The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1181

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1181

Chapter 1181
Within the grounds of Heins Academy, there was a garden that Archbishop Alice was especially fond of.
The flower bed, filled with pure white lilies, was such a famous spot within the academy since she’d often visit it personally to tend to the flowers herself.
By the time Davey reached the place to find her, even the magic professors had already gathered there at her summons.
“
Phew!
It’s all sorted.”
The formal proposal sent by Shakuntala was extremely unusual. It called for a duel between professors from each academy, specifically on the night when the three moons would be full.
Whatever the reason behind it, the truth was that Shakuntala had nothing to gain. In fact, the proposal was full of losses on their part.
However, they had no choice but to go through with it.
“This is the current state of Shakuntala,” Alice said, sighing heavily as she glared at the magic professors. “You people... Seriously now. Do you really think it's okay to leave people in such a state that they end up walking out on everything like that?!”
Though she had used the chance to meet with Goddess Freyja as motivation to suppress her headache, she knew better than anyone that the situation was far from insignificant.
The biggest one to take the fall was Shakuntala, and the second was Heins Academy.
Technically, Heins Academy had something to gain, so it wasn’t all bad. Yet in terms of public image, it wasn’t exactly receiving glowing praise either.
“Hey! That’s not cooked all the way through!”
“
Tsk
. Rise, flame!”
Seeing several professors roasting sweet potatoes, with their palms faced toward the flame, sent a fresh wave of frustration surging through Alice again.
“Oh
dear God. Grant me the strength to punish these wicked ones in Your name.”
[5th Level Saint Break]
Seeing the heavily condensed light of holy power gather in her hand and begin to spin violently, Davey casually clapped his hands and dispelled her holy magic.
“Dean!!”
“Don’t be angry. Can you really blame them? They’re probably starving.”
“You’re the last person who should be saying that!!”
Knowing that Davey was the reason those professors had ended up like that, Alice ground her teeth in frustration.
“What’s the big deal? Everyone goes through some hard trials once or twice.”
She had no response.
“Didn’t you also wipe out every bird in the area while training to control your holy power?”
During her time as a saint candidate, Alice had once abandoned even the bare minimum principles she used to uphold. It had been part of the trial Goddess Freyja had set for her.
Unlike Saintess Lena, who had displayed extreme altruism, Alice resembled the first Saintess Daphne in many ways. Perhaps that was why Goddess Freyja had held such affection for Alice, despite her being just a candidate.
Still, Davey clearly remembered the moment when she twisted a pheasant’s neck with a grim smile, even though she was someone who was supposed to think of life preciously.
“S-Shut your mouth!!” she screamed, like someone whose embarrassing past had just been exposed. “Enough! Because of this incident, some classes at Shakuntala have had to be forcibly suspended. You do understand how serious this is, don’t you?”
“Then the key point is... as long as we reinstate them, the problem will be solved, no?”
“That’d be the ideal outcome, but that’s exactly what we must avoid. You’re the Dean of Heins Academy, not a subordinate of Shakuntala. I need you to reconsider that importance.”
“I had no plans to get involved like that, anyway.”
The damage had already been done. Alice clearly wanted to resolve the issue between the two academies as smoothly as possible, while still maintaining the positive image Heins Academy had gained from the whole ordeal.
“Hey! That one’s mine!”
“How profane! Article 1, Section 1 of the Union Pact states that the first one to grab the roasted sweet potato owns it!”
“Come on, now! Have you no sense of decency?”
Had those professors been younger, it wouldn’t have been as bad to see their absurd conduct. Watching elderly men with long white beards grab each other by the collar and bicker, her patience seemed to be reaching its limit.
“Enough, Alice. The full moon is in about five days, correct?” Davey asked, smile gone and voice solemn.
“Yes, that’s right. Five days from now, each academy will send three mages. One for the lifestyle field; one for combat; and one for the miscellaneous category.
Oh,
and they specifically included a condition to ban you from participating.”
“I wasn’t planning to participate anyway, but now that they’ve said that, it actually makes me want to.”
“You were a temporary professor at Shakuntala once, weren’t you? That’s why they’re saying it’s unfair. You really don’t get how tangled this situation is, do you? Shakuntala’s side is probably flipping out. If we don’t reach a compromise soon, we might as well declare each other mortal enemies.”
Having lost completely in theoretical pursuits, Shakuntala had no choice but to make up for it in live combat. That was the only way they could preserve the honor of their massive magic academy.
“You heard her! Professors, do you think you can take them on?” Davey said as he looked at the professors who had been giggling with their sweet potatoes. “Shakuntala’s going all in on this. Expect at least 5th Circle masters, maybe even someone at the 6th Circle. Are you folks confident or not?”
The professors exchanged glances in silence, then one of them asked a question. “Dean, speaking purely on a hypothetical level, what would happen if we say we’re not confident?”
“At this point, we have no choice but to win. If you say you can’t...” Davey paused, then sliced the air. A rift formed, and from within it he pulled out a sack. It was filled with sweet potatoes.
They were the same kind the professors loved and would usually cheer for. Yet their faces turned grim at his actions.
They had just glimpsed their own futures.
“You know what this means.”
“
Ahem! Ahem!
”
The professors quietly set down the sweet potatoes in their hands, fearful of the splendid food’s complete disappearance and theft by Davey.
After imagining what might happen if they lost, fiery determination quickly sparked within them.
“All three moons will be full five days from now. Don’t overdo yourselves, just focus on your preparations until then. I’m sure you’re well aware, after all, that it was you professors who made the Shakuntala faculty end up like that.”
His smile made them fidget with discomfort.
Just then, Josiah came running from the distance, arms full of documents.
“Professor!!”
“Josiah?”
“
Oh!
You're here too, Professor.” Josiah grinned and held out the documents in her arms. “
Ah,
wait. Not these. Here, I have a message from Shakuntala.”
“What is it now?”
“Well, actually... They're saying they want to withdraw the challenge. They suggest that since it hasn’t been officially announced yet, pulling out shouldn’t be too difficult.”
‘What the hell is this nonsense? They were all riled up before and ready to get us, but now they’re backing off?’
Josiah shrugged in response. “Elder Yulis quietly mentioned it to me. Apparently, the Grand Sage called in the Shakuntala dean and told him that holding onto what they have now might be more beneficial for the academy.”
Considering how Shakuntala had suffered heavy damage to its reputation and credibility, they had been left with no choice but to challenge Heins Academy in hopes of salvaging some honor.
However, there was a distinct possibility that they would just lose again. If that were to happen, they’d only have driven their already diminished reputation further into the ground.
While Shakuntala’s dean was someone with moderate ambition and decent courage, he wasn’t slow when it came to calculations. If the one offering advice was none other than the Grand Sage Hellison Valestia himself—the respected mentor of Yulis—then the dean had all the more reason to listen.
“They’re saying it’s on hold for now.”
Alice turned to Davey and commented. “
Haah...
Well, it’s good news, I guess, but something feels off. Is it really just going to end like this?”
“They probably picked the fight in the heat of the moment, and now that they realize their preparations are lacking, they’re trying to buy time before their next move.”
“So then we can’t know when they’ll try to come at us again?”
She looked at Davey questioningly, and he nodded.
“In that case, why don’t we just crush them first with a preemptive strike and nip the whole thing in the bud?”
He couldn’t believe someone who had once been a saint candidate would say something like that. Davey didn’t bother to hide the dumbfounded look on his face as he stared at her.
However, Alice continued to calmly analyze the situation. “Let’s use this opportunity to solidify Heins Academy’s lackluster and obscure public image. We want people to immediately recognize us as
‘Oh them!’
the moment they hear the name Heins.”
“Professor Alice, it honestly doesn’t matter what the other academies think or do. Heins Academy is a school, and that means it’s a place for teaching kids, not for playing political mind games or power struggles.”
That single statement made her scowl. “You knew all that and still watched this whole thing unfold?”
‘
She really has a thing for striking at weak spots.
’
“They’ve chosen not to act for now, so we’ll just leave it be. It’s not like we’re mortal enemies who need to go picking fights with Shakuntala.”
Looking over at the professors reigniting the fire to roast more sweet potatoes, Alice let out a short sigh.
“It’s been a stressful time with so many things piling up at once. If this buys us some time to breathe, then it’s not all bad—wait, what are they burning now?! Put that down right now!!”
The professors were holding onto sweet potato peels wrapped in lily petals.
Golden holy energy, the very embodiment of Goddess Freyja’s blessing, gathered thickly in Alice’s punitive hand.
Goddess Freyja really did dote on her.
* * *
While Heins Academy and Shakuntala Academy were busy bickering with each other, back on Earth, Evangeline was preparing to cash out the savings she had been building up for a long time.
She had been in an incredibly good mood as of late. Her successful diet played a big part in that.
Even though the sharp-eyed Rinne and Yuria had eventually slipped out of her range and escaped her revenge, she felt good enough to let them go with grace.
“Everyone, today’s the day it finally launches! You have no idea how long I’ve been saving my allowance, just to pull this character! I seriously scraped together every bit I could.”
She proudly showed off the 300,000 crystals gleaming in the corner of her game screen.
The game she had opened was a gacha-style RPG. Players bought crystals with money and used those crystals to purchase characters. It was then that the player raised those characters to enjoy the RPG experience.
Games like that weren’t just fun for the RPG gameplay, either. The gacha element was surprisingly popular as well.
Right now, Evangeline was completely obsessed with a character that was slated to be released shortly. Despite having drawn all kinds of things because of requests, she had always had strong personal tastes.
The moment she saw the upcoming character, she fell hard. That was why she had even installed a game she usually wouldn’t bother with, and had even been playing it with real effort.
[Whoa, is that really 300k crystals? LOL]
[How many pulls are you planning to do LOL]
“The three percent probability is not exactly a great rate, sure. However, three hundred thousand crystals means I get three hundred pulls, so it should be enough...” she said as she tried her best to hide her unease.
She then clapped her hands together lightly. A poised woman holding a massive spear appeared on the screen, surrounded by crackling purple lightning.
Evangeline’s smile deepened with satisfaction. “I will get her, no doubt! Moderation always teases me about not having the old characters.”
[LOL that Moderation, he sure knows how to get to people]
“He’s been dying to pull this one too.” Grinning confidently at the laughing viewers, she carried on.
[But what if you use all of your money and don’t get it?]
“
Heh,
just watch. Even with a three percent rate, three hundred pulls guarantees I’ll get her.”
Admittedly, she was right... partially. While it wasn't guaranteed, no matter how unlucky she was, that many tries meant the chances for her to get the right character was high.
Evangeline felt absolutely certain.
“Alright... Let’s start it off with a solid ten pull, shall we?” She took a deep breath, eyes sparkling, and clicked.
Whooosh!!!
With a dazzling sound, effects burst across the screen and the chat exploded into laughter.
[LOLOLOL]
[LOLOL purple again? RIP]
[Constellation Sagittarius has donated 50,000 Won.]
- No way you’re pulling it.
That wasn't standing on her watch. Without hesitation, she hit the ban button and snorted.
[Constellation Sagittarius has been banned.]
“
Hmph.
This is just the beginning. I’ve still got two hundred and ninety pulls left.”
Then came the second ten pull. Yet again, only the same dull purple column appeared. No trace of the golden effect she wanted could be seen.
Her expression faltered for just a moment.
“T-That was already thirty bucks...”
She began trembling, but she quickly shook her head to snap out of it.
“I still have two hundred and eighty pulls left!”
Purples.
Purples.
Purples everywhere.
She had started the endeavor full of confidence. Yet as the lottery drawing went on, her expression grew more and more grim.
“
Ah...
No... I still need to pull for the gear too...”
[LOL Princess probably thought she’d pull the character right away and then go for the gear, huh?
Not a chance LOL]
“Don’t call me Princess!” she shouted, her pupils trembling as she frantically clicked the mouse.
However, the results were brutal.
Purple, purple, purple, purple... and more purple.
The golden effect she longed for still hadn’t appeared.
“This doesn’t make sense! I only have forty pulls left now!” she said with an anxious face.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she had ever been so unlucky in a game.
“No! I dreamed last night that I got both the character and the weapon!”
On the verge of crying, she clicked again.
Purple, purple.
Suddenly, a golden glow finally burst onto the screen, indicating a Legendary character had been pulled.
“There it is!!!” she screamed with genuine joy.
[LOL look at boss going full hype, that’s adorable af LOL]
The reactions didn’t matter to her. She jumped up and down in excitement, the chat eating it up with glee.
It was because of who she was.
Among those born with silver spoons, she was practically a platinum spoon. So for the viewers, seeing her genuinely thrilled over something as trivial as a gacha pull seemed especially sincere and strangely unfamiliar.
Still bouncing with joy, she spoke like she had expected it all along, “
Ah.
I probably won’t have enough for the gear now, but at least I got her. I’ll use the last ten pulls on equipment and just try to get both at once.”
She clicked the mouse to confirm the pull, and the screen flared with golden light as a new character appeared. Her expression twisted completely.
“What?!”
The character that came out of the golden animation wasn’t her target, instead being one she absolutely hated the design of.
[LOL gold doesn’t mean it’s the new one LOOOL]
Her smile vanished completely. Then, like someone hypnotized, she slowly moved her hand and used up the rest of her pulls.
However, in the end, the odds betrayed her.
Only purple columns greeted her.
“
Ha... haha...
” she laughed hollowly, covering her face with one hand.
“I worked so hard to save all that...” she murmured in defeat, her shoulders beginning to tremble. Finally, tears welled up from the sheer frustration.
“
Hh... hhk...
I worked so hard to save up without my mom and dad finding out.”
[Ahh... boss...]
[UncleSupportSquad has donated 300,000 won.]
- Don’t cry, boss. Take this and cheer up...
“
Hrk.
I promised, remember? All donations go to charity...”
[No no, I think you’re the one who needs a donation now.]
“This was just for my entertainment. I set a monthly limit of 50,000 won for any game spending related to the stream...”
[Wow. Did the Saint of Tionis raise their kid with bulletproof financial values, or just turn them into the ultimate penny pincher...?]
The chat was flooded with sympathy, unsure of what to say or do.
Pururing!! Pururing!!
A voice chat notification rang out. Sniffling, she looked up to check the caller.
In reality, she didn't need to check. After all, only one person ever called her through voice chat.
Moderation.
“What do you want?” she sniffled and asked. The person on the other end responded with a smug chuckle.
[Hey, Princess. Check out what I just got from a single pull. Is this one good?]
He then shared his screen. On it could be seen the exact character she had just spent three hundred pulls trying to get.
[Is this one good?]
That single line shattered her sanity.
[LOOOOOOL this guy is savage LOL]
[Hella troll LOLS]
[Wow, he’s got an attitude problem. I’m switching to Team Eva today.]
[Lately I've been seeing more idiots trolling her streams anyway.]
“Anabelle,” she muttered under her breath.
At the same time, Anabelle slowly rose from the rocking chair in the corner of the room, where she had been napping.
She moved behind Evangeline with an eerie silence.
Evangeline spoke in a voice laced with venom, “Find Moderation.”
Anabelle quietly vanished into the shadows with a soft swoosh.
Afterward, Evangeline began fiddling with her smartphone, her expression troubled.
“Dad said to only use it when it’s really necessary... but isn’t now exactly one of those times?”
She was seriously considering spending more money.

Chapter 1181