The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 855. Super Ribbon

Bang!! Bang!!

A heavy sound echoed.

How did it come to this?

Although she didn't do anything too wrong, Rinne currently couldn’t control her trembling body. She couldn’t help but feel ridiculous, crouching in a corner of the castle’s laboratory trying to hide.

“Rinne evaluates her current situation lowly...”

She wanted to step forward confidently, but she had essentially opened up Pandora's box.

“Tee-hee!”

Evangeline, the little child in her arms, looked up with bright eyes and innocently stretched out her small white hand, but Rinne just broke out in a cold sweat.

“E-Evangeline, Rinne evaluates your quietness highly...”

“Tee-hee!”

“Shh, shh!”

“Shhh.”

The sight of Evangeline simply covering her mouth with her hand rather than mimicking Rinne placing her finger over her mouth to be quiet was extremely innocent and cute.

It had already been six months since Evangeline was born. A lot of time had already passed.

Were children somehow destined to like specific people? Evangeline and Darian liked Rinne from the moment they opened their eyes.

She had enjoyed boasting proudly about them liking her at one point, but things were different now. Their affection and preference for her had become somewhat of a double-edged sword, resulting in the current situation.

“R-Rinne determines that children are very dangerous.”

Thud!! Thud!!

The loud noise rang out again.

Not long after, the noise stopped in front of the door to the laboratory where Rinne was hiding.

The Deus Ex Machina, the god of machinery, had been running like crazy.

‘Please just pass by,’ Rinne hoped to herself.

She silenced the children who were bursting out in pure laughter.

The breathtaking situation went on for a while.

Soon after, thudding sounds faded into the distance.

“Rinne determines that the footsteps have become distant. Changing the alert level to green...”

Thud! Crack!!

“Gaaa!”

Everything happened in an instant. Although Rinne had an expressionless face, she froze on the spot with her mouth wide open. The sound just now was none other than the sound of a solid wooden door being torn apart by a huge ax.

Creak!! Squeak!!

Then someone twisted the ax and yanked it free.

Rinne nervously peered through the gap just big enough for a human face. After a moment of silence, a face suddenly appeared through the crack in the door. She saw a maniacal smile poking through the gap. The eyes rolled around and soon made eye contact with Rinne, who was tightly hugging Evangeline to her chest.

“Here’s Davey...!”

“Kyahaha!”

“Hmph!”

Rinne collapsed to the floor. Despite having an expressionless face, anyone could sense her extreme shock. The person she saw through the crack was none other than her owner, Davey O’Rowane.

“You were hiding here, huh? Just wait.”

Then his face disappeared from the hole.

Crack!!

He then broke down the door with his strong arm.

“Hiccup!”

Rinne hiccuped involuntarily. It was surprising for a biological golem to hiccup from shock.

Clunk! Clunk!!

Rinne, frozen on the spot, watched Davey slowly unlock the door with his arm.

Crack!!

And as soon as he pulled out his arm, he kicked the door in and smashed it.

‘If he was going to smash the door, why’d he even bother to unlock it?’

Rinne trembled, forgetting all plans to run away.

“Thank you, Rinne.”

Gnash, gnash...

Although Davey was smiling, Rinne knew that there was a 99.8 percent chance that he was currently in a state of extreme anger, based on the data she had accumulated so far.

“R-Rinne appeals strongly to force majeure! Rinne was just following orders...!”

He instantly grabbed her face as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She remembered the name of this technique from Davey’s memory she downloaded from him.

Wrestling technique, Iron Claw!

“Gyaaa!”

Rinne screamed and struggled. As he lifted her head up and smiled slyly, Evangeline burst out laughing. But despite dangling by her head, Rinne hugged Evangeline tightly, preventing her from falling.

“Rinne, what are you going to do about this? What should I do, now that you’ve ruined the hobby I worked so hard for two months to build?”

“R-Rinne gives meaning to the process...!!”

"Alright! Then, I assume you’re okay with me breaking you right here and now, considering the process of making you is what matters, right?”

"M-Master Davey! Unlike those models, Rinne’s internal structure cannot be reconstructed!!”

“I think you're just coming up with lousy excuses.”

“R-Request support! Rinne requests support—she senses a grave threat to survival!”

“You keep on doing that. Who do you think will come?”

Her face turned blue.

"Da... Dada!!’

Her support finally responded.

Evangeline stretched out her tiny hands toward Davey, trying to hug him. His expression instantly softened at the innocent charm and complete lack of situational understanding.

In response, Davey, who was holding Rinne, let her go and carefully took Evangeline into his arms.

“Evangeline. Did you have fun?”

“Tee-hee!”

But Davey knew there wasn’t too much of a meaning speaking to a child who wasn’t able to speak yet. He hugged Evangeline and patted her back before she leaned her head on his shoulder and instantly fell asleep.

"Argh... M-Master Davey.”

"Shh. Evangeline is sleeping.”

As Rinne realized her sudden lack of reinforcements, she slowly began to back away and widen the distance.

“She shouldn’t have to wake up because of you making noises.”

Only then did Rinne know that by handing Evangeline to Davey, she had thrown out her last chance at a peaceful resolution.

“Ahhh!”

A short scream echoed through the room.

* * *

"Your Majesty, this concludes the quarterly budget report.”

Amy, wearing a pretty uniform rather than a maid uniform, bowed her head.

As the acting administrator of the territory, her management skills were quite outstanding.

Of course, Royal Attendant Bernile was at the heart of it all, but her ability to quickly learn, master, and apply new skills was purely a testament to her own talent. In fact, she had stayed true to her mission and remained by Davey’s side until the very end.

"Good job. Is there anything else you wanted to report to me?”

“Well, something strange was reported within the territory.”

“Something strange? What is it?”

When Davey took off his glasses and quietly looked down at her, she spoke up carefully after a moment of hesitation.

“It’s about Heins Academy.”

"Hm?”

“Are you in the middle of something?”

Davey narrowed his eyes as he saw Illyna come through the window.

“Why are you coming through the window when the door’s right there?”

“As if you don’t ever come through the window,” she pouted while approaching Davey.

Amy quietly bowed her head in respect and spoke with a nervous expression.

"Well... The thing is... There are talks about a ghost appearing at Heins Academy.”

"Ghosts?”

‘What kind of nonsense is she talking about?’

Illyna clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

"Oh! I think I’ve heard about something like that from the professors—a story about a ghost that appears at Heins Academy every night.”

Even after marrying Davey, Illyna made sure to attend Heins Academy and learn. Although she mainly studied swordsmanship and various electives that struck her fancy, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she became arrogant as the princess of an empire, one who had the greatest talent of all time when it came to simple swordsmanship.

And yet, she didn’t neglect her studies.

Even after marrying Davey, she tried to keep her promise to always remain as someone who could save him.

"I heard that while Baron Gorneo was on duty, he heard someone playing an instrument in the music room at night. Some people also said they kept hearing the sound of pages turning from the library and rustling noises from the magic practice lab."

"Could it be someone sneaking around?"

Students at Heins Academy returned to their dormitories at a certain time for curfew. Also, the places Illyna mentioned had barriers at night, so no one was allowed in.

Davey wondered if the culprit was some student that wanted to study, possibly walking around the academy while wearing an invisibility cloak. He then shook his head, knowing that wouldn’t be the case considering he had personally set up the barriers in Heins Academy.

He knew it would take someone absurdly powerful to break through the heavy barriers he had put up.

"That’s what’s strange—your barrier is perfectly intact. But someone’s been wandering around inside, doing whatever they want in a place surrounded by an impenetrable barrier. Do you think that’s possible?"

Illyna held her arms together while making an uneasy expression as shivers ran down her spine.

“Or maybe they’re not affected by mana.”

Davey found it ridiculous to be afraid of ghosts when they’ve seen spirits in person, but he also knew humans couldn’t help but feel fear toward the unknown.

“So someone comes to the Heins Academy every night, gets through the barrier I put up, then goes in and does whatever they want.”

“The Academy is already stirred up by the rumors.”

“And how often does this ghost appear?”

“Almost every day. Archbishop Alice, who teaches Theology, once tried to perform an exorcism herself...” Amy commented.

She then added that they didn’t manage to exorcize the ghost. They had disappeared without a trace, and Archbishop Alice got caught in the barrier Davey set up and had a troublesome time getting out. Hearing this, Davey figured the ghost wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill apparition.

“What are its characteristics?”

“They couldn’t see it clearly because they saw it at night, but it seemed like it was a girl around the same age as me,” Illyna added.

“So is it like a ghost? Are there even ghosts in Tionis?”

Davey figured if there was a vengeful spirit in the first place, he would’ve found it right away.

And above all—

“Ghosts can’t penetrate my barrier.”

This was natural, as ghosts were ultimately beings that could interfere with devil mana.

“Surprisingly, a ghost has very little interfering power. If you ask who’s more dangerous between humans and ghosts, the former are overwhelmingly more dangerous.”

“Ugh... Well, it’s still a little creepy despite knowing so.”

‘Whoever you are, you better not get Heins Territory into a frenzy by spreading unnecessary rumors.’

Davey then looked at Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who were sleeping soundly in bed hugging each other tightly.

He noticed how the two had been sleeping more than they used to these days.

* * *

Every night at Heins Academy, a strict barrier was activated.

No matter who broke in, it was difficult to accomplish anything between all the restrictions. In fact, it was impossible to walk around without breaking the barrier at night unless they were a mage of at least the same level as Davey.

Davey knew that Odin, the God of Mages, was a likely candidate—she was probably gnashing her teeth at him from the Saint’s Sanctuary. Death Lord Rho Aias also seemed a likely suspect, but he knew that they couldn’t leave the sanctuary on account of being too powerful.

He couldn’t think of who it could possibly be. But he did know there were countless people on the continent, and there must be plenty of talented individuals he wasn’t aware of.

* * *

“It’s probably around here.”

Archbishop Alice.

In the past, she had competed with Saint Lena as a candidate for sainthood. However, she let go of all her burdens and desires to save herself when Goddess Freyja performed a miracle.

She then resigned her candidacy for sainthood and worked as an Archbishop, currently working as a professor teaching theology and holy magic to war orphans, which some considered to be the lowest of the low in society.

There had been a lot of talk about her staying in the Kingdom of Rowane, since she was originally from the Holy Empire, but Archbishop Alice was a very pragmatic woman—to the extent that she easily ignored any politics that interfered with her own goals.

“Archbishop Alice. Are you scared?”

“W-Who are you calling scared?”

Seeing her snap, Davey could clearly tell how scared she was. He couldn’t help but think how interesting it’d be if others knew that an Archbishop who worshiped God was afraid of ghosts.

“I find this situation funny.”

"F-Funny...?! To be frank, I have no clue what’s going on, which makes it even creepier. It’s not because I’m afraid...”

"Boo!"

“Aaah!!”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she collapsed and screamed. It seemed like she wanted to immediately hide behind Davey.

“Professor Alice, please get up. They don’t have any spiritual power—it’s likely just a simple intruder.”

The reason the priests of the Holy Empire weren’t afraid of ghosts was not only because of their strong faith, but also because they were familiar with spirits through entities like necromancers.

However, Davey understood her fear—after all, a bizarre phenomenon beyond their common sense had occurred.

“A simple break-in? What kind of crazy person could go around the barrier you set up so casually? That’d be impossible even for a Great Sage.”

The Great Sage Hellison Valestia was Illyna’s teacher, Winley’s husband, and the direct teacher of Central Elder Yulis, a close friend of Davey’s.

He was called the Great Sage, and his magical skills were practically unmatched by anyone except Davey. But even he couldn’t manage to get through the barrier and move around so easily. What was even more absurd was that the ghost was said to be a girl of similar age to Illyna.

“Whoever they are, we’ll know once we see them.”

With that, Davey used Silence to completely block off his sound and slowly opened the door to the library.

He then saw a girl sitting by a window reading a book, three moons and starlight shining brightly in the night sky.

“I had thought there was no one but Odin and Rho Aias who could walk around ignoring the barrier. I forgot there was one more person.”

The girl with unique sparkling red and blue eyes was very beautiful. As she was quietly reading a book, she took out a wand and waved it in the air as if she had finally had an epiphany.

She was waving a magic practice wand from the lab.

“W-Wingardium Lev...”

Boom!

Mana exploded and she stumbled.

Then, while coughing slightly and waving his hands, she finally met eyes with Davey.

“...”

The girl who was looking at Davey blankly immediately widened her eyes, broke the window, and ran out.

“...”

"That... That girl that just...”

“She must be the one who caused the ghost commotion. But this is a bit of an absurd turn of events.”

Davey glanced down at Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon strapped to his belt and walked out the window where she disappeared.

“I’m going to scold you if you run away.”

The girl who was running away flinched at his words and stopped.

“Super Ribbon. What were you doing here?”

Davey quietly asked her a question without asking about the other details. With her back facing him, her shoulders began to tremble.