The Max Level Hero Strikes Back!

Episode 9

“Hmm, how are you feeling?”

A priest questioned me with a cold expression, all while holding my wrist.

“Not bad. How much longer do you think I will need to recover?”

“Your energy is low because you’ve been lying down for a long time. It’s dangerous to overdo the divine magic.”

“Is that so?”

I laughed because I found it perfectly ridiculous. They didn’t even apply proper recovery magic in the first place. Even if they did, they made excuses and reluctantly did so. Since they were Queen Liness’s people, they would’ve been told to delay my recovery as much as possible. However, it was still quite disgusting to see them act so corrupted. They were supposed to be priests.

The basics of being a doctor started with knowing the importance of life. It was the first lesson that Hippocrates taught me. She was a genuine doctor, so she didn’t discriminate between enemies and allies. I was an exception, though. Since they heard what happened to my life, they knew the thorny path ahead of me. I should thank them for not going any further.

As a person who made a conscious declaration, I couldn’t stand what they were doing. As a matter of fact, they were practicing medicine, whether they were doctors or priests. It wasn’t true that I was unable to recover. I wasn’t even trying, yet my body was healing by itself.

“I’ve heard that divine magic is quite amazing.”

“Oh, yes.”

“I thought this injury would heal quicker with the power of grace from Lord Freya.”

“Your Majesty, you probably think that simply because you’re not familiar with this.”

They might have forgotten that the 16-year-old boy in front of them who they were mocking and looking down on was a prince.

“I don’t know much?”

“Yes, the knowledge of divine power is an authority unique to our priests.”

“Hmm.”

I was looking at him as if I was interested. He smiled slyly and continued to murmur to himself.

“Of course, I know you are different from the brilliant prince Carlos.”

“Bort! How dare you say that in front of a prince! Be careful with what you say!”

The problem was that this idiot didn’t have a brain to think with.

“How dare a mere maid talk back to me?”

I sighed when I saw him turning his head away from me and scolding Amy.

Slap!

Even though I was standing right there, he didn’t stop but suddenly stood up and walked up to Amy and slapped her cheek. It was too rough for a priest who was supposed to be loving, but it wasn’t all that surprising. Queen Liness had already corrupted him with materialism.

‘That’s why you can’t go further than being a lower-ranked official in your life.’

Even a junior official would gain significant power the moment they had Queen Liness behind them. That was probably why he was sitting here, filling up his lust. I was confident he didn’t think before he spoke.

“What are you doing?”

When I asked him calmly, he coughed in vain and slowly came up to me and held my hand again.

“If you let a maid with a big mouth work for you, you’ll be in trouble someday.”

In the corner, Amy was crying with her lips closed tightly. She looked angry. Considering her personality, the maid was probably angry at the fact that I was humiliated, not herself. She was one of the few people who were on my side in the palace.

“The treatment is over. See you in fifteen days.”

“Alright.”

When I nodded calmly, he arrogantly got up from his seat. He then passed Amy and went to the door before stopping abruptly.

“That bitch has beauty.”

His insidious smile caused me to frown.

“Amy.”

I got up from my seat and leaned on my cane as if I knew nothing about it.

“They are important priests. Escort them to the way out of the palace.”

“As you wish, your Majesty.”

With her head down, she followed the priest. She had to be angry. Furious, even. And she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

Looking at the priest’s back without saying a word, I slowly took out the old sword sitting next to the pillow. He was just asking for trouble. There was no reason to endure it. I calmed myself down and moved slowly.

* * *

I felt strangely cooled down. Was I angry? Not really, I guessed. For a long time, I had been waiting for this moment. Daphne, the saint, said, “If you can’t control your anger, you’re no different from a dog or a pig,” but I disagreed with her.

Moderate anger was a source of life and a milestone of purpose. If annoyance was the key to development, then anger was the driving force. The sound of my footsteps completely disappeared. Slowly walking down the palace hall, I saw Bort, the priest, pushing Amy into a corner and saying something. It looked like he was talking, but I couldn’t hear much because he was too far away.

“Oh, prince…”

“Shut your mouth.”

Puck!

Perhaps he was watching me nearby. When an apprentice, standing nearby, found me, he tried to shout with his eyes wide open, but I was faster than his voice. As soon as my sword struck him, I walked away with a cold expression.

Even though my abilities hadn’t fully recovered, it still wouldn’t be easy to spot me for a lower-ranked official like him. Bort was smiling menacingly at Amy, not expecting me to come here.

“Remember, you’ll have to come to my room alone. Also, keep in mind that Prince Davey’s life is in my hands.”

“That’s…!”

“Royal Persecution? What do you know? He is a puppet. I didn’t kill him, not because I couldn’t. If you don’t listen to what I say, I’ll end his life without mercy. The Queen would say that I did a good job. No one is on Prince Davey’s side in this palace.”

“…”

“As you know, there’s no one to punish me, the sheep of Freya, the son of Queen Liness and the holy shepherd. No, there isn’t. Hahaha!”

Everyone knew the power of Queen Liness in the royal palace. I couldn’t stop laughing. Soon enough, I made some noise as I appeared.

“That’s great. I needed an excuse, Amy.”

“Booch?! Majesty!”

“What’s the punishment for insulting me?”

My sudden appearance caused Bort’s eyes to widen, who couldn’t detect my presence earlier. At the same time, I picked up the sword I was holding and pulled it out like I was throwing it.

A flash!

The action was quick, and that was my creed.

Apparently, he had been harassing her. I was sharp enough to know what happened so far without looking. I needed a proper justification, but could there be anything better than this?

“Oh, my God!”

In a second, the sound of metal rang out, and hot blood splashed everywhere. Amy’s eyes were filled with shock as she began to shudder.

“Ugh… Ugh… Ugh… W-why…”

Bort, the low-ranking official, collapsed on the floor and looked up at me, showing a shocked expression. According to what he knew, he didn’t think I was able to appear without any noise. He would have thought that even if I could move a little, I still needed someone to support me.

With that, I crept up toward him silently and swung my sword. He was one of Queen Liness’s limbs inside the palace, not anyone else’s, after all. He had a look of complete incomprehension. I spoke while keeping my face blank.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“Immediate execution.”

I shook my sword clean and smiled coldly at Amy, who answered my questions even though her body was shaking with fear. It was the law, but he didn’t expect what was coming to him because no one ever died for it before. His expression was filled with confusion.

“Did you hear?”

“The Queen will not stand for this. In fact, even in the Mainland…”

“Thanks for the advice, but I assure you, there is no one on your side.”

I pulled out the sword quickly after inserting it into his heart again as he coughed up blood. His body flinched and fell flat.

He was dead.

When I sheathed the sword back after I killed him, I glanced over at Amy.

“Ma… Majesty… Why…”

“Why not? It’s just as you said. The crime of defamation of the royal family and attempted murder is immediate execution.”

She burst into tears at my words. I patted her back without saying anything, and she cried there for a while. No matter how naive she was, she was most likely familiar with watching people die. This palace was a place where so many people had died behind my back. In the past, I was so foolish that I didn’t even know it.

“Are you calming down now?”

She realized her mistake and bowed her head after I teased her for crying.

“I’m… I’m sorry, your Majesty…”

“Good job for holding on for so long. Call the guards to clean up since there are no knights here.”

Amy looked at Bort while her body shook at my instructions.

“But, your Majesty…”

She was so brilliant that she had immediately figured out what would happen to me after what I did. Bort was an official from the Mainland serving the god Freya, and he served Queen Liness.

That meant he was sent here to monitor and slow down my recovery process. Externally, Queen Liness was a benevolent Queen who sent an official to a new palace for the safety of her stepson, but she was just a cheap woman full of dirty tricks inside. Whatever the reason was, it wouldn’t be presented that I killed him under the right circumstances.

Regardless of him committing a crime against the royal family, killing him without due process clearly had enough room for gigantic troubles. I wasn’t certain, but rumors would most likely spread in the palace that the first prince, Davey Al Rown, had gone crazy.

It was going to make my position worse. In the worst-case scenario, I would be confined to the outskirts of the palace because they would claim that I was a maniac. Furthermore, if there were complaints from the Mainland, I might be taken to the Mainland under the pretext of being a pawn.

Whatever it was, Queen Liness would toast to it. She regarded me as a thorn in her side, after all. Of course, I was aware of all of that when I did it.