21st Century Archmage

“Produce bricks using this method.”

Derval was suddenly called up and told to look at the blueprint I showed him.

“C-Can bricks really be made like this?”

“Of course.”

“Amazing. This is a completely different way to produce bricks than the existing method. To think you can make bricks not by firing clay, but by pouring concrete into wooden molds…”

Derval was familiar with using the concrete I had shown him.

“I will also make a magic firing furnace. We’ll gather the residents with good dexterity and make bricks.”

“Understood.”

He was as reliable as always.

“Derval, how is the military organization I ordered going?”

“It is nearly complete. As soon as the fort is complete, we can begin at once.”

‘He’s smart, I tell ya.’

I only gave a rough outline of Nerman’s future military system, but Derval took that and completed the organization of subordinates. He did make the mistake of losing Aramis, but he was still a valuable talent that I couldn’t do without.

“We will start road construction next week. Prepare 1,000 slaves and 2,000 soldiers.”

“Will that be enough, sir? I believe it will be difficult to finish construction before winter arrives with those numbers.”

Derval didn’t know what kind of method I planned on using. The numbers I listed were definitely far too low for the standard method used to build roads here.

“We will finish a road reaching the border with the Havis Kingdom before winter comes, a road that can be traveled within a day in rain or snow.”

“P-Pardon?” stuttered Derval at my impossible ambition.

‘Those who believe shall be rewarded. Derval, just believe in me.’

We would proceed right into the reconstruction and building of forts when the road was finished. It was a plan to make a new Nerman.

“Escort Princess Rosiathe to the office.”

“U-Understood.”

Derval looked perplexed by my confidence, which was utterly incomprehensible with his common sense.

‘Huhu, you’ll see soon enough.’

It was fun to mess with people like this sometimes.

‘Everything is settled with the Kesmire. The problem now is the pain in the butt that is the Havis Kingdom…’

I heard the gist about the kingdom’s troublesome nobles from Rosiathe. They were nobles of the Havis Kingdom, but they already saw the kingdom’s destruction as fact and were committing treason hand-in-hand with the neighboring powerful countries.

Knock knock.

“It is Rosiathe.”

“Come in.”

The owner of the pleasant, elegant voice slightly opened the door to my office and came inside. After meeting eyes with me, a rosy red blush spread over her face as if she were shy.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

I was sure she slept well, because Rosiathe had slept for nearly two hours in my embrace before waking up and then running away in embarrassment. The sight of her sleeping so deeply she even snored a little was still vivid in my mind.

“Please sit.”

I gestured to a seat. From now on, I had to find out everything about the Havis Kingdom.

“Please send them to me.”

“Send what…?”

“Send all the nobles and knights the Havis Kingdom does not need to my territory.”

“…All of them?”

“Of course. Go and tell them. That Nerman’s master, me, is a real scumbag. Say that it is time to show the kingdom’s claws and dispatch the nobles and knights.”

“I cannot do that. If that happens, the fate of Nerman cannot be guaranteed. There would be at least 200 wyverns and nearly 100,000 soldiers. Nerman will not be able to face them.”

‘To worry about me, she really is considerate.’

“It is alright, but you must block the expedition until the spring of next year. You have to hold them back for us at least that long.”

“Would that… be enough?”

“Haha. Don’t worry. I could even take care of your worries for you right now, but there are many important things to take care of in the territory, so I’ll have to trouble you.”

A man should protect his pride even unto death. I talked big in front of Rosiathe.

“Then I will just believe in you, Kyre-nim.”

‘Of course! Who would help Havis other than me?’

“Trust me.”

“Yes.”

Rosiathe responded affirmatively to my firm words with a big smile.

‘Ngh, she’s so beautiful!’

The vibrant flower in my dull office brought joy to my heart.

“I will also leave the merchant group going into Nerman to you.”

“I will protect them at any cost,” said Rosiathe.

The Royal Family might just be a husk, but she should be able to accommodate this much, at least.

“Also, when you go, I will give you a few lumikar. Please contact me in an urgent situation.”

“I am deeply thankful for your thoughtful consideration.”

Rosiathe was a woman who knew how to separate business and personal matters. She had the makings of a proper ruler and would be fully capable of leading Havis well.

“Before you return, please visit Aramis-nim. She will give you a present.”

“Are you going somewhere, Kyre-nim?”

“I must go meet the dwarves for a matter regarding the territory.”

“I see…”

“I apologize in advance for not being able to see you off.”

“It is nothing. I am merely grateful that you put time aside for me despite being so busy.”

Contrary to her words, Rosiathe’s eyes were full of regret. There was no knowing for sure when we would meet again after parting this time.

“May you have a safe return. Then…”

Bowing my head, I left the office.

If I just had the time, I would have liked to have a cup of tea with her, ask all kinds of questions, and find out about what she liked to do, but Nerman did not permit me that kind of respite.

* * *

“Are the things I requested proceeding well?”

“As I said, don’t worry. Our Clansmen of the Rock consider loyalty akin to our very lives.”

‘Thank you for that. For being such sitting ducks…’

They were living their days holed up in a cave anyway, so devoting their lives to me and Nerman was a real blessing.

“This is a blueprint for a new product I made. Please take a look, Patriarch.”

“A blueprint! Hooh, what kind of thing is it this time?”

The dwarves were always thirsty for new curiosities. They were already engrossed in the mithril coating weapons I had requested, but they rejoiced at the mention of a new blueprint.

“Isn’t this a longbow?”

“It is.”

“How truly delightful. This much flexibility should enable a range of 2 kilometers. It is fitted with a cogwheel, so the drawing speed will be fast, too… With a bowstring made of coiled mithril, it shouldn’t snap or lose any elasticity… Incredible!”

Even the dwarves gave their mark of approval to my blueprint.

‘Without the dwarves, I could only dream of making something like this.’

I drew the blueprint using the large crossbows I had seen at Calvaron Castle as inspiration. They didn’t have enough force to threaten wyverns, but the moment I saw them, a phenomenal idea came to me.

“And please take a look at this as well.”

“What is it this time?”

“I drew up a rough city blueprint.”

“City blueprint?”

Cassiars snatched the blueprint for the new city that would be constructed out of my hands.

“Ohhhh! Impressive! It’s my first time seeing city planning like this. It can be compared to the buildings our clansmen used to construct in the past during the Ancient Magic Era.”

I didn’t know about any Ancient Magic Era, but this city was modeled after a Korean theme park for kids, Everland.

“In particular, the central road in the middle is quite something.”

It was just a rough sketch, not even a detailed blueprint, but Cassiars continued to express his admiration. I used the apartment I lived in before and various amusement parks as a reference and added in dashes of the conveniences of modern civilization. I did take a lot of inspiration from SimCity, a game I played a few times as a kid.

“The central sewage line in the magic purification facility under the city is also amazing… Kyre, you are a friend of our people after all.”

The dwarven patriarch praised me and hammered my shoulders with his meaty hands.

‘I’ll die if we get any friendlier.’

I endured the intense pain on my shoulders as I brought up the next subject.

“I have something to say.”

“Speak.”

“I would like to entrust the city’s construction to the Luhalumere Clan.”

“Of course. Who else would you entrust such a huge project to, if not us dwarves?”

‘Huh? He agreed so easily?’

We were on friendly relations, but the dwarves must certainly have some lingering distrust of humans. However, Cassiars easily accepted the words I said with such difficulty.

“Our people should occasionally live under the sun, too.”

“Since you say it like that, allow me to speak at ease.”

I looked Cassiars in the eye, showing him the resolve blazing within my heart.

“I will make my territory into a place where dwarves, elves, humans, and even beastmen can live on equal terms. If you trust me, please help me. I will absolutely not disappoint you.”

“Mm…” Cassiars hummed and looked at me squarely. “Are you confident? A thousand years ago, humans and our kind made a pact like that. However, the firm vows of stone we made back then disintegrated like grains of sand. There may have been trust between us, but the feelings of the humans changed as the years passed. The newly born descendants forgot the covenant of their forebears as if molting and shedding old vows.”

I understood Cassiars’ worry. For the elves, beastmen, and dwarves, even after many years, there were almost no incidents where they broke the promises their ancestors made. But humans were constantly forgetting or breaking the promises that they themselves made, much less their forebears.

“Please trust me. I will not disappoint you.”

Any additional promises were meaningless. It was my style to prove myself with actions rather than words.

“Alright! We shall trust you once. As long as it is you who stands at the helm, Kyre, our people will follow!”

‘Naisuuuu!!!’

I had worried about what I should do if they refused.

“Thank you very much. Let us do our best together.”

I bent into a deep bow and expressed my gratitude as if I just got elected into Congress.

* * *

A territory assisted by the dwarves… In this moment, we gained yet another advantage that no other territory on the continent could boast of.

“If you’re so thankful, how about it today?”

“Huh?”

“Huhu, a festival, a festival. It’s no good if such a happy moment lacks alcohol and song. Isn’t that right, Kyre?”

“T-That’s true…”

“Kuhahahaha! As expected of our Kyre. Then let us have a festival! Tonight, we’re going all out!”

“…..”

‘Why do I have the feeling I got played?’

Somehow, I had the bad feeling that Cassiars had accepted my proposal because he just wanted to throw a festival. Seeing the madness glowing in Cassiars’ eyes made that possibility seem more like a reality. I was, it seemed, still far too green to understand the dwarves.

“Announce the festival! It’s a festival, a festivaaaaaal!!!!”

Patriach Cassiars ran outside to announce the festival.

“WAAAAAAA! FESTIVAL!”

And a short while later, a crazed chorus of dwarven screams of ‘festival’ shook the cave walls of the Dwarven Village.

‘I’m done for…’

The position of a lord was truly incredibly difficult.

Did the residents know about the ‘housework’ occurring behind the scenes? I wondered if they knew that their lord was sacrificing his body like this to save the territory.

* * *

“Hiccup…”

Everything was spinning.

If not for the safety ring, I might have fallen to my death long ago. The dwarves’ festival had begun around noon. When I finally made it outside, the stars in the sky were sarcastically whispering to me, ‘this young man is doing reaaaal good.’

‘Just how much did I drink?’

I had the feeling that I had drained an entire big barrel of beer. Mana might be protecting my body, but it would be strange if I were completely hunky dory after stumbling here and there for oneshots and toasts for several hours. Since the festival was already unstoppable, the useless fighting spirit of a man kicked in and I went toe to toe with the dwarves, resulting in the current situation.

“Nice… kya.”

Slumped over Bebeto’s back, I gazed at the spinning stars in a stupor.

“Heheh…”

My mood, at least, was in top shape. With my mind floating on the waves of the alcohol, I felt like I was on top of the world.

After a while, the feeling of passing through an area like a mana field rippled on my skin.

“Where are we?”

At least half of the blood going through my body right now had to be alcohol. My tipsy eyes drew in the familiar sight around me.

Flap, flap, flap flap flap.

It wasn’t the covert. My dim eyes caught sight of large trees as Bebeto landed with flapping wings.

“Bebeto, where is this? You drunk too?”

I vaguely remembered the dwarves rolling a barrel of beer outside to Bebeto, saying it was too sad to leave him out.

“It looks familiar…”

I tried to focus my dizzy consciousness and examine my surroundings.

“You have come…”

“Ngh?”

I whirled my head to face the voice coming suddenly from behind me.

“Ah…”

At that moment, I saw a certain slender figure. Long, silver hair with a blue tint sparkling in the starlight, and the face of a woman with unearthly beauty uncommon in the human world.

“N-Narmias.”

It was her.

My sluggish mind clearly registered the elf Narmias in front of me.

“Yes…”

‘Almost scared me out of my wits. But why are we here?’

After landing in the Elven Village, Bebeto buried his head between his wings and instantly fell asleep. It was then that I suddenly remembered that I had asked him to go to the Elven Village.

“I apologize for disturbing you at a late hour. I had a drink in the Dwarven Village, but it seems Bebeto brought me all the way here.”

Coming back to my senses, I managed an apology. Narmias appeared like a wraith every time I showed up. All the other elves were snoozing away at this time, but it didn’t seem like Narmias had been sleeping at all.

“Shall I cast Heal on you?”

I hadn’t come here in nearly a month, but Narmias’ kindness was unchanged.

“No, it’s alright. I just need to rest a little.”

To be honest, this level of drunkenness could be dashed in an instant if I circulated my mana. But there were times when I wanted to let go of my worries too, and participating in the festival with the dwarves was the perfect moment to do so.

“Yes…”

The elf Narmias did not disagree with me in the slightest.

Click.

I unclasped the safety ring and stood up to jump off.

Stumble.

“Guh!”

As soon as I tried to stand, an alarm rang off in my head as my body failed to obey.

Squish.

I flailed and grabbed onto something in order to not fall flat on my face, and what I grabbed was strangely squishy.

‘W-What is going onnnnn!!!’

I happened to tip into Narmias’ direction, and what my hand grabbed was also coincidentally Narmias’ thin waist. In my floundering, I ended up grabbing her pretty hard and pulling her into my embrace.

“Haah…”

And then, red lips breathed out just 5 cm away from my face. A sweet womanly fragrance warmed my lungs in an instant.

‘Beautiful…’

My heart thumped like a colt going wild.

My face unconsciously and slowly lowered, until I could feel her lips burning on mine.

“Mm…”

A low hum rang in my ear, and two slender arms wrapped themselves around my neck.

‘Whatever. Let’s just go for it!’

My mind turned white like a sheet of paper. Anyone standing around blankly before a feast was a fool. I pulled in the elven woman’s slender waist closer to me.

And then, I had the second kiss of my life.

A small wish that time would just stop came to life.

Narmias’ eyes had closed at some point.

Two clear teardrops fell hot onto my face, which was pressed against hers.

* * *

“Yaaawn…”

I woke up feeling like I had dreamt intensely last night. A long yawn came out of me as I shook off my drowsiness.

‘Eh?’

My slowly opening eyes were met with an unfamiliar space. The sunlight streaming in through a small window revealed what looked like a treehouse.

There wasn’t much furniture to speak of, just a lengthy longbow and a few arrows hung up on the wall as well as a small table and two chairs made of dried wood.

But then I felt the deep breathing coming from next to me.

‘!!’

My mind felt like it was plunged into ice water. It was said that if adults got drunk, they might end up in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar person when they woke up, but I was still a green youth.

“…..!!”

My body stiffened as I turned my head.

‘N-Narmias.’

She must be having a sweet dream, because at her lips was a gentle smile. The angel, no, the elf, was resting one hand on my chest, still deep in sleep.

‘I-I’m sure nothing happened. Nothing happened.’

I remembered the hot kiss we had shared atop Bebeto. I also remembered returning to Narmias’ house with her, and even lying down on her bed, a white sheet fitted over soft leaves. However, my memory ended there.

‘Phew…’ I breathed, after checking my body. My airplate was off, but thankfully, the clothes I was wearing underneath were completely normal. I confirmed that my snow-white chastity had not been ravaged.

‘It was the alcohol.’

I ended up ‘staying out,’ albeit without reaching the infamous ‘Rated R’. Aramis was definitely waiting for my return back at the covert, but I became one of those notorious rakes.

‘She’s pretty even when she sleeps.’

I slept next to a woman for the first time in my life. Of course, I did sleep countless times in the same room as Russell in Knight Academy, but back then, Russell was disguised as a man.

Unbeknownst to me, I stroked Narmias’ hair. Even without the use of shampoo and conditioner, her hair was incredibly soft. An unknown flower’s scent came drifting up with my hand movements.

“Mmm…”

Narmias quietly opened her eyes, awakened by my touch.

Without any hint of alarm, the blue rose bloomed into a wide smile after meeting my eyes.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes…”

This elf, she hardly ever said anything other than “yes.” When we first met, she was completely an assertive elf warrior who poured arrows at me, but now, she was just a woman in love.

Gruumble.

‘Dammit, why now?!’

I wanted to set the mood and go for a hangover-curing-kiss, but my damned stomach took that moment to loudly complain.

“Just one moment.”

Narmias left my embrace and got up. Then, she walked off, and I only heard clattering noises.

‘Haah, what a shame.’

After the svelte Narmias left my arms, a wave of intense regret came crashing in. I was still legally a minor, so I couldn’t even get married without my parents’ consent, but I wondered if this was what the charm of married life might feel like.

‘So this is the legendary elven home.’

The place was around as big as my office. It had a small wooden window and door and was very simple, with not much decoration. However, it was quite comfortable. The suitable humidity and temperature seemed to lull one right into a nice sleep.

“Please have some.”

“Thank you.”

Narmias had gotten up to prepare food after hearing the chorus of my hungry stomach. Several fruits I didn’t know the names of and the bread-flavor lucasias fruit were presented to me on a wooden tray.

‘It really feels like we’re playing house.’

When I was a kid, I played house with the neighborhood kids in the kindergarten playground. I took the tray and slowly ate the breakfast Narmias had prepared.

Crunch crunch.

I crunched down on a crispy green fruit that looked like an apple. Its sweet and refreshing flavor was really delicious.

‘But if I lived with Narmias, would I have to live on a diet of fruits every day?’

Narmias watched me eat with a happy expression.

Chief Parciano had told me that once an elf decided his or her match, their noble and pure love would persist unchangingly until they breathed their last. It seemed that I would have no choice but to take responsibility. Because if I didn’t, this beautiful elf would spend the rest of her long, long life alone, while longing for me.

“Narmias.”

‘Hm?’

Just then, I heard a voice calling for Narmias outside.

“Yes.” Narmias opened the door.

“The Chief ordered you to come with the human.”

“Understood.”

‘I had to meet with him anyway, so this is good.’

After I finished the fruit, I tore into a lucasias and got up.

“Here.”

Narmias approached soundlessly and helped me put on my airplate.

“Thanks,” I said, putting on the airplate with her help. “Let us go.”

“Yes.”

The words my father said to my mother suddenly came tumbling out of my mouth. Every time he left for work, he would take the lead wearing the clothes my mother had coordinated for him.

I, too, went outside with Narmias at my back.

‘!!’

The Elven Village was bathed in warm sunlight that made me blink in a momentary daze. When I could see clearly again, I saw countless gazes coming our way.

‘What the heck!!’

At least several hundred elves were looking at Narmias’ house whilst being 2 meters above ground like they were sightseeing a newlywed couple’s room. That was because it was likely an inevitable shock to the elves that a human showed up and spent a night with an elf.

My face burned. I didn’t make any big mistake, but anyone who didn’t redden under the piercing stares of the elves was a real weirdo.

I lightly jumped down, and Narmias fluttered down behind me, following me as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Guooo!

‘Don’t act like you know me, birdbrain!’

A frickin’ wyvern drank beer and enjoyed drunk driving. Bebeto let out a happy cry when he saw me, but I ignored him and walked towards the Chief’s house.

‘Wait just a little bit. I will show you all what the joy of freedom tastes like.’

The elves were living and dying quietly in the safest place in the world. There might be benefits to this kind of life, too, but my thoughts were different. I believed that one should take the biggest steps they could manage, struggling with all their might like the living beings they were.

And so I walked forward, towards a moment in history that would bring about a big change to the fate of Nerman.