The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1043

Once Davey entered the quiet, elegant building Kouna’s grandfather had invited him to, the old man offered him a cup of tea.

“Our family used to run a traditional tea house long ago. Though we’ve since abandoned the business, the history and tradition haven’t disappeared.”

Davey silently watched as the man leisurely savored his tea, before lifting his own cup.

Meanwhile, Rinne—who had for some reason chosen to follow along—expressionlessly munched on the cookies offered by a servant.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time now. How’s the tea?”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point,” Davey said calmly.

The man looked at Davey intently, as if he was studying him, before continuing, “I’ve heard the stories. You’re her custodian.”

“Yes. I’m her custodian.”

“Yet, she already has someone who takes care of her, me. As her grandfather, her having a custodian seems a bit off.”

Davey simply smiled. “You have two chances left.”

Hearing his gentle but firm response, the man’s expression twitched slightly.

“As you know, our family’s corporation has been struggling. To stabilize our situation, we sought a business partnership with the Yoshiki Group.”

Davey had ruined that plan.

“If you have any sense of moral responsibility, shouldn’t you take accountability for that?” Davey countered with a question of his own, “What exactly is Kouna to you, anyway?”

“My beloved granddaughter, of course.”

“And yet you tried to sell her off for corporate profits?”

“How I choose to handle my family affairs is my business.”

Davey closed his eyes for a brief moment, then sighed.

“You have one chance left,” he said calmly with a piercing gaze. “Think carefully about your next words. Because I mean it—you only have one chance left.”

“What happens if I use it up?”

“Fuck around and find out. I’ve already exercised a great deal of patience because you’re her grandfather.”

“You’re an incredibly rude young man.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, and give you a pass. Just this once.”

“What happens to Kouna is my decision. Not yours.”

“You’re right. I don’t have the right to dictate her life,” Davey calmly responded.

Sensing an opportunity, her grandfather pressed forward, “Then take Kouna and leave. I won’t interfere with her life anymore. But in turn...”

“You want me to stabilize the company?”

“Do you think just that would be enough? Kouna isn’t someone to be given away so cheaply.” He slid a stack of documents across the table. “Sign this contract. If you marry Kouna and pledge your support to our family’s corporation, we can reach an agreement.”

Davey remained silent.

“You’re free to refuse. I won’t force you. But if you do, I’d appreciate it if you stopped calling yourself her custodian.”

The old man was her grandfather, but that didn’t matter to Davey.

“It seems you’ve forgotten something—I’m her only family! That means whatever I do with her is my decision!” Her loud grandfather’s mindset was utterly outdated.

Still, that didn’t surprise Davey in the slightest. People like him existed everywhere—not just in Korea and China, but also in the Middle East and parts of Europe.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not the one deciding her future,” Davey sternly insisted.

“That’s right.”

“And...” The floorboards nearby twisted and creaked. “It’s not your decision either. It’s hers.”

Despite the overwhelming force pressing down around him, he maintained his composed expression.

“Kouna. Make your choice,” Davey announced.

The doorway quietly slid open, and a young girl stepped into the room.

“K-Kouna?”

“Grandfather,” she said, her face devoid of emotion, “Stop trying to control my life.”

“W-What?!”

“I haven’t forgotten that you took me in and raised me. I’m grateful for that.”

Unlike her usual demeanor, she spoke in a firm tone, “But I refuse to let you dictate my future any longer.”

“You... You arrogant little—! Do you have any idea who’s been feeding and caring for you all this time?!”

“You just used up your last chance,” Davey said with a smile on his face.

Then, the old man froze in place.

“Sit.”

With that single command, his body trembled violently. “You... Y-You insolent! Guards! Is there no one here?!”

Throwing such a tantrum was something he had done countless times before without hesitation. If he had understood who he was dealing with at that moment, though, he never would’ve made such a choice.

“Greed, when excessive, only leads to disaster.” Standing up, Davey looked down at him.

“Y-You think you can walk away unscathed from this, Kouna?” her grandfather yelled in anger.

“At the very least, I won’t let myself be sacrificed for your foolish ambitions.”

“Kouna!!!” Furious, he reached for his cane, about to rise again.

Davey didn’t even need to step in again, since there was someone in the room even more enraged than he was.

Boom!!!

Before the old man could even scream, his body went flying into the wall.

“Gaaa!?” As he gasped in shock, his eyes locked on to an enormous divine beast pinning his torso to the ground with one massive paw.

[You dare attempt to harm my contractor?]

It let out a deep, guttural growl, shaking the very foundation of the room and inciting a primal fear in him.

[Though I am bound by my duty as a divine beast, if you lay a finger on Kouna again, I’ll rip you apart, even if it means becoming an evil divine beast.]

“Ugh?!”

Under the immense presence of Haitai, her grandfather couldn’t even speak.

Kouna, who normally would have intervened by then, remained silent.

“I will repay the kindness you showed me,” she said, turning to leave. “But I will no longer allow you to control my life.”

She then walked out. The moment she was gone, Haitai vanished as well.

Davey approached her grandfather, who was still struggling for breath as he was pinned against the wall.

“People who let their greed consume them always end up suffering the consequences.”

“Y-You... You turned that obedient child against me!”

“No,” Davey said, gripping his collar and slowly lifting him off the ground. “You’re the one who was stupid enough to believe she’d always be your obedient little pawn.”

He then put on a wicked smile.

“Live quietly from now on. Unlike the Yoshiki Group as a whole, you’re still Kouna’s grandfather, so I won’t lay another hand on you.”

“I’ll make you regret this.”

“Regret? You’re the one who should be careful.”

At the end of the day, the man was nothing more than the head of a long-established family business in Japan.

“And just how do you even plan to beat me?”

They weren’t even on the same playing field.

“I-I’ll make this public! I’ll take this to the media!”

“Go ahead.”

It was an empty threat, as the strongest witness wasn’t him but Kouna.

“And if you do, I’ll use every resource at my disposal to drag you to the depths of hell.”

The old man didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t think I won’t. I hope you don’t just see me as some random outsider from Tionis.”

A cold, suffocating aura, different from the divine beast’s, wrapped around the old man, making him shudder uncontrollably.

“If you had truly cared for Kouna as your granddaughter, I would’ve saved your company myself. But alas, you’re just an idiot who threw that opportunity away with your own two hands.” He released his grip and turned away. “Let’s go, Rinne.”

* * *

Having overcome multiple situations at the brink of death, Kouna ultimately declared her independence.

Of course, she wanted to follow Davey to Tionis. Instead, he simply grabbed her by the collar and tossed her into the Sacred Group’s Japan branch.

“Pioneer your own path. Don’t go chasing after things you’re not ready for.”

It was only right not to take responsibility for something he couldn’t commit to. Davey could only hope that his suspicion—that she might’ve developed feelings for him—was just his imagination. But with even the slightest chance of it, he had no intention of going along with it.

“Still, Kouna is one of Japan’s top Awakened individuals. Doing this so arbitrarily—”

“If she chooses to contract with the Sacred Group, that’s a different story. Don’t you think so?”

The Japanese government probably wouldn’t be happy about it, but they weren’t exactly in a position to refuse either. Kouna had the final say in her own fate, and they had already seen what happened when others tried to control her.

“She’ll operate within Japan, but you should still give her some support. She’s not exactly a bad investment, is she?”

“True. We’ll welcome her with open arms.”

In fact, the Sacred Group had already contracted with the best Awakened individual in the United States.

“Davey, thanks to your meddling, now I’ll have to visit Japan more often. What a pain.”

“Want me to help?”

“You trying to tank my company?” She smirked and patted his back. “Take care of yourself, you squid.”

“Got it, skinny octopus. I’ll swing by again soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, now get lost.”

Though she waved him off with a harrumph, she had a smile on her face.

* * *

It wasn’t difficult for Kouna to finalize the escape from her grandfather’s grasp.

Before he could even attempt another scheme, the Sacred Group had already crushed both the Yoshiki Group and the company led by her grandfather.

Surprisingly, both companies had accumulated plenty of enemies over the years, so the moment Sacred Group started testing the waters, the enemies wasted no time reaching out and forming alliances against them.

In the end, the two companies were dismantled by external forces before the Sacred Group even had to make a serious move.

Afterward, Kouna wore an expression full of dissatisfaction. But instead of voicing her complaints, she simply said she’d wait for Davey to return.

“You have to come back.”

“I will. And if anything comes up, don’t keep it to yourself. That much I’ll do, as your custodian.”

“I thought you said you were done being my custodian...”

“I’ll let it go this once.”

As Davey chuckled, she gazed up at him in silence before covering her mouth with a small fist and letting out a quiet laugh.

It was an undeniably cute smile.

Then, without warning, she reached out, pulled him in, and hugged him tightly. “I like you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

‘What?’

Her face was twisted at his completely indifferent response. Davey had no intention of leaving any room for misinterpretation.

“I thought about it, and I still want to go with you.”

“Not happening. Stay here and handle your responsibilities.” With that, he flicked her forehead and tore through space.

* * *

Ever since Amy had stopped handling administrative work, the workload in Heins Territory had begun to pile up.

Perserque—who had been left overseeing those duties in her place—stared at the mountain of documents before her with an unreadable expression.

“How did I end up dealing with this nonsense? I need to give Davey a proper scolding one of these days.”

After painstakingly sorting through everything, she stood up and called, “Royal Attendant Bernile, has he still not returned?”

“His Highness arrived several hours ago.”

“What? So, while I’ve been breaking my back with all this, he was off enjoying himself?” Perserque remarked sharply with a smile on her face.

“No, my lady. His Highness said he couldn’t burden you with the work, so he finished all your remaining tasks before leaving.”

Her expression went blank. She knew the workload would’ve taken at least four full days to complete, yet Bernile was telling her that her lazy husband had handled all of it in just a few hours.

“Davey, that rascal. Did he say where he went?”

“He mentioned stopping by the order for a bit.”

Perserque let out a sigh.

“Oh, and this—His Highness asked me to deliver it to you. He said he’d be back by evening.”

It was a beautifully wrapped package of walnut pastries.

“Oh? How did he know this was my favorite?” Her earlier frustration vanished in an instant as she set the last of her paperwork aside. She hummed happily as she unwrapped a pastry.

Popping one into her mouth, she asked, “What about Illyna and Aeria?”

“They’ve already received theirs.”

“I see. Mmm, these are pretty good.” Chewing contentedly, she made a pleased smile. “Hmm? The taste is a little off...”

“P-Pardon?” Royal Attendant Bernile, who rarely showed emotion, briefly faltered.

Perserque scrutinized the pastry in her hand before shaking her head. “No, never mind. There’s no way Davey would have put something weird in it.”

She continued eating, completely oblivious to what was hidden inside and the subtle changes already beginning within her. At the same time, Davey had taken Illyna to visit the order, where they observed the training of new recruits.

“Urgh.”

A senior knight lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

Before him, a younger man twirled his sword playfully, smirking. “Honestly, I expected more from you seniors, but turns out you’re all disappointing. If you’re that weak, just step aside and let us handle the order from now on.”

The words, coming from a mere trainee knight, were absurd.

Illyna, looking thoroughly unimpressed next to Davey, turned to Shayir Renda and Fendyr Renda. They were their classmates from the 268th batch, and also the class mood makers.

“Did they just stop teaching basic manners these days?”

“Hmm. He wasn’t like that at first," said Shayir Renda, a water spirit user, "but he got a little too full of himself over time.”

“He’s never actually faced real danger before,” added Fendyr Renda, a wind spirit user, “but throwing him straight into battle could end badly, so...”

“Other graduates should be arriving soon,” Shayir said, tapping Davey’s shoulder with a bright smile. “Might as well say hi while you’re here.”

Thud!

The door swung open as several people entered.

Among them was Heg, a burly knight wielding a massive weapon. She had always been an energetic, boisterous presence in their group.

“Hey! Davey! Illyna! Long time no see!”

“It’s been a while, Heg.”

“Congrats on getting married!” Heg grinned and pulled both of them into a crushing hug.

Trailing behind her was Lucia Shelman, who was a priest and an extreme Daphne fanatic. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“To think I would meet both of you here! Surely, this is the blessing of Saintess Daphne!”

Davey glared at her and thought to himself.

‘It’s really not...’

Illyna chuckled at the reunion, enjoying the lively atmosphere.

“Illyna, haven’t heard from you in a while,” a voice chimed in.

Turning, Illyna barely had time to react before the person gently clasped her hands.

“Ugh. A-Alyssa, you’re here too?”

Alyssa Patrick—a noblewoman from the Pallan Empire, and her old protector.

“Of course I am. His Majesty constantly asks me for updates on you, don’t you know?”

As a skilled illusionist, she had far too much talent to settle for the life of a mere noblewoman.

One by one, their old comrades gathered. Finally, someone brought up the real reason Davey had come.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the new recruits lately. Is that why you’re here?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“We should probably start praying for them now.”

Lucia pressed her hands together in a prayer while some of the others chuckled, already picturing what was about to happen.

“You’re not going to train them like you did when we trained together... right?” Shayir, suddenly looking pale, eyed Davey warily.

“It’ll be similar, but not the same.”

This time, he had even stronger teachers waiting for them.

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