asked gently, “Hnngh… Big brother, what’s wrong?”

“Ah…”

Regardless of whether the truth of Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon was more shocking than their appearances, Timmy remained listless and despondent.

Josiah Frances, who held a fireball in her hand, chanted sadly, “Ruined… The world is ruined…”

From Davey’s perspective, Josiah had lost most of her patience and calm demeanor upon becoming the Vampire Lord.

Watching the entire situation unfold, Davey could not stand still. He asked, “It seems like you’re all regressing as a group…?”

He had never taught these students stupid things like to ignore the reality of any situation. It seemed like they had forgotten what he had taught them.

“Heup?!”

Davey had a grim smile as he snatched Josiah’s arms and dispelled the fireball magic that she was about to use.

Finally accepting the situation that they were in, the students slowly turned to look at Davey with stiff expressions.

“I-Instructor Devy… Are you really Prince Davey?”

“Aren't the names similar?!”

“How many people do you think can be both a priest and a mage?!”

The shocked students began to debate among themselves. Their instructor and Prince Davey had similar names, but this situation of them being the same person just seemed…almost impossible. It lacked common sense.

By allowing these children to experience something within their comfort zones, they could discover new changes and possibilities for themselves. It was a pretty good idea. However, it did not mean that Davey felt good about being used like this.

“Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, how about going to see something fun with Daddy?”

“Yes!”

“Blue Ribbon wants to see! I want to see!”

Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon answered Davey with excitement. Then, the students immediately turned their attention toward the two girls, both of whom had a deadly level of cuteness.

“I-Instructor. Are these two young ladies really your daughters?”

“Are they twins? But their hair colors are different…”

“Considering your age… Weren’t you too young when you had them?”

“That’s right. Even if you got married right after your coming of age, there’s still a limit to how fast you can have a baby…”

Some of the students even questioned how Davey could have had two kids on his own.

“Rinne, prepare the Decepticon Fleet. You’re going to have some practice.”

“Rinne accepts the order. Is Elder Brain Rinne allowed to participate in the practice?”

“Do as you like.”

“That’s right. You all came here for a field trip, right?”

“…”

Davey smiled at his students, who looked like they had lost everything in the world. He said, “I heard the news. It seems like you won first place in the Magic Festival. Good job.”

“Ah… Yes…”

“Since you came all the way here, I’ll make sure to show you a field trip that you will never forget. Well then, let’s warm up first.”

***

The eastern area of the Heins Territory was not yet developed. It was still covered with large fields and dense forests. After bringing the students to this area, Davey pulled out a cube and toyed with it in his hands. He tossed it up and down casually.

It would have been nice if Annabelle was here to participate, but she was currently protecting Winley back at the Red Tower. On top of that, the Avengers Squadron was still in the process of expanding their ranks. This meant that Davey could not take them out to be used even if he had wanted to.

All Davey could use was the Decepticon Fleet, but that was already more than enough. In this situation, the students were amazing subjects for Davey to collect more data for the Decepticon Fleet that had been upgraded to the Master-level.

—How can you use your own students to gather data for your golems’ growth…?

“So? Who told them to freak out? What did they say? A disaster? It seems like they have gone crazy, no?”

Looking at their surroundings, the students became even more alert and excited. Davey approached them slowly and asked with a smile, “How does this place look?”

“This, this place?”

“Who, who knows?”

Davey nodded at the students, who started to freak out and observe his every move. They wondered what he was doing to say or do next. Slowly stepping away from them, he then turned around and left the area. He said, “I will make sure to let you experience something fun. I will let you have as much fun as you desire to play around and rest during the holidays.”

The students’ expressions began to change. They knew that Davey’s words, which came across as positive news, were nothing good at all.

“Megatron. Permission granted for the use of chain saw and drill. Ops: Artillery Mode.”

[Ops preparation. Complete.]

After Megatron’s answer rang in his ears, Davey said, “I have already set up a barrier. So, let’s play and have some fun.”

As a purple missile suddenly shot out, one of the students who had been absent-mindedly staring at his surroundings jumped up in panic. He thought that he was going to be wiped out, since the missile flew right by his feet.

“Hiiik?!”

Davey smiled at the panicked expression on the student’s face. Then, he shouted loudly so that all of the students could hear. “It seems like the Great Sage wants to give you all a good source of enlightenment. Then, I have to live up to that expectation, right? Megatron. CS Nausea Bullet at maximum output. Launch.”

[Launching.]

A vicious and scary bullet flew through the air. It carried a force that could easily drag a human down to the depths of hell.