21st Century Archmage

'I'll have to make one too.'

Seeing it from the sky was already astonishing, but experiencing it personally on the ground was even more impactful. Icy, blustery winds were still gusting in the sky above, but the inner castle was a perfectly toasty temperature somewhere between spring and summer.

Tiavel and I walked silently together. Ten knights in charge of her personal protection were following closely, and we walked towards the grand palace made of white stones. It wasn't far from the guest building.

'Their magic knowledge is impressive.'

Of course, on the way there, my eyes were flitting around, not missing a thing. Not only was temperature control magic in play, but other spells were being extensively used in the garden and various other facilities. It was a perfect reference for the castle being built for my use in Nerman.

'What a nice smell.'

Tiavel was walking quietly next to me. As soon as she stepped out of my room, the gentle expression she'd been showing me disappeared, and a frosty, glacial exterior locked in place over her features, a haughtiness that none would dare to approach. No other woman I had met could come close to imitating Tiavel's icy mien.

'The security is impressive.'

There were Imperial Knights standing like sculptures everywhere in the inner castle. A sharp aura of mana came seeping from their stock-still bodies. We had already passed hundreds of such guards.

"Please take off your sword."

Before I knew it, we had reached the Grand Palace, a building supported by dozens of massive pillars around 20 meters high. The door to the interior alone was over 5 meters high, and an Imperial Knight guarding the door asked me to take off my sword.

I didn't want to cause a scene, and since I still had magic and spirits even without swordsmanship, I removed my sheath without hesitation. When I did so, the enormous door smoothly opened, like an automatic door.

"Please enter."

The knights lowered their heads respectfully towards Tiavel.

With her head held up high, Tiavel walked inside, and I followed her with steady steps.

'Fuck, to think that a damn door is using a Grade 2 magic crystal…'

My eyes were still as busy as ever. This time, I scanned the huge door. To my shock, a Grade 2 magic crystal that everyone would flip over in the continent was clearly encrusted in the automatic door.

'Mm…'

What I saw when I entered the enormous palace was an interior expansive enough to make me exclaim in shock. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but the throne room looked about as big as a soccer field. Dozens of white pillars were lined up down the hall. In the deepest part of the throne room, easily 200 meters from the door, was a transparent, silver throne on a dais. Naturally, there were Imperial Knights inside the throne room as well, and they were true masters who could conceal their mana inside their bodies.

'There's also an upper-circle mage here.'

I felt the tickle of probing mana wash over my skin. Since they could soundlessly cast a mana scan, they had to have reached the 7th Circle. I regulated my mana and carefully looked ahead.

'The Tsarina!'

The dais was 200 meters away, but I could clearly distinguish one woman. Sitting on the 3-meter large silver throne was a woman wearing a blood-red dress similar to what Tiavel had on. Though she was merely seated, she was exuding an intense majesty that commanded the entire hall. Who else could it be but the Tsarina of Haildrian? Standing next to the Tsarina was the white-haired mage who had mana scanned me.

I strode past Tiavel with crisp steps, and she followed me.

Zing, zing.

With every step I took, I felt an electrifying tingle on the small of my back.

'They're all strong.'

The Imperial Knights inside the throne room were giving off an oppressive mana. The pressure of their mana doubled down every time I stepped forward, as if they were testing me somehow.

Step, step.

This was the fighting spirit and mana that only mana-capable knights of the highest level could evoke. My steps grew heavier and heavier.

'Urk!'

By the time I reached the middle of the throne room, I could feel my leg muscles trembling.

'You little—!'

At that instant, my signature Kang Hyuk temper kicked in.

Whiiiiiirrr.

I kicked up my mana core into high gear without reserve.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! As soon as I activated my mana core, my mana, including the yin-attribute mana that had melted into my core, came spilling out.

"Ah!"

"Ngh…"

Having been caught off guard by my sudden counterattack, the knights groaned. They wouldn't be hurt by this level of fighting spirit and mana pressure, but it would make their hearts sting.

'You guys are playing.'

Once I fought fire with fire, the knights' fighting spirit and mana dissipated. I then approached the Tsarina with lightened steps.

When we were around 20 meters from the Tsarina, Tiavel bowed low in a show of deep respect. "I humbly greet Imperial Mother."

'Is she really Tiavel's mom?'

She might be the Tsarina, yes, but Tiavel was showing the highest level of respect, to the point that it seemed to my eyes that they weren't at all related.

'She's no White-haired Witch.'

Like Tiavel, the Tsarina had white hair, but she didn't look like a nine-tailed fox ready to eat people alive. Rather, in her youth, the Tsarina had likely been called a woman of peerless beauty. She was in her mid-thirties, and her voluptuous body in combination with her crimson dress made a strong impression. She looked so charming that I could imagine the middle-aged men drooling over her in a daze at noble parties.

"The Lord of Nerman, Count Kyre de Nerman, stands before Her Majesty the Tsarina of the Haildrian Empire."

I lowered my head slightly, raising my right fist to my heart in a standard knight's greeting.

Zing zing zing.

The moment I fired off my greeting, I could feel the stinging auras of the knights burning on my back.

'What'll you do about it.'

She was not a ruler I served, so there was no need for me to bend low with a debasing show of utmost respect.

"Welcome, Count Kyre. Well done for traveling such a long way."

'Wow!'

The sweet voice of the Tsarina rang in my ear. She was even sending me a warm smile.

"It is the highest honor of my family to have the opportunity to meet Your Majesty the Tsarina, a famed personage of great renown."

Since the other party was being gentle, I kicked up the flattery a notch.

"Hoho, it seems you are even more smooth-tongued than Chrisia told me. No wonder our pure child wanted to see you so."

'Geh…' She said it with a smile, but the Tsarina's words were barbed. 'Just how in the world did Chrisia describe me?!'

At one point, I'd dreamed of being the last romantic left in this day and age. However, the Tsarina was essentially denouncing me as the smooth-tongued playboy who had seduced her pure daughter. She wasn't an easy opponent.

"How could it be because of my glib words? The Princess is admirable for being able to see my invisible sincerity."

If the Tsarina denied my words, my praise towards the Princess would become a lie, and thus turn the Princess into a fool.

A gentle, yet unreadable smile floated onto the Tsarina's lips.

Zing.

Our gazes met in midair with sparks.

"I wish to ask Count Kyre one thing."

"May Your Majesty grace me with thy words."

Despite being the Tsarina, she did me the kindness of addressing me with honorifics. She was indeed an opponent I could not underestimate, but I decided to give her my respect.

The Tsarina spoke slowly, making direct eye contact with me.

"What… is your true identity?"

The moment the Tsarina said those words, the air in the throne room became as taut as a tightrope.

Gulp.

Unbeknownst to me, cold sweat dripped down my back. My instincts were giving off a danger alarm.

That smiling Tsarina over there… was asking about me. She was asking what my true identity was…

* * *

* * *

"Rotten bastard!"

A lumikar had flown into the Kerpe Royal Castle, bearing an urgent letter from Marquis Holvane, who had been sent to Bajran as an ambassador. That letter had come into the hands of Duke Hardaim. His face went red as he crumpled the letter in his hand.

"Poltviran… I see you've decided to seek death."

In order to sound out Poltviran's intentions, the Duke had sent the greatest gifts as birthday presents. But the damned thief was now telling the kingdom to offer themselves whole.

"I shall send them. I shall send the Skyknights you want. Not to Nerman, but to the Bajran Imperial Palace where you live!"

He had held secret meetings with every kingdom all this time, establishing a concrete plan through coded missives while evading Bajran's spies.

"Nerman's Lord, Kyre. All we have to do is help him. If we do, then…"

Even with the combined force of three kingdoms, the Bajran Empire was a formidable foe. As such, Hardaim had devised this scheme with Duke Galphois, the Trickster of Tove. If they helped Count Kyre of Nerman, the kingdoms could definitely achieve their revenge on the empire. Rather, not only could they escape the influence of the empire with this, but they could also swallow up the empire's extensive land.

"Huhu, if he isn't stupid, he won't refuse our offer."

The Lord of Nerman was being persecuted by the Bajran and Laviter Empires. The three kingdoms were planning on offering Nerman's lord a proposal to join forces to annihilate Bajran and keep the Laviter Empire in check together. In return, Kyre would be given a share of the land.

Duke Hardaim thought that Kyre would definitely agree to this proposal, given that he wasn't a fool.

Kyre de Nerman.

No one on the continent could give him a better offer.

* * *

"Haha, hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"……!!"

I seriously split my sides laughing, an action that had the Imperial Knights glaring at me with intense displeasure. It felt as though they were chomping at the bit to cut off my head the moment the Tsarina gave them the say-so.

My laughter stopped as abruptly as it had come. And then, I looked the Tsarina right in the eye.

"Then who are you, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"Impertinent!"

"Y-You dare!"

The knights wanted to rush forward, unable to forgive my insolence in returning the question right back to their liege.

"Hoho, hohohohohohohohohoho!"

The Tsarina suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. I was pretty crazy myself, but this Tsarina was no schmuck either.

Her mirth was short-lived, stopping abruptly as she looked at me with ice-cold eyes.

"What a funny fellow. Hohoho. In all my life, you are the first to ask such a ridiculous question in front of me."

"The same goes for me."

I wasn't one to take things lying down. We were duking it out in the throne room with a fight of wills, and I wasn't going to go easy on her because she was a woman.

"I-Imperial Mother…"

Only, there was a girl trembling in shock next to me, Tiavel. Her level and guts were different from the Tsarina's.

"Then allow me to tell you formally. I am Tsarina Anastasia, ruler of the Great Haildrian Empire."

I followed up Tsarina Anastasia's introduction with my own. "I am Lord Kyre, ruler of Great Nerman."

"Your Majesty, I can sense the yin-attribute mana used by black mages from that man's body."

Clatter.

As soon as the white-haired mage gramps standing next to the Tsarina uttered those words, the sound of swords being unsheathed filled the hall.

'You wanna go?'

It was ridiculous. There was no way the Tsarina had called me all this way just because they somehow found out about the yin-attribute mana flowing in my mana core. Haildrian had absolutely no connection to my home continent. Even if I really was a black mage, what did it have to do with them?

"Is that the truth?"

"It is," I confirmed placidly with a nod.

"Gasp!"

"I-It is dangerous!" the knights shouted, scrambling to surround me in an instant. It seemed they were worried about the safety of Princess Tiavel.

"Allow me to ask again. Do you know Altakas?"

'Altakas?'

I might know an Altaria, but I'd never heard of Altakas before.

"I don't know him, Your Majesty."

"Lies! If you weren't the disciple of the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction, Altakas, how could you have possibly become an upper-circle magic swordsman at that age?! Admit it now and accept a comfortable death!" shouted the mage next to the Tsarina, pointing a staff with a fist-sized crystal ball at me.

'Are you kidding with me right now?'

It wasn't even like I was getting dragged off and tortured by Korea's National Security Agency. This mage was pinning something I had no clue about on me. I was simply floored by the nerve of these people.

"Your Majesty Tsarina Anastasia. May I inquire if you invited me in order to persecute me in this way?"

It seemed the Tsarina had done quite a thorough investigation on me. She did not evade my questioning gaze.

"You must tell me honestly," said Tsarina Anastasia firmly, not taking a single step backwards. "This issue is of utmost importance in our empire. I have a duty to investigate the truth of the matter."

"Hahaha. I clearly said I did not know him, did I not. So how does Your Majesty intend on investigating the truth?"

I had no desire to prove the truth with self-disembowelment like a samurai. Considering the stubborn appearance of this mage, who was convinced I was the disciple of whoever this dude was, it didn't look like this misunderstanding would be resolved easily.

"Don't lie! Who else on the continent could raise a magic swordsman like you?! Simply admit that you are related to the Black Mage of Destruction, Altakas! Any chance of your escape has already been completely sealed off!"

As soon as he finished speaking, around ten mages appeared from behind the Tsarina. As if all of them were 6th Circle mages, fierce mana swelled from the eldery men.

"What a funny old man you are."

"W-What did you say?!"

"How can you possibly try to figure out everything in the world with your limited knowledge?! Do not think that the magic knowledge you know is everything! I don't know who this 'Altakas' person is, but in front of my master, he would have to kneel!"

I wasn't normally this impolite, but this old mage trying to frame me got me angry. I knew that older people had a tendency to be stubborn and inflexible about habits or biases they had acquired according to what they knew. However, right was right and wrong was wrong.

"T-Then speak! Who is your master?!"

This obstinate mage was like a child who would only know the stove was hot after touching it.

"Aidal."

For the first time in a while, I uttered this gratifying name.

"Gasp!!"

"G-Golden-Eyed Reaper Aidal?!"

Fearful exclamations came from the mages.

'Master was quite the popular guy himself.'

Master Bumdalf's name was famous(?) not just on the continent, but all the way here in Haildrian.

"L-Lies… Aidal disappeared a hundred years ago…" mumbled the mage, basically asking me to beat a dead horse.

"You can't believe it, right? No matter what I say, you wouldn't be able to believe it. Your stubbornness, which is already convinced that I'm the disciple of this guy I don't even know, will refuse to acknowledge it. However, the truth is the truth, no two ways around it. If you aren't able to believe anything I say anymore, then do as you please. Huhuhu…"

I laughed scornfully as I stared at Tsarina Anastasia and the mages.

Thud.

"I-Imperial Mother… Kyre-nim isn't that kind of person!"

'Eh?'

Little Miss Haughty suddenly knelt on the ground, defending me. She, a woman who had seemed so cold that she'd never wept a tear in her life, was crying. Despite the fact that she had never really gotten to know me, Tiavel was weeping for my sake.

"Can you swear on your words?"

The Tsarina's words rang quietly in the hall.

"I, Kyre de Nerman, swear on my name. My master is not this person named Altakas, but the Golden-Eyed Reaper, Aidal."

"……"

The throne room descended into silence. Tsarina Anastasia fixed me with her deep gaze.

"Sheathe your swords."

Cla-clang!

"Y-Your Majesty…"

"Duke Aquilion, stop. Kyre is not related to Altakas. He may have black hair and be a magic swordsman possessing yin-attribute mana, but the truth is the truth. Also… I believe in Tiavel."

Tsarina Anastasia's words were quiet, but carried a natural sense of majesty.

"I have offended," said the mage called Duke Aquilion, bowing as he stepped backwards.

"All Imperial Knights, leave us."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Imperial Knights who lived and died by the Tsarina's commands swiftly and quietly left the throne room as soon as she gave the order.

"I must apologize for causing the fuss just now."

Tsarina Anastasia had instantly returned to the gentle mannerism she had first greeted me with. The way she tidied up the situation without a single change in her expression made me think that she was indeed a tsarina.

"It is a relief that the misunderstanding has been resolved. However, I am curious about one thing."

"Go on."

"Who is the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction Altakas who was mentioned just now? Just who was he to have everyone react in that manner?"

I was sincerely curious. The name 'Altakas' wasn't known at all in Kallian. Moreover, 'black magic swordsman' was just as unfamiliar a moniker as the name.

"Allow me to tell you that," said Duke Aquilion, who had backed off at the Tsarina's command. "If you are the disciple of Aidal-nim, you are no stranger to our empire, so I will tell you everything."

'Hrm? Master has ties to Haildrian, too?'

I was really in awe of his networking skill. Master had connections with the rare dwarves and elves on the continent, and now he was even related to the far-away Haildrian.

I craned my ears to listen closely to what Duke Aquilion had to say about Altakas, whose story would likely explain this whole storm of emotions.

"It was something that happened exactly 203 years ago. The Obans territory was suddenly annihilated in the span of one morning, and death knights appeared…"

Duke Aquilion's voice echoed in the throne room. I focused my mind. Somehow, I had a feeling that this would be related to me, and my gut feeling was usually right on the ball.

My eyes sparkling, I stared a hole into the duke beginning to talk about Altakas.

* * *

"Kyre isn't in Nerman?!"

In the Imperial Palace of the Laviter Empire.

Lukence, who had been recently conferred a count peerage, was able to receive an office inside the Imperial Palace, having received the Emperor's confidence in full. As he read the coded letter sent by a spy in Nerman, he was shocked.

"This is our chance!"

He instinctively knew that their chance had come. Kyre being present or absent in Nerman was like the difference between heaven and earth. If Kyre wasn't there, Nerman would be like a spearman without a shield.

"Huhuhu."

A dark smile appeared on Lukence's face. Without Kyre, around 500 wyverns would be more than enough to take down Nerman. And that was a force Lukence could mobilize in a week and pass through the Kovilan Mountains with.

"Kyre, thanks."

The spy didn't know exactly where Kyre had gone, but was sure that he wouldn't be returning anytime soon. The agent was an important knight in Nerman, so their information could be believed.

"Where is His Majesty! Find out where I might find him at once!"

Going outside, Lukence asked the exclusive attendant he had been assigned about the Emperor's location. The smile on his face did not disappear, like a venomous snake exuding the fragrance of death for the first time in a while…