21st Century Archmage

“Halt!”

On the border between Nerman and the Havis Kingdom, a Nerman knight and his soldiers stopped a merchant group loaded to the brim with orc leathers at a temporary checkpoint they had set up.

‘What persistent searching.’

This was already their fifth time getting searched. The mercenaries looked fed up—it was their first time undergoing five checks while traveling a distance of just over ten days, and in a single territory, at that.

‘It just means the cargo is that important. Huhu.’

If everything went well, he would even be granted a hefty bonus. Chareya, the S-Grade kidnapper of the Harpice, the branch that specialized in kidnapping in the Assassination Guild, hid the laughter in his heart and stepped forward with an appreciative expression.

“You have worked hard.”

“Just orc leathers?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mm…”

Every Nerman knight and soldier was exhausted from the intense checks.

“We have already been checked five times. Has something important gone missing?” asked Chareya cautiously, acting like an innocent, clueless lamb.

“You don’t have any suspicious goods?”

“Of course not, sir. It isn’t my first time doing business, why would we have anything suspicious?” said Chareya, waving his hand.

“Mm….”

The orc leathers had been warmed in the sweltering heat that followed the rainy period. They were treated with chemicals, but the characteristic rotten stench of the orc leathers was pungent enough to scare off flies, and they had around twenty carriages full to the brim with such half-dried orc leathers.

All the tired soldiers looked at the knight in charge with desperate expressions.

Chareya offered a distasteful suggestion to the troubled knight. “Shall we unload all the leathers?”

“No, it’s fine. Go on.”

“Thank you, sir. We are already running late to our appointed time because of the searches.”

Chareya dipped his head repeatedly. He looked exactly like a servile, minor merchant.

“Let them through!”

There was nothing you could really call an official road, but the temporary checkpoint was set up on the plains visible in every direction. Fatigued by the heat and their exhaustion, the knight and soldiers sent off the carriages packed with orc leathers.

‘Stupid fools.’

They were checked five times, and one time in the evening, they were made to unload all the orc leathers. However, the Nerman knights and soldiers were unable to find Priestess Aramis. They couldn’t find her hidden in a special, black box under the orc leathers at the bottom of the carriage. They might have found the box if the carriages had been searched in the daytime, but because the inspection was done late at night, even though it had been thorough, Priestess Aramis remained undetected.

‘This is the end. Huhu.’

It had been a pretty difficult kidnapping. In the past, the Harpice kidnapped and sold off decent-looking wenches from Nerman, but they had never been checked like this time. It wasn’t this severe even back when they kidnapped the princess of the Gapitz Kingdom.

“Move slowly. The wheels are wobbling, are they not!”

As if to let the knight and soldiers hear, Chareya chastised his men to move the carriages slowly.

Rumble rumble.

The carriages full of orc leathers moved with difficulty.

Inside one of them was the woman who had been the hope of Nerman.

* * *

Whoooooooosh.

“Haah….”

After fleeing the capital, we cut through Bajran Empire territory so fast that all my eyebrows almost got swept away. Charging through with sheer force, Bebeto and I were able to cross the Rual Mountains in just four days.

‘But did the Crown Prince bastard eat something weird?’

If my wyvern had been attacked, with my personality, I would have gone through water and fire to settle things. But he did not attack me, not even a single time. We ran into patrols from Bajran Empire wyverns several times on the way here, but everyone ignored us.

‘Well, it’s good for me. Huhuhu.’

Despite our rush to return, I didn’t forget about collecting the airplates and wyvern armor I had stolen from the skyknights of Atman County. The treasures had been buried in a secret pit I had made with magic, and now, they were flying through the sky in a sack tied around Bebeto’s feet.

Swoooooooooosh.

Bebeto had become the emperor of the sky in no time. Wise to the way of the wind, he followed the wind currents with his wings outstretched.

‘It’s already beginning to smell like autumn…..’

I had spent the time on my toes, and the seasons were already changing to fall. I could see that the trees under the unmelted snow on the particularly rugged and manifold peaks of the Rual Mountains were beginning to turn red.

‘It’s nice….’

I was breathing in the smell of autumn mixed in the wind when we reached the end of the Rual Mountains.

Flaaaash!

And then, the mountains ended, revealing the wide, expansive Nerman Plains.

Guooooooooooooooooo!

Bebeto loved Nerman as much as I did. He flew towards Nerman with an energetic roar.

‘Derval, Aramis… They’re all doing well, I hope.’

I had tried to not worry, but I couldn’t help it. There were more than one or two things I had left unfinished, and there were still the monsters, the Temir, and also the Laviter Empire guys, who might be grinding their teeth about how to take revenge for their prince.

Swooooooooosh.

Filling his wings with the wind blowing from the mountains behind us, Bebeto quickly swept through the plains.

And then, I saw Fort Ciaris, which was located on the westernmost part of the territory. The fort’s walls had been mostly repaired with cement. Above the walls was the golden territory flag, upon which Bebeto was drawn; it informed me that my apprehension was unfounded.

But then, I heard two loud, long horns.

‘Huh? This horn sound!!’

The booming horn bellows that came while we were flying towards the fort was a signal used when an urgent matter occurred on the territory.

‘Did something happen to the territory?!!’

I was sure that the horns had been blown after seeing me.

“Bebeto, let’s go to the fort.”

Swoooooooosh.

I directed Bebeto and headed to the fort with all haste, my heart suddenly beginning to race.

I prayed desperately that it wasn’t something serious.

* * *

“You did well.”

“Huhu. This much was nothing…”

Clunk.

A paladin wearing a white robe marked with a golden cross inside a circle, the emblem of the paladins of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, stood in front of Chareya, who was wearing his merchant getup. The paladin looked at Chareya as if looking at a bug and tossed a hefty pouch that landed at the kidnapper’s feet.

“It is a golden token that can be redeemed at the continental Big Five merchant groups.”

“Did you put in a generous amount?”

“It is 300,000 Gold.”

“Huhu. I sure like the sound of that.”

Currently, they were in Calvaron County, the territory that connected the Havis Kingdom with Nerman. A shady trade was proceeding within a barn in the territory’s castle.

“Hand her over now.”

Clap clap.

At the paladin’s words, Chareya clapped twice, and four men appeared carrying a black box the size of a coffin. The men’s faces were shadowed by the low hoods of their robes. As was becoming for members of the Asssassination Guild, with their appearance, a somber and insidious energy filled the barn.

“Mm…”

The paladin let out a small groan. He had realized with a single glance that the men were skilled fighters too strong for him to face.

* * *

Reaper Scans

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* * *

“We have escorted her in the magic box of our guild specialized for kidnapping; it is installed with special purification, temperature control, and breathing devices. Even if the captive does not eat or drink, their lives can be maintained with perfect health for around fifteen days.”

The magic box was small, but very useful.

“Is she safe?”

“Of course. Only….” The Assassination Guild member trailed off.

“Only?”

“The only issue is that she can hear everything and think even while inside. Huhuhu.”

“W-What did you say?!”

“Ah! Don’t worry. While she is inside the box, she cannot speak at all.”

“…..”

Chareya’s words made the paladin’s face cave in. Even if she could not speak, if she was listening to everything, then Priestess Aramis would know pretty much everything. Of course the paladin was unhappy.

“Scram.”

“Yes, yes. I will go ahead and disappear even if you didn’t ask me to. But before I leave, if there are any other matters to request in the future, please call us at any time. We shall serve you with a special previous customer price.”

“Shut up!” shouted the paladin, enraged by Chareya’s sickening words.

‘Huhu, you will definitely call us again.’

Chareya was all too aware of how the world turned. It was a common occurrence for people whose faces went red with rage like this to call upon them a second and third time. They had already tasted the ease of handling things in the dark, and that was a drug-like temptation that black-hearted men could no longer ignore.

The Assassination Guild members silently disappeared from the dark barn.

“Sigh…”

The paladin breathed a long, self-deprecating sigh. He was playing a paladin role while selling his conscience under Pontiff Hedor, but whenever he was involved in matters like today, he had a guilty conscience.

‘I apologize,’ thought the paladin in his heart.

Then, he carefully raised the box Aramis was in. There were other paladins waiting outside. They would go to the castle before formally moving Priestess Aramis to a carriage and taking her back.

Most priests and paladins of Neran knew of Apprentice Priestess Aramis’ holy power. Everyone knew that Aramis had holy power that even the bishop could not dream of matching up to. It was a holy power that even paladins who had sold their consciences to the temptation of the devil had to deeply admire in their hearts.

* * *

Bang!

Ruuuuustle.

The desk in the office was destroyed, and the papers piled on top scattered into the air in all directions.

“Say it one more time.”

My low, dangerous voice rang out throughout the room.

“May you grant death upon me, my liege! Due to our negligence…. Argh…. We were unable to stop the kidnapping of Priestess Aramis.”

“My liege! Please punish us!”

Thump. Thump.

Starting with Derval, the knights fell to their knees.

“…..”

Not a single word came from my clenched lips.

The moment I heard the news of Aramis’ kidnapping at Fort Ciaris, it felt like a hammer was smashing into my head.

Just who was Aramis?

She was a woman who believed in a single letter of mine and ran over to Nerman, a woman I was extremely thankful towards, a priestess of god who comforted the people of Nerman with the warm heart I lacked.

She was that kind of incredible person, but she was kidnapped.

“Who did it…. JUST WHO THE HELL KIDNAPPED HER?!?!?!”

Boooom.

The mana boiling up caused the air to vibrate intensely, and the windows rattled as they shook as if coming out of their frames.

“Arghh!”

“Geh!”

Impacted by my surge of mana, the faces of the knights blanched.

“I, I believe…. That the Assassination Guild is involved….” Blood dripped from Derval’s lips as he struggled to speak.

‘Assassination Guild….’

They were servants of the devil, parasites who engaged in all sorts of crimes within the cover of darkness. I knew the gist of their notoriety.

‘Are you saying I have to lose Aramis like this?! Like this?!!!!!’

Aramis was kidnapped while I was going to the empire.

Everything was my fault. I couldn’t punish the knights kneeling before me, because my crime was not insignificant, either.

The sound of rushing footsteps came from outside.

“M-My lord!” called a knight, breaking the silence inside the office.

“What happened!” shouted Cedrian in response. “T-That man has come. Information Guildmaster Smearns, who was in hiding, has come to see the Lord!”

“W-What?! Smearns?!”

“Unforgivable… How dare he show up now after hiding who knows where!”

The knights’ faces were filled with rage. I could bet that the Aramis’ whereabouts had been disclosed through the Information Guild.

“Let him in.”

“Yes, sir!”

My rage had settled low and cold, like a cold drop of water hardening into ice.

Creaaak.

The door, which was on the verge of destruction, opened, and in came a familiar face. It was Smearns, the man in his mid-30s with a body like a pig. He entered the office with gleaming eyes.

“Greetings to the Lord.”

Smearns lowered his head respectfully, but I could see it. I could see that his beady little eyes were concealing delight. It was the sparkle of an information peddler completely unconcerned with the pain I and the people of Nerman were currently feeling. He was probably well aware of the value his information had right now.

“Speak.”

“Pardon? What are you talking about…” he blabbered blithely, feigning ignorance like a dirty bastard. 

Tremble.

My fists shook. I wanted to smash in the faces of these bastards who were seeking to make money off of other people’s pain.

“How much.”

I suppressed all emotion and opened my mouth. A few cents or my pride were not important right now, only Aramis’ location and safety.

“Ah…. Are you talking about the location of Priestess Aramis?”

He knew, but the piggy Smearns kept his mouth shut.

“I will give you 100,000 Gold.”

“That is… It would be a pain if the Assassination Guild guys found out….” said Smearns, rejecting my offer.

“200,000.”

“Well, sometimes one must put up with annoying things. Haha.”

His guts were seriously enlarged. Not reading the mood, Smearns burst out in laughter at my offer of 200,000 Gold.

“…..”

However, he soon shut his mouth after sensing the horrifying bloodthirst coming his way.

“Is she in Nerman.”

“That is… According to what our Information Guild has found out…. Currently, Priestess Aramis is somewhere outside of Nerman.”

“Derval, prepare 200,000 Gold at once and pass it over.”

“Yes… My liege.”

It was unknown what Aramis was suffering right now, but Smearns dared to drag it out like this. I could clearly see his face twitching as he tried to hide his joy.

“According to the information delivered just now by our lumikar messenger birds, paladins of Neran have appeared in Calvaron Territory. Security has become so tight around the lord’s castle that not even a single rat could sneak by, and an unfamiliar female priestess has been seen imprisoned within.”

“Unforgivable bastards!”

“P-Paladins are involved….”

The knights burst out in enraged cries.

“Which bastards from the Assassination Guild are involved.”

“That is….”

“I will give you another 100,000.”

Smearns’ eyes turned round at that. “Hehe. It is an S-Grade kidnapper named Chareya, from the Harpice faction specializing in kidnapping.”

The Information Guild had known everything.

“Thanks.”

“It is nothing. You are a special customer of the Guil—Ugh!”

Unable to finish, Smearns took in a deep breath. Then, he slowly looked down, and when he saw the sword sticking out from his belly, he began to tremble all over.

“If I take out this sword, the blood gushing from your body will fill this office to the brim. You have eaten a lot, so there will be a great deal of blood.”

Even I had to admit that my voice was blood-curdling right now.

I had absolutely zero desire to grant him a merciful and instantaneous death. My sword had cut through his lower abdomen and was poking out from his back.

“Do you want to live?” I asked, smiling coldly.

“Yes… Urk.”

Smearns uttered a faint “yes” as blood spewed from his mouth. There was no trace of the delight in his eyes from just now—now, there was only fear.

“But what to do? In order to save you, I would have to use a valuable top-grade potion… But I don’t have any desire at all to do that. There’s no need for me to go through such trouble for a human like you, right?”

The malicious rage whirling inside my heart kept my mind razor sharp.

“Eugh….”

Vomiting red blood, Smearns let out a groan of despair.

“But I do wish to give you one shred of consideration. I was once your customer, after all.”

The flickering light of hope was renewed in Smearns’ eyes.

“300,000 Gold. Do you have the courage to use the price of the information you sold to me as the price for a potion that can be used to save your life? I’m asking you if money is that much more important than your life. Kuku.”

“…..”

Blood frothed from his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but because his mouth was full of blood, an agreement to my generous proposal was not forthcoming. He could only look at me with the desperate desire to live shining in his eyes, which were slowly losing light.

“Oh dear, is that a refusal? I guess so. You earned this 300,000 Gold through such hard efforts, so why would you want to exchange it for something like your pitiful life? I would do the same in your position.”

“S-Save…”

Standing on the line between life and death, Smearns squeezed out the last of his strength to beg me to save him.

“That so? What a shame. To waste 300,000 Gold for something as miserable as your life.”

Smearns’ face was twisted from the pain of the sword plunging into his guts.

I slowly pulled out the sword.

As I did so, a fountain of blood splashed out all over the office.

“Eurk….”

The pig slowly toppled over, groaning at the sight of his life force flowing out.

‘I hope you realize at least a little that other people’s lives are just as important as your own.’

I poured the emergency holy water from the office cabinet on the pig’s wound.

Blink blink.

And then, I opened his snout and tipped the rest of the holy water in, the grace of the gods that could save a person as long as they were not dead. If he survived, he would probably curse me, the person who sold him a single bottle of holy water for 300,000 Gold.

“Derval, prepare all the Skyknights who can currently be deployed.”

“My liege, that place is Havis Kingdom territory,” said Janice, startled.

“Are you afraid?”

“No, sir. But if friction occurs with the Havis Kingdom, a war could develop, and every caravan coming into Nerman would be blocked.”

Janice gave me her realistic judgement. She wasn’t wrong. But that was, to some extent, just Janice’s thinking.

“Even if the empire were to have kidnapped one of you, I would do the exact same thing. To those who live passionately in the now, the worries of tomorrow are for when the sun rises the next morning! I intend to never ignore the fierce cry in my heart. Until the moment I die….”

“M-My liege!”

“Argh…”

The eyes of the knights turned red at my honest confession.

But it was the truth.

As long as there was life in me, I could not stand by and watch people I treasured suffer. That was my oath to those who called me their liege, and it was something I would uphold till the moment I dropped dead.

“Prepare at once! Aramis is waiting for us.”

“YES, SIR!” shouted my knights.

‘Just hold on a little, Aramis….’

I felt apologetic thinking of Aramis. Thinking of her clear eyes that sought nothing from me made my heart ache.

‘I won’t forgive them!’

All the dirty conspiracies and ambitions blocking my path, I would crush them completely.

I had absolutely no desire to live under the same sky as my enemies, not even for a single moment….