The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1152

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1152

Chapter 1152
Davey held a private meeting with Arita, the Princess of the Demon World.
Since the demon race coexisted with Killer Rabbit, her escort consisted of a few demons concealing their identities, as well as Killer Rabbit’s main body.
“So? What do you need us to do, Demon King?”
She addressed Davey as the Demon King, the figure who essentially held absolute authority over them as the ruler of the demon race. Though they couldn’t issue commands that provoked extreme rejection, obedience to the Demon King had been imprinted in the genes of demons on a fundamental level.
That was why, despite being human and their former enemy, the demons feared, hated, and still followed Davey nonetheless.
Of course, he had torn apart the ancient demonic beasts alongside Isilti, the Princess of the Abyss, and planted a World Tree seed in the Demon World, turning it into a livable place. That, along with the fact that Davey happened to have saved the demon race, helped prevent public opinion from spiraling out of control.
Still, in the eyes of most demons, he remained a fearsome and uncomfortable existence.
“How are things going these days?” he asked.
“Nothing special. Thanks to your intervention, the crops grow well, and we even get some sunlight now. You know, the usual.” She shrugged.
Arita was a stunning beauty, wearing a rather revealing outfit with surprising grace.
Given her succubus heritage as a descendant of Liline Orlouge, she was genetically incapable of not being outwardly attractive.
“Your whole race feels like a cheat code, even on a genetic level.”
She didn't understand what he meant. “What?”
“Nothing. Do you know why I told you to build a village near the underground mountain range?”
“How would I know? There’s already been a stupid rumor going around that humans might show up there. You have no idea how much trouble I’ve had to go through to keep things under control...”
“It’s true.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment. She then pointed at her head with her index finger and twirled it. “You’ve lost it, haven’t you?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. While I may be a Saint, I have no intention of abandoning my duties as the Demon King.”
Her expression grew more twisted at his calm response.
“Why the hell are you doing this?!” She stood up abruptly and slammed the table.
“
Hmph.
” Perserque, who stood nearby, reacted with clear displeasure. Arita looked away, her tail curling like a scolded dog’s.
“M-My apologies, Demon King...”
“I am no longer the Demon King. The one before you is,” she said while pointing to Davey.
“Still...”
“Regardless, Davey has no intention of abandoning his duties. Wouldn’t it be better to at least talk it over? That’s what I think.”
At her firm words, Arita clicked her tongue in frustration and sat back down. “Fine... Let’s hear it, then.”
“The humans going there are those who can no longer live freely on the continent. There aren’t that many of them.”
Davey calmly explained their situation. They had unwillingly harmed those dear to them because of the world’s laws. They were bound to be mentally unstable.
“There must be demons in ambiguous positions too, no? Ones who haven’t committed crimes but don’t fit well into demon society, or those who lean more toward a peaceful nature.”
“There are, definitely. We can’t exactly start another internal war, so our position isn’t that great either.”
“I don’t need too much of your time. I ask that you just look after them yourself for a few days.”
Arita gave a slight frown. “What if I end up discriminating against those humans?”
“They understand the situation.”
Her expression subtly changed at his reply.
“They probably already think of themselves as dead, so they’ll likely be willing to endure a bit of discomfort.”
“
Ugh,
fine! Damn it! I’m already swamped, and now this too...”
“I’m counting on you.” Davey softly chuckled, and although she looked annoyed, she soon turned her gaze away.
Then Davey reached out a hand toward her. “
Oh,
right.”
“Wha?! What are you—”
When he placed his hand on her forehead, she jumped back in shock. Alas, the magic had already taken hold.
“What... did you just do?”
“Wanna see?” Davey handed her a small hand mirror.
She stared at her reflection in confusion, tilting her head.
“What? I don't see anything...” she mumbled.
She soon made an astonished face. The long ears and small horns typical of demons had completely vanished from her head.
“W-What?!” She panicked, displaying understandable shock since she’d never seen her horns be so perfectly hidden.
“Arita, didn’t you say before that you wanted to see a human village?”
“
Hmph!
Who said that?”
“Then should I cancel my plans for it?”
“N-No! Who said anything about undoing it?
Sheesh... I guess I’ll take it since you’re giving it to me.” She stood abruptly and looked down at Davey.
“So, I just need to gather those humans and a few demons in the village, then let them live together, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Why even go to all this trouble, though?”
“Hatred born from war doesn’t disappear in just one generation.”
“And?” She didn't get his point.
"Things nonetheless are sure to change with time. What do you think humans a hundred years from now will think if records state that humans and demons had no contact at all after the war? No cooperation? What kind of conclusion do you think they'll draw?”
They’d still be convinced that demons were an untrustworthy race.
On the contrary, if there were a city where humans and demons coexisted, they would think that demons aren’t all that different from humans after all.
He recognized that even such a small seed of doubt would be enough.
"Perception is a funny thing."
"But sir, that kind of change won’t show results in the short term."
"Which is why I said I’d take care of most of it. No matter what kind of plan I go with, I’d need at least ten years to see any results."
Davey was saying he’d try to slowly shift their perception within ten years.
Though she looked slightly puzzled, Arita slowly nodded. “Demon King.”
“What.”
She looked straight at Davey and demanded quite boldly, “You will guide the humans yourself.”
“I’m a busy man.”
“Save it. Just tell me if you’re going to do it or not.”
Even without striking a seductive pose, the natural allure unique to her succubus race oozed from her confident posture.
Perserque frowned, but Davey nodded. “Fine. That works out well. Heins Territory was about to hold a festival anyway. They should see it.”
There wouldn’t be any surprises at the festival. While the two cultures might differ, demons and humans ultimately lived very similar lives.
“They might actually be a little disappointed. Human life isn’t all that different from demon life, you know.”
“I’ll decide that for myself after seeing it,” she insisted.
* * *
Arita, a part of the emerging ruling class of the demon race, possessed considerable strength. She wasn’t from the Astaroth generation that had directly clashed with humans, however. That was why Davey’s proposal had, in truth, intrigued her deeply.
Sure, there had been a war between humans and demons, but Arita was intensely curious by nature. She couldn’t let the chance to see humans for herself slip by.
“
Ummmm.
Arita,” a demon, fully transformed to appear human and wrapped tightly in a robe just in case, spoke up cautiously. “No matter how friendly the Demon King may be to us, this kind of thing is...”
“I know.”
“Then why...?” he questioned.
“Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll never lose,” Arita murmured as she looked down at Heins Territory.
“Word on the street is that the Demon King thinks humans and demons can reconcile their differences.”
“Yes, that’s right, he does,” Arita responded with a rare cynical smile. “It’s not going to really happen, of course. Humans and demons making peace? Not a chance.”
Still, she wasn’t foolish enough to dismiss the idea without seeing it for herself. “That’s why I’m going to watch it fail in person.”
Davey walked up to them. “Arita, are you ready?”
“Yeah. So, what are you going to show me first?”
Davey paused to think before asking, “What do you want to see first?”
“The military, for starters...” she murmured quietly.
Davey’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, whatever works for you.”
“You’re just going to let me see it? It’s your territory’s martial power we’re talking about.”
“It's public-facing forces. Not like they’re top-secret.”
To be frank, he couldn’t have cared less whether she saw them or not.
He then turned to Amy. “Amy, contact the order. Tell them we’re inspecting the base in three hours.”
Of course, Davey knew exactly what kind of chaos his single order would cause.
As soon as Amy delivered the message to the Heins Knight Order, all hell broke loose inside.
“Damn it! Move, move! Convene the emergency response committee! This is a critical situation! Worse than war! Don’t forget it!!”
When a commander had plans to visit a regular unit, it was only natural for the entire unit to flip upside down.
Under Monmider’s direct command, the knights dropped everything, whether it be training or drills, scrambling to sew and clean themselves up.
“Polish every surface to a mirror shine! Not a single speck of dust is allowed!” Monmider shouted.
The knights roared in response, “Aye!”
“
Aaaahhh!!!
Move! Get moving!!”
Davey had never visited the knights in person before, at least not under the name of an official inspection. So even the regular guards were on edge, not just the knights.
“
Ummmm.
Squad Leader?” Watching the panicked knights and guards sprint around with brooms and rags, a rookie cautiously asked his senior, “Why is everyone this tense just because His Highness is visiting?”
Davey's character was well-known, and most thought such a level of panic was unnecessary. Some of the newer knights and soldiers didn’t understand the situation either.
“You fool! You don’t understand how serious it is for His Highness to visit formally!” His senior, face pale, grabbed the rookie by the collar. “Listen well. His Highness doesn’t mean to burden us. He’s merciful like that.”
“Then why...”
“But we’re not the same.” At that moment, another veteran walking by shook his head. “There was once a time when His Highness visited both the guards and the knights.”
The memory made him shudder.
“Back then, we went crazy with cleaning and polishing everything, just as we are right now.”
His face twisted as he recalled the past.
[This is good. The weapons are polished, the training ground has no cracks, and the scarecrows are top quality. It'll help with training.]
Davey didn’t nitpick unnecessarily. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t point out other things too.
[But you know... That hill between the guard post and the knight headquarters, it really bothers me. Maybe I should clear it out someday?]
That one casual remark started it all.
[No, no, I’ll handle it. Don’t worry about it, sir.]
Despite saying it with a smile, after that day, aside from the bare minimum patrol units, nearly everyone from both divisions had to shovel the huge hill between the buildings.
“S-So what happened then?”
“That incident wasn’t called a disaster for nothing. It took only three days.”
“T-Three days?”
“Yeah. In the course of just three days, that hill vanished off the face of the earth.”
In other words, regardless of Davey’s good intentions, a single comment from him was enough to throw these people into chaos.
The rookie stared at the flat stretch of land between the two buildings. It was hard for him to think that there used to be a hill there. “Wait... Are you saying something like that could happen again?”
“We can never know, but if even a slightly similar situation breaks out...” They’d have no choice but to pick up their shovels again. All they could do was pray that it wouldn’t happen.
Unfortunately, that hope was shattered at the very start of the visit.
“
Wow.
This place is so barren. Humans and demons really aren’t that different,
huh?
”
“Barren, huh? That’s not good.” Davey then looked around.
“
Hm...
I think the knight headquarters could use some flowers,” he said offhandedly while walking past.
The knights and guards turned pale.
Moments later, the guard squad leader screamed, “All units, assemble!!! Everyone who can move, start building a flower bed around the knight headquarters and guard post!!”
Inspections were always destined to be a series of unfortunate events.
The only places that could get so busy because of his mere presence were the knight order, the guard division, and the finance department.
However, since Davey had no reason to show the finance department to Arita, it was just the knights who were forced to take it for the team.
* * *
As usual, Evangeline was streaming and chatting casually with her viewers.
[By the way, Boss. Where’s that older sister we saw before?]
“Older sister?
Oh,
you mean Super Ribbon? She’s probably studying right now.”
[Studying?]
“She’s preparing to get into Korea University. She said she’d never accept any kind of favoritism, and so she wants to get in based on her own merit.”
Even though someone of her status could easily be accepted through special admission procedures, Super Ribbon had refused all such offers.
The viewers found that hard to believe.
“Because of that, I can’t even hear her sing anymore,” Evangeline pouted, then clapped her hands. “Did you guys know? My mom and Super Ribbon are both amazing singers.”
[Mom? Which one?]
[God damn, dude. I mean, that’s a valid question to ask her, but still...]
“Perserque.”
[The queen!!]
[Queen, please let me be your dog...]
As the chat flooded with praise for Perserque, Evangeline scowled.
[Wow, I want to suffo—]
-
User has been banned.
One viewer, unable to read the room, crossed the line and was banned on the spot.
“Don’t say any weird stuff.”
[ :) ]
[ :) ]
Once the others instantly fell silent, Evangeline let out a sigh. “Moderation, what are you doing hiding in here again?”
[I don’t know what you’re talking about :) ]
Among the viewers who had just been praising Perserque as their queen was the streamer Moderation himself. Going by his behavior, it was hard to believe that he was someone with thousands of followers.
Evangeline sighed again. “You guys have never heard my sister sing, have you? Dad always says he’s not good at singing and so avoids it, but my sister is seriously amazing.”
[Wait, the Saint of Tionis actually has something he can’t do?]
“I dunno. He’s great with instruments but still says he can’t sing.”
At that point, the chat started getting curious. They wondered if the Saint of Tionis was really tone-deaf, and wanted to know how good Super Ribbon was at singing.
[Now I wanna hear her...]
[Whoa, easy with bringing up family.]
“Well, I’m the one who brought them up this time, so I’ll let it slide.”
[
Wow.
Biased judgment much?]
“Want me to take the punishment and end the stream?”
[Whoa there, we didn’t say that.]
[Freeze, don’t move.]
Evangeline smirked as she hovered her mouse over the End button.
“Anyway, Mom’s a great singer too, but the way Super Ribbon sings is... how should I put it? It’s really something else.”
[Like how you TOTALLY don’t cheat AT ALL with your art skills? ;)]
“Hey! Who says I’m cheating?!” Her hand froze in place, but the drawing she had been working on already reached masterpiece quality.
“I’ve heard her sing, but you guys haven’t, right?” She giggled mischievously, teasing the viewers with a smug grin.
[We haven’t even seen her face properly... Get her on stream!!]
[Bring her on! Bring her on!]
Requests poured in. Of course, Evangeline had no intention of granting them. “
Oh,
right. I think she’s looking for a part-time job these days.”
[???]
[Outta nowhere?]
[Even royalty works part-time?]
“Dad says that if we need money, we should know how to earn it ourselves.”
Right then, a donation alert from Moderation popped up.
[Moderation has donated 10,000 Won]
-
What kind of job? I’m ready to apply to the same place.
“Are you insane? Seriously, Moderation, do I need to ban you too...?”
[Please no :)))) ]
“
Ugh.
Nothing special. She said something about working at a cafe or something.”

Chapter 1152