The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

82. Ming Empire's ‘Hyeon’ the Nation of Bows and ‘Ming’ the Nation of Spears.

Just as quickly as the war started, it all had come to an end. The elves in the army marching forward for invasion along with their commander, Yulrgen, had naturally protested. However, they did not have any reason or qualifications to disobey the orders of the new World Tree’s Will and Emilia, who had resumed her position as the agent of the World Tree. In other words, AI and Emilia had pressured the other elves from the top of the hierarchy.

In the first place, this war had not started because of some obsession or resentment. It had started because of the orders of the previous generation’s World Tree. So, just like how they had willingly started that war based on orders, the elves had no capacity to violate the new World Tree’s orders.

The elves could have protested against a totally new World Tree, but unfortunately for them… The current Yggdrasil was Al. This was a rare case, because she had been the World Tree’s Soul from two generations ago. She should have disappeared instead of settling down once again.

Davey, however, was slightly worried about one thing. It was regarding the whereabouts of the previous Divine Tree’s Saint who Annabelle had attacked.

It wasn’t because Annabelle had no ability to deal with the previous Divine Tree’s Saint, but something weird and bizarre had caught him, sucking in his body at the very last minute. That was according to the report that Davey had received. Due to that unexpected happening, Annabelle had missed dealing the finishing blow on the previous Divine Tree’s Saint. However, it was safe to say that he no longer had any authority after running away and leaving the other elves behind.

With that, the war between the Heins Territory and the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land had ended with the minority sacrificing little and the majority sacrificing a lot more. Of course, there were a few hubbubs here and there. After all, it looked like the elves had made the preemptive strike but Davey had taken full control of them.

The one who had protested the most was the Conthas Empire, the empire that was trying to keep Davey in check. Next was the Ming Kingdom, which was located in the area directly facing the forest where the Divine Tree was located.

However, in fear of the Pallan Empire and the Lyndis Empire, the Conthas Empire had decided to play a passive role. The other nation was different. The Grand Emperor of the great empire of Ming, who called himself the Son of Heaven, was very determined to take back the diplomatic rights of the lands. It was as if the land had been taken away from them.

The Ming Empire was very famous for their cavalry and spearmen, and was considered as one of the great empires with vast lands. Their military power was also a force to be reckoned with to the point that one could consider it ridiculously disruptive and explosive.

“Come to think of it… Wasn’t that guy in the Western Continent?”

With round eyes, Winley continued to practice magic in front of Davey as she murmured, “I think it’s the Hyeon Kingdom?”

“Right.”

[As the Son of Heaven commands, immediately withdraw the pressure that you are putting on the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land and return their diplomatic rights.]

Davey tore the letter from the Ming Empire, which sounded more of a command than a request, as if there was nothing more for him to see. To him, these bastards just did not have any fear or shame at all.

“Yeah… Sister Tanya is married to someone from the Western Continent. Hyeon Kingdom is a small nation located just below the Ming Empire, the empire that’s now in a scuffle with you, Big Brother.”

A princess who had been sent off for marriage even before she had reached adulthood… If Davey was the Rowane Kingdom’s First Prince, then there should be a First Princess. However, Winley was not the true First Princess of the kingdom. It was actually Tanya O’Rowane, Winley and Baris’ immediate relative and older sister.

Tanya, with her characteristic green hair, was an elegant and graceful girl. If Winley was unruly, then Tanya was elegant and kind-hearted.

No matter what anyone said, there was no denying the fact that Tanya, Winley, and Baris were all children of First Consort Anisha.

There were only four remaining members of the Rowane Royal Family. The First Prince, Davey, the Fourth Prince, Baris, the Second Princess, Winley, and Aeonitia, the youngest daughter of Lynesse Barriatta who had been killed after leading a rebellion.

Originally, the young girl should have been charged with rebellion and be sent to prison according to the law. However, Davey did not do anything more to the girl who was six years younger than him and the youngest member of the royal family.

What would an eleven-year-old girl like her do to Davey, right? Besides, Davey did not know if the girl was just quick-witted or completely uninterested, but she made little to no contact with him. On top of that, the girl did not do well when it came to politics and the state of affairs. To describe her in a better light, she was a very well-behaved girl. To describe her in a poor manner? She was very timid.

“I hope she’s doing well. It’s a pretty remote and closed-off place, so the only communication that we have received is that she’s alive.”

“Who’s tied up with Tanya in this political marriage?”

“Hyeon’s King. Sister hasn’t married him yet, but I heard that she would be the 14th wife if she does. I heard they have a very huge age difference.”

Although a political marriage was very much natural in this world, Davey still could not help but frown after learning this fact.

***

The Hyeon Kingdom was very far from the Rowane Kingdom, but both kingdoms had discreet exchanges over the course of time. Located just below the Great Empire of Ming, the nation that was now at odds with Davey, the Hyeon Kingdom was a country littered with complicated problems.

“You’re asking about…the Hyeon Kingdom? Why are you suddenly asking about it?”

“Do you know about them?” Davey asked calmly.

Royal Attendant Bernile sighed bitterly while Amy could only tilt her head in confusion. Amy might not know about the situation, but Bernile had been working for the Royal Family for a very long time now and was someone with an impeccable memory.

“Of course. The Hyeon Kingdom is where Her Highness Princess Tanya has gone for a political marriage.”

“I don’t think we’ve heard any news about her at all.”

“That’s right. The Hyeon Kingdom has a very stubborn and strong opinion about matters regarding relationships with outsiders. On top of that, they have been greatly influenced by the Ming Empire, who sees themselves as Hyeon’s parent nation. Because of that, they have little to no interaction with other nations.”

Even when compared to the other countries in the West that had little to no interactions with other continents, the Hyeon Kingdom was said to be on a league of its own when it came to being closed off.

“In the past, the Hyeon Kingdom was made up of several small tribes. The current Hyeon Kingdom is the unification of all those tribes.”

So, to maintain their influence, power, as well as unity once each of their forces merged…

“To shut them up, they pushed for an alliance through marriage.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What, is he Wang Geon[1] or something?” Davey grumbled to himself.

“Yes?”

Bernile was understandably confused. There was no way that he would know about the historical figures on earth.

“Nothing. So, why Tanya? It’s not even a nation that has a huge impact or even has great contact with the Rowane Kingdom.”

Bernile nodded, then said, “This problem… I believe it's best that you hear it from His Majesty himself.”

“Stop trying to test me, Royal Attendant Bernile.”

“No matter what, he’s still your father. Right now, His Majesty is…probably looking forward to hearing a word from you, yourself, My Lord. His Majesty the King might be the king of our nation, but he is also your father.”

“…”

Despite having this conversation with Bernile, Davey just remained silent and continued on the blueprint that he was making. What had happened was obviously not a small matter so reporting it to the king was very much a necessity. However, Davey had been putting off the report day after day. He thought that it was not really a simple matter to solve and as a prince, he had to do the least of his duties.

“Send this to Elder Golgouda. Ask him if this is possible. As for the source of the main power, tell him not to worry. We will use Yggdrasil’s Fruit as a catalyst.”

The projects to increase the quality of living in the Heins Territory were still not yet over. Davey still had the dwarves and a huge amount of capital to utilize.

Thanks to the water spirits of the Moon Forest elves, who had stepped forward to maintain the water treatment and processing facility, clean water was now being supplied to each and every single household in the territory. This meant that the territory’s basic quality of life had increased.

Of course, it was not that difficult of a demand. After all, anyone could draw water anywhere in the Heins Territory. This situation was completely unlike in the past where they had to struggle to gather huge amounts of water just to take a wash.

At first, the people felt a bit awkward at the sudden change, but they started to voluntarily manage their own hygiene over time. This was especially true after they remembered the addicting taste of the benefits that they had received.

Naturally, the dwarves of the Yellowstone Tribe, fascinated and in awe of the technology that Davey had developed, wanted to introduce the same technology to the Yellowstone Village. And with Davey’s help, they were able to install the same water treatment and processing facility in their tribe without any difficulties.

“Since water’s done, then we have to deal with electricity now.”

Dark paths should not be allowed within Davey’s territory. Thanks to the structure of the Heins Territory, there was a very well-placed lake, and a huge one at that, somewhere north of the center of the territory. This meant that the development of this technology for the territory would solely be in Davey’s hands.

And Davey firmly believed that it would not take too long for it to be his cash cow. After all, according to psychology, people would always want the cool and pretty item that someone else had.

“What…is this?”

“A hydraulic generator. It’s very inefficient to light fire with mana. How long do you think this will take?”

“I’m not too sure… Just looking at all of the things that you have drawn here, I can tell that it will take a considerable amount of time. Just building the structure so it stays still upon being submerged in water will take a long time.”

“Let’s try and complete this in a month. However, tell everyone to keep quiet about this. It’s not like we’re getting an investor for this anyway. Besides, nothing good will come out from rumors spreading for no reason at all.”

Modern technology was amazing. All it needed was heavy equipment, excellent materials, and wonderful technology. However, there were no such things in this world. But did that mean that it was impossible? Davey was confident that the answer to that was a big fat no. After all, there were things in this world that did not exist on modern earth.

And those things were none other than magic and spirit magic, as well as this world’s technology, which developed differently than the technology on earth. Finally, didn’t Davey have Spirit Slave Number One to provide him large amounts of power?

***

“Announce my arrival.”

The knights gulped at Davey’s command.

At the same time, some of the nobles looked at Davey with wide eyes upon coming out of the audience hall from their meeting.

“Prince… Prince Davey!”

“It’s been a long time, everyone.”

“Yes… Yes. That’s right. Have… Have you been well?”

“Thanks to all of you, I’m doing quite well.”

“That’s, that’s a relief.”

Davey walked by the nobles after seeing their nervous expressions. Then, he suddenly stopped and said, “Ah, Count Orion.”

“Yes… Yes! Please speak, Your Highness.”

“I heard that you’re dabbling in the food industry.”

“Yes… That’s… That’s right…”

“To be honest, I also purchase groceries from the food merchants that the Count has advertised. They taste quite good, if I may say so.” Davey grinned.

Count Orion widened his eyes, then smiled widely. “Is… Is that so? I didn’t know that Your Highness would like it so much! If that’s the case, I will provide a fixed amount of…”

“No. You don’t have to do that. I’m not shameless enough to receive products that I did not pay for.”

“Ahahaha! I see! As expected of our prince! You’re setting a wonderful example and showing the integrity of our kingdom’s Royal Family!”

Those were insincere remarks and Davey knew that very well. He could see that the man was rolling his eyes at his comments. He could also hear the thoughts of the Count, who possibly believed that this was his opportunity for him to establish a connection with Davey.

“That… Uhm, Prince, if you don’t mind, I would like to extend an invitation to you. If you’re free, would you like to have breakfast with me…?”

“Ah, by the way, Count. There are times when I find that the products are too poor for their price.”

“Eh, yes? That…”

“Ah, but of course, the Count would not do something like that for no reason, right? Don’t you think so too?”

“Ah. Haha… Of… Of course.”

“However, if someone else sees it, then they’ll think that you’re playing with food. In fact, the Heins Territory is receiving large amounts of food from the merchants who the Count has favored and advertised,” Davey said with a soft smile.

Count Orion gulped.

Did the Count think that he would never get caught if he was playing around with food?

The Count coughed and chuckled nervously after seeing the look on Davey’s face. It seemed like he recognized that Davey was giving him a warning and was telling him to behave well.

“Even… Even if you did not say it, I will make sure to look into the matter! Please leave it to me! I will do my best to help the future of our Rowane Kingdom!”

“I’ll leave it to the Count, then.”

Afterward, Count Orion hurriedly escaped like a child who had been caught making a mistake.

“Your Majesty. This is Davey.”

“You may enter.”

King Krianes’ voice rang from within the room immediately.

Davey had not visited the king’s reception room in a long time. There were only two people in the room: Royal Attendant Bespard, who was standing by the throne, and King Krianes himself. But from what Davey had heard, Baris, who had been appointed as the Crown Prince, was learning politics and how to deal with state affairs by the king’s side.

“First Prince Davey O’Rowane greets the sun of the kingdom.”

“Leave the formalities behind. Right… Did you get hurt?”

“Thanks for your concern. I have not sustained any serious injuries,” Davey said.

However, even if he had sustained injuries, they would have definitely been out of sight.

“You’ve dealt with this matter rather recklessly. Even if you are brilliantly outstanding, why did you make such a rash and bold decision?”

“I beg your mercy, Your Majesty. The reports have been delayed because the problem was too large for me to wait for a decision.”

“Alright… The mess has been resolved thanks to the changes in the Divine Tree’s authority. However, if that did not happen, then you would have been in a very compromised and irreversible situation.”

“Thank you. I will keep your words in mind.”

Who was right or wrong? It did not matter. Davey did not have any say in whatever criticism the king was giving him. After all, the king of this nation was the one who would decide for its citizens and Davey was just a prince. Of course, there were only a few people left that would blatantly ignore the influence that Davey had.

“Take this.”

“What is this?”

“I was going to get it delivered to you, anyways.”

“Ah, it’s a letter from the Western Continent,” Davey said. Narrowing his eyes at the contents of the scroll that was unique to the Western Continent, he commented, “It’s about a wedding ceremony…”

The scroll contained information about the Rowane Kingdom’s first royal daughter, Tanya O’Rowane, and how she was coming of age. According to the details, she would take the test of the bow and marry not long after.

“You might not like it but… If not now, then you will have no other chance to see your sister.”

“Tanya…”

“Will you go?”

Davey nodded with no hesitation at the perfect opportunity. From what he could tell, an envoy from Ming, the empire that was tied to Hyeon, would be present. He thought that it was the perfect place to give his warning there.

1. 왕건 First King of Goryeo. United the three kingdoms and founded Goryeo. ☜