The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-235

No matter how isolated a country chose to be, it would certainly have an intelligence organization. Although the Hyeon Kingdom chose to isolate themselves in current times, they would have learned of Davey’s existence through a very recent event: the slaughtering of the World Tree and the war against elves.

Were they so incompetent that they didn’t know that it had been the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom, a small kingdom in the Eastern Continent, who had wiped out the World Tree? Of course not. The Western Continent commonly acknowledged powerful beings, so they had no reason to do such a thing to provoke him.

—Maybe it is because they do not believe in your powers.

‘They are trying to test me? How dare these lowly beings?’

“So, are you thinking of starting a knife fight here? Or, are you going to take Her Highness back to your kingdom?”

“What?”

“There is no way of figuring out who intercepted the letters Her Highness sent, but it was not by the command of His Majesty. According to the laws of this kingdom, the ones who have become the King’s women live in isolation from the outside world. It is His Majesty who destroyed that law because he took pity on them.”

“But nothing has changed, has it?”

“That’s right. A deep-rooted tradition isn’t going to disappear right away. As such, the policy His Majesty promoted was correspondence. It was so that they could contact the outside world with correspondence. But you’re saying His Majesty stopped it? Think of it from the other way around,” Dan-Goong stated simply. He went on to say, “Someone is trying to drive a wedge between the Rowane Kingdom and the Hyeon. What do you think the most effective way to do that is?”

Huffing and puffing, Baris let go of Dan-Goong. He then said firmly, “Then, it’s the responsibility of the Hyeon Kingdom to find out who that is, right? You can’t possibly say that you did not know that her letters did not reach us.”

“I did not know. I just…thought that the Rowane Kingdom was not sending a reply; that was the kind of person I thought Queen Lynesse Bariatta, the Rowane Kingdom’s Queen, was. Also, I made sure to see Her Highness’ letters leave Hyeon, and that all the other letters arrive at their destination correctly,” Dan-Goong said.

Baris clenched his jaw.

“Your Highness, please forgive my impertinence. I will safely escort the three of you out in secret.”

“I just thought that I was not getting a response… Alright, please do, Dan-Goong.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highnesses. Please follow me.”

Tanya was currently in the midst of a certain ritual; as such, she was bound by a certain law that prohibited her from having any contact with outsiders for one hundred days. There were no exceptions for direct family members like Baris, Winley, and Davey, her stepbrother.

This was a huge problem, because the stranger, who was the King, and the other consorts who weren’t related to Tanya at all were still allowed to see her. The situation was so ridiculous that it felt hilarious.

Click!!

As if this was the moment that everything had been building towards, the door was flung open before Dan-Goong could even move.

“Y-Your Highness! If you go inside so rashly—-!”

“You bitch! Do you know who she is?”

After hearing the shout of a lady-in-waiting, Davey could hear someone walking in.

‘This feels too staged.’

As Dan-Goong had mentioned, this situation was too fake for the Hyeon Kingdom to have done this.

—The situation is going to play out the way that they want to. The culprit did this so obviously that…I am starting to feel suspicious.

‘You’re saying that someone did this on purpose.’

Someone who would benefit from Davey causing a fuss here had manipulated the situation. After all, angry people would more easily be swept away by their emotions.

The Hyeon Kingdom was also a victim; as such, Davey had to keep his composure and be logical. But through logical thought, Davey decided that he had to turn this place upside down.

—Davey?

‘Whoever these assholes are, they treated my sister like crap.’

They did not treat Tanya as a princess. They had even given her a test, a cleansing ritual to undergo.

Right now, Davey needed to show them that he was no longer the weak prince who had been locked up in a small room in the Rowane Kingdom’s outer palace.

“Ouch?!”

“B-Brother?!”

When Davey grabbed their arms, Winley and Baris looked up at him in surprise.

“Clear your head and wait.”

“What… Big Brother?!” Baris exclaimed.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

Boom!!! Pzz!!

The empty space distorted before opening up. Once it did, Davey threw both Winley and Baris inside his Pocket Plane and said to Rinne, “Rinne, stop these two from doing anything stupid.”

“Rinne, mission accepted.”

Once all of them disappeared into the spatial cracks, only Tanya, Davey, and Dan-Goong were left in the room.

“Princess Tanya, are you inside?”

Before Tanya could respond and allow them to come in, the person opened the door. Not sure what she should do, Tanya turned to look at Davey and was instantly surprised. She said, “Big…Brother?”

Tanya was bound to be surprised as Davey, who was standing beside her a moment ago, had disappeared. In fact, Dan-Goong was also staring at the empty space with his jaw on the floor. They were both speechless.

“Princess, you have lost some weight.” Consort Yeon voiced out.

Listening to the mocking remarks, Tanya nodded as calmly as she could. She said softly, “I… I am doing well since you are taking care of me.”

Tanya was choosing to look weak; the way she chose to protect her own kingdom was strictly self-sacrifice.

“Hm… Well, I did go through some hardships. Thanks to that, a lot of the other consorts aren’t being that friendly to me. Th-Thank you…”

“Of course, you should be grateful. But, are you not even bringing out tea when you have a visitor?”

Tanya widened her eyes in panic. She quickly said to the lady-in-waiting beside her, “Lin, you could go…and get some tea?”

“Ah, whatever. I’m not here to have some crappy tea.”

“U.. Uhm…”

“Alright. Well, the Hundred Days Cleansing is over soon. You will take the Bow Test in a few days. Princess, you have already passed the first four tests with flying colors,” Consort Yeon said.

Tanya gulped.

“I just don’t want you to forget that I’m the one who has been helping you all this time.”

“H-How could I forget…?”

“Is that so?” The woman approached Tanya with a cold smile. She whispered right in Tanya’s ear, “If so, you will be able to repay this consort who has shown you kindness?”

Although Consort Yeon spoke quietly, everyone in the room could hear her.

“W-What do you want?”

“Consort Hye doesn't want you to return to your kingdom. Well, we have different reasons, but I also want you to stay here. However, there is one thing that is bothering me…” Consort Yeon’s voice trailed off. She slowly backed away from Tanya.

“They say that an envoy will arrive from the Ming Kingdom.”

“Yes, the Great General and Chancellor of Peace will come…”

“Oh, you know well. So, I was thinking… Princess Tanya, the reason our Hyeon is living in an age of peace is all thanks to the Ming, don’t you think?”

“That is…”

“Realistically, yes. Right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The ladies-in-waiting smirked and laughed as they chimed in.

“So, please help out, Princess Tanya. From what I hear, the Chancellor of Peace enjoys the banquet dances in the Eastern kingdoms. Sadly, I and the others are quite inexperienced with the dance, so please help us, Princess.”

Tanya froze.

“Then, the Chancellor of Peace will help us out a lot. Ah, who knows; the Chancellor of Peace happens to like women of the East very much.”

“Your Highness, with all due respect, are you telling the person who will soon take the Bow Test and become the Queen to do things that prostitutes of the red-light districts would do?”

Slap!!

Consort Yeon was fast to act. She quickly reached out and slapped Dan-Goong in the face. With a vicious look, she shouted, “This is no place for a lowly being like you to speak!!”

“Kyah! C-Consort Yeon! Please stop! What are you doing?!” Tanya yelled in shock.

Consort Yeon was reaching out to Tanya…

‘You want me to just watch? No way.’

However, Dan-Goong reacted a lot quicker than Davey did.

Slap!!

“W-What?!”

Dan-Goong swiftly hid Tanya behind his back and got hit by Consort Yeon again.

“How ungrateful of you, Princess Tanya. Surely you know how much money this country has sent the Rowane Kingdom to take in a worthless princess like you.”

“T… That is…”

Tanya did not know much, so she was unaware of how stable the Rowane Kingdom had become now.

“How dare a powerless foreign princess come here and act like this. You bitch. With one word from me, you will be kicked back to your country without even taking the test. I am greatly favored by His Majesty. Do you understand?”

“Th… That… That cannot happen! The Rowane Kingdom is having difficulty with state affairs! And to pay back the money that has been given…”

“Then you should play nice. Do you not know your place just because you’re pretty and young?!” Consort Yeon screamed.

She raised her hand to try hitting Tanya’s face again. She was using Tanya’s naivety and innocence to get abusive and violent.

Crack!!!

“Keugh?! Kyahh!!!”

Davey, who appeared out of a sudden spatial crack, grabbed Consort Yeon’s arm and twisted it mercilessly.

Consort Yeon was a royal member; she was Hyeon Kingdom’s consort.

“Your Highness!!”

“Consider yourself lucky that I didn’t cut it off.”

Feeling Davey’s cold stare, the ladies-in-waiting backed away. They trembled like they had just seen a ghost. Meanwhile, Consort Yeon was crying and screaming.

Davey said to Consort Yeon, “I knew you were crazy, but I didn’t know you were this crazy.”

“Keugh… Sob… Who are…?”

“I am Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. You’re better off not asking why I’m here. You’ve heard that unnecessary questions can shorten your life, right?” Davey held onto the crying Consort Yeon and looked down at her with a cold look.

“...” Tanya was momentarily speechless. With wide eyes, she called out in shock, “Big…Brother?!”

“Tanya.”

Tanya flinched at Davey’s cold voice.

“Is this how you’ve been?”

“...”

“Answer.”

Just then, Dan-Goong pulled out his sword and pointed it at Davey’s neck. He said, “You can’t do this, Your Highness… Let go of Her Highness Consort Yeon’s arm. Now.”

Dan seemed unwilling to do this, but he probably had to. After all, the woman was a royal of the Hyeon Kingdom.

‘If so, I’ll help out.’

“Wait here.”

Kaboom!!!

Davey lightly swung his arm before punching the distorted space. As the shockwave spread out, it hit Dan-Goong in the stomach and slammed him against the wall.

Dan-Goong was probably actually better off unconscious anyways. This way, he didn’t have to put his life on the line for something he didn’t want to do.

Then, Davey roughly pulled Consort Yeon’s arm and stomped his feet.

Boom!!!

The surroundings changed instantly, and Davey was no longer just in a room with Tanya. He was now in a huge palace that had several men wearing red uniforms lined up in front. He commented casually, “The palace, huh?”

The sudden appearance of Davey, Consort Yeon being held hostage, and Tanya who followed them was probably baffling to the red-uniformed men.

“Y-Your Highness!”

The men looked at the crying Consort Yeon, whose arm had been twisted in a strange way.

Shwing!!!

Clang!!

With the sound of armor and weapons, the red-uniformed men simultaneously pointed their swords at Davey’s neck. They said in unison, “Your Highness, please let go of Consort Yeon.”

“If I can’t?”

“Then we have no choice.”

As the situation got heated, Davey’s eyes flashed with intent to kill. As for Tanya, she looked flustered as she did not know how to react in this situation.

“Is that so? Then I guess I have no choice but to destroy everything.”

‘If there is no room for conversation, let’s start with destroying everything.’

Was a war going to take place? Well, the current situation was playing out just like how the culprit had wanted it to.

‘That’s none of my concern.’

Davey overpowered Consort Yeon, who was struggling to get free. He lightly waved his free hand, and…

“Huh… Huh?!”

“T-The swords!!”

The red-uniformed men’s swords shook before turning around and pointing the tips at the men’s own necks. The weapons seemed almost alive. It was quite a scene to watch the dozens of officers point their swords at their own necks.

The men held onto the swords’ hilts, keeping the weapon from stabbing them. However, they started to tremble as the swords were pushing back quite hard.

“W-What is this?!”

“I-It’s a monstrous power!”

[Telekinetic Blade]: the depth of understanding needed to control a blade was enlightenment.

‘A few dozen? That’s easy.’

That was when…

Slam!

“What is going on?!”

With a sudden shout, a man and a woman flung open the palace doors to reveal themselves.

The man in the royal robe and crown seemed to be in his fifties, but he actually looked a lot younger than he actually was. Beside him was a woman in the same extravagant satin clothing as Consort Yeon.

“Y-Your Majesty! Your Highness!”

Ignoring the flustered cries around him, Davey looked at the man in a crown.

“Prince Davey… I didn’t bother to call you because I hope you can have a good rest after your long journey… But you must explain this situation. Don’t you know the courtesy envoys should have when visiting?!!”

“You shouldn’t have done something like this if you wanted courtesy.”

“What? Something like this? What are you talking about?”

“You can start by explaining what I witnessed just now,” Davey said calmly. He threw the hostage Consort Yeon onto the floor.

“Kyah!!”

Davey did not care what would happen to his reputation. This choice could destroy him at once, because human and elf kingdoms were different. However, the Hyeon Kingdom needed to know how furious Davey was with them treating his sister like a prostitute and slapping her around.

No, the Hyeon Kingdom had to know that the most important thing in the world right now was not Davey’s residents, the Rowane Kingdom, but his step-siblings who loved him even before he had fallen into a coma.