21st Century Archmage

Chapter 62: Portrait of a Warrior

“Theske-nim, all of the preparations are complete,” said the assistant merchant cautiously to Theske, who was glaring at Denfors Castle with a scowl.

‘F*cking bastard!

Theske ground his teeth. Just recalling that disrespectful, brightly smiling face made him flush with hot rage.

He had conducted countless trades and met countless people during his time as a deputy of the merchant group, but this was the first trade where he took such a loss and got backhanded so damn straight in the face.

Today was the most humiliating day of Theskes life.

Grinding his teeth, Theske let the resentment build up in his chest.

“Harkline-nim, when will the Tower Master come…”

“Hmpf! Do you think the Tower Master can just get up and leave whenever?”

“Th-then… Who will fix the magic furnace…”

Seeing that Harkline was spewing bloodthirst like a furious, venomous snake, Theske suppressed his anger and spoke with careful politeness. Corvain might be a major merchant group, but a high circle mage could not be treated carelessly. If they abandoned all goodwill with a magic tower, then they could be struck at any time by lightning. All a mage had to do was pretend not to see a caravan on a trade route and let loose a few rounds of magic from a long distance, and the merchant group would meet its ruin. Moreover, mages from magic towers were affiliated with magic towers in every empire and kingdom, so they wielded quite a lot of influence. One had to exercise utter caution and then some.

“Vice-master Andrike, a specialist in magic circles, will come here by wyvern. So dont worry too much and take care of the merchant group matters properly!”

“Understood.”

Theske bowed his head politely. It was a merchants way to humble oneself like this in order to live even when it was dirty, disgraceful, and disgusting.

‘This is all because of that bastard Kyre! That bastard!!

The money was all paid, but that bastard Kyre used soldiers to load the wheat onto the carriages with excruciating slowness. Work that could be settled in half a day with laborers took three whole days to accomplish.

Of course, it did require some time for the Grade 2 magic crystal and someone specialized in magic circles to arrive, but just looking at the proceedings pissed Theske off.

Not only that, but the soldiers that finished loading the wheat demanded 1 Gold each as extra wages. Claiming that they were high-class manpower, they doggedly insisted on receiving 1 Gold each. The soldiers clearly took after their lord, here in this land full of money thieves.

Theske resolved to receive thorough compensation for the loss he accrued this time when he returned to the merchant group.

“There he comes.”

Just then, Theske could see three wyverns flying towards them from afar. Decked in the emblem of the Gauss Magic Tower, a crescent moon and sun on a magic rune plate, the grey wyverns landed slowly in front of the caravan.

A mage of short stature was standing in the lead. On the sleeve of his airplate were six distinct golden lines.

The 6th Circle mage Andrike, a different vice-master of the Gauss Magic Tower, was here.

* * *

Swooooooosh!

After confirming the departure of the Corvain Merchants, I immediately set off on Bebeto. The Rubis Merchants should have reached the entrance of the Dwarven Village that I had told them about around now.

‘I have to settle matters as soon as possible.

Waiting there was the Rubis Merchants, led by Jamir.

I would have liked to sell the dwarven products myself, but that was also no way to go about things. Yes, I could easily secure an enormous amount of profit that way, but discarding a good relationship over a few pennies wasnt something a proper human should do.

‘Its dangerous with just the soldiers.

I had assembled the most elite troops at my disposal to guard the caravan: 1,000 people from Denfors, combined with another 1,000 soldiers from Orakk Castle, as well as a wyvern flight from some of the Skyknights stationed in Orakk Castle.

As long as the Temir and the monsters didnt attack at the same time, the North was not dangerous.

However, the future was unpredictable. If the Temir realized the sudden gap in the forces and attacked, then the wyvern flight I had painstakingly prepared might be injured.Who knew I would be using the Grade 2 magic crystal for something like this?

If the pirates hadnt given us this magic crystal, I would have been hard-pressed to fix the magic furnace of the dwarves.

‘We need more holy water in order to hatch the wyvern eggs… I wonder how Aramis is faring.

Luring a temple to Nerman was almost impossible. No matter how much competition there was among the temples, no one would go out of their way to do charity work costing tons of money in such a dangerous place.

Thats why I wrote a letter to Aramis.

In Luna Village, Aramis had told me… that she would do anything for me.

So I shamelessly sent her a letter.

I only knew one person who was a pure priestess, after all.

That person was Priestess Aramis.

* * *

Thu-thump! Thu-thump! Thu-thump-thump!

I pounded the new rhythm for calling the dwarves on the stone wall.

‘I should give them a communication device next time.

“The dwarves are living here? No wonder,” exclaimed Jamir as he watched my actions closely.

He may be a leading member of a major merchant group, but he couldnt have known that the dwarves were living in a place like this.

“The preparations are perfect, right?”

“Of course. You can trust me as much as I trust you, Kyre-nim.”

‘Wow, this gentleman! Are you telling me not to trust you right now, then?

I seriously had no idea why he would say something like that. Trusting in whom? Me? Even I couldnt trust myself, but others seemed to do so.

Greaaaaaak.

A short while later, the stone door opened wide.

“Welcome, friend!”

“Patriarch-nim, your beard has grown even cooler in the few days we were apart. You would be popular no matter where you go, even in the human world.”

“Haha, thanks for the nice compliment.”

“This person here is the person in charge of the merchant group I trust. He will supply the necessary goods for the Dwarven Village in the future.”

“I am Jamir of the Rubis Merchants. It is an honor to be able to meet the Clansmen of Rock.” Jamir gave a polite greeting.

“For a human merchant, your eyes are clear.”

Even though the Patriarch Cassiars doled praises to humans very sparingly, he complimented Jamir after seeing the merchants eyes.

“Kyre-nim!”

“Nerpopo, haha! Have you been well?”

“Yes! Please come inside. Everyone is waiting.”

“Let us go inside, friend.”

The word “friend” was always so nice to hear.

And when the dwarves amiably called me that, Jamirs face filled with shock. He should know pretty well too that a dwarf accepting someone as their friend was even harder to see than an orc sharing a cow it hunted.

“Sir Shailt, go command the soldiers.”

“As you command!”

Coming all this way without the help of Skyknights was impossible. In their bull-headed charge, the Corvain Merchants had slaughtered or chased off the monsters in the vicinity, but the monster numbers had been restored to a certain extent after a few days. Thus, on our way here, there had been several battles, and even now, the soldiers were ready for battle.

‘Shall we go collect some money now?

My steps were light as I entered the Dwarven City with the dwarves.

I was well aware of the ancestors wisdom that flies always intrude on a feast, so I didnt want to waste any time.

* * *

“W-What did you say?! The Rubis Merchants departed towards the area of the Dwarven Village from Denfors??”

“Yes, Theske-nim. Several mercenaries in charge of information in the merchant group definitely said that.”

“Geh!”

Lumikar birds were the fastest in the continent and could fly 1,000 km without a single break, so they were used in every empire and kingdom as messenger birds. One lumikar landed on the recognition magic orb, delivering an emergency message from the Gauss branch in Denfors.

“Tsk tsk. How can you take care of matters this poorly!” Listening from the side, Harkline abruptly clicked his tongue.

“I-It should be fine. There are very few people who know how to get to the Dwarven Village. And even if they do somehow find it, the dwarves will remain faithful to the contract, so there is absolutely no reason for concern.”

“If something happens and the dwarves are swayed by a contract of incredible conditions, will you take responsibility for it, Deputy Theske? Your life alone will not suffice for such a loss, but it is good to see how confident you are.”

The mage Harkline smirked as he provoked Theske. He originally had a prickly temperament, but because of the stress he accumulated this last fortnight, the mages temper had become even dirtier.

“Bring Leader Cedrian here! Right this instant!”

“Understood!”

The completely unexpected message threw Theske into a panic.

‘Kyre… It cant be that bastard, right?

And at that moment, a certain evil black-haired devil came to mind.

‘No, how could he manage that…

However, the unlikelihood made Theske shake his head and dismiss the thought.

If Harklines words were true, then Theskes life was forfeit. No, it wasnt just the money and honor he had accumulated until now, but also his family; they would definitely all be sold into slavery.

‘I will kill him! No matter what it takes!

If the improbable became reality, there would be no other way. Since he had enough forces with him to flip the likes of Nerman upside down in a single night, Theske decided to kill Kyre.

Kiiiiioooooooooo.

Wyverns flew above his head in the sky.