The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-802

‘A smell that normal people can't even detect... This doesn’t seem like a problem that I can just overlook,’ Davey thought.

“If you need anything, let me know anytime. On the surface, we don’t have a relationship, but you are someone under my protection.”

“Thank you. Still, I felt like I needed to tell you, which was why I found Miss Rinne to tell her to pass the news. That Duke Neto La Lili. Please stop that person from marrying Illyna.”

It seemed like she kind of wanted to really sink her teeth into this.

“I’m aware that if there are rumors going around between you and Illyna, it's not good for either of you. But… You just said that if I need help, I could ask you at any time. I’ll take your help now.”

Under usual circumstances, doing everything just because you wanted to was impossible. However, in this case…

“Alright.”

“Just this one ti—… Oh. Yes?”

Her eyes widened, as she didn't think that Davey would readily agree.

“It was that easy?”

“How could I not listen to a personal favor from you? And don't feel indebted because of this—it’s my job to protect her anyway.”

“Why?”

“It just happened to be so. Both Aeria and Illyna.”

Her eyes widened once more as she understood what he meant. Then, she covered her mouth with one hand and began to cry, as if she was overwhelmed by a heavy feeling.

“I heard about it from someone before, but… In the end, Demon King Per… No, it worked out according to the Princess’s plan.”

“What? You knew too?”

“Everyone who was involved probably knew. You must have been too dull to notice.”

Davey felt like he had been played by Perserque. He had never been short before when it came to information. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach and started burning with a desire for fiery revenge.

‘I’ll get my revenge tonight,’ he thought.

“Anything more that you want to add?”

“Nope, that’s it. Just be careful—there’s something a bit creepy about that guy,” she said in a worried tone.

“Okay. Don’t push yourself, and make sure you take breaks.”

“Davey.”

She called out to him as he turned around.

“Make her happy.”

“You too. Meet someone nice.”

“Kuku... I’ve already been worn out.”

“Worn out? You wouldn’t be able to say that if you knew how much effort I put into creating your body.”

“Kuku... Thank you. But men are a bit… I’m still afraid.”

She quietly pulled up her hood, bowed her head, and disappeared. He assumed she was returning to whatever she had been doing before.

“Reina.”

“...”

“Again, be sure to tell me when you settle down.”

“Yes,” she answered with a bright smile.

“Rinne, did you complete what I asked you to do?”

“Rinne has delivered already. Rinne evaluates this highly!”

“Good job.”

With a grin, Davey opened the Pocket Plane and took out bread with a savory smell.

“Your favorite bread…”

Then little Rinne bounced her body and swallowed the bread Davey was holding in one mouthful.

Crunch!!

She came flying like a marine creature rushing toward its prey.

‘This isn’t what I had in mind?’ he thought.

Moreover, considering that she was clinging to him with her small body that weighed over two hundred kilograms, her grip strength was…

“Ahh! Hey, don’t bite my hand!”

“Omnommm.”

She was trying to say something while biting onto his hand, making her voice get muffled. With a half-sleepy, languid expression, she clung to him while swaying back and forth. After a moment, she flicked her tongue, licked her lips, and pulled away.

Davey narrowed his eyes and glared at her as he experienced her obsession that went beyond his imagination.

“Did you think I was going to prank you with this?”

“Rinne saved all twenty three of Master Davey’s pranks in her memory circuit. Inferring the current situation, Rinne confirms that Master Davey has often played pranks such as taking away chestnut bread right before giving it to Rinne, so Rinne adopted the most efficient method.”

Seeing her calmly say that biting his hand was the best thing to do, Davey couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in her head.

“Sigh… What more could I say to that.”

It was the moment when Davey was about to turn around. A strange smell stung his nose.

“What’s that smell?”

As Davey frowned at the smell, Rinne tilted her head.

“Rinne determines that nothing was detected by Rinne’s olfactory[1] sensor.”

Rinne could distinguish odors from up to a kilometer away when her sense of smell was activated. Her saying that she couldn’t detect it meant it wasn’t just some type of simple physical smell. Davey found this rather interesting.

As Davey was just about to walk in the direction where the smell became stronger, someone blocked his path with a soft tone.

“Prince Davey O’Rowane.”

It was a man with clear glasses, long flowing black hair, a gentle smile, and a two-headed dragon brooch. Although he was young, he seemed quite elegant as if his appearance symbolized what he was capable of.

“Out of all places, we stumbled upon each other in a place like this. I really wanted to meet you at least once. I am Duke Neto La Lili.”

“...”

As Davey looked at him in silence, he smiled.

“Prince Davey? Could you give me a moment of your time?”

Davey was about to ignore him and pass by.

“Oops, I guess I interrupted you. May I ask where you’re going in such a hurry?”

“Really, is there any reason why I would need to tell you?”

“No. None at all,” he answered with a grin. “Well then, let me just get right to the point. I’ve actually come over for a different reason.”

“Well, I don’t really want to have a conversation right now.”

Davey sensed the smell getting stronger. It was the strange smell that Reina mentioned. It wasn’t just some simple smell, but a rather special one. He figured the timing to be pretty coincidental...

“It’s about Princess Illyna de Pallan.”

Davey tried to continue ignoring Neto La Lili and simply pass by, but the man’s words made him stop and look back. Seeing Davey’s silent and expressionless expression, Neto spoke softly.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but she will soon be engaged to me. Well, I suppose I’m quite undeserving of someone like her.”

"Is that so?"

The sight of him smiling softly made Davey feel uncomfortable.

“However… I heard Princess Illyna has a close relationship with you.”

“...”

“I don’t feel comfortable telling you this myself, but there is a lot of public attention surrounding the matter, and I don’t want any rumors to spread that could tarnish the reputation of the woman who will become my wife.”

As Davey listened to him speaking in a polite tone, he turned around.

“Then, I believe that the wise saint of the continent understood what I meant.”

Davey, without saying a word, headed toward where the smell was stronger. When he reached the source of the smell, he stopped and looked around.

“...”

He realized it was the terrible smell of blood.

“Once, twice, three times... Seventeen.”

Davey recognized a certain person on the floor. It was the young noble he had stopped earlier, the one who had fallen for Perserque and followed her. He was on the ground, looking dreadfully lifeless with his face frozen in terror. Though he had been full of energy and fearless, Davey knew he wasn’t the kind of guy who would normally ever meet such a gruesome end.

He noticed a sword lying in front of him—Davey suspected it to be the murder weapon. As he slowly bent down to pick up the sword, the clanking of armor filled the air as numerous knights surrounded the area.

“Stop!! If you don’t let go of the sword, you will be severely punished!!”

The inner palace knights of the Rowane royal family, not aware that the figure in front of them was Davey, released their presence and made the surroundings shake.

At first glance, it wouldn’t be surprising to suspect him of killing the young noble. That really is what it looked like. Mana spread through his fingertips as he placed his hand on the blade, quietly trying to hold the sword.

“Name.”

“Wha… What?”

“Tell me your name.”

As Davey spoke calmly and slowly stood up, the knights instantly aimed for his neck.

Krr Krr!!

However, before the tip of the swords touched him, they were completely distorted by the mana of Eclipse being emitted from his body.

“Prince Davey?!”

“Hrmph?!”

The cries of the astonished knights spread out, making expressions as if they had stepped on a landmine.

“Affiliation and name.”

When Davey turned his head and asked the person who appeared to be the knight commander again, he answered cautiously with a frozen expression.

“I-Inner Palace 7th… Orpha, Commander of the 7th Knights.”

But Orpha still looked at Davey with suspicious eyes as if he were the murderer. Davey was satisfied, as he would’ve expected nothing less from a knight guarding the inner palace.

“Retrieve the body and sword,” Davey said quietly as he passed him.

“Prince Davey... Did you happen to kill the young noble from the family of Count Gulan?”

It didn’t matter if he was the prince or not—killing someone for no reason was not acceptable. Besides, the crime scene was in a remote corner of the palace, so the possibility of coming there by chance was close to zero. The only trace that led to here was the smell. But among the people there, Davey was the only one who could detect this smell.

“Please answer me… There was a report that there was a scuffle because a young noble of the Count Gulan family fearlessly approached Princess Perserque. After that, the young noble disappeared, and while I was looking for him, I smelled blood and came here.”

The smell of blood had been suppressed, but it spread as soon as Davey arrived. It felt like a deliberate move aimed at him. It seemed like a clever tactic planned to tarnish his reputation to decrease his influence realizing they couldn’t use force to bring him down. Or more simply, they were just setting him up as a scapegoat.

Even so, he couldn’t tell if they were trying to keep him in check or if there was another reason behind it.

On top of the fact that it wasn’t easy to resurrect someone who was already dead, what was even more surprising was that the memory of the land had been erased by an unknown force—even the time of death had been arbitrarily disguised.

Davey realized he was in a situation where even a well-planned investigation could result in judgment against him.

The murderer; there was only one person who came to mind. Seeing Davey deep in contemplation, Knight Commander Orpha asked him again.

“Prince Davey.”

“Knight Commander Orpha.”

As Davey talked coldly, letting out a murderous aura, the knights began to tremble. They were affected by the Dragon Fear he was gently emitting, looking like they were about to collapse at any moment.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Capture Duke Neto La Lirli from the Lyndis Empire this instant.”

“Pardon…?”

“Send the others back after ending the banquet, then investigate the situation further.”

“Are you saying that you…. Didn’t kill this young noble?”

“The Duke is someone I met before I came here. He will prove my innocence, he’s my alibi.”

‘Whoever the murderer is, they’re messing with the wrong person.’

Crack…

In an instant, his Predatory Assimilation predatory began to eat up the remaining power in the place. As it was a completely new power, it would take some time to handle it properly, but whether it helped increase his power by devouring it was a completely separate issue.

Holy power and elemental mana were resolved faster than expected, but devil mana was a separate matter. Since it was a method of mixing two powers to obtain two newly converted powers, he figured this power might be used someday.

The amount of power he consumed was not important—the fact that he consumed it was.

Unfortunately, if the madness tried to take over, Davey knew he had no choice but to throw the new power away for now.

At least, that’s what he had figured. As if it had been waiting, the devil mana he had sealed went running wild, wanting to get out quickly. As a result, the moment he released the devil mana, the two portions of power began to mix and coordinate together. Rather unexpectedly, he had managed to obtain something from it.

This power, a blend of sound and scent, was quite unique. Was it a special ability? A trait ability? It was something Davey had never encountered before—a strange power that could somehow conceal mana and other energies. And now, Davey was capable of using this unusual power as well.

Knight Commander Orpha, who was scared as Davey stood still with a cold expression, forced himself to overcome his fear and speak up.

“My apologies, Your Highness. Due to the situation, I think we need to detain you as well.”

“Okay. According to the laws, that’s the correct move.”

Davey put the mana-binding bracelet he took out on his hand.

“What are you doing? Lead the way.”

“I… Escorting Your Majesty!”

Orpha shouted out, drenched in cold sweat. As soon as Davey pulled back the Fear he had naturally been emitting, the knights took a deep breath and began to move with great effort.

Davey realized this was a crime targeting him from the beginning. But he wondered why the chosen victim was this guy. He silently glanced at the gruesome dead body but heard nothing back.

‘Could it be Duke Lili’s doing? Or the work of the traitor Eclipse mentioned? If it’s neither of them…’

The news of the young noble from the family of Count Gulan being horrifyingly murdered spread quickly during the new prince's auspicious birthday celebration, causing the crowd to become agitated.

1. That’s the word for what your nose does, smelling—your olfactory senses ☜

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Well, well, well. Looks like we have a good old-fashioned murder mystery whodunnit on our hands! I hope you’re all taking notes! If you have any theories of your own, feel free to share them with the class down below :D