The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

41. Alpha Reinforcements, the Secret Knight Order

“It’s not enough,” Davey murmured seriously as he followed Megatron, which was marching forward while ripping up whatever came at it.

“What do you mean it’s not enough?!” Illyna screamed.

Perserque also looked fed up with the aftermath of the golem she had helped create.

-I think so, too. It’s too plain!

“Is it the appearance? Or should we add some music?”

A picture came into mind as Davey gave it a little bit of thought. ‘A guardian swinging an electric chainsaw, an exceptional method of communication, while blasting rock music.’

“Man! It’s invigorating!”

Although it was actually a magic-made enchanted golem rather than a robot, its appearance was no different from a transformer robot that was made with greed.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Illyna asked in bewilderment when she spotted Davey’s wild, hungry gaze. Davey didn’t hear her question, though.

The evil beasts hiding in the surroundings were charging toward them, rumbling the ground and roaring fiercely. However, they were all going to be victims of the electric chainsaw.

Whine!

Screams rang out from all over the place when the evil beasts were being ripped to shreds. Megatron stomped on a retreating mutant wolf’s head before storing its weapon away. Then, it looked around with its shining blue eyes.

[Extermination of all evil beasts in the current terrain confirmed.]

The addition of an enchanted mithril alloy metal sheet was clearly effective. Although the mithril alloy sheet wasn’t attached to the golem during its battle with Illyna, the sheet’s effect during its latest alteration was clear.

“Are there any other monsters around here that are stronger than the mutant wolf?” Davey asked.

“…At least not around here. There are a lot of them because the mutant wolves have a high reproductive rate. The knight order is getting rid of them regularly, but they sometimes show up like that.”

Like Illyna said, this area was the region of the Alpha Reinforcements, the secret knight order she was part of. They wouldn’t have let evil beasts run wild like this unless they had lost their sense of responsibility.

“I heard that evil beasts that aren’t transcendental but are incomparably stronger than mutant wolves exist in the Pandora Region located above this place,” Illyna explained.

“Transcendental?”

“Yeah. I haven’t seen one in person, but they are said to be the strongest and most superior beings among the evil beasts in the Pandora Region. Apparently, they are strong enough to easily rip a Swordmaster apart,” Illyna said bitterly.

“Of course, we won’t have to go up against them. That’s not the job of the trainees, but the job of the official knight order’s extraordinary members.”

Davey just nodded as Illyna spoke calmly. Then, he addressed the golem, “Megatron, resting mode.”

[Command accepted. Entering resting mode.]

Clunk!! Drr! Clunk!! As Megatron, which was walking in front of them while still on guard, turned into a large carriage, Davey opened the door without hesitation and glanced at Illyna.

“Wh—What?”

“Get on. I don’t think there’s anyone around, and it’s going to take forever to walk there.”

Although she looked confused, Illyna couldn’t hide her fascination as she got on the carrier. “Oh my… Expansion…magic? The cost to expand a space for a normal living thing to get in is astronomical…” She stared at Davey with suspicion while murmuring in shock. It was natural, since the inside of the carriage felt much bigger than how it looked from the outside.

“Isn’t it the end of this golem if it gets destroyed? How much money did you spend on it?” Illyna asked.

“It’s not a true hobby if you are stingy with spending money on it.”

Illyna squinted at Davey.

-Davey, I think I know what she is thinking.

‘What is it?’

Chuckle… This lunatic is going all out now that he’s getting his hands on some money!

‘…’ Davey wanted to deny it, but he could clearly see what Illyna would think if she actually showed her true personality. Expansion magic was an advanced magic spell… But it was just a tedious job if one had practical and theoretical knowledge. There was no way he would’ve given the wizard tower a lot of money and asked them to work on it; it would’ve been so inefficient. Davey was feeling quite frustrated.

* * *

Davey and Illyna did not meet any other evil beasts, including mutant wolves, after the first time. Perhaps it was because they had cleared the forest that once. It was a shame for Davey, since he had to collect more data, but it seemed like it was a good thing for Illyna, who didn’t want to run into any more problems.

‘The forest’s arrangement of mana is a mess.’

-It’s not becoming organized at all.

Davey frowned when he looked outside the carriage, which was moving silently. As if something was interfering, he wasn’t able to control the mana he usually spread around his body. There seemed to be some sort of static… Furthermore, he only felt static in his mana when he was using it to explore the surroundings. This was difficult even for Davey, who was usually able to detect things pretty easily, to deal with.

-This is like…

‘A large-scale barrier.’

It was safe to assume that Davey’s prediction was right.

“This forest has a large-scale barrier that interferes with detection to hide the base of Alpha Reinforcements. So, it’s difficult for people to feel presences with their mana even if they are right beside each other, unless it’s a specific person.”

Davey turned his head as Illyna explained. She chuckled as she glanced out the carriage window.

“I was very bewildered when I first came here. It’s instinctual to spread mana and be wary of your surroundings, but there was static for some reason. So, I was wondering if the flow of mana was different in this forest!” There was a faint smile on Illyna’s face as if she found this conversation quite delightful. “I learned that most of the Last Wisp, including Alpha Reinforcements, cast a barrier like this near their base after I became a member. I think the detection-interfering barrier is surrounding most of this forest.”

“Then, the opposite case?”

“That…is fixed with this.” Illyna showed Davey her hand with a big smile. There were two rings on her pale, beautiful hands. One ring had an emblem that showed that she was the royalty of the Pallan Empire, and the other was a unique, amber-colored ring. She went on to explain, “It’s an artifact that makes me immune to the barrier’s effects. I don’t know a lot about magic since I only studied swords, but I heard that the person who is wearing it remains unaffected because it interferes with some special wave.”

Davey was quite intrigued by her explanation, as it was quite a fresh idea. He hadn’t tried it himself, but it seemed with a try.

“Hm, a ring…”

“The teachers provide it if one becomes a member.”

“Teachers?”

“Well, seniors, to be exact. It’s the same for any organization, but a secret knight order has to be maintained in a special way; however, I guess it’s impossible to always bring in perfect individuals. So, they recruit gifted children and teach them. I joined a little lat…”

Boom!!!

“Kyah!!”

That was when the carriage shook with a sudden sound, and Illyna fell toward Davey. She frowned and groaned in pain, forgetting the fact that she was in Davey’s arms from the sudden shaking.

“Ouch… What is…”

Click! The carriage door opened wide, then a blue-haired boy barged in with a cold expression.

“Sio?!”

“Illyna…”

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Surprised by the situation, Illyna shouted in anger. She completely forgot that she had fallen into Davey’s arms after losing her balance.

“We exclude intruders. Illyna, what are you doing by letting in an outsider?” Sio asked in a frosty, cold voice. Along with his cold expression, small bullets of ice, which had already been cast, quivered as they pointed toward Davey and Illyna. The icy bullets were ready to strike at any moment.

“Even if he is an outsider, you don’t have the authority to do this.”

“You have no right to question me right now. Currently, you clearly violated the rules, and as such, you are subject to punishment.” As soon as Sio stopped speaking, a black-haired boy of a similar age slowly began walking toward the carriage.

“There’s no one else around, Sio,” Illyna said.

“…I guess you weren’t that stupid. You would’ve been executed right here if you brought others.”

“Stop kidding yourself. Who do you think you are to punish another member?” Illyna stood up while guarding Davey with one hand and opened her other hand. At the same time, her brooch began floating toward her hand with a bright light. The brooch started transforming into a large, white silver-colored sword.

“Everything is for Alpha Reinforcements,” Sio simply stated.

“Stop kidding yourself. Your actions are clearly an overreach of power. I will make you pay if you don’t get rid of your magic and retreat right now.”

“This is no place for a human other than a member.”

“I brought him here.” Illyna looked furious, growling.

Peeeeeep~ That was when a bird’s unique chirping was heard.

“It’s a command to return, Sio. It’s telling us to bring Illyna and the civilian,” the black-haired boy said.

“…” Sio clicked his tongue in irritation and glared at Davey. “Consider yourself lucky.”

Davey was at a loss, surprised by the situation. Illyna held his hand tightly when he tried to do something once Sio backed away after threatening him. Then, she smiled bitterly and said, “Sorry, I’m baffled at the situation, too.”

Davey didn’t expect Illyna to explain this situation properly. It was clear that this had been out of her expectations. “Killing aura,” Davey commented with a smile. He stared at Sio, who was leaving the carriage without hesitation.

“What?” Sio said.

“Be careful of your killing aura. There are no second chances.”

“You…” The moment Sio tried to talk back as Davey smiled…

“Sio, we protect mankind; we didn’t become members to point swords at them.”

“…”

The black-haired boy stopped Sio, and their conflict came to an end.

* * *

After about thirty minutes of following the two boys who were accompanying them like they were criminals, Illyna and Davey stopped upon reaching a High Palace.

-Wow… I wanted this kind of thing!

Davey didn’t know why Perserque was excited, but seeing her look around in delight made him quite elated as well. ‘It looks like a pretty old design.’

-That’s right! This is an architectural design that existed in my time period!

Excitement was unusual for her, but Perserque flew all over the place. Normally, Davey would’ve said something about how she had lost her usual calmness and was making a fuss, but she looked so delighted that he couldn’t say anything. It was a relief that he was the only person who could see her.

Technically, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon could see Perserque as well, but they were asleep in their sheaths on Davey’s waist.