The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 117

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 117
Chapter 117
“Where is everyone wandering off to? At this rate, the sun will be at its peak! Fix the carriages, organize the cargo! Hurry, hurry, get everything ready!”
“Yes, sir!”
Robert, the chief merchant of the Simmons Trading Company.
He was managing the caravan with such desperation that the very word seemed to define him.
And for good reason—this mission came directly from the head of the Simmons Trading Company.
The legendary Edwin Simons himself had entrusted him with this top-secret assignment.
‘This is my chance!’
Normally, such critical missions were handled directly by branch managers and above.
But this mission required erasing all symbols of the proud Simmons Trading Company from the carriages and clothing—a level of secrecy that made it impossible for well-known executives at the branch manager level or higher to undertake.
Which meant only someone like Robert could handle it.
The fact that such a mission had fallen to Robert meant one thing.
‘I’m just one step below them!’
If he executed this mission flawlessly,
he could earn Simons’ recognition and be promoted directly to branch manager.
So he was determined to perform this mission perfectly.
But then.
“I’m Mirain, hired as an escort mercenary.”
An adventurer had appeared.
An escort mercenary, no less.
He was aware that the Emperor had recently been favorable toward adventurers, even granting them noble titles.
Yet it was common knowledge that adventurers were thoroughly selfish individuals with barely a shred of loyalty to the Empire.
So why had such an adventurer shown up as an escort mercenary for such a top-secret mission?
Robert frowned and checked the roster.
‘Specially designated? What is this?’
The name Mirain was listed as specially designated.
The adventurer’s level didn’t even seem particularly high compared to the other hired escort mercenaries.
He couldn’t understand why they’d been brought along.
But understanding or not,
“Head over there where the other escort mercenaries are gathered. Get briefed and start preparing for departure immediately.”
“Understood.”
He couldn’t very well turn away an adventurer with special designation.
He sent the adventurer to join the other escort mercenaries and promptly erased the adventurer’s existence from his mind.
“Alright, we depart in one hour! Everyone must finish their preparations by then!”
“Yes, sir!”
Unaware that the adventurer’s true identity was the Empire’s most talked-about figure—the first adventurer to receive a noble title.
Mir, the Viscount.
* * *
Escort mercenary, Mirain.
It’s the alias I intend to use until this journey concludes.
Concealing my identity was something I desired, but since Simons wanted it as well, I was able to insert my name into the roster under the guise of a mercenary.
Fortunately, the merchant who appeared to be overseeing this journey accepted me without much deliberation.
I then made my way to where the escort mercenaries had gathered.
“Ugh, this is tedious. When are we departing?”
“Hey, got any jerky left?”
“The caravan hasn’t even departed yet and you’re already trying to finish off all the jerky?”
“Come on, once the caravan sets out, they’ll provide proper meals at every mealtime anyway. What’s the harm in eating it all now?”
“The food the caravan provides is bound to be nothing but vegetables. We need to have some jerky to keep our strength up!”
I could see a group of rough-looking mercenaries gathered together.
My first impression upon seeing them was simple.
‘They look weak.’
That was all.
In truth, the reason was clear.
Had I not been sparring with the Knight Order at the Imperial Palace just recently?
The Knight Commander himself had even demonstrated his strength directly before me.
In such circumstances, mere mercenaries hardly warranted my attention.
As I drew closer.
“Who is this? What are you doing crawling in here?”
One of the mercenaries noticed my presence.
“I’m Mira, joining as an escort mercenary.”
“An escort mercenary? You? Captain, wasn’t our mercenary band supposed to handle all the escort duties?”
“Ah, well, there was someone. An adventurer mercenary whose name appeared on the escort roster ahead of ours through some kind of special designation.”
“What? How is that even possible?”
“Heh, can’t you tell just by looking? It’s nepotism.”
“Nepotism?”
“I don’t know who they are, but they must have used connections to get in, right?”
And then they began spouting baseless speculation and nonsense.
Did that even make sense?
Honestly, who would use connections just to join a caravan escort?
…Well, it’s true that I’m here through Simons’ special designation, but still.
“Hey, everyone focus! We’ve got a newcomer! A newcomer!”
“A newcomer?”
“What? An adventurer?”
“What kind of adventurer comes here? And alone at that.”
“Captain, surely you’re not thinking of accepting them into our mercenary band?”
“Heh, of course not. But we should still give them a proper welcome, shouldn’t we?”
“Yeah! A welcome ceremony! We should!”
With my arrival, all the escort mercenaries gathered around me.
That said, a welcome ceremony…
These mercenaries don’t seem to be welcoming me with genuine sincerity.
“Who was the youngest again?”
“Hey, youngest! Aren’t you going to answer!”
“Yes! Did you call for me, Captain!”
“That’s right, our youngest. What did you say your name was?”
“I’m Tyran!”
“Captain, shouldn’t you at least remember the youngest member’s name?”
“Unless they’ve been here for over a month without deserting, dying in combat, or defecting to another mercenary band, I don’t bother remembering.”
“That’s not me!”
“Right, our youngest. A new recruit just arrived—you need to give them the initiation rite.”
“Understood!”
The mercenary called the youngest approached me with a confident smile.
After checking my level, he drew his weapon with that same assured expression.
Not a practice weapon, but a sharp longsword.
“Hey, kid. If you don’t want to get hurt, just bow your head to the ground quietly. I’m good at fighting, but I’m not confident in controlling my strength!”
“Haha, youngest! Just don’t actually kill him!”
“Yes!”
“Sigh….”
Watching this unfold, I couldn’t help but exhale deeply.
I’d wanted the position of escort mercenary to move quietly while keeping my identity hidden.
But this was already derailing my plans from the start.
That said, I had no intention of bowing my head to this youngest member all the way until we reached the Red Beast Fortress.
“Luke.”
– Which fine blade should I draw for you?
“No, just pull out an ordinary iron sword. Something unremarkable.”
The youngest of the escort mercenaries.
By level, he’d be around 230?
It would be wasteful to use good equipment against someone of that caliber.
So I drew an iron sword that looked perfectly ordinary to anyone watching and faced off against the mercenary called the youngest.
“What, you’re really going to fight?”
At that, my opponent’s expression grew even more confident.
“Don’t regret it if I accidentally sever a tendon!”
He charged at me.
The sight of a level 230 mercenary rushing forward.
‘Weak.’
He looked far too clumsy.
Even the knights I’d sparred with in the Empire were far superior to this.
Compared to the Knight Commanders who’d demonstrated their power before me… no, even making that comparison felt embarrassing.
‘I don’t even feel like using a skill.’
Dark Serpent Shadow Dance?
Black Void Slash? Pointless Mana waste.
Both are wasteful.
Ting!
“Huh?”
I simply deflected the mercenary’s blade to the side with a subtle flick—nothing more than a brute charge warranted.
That alone sent his sword spinning away, his balance shattered as he staggered.
Toward such an opponent.
Whoosh!
I swung my iron sword.
The mercenary instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and screamed as the blade swept before his face.
He’d been the one to charge forward with a real blade first, but I couldn’t kill him here regardless.
Clang!!
“Ugh!”
I twisted the blade slightly, striking the back of his head with the flat of the sword rather than the edge.
The crisp impact echoed as the mercenary collapsed.
The blow had landed far more effectively than I’d anticipated—he remained down, unable to rise.
Looking closer, he’d already lost consciousness.
“…The youngest?”
“Huh…?”
“What just happened…?”
I felt the escort mercenaries, who’d been mocking and clamoring moments before, fall silent in shock.
And to ensure a smoother journey ahead, this was precisely when I needed to demonstrate overwhelming strength.
“Next.”
Time to establish dominance.
* * *
The Steel Claw Mercenary Band—the mercenaries hired to escort the Merchant Caravan this time.
The youngest of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band, a group with considerable renown among mercenary companies, had fallen to a single adventurer’s strike.
Not merely fallen—he’d lost consciousness entirely, knocked out cold.
Even then, he’d only lost consciousness because his opponent had held back during the live blade duel; had the adventurer intended otherwise, inflicting a fatal wound would have posed no problem.
The Steel Claw Mercenary Band’s members were taken aback.
“Hey, Karl! Go show him what real pain is!”
“The youngest looked so frail, and he got knocked down in one hit by an adventurer?”
“Karl, go!”
The Steel Claw Mercenary Band was not one to swallow their pride so easily.
They assumed the youngest, having only recently joined the band, had been underestimated in strength, so they sent the next senior member.
“Yes, brothers! I’ll show you the true power of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band!”
“We’re counting on you, Karl!”
“Hyaaaah!”
Thus, a mercenary named Karl charged forward at the adventurer with fierce determination.
Clang!!
“Gack!”
Karl took a flat-blade strike to the back of his head from the adventurer and collapsed.
The situation was so perfectly identical that it seemed like the youngest recruit’s battle was being replayed.
The mercenaries were taken aback once more.
“That Karl—he was drinking heavily yesterday and still hasn’t sobered up, it seems!”
“Who’s next in rotation! Go and crush him!”
“You youngest recruits need to get your heads in the game!”
“We apologize!”
I thought this was just another coincidence.
I assumed the youngest recruits had been careless and lost focus, which is why they’d been defeated.
But as time wore on, their thinking had no choice but to shift.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
Clang!!
“Gack!”
Clang!!!
“Urrgh….”
This was already the tenth.
Ten mercenaries from the Steel Claw Mercenary Band had fallen to the adventurer.
And not just fallen—every single one had failed to land even a single attack on the adventurer before being defeated in one blow.
Moreover, the mercenary who’d just collapsed couldn’t even be called a youngest recruit anymore.
A senior mercenary fully adapted to the Steel Claw Mercenary Band.
A genuine veteran whose skill everyone here knew well had been felled in a single strike by the adventurer.
At this point, the mercenaries were beginning to realize that something was gravely amiss.
“What, what is this? What’s going on?”
“How is this happening? That adventurer’s level didn’t seem that high?”
“Has he been cursed by a ghost or something?”
Bewildered as they were, they couldn’t simply abandon their pride like this.
It was time for the next mercenary in rotation to step forward.
The mercenaries looked toward the next recruit in line after the one who’d just fought.
“Oof, my stomach suddenly….”
He made a flimsy excuse and refused to fight.
The other mercenaries criticized him.
“Ugh. I can’t get my head straight because of the alcohol from yesterday….”
“Derek, you didn’t even attend yesterday’s drinking session!”
“I, I drank a ton at home!”
“Who’s going to believe that?”
He wasn’t the only one refusing to fight.
The adventurer clearly didn’t seem to be of ordinary skill.
If only someone had managed to put up a decent fight against the adventurer, I might have stepped forward to try.
Watching mercenaries crumple to the ground, struck in the back of the head in a single blow mere moments ago, I found myself utterly devoid of the courage to challenge an adventurer.
As I stood there contemplating this,
“What a pathetic display.”
“C-Commander.”
A familiar voice reached my ears.
Jackal, the commander of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band.
He had been observing the absurd spectacle of his own mercenary band crumbling before some nameless adventurer, and now
“Everyone, stand back. I’ll face them myself.”
he began to move.

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