Ranker's Return

“If he is the best dwarf craftsman... A great tribe chief? You have met a very precious existence.” Edward approached Kapa with wide eyes at Hyeonu’s introduction.

“Are you the leader of the ran tribe? It looks different from what is recorded in the books...?” Kapa observed the approaching Edward and shook his head. By all accounts, Edward looked like a human. It was different from the records that the dwarves and other species left behind.

“He was born as a human being, but he inherited the memory of the great tribe chief that you knew, Kapa. He regained some abilities to a certain extent,” Hyeonu explained the reason for the sense of strangeness Kapa felt. Hyeonu knew all too well why Kapa felt strange because he had seen Ragand’s body firsthand.

“Is that so? He inherited the memory... He must not have been normal before,” Kapa said.

“That’s right, my blood isn’t normal. Isn’t that why the previous chief targeted me?”

“He is the only brother of the current emperor. They share the same blood, so their talent will be different from ordinary people. Probably.”

Edward bragged while Hyeonu explained it. Edward couldn’t stop smiling, but Hyeonu wasn’t smiling at all.

“So why did I have to come here? What request do you have?” Kapa asked Edward right away. The reason he was looking for a dwarf craftsman.

“I want you to make one thing,” Edward answered.

“A thing? No weapons or armor are allowed.” Kapa shook his head and refused the moment he heard Edward’s words. “I don’t know which way the ran tribe’s hands will turn.”

He had no intention of making anything that was related to battle.

“I didn’t intend to ask for that in the first place. I already have a weapon to use,” Edward responded with a smile despite Kapa’s resolute words. The reason for calling Kapa wasn’t to ask him to make weapons or armor, so he didn’t have such expectations from the beginning.

Edward stated, “The thing I am asking you to create is a throne.”

Kapa made a strange expression at Edward’s words.

‘A throne? He is asking me to make a king’s seat... He wants me to make him a chair?’

“A throne? Does a throne mean the chair the king will sit on?” Kapa asked a question to answer his doubts.

“That’s right. I am asking you to make a seat of power for myself.” Edward nodded.

Kapa’s thoughts were correct.

‘A seat of power? This guy?’ Hyeonu remarked inwardly. He immediately thought of the emperor when he heard Edward’s words that he wanted a seat of power—a man who buried himself in his throne with a lazy appearance.

‘There is one in my territory.’

The throne was also in Phinis, Hyeonu’s territory. Edchan and Suped joined forces to create it.

‘What... I think the same thing will come out...’

Kapa would play the role of Edchan. If Edward took Suped’s role, he could create something similar.

Hyeonu’s speculation came true due to the subsequent conversation between Edward and Kapa.

“If that is enough, you don’t need the help of me or any others.” Kapa’s interest cooled down in an instant. It was a chair on which the king sat, but in the end, it was just a chair. This wasn’t Kapa’s concern.

“No, I’m not asking for just a chair. If it was like that, I wouldn’t have asked for a dwarf in the first place.” Edward snapped his fingers. Then the guardians emerged with something. They brought out a very large rock that seemed to span at least 10 meters, horizontally and vertically.

“I will make a throne out of this. I will sit on it...” Edward knocked on the rock a few times.

“This...!” Kapa muttered with a surprised expression. He seemed to know the identity of the rock that Edward was showing.

“You know it? Did you see it in the records still being passed down through the different species?” Edward stroked the black rock with his hands.

“Dark iron...” Kapa called out the name of the black rock.

“That’s right, it is dark iron. It is a metal made from quality steel. It has been purified using the secret arts of the ran tribe.”

Dark iron had been developed by the ran tribe to take the lead in the war against other species, including the giants.

“What is this dark iron, Kapa?” Hyeonu carefully asked Kapa, who couldn’t take his eyes off the dark iron for a second.

“There is no metal like this for those who use the dark attribute magic power. It is literally a metal specialized for the ran tribe,” Kapa explained while his eyes were fixed on the dark iron.

‘Is there such a thing?’ Hyeonu also looked surprised when he found out about the dark iron. Being able to create a metal with an artificial attribute wasn’t an ordinary thing.

‘It is a good thing to gather people.’

There was no need to give them good items. The players would come on their own as long as a little bit of dark iron was squeezed out.

‘It can be used for production or to increase the proficiency of blacksmiths.’

The dark iron was very useful. Of course, there was no guarantee that this useful thing would produce great results.

Still, it was worth it no matter what.

“Do you have any blueprints?” Kapa turned his head slightly toward Edward.

Edward responded by flicking his finger. He snapped his fingers, and a colorful chair appeared over the dark iron. “I hope you can make it this way.”

“It will cost you a lot, and it will take around a month.”

“It only takes that long? As expected of a dwarf great tribe chief.” Edward clapped. One month was a short enough wait time. At first, Edward thought the time he would have to wait would be as long as half a year.

Hyeonu left Kapa to focus on the dark iron and glanced at Edward. Edward immediately understood what Hyeonu’s gaze meant. “Let’s have a conversation while the great tribe chief is looking at the dark iron.”

“It won’t take long. I’ll be back soon.” Hyeonu bowed slightly to Kapa.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I just need to look at this.” Kapa nodded. He already wasn’t interested in Hyeonu and Edward. His only concern right now was the dark iron.

Hyeonu and Edward left Kapa behind and walked away.

“Have you heard about the ra tribe?” Hyeonu asked.

“Is that something for me to care about? I just heard that they started a war,” Edward replied.

“Really? You aren’t lying, are you? I believe you know how to distinguish it based on your own self-interest,” Hyeonu said with a stiff expression. Now wasn’t the time to joke around.

“Really. This is the information that those adventurers obtained.”

“You don’t know what is next?”

“What is next? Why did the war happen anyway?” Edward asked with a wronged expression. He really didn’t know. Edward couldn’t afford to turn his attention elsewhere right now. This was something that had to be done with all his heart.

“The ra tribe was completely broken. The tribe’s number two person had one arm cut off, while Luke didn’t achieve much and had to withdraw.”

“He didn’t achieve much? Who stopped Luke? Was there such a powerhouse in the East Continent?” Edward’s eyes widened. It seemed like nonsense that Luke couldn’t accomplish anything. After all, Edward knew how strong Luke was from the memories Ragand left behind and the experiences they had in person.

“The cause isn’t the East Continent but the different species. The present day orcs have a species god who stopped Luke.”

“An orc stopped Luke? Do you think that makes sense? It is absurd. If there had been such an orc, the empire would’ve started a war straight away,” Edward exploded in anger. He thought that Hyeonu’s words were a lie. The orcs had engaged in a close battle against the chief of the ra tribe, which lasted for a long time. Based on what Edward knew, he couldn’t understand this situation.

“I can’t help it if you don’t believe it. It is true. I’m just telling you to inform you.” Hyeonu didn’t care about Edward’s reaction. It was just something that Edward had to know.

‘It is just in case Luke comes and asks.’

Luke would unconditionally come to Edward. The existence of Raccoon was that shocking.

“Moreover, Lebron cut off the arm of the number two member of the god tribe. He didn’t cut it himself. Instead, he made the number two member cut off his own arm. Therefore, it isn’t wrong to say that Lebron did it.” Hyeonu plunged Edward, who hadn’t recovered from the aftermath of the shock, into a deeper crucible of shock.

“Lebron? You mean that Lebron is that strong?” Edward asked again with a surprised expression on his face.

“Teacher is strong. His Majesty the Emperor is probably even stronger. So be firm and quickly absorb Ragand’s memories. You don’t have time to relax.”

“Damn! Damn empire!! What does it mean by being so strong?!” Edward screamed at the true face of the empire he hadn’t known when he was a prince.

“You asked me for that favor even though you know all of this?” Edward turned the arrow of resentment toward Hyeonu.

“Of course. How strong Teacher is and the fact that there was a strong chief among the orcs… I knew it all. But isn’t it in Ragand’s memory? Even the guardians with an enormous amount of magic power behind them were unable to deal with Teacher and Duke Blake.” Hyeonu smiled so brightly that his white teeth could be seen. “So... work hard. Isn’t yours a life I saved? You have to work hard to survive and fulfill my remaining requests.”

The laugh that emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth grew louder.

‘I barely survived...’ Edward’s expression distorted. He had just seen the path of life a little bit. However, it wasn’t a smooth path but a thorny one. There was no one he could trust, and he couldn’t be careless for even a moment. It was overflowing with people who wanted to target his head, his knowledge, or even restrict his actions.

“Then the reason you found the dwarf...”

Right when Edward continued to talk to Hyeonu, a sudden white light appeared between them.

‘What?’ Hyeonu questioned it inwardly as he closed his eyes at the sudden light.

Meanwhile, Edward wasn’t bewildered at all. It was because he knew the identity of the light.

“What is going on today? Has the promised day already come?” Edward spoke with a shameless expression to the man who appeared in the light. It was different from when he was talking to Hyeonu.

At first glance, there was a look of impatience on Luke’s stiff expression. “The war has begun as promised. I naturally came here to get the reward.”

“The reward? What reward?” Edward asked with an expression like he didn’t know anything. It was the face of someone hearing it for the first time.