The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 236

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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 236
Chapter 236
The reason I considered him a key figure was simple.
After I destroyed the core of the suicide ship and the incident was resolved, when I boarded the vessel to check its condition.
The cargo hold where the core had been stored.
In that room lay a man who had narrowly escaped the blast radius of my attack, unconscious—and he was the very man before me now.
His appearance was far too refined to be mistaken for a pirate or mercenary.
In any case, the moment I identified him as a key figure, I brought him to the Interrogation Chamber, and Ena had come down to conduct the questioning.
“Please… spare me…”
“He won’t open his mouth at all. I’m wondering if we should resort to torture.”
“Torture?”
“Yes, there doesn’t seem to be any other way, does there?”
“I cannot speak… I cannot… speak. Ugh…”
The man refused to open his mouth.
In situations like this, torture was the most commonly employed method.
There was no choice.
If I had any information about the man, I could use inducements, but we knew nothing about him whatsoever.
Since he wouldn’t even speak about himself, torture remained the only option.
Yet I felt…
‘Something is off.’
His reaction stirred a sense of incongruity within me.
The reason was naturally rooted in my experience in First.
The Quests I had cleared in First were not limited to simply defeating monsters.
To progress toward Quest objectives, I had interrogated NPCs, and I had even interrogated monsters before.
Because of such experiences, one detail nagged at me.
“It could be a geis.”
“A geis?”
“I’m not certain, but the man who attacked me had a high probability of being a knight of a high-ranking noble. If that’s the case, then this man must be connected to such a noble as well. A noble of that caliber would never send someone on such a mission without proper safeguards.”
“A geis? You mean like those curses in movies? Where mentioning a secret causes death?”
“Yes.”
During my time in First, when clearing Quests, I occasionally encountered monsters bound by a geis.
I would manage to capture them and attempt to extract information, but the moment they tried to mention a secret, their heads would suddenly burst.
Those bound by such a geis.
I suspected this man was in a similar situation.
With that thought, I turned to observe the man.
“Ugh… ugh…”
He exhibited a strange reaction—neither affirmation nor denial.
Because of this, I could be even more certain.
That this man was indeed bound by a geis.
“Then what do we do? If it’s a geis, it won’t be easy to break. And if a high-ranking noble is involved…”
“No, I can break it.”
“The seal?”
“Yes.”
I had one item I kept on hand for situations exactly like this.
Though I’d collected every item in First, this was one I’d deliberately acquired in advance specifically for Quests of this nature.
Namely.
[ Lucifer’s Mockery ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Form : Grimoire
Grade : Mythic
Requirement : Wisdom 1,000 or higher
Description : A grimoire imbued with the power of Lucifer, the great demon synonymous with the fallen angel.
This was it.
If I poured mana into it.
– The unique skill ‘Archdevil’s Mockery’ from ‘Lucifer’s Mockery’ activates.
The grimoire’s unique skill would trigger.
Lucifer’s Mockery had no usage level restriction, and the wisdom requirement didn’t seem particularly high, but that was merely the minimum threshold.
Activating the unique skill alone consumed all the mana equivalent to 1,000 wisdom stat points.
Even after that, an enormous amount of mana drained with each passing moment.
Since even I found this difficult to sustain, I immediately retrieved a supreme-grade mana potion.
A low hum resonated.
Looking around, as expected.
‘Lucifer’s Mockery’ functioned properly, bathing the entire Interrogation Chamber in crimson light.
Now within this space, contracts and seals—everything became void.
I couldn’t break the seal itself, but forcibly shattering it was actually dangerous.
The seal could rebound and explode, or alternatively, the caster might realize the seal had been lifted and take other countermeasures.
“Within this space, the seal no longer holds.”
The man’s expression remained dark.
Well, it had to be.
Even if the seal suddenly lifted, how could he trust it and carelessly spill secrets?
If he spoke and the seal hadn’t actually been broken, it would activate immediately.
So now, I simply waited for the man to realize the seal was broken and speak of his own accord.
“Would you tell me your name first?”
* * *
An attendant of Duke Winchilsey.
Or more precisely, an attendant serving Valencia Knight, who had been attending to Valencia Knight’s needs.
Philip’s mind was in turmoil.
He had failed the self-destruct command originally ordered by Valencia Knight.
Having collapsed before the core in the cargo hold, he’d been captured by Baron Mir and dragged to the Interrogation Chamber.
Two emotions surged simultaneously within his mind.
The first emotion that washed over me was.
‘I’m alive. I’m alive….’
Relief.
I was supposed to die alongside the pirate ship in the explosion.
I don’t know how it happened, but thanks to Baron Mir destroying the core and stopping the self-destruct sequence, I managed to survive.
The second emotion that followed was.
‘I’ve failed the mission. I’m finished now….’
An emotion completely opposite to the first.
Fear.
The Valencia Knight had ordered Philip to self-destruct with the pirate ship, even threatening his family.
But I failed that order.
Even if I survived, I was as good as dead.
The moment Duke Winchilsey learned of my failure and capture, not only I but my entire family would be finished.
What should I do?
I have no idea.
If I bite my tongue and take my own life here, wouldn’t they at least spare my family?
No.
Duke Winchilsey is not a nobleman of such gentle temperament.
Even if I took my own life here, he wouldn’t show mercy—he would eliminate everyone connected to Philip to block any unforeseen variables.
“Ugh….”
I wanted to tell him everything.
Though we were meeting for the first time, Baron Mir was standing before me.
From my research for this mission, Baron Mir was far from a bad person.
As a former adventurer, he accepted the territory’s people without any prejudice and was developing the land.
Moreover, wasn’t he someone who enjoyed great trust from the Emperor himself?
If possible, I wanted to confess everything to him and ask for his help.
But.
‘My head would burst before I could do that….’
A geas had been placed on my mind.
Merely mentioning Duke Winchilsey’s name, speaking of anything related to him, or harboring ill intent would shatter my mind.
Trapped in this situation where I could choose neither option.
Whoooosh—.
The interrogation chamber suddenly filled with crimson light.
When I turned my head, the light was emanating from a book held in Baron Mir’s hand.
“Within this space, geases have no effect.”
Then came Baron Mir’s voice.
A space where geases don’t work.
Impossible.
Such a thing couldn’t exist.
The geas Duke Winchilsey had placed on me was of considerable strength.
However.
‘If it’s Mir…’
There was something oddly reassuring in Mir’s words.
And when I recalled the information I’d gathered beforehand about Mir’s track record for this mission.
It seemed almost plausible that Mir could accomplish that absurd feat of creating a space where prohibitions didn’t apply.
“Would you tell me your name first?”
At Mir’s next words, Philip drew a deep breath.
Either way, staying silent would only guarantee death.
Duke Winchilsey would never leave a potential threat unhandled.
Then I had to at least save my family.
“If you promise to protect me and my family first, I’ll speak. Or rather, if you promise to protect at least my family, I’ll tell you everything.”
So I opened my mouth.
At this, Mir pondered for a moment.
“I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
He answered thus.
Honestly, it wasn’t a particularly reassuring answer.
I’ll do my best to make it happen.
Wasn’t that far too realistic?
If you wanted to hear a hostage’s confession, you should promise to grant anything, even with lies.
Yet paradoxically, that very realism made Mir’s answer more trustworthy to Philip.
And so.
“My name is Philip. I’m an attendant of the Valencia Knight… or rather, of Duke Winchilsey.”
He risked the danger of his mind bursting from the prohibition, all for the sake of saving his family, and finally opened his mouth.
Fortunately, the prohibition activated without his head exploding.
* * *
After the interrogation ended.
Mir immediately contacted the Imperial Palace through a crystal orb without delay.
Normally, a mere baron couldn’t contact the Imperial Palace directly, but thanks to the Emperor’s recent visit and the crystal orb he’d left behind for direct communication, it was now possible.
“In summary, under Duke Winchilsey’s leadership, the Valencia Knight gathered mercenaries and pirates to launch a surprise attack on Kalbera Territory… is that what you’re saying?”
– Yes.
After passing through several procedures, the crystal orb connected directly to the Emperor.
Mir reported the information he’d heard from Philip directly to the Emperor.
Then.
“Hahaha!”
A smile naturally bloomed across the Emperor’s face.
“Send the White Wyvern Knights at once. Bring me all the attendants, pirates, and mercenaries.”
– Yes, and regarding Philip’s family…
“He risked his life to provide information—we must honor at least that much. Guard Captain.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The investigation is already complete. I’ll dispatch a unit commander immediately to bring the attendant’s family to the Imperial Palace.”
After hearing the full report.
The Emperor burst into laughter once more.
“Royal Advisor! Did you hear that?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. With this, we can now seize Duke Winchilsey’s lifeline—he who leads the Aristocratic Faction.”
“Thanks to Baron Mir, we’ve been restraining the Aristocratic Faction with relative ease, but to think he’d bring us information potent enough to strangle Duke Winchilsey in one fell swoop! Hahahaha!”
It was inevitable.
The Empire had stagnated under the Aristocratic Faction, centered around Duke Winchilsey.
While the Empire expanded, the nobles refused to change, clinging only to their vested interests.
The Emperor had been using Baron Mir to strip away those privileges and redistribute them to capable commoners and adventurers.
Yet the resistance from the Aristocratic Faction had prevented him from gaining real momentum.
But then.
Out of nowhere, Baron Mir brought him Duke Winchilsey’s weakness.
In the Emperor’s eyes, Baron Mir could only appear as a nugget of gold that had rolled into his lap.
“You understand, don’t you? From now on, it’s a race against time. Before Duke Winchilsey catches wind of this and buries the matter, we must push with all our might.”
“Yes, I’ve already mobilized the Inspection Unit.”
“That cunning duke will sever his own tail to escape, but….”
“Even severing the tail deals a significant blow. Especially if that tail is his most cherished First Knight.”
“Hahahaha, I can already smile imagining that cunning duke’s bitter expression as he comes to pay me homage!”
Things progressed swiftly.
With the Emperor pushing forward personally, it was only natural.
In the midst of it all.
“By the way, since Baron Mir brought us such valuable information, I should bestow another reward upon him.”
“Do you have something in mind, Your Majesty?”
“This matter is difficult to reward openly, so I think it best to add several clauses favorable to Baron Mir to his previous reward.”
“Clauses, you say….”
“Increase the number of ships we agreed to contract with Kalbera Territory, and expand the scale of the Southern Region’s second stronghold we’re establishing there.”
“Won’t the Aristocratic Faction’s resistance be severe?”
“Hahahaha, what does it matter? With the tail of that cunning duke who leads the Aristocratic Faction being severed, can the Aristocratic Faction even spare attention for this?”
“I shall proceed accordingly.”
The Emperor was steadily securing Mir’s rewards.
Determined never to let go of this treasure called Baron Mir.

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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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