The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

“Blech!! No!!”

Emilia looked so desperate with her mouth covered and tears in her eyes. She screamed when she had the first cup of tea and cried on the second. She was limp by the third glass like she had lost all strength, and by the fourth, she had an empty gaze and seemed like she didn’t even understand what was going in her mouth.

“Food torture is actually quite effective, you know.”

Trauma was a real thing. People who weren’t picky with food wouldn’t know, but there were actual cases where people with a set palate had a severe rejection of certain foods or ingredients.

Emilia had been chosen as the Saintess of the Divine Tree, so she probably had never had to swallow whatever she was given to stay alive. On top of that, since she was an elf, the race of the forest, she had probably never eaten something as tiny as bugs either; it wasn’t like elves could not eat meat, but they usually preferred a vegetarian diet.

The funny thing was that Davey had only given Emilia regular tea, not the strange tea that Yuria took pride in brewing. He couldn’t even make the regular tea taste like how Yuria would make it, since she always brewed her teas with unique techniques.

“It’s just green and black tea.”

That was the funny thing.

“Rinne, stating this is an example of the placebo effect according to the gathered information from memory. Thinking that Sir Davey is very wicked.”

“I was somewhat considerate of the enemy.”

“True. However, Rinne is curious.” Rinne tilted her head and asked with a straight face, “The former Saintess of the Divine Tree, Third Central Official Emilia: she clearly said she would tell you information with her own mouth, but Sir Davey did not listen.”

“That’s right. It’s because there is nothing to hear.”

“Then, why do this pointless thing?” Rinne tilted her head in confusion again.

Davey stroked Rinne’s head over and over again, then said, “The tea I gave her is not just any kind of tea.”

Davey had given Emilia cups of ordinary green or black tea, but the effect of the teas was far from ordinary.

“Can you feel anything from the tears rolling down her face?”

“...Rinne, analyzing that there are no changes to visual information. Rinne is puzzled.”

Emilia’s Charm was released intensely through her tears. However, Rinne felt extremely normal even after seeing Emilia cry for some reason. Rinne had initially remained unaffected because she hadn’t seen Emilia’s tears during the first incident. But this time, she was looking at Emilia’s tears and having no reaction whatsoever.

“Sorcery can be cast on food or things you can see, hear, or smell. Remember that.”

Simply put, the tea had sealed Emilia’s powers.

Davey had come to the conclusion that Emilia’s Charm was simply too dangerous. Her powers were beyond common sense, so it wouldn’t discriminate between species. Needless to say, no one could harm her right now except for Davey.

In the end, Davey suppressed the unbelievable power of Emilia’s Charm through sorcery.

“Her charm will begin working again if I die, but…”

Not a chance. There was no way Davey was going to die early, because there were still things he wanted to do and things he had to do.

As a result, the sorcery Davey had put in the teas combined to create a powerful Seal of Sorcery. He succeeded in freezing Emilia’s Charm at least for the time being.

“However, that is only in theory.”

“You’re right. We have to watch her for a while.”

Emilia was the person who Yggdrasil, the World Tree, had sent out as a sacrifice.

Yggdrasil was also fully aware of Emilia’s powers, which was why she had planted a mana bomb inside Emilia that could detonate at any time. Unfortunately, Davey had also sealed the mana bomb, but Yggdrasil did not know that yet. It would be a pretty amusing scene to see her find out that Emilia was in his hands.

First Yuria and now Emilia… The two elves that Yggdrasil could not afford to lose had both come under Davey’s control.

Rinne slapped and pinched Emilia’s cheek to elicit a reaction out of the elf who was staring at the floor with an empty gaze. Then, she undid the ropes that tied Emilia down and held her on her shoulders.

“Aina.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take this kid.”

“Third Central Official… Emilia…” Aina nodded, then said, “Well, I lived in the forest before I was banished from the Divine Tree. I remember seeing Lady Emilia asleep in a huge crystal.”

“Is that so? Then, you take care of her,” Davey said.

“Do I have to?”

“What?”

“Isn’t it better to kill her when she can’t use power…?”

“No, that’s for another time.”

Aina scanned Davey with her emerald eyes, trying to figure out his intent.

“You’re not getting a compliment even if you look at me like that.”

“You are too full of yourself. You know that I am not doing this to receive your praise or anything like that.”

“Keep her,” Davey ordered calmly.

Aina had no choice but to silently take Emilia from Rinne and carry her on her back.

“Take care of her at your current lodging. She will probably feel the most comfortable with you, since she has never seen you before. She will be uncomfortable with me, who she is very hostile towards, or the other residents of the forest. I have to give her a carrot after the stick to get something out of her.”

Up to this point, Emilia had probably mostly given false information. Davey did not intend to be tricked by that kind of information and cause confusion.

“Okay.”

Nobody would notice if Aina simply used the empty room that was in the outer palace of the Seigneur’s palace.

“And, spread some stories about Emilia and the fact that she is here. Yggdrasil will decide that she cannot put it off any longer, and…”

By then, Davey would be able to finish off that damn rotten tree.

“Then, invaders in the Elves’ Forest…”

“Did you forget what the hell I put here?”

Aina widened her eyes in surprise. Did she think the barrier that Davey had cast here was just some random one? She quickly asked, “What are you going to do now?”

“Now I am going to watch the completion of the golem that I’ve created for the great World Tree. Let’s go, Perserque.”

—...

Davey didn’t hear a reply, so he wondered if Perserque had become a mere body.

—She’s not dead…

—...Go by yourself.

Unlike Perserque, who was completely dejected, Rinne was excited. With sparkling eyes, she cried out, “Rinne’s new subordinate. Extremely excited. Rinne appreciates this! Expecting that Sir Davey will fulfill Rinne’s desires! Appreciated! Extremely!”

The higher one’s expectations become, the bigger the disappointment would be. Davey didn’t know why Rinne was so excited, but he could see her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

* * *

At a glance, too much of the Heins Territory’s large treasury was being used up to dismiss all expenses as for management use. In fact, the spending was not at all transparent; Davey never made a ledger or anything like that. As a result, the territory developed exponentially, and the quality of life was increasing steadily with the many improvements.

Even if the residents had faith in him, Davey believed that ridiculous complaints would arise in time. After all, most of the residents were human.

Life was all about timing, and the management of the territory was also about good timing. Unlike the world he had lived in before, Davey would be in control of this territory until his death. That would only change if there was a major problem.

In that case, if Davey could increase the residents’ happiness with no problems along the way, why would the allocation of the remaining funds matter?

Davey, who left the forest and returned to the Heins Territory, headed to his palace’s basement, where the containment workshop for the Decepticon Fleet was. He was going there after finishing some simple work.

He had reinforced and widened the underground space with Spirit King Gnoass’ powers after their contract; the space was incomparably larger and cleaner than before.

“Is this another workshop?” Winley asked curiously.

Davey silently put his hand on the large crystal.

A bell rang after the wooden panel rotated. At that moment, the firm wall began moving and a recorded voice started to play.

[The containment workshop of the Avenger Fleet is opening.]

As the stone doors opened, a strange scent began flowing out.

“Wow… This place is clean and orderly.”

The workshop was vast and elaborate. It had a different atmosphere from the huge mechanical workshop. Dwarves also weren’t the only people there, but both dwarf craftsmen and elf researchers were gathered here.

“Oh, Wise Teacher! We were waiting for you!” Elder Golgouda ran towards Davey with his short legs like he had been waiting. He shook the object in his hand and laughed. “Here! It’s this!!”

As Elder Golgouda showed Davey the object that was covered in a wide white cloth, Winley, who was standing behind Davey, stared at them with wide eyes. Feeling curious, she asked, “Big Brother! What’s this?”

“You’ve never seen this before, right? Take a good look.” Davey took the object in his hands and quickly pulled the cloth away.

Winley widened her eyes and screamed, “Kyahh!! A… Arms! Human arms!”

Winley was shocked and feeling rather confused. Her legs gave out. It was natural for her to react in such a way as the object turned out to be a woman’s slender arm. The arm looked like it had been amputated right below the elbow.

“Big Brother… Did you do human experiments… Kyah!”

Davey thumped Winley on the forehead. He took a quick look at the part where the elbow should be, and then showed it to Winley again.

“Kyak!!”

Of course, Winley screamed again. She also closed her eyes and refused to look at the object. Only after a while did she open her eyes slightly. She glanced at the arm, flinched, and then opened her eyes wide.

“What…is this?”

The arm was full of things that did not seem human at all; it had an intricately designed metal skeleton and was filled with a rubber-looking material.

“Ah! Same kind as Rinne! Appreciates this!” Rinne, who understood the situation far faster than Winley, approached Davey quickly. Her wide eyes sparkled with excitement.

“R… Rinne?”

“Same kind as Rinne! Has skin similar to humans using biological material!” Rinne exclaimed in a lively manner. She was beyond delighted.

“But…Wise Teacher, is this okay? To be honest, it might be beautiful on the outside, but this way, the power transmission is going to be terrible, and the durability is going to be completely different from the Decepticon Fleet,” Elder Golgouda said.

The Deception Fleet, which was made of hard metal and stone infused with mana, looked ugly with top-notch durability. On the other hand, the golems of this newly formed fleet did not look durable at all.

“Big Brother, you said Rinne’s physical durability cannot be reproduced with current technology. You said that there is a problem with the material.”

“That’s right. I’m not trying to get the same level of performance as Rinne.”

If the Decepticon Fleet was meant to push forward in the frontlines, the golems of the Avenger Fleet were not for physical combat. They were made for a different kind of power, mainly elemental magic, sorcery, spirit magic, devil mana, and more. Also, these guys were more expensive than the Decepticon Fleet.

The technology Davey had used to create these guys was far superior than the technology that existed in the continent right now: the incredible ancient technology, the field of alchemy that existed in another dimension, and finally, the mana stones crafted with an extremely intricate arrangement of mana.

“There is spiritual magic added in this biological component.”

Davey had substituted the certain materials that he could not obtain with spirit or regular magic. As the spirit energy circulated, its power was absorbed into the rubber, making it look like real human skin.

Understanding what Davey just said, Winley widened her eyes. She thought hard, then muttered to herself, “A biological golem that has mana…”

“The foundation is complete. Do you want to take a look?”

Elder Golgouda lead them deeper into the workshop, which looked more like a doll factory than a workshop for golems. He proudly pointed to the mechanical doll that was sitting on the large chair on one side of the room.

The doll didn’t move yet. It did not have proper skin and was a mere skeleton right now. However, its physique appeared to be very much human.

Elder Golgouda said proudly, “Here! This is the starting work of the Avenger Fleet! She is my daughter who will achieve something big in the battle with that crazy tree! I didn’t name it, but…”

“Do you have a name you want to give her?”

“Hm… I’m not sure. To be honest, I want to give it a pretty name since it is a girl…”

“Hm…”

To be honest, Davey already had a name in mind.

“What about Annabelle? What do you think?”

“Annabelle… Annabelle… It’s a pretty name.”