21st Century Archmage

“Why does he want to see me so suddenly?” muttered Tower Master Avaion of Ildorian, the most influential of the Continent’s Seven Great Magic Towers.

Upon receiving a sudden summons under the name of the Emperor of the Laviter Empire, Avaion fell into deep thought. Even an emperor could not order the Tower Master of a magic tower to come at his beck and call. It was a long-standing taboo for kingdoms to have formal friendly relations with the magic towers. Invisible, tacit contracts or aid were fine, but open contact between the magic towers, empires, and kingdoms that could significantly influence the state of the continent were forbidden.

But today, the summons from Emperor Hadveria of Laviter to the Ildorian Magic Tower broke that invisible taboo, not asking for the dispatch of mages but asking precisely for him, the Tower Master.

“It must be because of the Nerman Lord…”

Avaion was also stunned by the tremendous reversal that occurred in Bajran. Someone who wasn’t even a tower mage reached the level of 7th Circle magic. When Avaion had his subordinates find out the exact details, he found out that 7th Circle spells that didn’t yet exist had even appeared.

“It might be better to just meet face to face like this.”

The Laviter Empire was an important employer of mages that the Ildorian Tower could not do without. The fact that over half of the mages working in the Imperial Magic Tower were mages of Ildorian said enough. And Avaion, the leader of such an organization, wanted to capture the Lord of Nerman without fail. He wanted to find out where Kyre’s astonishing magic knowledge was coming from.

“Kyre… I will definitely expose your true identity.”

As a fellow mage, Avaion, who was blinded by his intense envy towards the Lord of Nerman, had no idea. He didn’t know that Emperor Hadveria’s summons was an invitation letter of death…

* * *

‘Incredible!’

You could tell why skilled construction personnel were highly valued from the sight before me. The dwarves and elves invested in various construction projects, including Nerman Castle, had created yet another marvelous achievement. The huge and sturdy Nerman border fort was over 20 meters tall and 10 meters wide. The wall fortified with gravel concrete boasted such imposing durability that most magic spells wouldn’t even leave a mark on it.

‘For a fort, practicality trumps appearance.’

The border fort, made according to my request to have it constructed as sturdily as possible, loomed over the land. It was half the size of my castle in Denfors.

‘We’ll install at least 200 ballistas. And we’ll also make a shelter for the soldiers that won’t break under a Blessed Spear attack.’

Unless the enemy had several dozen times our number, they wouldn’t be able to do a thing to the Nerman border fort. I just had to connect the circuits of the main defensive array and it would begin its role as Nerman’s gatekeeper in earnest.

“Saluuuute!”

The knights and soldiers who had already been dispatched to the new fort raised a vigorous military salute towards me as I flew to the hangar. The sharp, neat look of the soldiers standing guard, armed with dwarven-made weapons, was a satisfying sight to behold. I could just imagine all the praises the merchants who went through the fort would sing about Nerman’s development as well as its lord, me.

“Salute!”

When I landed at the hangar, the Skyknights and Sir Shailt, who was transferred from Orakk Castle to take charge of the border fort, barked another salute.

“Haha, it’s fantastic weather for flying.”

That was a phrase spoken amongst Skyknights. Skyknights, including me, loved days like this, when white fluffy clouds floated here and there and the wind was gentle and didn’t influence the flight. From atop one’s wyvern, the landscapes of the ground below stretched out in pristine view. Only someone who had experienced it would know. Today was one such day.

“Greetings to my liege.”

I saw him just a few days ago, but Sir Shailt greeted me enthusiastically. His knightly attitude of serving one’s liege like his life itself always satisfied me to see.

“Any problems?”

Recently, there was a dramatic increase in merchant traffic. On my way here, I was able to see hundreds of carriages coming and going on Kyre Road. From small-time merchants in groups of twos and threes to merchants fairly large in scale, everyone was scrambling to move Nerman’s salt, provisions, and other goods.