The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1275

The king broke out in a cold sweat. He had no idea that while he was trying to pressure Davey, he was instead the one being backed into a corner.

“First, calm down. That accusation is completely false,” Davey assured him.

“I want to believe in Your Majesty, but considering the circumstances...”

Someone else suddenly spoke up, shouting, “Prince, you’re being far too rude to His Majesty!”

“Did you say rude?” Davey turned to the high-ranking envoy standing beside the king, and the man gave a firm nod.

“His Majesty simply wants to hear the truth behind the disturbance you have caused in the capital of the Haetan Kingdom. You should be explaining the details of the situation instead of being so disrespectful toward His Majesty!”

So, he wasn’t just some fool who got swept up in the moment.

Davey responded with a soft smile.

It didn’t matter if the man stepped in. Everything that needed to be pushed through had already gone through.

“Forgive the rudeness,” Davey said. “I must’ve lost my composure for a moment, since the Haetan royal family decided to treat such ridiculous rumors seriously.”

“N-No, it's fine. Even I’d be outraged if someone called the wife I love a demon. I understand.”

The king wasn’t exactly a sharp man. Pretty spineless, as well.

Abel stared at Davey, likely surprised that he had taken a step back and yielded an inch, but that didn’t matter. Even if he failed to press the king further, as long as the king let go of his intent to interrogate Davey, that’d be enough. Besides, that hadn’t been the goal from the beginning.

“I’ll have Heins Territory compensate for any financial damages caused by the disturbance.”

“Well, that’s a relief. So, have you secured the man responsible?”

Davey smiled slightly.

It was time for him to lie.

“No. He got away.”

The nobles, who had gone pale under his pressure, broke into exaggerated murmurs.

“No way. The Saint failed to catch a man? What nonsense.”

“He must be incredibly quick.”

“Silence!” Eventually, the king raised his voice in forced authority and shifted the mood. Davey figured he must’ve had something in his own way.

“That man fled toward the royal capital. He seemed to know the terrain quite well. Based on that, I’ve concluded that the one who spread the rumors works within the capital.”

The king’s eyes sparkled. It was obvious what he was thinking, so Davey communicated it to Abel.

[He probably wants to capture the culprit and extract information from him. According to Aina, the information guild sold the evidence of you trying to hand it over to the royal family.]

[Isn’t this fraud?]

[There’s no such thing as fraud-free diplomacy.]

“Infiltrating the capital? What utter nonsense! Your Majesty, there’s a vast magical barrier system protecting the capital! There’s no credibility in the prince’s claims.”

“That’s enough. I’m having a conversation right now, Marquis,” the king sternly rebuked.

“Y-Your Majesty...”

“Stand down.” The king asked with a tired expression, “As the Marquis said, infiltrating the capital is no simple matter, Prince.”

“Yes. Under normal circumstances, that'd certainly be the case. However, I clearly saw him enter the capital without any issue. Now then, Your Majesty, what possibilities do you think that leaves?”

The answer was obvious. It meant someone in the capital had let him in.

Bang!!

“Ridiculous! We’ve never allowed a swindler like that in!!”

Of course he’d say that. It must’ve felt unfair to him, but Davey didn’t care. Instead, he responded coldly, as if he had turned even angrier, “I saw the man who treated my wife like a demon enter this place. If it wasn’t by Your Majesty’s orders, then there must be someone inside the capital helping him.”

The capital had magical defenses, so surreptitious infiltration was impossible. That meant there was only one way he could’ve gotten in, and someone inside helped him.

With how things turned out, they were all getting dragged into suspicion.

From the king’s perspective, it must’ve been infuriating. After all, Davey, who was practically a ticking time bomb, was demanding custody of that man.

“Your Majesty, I said I’d take responsibility for the damage I caused.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“Then I ask that Haetan also lend their support so that I can capture him.”

The king must’ve been frustrated, not knowing the full truth. “What do you want me to...?”

“What else? Once I capture him, transfer him to me through proper procedures under the laws of the Haetan Kingdom. That much would be enough. I’ll also make sure to prevent any chaos that might occur during the process.”

Acting like he was doing them a favor, Davey secured the authority to stay in the capital and investigate.

He felt Abel staring at him in a daze.

[You really are a master at smooth-talking your way through things, Father.]

The king seemed to think for a moment. Not long after, he gave his approval. “Very well. I’ll trust the Saint’s words, but I’ll assign part of the knights to accompany you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

‘So he thinks he can monitor me with just a few knights? Fufu.’

Davey smiled and bowed politely, then turned around. “Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Please.”

* * *

Abel walked down the palace corridor alongside Davey and asked, “Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“Hmm?”

“It feels like the king agreed way too easily. It makes no sense. He did hem and haw about it, but he’s basically letting you tear through the capital as you please. Even if he wants to catch the purported rat, it’s foolish to risk burning down the whole house...”

“Son,” Davey said, walking ahead. “You said it yourself. The king is obsessed with demons.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I did.”

“Now imagine how desperately he’d want to get his hands on someone who might have clues or evidence related to demons.”

In this case, it wasn’t just any demon. The suspect had clues and evidence suggesting that the wife of the Saint of Tionis, a hero known across the continent, might be a demon.

“He’ll probably try to get the information he wants from the culprit before he transfers him to me.”

They weren’t interested in taking him into custody, but instead securing the intel the man supposedly had.

“Ah. So that’s why you said you’d only take custody after the proper procedures.”

“Exactly.”

“Isn’t that incredibly dumb?”

Davey gave a short laugh and patted Abel on the shoulder. “Son.”

“Yes, Father?”

“Did it seem like I just kept pressing them unknowingly from the moment I walked in?”

“Well, you did it so they wouldn’t be able to think straight... Oh.” Finally realizing the intent, Abel nodded.“These kinds of situations really are hard for me to grasp.”

“How’s a son from your mother and me turn out so weak at psychological games?”

“I know, right? Darian’s really good at this kind of stuff, but me? Not so much.”

It was oddly fascinating how parents and children could have completely opposite personalities.

“Everyone has their own strengths. You seem to have a talent for magic,” Davey reassured him.

“No, not really. Compared to Evageline or Darian, I’m not much.”

When Abel started mumbling gloomily, clearly showing how inferior he felt, Davey lightly tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, you can’t have everything in life. For now, since we don’t have a solid lead, let’s just plant a wave detecting circle. We’ll say it’s a simple tracking spell, and quietly observe the flow of magical waves coming from the capital. Sooner or later, something will pop up.”

“Ummm. Didn’t you say we didn’t have much time?”

Abel only had a few days of safety remaining at most. They had less than a week to figure it out.

Davey understood why Abel was so anxious, but he simply gave him a calm smile. “You trust your dad, right?”

“If you’re asking if I trust you... yes, I do.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Come on.”

“Uhh. Where are we going?” he cautiously asked Davey.

“Fishing.”

* * *

Abel clearly hadn’t expected Davey to actually go fishing after saying he would.

“Son, there’s a lake in the Haetan Kingdom that’s home to some unique fish. It’s a well-known spot among anglers.” Davey baited a sea worm onto the reel rod he pulled from his Pocket Plane, then skillfully cast the line to the far side of the lake.

Abel sat beside him, holding his own fishing rod with a blank expression as he looked at Davey. “Father... isn’t this a bit too relaxed, given the situation?”

Davey leaned back into his fishing chair and pulled out a small mana stone. “Stop with the nonsense. Take this.”

“What is it?” Abel asked, sounding confused. “It feels like it’s enchanted. Wait, is this a resonance mana stone?”

“That’s right.”

Fishing wasn’t just about catching fish. There was no reason to linger in the royal capital while walking on eggshells.

The detection magic circles planted throughout the capital under the guise of ordinary magic circles would record every energy fluctuation they picked up, then transmit it through the mana stone.

“Since you remember that wave pattern, you should be able to identify it through the stone. We’ll start with this method, and if nothing comes up, we’ll dig deeper.”

Davey smiled, and Abel sighed in resignation before casting his line into the water. “I feel like that’s not the only reason we’re out here.”

“I just wanted to talk with you, my son.” Davey had never really had a chance to have an honest one-on-one conversation with him.

Well, of course he hadn’t. Darian was still a babbling baby, and the Abel he knew was a newborn who hadn’t even opened his eyes yet.

Now that his son from the future had come to him, it was only natural that Davey felt a strange, emotional stir as a father.

“I just wanted to have some time to talk with you. A day off wouldn’t hurt, right?”

The tension Abel had been carrying finally softened as he laughed. “Haha, alright. But Father, if we can’t find any leads, I...”

“If that happens, I’ll take care of it. If we really can’t find the cause, then I’ll flip the entire Haetan royal family on its head to make sure that the future you experienced never comes to pass.”

It wasn’t an ideal solution. If they couldn’t find the source, then they’d just have to burn everything down to erase the problem.

Of course, there was no guarantee something similar wouldn’t happen again in the future. Even so, being obsessed with that and growing paranoid would be a loss in its own right.

Davey had set up the fishing chairs side by side, fixed the rods into holders, and placed a makeshift table between them. He then took out an enchanted chessboard.

“I tweaked the game pieces I snatched from that old Archmage Urd back in the day. Pretty cool, right?”

“Oh, this. You used to carry this around all the time.” Abel chuckled quietly as he looked at the chess pieces.

“Come on, Son. Let’s play a round, and while we do, tell me your story. What happened with Kouna? I’m curious.”

Abel quietly looked at Davey. The strange look in his father's eyes stirred a sense of unease in him. Then, Abel smirked and spoke, “But you suck at this game, Father.”

Abel O’Rowane’s record was 582 games, with 581 losses. Only one win.

‘Ha. This punk is really my son.’

Davey grabbed a handful of worms from the nearby bait bucket and shoved them right into Abel’s face, grinding them in.

“You sure that’s how you should be talking to your dad? You’re one hell of a son!”

“Aaaahhh!!”

* * *

After messing around for a bit, Abel finally pulled away from Davey, gasping for breath.

If Perserque or Illyna saw them like this, they’d probably scold Davey. Yet, even if just for a brief moment, he just wanted to spend time with his son like a normal father.

Davey had never experienced something like that before. Even in his previous life, he had no parents. In his current one, he’d been practically abandoned, treated with nothing but coldness.

Perhaps that was why the impulse to never treat his own child that way had only grown stronger.

Ssss. Plop!!

Davey scowled as he reeled in a tiny ricefish, then he tossed it back into the lake before casting his line again with practiced ease. Without even looking, he reached toward the chessboard between him and Abel, moving a pawn forward one space.

“So. Kouna avoided you?”

“Of course. From her perspective, I was just some little kid she’d seen crawling around in diapers. Then, one day, that same kid suddenly shows up, all grown up, trying to woo her. You can imagine how shocked she must’ve been.”

Abel had been anxious at first to spend time with Davey like this, but at some point, he got lost in the conversation, forgetting his worries and regaining his composure.

That was all Davey wanted. Just a little time for his son to relax and breathe.

There was no telling how long Abel had drifted through the gaps of time before landing in this timeline. Yet, judging from his condition, it must’ve been at least half or even a full year.

The loneliness and pain, the sorrow and hatred he’d carried—none of that could be dismissed lightly.

“But what could I do? It was love at first sight. Who cares about age? I chased after her like my life depended on it. Then, at some point, I don’t know if she gave up or something changed, but she started to open up to me.” He smiled bitterly, lost in his memories of Kouna. “Back then... ah! Father, take that move back!”

“Tough shit!You think life’s that easy, and you can get tons of do-overs? Check.”

“Ah. Dammit.”

His perfect memory really came in handy at times like these. With his flawless recall, Davey held a massive advantage in strategy games.

The only person who could go toe-to-toe with him in that kind of game was Aeonitia, who had a similarly perfect memory. Then again, whenever the game took a turn into mind games and constant fake moves, he’d made even her cry in frustration more than once.

In the peaceful atmosphere, Abel tried and failed to hide his mild frustration, so Davey decided to change the topic. It was a rather sensitive question, but he kept his eyes fixed on the lake as he asked, “What’s Heins Territory like in your time?”

“It’s peaceful. A massive territory with hundreds of thousands of residents.”

“It’s grown that much? And those troublemakers?”

“Troublemakers? Oh, you mean the Gourmet Research Society?”

Davey’s face twisted with a mix of disbelief and annoyance. “So the Development Society’s quiet, huh?”

“Nope, don’t even get me started. The Gourmet Research Society is absolute madness, and the Development Society? They’re all lunatics. Aunt Aeonitia, Sister Yuria... all of them are constantly causing chaos.” So even after all that time, those lunatics hadn’t changed one bit. “But they get results, so no one can rein them in. And you... well, you say you feel like bald—”

“What?” Davey slowly stood up, a deathly solemn look on his face. “Say that again. What did you just say?”

“Bald.”

“You’re telling me I go bald?”

Abel let out a soft chuckle. “No, no. You always said you felt like you were going to go bald.”

‘Yep. He really is my son.’

That’s when the situation finally happened.

Whummm. Whummm.

Among the magic circles laid out for detection, something familiar suddenly triggered an alert.

“Why is this...?” Davey murmured.

Abel, meanwhile, didn’t notice a thing. He looked completely unconcerned.

“Abel.”

“Yeah?”

“You said that when I investigated that place in the future, there were no leads. Right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That’s what you told me.”

‘That can’t be right.’

Davey briefly considered throwing down his fishing rod and rushing back to the capital. Yet instead, he sat back down.

‘Right, it’s not like the guy can run far. He’s already in the palm of my hand.’

There was also no telling if he’d ever get a moment like this again—just father and son, fishing, playing chess, talking.

The urge to hold onto this quiet time won out.