21st Century Archmage

Chapter 68: The Subjugation Begins

“Can you do it?”

“Young man! What do you see us dwarves as! Just prepare the beer! We’ll finish everything in one month!”

‘As simple as ever, hahaha.’

Cassiars loudly expressed his confidence with pride that reached the heavens after looking at the blueprint I handed over.

“While you are at it, please separate them into pieces that are easy to transport.”

“I told you to not worry, didn’t I? That aside, what will you use this for? Do you plan on crushing boulders?”

The blueprints I gave the dwarves were absolutely necessary for making cement. They were for enormous grinders and mixers 15 meters tall and 5 meters wide. It would be nice if they could be made in one go, but the entrance to the Dwarven Village was small and it would be too difficult for Bebeto to carry them on his own, so I asked them to make them in smaller parts.

“If you can make them, I will show you something very astonishing.”

“Is there something that can surprise us dwarves?”

“If it surprises you, please make me 500 fine blades. And if it doesn’t, I will treat you to 50 barrels of fresh honey beer!”

“Kuhahahahaha! Good! Good! As expected of a friend of the dwarves, you’re full of fire!”

At my proposal, Patriarch Cassiars burst out in hearty laughter.

“But…ummm…can I ask how it’s going with the dravits?”

“It’s quite a tricky fellow. But who are we? We are the mighty Children of Rock, are we not? We have made one over there.”

‘Woohoo! Danke! Danke!’

Dravits were something crucial for Nerman’s future. I had asked the Rubis Merchants to acquire all the broken dravits on the continent. The dravits made by the dwarves used a ton of mithril, so they weren’t suitable for agricultural use.

‘The plows are already there, so now we just have to give it a test run, huh?’

Spring had passed entirely, and the Nerman Plains were swept up in the fragrance of summer. Before summer hit us in full, we had to sow various kinds of grains, including wheat. There were only enemies around us, so this coming fall, there might come a time when we’re unable to acquire provisions even with money.

“Then, please do it as quickly as possible.”

“Like I said, don’t worry. Just believe in me! I’ll grill all the dwarves and get everything finished.”

“Of course I believe you. We do not share blood between us, but the Luhalumere and I are brothers, are we not!”

“Indeed! We are brothers! Brothers! Uhahahahaha!”

“That’s right. Kyre and our clan are brothers!”

How nice would it be if the world was just filled with people like these dwarves? Of course, there might be humans rebuking my current actions as manipulation of the dwarves, but that was mostly just their thoughts. These dwarves who were truly happy hearing my words wouldn’t think that way. Because no matter what someone might say, whether it was the dwarves or me, our hearts were full of warmth.

“Patriarch, in that spirit, how about a festival?” proposed one dwarf hopefully.

“Festival? Sure! Kyre, what about it? Fes—ah! Young man, where are you going in such a hurry!”

“I completely forgot that the beer fermentation time is already up. I must go right this instant and cool the fermented barrels with ice magic to get that flavor.”

“I-Is that so…”

I used the invincible beer shield to fend off these festival-crazy dwarves.

I grabbed Aramis’s hand—she had quickly drifted off to play with the dwarf kids—and made a run for the exit.

The kind of festival mentioned by the dwarves…

That wasn’t a festival, but torture.

A terrifying method of torture where you and I both went to heaven and hell together.

* * *

Ker-chunk.

“W-What is this?”

Mobilizing several wyverns, including Bebeto, I brought the dravit designed by me and made by the dwarves to Denfors and attached the prepared plow.

The plow with seven blades clicked into the dravit’s back.

“You’ll see.”

Just a hop and a skip away from Denfors lay undeveloped fields all around. Even if there were no monsters, there was so little manpower for farming that the land had been discarded. On one such plot of land, two 3 meter large dravits were standing next to each other with plows attached.

‘Let’s compare the performance once, shall we?’

The dravit made by the dwarves was a new model designed by adding a few new functions to the blueprint made by Master. Next to it was an old model of dravit.

Whirr.

I poured mana into the two dravits, establishing the mana imprint.

Flash.

Once my mana was inputted, mana flowed from the magic crystals to the dravits, and their bodies began to faintly glow.

“Alright! My loyal servants! Run! Run all the way over there!”

Creaaaak.

Recognizing the order, the dravits assumed the position to run.

Clunk clunk!

The new model made by the dwarves reacted first and moved forward.

Thud.

The plow embedded itself deep into the ground.

Clunk clunk.

Afterwards, the old dravit also began to move.

Thud thud thud.

At that moment, the dravit 2.0 began to run across the land as ordered.

“Waaaaa!”

“W-What is that—!!!”

“UWAH!”

‘WOOHOO!!!!’

Cedrian and the other Skyknights, as well as Sir Derval, who had naturally followed me here, all let out shouts of surprise.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

The dravits ran.

Even with a seven-bladed plow on its back, the dravit barreled over the earth at the speed of a running human with an astonishing show of strength. The plow followed, turning and plowing the soil deeply. Loamy soil perfect for sowing seeds appeared right away in the dravit’s wake as it energetically ran forward.

It was the emergence of the Kallian Continent’s very first bipedal tractor!

‘When I have time some day, I should deliver one to Luna Village, too.’

My heart felt a flush of contentment seeing the performance, which was far stronger than I expected.

Thud thud thud.

That being said, the old dravit showed exactly half the performance of the 2.0, but it was still good.

After all, a performance of this level was way better than a plow dragged by ten horses.

* * *

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, my liege. According to the miners, there’s a lot of useless limestone buried here.”

‘It’s closer than I thought to Denfors.’

Derval and I were standing in front of an enormous, 300 meter mountain located around the middle point of the Lovent River. On this mountain, which had already been stripped of its big trees for firewood, making it look more like a bare hill, various places were showing the characteristic color of limestone.

Crunch.

Putting mana in my sword, I shoved it into the mountain. A few chunks of limestone rustled down to the ground.

‘It’s limestone, alright. Yes!’

Limestone was a mineral you could easily get on Earth, too.

“Derval, station soldiers here. I will give you a blueprint, so have a building completed with carpenters and smiths.”

“Pardon? Here?”

On this continent, limestone was considered a useless rock. But to me, it was a valuable item that I couldn’t do without.

“There must be other places like this?”

“Yes, my liege. I heard that there is a great deal of limestone near the Rual Mountains.”

“Did you also find out about the gypsum?”

“Of course. There is also a gypsum open-air mine not far from here. But my liege, why are you looking for such useless minerals?”

“Derval.”

“Yes, my liege.”

“Who am I?”

“You are my one and only liege, the person I respect and depend on the most in the world!” responded Derval energetically without a hitch.

“Just wait. I shall show you the wonder of magic.”

“Understood, my liege!”

‘The dwarves will stay up late to hold up their side of the promise. I feel bad for taking advantage of their pure nature, but if everything goes well, I will make it so they can swim in an ocean of beer.”

Be it the dwarves or the elves, or anyone else I had met, if I hadn’t met them, the me of today wouldn’t exist.

‘The rainy season will be coming soon.’

After the sudden reassignment, the last few months had been crazy—they were filled with battles, and now I was even playing lord. It was truly a short time, but somehow, I became the master of Nerman.

“We’re going to the harbor.”

“Yes! My liege!”

There weren’t just one or two things to do.

My dream involved not just land development, but also the sea.

* * *

“Haah…”

It was crazy how fast the day flew by. I was now back at the covert, but earlier, I visited the port and sighed upon examining the nearly useless dock and breakwater.

‘Can you really call a harbor without a single sound ship a harbor?’ I had been to the harbor a few times, but today was my first time taking such a thorough look. ‘The holy water is ready and the pirates also promised to not attack, so all we have to do is catch the fish.’

The spring sowing of grain was a bit late, but it wasn’t terribly delayed. And supplementary crops like corn and potatoes could be planted without a problem even now. Moreover, the sea was plentiful with fish filled with nutritional value. The people of Nerman had been unable to catch them out of fear of the sea monsters, but with Aramis around, as long as we could float a boat, we wouldn’t have any difficulty feeding the entire population of Nerman.

‘Once the cement production process is completed, we have to go right into subjugation. We’ll need to be mostly done building a barrier during the short rainy season in the middle of summer.’

I hadn’t yet experienced it myself, but apparently, unlike other places, Nerman hardly ever experienced any natural disasters like storms or concentrated torrential rains. The enormous mountain ranges were protecting the valley, reducing the influence of the wind. In exchange, the winters were quite cold. Nerman had very distinct seasons, and as the cold northern energy blew in during the winter, there would be quite a lot of snow as well. There were many things we had to prepare in order for the people to live comfortably.

‘Thanks to the remodeled dravits, the dravits no longer require a mage to operate it—even a knight who can use Aura Blade can run the dravit. We have to start plowing the land around Denfors in full force from tomorrow onwards.’

Knock knock.

It wasn’t that late, but still pretty late in the evening. I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings, but then someone came and knocked.

“Come in.”

Creak.

At my assent, someone carefully opened the door.

‘Aramis?’

From the opening door, I spied a glimpse of white leather shoes and the white robe worn by priests. Aramis came in with a refreshing smile.

“I hope I have not disturbed your peace…”

“Haha, please, come in. It just so happened that I wanted to see you, Priestess Aramis.”

“Huh?”

Aramis’ eyes went round.

“I wished to go see you tomorrow because there is something we must discuss.”

“I see…”

At my words, a blush spread across her face even as she let out a disappointed “I see.”

‘It’s dangerous if you come calling late at night, you know.’

No matter how good my reputation was in Aramis’ eyes, in the end, I was also a black-hearted wolf. And it was undeniable that I was a young man currently in a stormy period where my blood went beyond a rolling boil and was just pure lava.

“I think you are amazing, Kyre-nim. You work so passionately every day without rest…”

Aramis’ eyes sparkled as she looked at me with admiration.

“All people are fated to one day cross the Lute River into the afterlife anyway. Until then, I wish to do my best every day so that I do not pass with regrets.”

That was an opinion I’d had since a young age. Since I was gonna die one day anyway, I wanted to work harder than others and live well before the end.

One of the clauses under the Kang family motto of Honesty went like this: A tiger would leave their pelt when it died, and a person must leave behind a bank account for their descendants.

I wanted to go beyond a bank account—I wanted to pass on a huge piece of land, land so many kilometers large that you wouldn’t even be able to dream of it on Earth.

“It seems that you are entertaining truly difficult thoughts even while resting. I also aid people every day by praying to Neran-nim, but there are times when I wish to rest, too. However, it feels like I have not seen Kyre-nim waste even a single moment for yourself. You are truly someone with beautiful willpower that is impossible not to admire.”

“Haha, you exaggerate…”

I felt my tiredness flying away at Aramis’ compliment.

To be honest, I wasn’t doing all this to get praise.

I was just busy as hell trying to subdue the flames at my feet.

Of course, it was also for the people of Nerman. However, to some extent, that was also just another bonus from me implementing measures to make my life nicer.

I wasn’t that nice of a person.

You couldn’t possibly call me a virtuous person when I was sitting here drooling at Aramis, a marvelously beautiful woman.

I, Kang Hyuk, was a human true to his instincts.

I was satisfied with just that.

“Hoho, but what did you wish to discuss with me?”

Aramis’ brown eyes sparkled with curiosity. Before I knew it, she was already right in front of me.

“T-That is…”

We were so close that I could feel Aramis’ breath.

As she laughed, Aramis’ uniform teeth dazzled me like a disco ball at a nightclub.

Gulp.

A mouth full of saliva went right down my gullet.

Aramis was so close that I would be able to touch her just by extending my hand.

“I-I was just wondering how it would be if holy power was used on seeds. Neran-nim is the Goddess of Mercy, so don’t you think the seeds would grow well if they also received Her Mercy?”

“I imagine so. I have never thought about using holy power on seeds…” Aramis said, nodding.

‘Jeez! Just why in the world do even those dark circles look so lovable?!’

Like me, Aramis also spent day after day in a feverish rush. There were dark circles camping out under her refined eyes today as well.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to try it once? If it goes well, the people of Nerman will be able to spend this coming winter warm with full bellies.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Neran-nim will also be happy if holy power is used for good.”

The topic of disinfecting seeds with holy power was something that had just occurred to me. The soil was fertile, so even grass would grow as well as seeds. If seeds infused with holy power were planted on such fertile land, something amazing might happen.

“If it is alright with you, please allow me to escort you back to the temple.”

“T-There is no need. I can go on my own.”

“Haha, if not for an opportunity like this, how could I speak with the beautiful Aramis-nim? Let us go together.”

“In that case…”

Aramis once again reddened down to her nape when I called her beautiful.

‘Phew…’

It was a shame, but also a relief.

A big relief that I had avoided a horrifying incident wherein the “Nerman Times” comes out tomorrow morning with a front page header ‘UNABLE TO RESIST HIS DESIRE, LORD POUNCES ON INNOCENT PRIESTESS.’

“Cavalry, charge!”

“Chaaarge!”

POOOONG! POOOOONG!

Neeeeeeigh.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud.

“Infantry, advance in attack formation!”

“Advance!”

Poong poong! Poong poong! 

Signal horns rang loud and clear across the land.

Clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk!

The heavily armed cavalry charged on the front lines towards the orc village. Behind them, infantry holding shields to protect themselves advanced in neat rank and file.

SQUEAAL! SQUEAAAL!

There were many orcs that survived after a round of arrows. Like true battle monsters, they wielded crude weapons as they bared their teeth with ferocious bloodthirst towards the human soldiers.

However, they numbered several hundred at best. The cavalry was made predominantly with soldiers and knights with mana perception and boasted a force so strong it could be called a knight order now.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud.

Holding long lances used by knights, the cavalry charged. The red mana at the tips of their lances opened their maws wide at the orc warriors bracing for impact.

Ba-ba-ba-bam!

SQUEAAAAAAAAL!

There was no such thing as resistance.

Wherever the knights passed on their horses equipped with full barding, only a spray of blue blood from orcs and gruesome screams were left in their wake.

“Everyone, charge!”

While the knights were decimating the orcs, the order to charge fell on the infantry that had marched close.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Their morales flying high, the soldiers roared as they broke the shoddy defenses of the orc village in an instant and charged inside.

Ba-ba-bam!

SQUEAAL!

Splatter!

“Kill them all—leave no survivors!”

There could be no mercy.

In the past, orcs had committed great brutalities here on Nerman. They were monsters that did not leave a single human alive and even ripped dead bodies open to eat.

Monsters and humans were simply incompatible.

Ba-ba-ba-bam!

SQUEAAAL!

While the orc warriors were being trampled under the horses, the orc warriors collapsed from arrows. The females and the young orcs met their end with death cries at the tip of the spears of the infantry.

It was the last of the orcs that had romped to their heart’s content on the Nerman Plains as soon as the Bajran Empire was defeated.

It didn’t take very long.

Within just 30 minutes of the battle’s begin, a large village a thousand orcs strong was cleanly wiped off the map.

‘Impressive.’

I was spectating from the sky on Bebeto’s back.

Below me stretched the Nerman Plains, which was lit by the steadily increasing warmth of the 7th month’s sun. A week had already passed since beginning the large-scale subjugation plan. Since then, battles have ensued every day without rest. Taking the best soldiers from Orakk Castle, who had gathered in Denfors the last month, two armies where one man was worth a hundred men were formed.

And after a short period of training, they were sent into battle.

The heat had become intense to the point that it could split the morale of the heavily-armored soldiers, but they went into battle with their hearts blazing for the sake of Nerman, the place of their birth.

Everything went without a hitch.

When large monsters like ogres or trolls appeared, the Skyknights would use them as targets for training and take care of them in an instant, and intermediate or low level monsters like orcs, goblins, and kobolds were cooked up by the cavalry and soldiers.

There would definitely be no casualties in this battle as well. First, we rained down hell with archers, then charged with powerful warhorses, leaving hardly any monsters behind.

‘A little more and we’ll reach the former fort.’

The last month was truly busy. I taught the control method of the five old dravits and the five new dravits made by the dwarves and had the earth turned over. They had worked day and night without rest to plow all of the land around Denfors.

And then, the seeds were sown.

The late spring wheat, potatoes, corn, and various other seeds to feed the people of Nerman were gathered on the covert runway and given Neran’s blessing.

Then, the blessed seeds were delivered to the villages capable of planting.

There weren’t many dravits, so besides Denfors, the fields had to be plowed in the old way, with humans or horses.

However, not a single person complained.

The fact that they were able to rest easy and sow the seeds made the farmers rejoice with tears.

‘Defense forces have been dispatched to Denfors and the nearby villages, so they’re fine… The problem is how fast the First Army can clear out the monsters without leaving a single one behind…’

Through continuous patrols and reinforcement of the forts, the safety of the trade route from Havis Kingdom was secured. The greedy Viscount Lukence who treasured his life had properly defended that area, so monsters could not easily attack the trade route.

With that basic stability as a launch pad, the monster hunt began.

Flying Bebeto ceaselessly, I went to each battle field and commanded from above. I also replaced the old communication devices left by the imperial army with the newest models, and installed a communication device capable of transmitting messages at a distance of 80 kilometers into my helmet.

I activated the communication channel at my ear with a mana-imbued hand.

“Lord speaking, First Army Signalman, respond.”

“My lord! Your word is my command.”

The signalman responded as soon as I spoke.

“How is the situation over there?”

“We have burned down a goblin village to the ground with no issues.”

“Well done. Then, I order you to move to the next location after one hour of rest.”

“Yes, sir!”

‘Ouch, my ear!’

The soldier’s enthusiastic reply buzzed loudly in my ear. The performance was good, actually it was TOO good.

‘When the territory is stabilized, I should spread a whole net of communication devices.’

Here, the magic communication lines fulfilled the role of radio. Stable empires and kingdoms alike had such devices all over their territories. It was a measure taken in order to quickly determine things that were happening over large stretches of land. Of course, important or remote places did also use lumikars, messenger birds.

‘The cement factory building must be done by now, right?’

The construction of the cement factory began at around the same time as the monster subjugation. In order to produce cement, many grinders and heat sources were necessary, but I used magic to easily resolve those issues.

Magic could not be explained by 21st century science. The moment limestone was put into the grinder made by the dwarves, it was finely pulverized in an instant, heated, cooled, and mixed with gypsum and clay. If not for the magic cement production method made with the scientific knowledge Master learned on Earth, this feat would have been impossible.

‘I should go over once.’

The battle was finished, so there was no need for me to stay here any longer. I was curious as to how the dwarves were doing after coming out for the first time in a while. Or rather, I actually needed to ask them to hurry up.

In a few days, the subjugation would reach the entrance of the Rual Mountains. We had to rebuild the ruined forts in that area.

And for that, cement was an unequivocally necessary item.

* * *

Clang clang clang.

‘As expected, they’re the almighty laborers!’

The important components were made in the Dwarven Village and airlifted out. Thanks to Bebeto and other wyverns slaving away, we were able to move the goods safely.

And the dwarves were also flown out. At my words to get onto a wyvern’s back, the dwarves were completely stricken with fear. It was only after I made a wooden basket like the basket of a hot air balloon that I was able to bring them all the way here.

‘That was quite a sight, wasn’t it.’

Like country bumpkins visiting Seoul for the first time, as soon as the five or six dwarves in the basket felt themselves rising into the sky, then slammed their heads to the ground and screamed for dear mercy.

But then, after a certain point, they peeked their heads out of the basket one at a time, and yelled with cheers. How could the dwarves, whose short heights had them spending their whole lives buddy buddy with the floor, ever have an opportunity to experience the exhilaration of the sky? The blowing wind and land stretching out endlessly under them thrilled the dwarves to the point of belting out songs.

In that fashion, around 100 dwarven craftsmen were deployed in the construction of the cement factory.

There were more dwarves involved in the construction than there were formal blacksmiths in Nerman. There were no human residences nearby and no rivers in danger of pollution nearby, so I hurried the construction along with an easy heart.

‘Now, all that’s left to do is to finish the magic circle.’

I was also not idle during this time.

Besides a few flying dates with Aramis late into the night, I completed magic circles and held strategy meetings every day with nary a break.

Day after day of hardship went by in a flash.

Whoooooosh.

Bebeto, who became just as busy as me, descended onto the clearing on his own initiative.

“Salute!”

The senior knight and soldiers watching my arrival gave me a simultaneous salute as soon as we landed. This place was safer than the others, but it was still in the middle of the plains, so 500 soldiers were protecting the factory.

“Welcome, my lord.”

“You’ve worked hard. Any problems?”

“There are no problems, sir!” shouted the young native Nerman knight who had recently been promoted to senior knight status. His sense of loyalty towards me was at its peak. Among my knights, there were probably quite a few who would obey my command if I told them to jump into a fire.

Clang clang clang!

Not yet realizing my arrival, the dwarves were hard at work constructing the factory.

‘They’re always so impressive to see.’

As if afraid someone might accuse them of not being skillful craftsmen, they were deftly constructing the factory, which had looked difficult to complete.

“Brothers~! Please take a rest!”

“Ohh! Brother Kyre!”

“Just wait a bit, we’re almost done!”

The busily moving dwarves turned at my loud voice and greeted me. The dwarves were putting everything they had into their work like engineering students. Even after telling them to rest, they wiped their sweat as they continued to work hard.

‘It should be operable soon.’

Clasping my hands behind my back, I appreciated the goods made by the dwarves.

‘Without magic, I wouldn’t have even been able to dream of this.’

It may be called a cement factory, but it didn’t smell mechanical.

‘The problem is how we should mix the cement…’

Just having cement wouldn’t solve all our problems. Sand and shells had to be mixed in to fortify its strength, and we also had to make equipment that could hold up its shape until it hardened.

However, we lacked the manpower.

After dozens of years of war with monsters, Nerman didn’t have many decent carpenters. No, even if there were carpenters, we didn’t even have much wood. The mountains nearby the city and villages were completely stripped of trees, and the mountains that had many trees were still occupied by monsters.

‘I think there’s an answer to be found using magic and spirits though…’

If we had equipment like bulldozers and excavators, everything would be easy, but that was impossible. It was better to find a way using the magic and spirits I could use.

Buzz buzz.

‘Hm?’

A mana vibration came from the helmet I had removed and hung at my waist.

Click.

Putting the helmet on at once, I put a hand filled with mana to the device.

“Did something happen?”

“M-My lord, something bad has happened!”

“Something bad?”

“I have a report that the Temir are swiftly advancing to ambush Haiton Village!”

“W-What?! The Temir?!”

The unlikely disaster had struck—there were 9 wyverns stationed at Orakk Castle and 20 thousand soldiers nearby, but if the Temir came in full force, it would be a severe problem.

“They have around 50 wyverns and 3,000 soldiers!”

“!!”

As expected, the numbers were enormous.

There was no need to hear more.

I hurriedly ran towards Bebeto, who was catching his breath.

‘Those bastards!’

I couldn’t extract the wyverns deployed to various battlefields for the monster subjugation. If I did that, it was inevitable we would incur casualties from the collective attacks of monsters.

‘Just wait a bit! My knights!’

There was an absolute rule of defeat when the battle was three against one…

Moreover, the wyvern flight at Orakk Castle didn’t have any prominent mages or summoners.

Something horrible could happen if they clashed with the Temir.

Forget the wyverns, such a confrontation could endanger the lives of my fine, loyal knights.