The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

—Davey. You’re aware that this could turn into an international dispute, right?

“It doesn’t matter. There’s already a precedent, you know?”

—Still…

“Besides, when would I experiment if not now? The mage tower is the best subject to experiment on.”

Davey was testing out items that nobody could ever use even in the future. He was the only one who could, because he did not want to release the items for sale anywhere. Besides, even if he released them, the only ones who would be powerful enough to decipher the principles behind it were mages at the 7th Circle or above.

“If the mages of the mage tower only focus on research, then they will become rigid and dull. They sometimes need to get some fresh air and exercise. If they don’t do that, then won’t their bellies stick out of their uniforms?”

Hearing Davey’s teasing voice through the communication tool, Great Sage Hellison Valestia felt a strange sense of uneasiness.

“I believe you’re aware that Emperor Deorte of the Lyndis Empire had played such a fun and interesting prank on me, no?”

Hellison Valestia certainly knew about that one incident. After all, he was the Great Sage. He could infer various things from the simple information that he had gathered.

[I am…aware.]

“It’s quite similar to what happened back then, no? You don’t need to worry. Well, this is not because I’m holding a grudge against you.”

[D… Davey, don’t tell me…! You…!]

Davey slowly floated up into the sky, tossing a ball of light in his hands. Upon reaching the height that he wanted, he took out a bag from his Pocket Plane and shook its contents out in the air.

The bag contained dozens of capsules bearing an ominous skull on their surface. They were painted with bizarre colors.

“Great Sage, you have brought this upon yourself.”

[T-This… Why don’t we calm down for a second? What are you trying to do here?!]

“Eyy. What do you mean by that? I’m just giving you a gift.”

Davey tossed the capsules out, watching them float in the air and scatter around one by one.

—Don’t use Sword Manipulation, a skill that all swordsmen dream of having, for something like this.

“Ah, I don’t care!”

Following the movements of Davey’s fingers, the capsules flew and pierced through the crevices, windows, doors, and even vents of the Red Tower. Once that was done, he threw the ball of light in hands up into the air.

“If you understand the principles behind this, then you’ll discover that this is a very interesting object. Perhaps you might be able to reach the 8th Circle if you can understand this.”

[W-Wait! What are you trying to do to the Red Tower?!]

“Eyy. I’m not going to bring down the tower. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Sparks flew out of the ball of light as it settled on the peak of the Red Tower. Then, it burst open and released a green shockwave that engulfed the area. The surroundings soon shook from huge gales and loud tremors.

The chain reaction brought about by the particle division was very dangerous. Thankfully, this new weapon had been designed to recreate the same effect only within a limited range.

In just an instant, a special mana covered the entire Red Tower. Then, a series of explosions created shockwaves and evaporated all of the mana inside of it.

“That’s why you should all exercise.”

For mages, mana was like an extension of their bodies. However, Davey believed that they would not be flustered by this situation if they had been exercising and building up a strong body. They could probably even break the windows and jump out to escape the smoke that had overwhelmed the tower, right?

—Ordinary people would die if they jumped out at this height, you know?

“Well, I don’t care.”

Davey nonchalantly opened the window at the top of the Red Tower. He could see Great Sage Hellison Valestia looking through the communication crystal in shock.

“D-Davey, you… How did you get…?”

“Well, I rushed over here. You’re not taking it too well, huh?”

“That’s, that’s very dangerous. The window is protected with a four-layered barrier to prevent trespassing. They’re very dangerous. No matter how powerful you are…”

“A barrier? Was there even one?” Davey asked calmly as he spread his palms toward the open window. Four golden spheres appeared and spun above his palms a moment later.

The old man might not be able to figure out the principles of what Davey had done, but he was smart enough to figure it out.

“Are you talking about these?”

Feeling astonished, confused, and helpless, Hellison Valestia said, “No way… Are you telling me those spheres are the Barrier Magic placed on the windows? How…did you…?”

“How? You just have to rip them off and roll them into a ball,” Davey said casually.

It was a lie.

“That’s ridiculous… Were you also the one who detonated that unknown mana shockwave that engulfed the mage tower?”

“What do you think of it?”

“I have never seen or heard anything about mana evaporating and disappearing in a chain reaction like that. It’s like magic specifically made to completely counter a mage.”

“It’s not magic,” Davey answered calmly.

Hellison’s eyes grew wide as he shouted, “What?!”

“It’s a weapon. Don’t be like that, Great Sage,” Davey said, grinning as he entered the window and sat opposite Great Sage Hellison Valestia. He offered playfully, “Let’s play a game, shall we? However, the Red Tower will be held hostage. If you win, then I will teach you a very helpful magic, Great Sage.”

The old man looked at Davey in silence.

“But if I win…”

Davey would let all of the CS Nausea Bullets that he had planted in this tower explode.

“Just so you know, I’ve been holding back on you. But this time, I won’t do that. I won’t let you off.”

***

“Ugh…” the old man groaned.

At the same time, the Olde piece that he had put his trust in disappeared from the board. It had been completely surrounded by Davey’s pieces. He did not even have the time to touch it.

“Hey Prince Davey. How, how about letting me off just once?”

“Eyy. What’s the matter with you, Great Sage?”

“Hoho. Isn’t what I did for the better? It wasn’t such a big deal to have you cause an accident in the Red Tower, no?”

“Oh, I know.”

Davey was fully aware that the old man had done that just to make fun of him and force him to jump to his own death.

“By the way, this game will be over in three minutes. You’ll be in great trouble if you don’t find a solution to your predicament.”

The old man’s expression hardened as he focused on the Olde board in front of him. However, he could only look back up at Davey with wide eyes. He asked, “Eyyy… You’re having fun teasing this old man, hmm?”

“I’m not lying.”

“Hmm?”

“Just like this.”

The old man looked down at the Olde board in doubt as Davey moved a piece. Then, his eyes grew even wider. He exclaimed, “No way!”

“It’s too late to take it back, no? Shall we let it explode?”

“He, hey! Davey! Ask for something else! The Red Tower is already in a mess because of the unknown shockwave that exploded earlier! You were also the one who did the mana explosion in Shakuntala before!”

“Who knows? I don’t know anything about that.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed sharply at Davey, who was acting all innocent. He said, “I’m telling you, don’t do that. This old man knows that you’re not the kind of person who will come here just because of that. What is it that you want?”

“Oh. I will be in trouble if you suddenly take the initiative like that.”

“Ey! I’m starting to doubt if you’re really a boy in your teens. I feel like I’m seeing an old codger that has decades of experience in politics.”

“We’re building an academy in Heins Territory. We expect it to be finished in a few months.”

“An academy…”

“I’m thinking of teaching swordsmanship, magic, medicine, spirit magic, holy magic, economics, alchemy, and liberal arts among other things,” Davey said, placing a piece down on the Olde board as the old man looked at him in interest.

“Right. Tell me about it in detail.”

“However, it will work on a different system.”

The academy that Davey was building would work on a different system from all of the academies in existence here in the continent.

“Except for the failing students, all of the students who attend the academy will receive a full scholarship.”

“Wouldn’t that be too heavy of a burden?”

“It’s fine. There’s nothing more profitable than selling weapons, you know?”

Realizing what weapon Davey was talking about, Hellison Valestia muttered, “That shockwave that engulfed the Red Tower… If such a thing is revealed to the world, then…it would cause a huge impact.”

“That’s true. However, there’s no other person who will be able to make it in the future.”

If there was, then that would be a problem.

“Why are you so sure?”

“Well, I’m confident of that because anyone who tries making this weapon should at least be at the 7th Circle Master level.”

Hellison smiled despondently. “I see. That’s why you’ve come. You’re warning me.”

“The Great Sage is an upright and sensible man. I believe you should know just what will cause a huge stir in the continent or not, right?”

“That’s right. The scholarship system is nothing new. Since that’s not it, what’s going to set your academy apart from the others?”

“The academy will accept students of all races, genders, and classes.”

Hellison’s expression turned stiff as he murmured, “You… Don’t tell me…”

“If I was going to be afraid of someone opposing me, then I wouldn’t have thought of making one. It’s for the sake of the world, Great Sage.” Davey grinned as he continued, “There are many who wish to learn but cannot do so. There are also many talented children who failed to reach their potential simply because they weren’t given the opportunity to bloom.”

“…”

“That’s why I’m building an academy. It’s for those people. As long as they have the qualifications, then they will be able to learn everything that they want.”

“However, the academy might be condemned. That would be used as a pretext for discrimination.”

“That might be the case. But that’s the reason why I’m here.”

Davey had come here to ask for advice.

Seeing Davey’s smile, Hellison Valestia could only smile bitterly. “Hoho. It seems like you, young man, are very determined to drive this old man into exhaustion, huh… Fine. What else do you want?”

“Put a word in for me to the mage towers. I need to find someone who will become the teacher for my school of magic. To be honest, I would like it if the Great Sage could serve as the dean, but we can’t have you leaving your position in Lindhall. Besides, you’re also a very busy man.”

“Alright. Then, I’ll put a condition on my side too,” the old man said calmly. With a desperate gaze, he added quietly, “The magic tool that created the shockwave… Can you show it to me?”

Davey quietly pulled out the ball of light that was emitting sparks from his Pocket Plane.

“Ho… This…”

Hellison looked at everything that made up the ball of light in Davey’s hands. He looked between the sparks with squinted eyes. Then, he asked, “You… Can I ask you a question?”

“Please ask away.”

“How did you make this route over here?”

Davey answered nonchalantly, “Well, some lunatic threatened to burn me in Hellfire if I can’t solve the core of this theory in three days, you see.”

“Hell… Hellfire?”

“Yes.”

Davey was not lying. If he were to be honest, there had really been no normal teacher in the Hall of Heroes. Even the meek and timid Death Lord, [Rho Aias], had not been normal.

***

—Davey, what are you going to do about all of the CS Nausea Bullets that you’ve planted all over the Red Tower?

“Ah, that?”

Davey, who was flying back to Heins Territory’s field where the students of Class F should be busy fighting against Rinne, snapped his fingers.

A small spark formed at the tip of his fingers.

“Well, I’ll make it explode.”

—Goodness… The effects of the Mana EMP have not yet disappeared…

“I told him that I left a small gift for him, you know?”

Great Sage Hellison Valestia had lost the game of [Olde] against Davey, and Davey’s annoyance over the situation was too strong for him to feel better from their conversation alone.

—You’re terrible as always.

“It’s something that we should discuss next time.”

—In the first place, you received the list of the students coming from Shakuntala Middle School, no? The names of the Class F students should be there. Since that’s the case, shouldn’t this be your fault?

Davey paused at Perserque’s remarks. Then, he said, “Ah! I don’t care! They should experience that so they can go and exercise!”

—That’s not even funny…. If this turns into an international dispute, then you won’t be able to get any advice from Great Sage Hellison Valestia.

Well, Davey just threw everything to the back of his head.