Sage 28

“This is Tristan. He’s the captain of our mercenary group.”

“Greetings.”

“And this is my magic teacher. The Great Sage of the Southern Forest…”

“I’m Yoo-an. Just call me Great Sage, it’s less troublesome.”

Tristan, the mercenary captain of the Red Hawk mercenary group, had a more ordinary appearance than I had imagined.

The only thing that stood out was the eyepatch covering his right eye. He wasn’t flamboyantly handsome like Irkus, nor did he have any impressive scars on his face or body like the countless mercenaries I’ve seen so far.

“Is your wife’s name Isolde, by any chance?”

I asked the question I had always wanted to ask when I met Tristan. I thought there might be something special about him since he’s the only disciple of the Dragon Slayer, but I was disappointed because he seemed too ordinary.

When I was a little younger than I am now, there was a non-human race that was the same age as me. That was the now-endangered dragon.

Not only had the number of dragons decreased because the Dragon Slayers had been killing them all under the pretext of preventing harm to humans, but their average lifespan had also been halved. So, the oldest of the black dragons was the one closest to my age. The others were either already dead or young dragons who had just passed their hatchling stage.

In the end, that black dragon also died at the hands of a Dragon Slayer. I had a feeling that would happen when he destroyed a whole village to build his lair, but when I heard that he was beheaded in his sleep, I felt a bit strange. And I felt uneasy wondering why there wasn’t a Great Sage Slayer.

Dragons were also hopeless because they didn’t understand why they had to be considerate of each race. Since they were highly intelligent beasts born with the concept of the law of the jungle ingrained in their heads, there was bound to be a difference of opinion between them and humans. Humans think human-centrically, and dragons think dragon-centrically.

“Why are you asking about someone’s wife’s name the first time you meet them? Is that what everyone does when they live a long time?”

“I don’t know because I’m the only human who has lived as long as I have, but I do. If I’m curious, I have to ask, right?”

“I guess Great Sages can even guess other people’s wives’ names.”

The author of <The Book of Irkus> was also Korean, so they couldn’t help but think of Isolde when they heard Tristan. It’s like thinking of Guinevere when you hear the names Arthur and Lancelot.

When asked how I knew, I just answered, “I’m the Great Sage.”

Even Irkus didn’t seem to believe my “Great Sage knows everything” type of answer, but there was nothing I could do. It’s impossible to tell them that I was an ordinary human in the past, that I lived in a different world and that world seemed to have created this one. I didn’t want to go from a Great Sage to a lunatic.

“I had a hunch, but I heard that our Irkus is the Third Prince of the Robain Empire.”

“‘Our’ Irkus?”

“Our Irkus, whose Irkus would he be otherwise? He’s been with the mercenary group for five years. He’s not a newbie anymore.”

“Five years is still a newbie. How is his promotion so fast?”

“Please don’t fight because of me.”

Hearing the word ‘our’ from Tristan’s mouth annoyed me a bit.

Even though I and Tristan have spent similar amounts of time with Irkus, if you count the number of days, I have lived with and taught Irkus much longer than Tristan, so I wondered where his familiarity was coming from.

Moreover, that mercenary captain was the only disciple of the Dragon Slayer bastard who killed my friend, the black dragon. A friend’s enemy’s disciple. It’s like a distant relative, so they’re strangers… but anyway, I didn’t like his origins.

“Why would I fight with someone much younger than me? That won’t happen. Why would I argue with someone younger than even Teriz…”

“Must be nice to be so old.”

“Why would I argue… that’s irritating. Hey, how old are you?”

“What? I’m almost fifty, got a problem with that?”

Irkus just smiled faintly and looked back and forth between me and Tristan. He seemed to realize that he had nothing to gain by intervening any further between us.

Smart kid. I inwardly thought, ‘My disciple seems to be a genius after all…’ and poked Tristan’s forehead, who was bragging about being almost fifty. It would only hurt me to get mad at someone 350 years younger than me. Knowing his age made my anger subside quickly.

“If you know that Irkus is the Third Prince, then the conversation is simple. I’m going to make this child emperor.”

“What, are you planning to become the regent or something?”

“You should do that.”

“Only if someone lets me.”

“Would you do it if someone let you?”

“…….”

“That depends on your choice. Even if you don’t become the regent, you can at least become the captain of the Imperial Knights, right?”

The reason I came to the Red Hawk mercenary group was for one thing: recruiting talent.

Irkus needed a force of his own that he could trust. Even though I could easily handle one versus a hundred, or even one versus ten thousand, politics wasn’t something that could be done with just that.

There was little chance that there would be a dramatic power shift just because Irkus, who had no external support, had been barely surviving in the imperial palace because of his illegitimate status, entered the imperial palace after five years. Moreover, that Ra… whatever, whom I had observed through Teriz for five years, had been showing more intelligent moves than I had expected.

“I heard the crown prince has already been decided. Are you going to kill him?”

“If necessary.”

“I don’t want to participate in a bloody succession struggle. It’s not even our kingdom’s business, let alone a neighboring empire’s. The Red Hawk mercenary group is small, to begin with, so even if you bring us in, it won’t be of much help.”

“You were calling him ‘our’ Irkus, but you’re cutting him off quite coldly. You don’t think Irkus can become emperor?”

“Being proficient in magic and swordsmanship doesn’t mean you’re good at politics.”

It was irritating, but Tristan was right. There was no guarantee that having military power would make you a good emperor. Just look at the current emperor, who was so preoccupied with protecting his own position in the power struggle with the noble faction.

Considering that that Ra-whatever was gaining support from the people of the empire by contrasting his own competence with his father’s incompetence, the enthronement of Ra-whatever was more convincing than that of Irkus, who had no recognition or power. It would have ended a little faster, even if it was boring, if he had been completely blinded by greed. It was a pity.

“Of course, it might have been difficult for Irkus to become emperor if he were alone. Irkus, that kid might be a genius, but he’s really clumsy and timid with people…”

“…Irkus is?”

“You didn’t know even though you’ve been by his side? Look at him now. How quiet and composed he is. He’s only seventeen, but he’s so mature.”

“…You’re crazy.”

Tristan looked at me like I was crazy. I think I looked at Yekarina like that a long time ago when she was looking at Darwin…

I felt a bit wronged. Irkus really was a mature and composed child for a seventeen-year-old. These days, he’s going through puberty, so he doesn’t listen to me, does what he wants, and isn’t as nice as before. His nature was very good.

A quiet prince, ignorant of worldly matters, needs a slightly unethical assistant like me by his side. It would be better if there was a trustworthy person next to him in case I’m gone.

“Irkus, are you by any chance a double personality?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“That’s a ridiculous amount of acting. It’s absurd.”

“What are you talking about? Anyway, think about it. Even though Irkus currently doesn’t have any noticeable power, he has me, the Great Sage, by his side.”

Actually, even without me, Irkus would eventually become emperor after many trials and tribulations. Because he’s the protagonist. But Tristan, who didn’t know this, would naturally hesitate to gamble the future of his mercenary group.

I didn’t disagree with that. No one would want to back the wrong horse and lose everything. But the truth is that those without the courage to gamble can’t ask for a great reward.

“Since my nationality is Kaman, I’ll have to keep in mind that this could be a problem later, being backed by a foreigner.”

“Don’t worry about that since there is also me, who has no nationality.”

“The other members have their own requests, so it will be difficult for them to join us, but I, the leader, and two other members can enter the Imperial Palace along with you. Under the pretense of bodyguards. Is that enough?”

“More than enough. Looks like you’ll become a knight captain instead of a mercenary captain.”

I gave Tristan some of the money I had plundered from the auction house. Money needs to exchange hands in this kind of situation, rather than emotions and loyalty.

“This is a token of my gratitude for showing loyalty to my child.”

“You’re really crazy.”

“Crazy? Quickly take it before I change my mind.”

Tristan clicked his tongue at me but quickly snatched the bag of gallons.

I couldn’t shake the thought that it felt like I was a pushy parent and a corrupt teacher who was secretly exchanging department store gift certificates in the teacher’s office during my high school days, but I had always been far from integrity, so I decided to go with it.