The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

The entire Hyeon Kingdom’s royal palace was very hectic and busy, especially after the messy fiasco from earlier on.

“What’s this? Where are you going?”

“Hoo… I’m going to the prisons,” the maidservant said with a sigh. She carried a tray of warm food that was completely covered so that the heat would not escape.

“The prisons? Why are you bringing food to the prisons?”

“Didn’t you hear? This is by the orders of Her Highness, Concubine Yeon,” the maidservant explained.

“Even the one that you brought in earlier?”

“What do you mean? This is already the twelfth delivery.”

The meal was plenty enough for a healthy young man to feel full, and this was already the twelfth delivery. However, it had to be known that a single delivery took about half a day and not a span of a few days.

“A single person ate all of those meals? Haha. Wouldn’t you die from your stomach exploding if you ate all that?”

“The prison guards on duty actually told me that one person truly cleaned everything up. Ever since then, we’ve been delivering these meals consistently. It is a complete mess.”

Could a person truly cram that much food in their body? Common sense dictated that it should be impossible, but the maidservants could not deny the reality of it right now.

“Right. Where did her nasty temper go, right? Have you seen the princess of the Eastern Kingdom? She has suffered a lot.”

“Hoo… Where can I find a man who is just like that prince?”

It had been an unexpected situation. First Prince Davey hailed from a small kingdom in the East, and he was the brother who had finally discovered the reality that his sister had been living in. He had realized that the powerless girl from their kingdom, his very own sister, had been being bullied, so he had overturned the entire royal palace with a power that no one could resist.

Although the palace had been completely destroyed, innocent bystanders were refreshed by whatever Davey had done. In fact, there were some maidservants who felt delighted by the entire incident. Of course, they kept their mouths shut and did not show such obvious delight on their faces.

***

Tanya had put in considerable effort to learn the technique that Davey had taught her. Davey had taught Tanya how the mana should flow, how she should stand, and even how she should let go of the arrow. However, it was still hard for her to use the technique as well as when she had shot it the first time.

The test was ultimately for Tanya. Davey could repeatedly help her with archery, but she wasn’t allowed to ask for his help until the test was over. And Tanya did not want to cheat. Simply put, she did not stop trying to recreate the technique that she had previously experienced.

Tanya practiced from early morning, pulling the strings of her bow non-stop and practicing so hard that even the soft skin of her hands had swelled up and bruised.

Of course, Winley and Baris looked at their older sister’s practices with worry and anxiety. However, they could not really stop her. This was Tanya’s first time expressing her own desire and putting in this much effort.

And just like that, time flew by. By the time the test was just around the corner, an eunuch came to visit Davey.

“They’re asking for my presence?”

“Yes, Prince. The Ming Empire’s Son of God asks you to meet with him, Prince.”

“Hmmm…”

In fact, the Ming Empire had constantly sent Davey official demands regarding the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land.

“The Son of God has come here?”

The eunuch’s eyes twitched at Davey’s lack of manners, but he let the matter go. This slightly disappointed Davey.

“That… That… It should have been the Chancellor of Peace and the Great General who would arrive as envoys, but… Due to the sudden changes in schedule in the Ming Empire…”

“Well, whatever. Lead the way.”

It was already quite funny that Davey, a prince of another kingdom, was going to intervene in a meeting between two other nations.

“That…”

Before leading the way, the eunuch suddenly stopped and hesitated. Looking at him, Davey asked, “Do you have something else to say to me?”

“That is… Prince, the Son of Heaven has sent you a gift,” the eunuch said timidly.

An official following the eunuch handed over a box to Davey, who quietly accepted it. Inside the box laid a small brooch with jewels that were surprisingly engraved in a neat and tidy manner. Davey could tell with a single glance that it was expensive.

“The Son of Heaven is extremely interested in the Prince’s heroic tales. If possible, can you please…”

“I see,” Davey said calmly.

Holding the brooch in his hands, he had a sinister smile on his face.

***

There were several guards who protected the meeting place where the Ming Empire’s Emperor, Empress Dowager, and the Hyeon Kingdom’s King were having a discussion. There were several elite soldiers from the Hyeon Kingdom as well as several other soldiers, who seemed to have come from the Ming Empire.

Davey could not stop chuckling at the soldiers’ appearance. They looked so serious, as if they wouldn’t even let a single ant pass them by.

“Halt. You cannot enter this place without any permission,” said a soldier who moved to block Davey’s entry.

The official who guided Davey frowned slightly. “What are you doing?! Get out of my way!”

“This is the place where His Majesty, the Son of Heaven, and His Majesty the King of Hyeon are having a discussion. I don’t know who you are, but you cannot enter…”

Slap!!!

At that moment, the eunuch slapped the soldier who was proudly acting as the gatekeeper. With a stern look, the eunuch said, “This is the man that His Majesty wants to meet. How dare you shout proudly that you’re going to stop this gentleman’s entry?!”

Hearing the eunuch’s scolding, the gatekeeper widened his eyes in confusion and shock. To apologize for his mistake and dull wits, he bowed his head and stepped aside. “Please… Please forgive me!”

Observing the scene and the officials’ attitudes, Davey hardened his expression in an instant. It was as if they were testing him.

“I’m sorry for that. Please enter now, Your Highness.”

“Right.”

Not knowing how great the person the Ming Emperor was, Davey thought that it wouldn’t hurt for him to try and see what he was like once.

Upon entering the great hall, Davey found the space to be huge, majestic, and splendid. Even the palace where the King stayed was not as magnificent as this place.

“This is the place where the envoys of the Ming Empire are staying. How is it?”

“Your navel is bigger than your stomach[1].”

“…”

Davey’s curt and sharp criticism made the eunuch smile bitterly.

The Ming Empire, claiming to be the parent country of the Hyeon Kingdom, had long intervened in how the kingdom handled their domestic affairs. And this was a place that showed just how unusual the power that the Ming Empire had in the Hyeon Kingdom.

The eunuch shouted nervously over the huge threshold, “Your Majesty! Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom, has arrived!”

The voice of a young child then rang from behind the closed doors. “Let… Let him enter.”

Thud!!!

“Please enter.”

“…” Davey glanced at the eunuch who retreated with his head bowed low, then entered the great hall silently.

There was a large table inside the great hall. There was one person sitting at the head of the table, with two people sitting on their left and right.

“I am Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. It’s an honor to meet the Emperor of the Ming Empire,” Davey said, kneeling down on one knee and looking up at the source of the childish voice from earlier on.

“You… You’ve arrived at the perfect time, Prince Davey.”

Hearing the nervousness in that childish voice, Davey looked surprised. He quickly regained his composure and thought to himself.

‘A child?’

—It seems like he is the Ming Empire’s Son of Heaven. But I did not expect him to be a child who looks incapable of handling the state of affairs yet.

Even Perserque was very surprised by this revelation.

The child who sat at the head of the table looked so young and delicate that even Davey had a hard time distinguishing their gender at first glance. They looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old, the rough age of an elementary school child in modern day earth’s standards.

No matter how fast the world was progressing, or how early the child started their education, the Emperor who was sitting in front of Davey was too young to lead a country.

“Oho! How dare you, Prince Davey! How dare you look directly into the eyes of His Majesty!!!”

Davey turned to look at the man who suddenly started berating him from next to the Emperor.

“S… Stop that, Great General!!!”

The man called the Great General, who was sporting a grave and serious expression on his face, bowed his head at the Emperor’s flustered cry. He protested, “But, Your Majesty!”

“This… This is an order!”

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

The man called the Great General still did not hide his displeasure towards Davey despite backing down.

“Come… Come quickly, Prince Davey. This Emperor wanted to meet with you, so I called for you without prior contact. Did… Did you like my gift?”

“I am thankful for the present that Your Majesty has given me. I will not forget the grace that you have granted me,” Davey said calmly as he sat in one of the empty seats on the table and looked at the people present in the great hall one after the other.

The one sitting to the left of the Ming Emperor was the Hyeon King, who sat there silently with a complex look on his face. And sitting directly to the right of the Son of Heaven at the head of the table was a young woman and an old man.

“Oh my. I have heard a lot about this gentleman. From what I heard, he’s the one who turned the entire continent upside down. I did not expect that he would be such a wonderful young man. Don’t you think so too, Chancellor?”

“Hoho. You’re absolutely right, Your Majesty Empress Dowager,” the old man said with a chuckle. He had a gentle smile adorning his face.

“It seems like it’s a treasure with a great power hidden inside. Are you sure that it’s alright for me to take it?” Davey asked.

When the Emperor looked at her in surprise, the Empress Dowager said, “Goodness. It’s really amazing that you were able to notice that. That’s right, Prince Davey. That is one of the Ming Empire's treasures, a treasure that can help the wearer feel comfortable.”

Davey grinned widely, then said, “It truly does make one feel comfortable… It’s definitely a great item.”

The Empress Dowager smiled at Davey, looking very pleased. She said, “Actually, the Emperor really wanted to meet you, Prince Davey.”

“Me?”

“Yes, because you are very famous in the entire continent. The Emperor actually wants to hear your story very much. Hohohoho.”

Davey answered with a smile of his own. “They’re not particularly great, but that won’t be a problem.”

“Oh my. Then, that’s a relief.”

Seeing the Empress Dowager’s smile, Davey thought that he should not drag things around anymore. He said, “However, there is something that I want to resolve before that.”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes narrowed. She muttered, “If there’s something that needs to be resolved, then…”

“The Ming Empire has sent plenty of interesting things to the Rowane Kingdom with regards to the Divine Tree,” Davey said while flicking the letter that he had taken out of his Pocket Plane.

The contents of the letter were written in complex language, but to put things simply, this was how it went:

[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.]

“May I ask what this letter means?”

“What…is this?” The Emperor murmured in confusion. They appeared to be flustered and clueless.

“It seems like you don’t know?”

“Ye… Yes. Mo… Mother, what is this?”

The Empress Dowager squinted. “I see. This is definitely a letter that came from the Ming Empire…”

Davey narrowed his eyes immediately, because the Empress Dowager also seemed to have not seen the letter before.

“This… This Emperor has never sent such a letter to the Rowane Kingdom.”

“Then, the seal is fake?” Davey asked.

He wondered if the Ming Empire thought that they could joke around with him.

As the air around them turned frigid, the Great General clasped the hilt of his sword on instinct.

“Some… Someone has falsified this! This Emperor… This Emperor has never sent such a letter to the Rowane Kingdom and Prince Davey!” The Emperor protested loudly and desperately, as if wanting to prove that they have done nothing wrong.

Just like how someone had come between Davey and the Hyeon Kingdom, someone had also played a trick with the letters that came from the Ming Empire. The question was…what did they want? Then, a thought flashed in Davey’s head.

“It seems like you’re quite fearless. You’re very brave to lure me out here,” Davey murmured.

The entire hall fell silent, with a shocking pressure weighing down on everyone present. Davey did not actually mind being lured out here, but he was extremely annoyed that they had dared to make him follow their whims.

The Emperor looked like he truly did not know. What about the Empress Dowager?

“Do you know about this, Your Majesty Empress Dowager?”

“I don’t know… However, the seal that’s stamped here was obviously from the jade seal. However, we have never sent such a letter…” the Empress Dowager said.

If that was the case, then Davey had no choice but to ask that guy over there. Davey quietly stood up and bowed to the people of the Ming Empire. “I’m sorry but I’m going to be a bit rude.”

“Rude?”

Davey ignored the Emperor’s quizzical look as he quietly reached out toward the empty space.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

The space by Davey’s fingertips distorted until they cracked, revealing Red Ribbon who glowed a dark red light.

“The… The sword appeared in the air!”

“Goodness!!!” The Ming Empire’s Great General cried out in shock and hurriedly pulled out his spear to aim it at Davey.

‘Ah, who cares. I’ll deal with this first!’

Davey moved swiftly, his actions were faster than the Great General. He swung Red Ribbon, a red afterimage flashing towards the Son of Heaven.

1. A saying that means the costs outweigh the benefits. ☜