The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1110

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1110

Chapter 1110
The lord’s manor of Heins Territory was quiet.
With most of the maids and attendants having gone home, the office in the silent castle was occupied by Amy, who sat clutching her head with a troubled expression.
“
Sigh.
There’s still a bit of an issue with public safety. Hiring reputable security personnel would cost a lot.”
It was a serious problem, yet she hadn’t ed it to Davey.
Heins Territory had long been known for its outstanding public safety. Not because people were naturally kind or good-hearted, but because everyone knew exactly how Davey dealt with those who crossed the line.
It was a place where the basic assumptions about society, like how crime always existed regardless of how fearsome a ruler might be, simply didn’t apply.
No one knew how he found them or how he rooted them out, but his terrifying decisiveness kept most criminal organizations and shady groups from ever trying to establish a foothold in Heins Territory.
At most, only the Information Guild had any kind of presence there. Of course, the fact that their poverty-stricken areas were managed far better than in most other regions certainly helped reduce problems as well.
The current Heins Territory was bustling, even surpassing the greater Rowane Kingdom it was part of. It had representatives from the Holy Empire, wizard towers, the school of alchemy, branches of major merchant guilds, traders constantly moving in and out, and students from Heins Academy.
What had started as an academy for war orphans eventually reached a level where it was accepting nobles. In fact, it accepted so many that there were entire districts set aside just for their entourages.
When adding the beautiful scenery unique to Heins Territory, and iconic figures like the dragons, it equaled a hotspot for tourism.
Recently, at the recommendation of Royal Attendant Bernile, part of the territory had even been developed into a hot spring district, complete with special therapeutic properties. It was bound to bring even more visitors in the future.
Just a few years before, the Heins Territory had been abandoned land, a practically cursed region with barely a few hundred people living in it. That sour and insignificant reputation had since completely disappeared, and even business leaders often praised its economic turnaround as miraculous.
Unfortunately, therein lies the problem.
The more people there were, the more it cost to maintain order. With high-ranking nobles occasionally visiting, they needed to seriously consider hiring a well-known mercenary group or freelancer guards. Alas, one did not simply hire such names when using a tight and fixed budget.
Amy knew it was something that could easily be resolved with a single to Davey. Nonetheless, she’d always believed that she shouldn’t burden him with every little issue.
Clack!
The doors to the manor opened, and someone walked in.
“Your Highness?!” Amy’s eyes widened in surprise as she stood from her desk and hurried down. She saw Davey, barely suppressing a grin, along with two people walking in with flushed faces. “Your Highness.”
“Where is everyone?” Davey curiously asked.
“Most have already gone home for the day. The two princesses were waiting for you.”
“Good, I need to talk with them.”
“Shall I prepare a room?”
“No, it’s fine. You should get some rest, Amy.
Oh,
right.”
“Yes?”
“How’s your love life going?”
Her face turned bright red as she lowered her head. “T-Thanks to the support of Your Highness, things are going well.”
“Yeah. He seemed like a good person. If you end up wanting to get married, I’ll help out, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“B-But, Your Highness... As the acting lord, I feel that marrying an outsider without careful consideration would be improper.”
Davey understood. “You’re worried that he might use you to gain influence in Heins Territory?”
“At the very least, I believe others might view it that way.”
Davey chuckled and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t seem like that kind of person. Besides, even if he was thinking something bad...”
His crimson eyes met Amy’s, a quiet trust flickering between them. “You wouldn’t just sit back and let it happen.”
“You trust me that much?” she asked, touched.
“Of course I do.”
She wondered how he could trust her so much, and why. Her mother was the very person who had poisoned Queen Lennie, his own mother. She couldn’t understand how he could trust the daughter of someone like her. Even so, Davey said nothing in response to the look in her eyes.
It was hard for her to say whether it was truly some form of atonement, or if she was simply receiving more of his kindness.
“Go get some rest.”
Hearing this, Amy suddenly felt tears welling in her eyes.
If her mother hadn’t committed such a crime, perhaps she would’ve escaped that suffocating royal palace and met someone so kind and warm to be her own.
It was a terrible thought, but she couldn’t erase the unspeakable idea from her mind. She couldn’t help but think that maybe, for her, that incident had been a lucky stroke of chance.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You look like you’ve got something you want to say,” he pressed.
“
Hehe.
I'm just thinking how lucky I am to serve you, Your Highness.”
“You’re so cheesy.”
No matter how much time passed, she would never leave his side.
That was her vow.
* * *
Perserque and Aeria looked tense, biting their nails like students awaiting the results of a test. In contrast, Illyna hadn’t even lifted her head from the beginning.
“What’s Reina’s situation?” Davey asked.
“She seemed like she was under a lot of stress, so I let her wash up and rest first. She fell asleep so deeply, I'm sure she wouldn’t have noticed even if someone carried her off.”
Reina’s head had hit the pillow like a sack of bricks, instantly transported to an uninterrupted dreamland.
The sudden disappearance of both Davey and Reina had caused a bit of confusion on Alberta’s side, but Tsuna sent a letter saying she’d fortunately handled it and they’d discuss it later.
“
Hmmm.
” Perserque smiled. “Right, I’ve already heard the details. I apologize for speaking to Illyna about her without consulting you first, Davey. More importantly, did Illyna have any issues with her body?”
“I checked, and the result was honestly shocking. Her body’s in such perfect condition that it’s hard to believe.”
It was as if the laws of the world had been broken.
“I don’t know why things turned out like this, but my judgment is that there’s no real problem left behind,” he said with relief. “Although she’s changed in appearance, Reina is still another version of Illyna. I want to help her if she needs it.”
Hearing that, Aeria’s face visibly brightened. Her eyes then widened at Davey’s next words.
“However, her case is a bit unusual. So I’d like to let her stay here indefinitely as a guest minister. Don’t worry, I’m not planning to take her in or anything like that. That’s not the kind of thing she feels toward me, anyway.”
Perserque closed her eyes. “That’s all?”
He confirmed, “Yeah, that’s all.”
She then slowly turned her eyes toward Aeria, who flinched like she’d been caught red-handed. The nervousness was written all over her face.
“
Uhhh.
Sis Per...”
“What is it, Aeria?”
“C-Can’t we just call it a... a tie?”
“A tie? Nonsense, wagers don’t work that way.”
Her eyes welled with tears as her ears drooped. She had clearly been startled.
“Sounds like there was some kind of bet?”
“
Pfft.
Of course there was. Illyna here was under quite the wild delusion,” Perserque said with a smile.
Illyna jerked her head up, face burning. “B-But Sister!! T-That was something anyone else would have misunderstood too!”
“Doubtful, considering I saw through it instantly.”
Illyna’s face turned even redder as Perserque teased her, “She mistook Reina’s feelings for romantic interest in you, Davey. I’m sure she even marched up to you and begged you to take her in. Pretty intense, considering she’d never do something like that normally.”
Davey figured Perserque might as well set up shop and become a fortune-teller.
“Anyone would’ve thought the same. She seemed jealous of me, and I was so caught up in my own happiness that I didn’t notice. I even thought... that maybe I should give up my place at his side.”
After all, the fact remained that they were both Illyna, though that was a flawed conclusion.
Illyna was Illyna, and Reina was Reina. That was a constant and immutable fact.
“What she felt wasn’t romantic jealousy. Also, if you say something like that again, I’m gonna scold you.”
Davey wondered how Perserque knew the entire sequence of events without even seeing what had happened.
Reina’s homeland, the Pallan Empire of the parallel world, had been consumed by the end of its war with the demons. The Pallan Empire of their world was unfamiliar to her.
In fact, most of the continent must’ve felt foreign to her. What Reina was truly suffering from was homesickness.
“It has to be homesickness. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw her.”
“How could you tell, Sister?” Aeria asked incredulously.
“Let’s see... I guess you could call it a sense of kinship.”
When Davey returned after a thousand years, only six had passed in this world. But Perserque had been asleep for thousands of years after her death and had only recently awakened.
“I suppose that makes sense. In a way, you and Reina are pretty similar.”
“She’s probably got it worse than I did.”
Her homesickness was so severe that it made her jealous of her own alternate self.
At first, Reina had simply wanted to see a peaceful world. Unfortunately, over time, she’d begun aching for a place to belong.
The only place she could truly rest was Heins Territory, where Davey, Perserque, and Aeria were.
Those three were the only people in the entire world that could understand her. However, being close to Davey came with risks. Once Illyna married him and settled down there, it had effectively become impossible for Reina to stay in Heins Territory for any extended period of time.
The place she wanted to return to had become the one place she couldn’t stay. And that reality had slowly eaten away at her.
She had withered without even realizing it. And that’s likely why she began to feel jealous of the other version of her who existed here.
Davey figured her homesickness wouldn’t be resolved immediately, but if she could stay in this place, it’d surely become a hopeful sign for her recovery.
“So. What was the wager?”
“Aeria made the same mistake as Illyna, thinking Reina had romantic feelings for you.”
“And so?”
Perserque simply shrugged.
“After that, what more is there to say?”
Both Aeria and Illyna flinched.
“I only said Reina likely just wanted to settle down here, nothing more.” Perserque smiled gently as she continued, “Even if, by some chance, Reina did harbor feelings for you, it still wouldn't have changed the result. After all, aside from Aeria and Illyna, I have no intention of letting anyone else get close to you.”
He could sense the possessiveness beneath her smile. It was frankly remarkable that she had accepted both Aeria and Illyna.
He knew she had done it for his sake. She was aware that she couldn’t bear any children, and that Davey had already made room in his heart for those two even before their relationship. In that regard, he’d always felt that no amount of gratitude to Perserque would ever be enough for her effort.
Maybe that was also why Aeria and Illyna seemed to follow her more than even him, as they knew the full story.
“
Ugh.
So embarrassing!” Illyna groaned as she covered her face with both hands.
“It was pretty funny. You just marched up to Reina, who’s been homesick, and blurted something like out,” Davey snickered, and Illyna jumped up to smack him on the back.
“S-Shut up! Stop it, Davey! I was wrong, okay?!”
“Understandable. You realized she was you, so you jumped to that conclusion. You know what, Illyna?” Perserque asked.
“Yes, Sister?”
“You acted urgently because you were confused and worried for her. That’s something to be praised. If you hadn’t cared, it would’ve been far more sad.”
“That’s...”
“But even so, this isn’t a matter you should’ve decided on your own. You should’ve consulted everyone first.”
“I’m sorry, Sister. I didn’t think it through.”
“It’s fine. In truth, I half-steered things this way to confirm something.”
Illyna blinked in confusion at her words. “What do you mean?”
“Even if she’s another you, if Davey made a decision like that, the one who’d be most shaken would still be you, Illyna.”
In other words, Perserque had wanted to know whether Illyna could truly accept Reina acting as a guest minister once she learned the truth.
With just that tiny clue, Perserque had already read through Davey, Illyna, and Reina’s emotions. She had wanted to test the waters and see whether there would truly be no issue.
“You’re... unbelievable.”
“Now can you help Aeria out a little?”
Aeria, who had gone pale, suddenly lit up and leapt to her feet, gripping Illyna’s hand.
“A-Aeria?”
“Sister! Let’s go together!”
Illyna looked flustered. It was the first time she’d seen the usually gentle Aeria take on a sink-together tactic on her.
“What’s going on? What is this?”
“You’ll find out soon, but we need to talk about something before that. There’s one more issue, right?” She crossed her legs and turned to Davey.
“One more?”
“She’s a Hero. One officially recognized by the Three Empires, with no prior alignment to any faction—including yours.”
In other words, it was inevitable for rumors to spread if she suddenly chose to settle in Heins Territory.
“Right. If people find out that a neutral, public-welfare Hero is actually closely tied to me, it’ll definitely stir up talk.”
“You’ve already prepared for that, haven’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I’d be disappointed if the man I admire hadn’t thought at least that far ahead.”
The best course was always one that made sense to all sides. Using force to silence objections was a last resort, and often led to problems in the long-term.
“That’s why I used the term ‘guest minister.’ But before we talk about anything else... what was the bet with Aeria?
Perserque gave him a sultry smile and lightly shoved his back.
He couldn’t imagine what kind of bet could possibly result in her acting so sly. However, his question was answered soon enough.
When Perserque pushed him into Aeria’s room, he found two people with beet-red faces waiting inside. Their attire made everything crystal clear.
“Perserque... I won’t forget this kindness.”
With that, Davey stepped toward the two flustered women who had no idea where to hide from the embarrassment consuming them.
* * *
In her dreams, Reina found herself gazing at a silver-haired woman, bathed in a gentle blue light, standing before her.
It was the first time she had seen the woman’s face.
She resembled Rinne, that golem who followed Davey, but her presence was more mature. Clearly, she wasn’t that same Rinne. Taking her presence into account, Reina recognized her soon enough.
“You’re... Goddess Freyja, aren’t you?”
It was a dream, yet it felt far too vivid to dismiss as purely imaginary.
“Is it because of your mercy that I'm still okay?”
That was the first thing she asked. She had even skipped questioning why she was there.
“We’re never supposed to reveal our identities to each other, like in those stories about doppelgangers. Yet for some reason, that rule seems to have resolved itself.”
Reina stepped closer to Goddess Freyja with a nervous expression. “Is it... okay for me to be here now? Is it really alright for me to settle down and rest?”
Davey had told her it was fine, at least. The moment she’d lain down on the guestroom bed in the lord’s manor of Heins Territory, despite only staying for a couple of days, she had fallen into a deep, instant sleep.
It wasn’t that the place was uncomfortable. Instead, it was because
he
was there.
The kind of peace it brought her felt like returning to a home where her parents waited. It brought profound comfort to a heart worn down by years of homesickness and longing.
[If that’s what you want.]
“Will my existence... cause trouble for them? Because of who I am?”
There had been misunderstandings at first. Eventually, however, Davey had told her that he’d let her stay there as a guest minister for as long as she wished.
It’d certainly cause political ripples if it became known that a Hero, officially recognized by the Three Empires, had close ties with Davey. Nonetheless, him designating her as a guest minister offered a safe route that would allow her to remain there indefinitely.
She wasn’t so concerned about politics. Instead, her biggest worry was whether her very presence could cause structural issues in the world itself. It was possible that problems affecting Davey, Illyna de Pallan, or anyone else who knew the truth would arise.
Without a word, Goddess Freyja stepped forward and gently placed her hand on Reina’s head.
Normally, she would’ve instinctively recoiled at someone messing up her hair. For some reason, the gesture just felt indescribably warm with Goddess Freyja. It was like the last time she had been embraced by her mother, who had been killed by a vampire long ago.
[It’s alright.]
Words appeared on a glowing pad that Goddess Freyja held up to her.
[The period to interfere with you, a different existence, has passed. The world’s enforcement has weakened, as well.]
“Weakened?”
[It was a spiritual entity. A saved entity existing in this world has further weakened the system’s ability to interfere.]
She was speaking of Belga. Since he hadn’t been erased, with Davey and Chancellor Tsuna saving him and allowing him to remain in this world, the rules of the world had lost much of their direct enforcement power.
“
Ah...
” She felt the sensation of tears welling up.
[Every choice leads to a future, and that future is a response to a question I once posed.]
Davey had made a choice, and because of that choice, Reina had also been saved.
[Saving you was one of the possible answers to that question. Though the road was long, a grand tree has finally taken root.]
Reina understood what Goddess Freyja meant. She had nudged Davey toward certain choices, and as a result, had constructed the future, the big picture she had envisioned. The one in which Reina could be saved.
Every small action weaved together to create a single future.
It reminded Reina of stories about demons who could calculate the future like it was an astronomical equation. Yet even then, those demons couldn’t fully design a future thousands of years ahead. It was especially so when that future involved not just a few people, instead encompassing entire universes, dimensions, and worlds.
What she was experiencing wasn’t something any living being could plan. It was the blueprint made by the God of Creation, Freyja.
[The big picture.]
Sporting her characteristic completely expressionless face, Goddess Freyja held up her tablet and gave a thumbs-up.
[Total win.]
“Yes. It really is a total win.”
[Are you scared?]
“I am. I’m scared that maybe... what I really wanted wasn’t to settle down by his side. What if this is just homesickness? What if one day, I lose control and start longing for his love?”
Even as she said it, Reina knew that what had been tormenting her was indeed homesickness. Mimicking the way Davey often spoke, she raised her own thumb with a small laugh.
Goddess Freyja’s oddly stiff delivery only made her smile more.
[But.]
It seemed she wasn't finished yet.
[This isn’t the end.]
“Will you keep asking your questions?”
Questions, framed as choices, that would lead the world into new paths, but it’d be up to her and Davey to answer those questions.
[I trust my precious children. May the grace of the beginning be with you.]
Just for a moment, Goddess Freyja gave a faint smile.
Hero Reina.
It wasn't long before news of her retirement and her decision to settle down in Heins Territory quietly spread across the continent.

Chapter 1110