Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 27

At the glacier zone at the northern tip of the West Continent, a curious phenomenon occurred at the coldest space, the iceberg—night came several times a day.

“So... are you asking me to do such a clownish thing again?”

Edward was in a terribly bad mood as he called night to the iceberg. It was due to the bad memories that appeared in his mind.

“I don’t know what is written in that letter, Edward.”

The man standing in front of Edward, Kalen, shrugged. He had heard it briefly from Hyeonu, but he pretended not to know in front of Edward. It was because there was no need to deal with this anger by acting like he knew.

“You don’t know what is written? He wants me to start a war. He still thinks I am the Edward of the past.”

Edward slammed against the throne made of skulls and got up. At the same time, he threw away the paper he was holding in his hand. The paper floated back through the air and clung to Edward’s face.

“There is no way. I can’t afford to worry about that.”

Edward shouted as he harshly removed the paper from his face.

‘Really, it is exactly as expected..’

Kalen shook his head at Edward, who showed the exact same reaction as what Hyeonu had told him. This person was really simple.

‘Or perhaps Alley Leader knows this person really well.’

“Edward,” Kalen loosened his throat with a few coughs and called out to Edward.

“Do you have something to say?”

Edward shot an intense glare toward Kalen.

“I have a message to tell Edward that I had forgotten about.”

“From that guy? What did he say?”

“There is a dragon in the middle world, so be careful.”

Kalen told Edward exactly what Hyeonu had told him.

‘I am just doing what I’m told.’

In Kalen’s opinion, Hyeonu’s message was really nothing. He didn’t understand why Hyeonu told him to tell Edward this.

‘There is a dragon. Then what else?’

Yet it was completely different for Edward.

‘There is a dragon in the middle world, so be careful?’

There was only one dragon that both he and Hyeonu knew.

‘Demonic dragon...’

Callioraks—the monster of the demon world who brutally killed Ragand, the former chief of the ran tribe.

‘Why?’

It had been less than one year after the death of the demon kings. The only one who could normalize the power of the demon world was Callioraks. Why was Callioraks in the middle world?

‘No, why should I be afraid of the demonic dragon?’

Edward was trembling with fear, only to suddenly smile. Callioraks was unrivaled as far as he knew. He wasn’t the type to do someone a favor.

“I almost fell for his bluff.”

Edward cleared up his expression and sat back on the throne.

“Tell him straight. I can’t afford to match his antics and play,” Edward firmly ordered Kalen.

“I understand, Edward.”

Kalen nodded obediently. His role was a messenger. Passing on Hyeonu and Edward to each other was the end of it. There was no reason for him to persuade Edward.

“Wait, that answer... I hope you will think about it again.”

Just then, a purple-haired man appeared between Edward and Kalen.

“Callioraks...!”

Edward was greatly confused as he pointed to the handsome young man and shouted.

“Are you talking informally? Ragand was older than me so it didn’t matter, but... it isn’t the case with you, right?”

Callioraks approached Edward with a smile.

“I’m sorry, Callioraks.”

Edward immediately rose and bowed to Callioraks. There was no sense of humiliation. It was because survival came first.

“That’s fine. I don’t think you did it on purpose.”

Callioraks continued to approach Edward. Then Edward naturally stepped aside.

“So what is the answer once you thought about it again?” Callioraks asked while sitting on the empty throne.

“How do you want me to answer?” Edward asked Callioraks rather than answering prematurely.

“If I do that, it will be like I am forcing you. I was just making a suggestion,” Callioraks responded more bluntly than Edward.

‘What do you want me to do?’

Edward inwardly cursed Callioraks, who seemed to be giving him riddles. He thought it would be more comfortable if Callioraks spoke directly.

‘In any case, that guy will keep asking until he gets the answer he wants...’

Edward shut his mouth for a moment and was lost in thought. He was thinking about what Callioraks wanted.

‘Is that the only thing?’

“Would it be okay if the guardians and undead are sent south at the right time?” Edward opened his mouth cautiously.

“That is a decent answer. Why don’t you send two or three guardians in moderation?”

Callioraks smiled and raised himself up from the throne.

“Yes, yes. I was going to do that too.”

Edward nodded easily.

“I think you are doing a good job. Learn like this. What you said just now is enough. If you overdo it... you will be ruined. Do you know what I mean?”

Callioraks gave Edward advice and left as abruptly as when he first appeared.

‘I don’t know if I should like this..’

Edward received unexpected praise and sighed.

“Damn them.”

He was obviously improving day by day, but it felt like he was still in the same situation.

***

‘Is this Edward done?’

Hyeonu erased Edward’s name from the paper on the desk in his office.

‘Yes... there was that monster.’

Hyeonu’s gaze shifted to the beautiful young man who had Tang-E on his lap and was teaching Tang-E something. The young man, Callioraks, quickly solved Hyeonu’s troubles. He didn’t ask how Callioraks knew, but this person went to Edward and negotiated things.

‘I was just throwing out words...’

Hyeonu somehow found a means to pressure Edward and it was Callioraks’ name that came out. He just wanted to borrow the name. However, the story changed when Callioraks really appeared. His bluff became a reality.

‘Things went well, but...’

Thanks to Callioraks, the matter was handled without him needing to act. It was obviously a good thing.

‘The reason why he appeared is suspicious.’

A few days ago, Callioraks suddenly appeared in the imperial palace and said he would teach Tang-E some of the secret arts. Hyeonu couldn’t stop Callioraks.

‘It is a good thing for Tang-E to learn the secret arts...’

In the first place, it was absurd for Hyeonu to stop Callioraks from doing this.

‘I wish he will return to the demon world soon...’

“Is it over?”

At this moment, the magic power emanating from Callioraks and Tang-E ended. At the same time, the sound of conversation grew louder. Hyeonu got up from his seat and walked toward the two of them.

“Callioraks, how is Tang-E?” Hyeonu carefully asked Callioraks a question.

“Tang-E? There is no end to his enthusiasm for learning and he is full of talent.”

Callioraks didn’t hesitate to praise Tang-E.

“How much of the secret arts has Tang-E learned?” Hyeonu smiled and asked another question.

“The secret arts? It is still far away. He has just taken a step.”

“Yet you are complimenting him like that?”

“You wouldn’t be able to say that if you knew the difficulty of the secret arts...”

Callioraks shook his head. The secret arts weren’t that simple. It was different from ordinary magic.

“Yes, Master dude. How can you say that without knowing how difficult the secret arts are?”

Tang-E helped Callioraks.

“Yes, let’s say that is the case.”

Hyeonu nodded and pretended to accept it. He wasn’t trying to find real fault anyway. They were just words he brought out in order to open up a conversation with Callioraks.

“Callioraks, how is the demon world these days?”

This was what Hyeonu really wanted to say.

“The demon world? It is going well on its own,” Callioraks replied impudently.

“Aren’t you too indifferent?”

“Then how long do I have to be tied to the demon world?”

“Still… a minimum of attention is needed...”

Hyeonu was flustered by Callioraks’ attitude, which was more cold-hearted than expected.

‘Did he let go of the demon world?’

It was a completely different reaction from a few months ago when he was moving to return the collapsed demon world to normal.

“I acted so it would work well without me. Additionally, there are people to solve it if there are problems... It doesn’t matter if I take my hands off it.”

There was a reason why Callioraks could move so comfortably—the secret arts of the ran tribe obtained from Edward. To be exact, it was the secret arts about the guardians. He took advantage of it.

‘This is my favorite.’

Callioraks filled all the empty demon king seats in the demon world with the guardians. Then he used them to move the demon world according to his taste.

‘Growth is also growth!’

All the guardians who became demon kings threw the demon world into the depths of war as Callioraks had instructed. It was a strategy to develop high quality power through practical warfare. Then if any existences that surpassed a guardian emerged, he naturally planned to hand over the position of demon king.

‘His mind is good too.’

Hyeonu was impressed when he heard that Callioraks had used the guardians. His mind was amazing.

‘I’m envious...’

At the same time, he was envious of Callioraks, who could move the puppets called the guardians at will. Hyeonu wouldn’t have to suffer like this if he had the guardians.

“Do you perhaps know how my teacher is doing?” Hyeonu asked through gritted teeth.

Lebron—it was a name that made him angry just thinking about it. The feeling of betrayal still lingered and bothered Hyeonu.

‘Selling out his disciple while pretending to help?’

Hyeonu had accidentally discovered the whereabouts of Lebron, who disappeared. It was discovered by someone in Etono.

“Teacher? Ah, that young human?”

Callioraks cocked his head for a moment before quickly remembering who Hyeonu’s teacher was.

“Yes, the younger of the two is my teacher.”

“By the way, I wonder if it makes sense to make a distinction...”

“Huh? What do you mean...?”

Hyeonu asked back with wide eyes.

“Both are the same. They train and train. Every day, they only wield their swords.”

Callioraks shook his head incredulously as he remembered the two humans. They really repeated every day like they were in a hamster wheel.

‘He sold me just to train...?’

Hyeonu was dumbfounded. He would understand it more if Lebron was wandering around the continent and drinking. But training...

“I think they are out of their minds.”

Hyeonu just said whatever he wanted. It was like an insane person.

“I agree with that. The two of them are really crazy. This is what I felt from the first time I saw them.”

Callioraks shook his head.

“I have a final question.”

Hyeonu was listening to Callioraks before suddenly remembering something. It was something he wanted to ask.

“It is about when John Blake first came to the demon world. What happened?”

It was about John Blake’s past.

“The first time that human arrived?”

Callioraks recalled the past. It was a very pleasant memory.

“It was a day when there was a big storm in the demon world.”

A smile appeared on Callioraks’ face as he thought of the past.

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