The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1018

"Did I do something wrong?"

Davey stared at the pile of ashes that used to be a gift box, deep in thought as debris rained over him.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no logical reason for her to give him a parcel bomb.

"Master Davey.”

Naturally, the sheer magnitude of the explosion attracted a lot of sudden attention. The first to notice and rush over was none other than Rinne—he couldn't deny feeling a bit grateful for that.

"Rinne detects significant energy disturbance. Rinne analyzes the destructive power as highly dangerous. Master Davey, Rinne urges immediate confirmation of your safety."

Ever since being awoken by Davey, Rinne had followed him almost blindly.

But then again, he wondered how much he actually knew about her.

The White Wings Sephiroth of the Extermination Unit created by Neltarid? The remnant of a civilization over ten thousand years old?

Beyond the tangible, he knew there had to be other things he didn’t even think of questioning.

Davey had never really tried to figure out what Rinne truly thought about on a daily basis.

"Rinne."

"Rinne determines there to be the possibility of potential terrorism. Rinne evaluates the severity of the attack on Master Davey lowly. Rinne requests authorization for retaliation."

Still lying on the ground, Davey squinted up at her and muttered, "Quit the nonsense and just fix it already."

Rinne visibly flinched.

After dusting himself off, Davey used a cleaning spell to erase the traces of the explosion before turning back to her.

"I may not always know what’s on your mind, but after spending years together, do you really think I wouldn’t notice? You were in the middle of repairing the wall, simply jumping at the opportunity to escape or otherwise delay your punishment.”

Rinne had the ability to detect energy fluctuations. She knew full well that this level of explosion wasn’t enough to harm Davey. Yet, she had deliberately rushed over and made a big fuss—clearly trying to use it as an excuse to get out of the punishment he had ordered her to deal with.

"I’m right, aren’t I?"

"Rinne evaluates Master Davey’s sharpness lowly.”

"Stop teaching Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon those kinds of tricks.”

"Rinne evaluates highly efficient gift acquisition methods—"

"The problem is, those kids believe everything they hear and grow up genuinely thinking that way."

Rinne visibly slumped her shoulders and turned away in shame.

"Oh, right. Rinne, catch."

Reaching into his Pocket Plane, Davey pulled out a small bundle and tossed a box to her that was the same color as her hair.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"It’s a glowing mana stone. You like this kind of stuff, don’t you?"

Her mechanical heart—the God of Machinery—was an evolving power core. It could also resonate with and absorb special types of energy.

"It won’t be a huge boost, but it won’t hurt to have it, right?"

Glowing mana stones were similar to magic stones, but their energy storage method was slightly different. It was actually a more compatible energy source for Rinne compared to regular magic stones.

"Ah. Ahh. Rinne evaluates glowing mana stones highly!”

Despite still sporting her usual blank expression, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Glad you like it."

She opened the box, lifted the glowing mana stone high into the air, and let out another loud exclamation.

"Evaluates! Highly!”

"Now, go fix that wall. Since you made the mess, you need to clean it up.”

"If Rinne deploys full construction capabilities, the estimated completion time is thirty minutes! Rinne acknowledges command!” She shot into the air and disappeared in an instant.

Watching her go, Davey couldn’t help but chuckle before returning to his own work.

* * *

Unlike her original plan, after having caused a massive mess, Odin returned to the Saint Sanctuary.

Her eyes were twitching in frustration.

"Pfft. Puhahaha!!"

The moment the Sword God Ares and Dokgo Jun the Heavenly Destroyer saw her, they both burst into laughter, immediately prompting her brows to furrow.

"Don’t laugh."

"Ahahaha!!!"

Of course, those two were not the kind to listen to such requests.

Odin briefly considered gathering black flames in her palm and hurling them at the guffawing idiots, but in the end, she held back. Instead, she waved them off and began walking toward her place.

"But seriously, you gave Davey a bomb as a gift?"

"Wow. Just wow,” Dokgo Jun said, suddenly showing no signs of drunkenness.

It was quite rare for him to have a sober discussion.

Odin stopped in her tracks.

"Whatever. He just pisses me off. If Davey comes looking for me, tell him I’m not here—I still have other gifts to give."

Watching her vanish, Ares shook his head.

Not long after, space itself ripped open.

"Where is that damned Odin?”

Davey stormed in, looking thoroughly infuriated.

"Oh?"

"Damn, your timing is on point."

"Where is she?"

"Why? What are you planning?"

"What else?” His eyes gleamed ominously as he grinned. “Revenge.”

Dokgo Jun clicked his tongue.

"Chill out, you idiot. If you keep it up, you’ll be roasted again before you even have the chance to get revenge.”

"Uh. I already got roasted once and came back, though?"

"Tsk."

Shaking his head, Dokgo Jun took a swig straight from his gourd, filling the room with the thick scent of liquor.

He continued to talk with a relaxed expression, "That damn prideful woman had to swallow her ego and rely on you, the youngest one she’s always thought she has to protect. You know that’s gotta sting. She probably felt both humiliated and grateful at the same time. Then, after setting her pride aside and going through all that, you caught her red-handed. It’s really no wonder she’s all in her feelings."

He waved a hand dismissively, "Drop it and go home. Shoo, shoo."

Davey, who had been fully intent on tracking Odin down and giving her a piece of his mind, now stood there in silence, his eyes closed.

"Tsk."

He had known the truth all along. Once the heat of the moment had passed, his frustration was redirected toward a different target.

"Father-in-law."

"Call me by my name. That title makes me cringe every time I hear it," Ares yawned loudly, sprawled out on the floor.

Davey opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated for a moment as Ares took the container from Dokgo Jun and chugged some liquor.

"Do you want to come see Per?"

"Pfft!!" Ares spat out a mouthful of alcohol, spraying it all over Davey.

"Uh. I-I suddenly remembered something urgent—"

Like Perserque, Ares seemed unable to make the decision.

"You haven’t even properly seen your daughter’s face in forever. Don’t you want to? Maybe go and meet your grandkids too?"

"What?! Perserque is pregnant?!” Ares shot to his feet, shouting in shock.

Davey shook his head, "No. I was just saying it as an example."

"You little shit!"

Furious, Ares chucked the gourd at Davey. But alas, he effortlessly caught it, took a few gulps, and asked again, "So, do you want to meet her or not?”

Ares fell into deep thought.

"Per seems to be struggling, too. She probably has her own unresolved feelings."

"I..."

"If you do want to see her, I can make it happen, even if just for a brief hello.”

Ares remained silent for a long moment before finally answering, "I won’t meet her."

‘Like father, like daughter. Geez.’

"Sigh. You two are so frustrating."

"You’re one to talk."

A strained relationship—whether between parents and children or master and disciple—was all the same.

* * *

The life essence orb that Davey had received from Bi Yeon pulsed faintly in his hand.

From appearance alone, it was impossible to tell what purpose it could serve. Davey simply stared at it in silence before rising to his feet.

"Davey, what exactly are you planning to do with that?" Perserque leaned in and asked.

"Huh? Oh, hey."

"The power of life essence, huh? What, are you trying to make another living golem like Rinne or something?"

"I have an idea. Not sure if it’ll work, though. I have to test it out first."

"Here we go again... What hideous things are you trying to make this time?”

Suspicious, she scanned the area for any other signs of insanity.

"Really, what are you going to do?’

"Nothing.”

"It has something to do with me, doesn’t it?" she questioned sharply.

He flinched.

"You know, you have a certain tell when you try to hide things related to me."

‘Just how much does she actually know?’

Maintaining his blank expression, Davey resolutely shook his head.

"What are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous. Anyway, I need to head to Earth and pick up those kids. They should be wrapping up the research soon, so it’s about time to bring them back."

"Hmmm. No matter how I look at it, it seems like you’re lying."

"Lying? Me, lying? Pfft. As if.”

"You’re rubbing your fingertips together again."

He froze.

"Whatever. Just don’t cause any trouble while you’re there." She gave a small, knowing smile.

"Yeah."

"But I should get something for my troubles."

Seeing her sly smile, Davey hesitated for a moment before grabbing her by the shoulder, pulling her closer.

It was just like her to never let herself lose out on a deal.

* * *

"Ugh. Uuuuugh."

Tossing and turning alone in her massive bed, Aeonitia groaned before slowly sitting up, furrowing her brows in exhaustion.

Her daily routine in Korea was fairly straightforward.

She was staying in the accommodations the Korean government had provided her, for use while she worked on joint research with Korea’s top scientists.

But thanks to some people scheming, multiple countries had begun showing interest in their research on nuclear waste neutralization and recycling. More and more people kept trying to contact her, only serving to disrupt her already overflowing workload.

She had, of course, tried complaining to Davey about it. But she only received an absolutely infuriating response from him.

—You think people will just leave you alone when you become a renowned researcher? You might as well get used to it—it’ll serve as valuable experience.

He had said that pain was just part of youth, an aspect of growing up.

The memory of her damn brother saying these words with an overly bright smile made Aeonitia ruffle her golden hair in frustration.

"If I were a medical patient he’d call it pain and give me counseling, but since I’m a kid, it’s just growing pains?! He’s just messing with me on purpose."

Though she knew that what Davey said wasn’t wrong, she couldn’t help but find him annoying.

"Haah."

Still visibly exhausted, she got up in her animal pajamas and took a quick glance at her mess of a dining table—piles of documents scattered everywhere, paired with a tower of empty energy drink cans. Unbothered, she yanked open the fridge.

"I’ll give Earth this—its refrigeration tech is definitely more efficient than what Tionis has."

While Tionis had well-established mana-based cooling systems, she couldn’t help but think how convenient the thing called electricity was.

Standing on her toes, she grabbed a few side dishes from the fridge and started setting them on the table, shoving the documents aside with the practiced ease of a veteran of chaos.

While readying the table, her hand suddenly brushed against something odd.

"Hm? What’s this?"

There was a large red stocking underneath the table. It was oddly shaped—not quite like something a person would actually wear.

"What is this? A box? Inside a sock? Who put this here?"

Puzzled, she pulled the stashed box out and casually opened it.

Inside was a small ring and a handwritten letter.

"A ring?"

Curious, she slid it onto her finger.

"Whoa. Creepy. It fits perfectly."

Shivering slightly, she unfolded the letter.

[Merry Christmas. Sincerely: Santa, who brings gifts to good children.]

Aeonitia squinted with skepticism.

"Santa..."

She had heard of the name before.

Illyna, who was obsessed with Earth’s culture, and Tiara, who zipped around on an electric scooter, had both mentioned it a lot.

Yawning, she lazily reached for her smartphone and quickly made a search.

She nodded to herself with understanding.

"So, basically... a grandpa who gives presents in December to kids who were good throughout the year?”

Muttering to herself, she took a closer look at the ring again before sighing.

"What kind of pervert could know even my exact ring size? And when did they even get in here? I need to tell Davey to do something about this security breach..." She frowned.

Had this been the old her, she would’ve been thrilled at the thought of getting a visit from Santa.

But years had passed, and endless nights of research had worn her down, making her extremely irritable.

"Ugh, seriously. Santa? In this day and age? It’s scientifically impossible. Laughable, even. And yet kids still buy into this nonsense..."

Her innocence had long since shattered.

"I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to give feedback and peer reviews on the research results...”

She aggressively and impatiently shoved food into her mouth while simultaneously fixing her hair.

Knock! Knock! Knock!!

Before she could finish, she heard a knock at her door.

Still in her pajamas, Aeonitia sluggishly got up and shuffled toward the entrance.

"Who is it?"

"It’s me."

‘That voice...’

Her eyes suddenly widened in recognition.

It was none other than her brother Davey.

In a near panic, she hastily smoothed her hair down, running to her bedroom and changing from her animal pajamas to a more age-appropriate outfit at lightning speed.

After catching her breath, she flung the door open.

"O-Oh! Davey! What brings you here?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my sister? I already checked in on Baris, Winley, and Tanya—now it’s your turn."

"Uhh. But my research isn’t done yet. If you could just give me a little more time—"

"Who said I came here to talk about your research?"

Davey lowered himself slightly and pulled her into a hug.

"I was wrong. It’s about time you take a much needed break."

Aeonitia froze.

She began to question reality, believing she must have misheard the kind words coming out of her brother’s normally merciless mouth.