The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1096.2

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1096.2

Chapter 1096.2
Davey figured she must have already realized that the necklace Goddess Freyja gave her was probably bait to lure her there. The rough way she was stowing it away just made that even more obvious.
Even though the misunderstanding was resolved, the things Tsuna had said and done toward Davey couldn’t just be brushed off.
“She was insolent to the extreme, but I already beat her up as much as I wanted. I’ll forgive her this once.”
“What?”
“
Ahem!
I didn’t say anything. Ignore that.”
Tsuna didn’t know how to respond.
Seeing her somber expression, Davey closed his eyes briefly, then took out her soul stone.
“What’s left?”
She wasn’t sure.
“If I send you off now, it’s the end. Honestly, the fact that you remember your past life is already close to a miracle. You sure there’s nothing else you want?”
She looked at Davey. Given how firm his tone was, she figured it didn’t make sense to keep pushing her feelings.
[It’s a little sad, but I said everything I wanted to. Just...]
She gave a bitter smile.
[I’m worried about Belga.]
Belga, the spiritual entity who had been helping the Marquis Barogo. His death had no doubt been absurd. When he was captured by the monster, Davey had debated whether or not he should save him, though he never really stepped up to help. Not even after Belga had been devoured.
“Maybe it was better for him to die back there.”
For whatever reason, those things were like white blood cells targeting the avatar of Goddess Freyja. In other words, they were enemies that Davey would eventually have to deal with. Still, he was glad he wasn’t the one who had to kill Belga.
“Anything else?”
[My father. I want to see my father, just once more. Although I know it’s not possible.]
Sadly, Davey had already sent his soul to the afterlife through Jeo-Seung, knowing there’d be no good in letting his soul and Tsuna meet again.
“You’re not worried about the country?”
[Of course it’s sad what happened, but Alberta won’t collapse just because I’m gone.]
“I could help, if you want,” Perserque chimed in.
“No... I’ll take responsibility and see it through myself.”
With that, Davey snapped his fingers. “Jeo-Seung.”
Ssss.
From the empty air, Jeo-Seung in black robes slowly appeared. “Have you wrapped up?”
“Yeah. Once I finish purifying her, guide her to the cycle of reincarnation.”
Tsuna closed her eyes. Though she still seemed to have regrets, there was nothing more she could do. There was also no benefit in letting her linger any longer. If anything, it’d only hurt her.
Davey could, in theory, make her a guide of the dead like Jeo-Seung. However, she hadn’t committed any sin, nor had she entered any special contract like Jeo-Seung had, so that option was off the table.
Davey soon began channeling his power to release her from the soul stone.
Crack! Crk!
Fine fractures began running along its surface.
“But Davey,” Perserque spoke up, “from what I’ve heard, her body is still at the ducal house.”
“There’s no way to anchor her back to it. Her soul and body are out of sync.”
Without the medium that acted as an adhesive between them, forcing the soul back into the body would only end in disaster. However, there was one exception.
“I heard I could be the one to fill that gap.”
Someone entirely unexpected interrupted them. A person who should’ve already entered the cycle of reincarnation had suddenly appeared.
[F-Father?]
[Tsuna.]
[Is it really... you, Father?]
Eyes wide and unable to hide her confusion, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief. It was no surprise—Davey knew how much sorrow and loss she had felt when the late Chancellor passed away. Yet there he was, her dead father standing before her. It was natural for her to be surprised.
He was a father who’d never once praised his daughter or told her she’d done well, only treating her strictly before dying without being able to do much else. She was a daughter who poured everything she had into living up to her father’s expectations.
Their reunion was truly absurd.
“Jeo-Seung,” Davey sternly said as he watched the souls reunite.
“My apologies, sir.”
“You want to die?” he growled.
Jeo-Seung flinched in response.
“How many times have I told you? No favoritism!”
Special treatment for one yet not another broke the balance of the world, and it could lead to disasters like the Red Void happening all over again.
While one case might not seem like much, all it took was one to set a precedent. Jeo-Seung bowed his head, seemingly aware of his mistake. “My apologies. I couldn’t ignore his desperate plea.”
The late Chancellor stepped forward and spoke to Davey.
[Please don’t blame him too harshly. It was this old man’s stubbornness that brought us here.]
“Chancellor, do you even understand how complicated this situation could become?”
Davey’s polite smile turned sharp with a trace of underlying menace, making the old man flinch.
“You think I
wanted
to send you ahead first?”
Truth be told, Davey didn’t mind how things turned out. Still, he had been given the role of overseeing part of the world’s balance in place of the slumbering Goddess Freyja. If he started tampering with the system just because it suited his own ideals and desires, the world itself would suffer, and the burden would fall to the heroes holding it up.
As someone who always aimed to be a clean and fair arbiter of the world, whatever was happening was the complete opposite of his pursuits.
“This is the last time I’ll allow this. You have three minutes to say everything you want.”
The late Chancellor then looked toward Perserque.
[It’s been a long time. I apologize for my daughter’s disgraceful behavior, Princess Perserque.]
“It’s... been a while, Chancellor.” Her face twisted into a bitter expression as she looked at the man she’d met once before. She had already learned from Rinne how he’d died.
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[Tsuna, my sweet daughter.]
[Father... is it really you? It’s really, really you?]
[Yes, it’s me.]
Tsuna lunged forward and gave him a tight hug.
[I missed you so much! I’m sorry, Father!]
Hearing her heartfelt apology full of longing, his eyes welled up with red. He tried to maintain his composure, but it was clear how close he was to breaking down.
[It’s alright. It’s all alright now. It’s my fault for being such a terrible father. I’m the one who should be sorry. I couldn’t protect you, and I couldn’t give you the quiet, happy life you wanted.]
Her eyes widened in shock at his words. He had never once praised her properly in their lifetime.
He had spoken proudly of her in public, but he had always been harsh to her face. He’d believed that was the only way to prepare her to lead the ducal house.
If only he had known he’d die so soon, then he would have acted differently.
[If only I’d said kinder things. Praised you more. Why is it that humans are such foolish creatures, always regretting after it’s too late...]
[Father!!]
Tears streamed down her face, and he gently wiped them away, giving a sorrowful smile.
[Tsuna, I’m truly sorry. And... I’ve never properly said this before.]
[I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry...
uwahhh.
]
[I love you, so very very much.]
His quiet, humble admission of guilt made Davey think of his own father. They had never reconciled since the rift that had grown too wide, the bridge too long burned.
Watching Tsuna sobbing in her father’s arms, Davey wondered if he could’ve ever been in her shoes. Perhaps by taking a step back, His Majesty would’ve shown a different side to him.
Yet as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he laughed bitterly. He knew it was far too late for that. His own grudge had long burned out, but the punishment the man had given his son would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Chancellor, time’s almost up.”
[Can’t you spare just a little more time, Davey?]
“No.”
Hearing the firm reply, the Chancellor slowly raised his head and locked eyes with him.
‘What now?’
Davey gave him a disinterested look, and the Chancellor spoke to him.
[Tsuna’s soul is still here.]
“Correct.”
[And her body, I heard you restored it perfectly.]
‘This old man isn’t thinking...?’
[You... didn’t you already have this outcome in mind the moment Tsuna died?]
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
[She’s far too young to die. I heard you could settle her soul back into her body.]
“Jeo-Seung, you son of a—” Davey shot a glare at him, who had been dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief while watching the father-daughter reunion.
‘The fuck is with the handkerchief? Since when were you such a softie?’
Jeo-Seung frantically shook his head, making it very clear that he wasn’t the one who told him. Davey’s brow twitched in irritation at the display.
Perserque then called out to Davey, pointing at something. From behind the previously empty bar counter, a flash of light-blue hair suddenly flickered into view.
Among those Davey knew, only Rinne and one other had hair that color.
‘Ah. Of course, it’s this damned woman again.’
“You really shouldn’t have. Seriously.” As a sharp throb echoed in his head, Davey couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole thing was Goddess Freyja’s way of getting back at him for smacking her upside the head all that time ago. It was as if she was saying that it was her time to show him how she had felt back then.
The late Chancellor beseeched Davey once more.
[Use mine. Use my soul to reattach her spirit to her body.]
“No,” he firmly rejected.
Doing so would mean his soul could no longer properly enter the cycle of reincarnation. It would end up completely and utterly erased.
“No matter how precious your daughter is to you, that isn’t something I can allow to happen.”
[I’ve already lived long enough. What use is another life to someone like me?]
Davey didn’t know what to say.
[Please. I know you’re a merchant, too. There’s probably nothing I can offer you in return, but don’t you owe me a little something? Back when Heins Territory was just starting to flourish, how much did I help you? Just think of it as charity. Just this once, can’t you help me? Please, I beg of you.]
The late Chancellor lowered his head, shoulders shaking and tears falling as he sobbed. Davey was left momentarily speechless.
For some damned reason, the late Chancellor and Tsuna’s relationship overlapped with that of him and Krianes O'Rowane, the King of the Rowane Kingdom. His father.
“Listen closely. I’ll explain this clearly: Whether it succeeds or fails, you’ll be erased. Gone. And that’s just the beginning...”
[W-What? What do you mean? I didn’t hear that wrong, right?]
Tsuna was shocked at what she was hearing.
[It doesn’t matter!]
[Dad!!]
Even if she was the most precious person to him, to willingly choose oblivion without even fully understanding what that meant was a terrifying decision to make.
Davey marveled at just how much he loved his daughter.
Tsuna, finally realizing the implications of what her father was saying, panicked. She desperately tried to stop him, sobbing and screaming that it wasn’t okay and she wouldn’t allow it. Even so, the chancellor stood firm.
Ignoring her flailing fists, he simply pulled her into his arms. In that instant, Tsuna froze as if struck by lightning. It was the first time she’d ever been embraced by her father.
She stood still, tears flowing down her cheeks in silence.
[That woman showed me what comes after my soul is erased.]
Anyone who had seen that would be paralyzed by primal fear, yet there was no hesitation in his gaze.
[Even so, this child was everything to me. Please, grant me this one chance, in exchange for this old man’s soul.]
The once stern father, who had never spoken a single word of warmth while he was alive, was consumed by a lifetime of regret, making a decision no one could dissuade him from.
“Foolish old man,” Davey muttered.

Chapter 1096.2