21st Century Archmage

Chapter 135: Ask Thyself if This is Heaven

“Flight leaders, handle the Skyknights.”

“As you command!”

‘It’s already evening.’

The pursuit hadn’t been easy. The enemies were simply too numerous, and the Temir Skyknights were forced to land in the middle in order to take a break after their hasty flight to Denfors. We also lost time dealing with Laviter Skyknights charging ten at a time, resolved to die for the sake of the prince’s escape.

That continued until twilight. The survivors had crossed the Kovilan Mountains and were still wildly fleeing. Further pursuit was meaningless.

‘Eurgh, I almost peed myself.’

The long, long battle had started just around lunch and lasted all the way ‘till dusk. I was more scared of my bladder leaking than dying.

‘What a shame. A whole 200 of them escaped.’

Of the 500 that came to dance, only 300 of them were given a hot taste of hell. When the battle ended, I was filled with a bit of regret, thinking that I should have tried a little harder.

‘Lulu~? Shall we collect the loot now?’

The territory had taken a lot of damage, but the rewards we reaped were beyond imagination. Even on the way back to Denfors, there were wyverns, airplates, and Blessed Spears to collect. There was also an immense amount of Laviter’s military supplies piled up in the territory. There was no doubt that simply the supplies alone would replenish Nerman’s finances for 10 years with extra to spare.

“Everyone, either capture the grounded wyverns or collect their bodies. Everyone did well… my knights,” I said through the transmitter.

“You have worked hard, my liege.”

“I will remember this battle for the rest of my life.”

Only with my words of praise did the tension drain out of the flight leaders’ voices. Everyone’s voices were a bit hoarse, as if they were thirsty. Maintaining taut nerves for a long time was impossible to do unless one had a certain level of mental fortitude.

‘Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah…’

Right now, I just wanted to take off my helmet and yell to my heart’s content, but I settled for one long cheer inside my mind.

The victory we earned today was so overwhelming that even I could hardly believe it.

‘Oh Holy Neran, thank you. I will repay your grace with interest.’

In particular, without the blessing of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, this victory would have been a far-flung fantasy.

“Bebeto, let’s go! Let’s go home!”

Guooooooo!

Bebeto really had stamina of steel. He should be tired, but he rode the wind with energetic beats from his wings.

His destination was Weyn Covert of Denfors, our home.

* * *

“YEAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

“Long live Nerman!”

“Long live the Lord!!!!!”

Because we had to collect the presents left by the empire, we arrived at Denfors just before dawn, when the moon was hanging in the middle of the sky. The soldiers and knights had waited for me and the Skyknights, unable to sleep. When Bebeto appeared with a powerful roar, they celebrated our victory as they raised a deafening cheer from atop the castle walls.

‘Everyone worked hard.’

It was far from a victory won by my efforts alone. This was an emotional victory created by my knights, my soldiers, and my people. Outside the walls of Denfors, the Laviter soldiers, who had become prisoners, were sitting limply on the ground under a close watch. We had achieved victory, but the people who had lost looked bitter. As I looked at them, I felt a tinge of regret from being victorious. Each of those prisoners was undoubtedly someone’s son, father, sibling, or husband. Anyone who felt no pity for those who were dragged into a decision made by people above them wasn’t human.

However, the price had to be paid. They absolutely had to pay for damaging my land and bringing pain to my soldiers. That was the karma prescribed by the heavens.

Flap flap, flap flap flap.

Bebeto stretched out his wings and slowly landed in the covert, followed by the wyverns my major knights were riding. The space inside the covert was too tight to fit all the captured or slain wyverns, so the rest of the Skyknights landed in the temporary covert outside the city.

“My liege!”

“Lord Kyre…”

“Hyung!”

As soon as Bebeto’s wings stopped beating and we landed completely, a bunch of people came running over, calling my name.

‘Is everyone alright?’

I hadn’t received an exact report, but I was certain a considerable number of Skyknights and soldiers had died or had been injured. However, because I too was inevitably a human, upon seeing the people I knew and loved safe and sound, I felt a profound sense of relief amidst my pain.

“It is a great victory, my liege!”

The first to run over and inform me of our victory was Derval. He must have been truly happy, because his eyes were glistening with tears of joy.

“Kyre-nim, it is a relief that you are safe,” said Nerman’s guest of honor, Igis. She was beaming as if it were her own victory.

“Hyung, you know I really admire you, right? I’m gonna become a Skyknight as cool as you one day!” gushed Razcion, the little Prince. He had admirable thoughts I really wanted to give a thumbs up to.

“You have worked hard…” said Aramis with a warm gaze, like a wife greeting her husband coming back from work.

“Everyone did well.”

On days like this, it was a real downer to drag things out. I simply said a few words and gazed one by one at the people I loved.

‘!!’

While I was looking at all the people who had gathered near me, I suddenly noticed one person. More precisely, one woman.

“Hohoho, as expected of the Great Guardian Warrior protecting the Temir people.”

‘L-Lokoroïa…’

It was her—the cocky lass who still had a little to grow, Lokoroïa. Completely unfazed by all the women around her, she fired off a cheeky wink at me. And then, everyone’s gazes naturally slid to me. They were all asking who the heck this rude-as-hell woman, no, kid, who smiled haughtily as she spoke casually to the liege and lord they respected, was.

‘Urk…’

I felt a moment of panic, but quickly regained my composure. With a hearty laugh, I revealed Lokoroïa’s identity. “Haha, I will not forget the help you rendered today, Great Shaman of the Temir, Lokoroïa-nim.” Looking at everyone’s expressions, it seemed that Lokoroïa hadn’t yet told them her relationship with me.

At my words, Lokoroïa grinned.

I quickly changed the subject. “Sir Derval, are there any enemy soldiers who escaped?”

“The approximately 20,000 cavalry and soldiers that escaped surrendered after seeing the collapsed bridge. And the ones who fought back fiercely have all… been killed.”

I even laid waste to a precious memory I had with Aramis in order to achieve a victory like this. It was only natural that we should receive such spoils.

“Hahaha, very well done.”

It was truly an unbelievably amazing victory. If the massive army of 200,000 had desperately fought back, I wouldn’t have been able to stand here laughing right now. However, the Skyknights and the Prince abandoned them and fled, and the empire’s soldiers took a real beating from the magic landmines and new weapons I developed. On top of that, the bridge that enabled their escape was destroyed, so they had probably given up entirely. And so, we won a landslide victory.

‘Da bomb!’

A phrase that had been trendy during my kindergarten days came to mind.

“It may be late, but if we do not raise a glass of victory on a day like this, we could lose the blessing granted upon Nerman by the Goddess of Victory! Sir Derval!”

“Yes! My liege!”

“Besides the soldiers standing guard, open up our beer stores to all the people and guests!”

“As you command!”

Dawn was already well on its way, but I didn’t think I could sleep. I was sure that such feelings were shared by everyone living in Nerman, so I decided to throw a midnight festival.

‘Uhahaha! No matter who you are, come! I’ll strip you dry!’

I was happy. I would find out the price of the goods the empire gifted us tomorrow morning, but even the wyverns we caught today were a real windfall. And as a bonus, the name of Kyre, Lord of Nerman, would resound across the continent. It might not rival the fame of my master, Archmage Aidal, but my name would also become a common word on the continent, famous as an awesome fellow who sent the Laviter Empire to hell with a single battle…

“T-The emperor was enraged?”

“Your Majesty, it’s terrible. According to the information that just came in, the Emperor of the Bajran Empire has given orders to prepare for war against our kingdom.”

“Huhh…”

A hollow sound came from the lips of Vekadrian, the King of the Krantz Kingdom and a man in his early 50s, with an average physique and a mild-tempered expression. They had enmity with Bajran’s Poltviran, dating around ten years ago. The scoundrel committed an act of cruelty to their twin princesses who were easy on the eyes, but because Krantz feared the empire, they covered up the matter. Just in case, Krantz opened up the royal family’s treasure chamber and showed as much sincerity as they could in the recent enthronement of the new emperor.

The Krantz Kingdom was far weaker than Bajran. They were able to maintain the kingdom without any problems thanks to blessings of the Perkone River that originated at the Litore Mountains and crossed through the empire into their lands. But that was, to some extent, because they had lived while tiptoeing around the empire.

“Esteemed Father! Instead of sitting around and suffering, it would be better to declare war first! Poltviran, that bastard, is said to be crazy enough to personally cut down a marquis within the palace by the throat. We cannot bend the kingdom’s pride any longer to a man like that. No, even if we did so, he would not let our kingdom go!”

In the councilroom where the kingdom’s most important nobles were gathered, Crown Prince Veyons expressed his rage, pushing for a declaration of war against the empire.

“Your Highness, a declaration of war? The Bajran Empire likely has far more Skyknights than we think. But our kingdom has only 450 Skyknights. In addition, the empire has 700,000 elites, a force four times what we have. So Your Highness’ words to declare war are no different from asking us all to die.”

“Sir Kalderon! Then what do you think we should do about a crazy emperor in this situation? Do you think that scoundrel will truly leave the kingdom alone even if we send more treasures?!”

“Sir Yaramis! Your words are too much. I am someone who loves the kingdom as much as you. But for the Emperor to be so enraged, do you not think that there is a reason behind it? And how could you speak such absurdities, what would you do if your curses were to reach the Emperor’s ears?”

“Just whom do you serve?! How dare you say such impudent words in front of His Highness the Crown Prince!”

The two counts were squabbling in front of the king, something they would never dare to do in normal circumstances. It was because the Emperor of the Bajran Empire was preparing to invade that they showed such disrespect and disloyalty. A single word from the Emperor of Bajran was more than impactful enough to shake the kingdom.

“Stop…” said King Vekadrian quietly. He had to make a decision. He could choose to attempt to placate the Emperor, or fight with the resolve to die.

“For now, Sir Kalderon will go as an ambassador to seek an audience with the Emperor. Just know that the crown will assist with that as much as possible.”

The king wore a pained expression on his face. Upon seeing that, the Crown Prince and the loyal knights bore their tears, silently vowing to never forget the hatred they felt today.

* * *

‘Geh!’

I drank beer late into the night, doing a ton of one-shots with the knights. Thanks to the dwarves, there was a beer warehouse of enormous size in the covert. I had the entire thing opened up and distributed. Carried away by the feeling of victory, a great deal of it ended up in my belly.

Only when dawn broke did I crawl into bed. Even for someone with a stamina of steel like myself, my body couldn’t stand so much alcohol on top of a whole day of tension. But as I woke blearily from my sleep, I felt something strange next to me.

Squish.

My hand groped out to figure out the identity of what was next to me and was met with a squishy sensation.

‘Mommy!’

My hangover was instantly blown away. No matter how dense I might be, I was old enough to understand what the ‘thing’ in my hand was.

‘Keh… there’s, there’s even another one.’

I needed to open my eyes and check, but my body was frozen stiff because of the two existences (and their squishy you-know-whats) next to me. I racked my brains. I definitely came to bed alone after drinking rowdily with the knights, but two women were sleeping next to me, breathing softly. I wasn’t wearing my airplate, but considering the state of my clothes, it seemed that my ‘innocence’ was intact.

‘Which means, the guard knights of the headquarters didn’t stop them.’

The most important person in Nerman was me. As such, Derval had a separate regiment of knights and soldiers stationed in the headquarters. The two women had slipped past their guard and entered my room. I thought hard, but couldn’t remember anything else.

“Nnng…”

‘Hng!’

The woman sleeping on my right suddenly reached out with an ever-so-soft hand and snuggled my neck.

“Ahmm…”

And then, the woman sleeping on my left also moved her hand, this time to my belly.

‘Just… kill me now.’

I was a youth with boiling vitality, and these two unknown women were grabbing me like a body pillow. There was no greater torture.

‘Hm?’ I opened my eyes slightly. Though I was flustered, I still needed to know who they were before getting taken advantage of so that I could take responsibility, no? My eyes caught sight of two sets of very differently colored long hair. ‘Who are they?’

The golden and silver hair contrasted very clearly from one another. Their hair glistened and gleamed like freshly cooked rice, as if they were born and bred in noble houses.

‘What a headache.’

I first took a look at the woman boldly lying on my right. And after confirming that the person I most suspected out of all of the ladies was there, I felt my head throb.

‘You sure are frickin’ cheeky for a young girl.’

She was the greatest contributor in this war and the critical element of our victory, the guardian of the Temir, Lokoroïa. Her airplate had been tossed to who knows where, and she was unreservedly playing wife while wearing clothing made of thin fabric.

Lokoroïa was one thing, but I couldn’t easily guess the identity of the silver-haired woman. I slowly turned my head.

“Geh!”

A sharp cry of shock immediately burst out from my lips. A woman I never could have guessed was lying there, a woman who had placed her airplate neatly at her feet and was wearing a white blouse.

‘I-Irene…’

To my utter surprise, the woman sleeping with a happy smile on my left side was Countess Irene.

“Haah.”

I unconsciously breathed a sigh of marvel. The physique of a mature woman was a stark contrast from Lokoroïa’s immature one on my right. I didn’t know women, but Irene clearly had a body of perfection that could draw a cry of admiration from a monk. Along with her slender body, which stuck out and tucked in at all the right places, she was sticking to my side with a cute, kitten-like smile that was leagues different from her usual cold expression.

‘She’s the ultimate Sleeping Beauty.’

I couldn’t quite forget the fact that she was a little older than me, but Countess Irene was far too lovely to give up. Irene was so charming that even that crazy dog, Poltviran, was drooling over her.

‘But how did this happen? How come two women are sleeping in my room, and on my bed, no less?’

Somehow, I ended up sharing a bed with Irene, a woman with a mature body, and Lokoroïa, whose body gave off a ton of fresh, youthful charm. With my head raised, I tried to guess why the two women had invaded my room.

‘Lokoroïa has always been stubborn, so I’m not too surprised, but why did Irene…’

My doubt grew, but the two women who could tell me the answer were sleeping soundly.

‘Eh, whatever! I’d have to be crazy to kick away a treasure that rolled over all on its own.’

I was sharing a bed with a woman for the first time in my life. This was very different from when I fainted while kissing Lokoroïa. I savored the feeling of cuddling two beauties in each arm on a plushy bed in a room heated with temperature magic. At that moment, I didn’t even envy Emperor Qin.

‘Huhuhuhu…’

Since things had become like this, I decided to give the best service I could and offered the two ladies my arms to use as pillows.

‘With a warm back and two world-class beauties on each side to sleep with, ask thyself if this is heaven.’

I put on the airs of a noble founder as I closed my eyes. Since they were already in my bed, I wanted to swim a bit longer in heaven with them.

* * *

Tremble.

Irene woke up at the sound of rustling. As she felt her head rising and Kyre’s muscular arm coming in underneath it, her heart began to beat so hard she thought it might fly out of her ribcage.

Kyre had raised her head and was nonchalantly giving her an arm pillow.

‘Crazy… I must be crazy.’

It was the alcohol. She had just experienced the first large-scale war of her life. Before her identity as a woman, Irene was a knight who served one master, and she became totally intoxicated by the terrific victory Kyre achieved. In her state of excitement, she had knocked down beer right along with the Nerman Skyknights.

‘What do I do now?’

The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous and shameful the current situation seemed. Because she was a knight, she wasn’t totally unused to drinking, but she had never drunk this heavily. Though she became extremely drunk, Irene was very clear on where she should sleep, so she had walked drunkenly to her bed. The moment she was about to go into her room, she saw a woman going into Kyre’s room with fairly drunken steps.

It was Lokoroïa, the woman said to be the Great Shaman of the uncivilized Temir people. Irene had even fought them before, back when she was a knight of the Bajran Empire.

In her half-conscious state, Irene watched Lokoroïa disappear into Kyre’s room with wobbly steps. Driven by a sudden flush of heat in her chest, Irene followed Lokoroïa into Kyre’s room. At first, she only intended on quietly dragging the cheeky girl out with her. But as soon as she went into the room, Irene’s thoughts took a 180. Lokoroïa had wasted no time in burrowing into Kyre’s embrace while he slept like a log. Kyre