The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

“You’re still quite lacking. The knowledge and skills that you have are very common. To be honest, I still don’t know whether you will be able to enter Bettelstrock with your skills.”

Well, it was not really that hard to enter Bettelstrock. After all, what was the use of a backdoor if Davey would not use it for his sibling? However, was he someone who would give a talent like that away? The answer to that was no.

“So, all you need to do is take your time and learn slowly.”

“Are you going to…teach me?”

“That’s right. This brother of yours can do a bit of alchemy and engineering, you know?”

Aeonitia looked like she did not believe Davey at all. However, soon remembering the difference in position between Davey and herself, she immediately looked down. She quietly muttered, “I don’t believe you. If you hate me, then please just let me out of the palace. You can demote me to a commoner if you want.”

“Is that so?” Davey said, standing up and stretching his hand toward the girl. “It seems like you need to see it for yourself to believe me. Watch, then decide.”

Aeonitia could not understand what Davey intended to do. She just looked up at her brother with a doubtful expression. However, she soon shrieked at Davey who was grabbing her hand, dragging her up, and hugging her.

“Kyack!”

“Be careful. I hope you don’t get any motion sickness. If you’re not used to this, you’ll probably get an upset stomach.”

Before Davey was done speaking, all around them were dozens of magic circles that flashed and appeared in layers. In a mere blink of the eye, the space around them had completely changed.

“Urk…”

“Welcome to the Heins Territory.”

Aeonitia looked around in surprise. It did not take long for her uneasiness to rise, and she started to curl up into a ball and shrink herself. That was probably because Davey had brought her to a dark underground area that only had the soft light of mana stones.

“This…”

“You won’t be disappointed,” answered Davey confidently.

Well, he was sure about it, but he could still be making a mistake. He did notice that his sister was looking more wary than relaxed.

When she heard the sound of something turning from deep within the dark underground corridor, Aeonitia flinched and immediately stepped back. However, Davey did not stop walking forward.

Soon, they arrived in front of a huge door. Davey then touched the operating device and the huge door began to open.

The pale and uneasy Aeonitia, who had been looking around cautiously, completely forgot all of her worries. She stared in awe and shock at the scene in front of her. And just like any child her age, she exclaimed, “Wow!”

Aeonitia’s reaction was unsurprising. After all, the underground laboratory in the Heins Territory had been created solely to satisfy Davey’s own greed. The Decepticon Fleet as well as the Avengers Squadron had all been made in this laboratory.

Of course, the dwarves continued to do research here. They also invented new things while learning alchemy and engineering skills that were unknown to this continent from Davey. In other words, this underground laboratory was almost like a secret research institute, the kind that would never be seen in other nations or territories.

Engineers of three different races were working in the laboratory and creating new things. And on one side of the laboratory were huge golems, the Decepticon Fleet, standing proudly.

“A… Amazing!” Aeonitia cried out with twinkling eyes.

The cry caught the attention of the dwarves and elves who were working around the lab. They all turned to take a look.

“Oh. Isn’t that the Wise Teacher?” said one of the dwarves who walked over to Davey. He greeted, “Welcome, welcome. I heard that you have been very busy these past few days.”

“Yes. I didn't even have the time to rest my feet. Anyway, how’s the progress on the technology that I have introduced to you?”

“Well, nothing out of the ordinary. If I were to be honest, we have already made a few proper improvements on the technology since Annabelle’s creation.”

Aeonitia looked at the dwarf warily. It was the same look that she had given Davey earlier on.

“Hmm? Who’s this human girl?”

“My younger sister.”

The dwarf looked at Davey in confusion. “A younger sister? But doesn’t the Wise Teacher already have those two beautiful sisters? You have another one?”

“This rascal doesn’t really leave the palace much.”

“Hmm… Well, it doesn’t really matter to me. Is there something that you need?”

“Aeonitia.”

Hearing Davey’s sudden call, Aeonitia almost fell back in shock.

“Can you show them that thing on your wrist?”

“…”

“It’s alright,” said Davey reassuringly.

Aeonitia slowly stuck out her arm, showing off the rugged and crude mechanical device resting on her wrist.

“Hoo… This…”

The dwarven engineer’s eyes flashed when he realized the ty of the idea. He did not focus on the technology that had been used.

“Hey! Come and look at this!”

At the dwarf’s loud call, the other dwarven engineers as well as the elven engineers, who were supplementing the devices with spirit magic, began to gather toward them.

The color immediately drained from Aeonitia’s face, either due to embarrassment or nervousness. However, it was obvious that she did not know what to do with the sudden attention. She was wary of many things, but the crowd was really overloading her mind right now.

“Goodness… This is quite a item!”

“I know, right?”

Davey had never actually taught these people anything. Rather than teaching them from the very beginning, he would only tell them little by little about the technology that he knew of. Then, he had them fill in the remaining gaps by themselves.

“How is it?”

“Hmm. The technology is terrible. If I were to be honest, it’s too rough and crude.”

Aeonitia’s expression darkened at the dwarf’s cold and objective assessment. She did not know when or where she had started to take interest in this technology. However, it made her very interested in engineering and alchemy.

“However, the rest is very astounding! Please look here, Wise Teacher! How did she think of using the vibrating motion to tell the hours, minutes, and seconds?! Don’t tell me, this is…”

“This brat made it herself.”

That made the creation very amazing. It did not matter just how early someone had received education. After all, the development of technology in the Tionis Continent was much slower when compared to modern Earth.

It was absolutely shocking to see a child, who was only at the age where they should be attending the higher elementary grade, make a watch on her own. In this case, the technology being sloppy and crude did not really matter.

—That child, Aeonitia… She's quite a remarkable genius.

If Winley and Baris were talented kids who grew to become geniuses after countless actual battles, Aeonitia was a true genius who pioneered in something on her own within the confines of her own room. All she did was focus on things that she enjoyed doing. Simply put, it was very hard to come by a genius like Aeonitia.

At Davey’s words, the elven and dwarven engineers looked at the young girl with even deeper gazes.

“Hoo… You’re still young, but you’re already this amazing!”

“Goodness… This is not your average idea, no? It’s a very idea.”

Interest began to grow in the eyes of the dwarves, the elves, and the humans who were working in the laboratory.

“Wise Teacher… By any chance…”

“You’re all going to make the mechanical device that this rascal has made. Of course, you have to make it properly. And the one spearheading this project will not be me but this brat.”

The people of this continent used very uncomfortable and clunky watches. However, the watch that Aeonitia had created had the same effect as the ones on Earth despite having no similarity to them at all.

“That’s good! You’re really quite amazing for someone at such a young age! Bwahahahaha!!!” one of the dwarves laughed loudly, which prompted another burst of laughter in the room.

Aeonitia, who was enchanted by the shocking and amazing appearance of the laboratory, could not help but turn red when the engineers began to openly praise her.

“What do you think? This place is quite a good place, no?” Davey asked.

Aeonitia, who was both embarrassed and speechless, looked up at Davey. She glanced at the golems of the Decepticon Fleet, which were being carefully calibrated in the laboratory, with sparkling eyes.

With a nod, she exclaimed, “Yes… It’s really amazing!”

“Then, shall we go somewhere else again?” Davey smiled, hugging Aeonitia and stepping into the air above them.

“Wise Teacher does not have any mercy on his younger sibling either, huh?”

***

“Did you wait for long? The contract was made in a hurry, but I based it on the draft that the Lord had made in advance.”

“Thanks for your hard work, Amy. You can take a break for the rest of the day.”

“B… But there is still plenty of backlog in my work…”

“I’ll do the rest. Take your break.”

There were also a few things that Davey had to check on himself.

Amy nodded as she placed a thick stack of papers on Davey’s table. She said, “Yes.”

After Amy stepped back and left the room, Davey handed the contract to Aeonitia and asked, “Aeonitia, you can read, right?”

“Yes. I studied very hard.”

“Is that so? Then, let me just point out the most important parts first.”

Aeonitia was still in a daze, thinking about the appearance of the laboratory that she had visited earlier on. She obviously wanted to achieve a reality where she could get away from Davey and achieve her own dreams. Whether she liked it or not, Davey’s presence was enough to make her feel suffocated.

However, since Davey had already recognized her talents, there was no way that he would let this younger sister of his be taken in by others.

“Firstly, all of the projects that begin under your name will be known to the continent under your name. And the same is true for the watch that you’re wearing right now. It might still be a bit sloppy and crude, but with the best engineers teaching you their skills and helping you out, as well as the proper materials, you will be able to complete that device properly.”

As Aeonitia fiddled with the watch that was fastened to her wrist absent-mindedly, Davey continued, “Other than that, advising you on your technological skills as well as the expenses that you will incur for your project’s materials will be covered by this brother of yours.”

“Can you really…do that?”

“I have a lot of money.”

Aeonitia frowned at Davey’s relaxed tone.

—You’re so annoying.

Completely ignoring Perserque’s comment, Davey said to Aeonitia, “I won’t meddle with whatever you do. Even if you deceive the humans in that laboratory or you make things that will kill me, I will continue to give you my support.”

“Why?” Aeonitia asked, completely unable to understand why Davey was doing something like this.

“Even if you worked hard for all of your life, there’s no way that I would die.”

Even an 8th to 9th Circle mage using all of their limbs to cast magic would not be able to kill Davey, what more someone who would only use a single machine. It was no different from dreaming big.

“In fact, I don’t think you will be able to come up with an idea that would pose a problem to the entire continent.”

Unlike her brothers, Carlus and Benedict, who did not care about such things and would just charge recklessly into something, Aeonitia was a very realistic girl.

“Well then, shall we move on to the distribution of profits? As you can see, all of the profits on the items that you will create with the dwarves’ help will be split 7 to 3. But since you still have a lot to learn, we have to take into consideration the cost of education and the materials that you will use. Because of that, our side will be the one taking the 7.”

“That…”

“You still have a lot of things going on in your head, no?”

Aeonitia took out a very small notebook, which possibly contained all of the ideas that she had come up with and written down.

“Other than that, there are also the rights to your items, the costs of generating revenue for your creations, maintaining your dignity, and many more…” Davey continued to explain the important points of the contract.

Aeonitia, who seemed to have been pondering over the things that Davey had initially mentioned, looked slightly lost. It seemed like these things were still quite difficult for a child to fully understand.

However, Davey was taking advantage of that very fact.

—She’s still a child, but you’re already sucking up everything from her. You’re very vicious.

“Aeonitia,” Davey called out to his younger sister after refuting Perserque’s scathing remarks.

The girl, who was fiddling with her contract, had a dazed and blank look on her face. “Yes… Yes?”

Suddenly placed in a very difficult situation, she simply looked up at Davey with a blank expression. She was unable to make a proper judgment after being shown the amazing laboratory and being told the contents of the contract… Her brain felt like it would explode from information overload.

“Right. This is the last part. Hang in there.”

After the girl nodded blankly, Davey continued, “It’s about the contract period. This brother of yours promises that you will be able to learn more and better alchemy and engineering skills than what you will be able to learn in Bettelstrock. That’s what you want, right?”

“As long as I can learn a lot, then…”

Running away from Davey was very important to Aeonitia, but her interest in alchemy and engineering could not be replaced.

“Right. However, I will be troubled if the technological skills that I will teach you get leaked. So, this is the final point of the contract. This is a lifetime contract. Do you understand?” Davey said, smiling gently.

However, Aeonitia just held the pen in her hand and spun it endlessly with a blank expression.

Everything was almost over.

“I will pay you and make sure to protect you for the rest of your life. You can also do and research whatever it is that you want. I won’t even force you to perform better. Just study as much as your heart pleases.”

If Aeonitia did not produce good results, then they would not be able to gain money. However, that was something that a rookie like her did not know of yet.

Aeonitia, who seemed to have fallen for Davey’s promises, slowly reached out for the lifetime contract that was presented in front of her. She was just about to sign the paper when…

“Davey. Rinne evaluates you lowly.”

“Shut up, you punk.”

When she heard Davey smack Rinne in the forehead, Aeonitia looked up at Rinne with sparkling eyes.

Perhaps Aeonitia found it interesting to see a girl that looked to be her age. She murmured, “That child is…?”

“Her name is Rinne. She’s a golem.”

Aeonitia’s eyes grew wide.

“How is it? It’s amazing, right? All you have to do is sign that paper.”

Aeonitia, without even realizing it, signed her name on the contract. She was too fascinated by the fact that Rinne, a golem, was acting like a living and breathing creature.

Once the contract was signed, Davey patted Aeonitia on her head. He then turned to Rinne and asked, “Rinne, what’s the problem?”

“A report from Baris. A number of important criminals have been reportedly missing from each nation all over the continent. Their number has exceeded 200. All of the kidnappings are similar to the attack used in the Haoji Mines.”

At this point in time, Davey still had no way of knowing what the vampires were up to. He grumbled, “Those bastards are running something.”