The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1003

The panicked woman struggled in his grasp, desperately trying to break free.

Unlike how she had just tried to stab him with an awl only moments before, she now looked utterly bewildered—as if she had no recollection of what had just happened.

"S-Stop, please!! I'll call security!"

"Sorry, but you’re going to have to take a quick nap. Unless, of course, you’d rather be charged with attempted murder."

As she screamed in fear, Davey lightly struck the back of her neck.

She slumped over, unconscious.

Whether she had been fully aware of her actions or not, it didn’t matter—she attacked him, and there was no way he was going to let her go easily.

He left her motionless body on the floor and immediately took off after Illyna.

He saw her standing alone at the elevator in the distance, with her palm spread and her thumb pressed against her cheek, making a silly face.

He also saw her sticking her tongue out at him.

Ding! Clunk!

The elevator doors began to close.

Davey widened his eyes.

‘Don’t you dare...’

He extended his hand toward her—

[Altair.]

Boom!!

An overwhelming spirit energy spread out, distorting space for the briefest moment. Davey flashed forward, piercing through the distortion like a bolt of lightning, and grabbed both sides of the elevator doors, forcing them open.

He then grinned at her coldly.

"Going somewhere?"

"T-That’s cheating!"

"Cheating? All is fair in love and war. But you saw that something’s off, too. So why are you acting like this?" he said while grabbing her wrist.

She didn’t say a word. She just avoided his gaze.

Once he pulled her out of the elevator, she leaned into his chest.

"I... I don’t know. I just..."

She then lightly tapped his chest with her fist.

"I just... didn't like what I saw."

Davey stared at her in silence.

But he soon chuckled.

‘Oh. Oh, I know this feeling. It’s jealousy.’

When he was on the receiving end of it, it felt damn awful.

But he couldn’t help but think how nice it felt being on the other side.

"Jealous, are you?"

He grinned.

Her face reddened as she started smacking him repeatedly.

"W-What’s so bad about that?!"

Even as she flailed and protested, he simply lifted her up and carried her back to their room.

Once they were inside, she crossed her arms and huffed.

"So... Who the hell is that woman?"

"No clue. She claimed to be room service, but the moment I opened the door, she tried to stab me."

Of course, her attack didn’t work on him.

After all, he had already absorbed the power of the constellation Capricorn.

Its ability completely nullified any attack below a certain threshold.

Her strike had been sudden and sharp, but ultimately, it was nowhere near strong enough to affect him.

"Did you piss someone off again?"

"I’ve pissed off plenty of people, sure, but this? This is as random as it gets.”

Davey pondered in silence for a moment.

He then sat the woman in a chair, tied her hands behind the back, and snapped his fingers.

"Hmph?!”

Instantly, she gasped, regaining consciousness.

"W-Where... am I?"

Davey stared down at her.

"Feeling better?"

Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

He could see her mouth move—clearly poised to scream. But before she could, he clamped his hand over her mouth.

Her eyes trembled in fear.

"Listen carefully to what I say from now on, miss."

“...”

The sheer coldness in my voice made her freeze.

"You just committed attempted murder. There’s evidence everywhere, and if you don’t cooperate, I’ll simply hand you over to the police."

From an outside perspective, he probably looked like the kidnapper, while she looked like the victim.

But the reality wasn’t so clear.

"P-Please... Please let me go...!”

Her trembling made it clear she wasn’t thinking straight, stricken with overwhelming fear.

"Davey, want me to talk to her?"

"No need."

He rejected her idea coldly as he leaned in closer.

He then stretched his hand to the side and slammed his palm down against the mattress beside the assassin.

Thud!!

She flinched in shock as their eyes met.

At the same time, a faint purple shimmer flickered in his eyes.

The moment she saw it, her expression went blank.

"Who sent you?"

He had cast a simple hypnosis spell on her.

One that would prevent her from telling lies and wasting his time.

"I... I don’t remember... after I saw you, I don’t remember anything."

He could tell that she wasn’t lying, judging by her tone.

"So, let me get this straight. You tried to kill me, and now you claim you don’t remember why?"

Davey sighed and wondered who had mind-controlled her into attacking him.

As he pondered, Illyna suddenly spoke up.

"Davey. Ask her where she’s been recently."

He turned back to the woman.

"Where have you been lately?"

Still dazed, she hesitated, then answered slowly.

"Miami... home... My parents’ house... on vacation."

Hearing that, Illyna nodded slightly.

“Do you sense anything odd?”

"Hyun-Ah showed me something classified during our dinner date earlier."

It was a photo of a rift.

"There’s a rift in Miami that’s been quiet so far. But apparently, it has the ability to hypnotize people."

"So you’re saying that hypnosis made her come all the way here to kill me?"

"That part, I can’t say for sure. But there’s one crucial factor—she’s never met you before."

"Right."

She wasn’t a trained assassin, nor did she hold a grudge against him.

Like Illyna said, she was a random stranger—a normal person who had suddenly decided to try to kill him.

After processing the situation, he told her to forget everything that had happened and released her.

He still had the footage of her attacking him, but he figured he could delete it later on when he felt like it.

"Should we look into the rift?"

"You said it’s classified information? We might as well dig deeper. I’m going to send a letter to the U.S. President.”

If the rift really was so dangerous, there was a good chance he'd bring it up himself soon.

Even if he didn’t ask for help directly, he might try to consult or ask Davey to keep an eye on it.

"It’d be best not to cause trouble, just make them willingly cooperate with us."

He doubted that any organization or being had the guts to openly stir up trouble on Earth by that point.

That meant that the rift itself was either something completely out-of-the-blue or that everything that had happened was an unusual coincidence.

"Oh yeah, I got something for you."

Illyna suddenly pulled something from her bag, holding out a sausage hot dog.

"I’m going to have some too, so just take one bite.”

Davey stared at the hot dog for a second. It was simply a long sausage between a long piece of bread.

Then, without a word, he bit down—and pulled the entire sausage out of the bun.

"H-Huh?! H-Hey!!"

As he took out the main part of the hot dog, Illyna freaked out. She tried to grab the sausage, but before she could, he’d already quickly devoured it.

"Y-You meanie!"

It was only natural for her to scream.

But by then, the sausage was already gone.

"You said one bite."

* * *

Time flew by as the two spent time touring the United States.

The authorities had taken their time before attempting to approach him again.

They chose an interesting day for it; the same day Illyna was scheduled to throw the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game.

"Prince Davey. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Rick Bastum, head of the Secret Service."

The same people who had initially contacted him had come to escort him once again.

Compared to Chris Marten, the tight-suited musclehead he’d met before, the man standing before him had far greater latent potential.

And standing beside him were the three he had seen before.

But this time, one of them was glaring at him with open hostility.

"Davey O’Rowane. I suppose we had a bit of an unfortunate encounter last time."

He smiled slightly, directing his words at the one glaring at him from behind tinted sunglasses.

"I’d suggest you put away the killing intent before you make things messy."

The other two stiffened, immediately snapping their heads toward their hostile colleague.

The man flinched slightly, but after a brief hesitation, he quickly lowered his head.

"F-Forgive my rudeness."

"I offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of my subordinate. I understand you have sent a formal request to visit the White House. From this point forward, we will take charge of your security."

"I’ll be in your care, then."

He leisurely stepped into the limousine they had prepared.

President Drumper, despite his past glory, was failing miserably in his policies. His approval rating had dropped precipitously.

Given as much, it was obvious that he was trying to get something like good PR out of their meeting.

By leaking news of his visit, thereby ensuring the media had full coverage and formalizing their discussions, he intended to politically capitalize on the encounter.

Not that Davey particularly cared; whatever happened inside America was their own business.

"Mr. President, we have brought Prince Davey to see you."

"Ahem!"

The doors swung open, and President Drumper, who he had seen through the media lately, stood in front of him. He had his arms spread wide with a beaming smile.

"Welcome, welcome! Prince Davey.”

He accepted his offered handshake, nodding slightly.

"Davey O’Rowane. Come, come, have a seat."

He nodded slightly once more. Then, everyone except Rick and his two subordinates exited the room.

"I greatly appreciate you making the long journey here."

"Not at all. If there is a mutual benefit for us to claim, then such meetings are only natural."

With a polite smile, Davey extended his hand, pulling an item from his Pocket Plane.

It was a small box.

"Here’s a small token of appreciation. I hope you find it to your liking."

Interest piqued, the president immediately opened the box to see a delicately crafted tie pin.

"Ohhh, such an intricate design! Is this from Tionis?"

"Yes. It also contains a high-level protection spell embedded within. It should come in handy in any dangerous situation you come across.”

His expression brightened noticeably.

"Hoho! Such a precious gift—I shall gratefully accept it."

"I’m glad you like it."

"Haha! The United States and Tionis have fought side by side in the past, as brothers-in-arms!"

Unlike his bold claims, that wasn't exactly what happened. But Davey knew Drumper was just trying to somehow deepen their apparent connection.

"Hmm... Well, let’s go with that for now."

The same guard who had let out killing intent at him seemed visibly uncomfortable. But given the setting, he didn’t dare to act out.

‘Seriously, everyone else is fine—why’s he the only one acting like that?’

"To be frank, I heard through the grapevine that you’ve agreed to provide another world’s materials to Korea for nuclear waste neutralization and recycling."

"Well, you heard right. But to be precise, not to Korea directly. I am trading with the Sacred Group, which holds an exclusive agreement with Korea."

Since the Sacred Group was an international conglomerate, Davey expected complaints about such a monopoly.

But he had no intention of changing that system.

"Before we get into the main discussion, I have a proposal. I’m unsure of its viability, but—as close allies, we, the United States, seek a deeper partnership with Tionis.”

"And by that, you mean?"

"Currently, the Sacred Group holds an exclusive trade agreement with Korea for the special materials. But if you could arrange for a portion of that supply to be directed to the United States, we’d be willing to offer you a fair and substantial price in return."

“Are you aware of the price?”

"From what I understand, the primary exchange is food supplies. Prince Davey, the United States can offer far more than just that. Of course, we’d love for you to cut ties with Korea entirely and make the U.S. your exclusive trading partner, but we understand that betraying an ally outright isn't ideal. Still, if you agree to trade with us as well, we’ll provide you with far greater quantities of food, as well as other precious commodities. Oil, rare minerals, and other natural resources can be given in substantial amounts."

He was baiting Davey, hoping to get a read on his reaction.

But he instead decided to push the president straight to the main issue—whatever it was that he really wanted.

"I’m afraid that’s not an option. You see, my agreement with Korea is more of a repayment rather than a simple trade deal. And due to certain circumstances, I cannot expand trade in that specific material any further."

"That’s unfortunate. Is there no way to adjust the terms?"

Davey was well aware that if the United States could neutralize nuclear waste, they could reclaim the radiation-contaminated zones they had lost in nuclear disasters in the past.

Moreover, with monster appearances now a global threat, nuclear power was a potential ticking time bomb.

If he could solve this issue, Davey figured his approval ratings would skyrocket.

It was obvious why he wasn't willing to let go so easily.

"Regarding those special materials, I have no further trade plans. I have to keep some stock for myself, after all."

Drumper’s eyes narrowed slightly at the implication.

"So... you're saying that in the future, you’ll continue trading special goods with Earth? Can I interpret it that way?"

"Yes."

"Then, for the next trade, would you consider—"

"That’s something we’ll have to discuss when the time comes."

Davey planned to propose more items for trade, so precious that it’d be difficult for nations on Earth to refuse.

They did have a tendency of depending on Tionis for its martial power, but with the Malicious Spirits and Thanatos gone, it was also true that their dependency had lessened.

And so, there was a simple yet effective way to make sure the nations would maintain friendly relations with Tionis.

He simply had to feed them with just enough rare goods that it made them dependent on Tionis all over again.