The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

“Let go!!” A woman surrounded by people screamed fiercely, “Let go of me!”

“Please, calm down!!”

“How can I calm down now?!”

“Please, just calm down. What are you going to do if you lose it too!”

Reina, a celestial as well as one of Davey’s subordinates, clenched her fists so hard they looked like they were about to shatter.

On the verge of tears, she spoke in a trembling voice, “He's in pain. How can I just stand by and do nothing...”

Watching her finally sink to the floor and sob, Yuria looked at the people around them with a solemn face. “Rinne, are you alright?”

There was no response.

While Rinne was her usual emotionless self, she didn't seem to be in a good mood. She couldn't be as agitated as Reina, as she wasn't in the exact same shoes.

“Just wait for now. Since Teacher contacted us, he must be doing well.” Josiah Frances gently comforted Reina, who kept sobbing. “Think about it. Teacher isn’t the kind of person who goes somewhere and gets hurt. Would it even help if we went there? If it were possible for us to contribute, he would’ve already used us.”

The fact that he hadn't meant that he didn't need their help. More accurately, it meant he could resolve it himself.

“So, let's just wait a little longer.”

As someone keenly sensitive to his changes, Josiah understood how Reina felt. However, she couldn’t allow her to cause a ruckus. She wanted all of them to find him immediately.

“Haaah. What in the world is he doing, and where is he...”

Davey had gone completely off the grid without properly contacting them.

First he was reported missing, and then there was no further news. They began to question if he was really considering the people who worried about him.

Josiah felt a vague sense of dissatisfaction, yet she couldn't shake her worry. The two were in a mere teacher-student relationship, so she found it laughable that she had unknowingly become overly dependent on him.

“Haaah.” She couldn’t help herself from letting out a heavy sigh.

There was no way to tell if he knew about the four worrying about him or not.

However, one thing was certain: he was currently facing Willow in her inner world, with the feeling of having been granted a chance at salvation.

Reina had no way of knowing whether the change in him had simply not been transmitted to her yet, or if it was blocked by something.

* * *

Judging only by Willow’s hostile gaze, she still seemed completely unaware of why Davey had come.

Of course, he had no intention of telling her the truth. The current Willow was in a state where everything except her resentment toward him had been sold off in an exchange. As such, it wouldn't have been strange for her to bare her teeth and attack right away.

“Willow... it’s Willow...” Perserque and she had never met. Or rather, that was true for Perserque. Nonetheless, she recognized her immediately and rushed to embrace her.

However.

“Don't come near me!! I told you to go away!!” Along with her violent scream, a shockwave burst forth again. It made Perserque flinch, but it didn't push her away entirely.

“Go away! I don't want to see that face of yours.” Willow, who had been glaring with a complex expression, turned and walked away after spitting out words that pierced her through the heart.

The two couldn’t stop her from walking away.

Perserque was at a loss. “Davey...”

“You already knew this was going to happen. Willow only has painful memories left, so there's no way she could have good feelings toward us.”

Hearing that, she sank onto the ground. Her frail shoulders trembled as she weeped. “Why are they showing us such a thing? Why the hell...”

“Per,” Davey softly called out.

She screamed in agony, “This is... isn't this too cruel?!”

He had somewhat expected such a response from Willow, but the shock was undeniably greater than he could have imagined.

He patted Perserque on the back, silently comforting her.

After looking around, he found that the world they’d entered was a space created according to Willow's will.

Its form resembling the lord's castle in Heins Territory was likely due to the influence of her subconscious.

Davey had tried to revive Willow with the authority of sacrifice, yet of all things, the authority had taken her faith and sacrifice for her family as the price.

With only malice toward him remaining, she began to reject the revival inches before the proverbial finish line.

His mission was to change her heart, which was filled only with resentment, and make her willing to be revived. Even then, Davey had no intention of stopping there.

“Hey, Per.”

Perserque, slumped with her head down, looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and listened for what came next.

“Do you remember what Goddess Freyja said? The authority of sacrifice isn’t a simple equivalent exchange.”

He figured perhaps those words were meant to be remembered in this very situation.

“Then, Davey... what should...?”

“Whatever it takes. We have time. First, let's slowly give her the things we should’ve given her in the first place.”

* * *

A day passed without much happening.

Willow told the two to leave, but also didn't have the strength left to chase them away. After all, her memories were fragmentary.

Morning broke, and birds chirped in the distance.

Willow woke up in bed, bathed in warm sunlight, and slowly stretched with a yawn, her eyes still heavy with sleep.

She then looked out the window, which offered a view of a beautiful garden.

“Nice weather.” Muttering more to herself calmly, she pushed back the silk blanket and got out of bed. Then, with a blank look, she headed toward the hallway. “The weather's nice, and quiet. Maybe I'll take a long nap today.”

While wandering aimlessly, still not fully awake, she suddenly caught a peculiar smell in the air.

It was a sweet and savory aroma.

Drawn by the scent, her eyes widened and she headed to the kitchen.

“What in the...”

An enormous number of dishes she’d never expected to taste before were laid out on the table, greatly stimulating her appetite.

Of course, for her, food had no use other than as a simple indulgence.

However, for Willow, food transcended the mere concept of eating for taste. In fact, it was something else entirely.

These were foods she had never properly eaten because she had to watch from within her inner world.

She did have a faint memory of eating such food recently, but it was only a dim recollection that it was different from what she had imagined.

“You're up?” Just then, a voice snapped her out of her contemplation, and her eyes flew open in surprise.

That was because of the man walking into the kitchen, holding a large plate with both hands.

Although she couldn't quite remember, the hunger that had engulfed her with the urge to eat the foods instantly disappeared.

Willow, who was glaring at Davey with cold eyes, turned away.

However, once she turned, he was already in front of her, offering the plate with a gentle smile. Her judgment blurred as the delicious, fragrant food she wanted to eat immediately wafted right in front of her face.

“You haven't eaten yet, have you? Come and sit down. There's plenty, so eat as much as you want.”

As he nodded and smiled, urging her to sit, she almost made a smile.

Crash!!!!

Then, she instantly slammed the plate, sending it flying.

“Willow...” Davey didn't know what to say.

“Didn't you hear me tell you to get lost? I have nothing to talk about with you.”

Thwack!!

He watched silently as she roughly shoved past him with her shoulder and walked out.

“Davey...” Perserque, who came in pushing a serving cart, called out to him with a somber face, but he replied with the same gentle smile.

“We’re taking baby steps. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance we’ve been given. If this fails, we’ll never see Willow again, Perserque.”

She had come to understand the gravity of the situation. “You're right.”

“Even without her memories, Willow is still Willow. Let's not miss this special opportunity.”

The things they hadn't done for her all this time. They intended to give her all of it now.

“Willow doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for the food, even though she wanted it so badly...”

During that time, while absorbing her remnants, Davey had seen many memories.

In the end, he’d also seen what she truly desired. Having a meal together as a family like that was high on her priorities.

Even if she only had ill feelings toward the two remaining, he knew her fundamental nature wouldn't have changed. It was true that memories affected the spirit of the ego, but the basics would remain the same.

“It's okay. We have plenty of time.”

Even if the first day was a failure, as long as they continued their efforts, he knew her wounds would at least scab over, even just a little.

He planned to make the impossible possible. He’d keep going until the end, if that was what it took. That was what Davey intended, and Perserque felt the same way.

So he didn't Willow at all. Instead, every morning, he prepared food as if to tempt her, inviting her to eat with him.

Naturally, Willow would either flip the table or glare coldly and leave every time, but the two didn’t stop their efforts.

In fact, starting on the fourth day, they began preparing various things to make her life comfortable and tried to help her.

Naturally, from her perspective, it was infuriating, as the annoying, bothersome people kept clinging to her, nearly driving her crazy.

“How will you go back?”

Finally, on the fifth day, Willow had a sobering realization to show Davey. “Whatever you do is useless. I don't know what you're trying to get from me, but I'm going to disappear just like this regardless.”

“If that's your choice, then do it,” he responded.

She was taken aback, speechless.

“Nonetheless, until then, I'd like for us to at least share a meal together.”

Willow looked at him silently, considering the offer.

“That's all I ask. You don't have to say a single word. You can just eat and get up. It's okay if you complain that it’s bad.” He then smiled at her. “I love you, and will love you even if that's the choice you make.”

She felt complicated. Her resentment toward Davey was clear, but the situation itself was inherently awkward to navigate for someone of her nature.

“Fine. A meal? I'll do it. However, once I do, you must leave after two weeks max. I can't put up with any more than that.”

At her words, he smiled again and thanked her.

From that day on, every morning, Willow attended their family breakfasts with an irritated look.

Davey and Perserque mainly carried the conversation.

Throughout the meal, Willow glared irritably at the two of them and only nibbled at her food.

She would've normally seized a reason to become angry and complain that something was not to her liking, yet the food itself was incredibly delicious, so Willow ate without a fuss.

Screech!

“Are you done? We’ll have dessert leftovers too.”

“I’m just not feeling good. More importantly, is it okay for you to be doing this here for so long? Don't you have people out there whom you love dearly?” Willow curiously asked.

“We love you just as much,” Davey and Perserque told her.

“You’re all talk! Tch, you're disgustingly good at lying.” After she shot back coldly and slammed the kitchen door shut, the couple met eyes.

“You know we’re being selfish, right?”

“Acting like this now won't make the past disappear.”

Perserque seemed to feel the same way. “But even so, it makes me so happy that we can do something, anything, like this for her.”

She couldn’t help but smile.

Willow had promised two weeks.

However, even after a month, and then two more months, Willow was still coming to the dinner table out of habit.

Only a few minutes had passed in the outside world.