The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1017

The Heins Territory, often bathed in plentiful moonlight, was generally more illuminated than most other territories during evenings. However, as this night deepened, it gradually fell into slumber and plunged into darkness. Only the faint glow of the mana stone streetlights filled the night.

With Amy—who used to take care of the territory on behalf of Davey—now beginning to fulfill her rights and duties as a noble, tasks that she once managed had fallen to Royal Attendant Bernile and Davey.

“So? Are the rumors showing any results?”

Davey had used Aina Helishana to spread a subtle rumor throughout the territory. It was a rather laughable tale—that during a certain time of year, a man dressed in red would appear and bring gifts to well-behaved children.

But if the children actually received sudden presents, regardless of whether the adults had brushed off getting them any, it was bound to leave a lasting impression on everyone.

In reality, the plan had already been in motion for quite some time. The idea was to let it gradually take root, guided by a few territory representatives who effectively shaped the cultural traditions of Heins Territory.

“This will require a considerable budget, Your Highness.”

“They’re just gifts for kids. If I couldn’t handle something like this, I might as well shut down Heins Academy and give up all my hobbies.”

“Understood. I will carry out your orders.”

“Oh, right. What about my lovely children?” he asked with a smile.

“They’re all asleep.”

“Really? Then let’s get started.” Davey rose from his seat and picked up a set of red clothes.

Bernile, standing nearby, took a deep breath before turning his head away. His slight trembling made it clear he was struggling to contain himself.

“What? You think this is funny?”

“N-No, not at all,” he said, trying his best to stifle his laughter.

* * *

“Timmy! Do you think Santa Claus will come?”

“Hmmm. I was really good this year, so he’ll definitely come!”

Every child in Heins Territory had been buzzing with excitement ever since a certain rumor began making the rounds.

“Timmy! Tommy! Go to bed now, you two! If you don’t, the goblins will come and take you away!”

“Yes, Mom!”

“Haaah. What in the world is with these kids leaving pouches by their pillows?”

Chattering excitedly about a fairy called Santa, the children eventually obeyed their parents and went to bed.

Late into the dark night, someone silently emerged from the chimney.

“Well, this is definitely trespassing,” the figure muttered with a smirk, none other than Davey in full Santa getup.

“Let’s see. Timmy and Tommy, gifts numbers one and three.”

Davey rummaged through his gift bag and carefully placed two small boxes into the pouches the children had left by their pillows.

His figure then rapidly dissolved into black mist. The entire process was so swift and silent that no one had noticed his presence.

After slipping back out through the chimney, Davey turned to Aina, who had been watching the whole time.

“You got the gist of it, right?”

“You’re using the territory’s Secret Intelligence Bureau for this?”

“Yepp.”

“Please don’t use such absurd methods just to deliver presents to kids. If your subordinates see this, they’ll be crushed by the sheer ridiculousness of it.”

If assassins had been watching, they’d probably be coughing up blood, begging him not to waste such advanced techniques on something so trivial. But Davey didn’t care.

Dressed in red and tidying his fake beard, Davey handed out some of the gift bags.

“Alright, you guys move out, too.”

Considering the number of children in Heins Territory, delivering gifts to all of them in one night would be no easy task.

“Um. But if we do this every year, won’t it be a huge waste of budget and manpower?”

“For now, the primary focus is spreading the tradition. After gaining momentum, it’ll take care of itself, and we’ll adjust things accordingly. If every kid gets a gift every single year, the underlying message will lose its meaning.”

Aina let out a quiet sigh before glancing down at the red Santa outfit she was wearing with an uncomfortable expression.

“This outfit is honestly kind of embarrassing.”

“Then don’t get caught. Who are you trying to look good for out here in the middle of the night?”

“Fine. I’ll be back.”

“Don’t ruin the kids’ dreams.”

“No one in my unit is clumsy enough to get caught by children. But, on the off chance that they do... what will happen?”

“I’ll dock your pay, then you can say goodbye to your cushy salary.”

“Guess I’ll have to deal with them personally.”

Without another word, she vanished into the night. Moving alongside her were the Dark Elves, who had once roamed the continent with her before settling in Heins Territory. Many of them had followed Aina there due to the incident with the Divine Tree’s Saint, becoming one of the territory’s greatest assets.

Davey gazed up at the night sky.

“It’d be nice if it snowed.”

Unfortunately, making it snow would require forcibly lowering the temperature of the entire territory.

As he mulled over the idea, something suddenly came to mind, and he clapped his hands together.

“Got it!”

Gathering two orbs of light in his palms, he crushed them together before releasing them.

The spheres flared even brighter, resonating as their structures shifted. He then formed it back into one large orb and hurled it into the sky.

Fwoosh!

With a soft burst, the light soared upward. It soon scattered down as warm, glowing snowflakes.

“Perfect.”

Satisfied, Davey swiftly made his way through all thirty houses he had planned to visit, his speed putting any other global gift-givers to shame. He then returned to where his three wives were patiently waiting, keen to accomplish his main goal. As soon as he stepped in, they busily handed him what they had prepared.

“Davey, here.”

The tradition of giving gifts to children was meant to become a cultural custom. However, that didn’t mean Davey could just pick anything at random when it came to Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, or Evangeline’s presents.

“Here’s Red Ribbon’s gift,” Illyna said, handing something to Davey.

Aeria, Illyna, and Perserque had personally prepared the gifts for the children.

“Red Ribbon kept saying she wanted to eat meat.”

“Well, that’s a pretty simple wish.”

Even so, it wasn’t exactly feasible to just hand over a box of beef as a gift. In the end, Red Ribbon’s present was decided to be a scarf that Illyna had knitted herself.

Since Illyna wasn’t the type to sit still and focus on delicate tasks, the scarf had turned out a bit clumsy. Still, the meaning behind the gift carried more weight than its craftsmanship.

“This is Blue Ribbon’s present.”

Next, Aeria handed over a hairpin made of jade, its color closely resembling her own teal-green hair.

“I made it myself,” she declared with pride.

“You made this? When did you learn how to make hairpins?”

“Hehe, I worked on it little by little whenever I had free time.”

With Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon’s gifts wrapped up, Perserque was the last to step forward, handing Davey a small box.

“It’s a picture of you holding Eva when she was still little. I used one of Earth’s special cameras to take it, so you won’t be able to find something like this anywhere here.”

“Hoh. This is nice.”

Evangeline in the photo was the dictionary definition of a tiny, adorable child. By then, due to her nature as an ancient dragon, she had grown immensely, though she retained her cuteness.

It wasn’t a particularly extravagant gift, but everyone agreed that simplicity had its own merit, especially in fostering meaningful traditions.

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Davey, what about Rinne’s gift?”

“I already took care of it.” Davey smoothly slipped out the window and vanished into the night.

* * *

When they weren’t by Davey’s side in their sword forms, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon usually slept in a small playroom inside the castle.

For some reason, the two had fallen asleep with Evangeline between them, tightly hugging her from both sides.

And, as expected of the same kids who had inspired one of Davey’s best cultural business ideas, they had each hung a red sock-like pouch above their pillows.

The slightest shifting noise rang in the room as Davey entered in full Santa getup, then peeking into one of the stockings.

[Red Libbon]

The spelling was a little off, but that only added to the cuteness. Each pouch had a name written on it, as if they were worried Santa might mix up the presents.

He let out a chuckle as he slipped their gifts into each pouch. Then, after gently brushing the sleeping children’s cheeks, he turned to leave—

‘Hmm?’

“It’s Santa. Target spotted.”

Right in front of him, flapping her wings while clutching her Savior of Humanity, was Rinne.

“What the—”

“Commencing capture!”

Ziiing!

Her wings gleamed as streaks of light shot out, wrapping tightly around Davey.

“Now!”

Following her strict command, Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, and Evangeline—who had appeared fast asleep just moments before—snapped their eyes open and shot up from bed.

“Whoa! It’s Santa!”

“He’s real! He came to give us presents!”

‘Don’t tell me they were planning to capture and steal Santa’s entire sack of presents?!’

Davey stared blankly at Rinne, speechless. Fortunately, his disguise—complete with a fake beard and elaborate red outfit—had done its job; they didn’t recognize him at the slightest.

If they had just tried to stay awake to catch a glimpse of Santa, that would’ve been cute. But what kind of kids plotted to ambush Santa and loot his entire gift sack?!

‘It couldn’t have been Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, or Eva who pitched it.’

Which meant there was only one mastermind behind the ridiculous plan.

Rinne.

“If you don’t resist, no blood will be spilled,” she declared with confident authority. “Rinne evaluates trust highly.”

‘Yeah, these kids need to be taught a serious lesson.

* * *

Boom!!

A massive explosion rang through the castle, but the knights on duty didn’t react. It wasn’t because they were neglecting their duties, though—Davey had silenced all sound in the area.

He quickly escaped Rinne’s attack range. But then, as if she had predicted and been waiting for the perfect moment, she shot toward him like a bullet.

“Rinne chooses the missile dropkick!”

Crash!!

Unlike Rinne, who was going all out, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon simply watched with curiosity, their expressions shifting into contemplation.

Then, with a nod as if they had made up their mind, they started moving toward the gift sack that Davey had dropped.

“W-Whoa! It’s full of presents!”

Of course, all the boxes were empty—simply decoys he had brought for appearance’s sake.

“R-Really?”

“W-Wait! Are we actually doing this?”

“Ugh.”

In the moment before finally succeeding, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon hesitated, rubbing their chins to decide what to do next.

“But doing this is bad.”

“Well...”

Watching them struggle with their conscience, Davey effortlessly parried Rinne’s reckless charge and lunged forward to snatch back the gift sack.

“Ah!! The presents!”

Red Ribbon, startled, flailed as she stumbled to her feet. In the process, she accidentally stepped on a toy car lying on the floor and lost her balance.

Reflexively, Davey threw the sack aside and caught her just in time, preventing her from tumbling out of the shattered wall.

While Red Ribbon’s true form as a sword meant she wouldn’t have been seriously hurt from a fall, that didn’t mean he was about to let it happen.

Then—

“Daddy?”

Looking up at him with wide, teary eyes, Red Ribbon wore an expression of disbelief.

‘What...?’

His beard was intact. His disguise was perfect. He had no clue how she had recognized him.

Davey stiffened in shock, blankly watching her eyes well up with tears.

“D-Daddy... You lied! Santa Claus was all a lie!!”

Just like that, she burst into a fountain of tears.

Seeing her cry, Blue Ribbon began crying as well.

Rinne, who had been quietly observing from the side, suddenly broke into a cold sweat. Without so much as a change in her outward expression, she slowly started backing away.

“Master Davey... Rinne knows nothing.”

“Freeze. We’ll talk later, Rinne.”

There was one thing he had absolutely tried his damnedest to avoid—getting caught by the children while disguised as Santa. That was why he had gone through all the trouble of coordinating his costume in the first place.

Yet after all of that work, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon had seen through it anyway.

“You tricked Red Ribbon, Daddy!!” Her wails grew even louder.

Davey couldn't help but make a flustered face.

Realizing that Santa wasn’t real, and that the one delivering gifts was just her father in disguise, was a devastating blow to their innocent hearts.

Evangeline was no exception.

“Daddy?”

“Uhh. Umm?”

“Santa Claus... doesn’t exist?”

Her face was filled with sorrow.

The kids might’ve been in the wrong for trying to mug Santa, but their heartbreak over the truth was an entirely separate issue.

And... It was all Rinne’s fault! Davey shot an oppressive, invisible force toward her, making her break into an even colder sweat as she nervously averted her gaze.

“Santa doesn’t exist!” Red Ribbon wailed at the top of her lungs, crying as if the world was ending.

Davey’s priority immediately shifted to calming them down.

Just then—

Jingle, jingle, jingle!

A soft bell rang from somewhere.

The kids, who had been crying uncontrollably, blinked in confusion.

They then turned toward the source of the sound, their eyes widening at what they saw.

“Wooow...”

Standing before them was a woman dressed in a red Santa outfit.

She had long golden hair flowing down her back, complete with a cute animal mask to cover her face—Davey immediately recognized her. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

A short Santa dress adorned with fluffy white trim—it might’ve looked adorable at a glance, but there was only one person in his memory who would ever wear something like that.

She silently took in the situation before casually picking up a ball from the floor and suddenly hurling it straight at Davey. She then calmly handed out presents to Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon before giving something to Evangeline as well.

“Stealing from people is bad,” she said firmly.

The three kids, still sniffling, nodded with blank expressions.

“You won’t do it again, right?”

“Uhhh. Are you Santa Claus?” Red Ribbon asked in awe.

Ms. Santa hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“That’s right. Here are your presents, Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, and Evangeline. You all did a lot of good deeds, but you also did something bad at the last moment. I was this close to not giving you anything.”

“Hic.”

“Waaah! We’re sorry!!”

Watching the kids cry, she spoke again to drive it home.

“You’ve done many good deeds in the past, so I’ll let it slide just this once. But you have to promise me you’ll never do it again!”

“We promise!!”

“W-We won’t ever do it again!”

Satisfied, she gently patted their heads, handing them their presents before scattering shimmering stardust into the air.

A true hero of the Saint Sanctuary.

The God of Mages—Odin.

Clearly uncomfortable being in the same space with Davey while in disguise, she fidgeted for a moment before hastily disappearing.

Davey had recognized her the moment she put on the Santa outfit, but it was obvious she had stepped in to help him smooth things over.

He then noticed a small box tucked into his pocket—one he had no memory of putting there himself. He couldn’t help but smirk.

‘Couldn’t she have just handed it to me as herself? I can’t believe she just snuck it in and ran off.’

He didn’t know what was inside, but he appreciated the thought nonetheless. Once he closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them again, her presence had already vanished as if she had become one with the light.

“Presents. They’re presents! Santa Claus. No, Santa sister was real!”

“We... We’ve been forgiven!”

Watching the two children sigh in relief, Davey chuckled. “Well, looks like Santa really did show up.”

“Daddy?”

“I guess you two got presents because you’ve been good this year.”

Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon exchanged glances, then hung their heads with teary eyes.

“We’re sorry, Daddy...”

Seeing that they regretted their actions, Davey realized that, though taking some unexpected turns, things had worked out for the best.

However, he still had one more stop to make—he hadn’t delivered a gift to Myuu in the Moon Forest, so he couldn’t linger there any longer.

“Alright, just make sure you don’t do something like this again. Got it?”

“Yeeees.”

He gently patted their heads before turning to Rinne.

The moment their eyes met, Rinne quickly tossed aside the present she had been holding and pulled out a crowbar, whistling nonchalantly as if she had no idea what was going on.

Then, realizing that a crowbar was an equally bad choice, she flung it away as well and clasped her hands behind her back, pretending to be oblivious and nonchalant.

“Rinne. Fix the wall. Before the night’s over.” He turned back to the children and Evangeline. “Go inside. Mommy’s waiting. Let’s sleep together tonight.”

Hearing that they’d get such a rare opportunity, the three kids brightened up, eagerly grabbing their gift bags and dashing off.

“M-Master Davey...”

Rinne hesitated.

“You and I will talk after I finish everything tonight. Your Decepticon command authority is revoked for two weeks.”

“T-That’s—?!”

‘How dare she try to capture Santa by luring the kids to be her accomplices? If it had just been Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, and Evangeline, they never would’ve come up with something so ridiculous! She’s definitely the real mastermind behind this absurdity!’

Though Rinne kept her expression neutral, Davey could tell that she was internally panicking.

With the gifting in Heins Territory complete, it was time to head toward the Moon Forest and the Yellowstone Tribe.

Before that, however, curiosity got the better of him. He opened the small gift box Odin had slipped into his pocket.

‘Receiving a gift from Santa while disguised as Santa himself?’ The irony made him chuckle.

With a soft click, the long, narrow box opened. Inside, he found a small orb and a note.

[I’ll burn it all down.]

“Huh...?”

Boom!!

When he regained consciousness, he was sprawled on the ground, wondering why he had just received a magic bomb instead of a present.