21st Century Archmage

“Raise the sail!”

“Puhahaha! As expected, my craftsmanship is still as good as ever.”

“Unless there’s some fearsome wind, it’ll never fall apart.”

The wharf was buzzing with the raucous shouts of the excited dwarven carpenters. Under the admiring gazes of the people, a fishing boat was taking shape.

‘Just where are their limits? Jeez.’

Apparently, back in the day, Nerman had quite a few skilled shipbuilders. However, they hadn’t been able to build ships due to the constant monster invasions and interference from pirates, and when the last boats they could repair disappeared, they left the territory. As a result, the only “ships” that could be built were only small skiffs, at most.

The situation did a 180 when I put dwarves to the job. Derval found them a few blueprints, and after a bit of muttering amongst themselves, they created a decent fishing boat in one week. Then, when we procured wood for them in earnest, they asked the elves to enspell the wood and made an enormous fishing craft that could truly be called a ship.

Of course, since I had seen giant ships with gross tonnages in the hundreds of thousands in the 21st century, the dwarves’ ship didn’t knock me off my feet, but the large fishing craft capable of going far out into the sea to catch fish did make me happy to see. People could not subsist on bread alone, so this fishing ship that could provide my residents with cheap and nutritious fish was an absolutely critical tool.

‘The priests have been all sorted out, so the problem is the empires.’

The priests were deeply moved by the holy power of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, who descended upon Aramis. Up until the moment they left, they continued to repent their sins while trailing behind Aramis like little chicks following a mother hen, enthralled by the overflowing joy of holy power. The suspicion of heresy cast on me was completely erased.

The day they left, they sought an audience with me and said they would hold a temple conference to have temples for each of the gods built in Nerman. Of course, I tempered their enthusiasm with some conditions. No temple could be built in Nerman without my permission, and they were not allowed to receive any donations from the people. It was my opinion that money and faith should be separated in the same manner as evil and holiness.

I would oversee everything that happened in Nerman. Even when the gods were involved, on my land, they had to receive my permission.

‘The fighting is still as fierce as ever, huh.’

I knew that a single letter from me was not enough to make the kingdoms halt their advance. An opportunity had finally come for the kingdoms that had lived decades, centuries, under Bajran’s supremacy, so they wouldn’t be able to give up easily. On top of that, there was no way the Bajran Empire would twiddle its thumbs while the kingdoms were pillaging their lands. They might have taken a severe blow from the sudden attack, but an empire was an empire. I heard the fighting was extremely fierce between the Bajran army, which was forced to retreat multiple times, and the kingdom armies made with the united strength of four kingdoms.

‘But I have to make sure little Razcion still has one whole piece of land left.’

The empire had to pay the price for its abuse of extravagance and power all this time. You could pin the blame on Poltviran, but Poltviran had formally become the emperor in the name of the empire. Bajran could not free itself from that responsibility. However, I couldn’t just watch the kingdoms greedily seize power. At this rate, it was possible Bajran would be nibbled away into a size smaller than a kingdom.

‘Laviter is also assembling their forces piece by piece in the west.’

According to the words of the information merchant sent by the black merchants, the Laviter Empire’s army was being transferred over the Bertz Mountains towards the Kovilan Mountains, their careful moves drawing a stark contrast with the brute-forcing, reckless Poltviran. I was deeply concerned by Saker’s news. The Laviter Empire wasn’t some no-name empire. It was the nation with the greatest military power on the continent, and Nerman wouldn’t be able to avoid a fateful fight with them.

‘But seriously, where is that jerk hiding? I’m pretty damn worried about him, too.’

Not long ago, a piece of news flew in from Haildrian regarding the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction, Altakas. According to them, he was building up such enormous strength that the Haildrian Imperial Palace had activated their defense magic array. He was definitely holed up somewhere, planning his evil machinations. Seeing as there were no rumors about Altakas on the continent, it seemed he was really employing his smarts to avoid detection.

“Esteemed dwarves, please continue after eating this.”

“Esteemed elves, please have some of these strawberries.”

The peak of spring was quickly approaching. The citizens brought a spread of beer and seasonal fruits to the sweating dwarves and the expressionless elves.

“Ohhh! Is it already time for a snack?”

“Thanks for the food.”

Up until recently, the demihumans treated humans like dirt between their toes, but they had grown close enough with the Nerman residents to eat food together. Once they opened their closed-off hearts, they treated the people of Nerman with greater sincerity than any human.

‘That’s right, you have to cherish each other to feel like you’re really living.’

The dwarves put down their tools and chortled as they eyed the large beer barrel the people had brought for them, and the elves nodded their heads after receiving various baked breads and fruits. These people were the true backbone of Nerman.

Flap flap flap flap.

I was watching the moving scene on the wharf with satisfaction when a familiar wyvern landed next to Bebeto.

‘Hyneth…’

The woman who had leveled up from a cute pixie to a glamorous supermodel in the short time we were apart landed her grey wyvern next to Bebeto, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“So you were here, Elder Brother. Hohoho. I had a hard time finding you.”

Hyneth almost always called me ‘Elder Brother,’ and always without reserve. She took off her helmet and sent me a guileless smile.

“Training’s all done for today.”

Since the day they arrived, Hyneth and the Bajran imperial family guests trained nonstop. As she spoke, a smile twinkled in her eyes, and her golden hair tied into the usual twin tails fluttered in the sea breeze.

“You’ll damage your skin, so make sure to take proper breaks.”

Hyneth’s cute cheeks were so fair they looked as if a simple touch would leave a mark. Her adorable and lovable face, as incongruous with her figure as it was, aroused a protective instinct in me. It seemed that my image of her from imperial knight academy hadn’t yet faded.

“Thanks. If not for Elder Brother, who else would worry about my skin. Hehe,” Hyneth said, grinning.

‘She’s pretty.’

I couldn’t suppress a thought of admiration in the face of Hyneth’s energy, which had the liveliness of a rose blooming in spring. Her pure beauty as a woman had drawn unconscious praise from me.

“But Elder Brother, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Could we talk somewhere other than here?” Her expression had gone from a bright smile to a serious look.

The knights and soldiers guarding the port were sneaking glances at Hyneth and me. We were around 300 meters away from the wharf, but because their lord was personally watching, they were standing at brisk attention. Hyneth, who was seemingly conscious of their gazes, looked completely different from her usual self.

‘Is it something important?’

We were living under one roof, but we had few chances to see each other. The territory was coming together, but there were still a lot of things that needed my attention. In particular, I had to personally retouch the mana supply circles that fueled the defense magic arrays and important buildings. I also had to practice 7th Circle spells whenever I had the time. Even for me and all my advantages, 7th Circle spells were difficult to understand. They were heaven and earth apart from the magic of the 6th Circle. An enormous amount of mana was drawn from the air, so casting them required not only a great deal of mana control, but also the ability to arrange multiple complicated formulas.

And that wasn’t all. The paperwork I had to handle as the lord wasn’t something to scoff at, either. Even though Derval and the admin knights handled the important work, there was a boatload of things that required the lord’s personal attention. Nerman hadn’t yet reached the stage of completion, so the territory was still developing at a rapid pace. Like a young toddler reliant on their parent’s guidance, I was constantly needed.

“How about going to the seawall?”

“Okay, sounds good.”

I suggested the seawall of the salt farm, where I had walked with Rosiathe. It was perfect for an important conversation away from other people.

“Bebeto, let’s go to the salt farm seawall.”

Guoooooooooo!

My words roused Bebeto from his doze, and he flapped his wings.

‘Did something happen?’

Hyneth was wearing a severe expression that didn’t suit her. I worried about what she had to say as we effortlessly ascended into the air.

As we did so, the warm sunlight of the spring day embraced us with a light touch.

* * *

* * *

Hidden in a precipitous canyon in the Bertz Mountains, stood an edifice made of black stone.

Other than the flight path and roads publicized by the Laviter Empire, everything else about the mountains was forbidden. The mountain range was the size of a small kingdom and was rife with dangerous monsters, and many people had disappeared without known cause, so it was blocked off by imperial law.

The building made of black stone was located in the most perilous valley of the dangerous Bertz Mountains. It took the shape of a magic tower. The considerably large base rested sturdily on the ground as if embedded into the boulders below, and the many floors of the magic tower soared up into the sky like the peak of a mountain. Moss and ivy covered the magic tower like camouflage.

The space around the magic tower was covered with a nearly imperceptible layer of mana. A wide-area illusion magic array that made the tower look like a mountain peak from above was in effect.

“……”

The astonishingly well-concealed magic tower had something like a large yard in front of it. There, hundreds of mages wearing black robes were standing in orderly rows, each one holding a mana staff. They were pin-drop silent, almost as if they were waiting for someone.

Flash!

Just then, the blue light of mana flashed on the highest floor of the magic tower.

“H-He is coming!”

“Ohhhhh! At long last!”

The black mages exclaimed in voices full of emotion.

Flaaaaaash!

Suddenly, an incredible glow came from the blinding mana light.

“Ah!”

“Nngh…”

The black mages groaned, hastily closing their eyes. When the afterimage of light faded from their eyes, they slowly reopened them, raising their heads to look at the highest part of the tower.

“Kukukukukukukuku…”

The weighty laugh was quiet, but carried far, as if imbued with mana. The evil laughter echoed in the canyon, which was darkening under the coming of dusk. Then, the man standing atop the tower stopped laughing and addressed the black mages below.

“You who love the cold and icy true form of mana, your master has come. Worship me, oh children of the darkness~!”

Whooooooosh.

As he spoke, black mana oozed from his body and rapidly wrapped around the tower.

“Ohhhh!!!”

“W-What incredible dark mana!”

The black mages shivered upon seeing an unimaginable level of dark mana they had never encountered in their lives. They shed their arrogant pride and looked at the man in awe.

If anyone had seen it, they would have been shocked. Who were black mages? Just like how light and darkness were incompatible, black mages were people who used dark mana by employing evil arts in the shadow of darkness. At one point, they co-existed with others on the continent, but because they committed acts of atrocity in order to ingest the vitality of blood every time they reached a circle wall, the yin-attribute mana-wielding black mages were soon chased out of the continent.

The people of the continent did not forgive their violent actions, which went so far as to use humans as sacrifices for their personal growth. Although black mages could use incredibly destructive black magic, you would have to reckon with the rage of the continent’s people as soon as you joined forces with them, so even people blinded by power did not dare to associate with black mages.

For around a thousand years, black mages were unable to walk openly on the continent. The moment a black mage appeared, they would be exterminated as a common enemy of mankind.

However, that didn’t mean black mages were weak by any means. Whenever people were about to forget their existence, they appeared once again, bringing destruction with them. Not only could they use magic far more powerful than white magic, but they could also open the dimension to the demon realm and summon demon beasts and even demons to wreak devastation upon the land. Their numbers might be small, but if dozens of them were to appear at the same time, they could cause considerable suffering on the continent.

Here, in a valley of the Bertz Mountains, were hundreds of such mages. Many of them even had the red thread symbolizing upper circles embroidered on the sleeves of their black robes.

“Worship me! Submit to the dark mana before you! And follow me, for I shall lead your Shining Magic Tower to engrave runes of blood in the heads of every person on the continent! They will know that the true masters of mana have returned!”

“YEAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Those were the words every black mage had wanted to hear most. They chose dark mana, but they did not want to live their lives hidden in the darkness forever. The black mages of the Shining Magic Tower, which held a firm spot among the continent’s seven but could not act in the open, cheered from the bottom of their hearts, gazing at the yin-attribute mana of an 8th Circle black mage that had formed a jet-black whirlwind above the magic tower.

If this person led them, they would have nothing to fear. The continent didn’t even have the Golden-Eyed Reaper Aidal, the only human to have reached the 8th Circle. If this person joined hands with the Shining Magic Tower, which had accumulated strength for a thousand years in the lightless darkness, conquering the continent would be an easy feat.

The elders of the Shining Magic Tower had been told of his identity.

Everyone on the Kallian continent, not just the black mages, would have to kneel before him.

He was worthy of being worshiped by all. He, who had taken over the Shining Magic Tower in an instant, was the **** of the Empire.

* * *

“Elder Brother, you’ll help, right?”

“Mm…”

I was walking on the seawall with Hyneth. As the rushing of the foaming waves surrounded us, Hyneth threw me a hot potato.

The saying ‘blood doesn’t lie’ wasn’t false. They might be unsophisticated and rough, but the Petrin Count family was still one of the loyal retainer households of the Bajran Empire, and Hyneth was the sole daughter of such a family. True to her blood as a loyal knight, she was asking me to help the Bajran Empire escape its current crisis.

But the problem was that I couldn’t leave Nerman. If those sneaky spies found out that I wasn’t in Nerman like before, they would no doubt advertise that news with a loudspeaker. If that happened, the Laviter Emperor who couldn’t wait to rip me and Nerman apart wouldn’t sit around.

‘What should I do about this?’

That being said, I couldn’t just stay holed up in Nerman, either. I could take responsibility for Igis, but I couldn’t just watch as the little prince, the legitimate emperor of Bajran, was robbed of his home.

“You don’t want to?”

Hyneth was as blunt as ever. Seeing that I was struggling to make a decision, tears welled up in her eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t want to.”

“Then why? With your help, we can set the Bajran Empire back on its feet, so why can’t you help? P-Princess Igis loves you, but you can’t do that much for her?”

Hyneth bit her lips, dragging Princess Igis into the conversation.

‘Argh, so frustrating. Dammit, like I said, it’s not that.’

I would have loved to lead all of Nerman’s Skyknights to Bajran, make a mess of Poltviran’s face, and set Razcion on the throne. But if I left, who would protect the territory?!

“E-Elder Brother, you’ve changed… Back in knight academy, you were a cool guy who feared nothing in the world. Wahh.”

‘Why the heck are you crying?!’

It was true, I did change. In my knight academy days, I didn’t hesitate to beat up anyone I didn’t like. But now, I was the lord responsible for the life and death of over 500,000 Nerman residents. This wasn’t something I could decide on a whim.

“Hyneth.”

Hyneth silently raised her brown eyes wet with tears towards me.

“What is the Bajran Empire to you?”

“…It is… a destiny I must protect.”

It was a response truly befitting the daughter of a knight family.

“Nerman is to me what Bajran is to you. Nerman is my destiny, a place that cannot yet exist without my presence.”

“Sob… but…”

She probably knew exactly what I was saying. Hyneth was a future lord who would have to protect her family and her people, after all.

“I’m also looking for a way I can help. I don’t want the Bajran Empire to continue walking the path of extinction, either. But I cannot abandon my destiny to recklessly help the Empire. This might sound sad, but even if it were my parents asking me, I wouldn’t be able to abandon Nerman.”

If my parents heard this, they would probably call me an ungrateful brat who didn’t appreciate their efforts, but these were the sincere feelings of my heart.

“I-I’m sorry… wahh. But… we have to go back soon. I got word from my father yesterday saying that if the northern nobles cannot see His Highness the Crown Prince, they cannot help us. That’s why I’m doing this, even though I know it’s not…”

Unable to finish, Hyneth trailed off. She may have grown taller, but the way she looked so young and vulnerable as she cried made my heart ache. If I could only split my body into two, I wouldn’t have to think twice.

“Can the nobles in the North drive Poltviran off the throne?”

“I think so. The Empire’s elite soldiers are fighting the kingdom soldiers right now, so the capital only has the bare minimum defense.”

‘If things go wrong, won’t the kingdoms have it easy?’

If expelling Poltviran started a prolonged battle, the Bajran army would be divided, and that would definitely lead to the kingdoms being able to reap a delicious profit with utter ease.

‘We have to run him out with one lightning-fast attack, but how…’

Poltviran wasn’t the only problem. There were the kingdoms to consider, too. I politely asked them to stop, but they were still greedy for the empire’s land.

‘The issue is the distance.’ My participation wasn’t the problem—the problem was the enormous distance I’d have to cover. ‘Huh? Wait a sec!!!’

An idea flashed in my head.

“H-Hyneth. Does Duke Garvit happen to have a Warp array?”

“Warp array? Probably, yeah. A duchy would have a warp array to allow quick escape from a crisis. Why do you ask?” she asked, looking at me in puzzlement. A moment later, realization dawned on her. “Y-You can’t mean, from here?”

Such a feat was probably absolutely impossible according to Hyneth’s knowledge. Currently, no mage on the continent was capable of using Warp over such a distance. Even if you knew the coordinates and had the help of a magic crystal, with increased distance came a proportionate consumption of mana. You would need the help of a Grade 1 magic crystal, plus a more advanced magic incantation than the currently known Warp formula.

That’s why the royal and imperial families and high-ranking nobles only had long-distance Warp arrays for emergency use. The Warp incantation from the ancient magic era that could transport a person long distances to every region no longer existed.

‘Huhuhuhu…’

But I was different.

Who was I? I was the top disciple of the Golden-Eyed Reaper Aidal, the only human pioneer (except for the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction) of 8th Circle magic in the history of the continent.

‘We have a Grade 1 magic crystal in the territory. We can cover most distances, no problem.’

But it wasn’t as if the magic crystal would solve all our problems. Only an 8th Circle mage could cast Warp Gate, the much safer and stabler version of Warp. For me, a 7th Circle mage, long-distance teleportation was a pretty tricky issue. If the coordinates, incantation, or mana quantity were wrong in any way, we could end up buried in the ground or the ocean’s depths.

“Then send a lumikar immediately and find out for me. The exact coordinates of the duchy’s Warp array, I mean.”

“E-Elder Brother…”

Hyneth could only manage a numb response. Her mind was probably full of messy thoughts.

“Hyneth.”

“Yeah…” At my call, Hyneth looked at me with troubled eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Do as I said. If you do that, I will burn this body of mine bright for the sake of the Bajran Empire.”

“R-Really?!”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Elder Brother!”

Whumpf.

‘Uwah!’

Crying out her thanks, Hyneth jumped into my arms like an excited little sparrow. I didn’t understand why she had to say her thanks like this, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“This is nothing though…”

“Wahh. Thank you so much. I’ll never forget this favor. When the Empire is stable again, I’ll do anything you want!”

‘Kek!’

I coughed internally, looking at the girl who was completely oblivious as to what kind of dangers(?) her words could invite. She wasn’t even a child ignorant of the world. But even as I thought that, my hand was unconsciously stroking the lovely curves of Hyneth’s back.

‘Yep, milk really is the perfect thing for getting taller.’

I sent my gratitude to milk, the miracle food that had admirably done its part. Meanwhile, I earnestly wondered if I should go ahead and give the somewhat-small-chested Aramis a dairy cow.