21st Century Archmage

“What kind of road is this?” I never expected a flat path like a highway, but the unending grasslands and low hills made me anxious.

“Maybe I took the wrong path?”

After duking it out with the lord, I got on my horse and rode off with no real direction. There was no reason for me to go to the castle anymore, so I just rode roughly towards the North. Before I knew it, the sun was setting but I hadnt seen head or hair of another human being.

“This stupid world without a map or Google Maps. Wont I just embarrass myself and become a missing child at this rate?”

According to the village chief, this place was the southern continents Dapis Kingdom. Thats why I went northward, but what greeted me was an empty wasteland.

“Will I have to completely camp out?” All I had for rations was the bag of bread on the horses back. “I dont even have magic crystal dust, so I cant deploy a magic circle…”

Countless magic circles came to mind. Alarm magic, defense magic, protection magic– there were plenty of magic circles necessary in the wild. But I lacked the crucially necessary magic crystal dust.

‘Whats the use of having money, if its no use at a time like this.

In entrusting Jamir with the village, I had left him 40 thousand Gold; on top of that, I gave 4,500 Gold to the village chief to use in case of emergency. What was left was 10 thousand Gold. Since Jamir didnt have so much on him at the time, he had given me a placard that I could exchange at some store at Rubis Castle. If I went to the store and gave my name, I could receive 10 thousand Gold in cash or in exchange for goods. But the problem was that I was now stuck in this wasteland without a single store selling popsicles. I suddenly longed for the 21st century, where you could just open your door and be greeted by 24/7 convenience stores and all sorts of stores.

“Oh, that is–!”

While I was yearning for my homeland, I saw smoke rising from afar.

“Oh, yay!”

My uneasy mood became better all at once. It was as if someone had passed over an Aquafina mineral water to a thirsty man.

“Run! Ronaldo!”

In the short time wed spent together, I had already attached the name “Ronaldo” to my horse.

*Neigh!*

The completely relaxed Ronaldo gave a long neigh and advanced with great force. As he galloped, I eagerly hoped that the people who appeared would be kind guys who could give us a meal and a place to stay.

“Stop right there! If you come close, well shoot!”

As we approached the place where smoke was steadily rising into the sky, I saw a score of carriages and a group of people, in addition to several mercenaries armed with bows, who halted my excited rush with their warning words.

‘So much for hospitality.

I was just someone they met on the road, so I didnt expect them to be totally happy to see me, but their idea of hospitality was to immediately point arrows at my face. It was no different from getting a gun leveled at you in Harlem, New York.

‘Ara? These guys are–?

I was about 50 meters away, and from there, I could see that a few of the mercenaries who were pointing their fully drawn bows towards me had very familiar faces.

“Eh? Arent you that kid?”

“Arent you that brat with the big head from that village in the middle of nowhere?”

“Leader! Leader! Come over here!”

They recognized me too.

‘Aw shit, whyd it have to be these guys…

It was the self-styled Black Wyvern third-rate mercenary group, which had guarded the Daron Merchants at the village.

“Hey! You kiddo with no manners! What are you doing, coming here without fear!”

“Puhaha! Ron, you better be careful tonight. The kiddo mustve come for revenge.”

‘Haahh, this can only be called fate.

The pot-bellied Ron wielding an axe came to the forefront and gave me a nice(?) welcome. Apparently the others hadnt forgotten the events of that day, because they raucously made fun of him.

“Whats going on?” queried the mercenaries leader, having come after being called.

‘Aint it obvious? Im clearly a homeless runaway delinquent!

“Haha! How have you been, Leader? Im dreaming big this time and would like to devote myself to the mercenary life. If you havent forgotten your promise from before, Ill run this body of mine ragged for you.”

“Devote? Haha! Youre a funny guy. Come here. It seems youve run away from the village; have you already eaten?”

‘Its good for me if he makes that assumption. It put me at ease that no one knew I was a mage. I still didnt know enough about this world. There probably wasnt anyone who knew more in that regard than these mercenaries, who traveled the world.

“Thank you very much!”

Even while talking, I had ridden bit by bit closer to them, so now we were 20 meters away. The onlooking mercenaries lowered their bows, and eventually, I was standing next to the leader of the Black Wyvern Mercenaries.

“Did your parents give permission?” the Leader asked, clearly not knowing much about me.

‘Would your parents give the OK? The leader threw out such an obvious question.

“If youre a man whose junk stands tall from the break of dawn, you should follow the path of a man rather than listening to your parents! Leader, didnt you also say you ran away from home when you were 15 years old?” said the sweating Ron, his vulgar words cut short by panting breaths.

“Indeed. Welcome. Im the leader of the Black Wyverns, Heath.”