The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

He was bothered by Class 6 Bram’s obsessive behavior. The man was fully immersed in his research, appearing to be possessed.

“What in the world are you going on about?”

“I’m talking about Prince Davey. Look at yourself, how long have you been raging about and running around like this?”

“Raging? Well, if I was a tiger, then I would have already roared to my heart’s content.”

“That’s not what I meant! Have you forgotten our purpose?”

“Collin.” Class 6 Bram, an old man with a short fuse and a dismissive personality, said, “Listen, I am thinking of quitting.”

“What?”

“It might just be a few words, but those few words from Prince Davey had allowed me to realize something greater than what I have been studying all my life,” Bram said calmly. He approached Collin and patted him on the shoulder. “I have told you this over and over again, no?”

“He’s someone from the Holy Empire! Do you think it’s proper for someone from the Holy Empire to come to the mage tower and do whatever he pleases?!”

“Does it seem like he’s simply the Holy Empire’s Saint?”

“…”

“This is the reason why you can’t go beyond the 5th Circle yet.”

“Elder Bram!!!”

“Enough! I just want to reach the 7th Circle instead of receiving the cheers and admiration of unknown people. Are we done talking? I think with just a bit more effort I can finally see the end.”

Class 6 Bram was very much aware of his lacking skills when compared to Great Sage Hellison Valestia. However, he was still very confident in his skills and abilities as a 6th Circle Master.

Bram had believed that his theories were flawless. This was only natural, because he was proud of himself and what he studied.

However, there was an old saying about slimes in a cave. Unlike ordinary slimes, a cave slime that was born inside a cave would also live within it. In other words, the cave would become its entire world.

The formula that the boy, who had looked at them with a gaze that questioned their theory, had presented was simply a path that proved their formula wrong. That conference had changed everything, and Bram felt like he had been given an opportunity.

“Only then did I realize how our stubbornness has made us live such dull lives. With the way I am right now, I would have asked you to slap me back then and wake me up from my delusions.”

“Elder Bram.”

“So, don’t say anything to me anymore. You should quit as soon as you can too. I didn’t expect you to be such a leery person. I suggest you stop following Central Tower’s Elder Yulis just so you can keep watch on him.”

Collin gritted his teeth at Class 6 Bram’s words. Then, calmly approaching Bram, he said calmly, “So, this is how it ends.”

Bram remained unaware, completely absorbed by his theoretical formulas.

Stab!!!

“Keheok?!”

“You’ll die if you let your guard down, you know? Elder,” Collin said as he pulled his hood back, revealing the grim smile on his face.

“Co… Collin…”

“This is a dagger coated in one of the deadliest poisons that I’ve received from him. I heard this is a very fatal and deadly poison to those who have undergone metamorphosis.”

“Hii… Hiiiieeee!” Bram screeched.

His eyes turned bloodshot from rage as he hurriedly tried to cast magic. Before he could even finish casting his magic, he unfortunately coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the ground.

“The poison will only spread faster if you activate your mana. You might be someone capable of facing the reality of the matter, but that’s not the case for me. If there’s an easier and more convenient way, then I will tread that path. Farewell, Elder.”

The suspicious smile that Collin always sported had become completely different from before. Even his veins protruded from his skin in a strange way. In fact, most of his hair had also fallen off.

Despite the great differences in Collin’s physical appearance, Class 6 Bram’s interest was elsewhere. The man murmured, “Y… You… Don’t tell me… That poison…”

“Yes. I have gained the power of a 5th Circle Master in exchange for signing the contract. Once this plan has been successfully completed, I will become a 6th Circle mage. Can’t you understand? Compared to you, who have taken your entire life to gain more power, I can climb up to the realms of the 6th Circle in just a short period of time!!!”

Thump!!!

Collin kicked Bram roughly and violently. After making sure that the man had died, he put his hood back on once again. With a dangerous glint in his eyes, he murmured, “Get rid of the body. We will now advance with our plans. We need to secure the offering safely. Get Teaching Assistant Rashkan to be our scapegoat.”

***

“Molly. Did you see where that guy went?”

“…Huh? Aaaah… Yeah. I did not see…” Molly Saelyn answered with her head bowed in shame.

Timmy clicked his tongue. “What the hell is up with that guy? Today’s the last day, so where the hell is he?”

He glared at the small box he had retrieved from his pocket irritatedly. The other students also had small boxes of their own, but Timmy felt very embarrassed to have it in his possession.

“Your condition?”

“G… Good!” Molly Saelyn answered confidently with red cheeks.

Timmy could not help but chuckle at Molly’s response. He was not surprised by her reaction, since she had changed over the short period of time. He had changed as well.

“The Magic Festival has begun! What have we learned so far?!”

“Break everything down!”

“Let those bastards experience even just 1% of the hardships that we’ve freaking experienced!”

The main culprit of all the Class F students’ suffering was the lunatic, who had made them go wild. Even the timid Molly Saelyn looked keen to join the rest of the class in running wild, so Timmy thought that the situation had truly become serious.

If he were honest, Timmy felt the same urge.

The students had all been clueless before, but they realized that the lunatic could have killed them if he wanted. He could have simply worked them all to the bones.

The students only came to that realization after starting to seriously learn and attend their theory classes.

However, none of them could deny the sweetness of the fruits of their hard labor. The process was so hellish that none of them would want to go through it again, but it had brought all of them together. Due to that reason, they all oozed with confidence and pride.

“We can do this!”

As Molly Saelyn squeezed between the other children and raised her small hands to cheer alongside them, Timmy shook his head.

Molly Saelyn used to be so quiet and shy that speaking up made her embarrassed. She had changed, just like that.

For a moment, Timmy wondered if the others had also changed.

“I can’t see the instructor.”

The biggest variable in Class F was none other than Josiah Frances, the student who used to turn up for a few classes and had distanced herself from the others due to her absence from the previous Magic Festival. At one point, she had started to regularly attend the classes.

Timmy had asked Josiah about her sudden change, but he had been told to shut up. The only reason he could think of to explain her sudden perfect attendance was because she had quite liked the massage-style sparring practice.

“What’s with that expression on your face? Are you f*cking belittling me because I’m in class?”

“Huh… Huh? N-Not at all. What are you saying?”

“I said, I can’t see the instructor anywhere.”

“I don’t know either.”

“It’s strange. He definitely promised us to come. Since the contract period is over, he’s no longer our instructor. But he definitely said that he would come to see us perform in the Magic Festival.”

Timmy frowned upon remembering the lunatic’s sharp and clear expression. Their instructor had told them that they would definitely win the Magic Festival because victory was dependent on the individual’s hard work and not interest in the festival in and of itself.

“Up until the end, this guy…”

Even though Timmy was clicking his tongue, he looked like a child who was looking around and waiting for his parents to come and visit.

“Then, we wouldn’t be able to give him our present…”

“I’ll go and find him. Go and calm those madmen.” Josiah pointed at the students of Class F, who were grinding their teeth and shouting loudly, and patted Timmy on the shoulder. “After all, you’re Class F’s president, right?”

“…Right. Don’t mess around and slack off this time.”

“I didn’t do it because I liked it either,” Josiah said calmly as she activated her mana.

The students had learned valuable lessons from their vicious Instructor Devy, but they did not focus too much on theory. However, thanks to him, they were able to learn the most realistic path as well as the most important thing for a mage to learn: the basics. They were able to learn how to measure their opponent’s mana, how to track, analyze, and interpret the way mana was being used.

After learning that, they found out that their Instructor Devy was truly weird. Knowing that his mana was so light and non-existent, they even wondered if a human could truly have mana like that.

On top of that, rumors about him being a Swordmaster had already spread far and wide. This further confused the students. How could a magic instructor be a Swordmaster?

In the end, they could only conclude that their instructor was not an ordinary human being. However, the mana that they could feel from him was below that of an ordinary person, so they could easily find him in a crowd if they wanted to.

Josiah left the southeast wing, where the students of Class F were located, and moved toward the central wing. She completely ignored the gazes that were being thrown at her. Then, at that moment…

“Josiah Frances.”

Hearing that unpleasant voice, Josiah stopped walking forward. She quietly turned to see Rashkan, Class A’s teaching assistant.

“Follow me.”

“…I… I don’t want to.” Josiah flinched, shrinking like a small animal in front of a predator.

Her fear seemed to have been imprinted deep in her mind.

“Ha… You’re not going to follow me?”

Listening to that threat, Josiah instinctively stepped back.

“Well, fine. If you don’t want to follow me, then you can go.”

“…”

“However, you’ll be the one taking responsibility for this transgression.”

The insidious and vicious smile painted on the man’s face made Josiah stiffen.

***

The Magic Festival held in Shakuntala Magic Academy in the city of Lindhall had always been a success. If the Duchy of Felicity held a swordsmanship competition as some sort of festival under the name of the Continental Union, then one could say that the Shakuntala Academy’s Magic Festival was a grand festival being held under the name of the mage towers.

Shakuntala Academy was said to be filled with talented students who could immediately join a kingdom as an exclusive mage or become a recognized mage with a mage tower the moment they graduated.

This was also the reason why the mage towers were willing to provide a significant amount of funding to Shakuntala every year. It gave them the opportunity to compete for one, just one, outstanding talent.

As for the middle school students, they still had to take high school classes. This made the talent scouts less interested in them. However, if the Class F students’ level of magic were to be spotted by any scout, then something interesting was bound to happen.

In this huge forest, large-scale magic battles, defense battles, siege battles, and several other events with special magical attributes and characteristics would take place.

As for Josiah, she was very much aware of the fact that her class would automatically be disqualified with the absence of a single student. That was why she was very determined to attend this Magic Festival.

“Why are you acting so nervous? Come, follow me.”

The problem was Class A’s Teaching Assistant, Rashkan, who was a 4th Circle mage. He had less magic than Josiah, but despite the glaring difference in power, there was a significant trench between a teacher and a student.

“I’m…fine,” Josiah said stiffly as she sat on the sofa with a bowed head.

Rashkan silently approached Josiah. He chuckled as he untied her black hair, which now flowed down her back. Then, he caressed her head and said, “You’re growing beautifully.”

“…”

“Well, that’s only natural. Compared to your father, your mother was a very beautiful woman even though she was a mere commoner. Fufufu.”

Josiah’s parents were a part of a viscount, nobles to be exact. To be honest, they did not occupy very high positions, but even high ranking nobles could not afford to touch them recklessly.

In fact, her father was the Lord of a great merchant group that was famous in the Eastern Continent, the Frances Merchant Group. Although her father was a commoner by birth, the King valued his talent greatly and granted him a peerage, turning him into a viscount.

This just went to show how important and influential a merchant group was in a nation. With this in mind, even the family of a count or even a marquis could not recklessly touch Josiah and her family.

However, the man in front of Josiah was different. Rashkan Frances could be considered to be a blood relative. He was Josiah’s uncle, so how could he do something so unspeakable to Josiah?

“Please…stop. I have to attend the Magic Festival this time.”

“Fufu. Didn’t I tell you that I will let you leave once you listened to what I have to say? You’re still as stubborn as ever.”

The reason was simple…

“Fine. You can go.”

“…”

“However, I would be left with no choice but to report what your brother has done.”

Josiah’s eyes grew wide at the threat. “Th… That.”

“Why? You don’t like that?” Rashkan said, sitting beside Josiah and planting his hands over her shoulder. All this while he kept on caressing Josiah’s face.

Josiah clenched her fists, having goosebumps from the breath on her skin.

Rashkan chuckled when he lifted the girl’s downturned face and saw the angry tears staining her face. He said, “See, you can do it if you want to. All you have to do is listen to me well. Ah, you truly grew up beautifully. Just let this uncle of yours hold you. If you do that, you will be able to protect the glory of the mage tower, the safety of your brother, and the future of the merchant group.”

This was Josiah’s own business. She had not told anyone about it. Besides, she had no intention of betraying Class F.

However, during the Magic Festival last year, Rashkan had told her about her brother’s unfortunate events and had told her that she was the only one who knew. That was how he had something to hold against her and molest her whenever he wanted.

By the time she had escaped, the Magic Festival had already ended.

“You’re… You are my uncle… Please stop this.”

“Oho! What does that have to do with anything, huh? How can your uncle look elsewhere when you, who have grown so beautifully, are strutting in front of me?” Rashkan said, sweeping the tears off of her cheeks while slowly reaching for her chest.

“I let you run away last time. But this time, we have a lot of time. Don’t worry, I’ll send you back before the Magic Festival begins.”

Josiah gritted her teeth. As long as she could endure this treatment, she believed that everything could work out well. If she could endure this kind of shame, then her friends would be able to safely participate in the Magic Festival. She could then ensure her brother and their merchant group’s safety too. That was why she had to put up with it.

“No matter what you do, no one is coming. Are you going to take it off yourself? Or perhaps you want this uncle of yours to take it off for you?” Rashkan said insidiously.

Josiah sobbed softly as she slowly reached for the buttons of her school uniform. Unfortunately, the longer she took, the less likely she would be able to participate in the Magic Festival. Josiah thought that it would be better for her to do this quickly and be done with it.

“Good, good. What a good girl.” Rashkan chuckled as he stroked Josiah’s head. It did not take too long for his breathing to turn ragged and his eyes to turn bloodshot. It seemed like he could not wait any longer.

‘Instructor…’

For some reason, the person who flashed across Josiah’s mind was her vicious and evil instructor, who had eerily declared that he would kill anyone who dared to touch his students. And for that same strange reason, Josiah missed the warmth that their crazy instructor had shown them, his disciples, when he had led them with a level of affection.

‘Instructor… Please save me…’

This professor’s office was very remote. No one would find out about this place and no one would come. Josiah knew that it was impossible, but she still hoped that the instructor who had always ignored her would come and save her.

Just when her hands trembled from the act of unbuttoning her school uniform, and her vision began to blur from her tears…

Clack!!!

“Good job, good girl.”

Splurt!!!

The sound of flesh exploding rang loudly in the room.