The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)

Yang In-hyun stared down blankly from atop a tall building.

The people walking in the street looked like ants, but, with a glance, Yang In-hyun could even count the number of teeth they had whenever they opened their mouths.

Of course, he hadn’t come to such a high place for such an idle reason.

“…”

A variety of beings entered his vision.

It certainly was a rare opportunity to meet so many races— that had almost nothing in common— in one city, and depending on how one looked at it, they might find this interesting.

But Yang In-hyun ignored a majority of those beings. Humans, otherworlders, aliens, other species… Ignoring all of them, he only looked at one kind of being.

With fluttering clothes and swords hanging at their waists. Those who use martial arts techniques by using neigong to store power in their danjeon.

…Martial Artists.

Crunch.

Yang In-hyun clenched his fists. If Lukas had been there, he would’ve been surprised. This was the first time that Yang In-hyun had shown such killing intent that couldn’t be hidden.

“…Murim.”

Yang In-hyun murmured the name of the world he’d annihilated in the past.

And in the next moment, his figure disappeared without a trace.

* * *

The grilled skewers were as long as Lukas’ arms. In other words, even one would be enough to fill an adult man. But the grilled skewers on the table had been devoured in an instant. Of course, Lukas didn’t even touch one.

“Mm. This was a bit better to eat.”

Licking her lips, Pale spoke in a contented voice. Even though she’d just eaten the grilled skewers, borsh and samsa, she didn’t look full at all. Her stomach was really bottomless.

‘…she seems to prefer meat dishes.’

Her expression was brighter than when she’d eaten the soup and the bread which were filled with vegetables.

Deciding to keep this fact in mind, Lukas opened his mouth.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yes.”

“Right. I see.”

He looked around slowly.

He was immediately greeted by the sight of several groaning Knights scattered across the ground. Their shining armours were crushed like tin cans that had been thrown in the garbage, and the faces that were visible through their helmets were all twisted in pain.

He hadn’t needed to use magic to overpower them. This would probably be the case for most if not every person he met.

And it felt good to use his fist. The feeling under his hands was quite clear.

With thoughts similar to those of Kasajin or Ivan, Lukas looked down at the Knights.

“Someone in the castle summoned me.”

“Ku, uk…”

“Is it this country’s King?”

“H-, how dare a guy like you… mention that person…”

As he said that, he glared at Lukas. He was finally showing a backbone like a Knight. Unfortunately, this man did not give off any impression of nobility at all.

The reason he was able to still bare his fangs at him was because he wasn’t in enough pain.

Lukas could think of thousands of different ways to make this man recite every piece of information he knew in a matter of minutes.

But he didn’t bother to do it there.

There were many reasons for this, but the main reason was because he didn’t want to cause more trouble for this store.

Clang!

Lukas kicked the knights out of the store.

The Knights, who together with their armour probably weighed more than 100 kilograms, flew through the air like hollow logs.

After sending all of the Knights out of the store, Lukas approached the unconscious owner.

Magic… didn’t have a method to heal. It was possible to heal him with void, but he didn’t know what side effect it might have if he were to use it on an ordinary person.

So he just woke him up with mana.

“…”

It was probably ten times more efficient than a bucket of cold water.

With a silent gasp, the owner’s eyes shot open. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be injured too badly. His nose didn’t appear broken, and he also didn’t seem to have lost any teeth.

Surprisingly, it seemed the Knight had controlled their strength. Or perhaps the owner’s physique was stronger than he thought.

“Those thug like bastards…”

The owner blew his nose with a harsh sound. A long stream of blood gushed from his nostrils and splattered on the ground.

He then looked around and was astonished to see the Knights outside the store.

“D-, did you… do that?”

He seemed to have thought that the Knights had left after knocking him out.

“You made a big mistake.”

“I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“You don’t have to apologise to me. These guys…”

Judging from his voice and expression, he was quite worried about Lukas.

Unlike his first impression, he was a very friendly man.

Lukas took all the money he had out of his pocket and put it on the table.

“This isn’t much, but…”

You could call it ‘paying for the damages*’. Of course, Lukas wasn’t the one who caused the trouble, but he was still a part of the cause. (*:Not exactly… but it’s a slang term that’s hard to describe and that’s the closest English equivalent I could think of. ‘깽값’)

But, pretending he didn’t see the money, the owner said.

“You need to leave Luanoble right now. If the Archduke finds you, you’re de-.”

“I think we should call it here for the day.”

Lukas interrupted the owner. He wasn’t ignoring his advice or concerns. It was simply because he knew associating with him for too long would not be good for either of them.

Pale had eaten enough so as he left the store, she followed him without saying anything.

The streets were noisy. This was natural because the Knights were still collapsed on the ground.

“Wh-, what’s going on?”

“That… it’s the Blue Flame Knights of Luanoble.”

“Oh my God. Even Knight Commander ‘Dorduk’ is there.”

Knight Commander?

Lukas looked down at the Knights on the ground. Dorduk was probably the man with a funny moustache and a fairly authoritarian aura.

If that was the case then that meant he was probably more useful than the others.

Kwak, grabbing the guy by the back of the collar, he began to drag him down the street.

Naturally, the attention of the surrounding crowd immediately focused on him.

“Hey, you.”

“What are you doing?!”

“I think I know that person…”

Some of them even rolled their sleeves up and stepped forward.

Paak, duk.

It wasn’t hard to overpower them. After repeating this skit a few times, no one stepped forward again.

Then Lukas looked at the building at the end of the main street. It had the appearance of a castle and stood between the high rise buildings.

It felt a bit out of place, but at the same time, it harmonised surprisingly well.

That place was probably the Castle of New Luanoble.

‘I should’ve gotten their attention.’

With this much of a fuss, the news should have been reported to the castle by now. So it shouldn’t be necessary to cause any more trouble on the street.

Grabbing Pale’s wrist, Lukas moved towards the castle gate in one go.

“Uhh.”

Pale’s body shook violently like a kite in the wind. It sounded like she was making a sound of pain, but he ignored it because it was almost certainly fake.

He reached the gate in an instant.

Lukas had thrown a stone ahead of him so that the guys inside could see it clearly.

“Children need to be educated better.”

This was said in a quiet voice, but since it was infused with Mana, it should have been heard by those inside.

Lukas spoke again.

“I want to meet the Lord of this castle.”

But there was no response.

This didn’t mean that no one was inside. Anyone could see the Knights above the gate looking down at Lukas.

“I was told you wanted to meet me, isn’t that right?”

“…”

It was a very haughty attitude. At the very least, it was not an attitude that one would display in front of a castle.

But Lukas was certain that their response wouldn’t be immediate or aggressive. The Knights above the gate chattered amongst themselves.

Finally, a man who seemed to have a fairly high position appeared and opened his mouth.

“Is Dorduk alive?”

“Right.”

“And the others?”

“In front of the restaurant called Kalinka. Of course, they’re all alive.”

“…”

The man looked sullenly at Lukas for a moment before speaking.

“…open the gates.”

Thud-

With a heavy sound, the gates opened. He could see an array of Knights lined up beyond it. There seemed to be at least a few dozen. At first glance, it looked like they were simply waiting quietly, but it was actually a relatively high quality formation.

If anyone were to step foot in the middle of this formation, at least 1/10th of their power would be suppressed.

…Of course that was only for beings within the Knights’ scope of understanding, no lion would be frightened by an army of flies.

More than their formation, the thing that Lukas paid attention to was their armour.

The shapes were the same, but there were several colours.

Among them were Knights in blue armour.

“…”

The Blue Knight, Pale, didn’t pay any attention to those people. She didn’t even appear the slightest bit interested. She simply walked along the main street while humming a song… He didn’t want Pale to be in front of him, so he sped up a little and overtook her.

They were followed by the Knights. The sound of their metal boots landing on the ground came at regular intervals. Of course, the only impression Lukas had of this was ‘it was a bit noisy’.

‘Apart from that…’

These were probably the most elite Knights in this castle. Their bodies were in a constantly tense state so that they could react at any time. He could even feel killing intent from some of the more impulsive ones.

Ignoring it, he entered the castle and walked along the corridor.

Finally, they reached what appeared to be a throne room. It was quite large. Enough that all of the Knights were able to enter behind them.

There was a bright red carpet, there was a high dais upon which sat a throne.

And sitting on it was a young man.

“…”

He was considerably skilled. At the very least, he was on a different level of strength from the Knights he’d encountered so far.

This young man was the King.

No, the Archduke.

Suddenly, the middle aged man beside him spoke.

“You are before the throne. Be respectful..”

Lukas looked at the middle aged man. He was a particularly different figure when compared to the others here. From appearance to attire and aura, they were all different.

“That’s a weird thing to say.”

“What?”

“The one sitting on the throne is not the King, and you regard that as his place?”

“…”

The atmosphere changed greatly following Lukas’ remark. Immediately, the killing intent he felt from the Knights behind him increased greatly.

And the eyebrows of the young man sitting on the throne furrowed.

“Wouldn’t it be better for the two of us to talk alone?”

“What was that!?”

“What the hell…!”

He could feel the Knights’ anger. If they weren’t in the throne room, they probably would have drawn their swords. But Lukas’ eyes were only on the young man.

He could probably guess why he’d called him to the castle.

And if his guess was correct, then this ridiculous offer.

“…that’s right.”

The young man would definitely accept it.

“Advisor Song, go for now.”

“My Lord? But…”

Just as Advisor Song was about to speak, the young man let out a soft huff.

A single note. It was probably directed at Advisor Song. Because after hearing it, his expression twisted as if he’d heard something unpleasant, but he let out a soft sigh.

“…what are you doing? Didn’t you hear the order?”

The Knights were confused for a moment after hearing those words, but after seeing the look in Advisor Song’s blue eyes, they quickly came to their senses and went outside.

After a while, it was just Lukas, Pale and the young man left in the hall.

“Did Dorbuk and the Blue Flame Knights do anything disrespectful?”

“…”

“If that is the case, then it is my fault.”

Despite the rational act, Lukas remained silent.

He thought he’d want to have a private meeting, but he hadn’t expected him to be so polite. Due the Dorbuk’s attitude and Kalinka’s owner’s reaction, he’d thought the Lord of this castle would be a strange person.

“Who are you?”

“There is actually someone in Luanoble who doesn’t know who I am.”

“…”

“Hmm. I am Jiudad Von Aracles. For the time being, I am serving as the administrator of this city.”

“Administrator?”

“That’s right.”

Jiudad got up from his seat.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not the one who will decide how you will be treated. That is why I would like to give you some polite advice. Do not carelessly leave this city. Otherwise, you will be chased to the ends of hell before dying a brutal death.”

“Will you do it?”

“No way.”

Jiudad smiled cynically.

“I’m well aware of my place. And the power you wield. It is certainly not something I’m capable of handling.”

“I’m not sure I understand. Aren’t you the one with the title Archduke?”

“That’s right.”

“There doesn’t seem to be a King in this castle.”

“That’s right.”

“…and yet you are talking as if there was someone above you.”

“No need to think too hard about it. In this world now, power is the only right. Name value, fame, noble title, etc, are all not much better than trash.”

After saying that, Jiudad looked at Lukas for a moment.

“By the way… you look really familiar. If you don’t mind, might I ask your name?”

At that moment, Lukas recalled the owner of Kalinka. He’d been sure that he’d seen him on TV before.

So after hesitating for a moment, he answered.

“Lukasajin.”

“…hmm. A unique name.”

“…”

“In any case, I must be mistaken. My apologies.”

Jiudad smirked.

“I almost thought you were Lukas Trowman.”