Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 38

“Get up. Why are you saying greetings like this?”

Hyeonu walked over to Lenek and Dot and raised the two men up.

Lenek and Dot looked at each other, made eye contact, and nodded.

“I’m Lenek and this person is Dot. We are both vice commanders of the guardian knights. The ones behind me are the guardian knights. Of course, they aren’t the elite. They didn’t even get the proper apprenticeship ticket.”

Lenek introduced them casually.

“The guardian knights?”

Hyeonu cocked his head. Where did he hear that name before?

‘When was it...?’

“Ah...! Is it the guardian knights that are only made up of graduates from the intermediate academy?”

Hyeonu quickly remembered the source of the name.

‘Was it in Senu?’

Hyeonu was given the name of guardian knight in the ordeal where he became a soldier of the Luos Empire and participated on the battlefield.

“That’s right. The guardian knights are made up of only those who have passed through Senu safely. They are the strongest knights division that the Luos Empire is proud of.”

The moment Hyeonu showed signs of knowing about the guardian knights, Dot smiled brightly and nodded.

“But the two of you, no. Why did all of you show up now? Did you borrow the power of an artifact as well?” Hyeonu asked a question.

“We borrowed the power of magic, not an artifact...”

“By the way, based on these words, is there anyone else alive beside us?”

Lenek and Dot’s expressions changed strangely. They were both flustered and pleased that others from the Luos Empire remained. They were really lucky to have someone they could relate to in this unfamiliar future.

“There are quite a lot. However, they are a bit different from you. They lived in a frozen time using Larenix’s artifact.”

“Something like that...”

“It is terrible to even imagine.”

Lenek and Dot’s expressions hardened. The two of them and the guardian knights had become ghosts and forgot the passage of time. They had no memories of that long period of time.

“Who is alive?”

“Lenek, I’ll tell you only names that you might know. Kalui, Hill, and Erwan.”

Hyeonu mentioned exactly three names. They were the names of the leaders who led the remnants of the empire in the demon world, middle world, and divine world.

“Kalui... he is alive?” Dot replied in a slightly tearful voice.

“Yes, he is alive. He is doing well as a knight commander in my territory.”

Hyeonu nodded. Kalui was doing really well. In particular, he fared even better once Hyeonu became emperor. The Luos Empire wasn’t resurrected, but it was meaningful in itself that Hyeonu, a descendant of the empire, became emperor.

“If you also need a place to stay... I can make room for you in my territory.”

Hyeonu made an offer to the two of them.

‘Please accept it.’

Contrary to his appearance of giving a light favor, Hyeonu inwardly hoped strongly that they would accept the offer. It would be good for Hyeonu if the guardian knights took a place in Phinis.

‘They could be better than the Knights of Keon.’

Hyeonu had completed all the academies of Laek, Senu, and Rondal, so he knew better than anyone the strength of the guardian knights who graduated from Senu.

“I understand. We are destined to follow Your Majesty anyway.”

“I hope we get along well in the future.”

Lenek and Dot nodded at the same time. If Hyeonu hadn’t suggested it, they would’ve asked first for him to accept them. The reason they appeared in this life was to support the descendant of the Luos Empire.

[Handle the Unidentified Knights has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The government affair has been successfully resolved.]

[The rest of the compensation will be paid.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have acquired 90 empire contributions.]

‘Ah...’ Hyeonu’s expression momentarily distorted. It was good that things had worked out. It was nice to get more power.

‘Do I have to go back already?’

The problem was that his outing was already over.

[You don’t have the right to go out.]

[You will be forced to return.]

“Take this.”

Hyeonu hurriedly took out a handful of paper from his inventory.

“It is a return scroll to Phinis. I’ve prepared a generous amount, so it shouldn’t be lacking. Then I’ll see you next time.”

Hyeonu handed over the return scrolls to Lenek. At the same time, Hyeonu’s figure disappeared. He was returned to the palace.

***

‘It is unfortunate...’

Hyeonu’s expression wasn’t full of excitement when he appeared in the great hall.

“I should’ve made the conversation longer...”

He wasn’t regretful about his meeting with Lenek and Dot. He just wanted to use the conversation as an excuse to breathe a bit more of the air outside.

‘Even so, I figured out something good.’

The biggest profit of this outing was that the taboo system of the palace wasn’t perfect. It was a very small gap, but Hyeonu was satisfied with this alone.

‘It means if I give a mission to the Knights of Keon...’

However, knowing how to get out through this gap didn’t mean he couldn’t do it at will.

‘I don’t know when the Knights of Keon will appear in the selection options...’

In the end, everything depended on the system. Hyeonu were merely capable of recognizing the opportunity when it came. Nevertheless, Hyeonu was good with this alone.

A smile appeared on his face.

‘I am going to be less bored in the future.’

Now there was the possibility of going out at any time. It was a spring breeze in the endlessly boring life of the imperial palace.

***

It was quickly known that Hyeonu had taken control of the guardian knights, who were famous as powerful NPC knights in the community. It was natural. The guardian knights wandered through all of Phinis like it was their home. At this point, it was even stranger not to know.

People wondered how Hyeonu had recruited the guardian knights. However, no one could explain it. Hyeonu, who was the party involved, kept his mouth shut. This meant it was natural that no one knew the inner story. Even Lindbergh, who was present, didn’t know it perfectly. It had all been over in less than a minute. By the time Lindbergh came to his senses, Lenek and Dot were already kneeling in front of Hyeonu.

However, some people weren’t interested in this. To be precise, they couldn’t be. There were very few things Hyeonu did that they could understand. They thought of this as an extension of that.

‘Thinking about it makes my head hurt.’

The man shook his head vigorously from side to side. It was enough to accept the talk circulating around the community as news articles. This happened somewhere in the world. It was just that much.

‘It is hard to even take care of my own business.’

It was too difficult for him to pay attention to other people’s affairs.

‘What else am I going to hear today...?’

The frowning man, Rain, sighed. He thought of the one he would soon meet and was already annoyed.

‘I have to go anyway.’

He couldn’t not meet the person just because he didn’t like it. They had to meet. It was in order to develop a bit more.

“Damn Jeras. I would rather die,” Rain uttered a very low curse and slowly moved his feet. He walked for a while with slow steps and stopped in front of a huge temple. The temple was very unique. The architectural style was no different from the other temples. Yet unlike the other temples, a white membrane was covering the temple.

“Jeras,” Rain loosened his throat by coughing and cautiously called out to the owner of the temple. No answer came back. Instead, the white membrane surrounding the temple was lifted for a moment.

Rain quickly entered the temple.

‘Why do I have to do this every time...?’

Rain didn’t like this procedure very much. He thought it was a useless pretense. No one from the god tribe came and went from Jeras’ temple. The players were the same. They didn’t even come close to Jeras’ temple. In the beginning, Jeras threatened them, but the players just went hunting. They also didn’t go to the place where the god tribe was staying.

‘In any case, it is all about a single tree...’

There was only one tree inside the temple. Other than that, there was really nothing. The temple had nothing.

‘He is still doing that today.’

Rain’s expression stiffened when he saw Jeras caring for the tree in the center of the temple. Jeras was like this every time Rain visited the temple.

‘Is the tree that good...?’

Rain shook his head in disgust at the sight of Jeras, who was doing a completely incomprehensible thing.

“Jeras.” Then he carefully called out a name.

“What happened today?” Jeras greeted Rain without even looking at him. Jeras’ gaze was only focused on the tree.

“He wants to be paid.”

“Paid?”

“Yes, it is the price for sending the League of Different Species back to the middle world.”

“I see, yes.” Jeras nodded. He knew that the human being would always demand a price. He was a thoroughly calculating human who did no unpaid favors.

‘So it is unbelievable...’

“What did he ask for this time?” Jeras asked while stroking the very small, newly bloomed leaves.

“He asked you to invade the middle world, just as before.”

The leaf that Jeras was touching turned into powder and scattered in the air.

“What?”

“He asked you to invade the middle world again...”

Jeras turned to look at Rain. A white ray of light was bursting from his eyes.

‘I knew this was going to happen.’

Rain shrugged. It wasn’t scary because he had seen it several times already.

‘Should I have said I couldn’t do it...?’

However, there was something he was asked to do and it gave him a headache.

‘Ah, I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.’

Rain recalled Hyeonu’s confident appearance. Unlike himself, who shook his head and said he wouldn’t be able to do it, Hyeonu had a face that said he could unconditionally do it.

“Are you going to say no?” Rain opened his mouth with a more relaxed expression.

“Did that human simply ask for an invasion of the middle world?”

The beam of light emanating from Jeras’ eyes subsided. He quickly regained his original appearance like nothing had happened.

“He said that the war will mainly be fought between adventurers, so it is okay to just help out in moderation. He added that it is better than fighting the orcs.”

Jeras’ expression became stranger as Rain continued to speak.

“What an amazing human being, really.”

Jeras admired Hyeonu’s suggestion that narrowly straddled the line. It wasn’t a big loss for Jeras if the adventurers were the main force. No, it was an unconditional gain. It was because the thing that really mattered to him was the ra tribe, not the adventurers.

‘Making a request like this after creating a checkmate...’

If he rejected this proposal, the different species would definitely come to the divine world again and wage war. That situation had to be prevented unconditionally. The ra tribe wasn’t on track yet.

“Get the correct agreement. When, where, and how many troops to be sent.”

Jeras turned around again and started stroking the tree.

“I understand, Jeras.”

Rain walked out of the temple with a slightly bewildered face because it worked out as well as someone had assured him.

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