The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 309

309.

“……I am just a knight.”

Garrion calmly replied to Byran, whose face had grown serious.

“The great Lion King is an emperor and a knight who has reached the highest level. Command, leadership, virtue, and martial prowess—not to mention His Highness, who inherited the Lion King’s bloodline—is the most qualified.”

“Huh, what are you lacking besides the bloodline?”

“That is the most important thing, Your Highness. Don’t you know what family I come from?”

“If you bring that up, I’ll be the bad guy.”

Garrion chuckled at Byran, who stammered in embarrassment, and said as he passed by, “I am my lord’s knight, and that is enough. So, please reach the highest level as soon as possible.”

“Huh! What did you just say? You said lord!”

“Hmm, I think you misheard.”

“No! I clearly heard it!”

Byran was even more excited and shouted as Garrion feigned ignorance, but he couldn’t help but turn pale at the following answer.

“Hearing you say such things, it seems you still have plenty of energy left. Let’s continue training.”

“Uh……? Wouldn’t this be enough for today?”

“That’s not possible. Talent shines only when supported by effort.”

“Ugh! Save me, Crown Prince!”

Thus, the two continued their training all night.

And such days continued thereafter.

In the morning, he received lessons from the fencing instructor, learned liberal arts and the study of monarchs, and trained with Garrion at night.

This was repeated for dozens, hundreds of days, and then for years.

“No, I taught you just a week ago, and you’ve already mastered it? Ah! Truly, it’s a talent bestowed by the gods!”

“As expected of the one called the reincarnation of the Lion King. To manifest Sword Aura [a powerful energy technique] at the age of 16!”

Byran reached the realm of manifesting Sword Aura at the youngest age of his time.

Thanks to this, the world was once again in an uproar, but Byran felt half proud and half frustrated.

“Such fuss…… What’s the youngest? Garrion manifested it a year ago.”

“Don’t say such things. Manifesting Sword Aura at the age of 16 is truly a great achievement.”

“It’s annoying to hear you say that, Garrion, of all people. Are you mocking me?”

“Of course not.”

The world knows Byran as the youngest Sword Aura user of his time, but Garrion should have held the true youngest record.

An unparalleled genius.

This modifier should rightfully belong to Garrion, not himself.

“As I always say, just keep striving.”

“What’s the point of striving? You always go further ahead.”

“Shouldn’t a knight who protects his lord be stronger than his lord?”

“If only you couldn’t talk back.”

But Garrion always stood by him with a calm face.

“More than that, you skipped this morning’s training. Didn’t I say it’s important to do it consistently every day? Manifesting Aura is not the end. Even among Aura users, there’s a big difference depending on the degree of training…….”

“Ah, I understand. I was wrong. I’ll go back and train now.”

Always rattling off the same nagging.

‘Thank you so much, Garrion.’

Byran was always grateful to Garrion.

Frankly, he even thought it was too much.

To have such an unparalleled genius as his loyal sword.

‘I should be able to tell them now.’

He knew why Garrion wanted to keep it a secret.

He was the heir to a destroyed family.

He judged that it would not be good for Byran or Garrion in many ways if it was revealed that he had become the first sword.

But not now.

Now that his position has solidified as a Sword Aura user.

There was no need to stubbornly keep it a secret.

“I’m comfortable with this.”

“Why?”

“People have a hard time tolerating those below them being superior.”

“Not me.”

“That’s Your Highness’s strength. You don’t feel insecure and use it as a stepping stone to strive further.”

So, when asked, he would always only say that he didn’t want to stand out.

He didn’t understand it at this time, but he soon understood the meaning of those words.

As he grew older, most of the people he saw, like Garrion said, couldn’t stand those with lower authority standing above them.

The more prominent the nobles, the worse it was.

‘I need to ascend to the throne as soon as possible.’

So that no one can ignore Garrion.

So that a world where Garrion doesn’t have such worries can come.

If Garrion continues to be with him like now, it seemed possible.

In fact, thanks to him, he was quickly getting closer to the emperor’s seat while receiving recognition from everyone.

If things continued like this, everything would be resolved smoothly, he thought.

“Your Highness! The Empress has collapsed!”

“What are you doing without bringing the royal physician!”

“We brought in skilled royal physicians, but they all shook their heads. They say it’s a disease they’ve never seen before.”

“Then what will happen to my mother?”

“……For now, she needs to rest…….”

Until one day, when he turned 20, the Empress suddenly collapsed.

That was just the beginning.

“Your Highness! There are many people among the commoners showing the same symptoms!”

“Then…… are you saying it’s an epidemic? Ah, what is this…….”

A terrible epidemic that led to coma and death spread throughout the country.

The empire was turned upside down by the sudden disaster.

The disease, which simultaneously affected commoners and nobles alike, strangely showed the most symptoms in nobles and royalty.

The ratio was overwhelmingly around 8:2.

‘That means…… a disease that only affects nobles……?’

At that time, the first place Byran ran to was not his father, the Emperor, nor his younger brother, Baharun.

A friend who was more like a brother than a brother.

“Your Highness, but is Sir Garrion alright?”

“……What?”

“He hasn’t been seen for a while after leaving for a mission. Could it be that he has contracted the epidemic…… It would be good to keep a distance for the time being…… Your Highness?”

Before the royal physician could finish speaking, Byran ran.

Before his thoughts could properly connect, his body moved instinctively.

‘He’s not here?’

But when he arrived, there was no one in Garrion’s room.

Byran, feeling anxious, urged the royal physicians, but they only said that Garrion was not in the sickroom.

Just in case, he checked all the places, such as the training ground and the office, but he was not there.

‘Sir Rond might know.’

Then, Rond suddenly came to mind.

Because the person Garrion was closest to, besides himself, was Rond, the commander of the Knights of Arren Castle.

‘Is it just my imagination? My body feels heavy today.’

It must be because he was worried about his mother and Garrion.

Byran, leading his increasingly heavy body, hurriedly arrived at Arren Castle and couldn’t help but frown.

‘There are no guards?’

How can there be no guards in this chaos?

Something is wrong.

Byran, feeling uneasy, quickened his pace. And the uneasiness grew stronger as he walked through the castle.

He didn’t see anyone walking down the hallway.

Then, at that moment.

“Sir Rond!”

Byran shouted at the familiar figure of Rond in the distance.

But Rond showed no reaction.

He was just standing there with his back turned.

“Sir Rond?”

Momentarily puzzled, he approached.

Byran smelled it.

‘Blood…… smell?’

It was then.

Rond, who had been standing still, collapsed weakly to the side like a deflated balloon, and the man hidden behind Rond was revealed.

Byran’s pupils shook violently.

The man was someone Byran knew very well.

“Garr…… ion?”

“…….”

Garrion Ban Rodman.

Byran’s one and only friend, a man who was like a brother, even though they didn’t share blood.

He was killing Rond, who had been teaching them swordsmanship, and covering himself in his blood.

Rond was not just a swordsmanship instructor.

He was a reliable adult who was comfortable and close, like an uncle.

“Why…… you……?”

While Byran was making a blank expression at the unbelievable reality.

“Haa…….”

Garrion, who had been standing silently, let out a deep sigh.

Then, he faced him with cold eyes that he had never seen before.

“Why did you come? You should go to your family.”

“……I was worried about you and tried to ask Sir Rond…… No.”

Byran, who was talking incoherently, shook his head.

Then, he looked at Garrion with a stiff face and asked.

“……Why did you do it?”

“I have no ill feelings towards Sir Rond.”

“Then why is he dead!! You, of all people, shouldn’t have done that!”

Even at the scream close to a cry, Garrion was calm.

He looked silently at Rond’s still-cooling corpse and answered in a nonchalant voice.

“He was quick-witted. Unlike him.”

“……What?”

“He noticed that I was preparing something. That’s why I kept my distance from people…… Tsk. I was too close to him, that was the problem.”

“……Preparing? Explain it so I can understand, Garrion.”

He didn’t understand what he was saying at all.

But his body was trembling, perhaps feeling it instinctively.

He didn’t know if it was betrayal, shock, or something else.

He just felt unfamiliar.

“Your Highness was the last one…… I can’t help it since I’ve already been caught.”

“Last…… you said?”

“Naive Your Highness. My lord. Haven’t you ever thought it was strange that it was a disease that only nobles get? Moreover, all the people of the imperial family are now sick.”

Garrion, who was saying that, corrected himself with an exclamation, “Ah, I don’t know because only the Empress has shown a reaction yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to think hard. Just understand it as the fall of the imperial family, just like the fall of my family.”

Byran, still stunned because he didn’t understand.

Garrion, smiling brightly, came close and whispered in his ear.

“I spread the disease. To the family of my lord.”

“……!”

“And this time, it’s my lord’s turn.”

At the same time as those words ended, Byran drew the sword he was wearing on his waist and swung it.

But Garrion had already retreated.

At the same time, Byran fell to his knees. It wasn’t that he had been attacked by something.

It was just that when Garrion gestured in the air, the inside of his body began to burn as if it were scorching, and he became dizzy.

“Why…… my body……?”

“Didn’t I say, all the people of the imperial family are sick? Isn’t Your Highness of the imperial bloodline?”

“…….”

“And, that. It’s not actually a disease. It’s encroachment.”

“Encroachment…… you say?”

“What else would encroachment be?”

Garrion’s eyes, raising the corners of his mouth as if mocking, were cold.

“The Abyss.”

“……!”

Byran gritted his teeth and gave strength to the hand holding the floor.

To have joined hands with the Abyss meant that he had already committed an irreversible taboo.

Even so, he didn’t notice at all.

No, no one except Rond had noticed.

“……Since when? Since when have you been preparing?”

This meant that he had been preparing for this a long time ago.

Then, how much of it is true?

Was the loyal side of Garrion, who I knew, who had a lot of nagging, true?

Garrion’s answer to that was one.

“From the beginning.”

“……What?”

“From the first meeting when my lord secretly crossed the wall until now. It means that everything was planned.”

Byran’s eyes turned red.

His breathing became rapid and it was no longer easy to breathe.

But even in the state of collapsing, his two wide-open eyes were facing Garrion straight.

“……I thought of you as a brother. I thought of you as a friend who could be with me for the rest of my life.”

“Yes. Your Highness was truly upright. Unlike the bloodline of the imperial family, you were truly a good person. Perhaps that’s why I tried to postpone the order until the end.”

Garrion, who was answering calmly, soon turned his back.

“The Abyss will soon appear here. Rond will succeed in chasing away the Abyss, but will eventually be swallowed. Your Highness will collapse from the disease, suffer, and soon go missing.”

“Garr…… ion…….”

“His Majesty the Emperor will collapse from the shock of that, and sadly follow the Empress.”

“Garrion……!”

“I am just a knight who took great care of such a lord and eventually sent him away. This is the history that will be recorded. Ah, maybe I’ll hide the history.”

Byran’s vision gradually blurred.

“Don’t worry. It’s not time yet. Everything is for ‘that day’…….”

I can’t tell if he’s turning his back now or if he’s looking at me.

However, in the fading consciousness, Byran saw.

——-!!!

The huge something that appeared, covering Garrion, was letting out a terrible scream.

The moment the eyes, like those of a reptile, flashed.

Byran’s consciousness went out.

And that day, half of the imperial family and nobles fell ill and collapsed.

* * *

Ding-

[The memory of Byran de Arnis has ended.]