21st Century Archmage

After returning to the office, I took out the letter under the flickering, silent light of the magic lamp. As soon as I opened the gilded envelope, I was met by a certain name.

“I-Igis….”

The letter, which started with “Dear Sir Kyre,” was clearly signed at the very end with “Igis von Bajran.”

I hurriedly read the letter.

“Dear Sir Kyre, I quickly wrote a few lines after hearing that youd be coming to the celebration party for my esteemed father…”

And thus began a completely unexpected letter from Princess Igis.

She wrote that every time she thought about the day she flew with me on Bebeto, she would yearn for it and be unable to fall asleep. The letter was suffused with the dear wish of a girl waiting, with her fingers crossed, for such a day to come again one day.

“…I will be waiting. For the day we can meet again…”

The brief letter ended with “Igis von Bajran.”

“Haah…”

This was a bit of a headache.

I still hadnt decided whether to attend the emperors birthday banquet or not. The Crown Prince and other jerkwad nobles would definitely be waiting for me to fall into their trap.

“What a pain.”

However, at the same time, I needed to see the emperor at least once. Nerman still needed the weight behind the name of Bajran. I was a felon who impulsively pocketed the Laviter Empires Gold Wyverns and locked their Imperial Prince into a cave. When those crimes are discovered, the Laviter bastards would no doubt come attacking in full force.

As such, I needed time. A short, painful period where Laviter would pause for a moment because of Bajran, even after finding out.

“Even if they dont find the Imperial Prince, if they find out that there are Gold Wyverns here, they will suspect me.”

I entrusted the life or death of Prince Alskane, the kind fellow who gave me the wyverns, to the heavens. I could have just dug a pit and buried them all alive, but my heart wasnt black enough to kill the Laviter prince and Imperial Knights who hadnt done anything personal to me… yet.

Of course, I had already committed murder. But that was mostly just when I needed to protect my precious Nerman soldiers and residents.

“We should have at least fifteen days. The key is how fast they discover the Prince, and theyll also need some time to figure out why there are Gold Wyverns in Nerman.”

I had been wearing my helmet, so they shouldnt have been able to see my black hair. However, they would definitely not be mystified for long. Countless people had already noticed the Gold Wyverns. There was no way the empire wouldnt find out.

“The emperors birthday party, huh… Maybe I should just take the chance to pay my respects properly for once.”

I thought about the courtesy towards the emperor that Rothello had mentioned. The few people in the large Bajran Empire who received the personal invitation of the emperor were required to bring something valuable as a present.

“No sleep tonight either, I guess.”

I took my helmet and went outside.

The most valuable things in my possession right now were goods from the dwarves and elves. Between those two, I picked the elves.

‘Narmias….

As soon as I thought of the Elven Village, a certain elven woman naturally appeared in my thoughts, along with the sad gaze she had sent my way.

“Sigh….”

I let out a long sigh.

A long sigh with a meaning even I could not understand….

* * *

‘To think that grimoires would be the key to make those leeches fall off… What a relief.

The moment I tried to leave the office, the beastmen who had woken up at some point were lying in wait outside. I wasnt even their mom, but the beastmen seemed to think that they would die if they parted from me.

So what did I do? I gave the beastmen a few 5th Circle magic formulas, specifically Master Bumdalfs formulas. They wouldnt be able to comprehend it if they werent Masters disciples.

After receiving that, the beastmen tossed me to the side. Well, to be more precise, they just forgot about me in their hurry to understand the magic formulas.

‘As expected, night flights are the best.

Swoooooooooosh.

Sweltering heat had followed the short rainy season. You couldnt quite call it a heat wave, but the salty wind from the sea mixed with the heat of the sun and harassed Nerman.

However, the heat couldnt touch one place, the sky. Wind currents swept past Bebetos wings. I couldnt feel the temperature thanks to my airplate, but just looking made me feel plenty refreshed.

‘I need the help of the elves.