21st Century Archmage

“From now on, we will be using this for money.”

“What? These p-paper pieces?”

“What!”

Derval looked agape at the paper bills in my hand. On this continent, where only coins were recognized as money, a paper bill was probably very strange.

“What do you think? It’s really well drawn, don’t you think?”

While Derval and the admin knights, Andriave and Thevedian, continued looking at me in shock, I admired the handsome visage drawn on the bill.

“S-Surely those numbers don’t signify Gold, do they…?”

‘100’ clearly marked both sides of the bill with my face on it.

“Oh! As expected of Sir Derval, a genius who graduated at the top of his class. Yes, the number drawn here represents the Gold amount.”

“Whaaaat?!”

“Ngh…”

The admin knights groaned, their faces stiffening. I was sure their minds were full of doubt, wondering how this scrap of paper could possibly substitute for Gold.

“You will write an edict for me at once, relaying that in the future, these paper bills will replace Gold and Silver everywhere in Nerman.”

“My liege, it is presumptuous of me to say so, but don’t these bills run the risk of tearing too easily? Also, I am doubtful as to whether the people will take to them. Moreover, the chance they will be forged is greater than with Gold.”

A deluge of questions I’d anticipated came spilling out of Derval, but I wasn’t an idiot.

“Don’t worry about that. It’ll be fine if we use these bills for the internal and external purchase of all goods used in Nerman Castle and for the soldier wages. We will also receive all things like taxes with these bills. Also, go ahead and try to rip it. It was made with a secret technique that resists tearing.”

I passed over the paper money to Derval and the admin knights.

“The design is very detailed.”

“What kind of magic treatment was done? Looking at the drawing on the other side…”

The admin knights exclaimed in surprise as they examined the bills. Even if I told them that an enormous amount of money was going around the world through various cards and digital means in the 21st century, these guys wouldn’t even be able to imagine it.

“It’s safer than the golden tokens issued by the merchant groups. Also, if it were you, could you bring yourselves to lose or rip the paper bill in your hands?”

“T-That’s…”

Only an insane lunatic would be able to use money as toilet paper or tinder for a flame. Of course, if you were so well off that your house had a swimming pool and you had a personal airplane as a toy, sure, money wouldn’t have much meaning anymore.

‘If the lord says to duck, you duck. Who would stop me?’

If we used paper bills for the soldier’s wages and the various taxes that were periodically issued and received, the bill circulation in the territory would be quickly reformed.

“After about one month has passed, with the exception of anything under Silver value, all money will be standardized to paper bills. In addition, inform the merchant groups that all trades with them will be done using Nerman bills, and have a bill exchange facility built in Denfors.”

Since we were doing this, there was no need to dawdle.

‘Just you wait, you merchant bastards. It’s your turn now.’

This big scheme was prepared not just for the merchants, but for the Empire as well, and today was the start.

“My lord, but to make this happen, a great deal of bills with the same designs on them need to be produced. Is that possible?”

As usual, Derval’s grasp on the situation was speedier than the others.

“Of course. You know me. We’re already fully prepared.”

The dwarves weren’t playing around. Since the dwarves were only interested in beer and crafting anyway, I installed the magic bill press in their Dwarven Village cave. Making the bills was fairly tricky, but with the dwarves’ engineering smarts and my 7th Circle magic, it wasn’t hard. The dwarves were outstandingly skilled at making paper, and we had the magic reagent-treated dyes we had confiscated from the magic towers. We couldn’t make the exact same colors that were possible in the 21st century, but we could certainly make bills fit for circulation.

“Around tomorrow, there will be more than enough bills to cover the soldier wages for this month. Keep that in mind and make the necessary preparations.”

“As you command!”

This was why being at the top was great. I only needed to set up the frame and give a command, and my loyal knights would figure out the rest. It was a pretty great job.

“Is the reorganization of the administrative divisions finished?”

“Yes, my liege. First of all, we have divided the territory into four principal provinces following the natural quadrisection of the Lovent River. We gave them the following designations: Yupiran, which has Denfors as its central city; Arpen, located near the Kovilan Mountains; Kosain, with Gadain Castle at its center; and finally, Paurath, which sits next to the Havis Kingdom border. The central cities of each province, as well as the villages in the districts that fall underneath them, have been outlined in great detail,” Derval proudly reported.

‘As expected of the smart Derval.’

Organizing a territory into administrative divisions sounded easy, but establishing an intricate system with every village slotted in was no simple feat. The workload involved was no laughing matter, either. If you asked me to point at a person busier than me in Nerman, Derval would be the first to get pointed out.

“Well done.”

“I am undeserving of your praise. If not for your remarkable insight, my liege, who could possibly realize such an innovative system? I respect you with all my heart, my liege.”

His words of respect were always pleasant to hear.

Derval might have graduated from the administration academy at the top of his class, but how could he compare to me, who had grown up in a complicated administrative system with provinces, districts, and municipalities in the 21st century? The Kallian Continent was still divided into territories, with administrators managing the villages in a vague and arbitrary manner.

“Each central city will dispatch administrative staff to manage the directory and productivity submitted by the districts. Work on fostering specialist staff so that we can build and manage all of the future cities and villages as planned.”

“By your will.”

The continent was overflowing with young talents who wanted to work, talents who graduated from empire or kingdom administration academies but were reduced to being tax collectors and wiping the butts of the lords, unable to realize their ideals. I heard that we were inquiring about such talents and scouting them. Nerman had a population of hundreds of thousands, but people who could read and write were rare, so for the time being, we had to import talents to fill our rosters.

In a few years, we wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I was thinking about establishing education facilities like elementary schools in the central cities of each region. That being said, I didn’t plan on promoting the 21st century’s brand of systematic education. Unlike South Korea, which strove to create the best education plans using their overflowing high-quality staff, in Nerman, we would settle for teaching basic reading, writing, and numbers. We would then pick out the smartest students with a promising level of loyalty to Nerman and nurture them into quality administrative personnel. I planned on turning the rest into sincere Nerman workers. We would raise them into Nerman citizens who loved Nerman and would readily spill blood for Nerman’s sake, no matter what happened or wherever they were.

‘There’ll be peerages, but I’ll only give out non-hereditary peerages that come with no territory.’

The territory was small. Even if I declared our sovereignty or called myself an emperor, the territory was all too small. Because of that, there was no land for me to divvy out. Whatever the other countries did, it was sufficient for me to be the only land-owner in Nerman. The conduct of nobles that I saw on the rest of the continent was something that could never be allowed to happen here in Nerman.

‘The basic outline is now complete. What’s left is to make a Nerman recognized by all.’

For the most part, the paradise I dreamed of was on the tracks. Until recently, Nerman was amongst the most poor, scary, and dirty places on the continent. But with the extermination of the monsters and the gradual disappearance of our enemies, the grain and products that would fatten Nerman up were growing and developing. Nerman was slowly but surely building up its pride from under the feet of those beastlike empires that couldn’t wait to swallow Nerman whole, even back when it had nothing.

‘Now, I’m not afraid of anyone.’

I had always lived an unrestrained life fearing nothing, but my confidence was greater than ever. I ascended to the 7th Circle, putting me shoulder to shoulder with the tower masters of the continent’s magic towers, and I did so as a magic swordsman, an achievement they would never reach. To top it off, I could even use spirits.

‘When I reached the 7th Circle, my swordsmanship also changed.’

I might not be on the level of a legendary Grand Blade Master, but the mana imbued in my sword had clearly changed. Before I reached the 6th Circle, my mana quantity was on Blade Master level. When I tested my swordsmanship, I noticed that the color of the mana in my sword had transcended to a transparent blue light that wasn’t very intense, but was sharper than before. From it, I could tell that if I desired it, there was nothing in this world that I could not cut.

‘Alpaca or Altakas or whatever his name was, I kinda want to see his dirty mug.’

I thought of the true master hidden on the continent, the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction. If Master were here, he would have sifted all over the continent looking for that man. Master Aidal reached the 8th Circle with white magic, but had no tolerance for black mages. If I were to bet on who was stronger, I’d bet on Master.

“My liege…”

Derval awakened me from my thoughts with a hesitant call.

Turning my head, I met Derval’s cautious gaze.

“We can spare one flight,” Derval began. “Even if you leave Denfors, we can hold out on our own for a little bit.”

He knew that I needed to help the Bajran Empire. As he spoke, he watched carefully for my reaction.

I grinned. As expected of Nerman’s invisible shadow lord, Derval could even see into the most obscure places, including my feelings.

“It’s fine. The blood of Nerman’s knights won’t be required for the issue with Bajran.”

“But…”

Derval was tacitly asking me if it would be too difficult on my own, but he had no idea what kind of plan I was cooking up.

‘Shall we slowly get going now…?’

The entirety of the inner castle was imbued with the strength of the Grade 1 magic crystal. I drew from its strength to complete a magic array. Now, I only needed the coordinates for the corresponding array, and the one and only long-distance Warp array on the continent would be ready.

“I will handle it, so step up the pace on achieving Nerman’s stability!”

“Yes, siiiir!”

The admin knights shouted an energetic salute. I was sure that Nerman’s future days would be just as bright and lively as their cries.

* * *

“…He’s truly one fearless fellow.”

Those words were uttered by Duke Hardaim, the hero of the Kerpe Kingdom, the nation currently besieging Fort Halberk. The Duke returned from a bout of fierce aerial fighting to find a letter delivered to him, sent by the Lord of Nerman, Kyre de Nerman. When he opened the letter, he found a rather impertinent message within: Kyre warned the kingdoms to turn the reins of their advance, saying that they had won enough.

However, the current situation went well beyond what a mere lord of a county, not even a king, could do anything about. You could even say the war was unstoppable.

The Bajran Empire hadn’t always been an empire. It had risen to its position as an empire by eliminating former kingdoms or swallowing the land of current ones. Such an empire had declined and fallen into a crisis. The world of national politics, where the stark law of the jungle reigned, was shifting feverishly right now. The Andain, Kerpe, and Kuvilan Kingdoms, as well as the Krantz Kingdom, which had just recovered its sovereignty, were infringing on the empire’s lands to their heart’s content, enjoying the spoils of war.

Such a festival was frantically underway, but Kyre warned them to stop. Even Hardaim’s influence couldn’t make that happen. The king of the Kerpe Kingdom had ordered him to seize more land than any of the other kingdoms, as well as the Bajran Empire’s capital.

‘Kyre… I’m sorry. This is out of my hands.”

The lion’s breath, the grand history Bajran had accumulated over the years, was not yet gone. Moreover, Hardaim knew that the young lion of the Bajran Imperial Family living in Nerman was different from the current idiotic tyrant on the throne. He knew that, but the Kerpe Kingdom could not turn away such a delicious profit, even if the “invincible” Lord of Nerman, Kyre, was involved.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiip.

Hardaim ripped up the letter Kyre had sent him without hesitation. It wouldn’t take long now. There was already a stark reduction in the number of wyverns belonging to Bajran lords flying to Fort Halberk. With a few days of full-scale offensive, the key fort, the neighboring territory, and the remaining Skyknights of the Empire’s 4th Eastern Corps would not be able to escape annihilation. Once Halberk fell, there would be no one between the Kingdom Coalition Army and the Bajran Empire’s capital.

“Kyre, if you have the confidence, come try and stop me. Huhuhu…”

Yesterday, they were allies, but today, they were enemies. Hardaim couldn’t forget Kyre’s blistering gaze. An electrifying desire to win, something only the strong could feel, blazed within the Duke.

Hardaim wanted to meet Kyre. Not in an office, but on the battlefield, where they could fight with their lives on the line.

* * *

“Tsk tsk. Requesting for reinforcements day in, day out…”

In the office of the Bajran Empire’s emperor, sat Marquis Silveron, who had been appointed full authority by the Emperor. Tons of urgent reports bearing screams of crisis came flying in from all over the Empire, not just from the key forts where the fighting was fierce, but also from places struck by the guerilla kingdom forces that pervaded the Empire. With the kingdom’s dirty tactics, the lords who had been assisting the forts with their Skyknights grew passive. The moment they pulled Skyknights from their territories, leaving their homes unguarded, enemy troops flew in to set their families and properties ablaze. In order to protect their homes from such enemies, the lords defied the Emperor’s command.

“I killed a few of them, but they still haven’t come to their senses.”

Silveron dispatched Imperial Guards to execute several of the lords that defied the imperial mandate, but the flames of defiance did not abate. In fact, there were now people who openly defied the throne.

“Those pests…”

Rip, rip.

Although Silveron was not the Emperor, he wielded the Emperor’s power. Sitting atop the Emperor’s seat of power, he ripped the reports into little pieces.

“I heard the movements of Duke Garvit’s faction are suspicious. At this rate, the Empire could truly face destruction. Should I just coax the Emperor instead to negotiate a ceasefire with the kingdoms?”

With danger on his doorstep, Silveron instinctively turned to scheming. In his mind, the defeat of the Empire was a done deal, and his thoughts were full of how he could retain the rest of the Empire’s land. Just the contested land on the front lines far exceeded the size of most kingdoms. On top of that, countless nobles had died, so there were plenty of territories lacking lords. Even if they arranged a ceasefire, Silveron himself would lose nothing.

“Huhu… Come to think of it, playing emperor is pretty fun.”

He was invoking the imperial power that was merely lent to him, but the nobles were helpless before one word of his. The taste of that power was the real thing. While Emperor Poltviran used headaches as an excuse to shut himself away in the inner castle, surrounded by concubines, all of the Empire’s matters were truly being carried out according to Silveron’s will. Although he couldn’t enjoy the imperial power properly because of the war, he was keenly experiencing what an emperor’s power was like.

“Yes… And then…”

Silveron smiled contentedly as he relished the evil imagination in his mind. The treasonous dream budding in his mind didn’t seem impossible. If he used the imperial power in his hands to win over the nobles, then enticed the kingdoms with some bait…

Although the Empire was hanging by a thread, Silveron savored yet another dream, not realizing that this thought of his would bring sorrow to hundreds of thousands of the Bajran Empire’s people.