The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Creak…

“Y—Your Highness! You mustn't come out yet!”

“It’s okay. Cough… Cough.” The girl emerged from the carriage. Feeling dizzy from the fast ride, she stumbled a little.

At the same time, women who seemed to be the girl’s ladies-in-waiting came out from the carriage. They quickly helped to support her. “Your Highness!”

“It’s fine… Mary.”

Shorter than most people her age, the girl also had a small, thin physique. She had a soft yet distinct aura to her, and she looked frail enough to break at any moment. However, she was clearly not human, since she had the beastfolks’ characteristic long ears above her blue ponytail. And seeing her ears sagging from exhaustion or sadness would make anyone feel bad for her… The girl was a fox with strangely sharp ears. Her tail was hidden beneath her large evening dress. Still, it was clear that she was a fox and not human like her knights.

But what was truly strange about the girl…was her face being completely covered by an odd-looking white mask. Coupled with her dress, the girl was entirely covered from head to toe, and not an inch of her bare skin could be seen. Looking at her, one could only tell that she was a young beastfolk.

“Is anyone hurt?” The girl directly looked at the knights even though her vision should have been obstructed by her mask.

The knights simultaneously bowed toward the girl. “Do not worry, Your Highness. We are ready to put our life on the line for your safety.”

“I don’t see Sir Harlus, or Sir Luxa, or Dame Hivena…” The girl mumbled quietly.

All the knights flinched.

“That’s right… The attack…” The girl lowered her head as if she was choking up. Although the mask hid her expression, it was clear from her choked-up voice that she was quite depressed. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry everyone… Because of a beastfolk like me…”

“Y—Your Highness!” The ladies-in-waiting bowed toward the girl in shock.

“Your Highness! I humbly beg you, please stop your tears!”

“What do you mean that it is because Your Highness is a beastfolk?! That is completely untrue and ridiculous!”

“That’s right! How could anyone say that Your Highness is a lowly presence!”

Then, all the knights lined up and kneeled toward the girl. “The power of the gods was not enough… And it has caused you sorrow! Please kill us!”

“Stop it! I… I don’t want any more people getting hurt because of me.” The girl’s voice grew more teary. She murmured, “Yes… I must regain my strength for Father… No, for His Majesty.”

“They are insolent assassins who dared to attack the royalty of Lyndis, the great empire of the east. Your Highness, I will definitely get to the bottom of this and kill all of the schemers!”

“Sir Belross…” The girl spoke in a choked-up voice.

The old knight spoke with determination. “I swear on the name of Dark Cloud Sword Belross, Swordmaster of the royal palace. I will…avenge the undeserved deaths of Your Highness’ subordinates.”

The girl definitely wasn’t an altruist; she actually was quite a greedy person. But the knights served her so loyally because she cherished and loved her people with everything that she had. As such, she had the vassals’ love even though she was part beast and was the least powerful among her siblings due to the lack of support. Furthermore, Belross became part of her personal order, which only had about 20 people, even though he had the extraordinary title of a Swordmaster.

“Thank you... Sir Belross, thank you…”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness… I know it’s hard, but please hold on for a little longer. We are almost at the empire’s border.”

The girl, who was sobbing on the ground, soon calmed down. The trembling in her shoulders slowly went away, and she nodded. Then, she stepped back onto the carriage with the help from her ladies-in-waiting. Her strange but adorable ears twitched. “But Sir Belross, what do you think that thunder was?”

“That is… I’m sorry, but it was hard for me to tell.”

“It’s fine. It’s just…”

“However, it is difficult to think that it was a natural thunderstorm. I have never heard of a natural phenomenon where hundreds of lightning bolts fall from the sky.”

“What if it was caused by someone?”

“I think that it might be worth a shot to gather all the sages of the continent.”

The knights began whispering as the carriage started moving along. Everyone, including the people in the carriage and those who were guarding it, saw the thunderstorm. If someone told this story to people at a bar over drinks, they would just think that it was drunk nonsense.

“Captain, what do you think it was?” One of the knights asked Belross.

“We can’t know for sure. But…” The old knight, Belross, stopped mid-sentence, then continued in a quiet voice, “It seemed like those lightning bolts were aimed at the assassins.”

“The lightning bolts chased someone who was running in panic and turned them into ashes. I’ve never seen a lightning bolt turn someone into ashes. It’s definitely abnormal,” one of the knights pointed out.

“The important thing is that we survived. There are a lot of things to think about, but it can’t be understood with common knowledge. If it is true that a human created that…” Closing his eyes, Belross paused before saying, “I think the ranking for the best mages in the continent will immediately change. Well, a human couldn’t have possibly done this anyways.”

“That’s right. They wouldn’t be human, but a dragon, the original possessor of magic, from fairy tales if they could cause this kind of catastrophe,” one of the knights said.

The knights’ lighthearted conversation went on for a little while.

“Sigh…” The girl, who was listening to the conversation, let out a short, fatigued sigh on the pillowy sofa. None of the other people seemed to have seen it, so she was the only one who had caught a glimpse; her sense of sight, smell, and hearing were exceptionally good compared to humans and even other beastfolks.

‘…He had black hair…’ The girl had seen a man floating in the sky with many purple magic circles around him. ‘And…he saved us for some reason.’

It was true that they had made eye contact for a second. Of course, the girl had kept her mask on, but for some reason it felt like the man had looked her straight in the eyes. It had only been for a second, but that was enough to burn that image of him onto her brain.

For a moment, the girl’s keen sense of smell caught the man’s scent after the lightning went away. ‘The scent of dogwood… It’s faint, but natural and reliable…’ She squeezed her hand like she was never going to forget this scent, and silently stared at the forest of thunder that she had just escaped from.

36. Things That Will Eventually Be Revealed

“Would you like to have a drink, Davey, sir?”

Davey didn’t know where Yulis was getting all these expensive bottles of liquor from. When Yulis offered a drink with a smile, Davey stared at

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