The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 115

Chapter 115.

Eliza’s eyes well up with tears as she turns her head with creaking sounds like a poorly oiled robot.

The way she looks up with eyes that seem ready to burst into tears at any moment appears to be asking, ‘Is that really true?’

“No, Eliza is cute.”

-Risa… Risa…

“I’m serious. You’re not strange.”

-Risa… Risa…

She becomes dejected and keeps muttering, but this time no translation was needed.

I’m weird… I’m a monster…

These words came through as vividly as if there was a speech bubble floating above her head.

It seems that for Eliza, who had always been told she was cute, being called strange-looking was quite a shock.

‘Oh dear.’

Though she had stepped forward boldly only to be retired in one blow, which was pitiful enough for even Dohyun watching from the side, Charlie didn’t stop.

-Those who guard my lord’s side are merely a goblin and a spider… Ah, I should have come a little sooner… I apologize, my lord. Please do not forgive me.

-Hey, that bastard keeps looking down on people? Hey, you come here.

-Risa risa!!

-You’re not a person, you’re a goblin, aren’t you.

-Kyaaaak!

Jihad taking a fighting stance to oppose the peerless Lu Bu, and Eliza holding back tears while squeaking.

And Charlie, who seems to pay no attention to those two as he looks at him asking for forgiveness.

‘…He’s not called a sharp-tongued critic for nothing.’

Players who cleared the tutorial commonly described Charlie as a sharp-tongued critic, or a picky and annoying bastard, which he hadn’t understood before, but seeing this now, he suddenly gets it.

What’s more surprising is that there’s not a trace of malice visible from Charlie.

-Ah… This is all my humble fault.

“…”

He was simply, truly consumed with guilt.

To Charlie, Jihad and Eliza were nothing more or less than strangely-looking monsters, or pets.

Who would seriously fight with mere creatures?

-Ah, this is so infuriating I could die. Fine, today it’s either you die or I die. How dare you not recognize your senior like the sky…

“Hey hey, stop it. Be quiet for a moment.”

When he stopped Jihad because it seemed like the fight would escalate, Jihad’s eyes widened.

The guy’s pupils were shaking back and forth.

-…Owner, are you taking that bastard’s side right now?

“…Huh?”

When Dohyun was momentarily flustered by the appearance like a tragic heroine betrayed by her trusted husband, the guy burst out shouting.

-A rolling stone displaces a fixed stone… Is that really it? How can the owner abandon us!

-Risa risa! Risa!

-Look, Eliza is saying that too! She even gave you a precious necklace and everything! Eliza did!

With even Eliza glaring at him like that, he really felt like a man who had done something terrible.

Finally, Dohyun, unable to contain his bewilderment, spoke up.

“No, what are you saying. And if you think about it, he did come under my command first.”

-What? What do you mean. Obviously we were first…

-My lord speaks correctly. This humble knight has been my lord’s sword for hundreds of years.

-…?

Is that really true?

When Dohyun sighed and nodded at the blinking look that seemed to ask just that, Jihad opened his mouth in shock.

Then after thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked back.

-…Then is the owner hundreds of years old?

“No, that’s not it. Um… it’s complicated to explain. Just think of it that way.”

-Then… Charlie senior?

-Risa?

Jihad’s attitude changed.

Gone was the confident appearance of stepping forward ready to educate him, replaced by Jihad hesitantly reading the mood.

[Guardian ‘Jihad Black’s guardian trait ‘Strong against weak, weak against strong’ activates.]

He had thought he had the advantage in experience, but realized it was actually the opposite.

He had lost his sense of how to position himself.

From that guy’s perspective, it must feel like a private who thought he was picking on a junior, only to find out he was actually a senior sergeant.

‘What kind of…’

Should this really be called consistent…

Dohyun sighed at the guy’s attitude change that made him laugh involuntarily.

“We’re all the same guardians, what seniors and juniors. Just get along comfortably, everyone.”

When he waved his hand casually while speaking, Jihad’s eyes sparkled as if he had never been reading the mood. Having become much more comfortable, he belatedly became aware of the gazes and cleared his throat.

-Ahem, since the owner says so, I have no choice. You should know how lucky you are…sir.

-Ri, risa…!

Perhaps because of that strong appearance from before, though he didn’t become a junior, perhaps because the safety net of being a senior was gone.

Though he was still reading the mood a bit, it was better than before.

Fortunately, Charlie also received it well without feeling bad.

-Hmm, I don’t understand, but if my lord has acknowledged you, it must mean your abilities are outstanding despite appearances. I apologize if I was rude.

-No, well… I didn’t do well either.

When Charlie readily offered an apology first, Jihad also seemed awkward to stay angry and hesitantly replied as if spitting it out.

Charlie extended a handshake to such Jihad.

-I’m called Charlie, please treat me well.

-Su, sure then. I’m Jihad. This is Eliza.

-Risa!

Eliza jumped up and climbed onto their hands, placing her hands together on top.

Though there were still some awkward aspects, with the relationships roughly sorted out, Dohyun shook his head.

A goblin carrying the bloodline of an ancient clan and a fluffy furry spider with parasitic abilities.

And the helper NPC who assists with tutorials is a guardian…

‘What a crazy party, really.’

Everyone else has cool, normal guardians, so why do only these terrible hybrids follow him around?

It was when he was holding his forehead as his head throbbed.

Charlie, having finished sorting out relationships, approached as if suddenly remembering something and handed over something.

-Ah, my lord. I picked this up.

“Huh?”

-I picked it up when my lord was concentrating on something.

Dohyun’s eyes flashed as he looked at it.

[Eye of Truth activates.]

‘Fragment of fate!’

A faint red light seeping out.

It was the same light he had seen from Gaemin the Destroyer’s heart.

What he had wanted all along had finally come into his hands.

As Dohyun received the half-broken hourglass and immediately checked its information, his eyes filled with confusion.

He couldn’t help it.

[Broken Hourglass of Shattered Faith]

-Grade: ???

-Description: A broken hourglass. Contains unknown powerful divine power.

“…What is this?”

The information was so different from what he had expected.

There wasn’t a single similarity from one to ten with what he had obtained from Raven.

No, the name doesn’t even have the ‘F’ of ‘Fate’ in it to begin with.

Just in case, I tried touching and prodding it in various ways, but there was no change.

‘It looks ordinary too.’

It was just an old, broken hourglass you could see anywhere.

Though it appeared red due to the Eye of Truth, there was no sparkling reaction like before.

‘Come to think of it, the main quest completion notification hasn’t appeared either.’

…Don’t tell me it wasn’t a Fragment of Fate?

Then why was the Eye of Truth continuously reacting to it?

Does this mean I have to stay here longer even after clearing the graduation Quest?

I had naturally assumed it was a Fragment of Fate, but this unexpected result left my mind in chaos.

‘No way, after all the suffering I went through to catch that thing, what is this?’

Of course, thanks to it I was splendidly clearing the graduation Quest and receiving generous rewards too…

But still, this isn’t right!

I was about to look for Gamillion to discuss this absurd situation.

“Ahh…”

“I can’t believe it…”

A voice filled with emotion from somewhere caught Dohyun’s attention.

When he turned his head toward the sound, he saw a group of people.

“Did they really kill that Destroyer?”

“To catch the Blue Peacock… who exactly are they…”

“Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I can’t believe it… who would believe this story.”

The sight of the clerics standing with their mouths agape in admiration.

Their eyes were moistly wet, which seemed quite moving.

Some were even shedding tears.

“Sob… this time we truly saved everyone.”

“This is all thanks to the Hero. Wasn’t it because he held the creature back and caught it before it could escape to the city?”

“Such foresight. A wonderful person who possesses both martial prowess and wisdom.”

“Ahh… I can return to my family’s embrace.”

At the sight of the old men embracing each other emotionally and stamping their feet, Dohyun, who had been feeling urgent, stopped in his tracks.

‘Hmm.’

His mood felt strange somehow.

To Dohyun, they were just passing NPCs, but the emotions shown by them were definitely not mere formal data fragments.

They were all genuinely relieved and ecstatic about protecting Brion from the Destroyer.

-These are the people my lord saved. None other than you, my lord.

As he stood there quietly watching with a strange feeling, a gentle voice reached him.

Looking to the side, he saw Charlie’s face smiling warmly.

-Actually, I was a bit worried. Convictions tend to gradually become corrupted when they meet that fellow called time.

“…”

-But… even after such a long time has passed, my lord seems to be the same as before. As expected, my judgment wasn’t wrong. This humble sword is very proud.

As Charlie, who met his eyes, added those words, a notification rang out.

[The loyalty of Guardian’s First Sword, ‘Charlie’ increases.]

[Guardian’s First Sword ‘Charlie’s loyalty is at maximum and cannot increase further.]

As he quietly observed this, his first meeting with Charlie suddenly flashed through his mind.

‘Come to think of it, Charlie was like that when we first met too.’

At Arren Castle during the tutorial, he had grieved more than anyone seeing his dead comrades, and when Dohyun finally caught the Iron-Blood Demon, he had been more moved than anyone.

Being such a Charlie, he probably understood better than anyone what those people were feeling.

As he continued watching, he could hear talk about Charlie too.

“But… who is that knight…?”

“He was definitely using a sword of light… isn’t that the swordsmanship only knights of Arren Castle use?”

“Where did he suddenly appear from? Did he fall from the sky or something?”

“Come to think of it, the ceiling is pierced through somehow, so he must have come down from there.”

“…Are you seriously making that joke right now?”

“…Ahem.”

The clerics, having somewhat composed their emotions, were chattering while reading the mood.

These were reactions closer to pure curiosity rather than wariness or suspicion like before.

‘Well, they can’t help but be curious.’

From their perspective, at the moment of desperation when their only hope was about to crumble, Charlie had suddenly appeared scattering brilliant light.

He had truly appeared like a savior.

Perhaps that’s why they hesitated and only observed the mood, unable to ask rashly.

“We truly thank you, Hero. Our Brion will never forget the Hero’s grace.”

“Not at all. It was only natural.”

It was Gildeti Caretaker who took the lead.

It was a fitting appearance for someone who was the representative figure among them.

“Hehe… natural, you say. No one other than the Disciples could do what the Hero did. Lord Lvebed will also express sincere gratitude when he learns of this fact.”

“Thank you.”

“We should be more grateful. But…”

Gildeti, who had trailed off slightly, asked cautiously.

“…Who is that knight, Hero?”

While he briefly pondered how to answer that, Charlie, who noticed the difficulty, stepped forward.

-I am Charlie, the great lord’s first sword. You must be the caretaker of this place.

“Ah, that’s right. We truly thank you as well, Sir Knight.”

-I did nothing. I merely added my spoon to what my lord created.

“You’re being modest. Please don’t say such things when we saw what we saw.”

Only after conveying their feelings to some extent did Gildeti bring up the topic he had been curious about all along.

-But… if it’s not rude to ask, may I inquire how you came here? There should have been a barrier in place, and even seeing it, I don’t quite understand.

It was an extremely reasonable question.

After all, the reason Dohyun had to face Destroyer Gaiman alone was because of the barrier the creature had set up.

When even dozens of knights couldn’t dare approach and could only twiddle their thumbs, Charlie had appeared quite boldly, which was incomprehensible.

Charlie’s answer to that was very simple.

-I came in response to my lord’s call.

“…?”

-I am a knight who has sworn loyalty to my lord. Isn’t it natural for a knight to respond to his lord’s call?

“That… yes?”

Charlie speaking thus was extremely solemn.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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