21st Century Archmage

“What? He disappeared?”

“Yes. He suddenly concealed himself during the ball and left.”

“How could this be!”

Ormere, who had been discussing important topics with the nobles for a while, was dumbstruck by the news of Kyre’s disappearance. An expression of consternation appeared on Ormere’s face.

“Quickly catch him. I gave a command to the hangar. He’ll most likely be there.”

“Understood.”

Viscount Parkess bowed his head with urgency and left the hall.

“Sneaky bastard….”

Duke Ormere ground his teeth.

Kyre was young, but his use of trickery was no less than the craftiest of nobles.

It was a real nuisance to care of him once and for all.

* * *

After the audiences with the Emperor and a few dances, it had become quite dark outside.

I flew silently through the palace, low to the ground, barely dodging the mana interference field above the palace and the guards down below.

The security wasn’t as strict as I thought. There were a lot of Imperial Knights and soldiers near the Hall of Honor and atop the inner castle walls, but besides that, there weren’t that many. Thanks to the thick, dark clouds and my black clothes, I was able to reach my room in Isabel Palace using Fly without getting detected.

Click click. 

“Should I take it with me?” I mused aloud as I equipped my airplate and sword. I agonized for a moment while putting down the clothes Igis had gifted me. “If I leave it behind, she’ll probably be sad.”

I left with no farewell, but Igis would understand why I had to flee like a thief. So I made my decision and packed the clothes. It wasn’t because I was trying to recoup costs from the elven armor I sacrificed to the Emperor, okay?

“Time to go.”

Located very close to Isabel Palace, the Imperial Hangar was a facility only royalty or people invited by the Imperial Family could use.

I tied the suit up tightly and headed outside.

* * *

“Where are you going?”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

As soon as I arrived at the gate connecting the Imperial Hangar with the inner castle, knights blocked my path.

‘Jerks, can’t you see? I’m going home now.’

“The Imperial Hangar is closed at night. Please come back to use it when the sun rises tomorrow morning.”

‘Huh? There was a rule like that?’

I didn’t know about that rule—what an absolute fiasco.

“Something urgent has happened in my territory, so I must return riding my wyvern. Step aside.”

“We cannot.”

The Imperial Knights met my insistence with an even firmer rejection. Seeing as they were being so persistent despite me having earned a room from the Princess, I was certain they had received some kind of order from a superior.

‘Knock ‘em out?’

But doing so would be no easy matter. Unlike the slack security in the inner castle, there were around twenty Imperial Knights and over a hundred soldiers standing watch outside the hangar.

‘But I can’t just leave, either…’

If I knew this would happen, I would have asked Igis to come with me.

Just then, while I was contemplating how to get out of this fix, I heard regular footsteps from behind me.

“Halt,” barked a knight.

‘Hm?’

“Haha, you have worked hard,” responded the mystery person.

“!!, Your Excellency!”

‘Ara? Your Excellency?’

‘Your Excellency’ was a title reserved for the highest ranking nobles—you had to be a marquis at the very least.

I turned to look.

‘Oh, isn’t he the bald mister I saw before?’

The first person to have an audience with the Emperor and one of the four pillars of the Bajran Empire, the white whiskered and bald Duke Garvit, approached the hangar.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Count Kyre de Nerman.”

“Ah, aren’t you Count Kyre, the one who received a peerage from His Imperial Majesty today? Haha. I wanted to meet you once and share a drink together, but it seems we ended up meeting here.”

“It is an honor, Your Excellency Duke Garvit.”

‘Woot! Looks like I can get through if this goes well.’

“C-Count?”

The knights were shocked that I was now a count. There were probably rumors going around between them about the person who impudently landed his hybrid wyvern in the Imperial Hangar. As far as they knew, that person only had a baronet title.

‘Jerks, why so surprised.’

“But what is going on?”

“That is… I need to return to my territory because something urgent occurred, but the Imperial Knights say that the hangar is closed at night and have been forbidding entry.”

“Closed?” Garvit murmured incredulously. “Who is in charge here?” he asked quietly.

“Viscount Fornain de Kurves greets Your Excellency.”

One of the dazed knights stepped forward.

“Sir Fornain, as far as I know, such a rule does not exist. Am I mistaken?”

“N-No, that is…” stammered the viscount, unable to answer the Duke’s low query.

‘What? These shitheads were trying to trick me?’

“Then does that mean that I must also wait here until tomorrow morning to return to my territory? Or must I seek permission from His Imperial Majesty himself?”

‘Hooh, so this is what they mean by rank is king.’

Garvit was showing that his Duke title wasn’t just for show. He made Viscount Fornain and the Imperial Knights pale with just a few quiet words.

“N-No, Your Excellency. It seems my men were mistaken for a moment.”

‘What? Your men?’

* * *

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* * *

This dude was seriously shameless, lying without hesitation like one of those Korean corruptocrats living off lies.

“Is that so? I sure was surprised, thinking I might have to get permission from His Imperial Majesty again.”

‘Is this political power, too?’

Duke Garvit had definitely smelled that something fishy was going on. The sight of him continually mentioning the Emperor and threatening the Imperial Knights made a deep impression on me. This veiled exertion of power and intimidation was a magnificent technique I needed to watch and learn.

“Then I can go too, right?”

“…..”

I nonchalantly tried to catch a free ride on the Duke’s coattails.

“Y-Yes, Count. You may leave.”

His lie was already in the open, so the Imperial Knight had no grounds to block me. Even if he was a mighty Knight of the Imperial Guard, he could not comfortably bar my path knowing that I was now a count.

“Count Kyre, what kind of urgent matter is it that you must leave so soon?”

“As you know, Your Excellency, my territory, Nerman, is a place surrounded by enemies, a place that cannot be left without its lord for very long. However, I hurriedly ran to the capital at His Imperial Majesty’s royal decree, and I wished to return since the matter is finished.”

“Haha, it seems your circumstances are similar to mine. I have also been unable to sleep well due to the monsters invading day after day.”

Perhaps because misery loves company, Duke Garvit was looking at me with a warm gaze.

“I completely understand Your Excellency’s feelings. I, too, am well aware of how wonderful it must be to live comfortably in the capital while flattering His Imperial Majesty. However, if one is a noble or knight called upon by the nation, I believe that working hard for the sake of the Emperor and his people is a hundred times better than such political power.”

“Oh! What a truly noble-like remark, the likes of which I have not heard in a while. You may be young, but your thoughts are praiseworthy. Impressive!”

I continued racking up points with Duke Garvit as we walked through the door opened up by the knights. Most nobles and knights in the empire knew the duke in front of me was constantly fending off monsters in the countryside, pushed out of the political scene.

“Still, it does not compare to the way Your Excellency and your ducal house have devoted your lives to the empire,” I said with humility.

It didn’t cost a single cent, but I scored 100/100 points.

“Sir Kyre,” called Duke Garvit quietly.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Come to the territory some time. It has been a very long time since I have had a drink with a knight like yourself.”

“When the territory is stabilized, I will be sure to come by.”

“Please do so for sure.”

The old Duke sent a piercing gaze my way. He was a tiger without fangs, but even with his tiger hide alone, he was an important noble who could go in and out of the workings of the empire. I could feel how pleased he was with me radiating from his entire body.

‘Better than nothing.’

There was no need to turn every noble in the empire into an enemy. Moreover, this person was a duke of an empire. I liked how manly his personality was, too.

“Your wyvern is here, Your Excellency.”

As we walked along the Imperial Hangar runway, one of the soldiers who followed us told Duke Garvit where his wyvern was.

“Until next time, sir.”

“Safe travels. And be sure to come find me.”

“I will do so, Your Excellency.”

He was an old duke, but Garvit gave me a warm feeling, like a neighborhood grandpa.

Guooo.

As the Duke reached the front of the hangar, the wyvern inside recognized its owner and gave an energetic cry.

Then, the wyvern crewmates opened the door with a rumble, and the enormous grey wyvern walked through.

Fwip.

The Duke, who was not even wearing an airplate, lightly jumped onto his wyvern.

“Let’s go, Frangel!”

Guooooo!  

Flap, flap, flap flap flap.

At its owner’s command, the wyvern Frangel flapped its wings energetically and leapt into the air. It looked to be rather old, but its muscles were still plenty strong.

‘Bye bye, Duke Grandpa,’ I called in my mind, saying goodbye to Duke Garvit, someone I met by pure coincidence. Once he disappeared into the darkness of night, I also moved along.

“Where is my wyvern?” I asked the soldier standing next to me.

“T-That is…”

Excluding royalty, there couldn’t be that many wyverns staying in the Imperial Hangars under imperial mandate. Moreover, my wyvern must have given him a big impression, so he likely knew where Bebeto was.

“Speak properly!”

“H-He is in the hangar over there.”

Surprised by my slightly mana-charged shout, the soldier pointed to Bebeto’s location.

‘A storehouse?’

These fucking bastards had stuffed Bebeto in the shabbiest building in the Imperial Hangar, a building that looked like a storage room.

“Who put him there,” I gritted flatly.

Igis had definitely said to treat him well, so there was no way these guys would have fearlessly shoved him in a storehouse.

“H-His Highness the Crown Prince ordered it.”

‘Crown Prince? Can he be any more of a crown prick?!’

Crown Prince Poltviran and I were ill-fated to begin with. Steam came roiling from my head.

“Where is the Crown Prince’s wyvern?”

“Pardon?”

“If you make me say it twice, you will take responsibility for it with your life.”

Even an Imperial Soldier was like a fly in front of a noble. My somewhat ogreish expression probably had him feeling deep fear, too.

“O-Over there,” stammered the soldier, pointing with a finger.

“Fuck off,” I said with a low voice.

“A-As you command!”

He was so scared that he responded with an “as you command,” even though I wasn’t his commanding officer. He scrambled away without another word.

‘Bebeto, I’m sorry.’

He met the wrong owner and was treated like trash in the Imperial Palace. Leaving home brings naught but toil—for both me and Bebeto, the most comfortable place in the world could only be Nerman.

I ran all the way to the storehouse-like hangar where Bebeto was staying.

GUOOOO!

Bebeto recognized my rushing footsteps and roared.

“Let’s go! Bebeto!” I shouted.

BAM!

Bebeto kicked open the wooden door and crashed outside as soon as he heard me. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt, and his eyes were full of life.

‘In the future, I will make it so you’ll always be treated like me.’

There would be no reason for future events where I had to lower my head. I firmly resolved to not bring Bebeto to such a dangerous place, Emperor’s command or not. The Emperor was a stranger I shared no blood with, but Bebeto was family; we shared many memories together.

I swiftly landed on Bebeto’s back after he jumped out.

Swooooosh.

Bebeto, whose freedom had been taken away for just one day, flapped his wings without hesitation into the air.

‘You can’t call me Kang Hyuk if I go just like this.’

No matter how you put it, right now, I was pissed. I pulled Bebeto’s reins and turned him around.

Swoooooosh.

And then, we charged towards the Imperial Hangar.

Whirrr.

We punched through the mana interference field spread all over the Imperial Palace.

“Fire Ball!”

And then, I made a Fire Ball, a Fire Ball filled with the flames of rage inside my heart.

Fwooooooosh.

A Fire Ball 5 meters large, big enough to swallow most homes whole, formed in front of me.

“UWAHHHH!”

“A-An attack from above!”

The knights and soldiers stationed in the hangar and inner castle screamed after seeing the Fire Ball.

‘Eat this, you fuckers!’

The Crown Prince’s wyvern took after its master and had an incredibly violent temperament. I threw the Fire Ball right at the bastard’s stone hangar.

Fwooooooooosh.

A long trail of fire appeared behind it as the Fire Ball fell onto the hangar.

CRAAAAAASH!

The roof might be made of stone, but it wasn’t strong enough to block my Fire Ball of rage falling from the sky. The roof collapsed with a huge explosion, and the Fire Ball continued inside.

BOOOOOOOM!

And then, with a boom as loud as a bomb exploding, the debris from the Fire Ball flew off in all directions.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

Shocked awake by my fire bolt, the wyvern inside gave a terrible squeal.

“Phew….”

I felt the stuffiness in my chest dissipating all at once.

“Bebeto!” I barked.

Guoooo!  

He didn’t know what was going on, but responded energetically to his master’s call.

“What are you doing! Run away, quick!”

Now, what we needed wasn’t courage or stupidity.

We only needed speed, speed to let us make a quick escape all the way to Nerman.