The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-238

The catastrophe-like situation was finally coming to an end, albeit only for a short while. As the soldiers who were transported to the in-house doctor moaned in pain, Great General Gohu groaned out of frustration.

“Groan…”

“Great General! You must not move yet!”

“Let go! Isn’t His Majesty facing the heinous and disrespectful prince alone?! If you are an official who serves the kingdom, get out of my way right now! I will protect His Majesty with my life!”

“Groan… Let go right now!”

Unlike Gohu, who looked like he was going to pull out his sword and run out, the lower-rank officials who were relatively uninjured seemed to have completely lost their fighting spirit.

“You bastards! How dare you not step up when His Majesty is being humiliated by a foreign power?!! How are you serving this country?!” Gohu shouted furiously.

The soldiers were relatively unphased, and the officials did not answer Great General Gohu. Everyone was dead silent.

“Speak if you have mouths!!”

“Um… Great General, sir.”

“Did you not see, sir?” One official murmured in fear.

“See what?”

“That prince… He put swords in the air and can move them freely… That… As far as I know…”

It was a level more advanced than an ordinary Swordmaster; it was called the Sword of the Mind in martial arts. To be precise, [Telekinetic Blade] was possible from a level below Mind Master. However, it was usually misunderstood as a legendary level that was higher than a Swordmaster.

Of course, since only those who had reached the Sword of the Mind could cover swords with the sword energy of the mind, the soldiers weren’t completely wrong.

“...”

“We saw him from the beginning, sir.”

“...”

“He blew up a distant palace with the flick of his hand, and he is a monster who can easily produce a magic spell that would destroy the entire royal palace. How… How are we supposed to win against that?’

“There is…no way. How can a person…?”

The most shocking thing was that First Prince Davey wasn’t even in his twenties yet. It was impossible for someone to show true talent in any area before their twenties; even the most talented people only entered the beginner level of a Swordmaster in their thirties or forties, or in their fifties. However, in reality, most people stopped before they could overcome the barrier to become a Master.

Aside from being able to use advanced magic, Davey was a teenager who had a stigmata and had learned swordsmanship more advanced than a Swordmaster… This was impossible, even for a crazy genius.

In fact, even Princess Illyna de Pallan, the sword prodigy and master of the divine sword, hadn’t even reached Master yet. No one could believe why a prince who was as talented as Davey hadn't shown any signs of his gift until now.

“Advanced magic… And the level of a Mind Master.”

“You! Do you think that makes any sense?! How could a person yet to be twenty be a Mind Master?! He clearly used tricks…”

“Sir Great General, even if it was a trick in the first place…”

‘Most of the army who guarded the palace was taken out with a single strike of that trick; is it really something that we can call a trick now?’

It was suffocating enough just to get close to Davey’s energy. It had prevented the soldiers from moving. Back then, all the soldiers had only been capable of shivering in fear.

“Do you really think…it is a simple dark magic?”

Simply being a Swordmaster would make one be considered a legendary power, but what if Davey was more advanced than that? Even if it was dark magic, he still could not be looked down upon and underestimated. After all, dark magic had a similar effect as the real thing; to someone who didn’t know Aura Blade, it would still be considered dark magic as well.

“We could hardly feel any mana coming from the First Prince…”

“That’s even stranger.”

The ones who weren’t in denial could tell that the prince was truly monstrously powerful.

“There’s also a rumor as well.”

“Damn it… I thought it was nonsense. The rumors sounded so exaggerated…”

It was common for the people of the Hyeon Kingdom to come up with conspiracy theories.

Great General Gohu had thought Davey was a fictitious being from the East; how could anyone believe the rumors since almost no one had actually seen him fight? Gohu didn’t think much of it, but…

“It is too much for us. Sir… Still, fighting a monster like that is…”

“And…didn’t His Majesty order us to never fight him?”

No matter how strong one’s loyalty was, there were some things that one could not go up against.

It wouldn’t be strange for Gohu to get furious at the officials who were simply shaking their heads. However, he could only feel futility and relative deprivation rather than anger as the unbelievable things that had happened in front of his eyes were actually true.

“General, what… What do we do now…?”

“...” Gohu answered with silence.

* * *

“Maybe I should have ripped off more from him.”

Davey ended the conversation with the King, who was basically begging him at this point, and laid Tanya in her palace. Only after that did he return to the royal palace to look at its destruction.

There were no major damages as Davey had destroyed the unoccupied areas of the palace that he had kept an eye on from before. Still, everyone present was giving him a dirty look.

—You really don’t have a good relationship with people from the West.

“There’s no way I could.”

‘Just look at what I’ve done.’

If someone came to Davey’s house, lit it on fire and bombed it, he would want to kill them instantly. But the reason that the people in the palace weren’t able to show their hostility directly was simple: the command of the King was absolute.

“Y-You cannot enter!”

“I have been given permission. I still can’t?”

As Davey handed him the correspondence, the soldier who was guarding the jail widened his eyes. Looking at Davey in utter surprise, he finally retrieved the spear that he was using to stop Davey.

“Y-You cannot stay here for long. And…weapons are not…”

“I don’t have any weapons on me.”

“P-Pardon me!”

With the soldier’s shout that was out of fear and not respect, the doors to the jail opened.

There was a jail in the Hyeon Kingdom’s royal palace. It wasn’t usually used to hold someone long-term, so the overall facility wasn’t great. Why did Davey come to this jail, then?

“You!! Do you know who I am?! Release me right now!!”

—That woman does not know what has happened to this kingdom because of her.

The King had suffered a great loss just to calm Davey down.

If she were quick, Consort Yeon would realize that the person who should have received all the anger and hostility was her. However, she did not seem to care about that at all. The fact that she was the daughter of a noble family in the Ming Kingdom probably played a big role in her feeling that way.

The Hyeon Kingdom was considerably oppressed by the Ming Kingdom. As such, Consort Yeon most likely had more or as much power as the other concubines.

“Eek… Why am I so hungry?! You bastards! Why aren’t you bringing me more food?! Bring me more! More!!”

Davey watched Consort Yeon shouting violently for a while before turning away without hesitation. He did not have to care about her at all.

—About that curse you put on her…

‘It’s not a curse, Perserque.’

—It is a curse! You do not know how scary it is to be in that kind of situation as a woman.

Perserque wasn’t completely wrong.

Davey did not curse Consort Yeon with hairloss, which was a curse that he had used many times before. In this case, he had only hypnotized her to require more calories every day. Her body would now require an immense amount of food to satisfy her appetite, and the excess calories that weren’t used would obviously be stored in her body.

It wasn’t easy to curse someone with such an extreme transformation without them noticing. However, Consort Yeon had a talentless body that had barely any mana. It was safe to say that she had no resistance.

—It is still a curse even if it doesn’t bear the mark of one. So…how long…?

Perserque asked that question. She sounded slightly terrified of Davey.

Davey replied with a rough estimation from previous experience.

‘A week.’

In a week, that woman would change.

—How nasty…

‘Let her reap what she sowed.’

Davey left the jail without hesitation. He walked away, ignoring the screaming Consort Yeon who wanted more food.

* * *

“Big…Brother.”

Tanya, dressed in a white dress while laying in bed, greeted Davey.

“How are you feeling?” Davey asked.

“I’m alright. The doctor said that I am just a little exhausted.”

“Those damn people. How could they make such a small girl suffer like this…?”

“That’s right, Sister! Let’s set everything aside and leave, hm? Go back to the Rowane Kingdom, your home, with us. Father probably misses you as well.”

Baris did nothing to hide his rage. As for Winley, she simply asked for Tanya to return.

“But…I am tied to an arranged marriage here. And there is a special reason that the Hyeon cannot give me up.” Tanya smiled bitterly as she stroked Winley’s cheek. Then, she smiled cheerily at Davey.

“A reason?”

“What are you talking about, Big Sister?”

“The prince born by an Eastern princess who has a thousand gold, and heaven’s favor will enrich the Hyeon for the next four hundred years.”

This was a mere prophecy, but the late priest of the Hyeon Kingdom had never gotten a prophecy wrong in the last thirty years. Another problem was that the girl who had heaven’s favor was none other than Tanya.

—Is that so? That’s why the King has arranged a marriage with Tanya even with the opposition from other tribal alliances…

“This country currently has two princes, but… His Majesty does not want to give either of them the position of Crown Prince.”

“Why?”

“One of them is obsessed with liquor and women, and the other is obsessed with gambling.”

Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar voice, everyone’s attention was drawn to the firmly shut door that had just opened.

“Hello, my name is Maria, the Hyeon Princess. It is an honor to meet you all.”

The girl sounded polite but cold at the same time.

Maria was only fifteen, but her Western beauty was very similar to what Davey had seen back on Earth. Looking at her long and elegant hair, he could tell that she wasn’t married yet. However, she was different from most people in one aspect.

—It seems like she’s blind.

Maria was wearing a thick blindfold. Davey wondered if it was due to her suffering from a major injury to her eyes or for some other reason.

“Oh…”

Everyone paid attention to not Maria’s tone, but something else about her entirely.

“I’m sorry. I have a problem with my eyes…” Maria said calmly and in a straightforward manner toward Davey.

“Princess Maria.”

“Are you feeling better, Princess Tanya?”

“Of course.”

“That’s a relief.” Maria, who was staring at Davey while speaking calmly, handed Tanya a small box. She said, “I heard the news. You’re…calling off the marriage.”

“I’m sorry, Princess Maria.”

“No, it’s my fault for not helping you when I knew about your situation. However, I came to give this to you before you actually leave. You wanted to keep this, right?” Maria handed the box to Tanya, then turned away.

Tanya quietly opened the box. She widened her eyes as soon as she saw what was within the box. She could see a bundle of thin but durable rope. She murmured, “This…is the Beard of Vego…”

“The Beard of Vego? What’s that, Big Sister?” Winley asked.

Davey gave a simple explanation as he stared at where Maria had stood before she left. He said, “The beard of a giant, friendly monster called Vego, is extremely elastic and durable. The Beard of Vego is a valuable item. It is highly sought after by the Hunter Association that studies and masters bowmanship. It’s the best material for bows.”

There was a reason why Vego, the giant monster, was called the elves’ friends.

Tanya widened her eyes in surprise. She said, “Big Brother… You knew?”

“Do you want to stay?”

“...His Majesty agreed to break the engagement.”

“Yes, and there’s nothing for you to worry about anymore. The Rowane Kingdom is no longer the weak kingdom that you knew before.”

“That’s right, Big Sister! Thanks to Big Brother, the Rowane Kingdom has really started to take off!” Winley boasted with pride.

Tanya smiled bitterly. “Big Brother.”

Davey saw an emotion on Tanya’s face that he had never seen before.

“I’m sorry, but even if I leave… Please let me take the Bow Test at least. I…want to keep my promise.”

Davey hadn’t ever done anything for Tanya. This was the first time that his little sister, who had always put others first with a smile on her face, was asking him for something. He felt slightly touched and choked up.

“You can do anything you want to do. I will do it all for you, even if it means clearing the entire continent.”

“Chuckle… Big Brother, you’re funny…” Tanya chuckled like it was a funny joke.

But…

—Oh my, she needs to watch what she says.

Nobody knew what would happen next.