Ranker's Return

“What is hard? It is boring. In any case, I don’t know how long it has been since I’ve walked around the continent like this.”

Kapa grunted like nothing had happened. In fact, it wasn’t hard for Kapa at all. It would be rather strange if it was difficult. Kapa was also a great tribe chief. Moving this much was no different from breathing.

“Kapa, do you know about the ran tribe?” Hyeonu carefully asked a question.

“The ran tribe? I haven’t met them in person, but I know about them through the records that have been passed down within the league or the stories among the dwarves.”

Kapa’s answer was a yes. The dwarves had records of the demons and god tribe, also known as the ran and ra tribes.

“Can you tell me what is written?”

“If you know the name, then you probably know them well...”

“Would the information I know be on the same level as what has been told over a long period of time?”

“That’s right. The information that remains with us is from the time they remained in the middle world.”

Kapa nodded at Hyeonu’s words. No matter what Hyeonu knew about the ran and ra tribes, it was impossible to know more than the dwarf tribe that once lived with them.

“What do you want to know?”

“Rather than wondering about something specific... I just want to know about the ran tribe overall.”

“Then the discussion might be too long. It is fine with me, but will you be okay?”

“I am also fine.”

It was a boring time anyway. It would be meaningful enough if he could hear Kapa’s story.

“What should I start with? I will listen to you first. How much do you know?” Kapa asked Hyeonu first before he started talking.

He thought it would be boring to tell Hyeonu what he already knew.

“I don’t know much. The ran tribe and ra tribe were pushed back by the giants and fled to the demon world and divine world. Those who the demons and god tribe call gods are actually the great tribe chiefs of the ran tribe and ra tribes. And... they invaded the middle world several times and failed,” Hyeonu roughly explained what he knew.

He didn’t say everything. There was a lot more that he didn’t say than what he said.

“What the hell are you? I don’t understand it. How can an adventurer know these things?”

Kapa was surprised by Hyeonu’s answer. The information contained in Hyeonu’s words were too different. It wasn’t information that an adventurer could know.

‘They were very few members of the tribe who knew...’

Few of the tribe members, including the dwarves, know anything about the ran tribe and ra tribe. There were even fewer members who knew about the giants. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there were none at all.

‘Is it around 10...?’

A number that could be counted on both hands—it was just this much.

“Then I won’t have much to say. You already know a lot.”

Kapa sorted out what he would say in his head. A backstory that Hyeonu might not know.

‘I need to tell him about the league.’

It was about the origin of the League of Different Species.

“The origins of the League of Different Species have been around for a very long time. It was a league created to respond to the giants.”

“I know. It was a small number, but it was said that the individual force of each member of the giants had reached the sky. Wasn’t the League of Different Species created by the ran and ra tribes as the main force in order to fight against them?”

Hyeonu immediately received Kapa’s words. This was something that Hyeonu knew as well.

“They united the different species to start a war, but were mercilessly defeated. Then there was a divide. The ran tribe and ra tribe intended to continue the war against the giants, while the other tribes didn’t want to. Therefore, they moved to the southern part of the continent where the league is now located. Right?”

Hyeonu quickly and accurately recounted what happened in the past.

“You know everything.” Kapa burst out laughing. Hyeonu knew too much. It was too ridiculous.

“After that, they wanted to create a division among the giants to drive them out. Yet the reality was that they were played by the giants, lost a lot of power, and migrated to the demon world or divine world. Isn’t this also correct?” Hyeonu added. It was a continuation of what was said before.

“That’s right. It was written that way. We gave up while they didn’t give up. However, we still don’t know who made the better choice.”

“I think so as well. Being stable or challenging. Isn’t that always where the choice is divided?”

The ra tribe and ran tribe chose to challenge it. The rest of the tribes didn’t choose to gamble on the fate of their tribes. They didn’t regret their choice. It was because they were successful.

“That\'s right. It is just that this choice was clearly a mistake. The ra tribe touched someone who shouldn’t be touched.”

“That’s right. I don’t know about the choices of the past, but this one is clearly wrong. They were blinded by the secret arts of the ran tribe and started a war. They are clearly too overconfident in themselves.”

Hyeonu nodded and expressed his agreement with Kapa’s opinion. It was an obvious mistake by Luke.

‘He belittled the existence of a monster called Raccoon.’

Luke was a monster who had lived for a long time, but this alone wasn’t proof that he was stronger than Raccoon.

“Time has passed and techniques have advanced. We aren’t as clear in our ups and downs as the humans. It is thin but long. We never regressed for even a moment. We are much stronger than their memories.” Kapa clenched his fists. It was because he thought of the dwarves who had died to the ra tribe.

“I have a question for you, Kapa.”

“A question? Ask it. I am more comfortable with this than explaining something.”

“What were the different species like during the days of the Luos Empire? I know that the Marionette Bears had a limited friendship with the imperial family.”

“The Luos Empire? If you are talking about the days of the ancient empire... it was written that it wasn’t too bad. At that time, the empire didn’t move down to the southern part of the continent.”

Kapa’s answer was something that Hyeonu didn’t know. It just wasn’t the answer that Hyeonu wanted.

‘Is it meaningless? I shouldn’t do this.’

“Were there no interactions with humans at all?” Hyeonu asked once again.

“There was. I have to say that it was almost unique.”

“Which species was it? The elves?”

“No, it was us dwarves.”

Hyeonu was happy with Kapa’s words. It was the information that Hyeonu had been waiting for. In fact, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he asked this question in order to hear this.

‘No matter how advanced the human technique is, it can’t surpass the dwarves.’

The reason why Hyeonu asked this question was due to the various pieces of equipment Hyeonu had obtained. The quality of the equipment was too good for a human blacksmith to make. It was hard to understand why the Luos Empire had so much equipment of this level unless it had tens of thousands of years of history.

‘It can be considered human craftsmanship up to Senu.’

Senu, the intermediate academy of the Luos Empire—it could be said that the ring obtained from passing through here was made by human hands. However, the guardian’s ring obtained from passing the advanced academy, Rondal, was not at the level that humans could produce.

“Was it the dwarves who made this ring?”

Hyeonu took off his gauntlet and held out his hand with the Red Guardian.

“What ring are you talking about? Aren’t there more than one or two?” Kapa frowned. There were four rings on the hand that Hyeonu held out. There was a one in four chance it was the right one when selecting one.

“This one, the red ring.”

Hyeonu pointed to the Red Guardian with his other hand.

“Hmm... Can you take it off for me to see?” Kapa examined Hyeonu’s hand for the moment before looking up and making eye contact with Hyeonu.

"Yes, here it is."

Hyeonu pulled off the red ring and held it out to Kapa. Kapa carefully looked at the ring that Hyeonu gave him. It was a small ring, but he looked at it for a while. It even seemed like he was ready to disassemble the ring completely.

“Yes, this is a ring made by my tribe. It seems like it was made by grinding dragon bones. This was the ring that was made for the Guardian of the Luos Empire.”

Kapa perfectly guessed the ring’s origin just by examining it. It was the result of combining the skills he had learned and the knowledge passed down from the past.

“How many more rings like this are there?” Hyeonu asked while getting the ring back from Kapa.

“Let’s see? The records say that one was made whenever the imperial family of the Luos Empire came...”

Kapa thought about it for a moment before answering Hyeonu’s question.

“I think they must\'ve made hundreds or more.”

“Hundreds?”

“It was written that the imperial family came to visit every 10 years at the minimum and 50 years at the maximum. The history of the Luos Empire spans thousands of years, so it is only natural that it will be this much.”

Hyeonu’s expression stiffened for a moment. Nothing was gained from this.

‘The things created by the dwarves aren’t Larenix’s legacy.’

The thing Hyeonu was trying to find by asking Kapa was the legacy of Larenix. It seemed like he couldn’t find anything out from Kapa.

‘It is a ridiculous setting if it combines into one when placed all together.’

An absurd thought flashed in Hyeonu’s mind. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

“Kapa, do you have any questions for me?”

Hyeonu left his regret behind and continued his conversation with Kapa. He might’ve failed to achieve his purpose, but it was necessary to make friends with NPCs such as Kapa for the sake of the future.

***

During the time when Hyeonu was moving around the West Continent, a major event occurred in the East Continent. It was one of the few events that Hyeonu hadn’t intervened in since returning to Arena. It was the war between the god tribe and the different species. To be precise, it was the war between the god tribe and the different species and the Yuxin Empire, the only nation in the East Continent.

Yet in the memory of the people, the Yuxin Empire had already been erased. They didn’t care about it. It was natural that attention would be focused on the different species rather than the Yuxin Empire. Their eyes were drawn to new things rather than things they had always seen.

“Soon, we will follow the allied forces of the different species to recover a lost city.”

“I am very excited to see what the guilds who joined the League of Different Species will look like.”

“There is also great interest over whether the Behemoth Guild, who declared their allegiance to the god tribe, will emerge. They haven’t turned on their live streams for around a week already. There has to be a significant performance since they took such a large loss.”

All types of streams and MCs of Arena shows appeared on the battlefield and stayed true to their respective roles. Then they shut their mouths in an instant.

[City Defense Battle of the Behemoth Guild.]

The live stream of the Behemoth Guild that they had been waiting for was turned on.