Ranker's Return

“I’m bored, bored...”

Hyeonu’s face was full of annoyance at the unbearable boredom.

“Master, work fast to get the empire contribution. That way, we can go on vacation.”

Tang-E wanted to finish it immediately, so he shot these words toward Hyeonu.

“Yes, we have to go on vacation...”

Hyeonu started to stamp the papers again with a sullen expression.

[Handle the Unidentified Knights]

[An increasing number of nobles want the unidentified knights crossing the empire from west to east to be handled. Resolve their complaints.

Rating: S+

Conditions: Handle the unidentified knights 0/1.

Rewards: Experience, empire contribution.]

Hyeonu crumpled up the paper at once. “This is coming up again.”

It was a complaint he had seen several times already. Then Hyeonu gave quests to the players every time.

‘I’m not stupid.’

Hyeonu was well aware of why these complaints were coming up. Articles were being updated to the community at the level of live streaming. Most players touched them first and the NPCs responded. The NPCs never touched a player first.

“You have to do your own thing.”

Those who created the problem had to solve it. Hyeonu decided that rather than borrowing someone else’s hand, the one who created the accident should resolve it.

‘I don’t intend to solve it.’

The NPC knights were heading precisely toward the capital. In other words, he would meet them if he waited.

[Please select a solution.]

[Dispatch an imperial knights division.]

[Organize an adventurer’s suppression team.]

[Dispatch the Knights of Keon.]

Hyeonu’s eyes widened. A different option from before emerged.

‘The Knights of Keon?’

The Knights of Keon—it was a really deep relationship. Hyeonu’s class was the Commander of the Knights of Keon (True).

‘So can I go?’ This was the reason why Hyeonu was pleased. Hyeonu was also a member of the Knights of Keon, so if he dispatched the Knights of Keon... “It doesn’t matter if I go, right?”

Hyeonu smiled and stamped his choice.

[You have chosen a solution.]

[Please set up the rewards.]

[Experience.]

[Experience and imperial contributions.]

[Experience and items.]

[Experience and...]

‘For the reward, I can only get experience points.’

Just because Hyeonu was the emperor didn’t mean he could get any compensation. It was because the better the rewards, the less empire contributions that Hyeonu would earn.

[Ending the government affairs.]

[Compensation will be paid.]

[The remaining compensation will be paid when the unidentified knights are resolved.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have acquired 9 empire contributions.]

Hyeonu smiled brightly when he saw the message window that appeared in front of him. This was a very small possibility, but it was enough for Hyeonu.

“Guys, let’s finish this quickly.”

It had been a long time since he was motivated.

***

At a garden illuminated by the moonlight...

There, a handsome, blond-haired man was standing with his hands behind his back.

“That guy is moving?”

The handsome man naturally walked through the garden and opened his mouth.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Duke Gang Hyeonu’s recent move is unexpected.”

A heavy, low-pitched voice was heard in a dark place that the moonlight didn’t reach.

“Duke... watch your words. He is the emperor who is leading the empire.”

Alexander, the handsome blond-haired man, smiled and scolded the person.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Additionally, stop calling me Your Majesty. Now I can’t even remember the appearance of the imperial palace.

“I’m sorry, Alexander.”

The man in the darkness followed Alexander’s words and quickly changed the name. The important thing wasn’t the title, but something else.

“The current emperor is bringing adventurers into the imperial palace.”

The movements of the current emperor, Gang Hyeonu, had changed significantly. He usually met only a very limited number of people, but recently, he had been meeting quite a few people.

“He must be tired already. He can’t go out, so he has to call someone. Isn\'t that right?"

“It isn’t like that, Alexander. Not only the disciple of the orc great tribe chief, there is also the adventurer trusted by the elf great tribe chief, to Edward’s agents, and even the tool of the god tribe. All types of adventurers have recently entered and exited the imperial palace.”

Alexander stopped in place and stared somewhere. A man locked in darkness was standing there.

“This is the strange thing.”

Alexander cocked his head and made eye contact with the man.

“Huh?”

“The adventurers can talk to each other without having to meet. So why did he call them to the imperial palace? Have you ever thought about that?”

Alexander gave a strange smile. He had a rough idea of what Hyeonu was doing. However, it was just Alexander. The man in the darkness couldn’t understand Alexander’s words at all.

“You look like you don’t understand. It is easy to explain. How do I give you orders?”

“You tell me what to do through magic communication.”

“Yes, but what about in the beginning?”

“I see Your Majesty like now...?!!!”

The man’s eyes widened. Now he understood what Alexander meant.

“We always have to look at the face first. This way, we can know exactly what the other wants.”

As Alexanders’ words continued, the expression of the man in the darkness stiffened.

“Then there is really a problem, Your Majesty.”

The current emperor was the one who ascended to the position of emperor due to Alexander’s whims, so he didn’t have to do anything. He just had to stay still and give it back to its master.

“We will see if it is a problem or not.”

Alexander had a relaxed expression on his face. Hyeonu’s actions were predictable.

‘It is obvious.’

A war—it was clear that he intended to do it simultaneously, not in one place.

The undead in the north; the different species in the south; the god tribe in the east—famous adventurers from each faction met Hyeonu. Naturally, all of them would be involved if a war broke out.

‘By waging wars and creating crises... is it in order to call me?’

Alexander also knew why Hyeonu wanted to go to war. It must be because he wanted to somehow give up the position of emperor.

‘There is no need to guess.’

He had no intention of going back yet. He was very satisfied with his current life.

“Attach people to the adventurers who met with the emperor. Know everything that they are doing,” Alexander ordered the man with a determined expression.

‘There is still a long way to go, this guy.’

He had no intention of playing around with Hyeonu’s plan.

***

“Are we still far away?” the middle-aged man with red hair, Lenek, asked with a frown.

“There is still a long way to go. We aren’t moving on horseback or moving in a carriage... how can we get there already?”

Lindbergh looked tired after hearing Lenek’s words. He had heard this over a dozen times already.

‘It is like asking once every hour.’

There wasn’t a single shred of patience. It was hard to understand how he got the position of vice commander.

“Is there no such thing as a return scroll these days? Why ride ignorantly on horses? Has there been a war?”

Dot, the man walking on Lenek’s other side, criticized Lindbergh.

“I’m not a merchant. How can I carry hundreds of return scrolls?”

The thing that made Lindbergh even more annoyed was that there were two impatient people, not one. It was to the extent that he was going crazy and wanted to jump up and down.

“What did you say when I wanted to buy it? Didn’t the two of you say that you wouldn’t let me go alone out of fear I would run away?”

Lindbergh stopped as if to relieve his anger and yelled at Lenek and Dot.

“That is what we said. Why scream? People these days have no politeness...”

“If only there was politeness... Cough...”

Lenek and Dot coughed in embarrassment at Lindbergh’s genuinely angry expression.

“Did you call them adventurers? Those who don’t die even after being killed?” Lenek spoke to Lindbergh in a soft voice. He thought he was at a disadvantage, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Yes. They are called adventurers. They kill monsters or adventurers similar to them and become stronger,” the dissatisfaction on Lindbergh’s face hadn’t gone away as he replied.

“They messed around a few times, but they seem to have already gone away.”

“Their life is infinite, but they aren’t attacking... in any case, these days...”

Lenek and Dot clicked their tongues at the same time. They were flustered and angry the first time they were attacked. How dare these people attack them? It was unimaginable in the days of the Luos Empire. Then they realized something after being attacked several times. The adventurers posed no threat to them.

‘Too weak.’

They were absurdly weak. Their strength was a bit high, but their skills to handle it were too poor.

“Now it is a pity.”

The intermittent raids had completely disappeared since a few days earlier. It was Lenek and Dot who were disappointed once the raids actually disappeared. The adventurers disappeared, so there was nothing to do other than walk. Just then, something was caught on Lenek and Dot’s senses.

“Um...? Is it an attacker?”

“He is alone? It is just a passing adventurer.”

Adventurers usually moved in groups of as little as six people or as many as 20. They never came alone.

“Is he coming this way?”

“Yes. What is this?”

Lenek and Dot looked puzzled. This had never happened before.

“We have to be prepared.”

Lenek tightened the relaxed strings of tension. The atmosphere around him completely changed. He changed from the appearance of a neighborhood uncle and a powerful fighting energy flowed out. He looked like a general who had just returned to the battlefield.

After a while, the adventurer that Lenek and Dot spoke of appeared. It was a man in purple armor.

“Uh... uh...?” Lindbergh looked at the man and couldn’t shut his mouth.

It was him.

“What is it? Do you know that person?” Dot saw Lindbergh’s puzzled expression and asked.

“It is that person.”

“That person?”

“This is the person you are looking for. The emperor...”

The moment Lindbergh finished his words, Lenek and Dot rushed toward the man in purple armor, Hyeonu.

“Can you show me the spear?” Lenek approached Hyeonu in a single breath and asked Hyeonu.

“A spear? Are you talking about this?”

Hyeonu extended his hand and raised his magic power. Then a spear appeared in Hyeonu’s hand. It was such a good spear that anyone who saw it would say it was a very good item.

“His Majesty’s spear!”

“The divine object of the empire still remains...”

Lenek and Dot made a thrilled expression when they saw the spear. It was only for a moment. Then the two of them asked Hyeonu another question. “What about the other legacies?”

“The other legacies? Do you want me to tell you exactly?”

Once Hyeonu finished speaking, Tang-E and Gom-E appeared on his shoulders. Hyeonu took off the glove he was wearing and shook his hand, which had a lot of rings on it.

“The thing on this guy’s neck is what Larenix gave to him. This ring proves that I am the guardian of the empire...”

Before Hyeonu’s words finished, Lenek and Dot knelt down in place.

“I greet the descendant of the empire.”