Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage - Chapter 384: Returning the Favor (5)

‘This should be good enough for Shahatra.’

Herabola was a clever man, and Henry considered that he had told him enough. He was confident that he wouldn’t need to worry about the desert king. As long as he didn’t lose his mind, Herabola would be able to deal with everything on his own now.

Besides that, Henry wasn’t worried that Herabola would go around and tell others about his so-called Future Sight, as he probably knew that it wouldn’t be any good for him if word got around.

‘Then I guess preventing his early death is the last thing remaining.’

Before, Herabola had shortly died after Herarion’s birth. Henry didn’t know the details; he had merely heard something about him contracting a disease. And that was the beginning of the tragedy of the Shahatra kingdom.

‘If Herabola had lived a long and healthy life, he would’ve taught Herarion himself. Besides, he would’ve kept the throne for longer, preserving its power.

Henry quickly finished his meal after saying everything he had wanted to say and patted Herabola on the shoulder a couple of times, letting him know that he was aware of the thoughts that were swirling in his mind.

“I’m sure you’ll do so even without me telling you, but come visit once a year. That way, I can keep you updated if I get more visions about Shahatra.”

“…Thanks.”

“Of course. What’re friends for after all, right?”

Henry didn’t really have the ability to foresee the future, but he nonetheless knew what would come, and so he wanted to assess what Heraboala did every year and help him change the bleak future.

After that, Henry said goodbye and left the room.

‘Alright, three more places to visit.’

There were a lot of people who had helped Henry, among them five big allies. He had already paid his debt to Hela of Amaris and Herabola of Shahatra, so he only had three other people to visit.

However, Henry crossed Deucekain from his list. Even though the Chowan Tribe had helped Henry in his war against Arthus, Deucekain was a kingdom where rulers were determined by power struggles.

On top of that, the current ruler of Deucekain wasn’t the Chowan Tribe. Thus, Henry determined that he would just wait for the Chowan Tribe to naturally rise to power and repay them then.

‘It won’t be too late to help them then.’

And so, there were only two places for Henry to visit now, the Sore Empire and Zipan. He decided to visit the former first.

‘If I remember correctly, Chungang was the Taejae at this time…’

If the people of Shahatra called their ruler Khan, the people of the Sore Empire called their ruler Taejae. The children of the Taejae were callen Taeja.

The Taejae Henry had met following his reincarnation was Hongwol, Chungang’s third child. Back then, Hongwol was still young, so it was her two ministers who took care of state affairs.

However, Henry had gone back decades in time, meaning that Hongwol wasn’t even born yet. Thus, Henry planned to meet the Taejae in order to repay Hongwol’s favor before she was even born.

Henry went to look for the guests from the Sore Empire, and he learned from locals that the Taejae was staying in his designated guest annex within the imperial palace, just like Herabola.

Realizing how close he was to Chungang, Henry got moving. When he arrived in front of the building, he saw the Great General of Sore guarding the doors.

The general bowed first and greeted Henry after recognizing him.

“Archmage, what brought you here this morning? Is there anything I can do to assist you?”

Henry found the general well-mannered and cordial, but he didn’t recognize him.

‘Yeah, there’s obviously a different general as well.’

Given the point in time he had returned to, Henry figured that the general he had met after his reincarnation probably couldn’t even hold a sword yet.

“I just came to say hello to the Taejae,” Henry replied politely. “I’ve been quite busy, so I haven’t had the chance to properly greet him.”

The general seemed slightly moved by Henry’s words. It seemed that Henry had said the perfect words, even though he had just made it up on the spot.

“Thank you for your consideration, Archmage! I’ll go ahead and let the Taejae know that you’re here, so please wait for a few moments.”

The guard’s voice was full of energy. He bowed his head before quickly going inside the building. And so, Henry waited by himself in front of the door.

“Archmage! Greetings!”

“Hmm?”

Henry heard an unfamiliar voice in the distance and turned around. But to his surprise, he couldn’t see anything.

However…

“Over Here!”

Henry heard the same voice from below. At this, he lowered his gaze, spotting a little boy in uniform looking at him. He seemed like a brave, energetic lad.

‘A kid?’

Henry knew that he was looking at the annex building designated for guests from the Sore Empire. He also knew that most of the guests from the Sore Empire were special guests invited to celebrate the founding of the empire.

Of course, invitations had been sent to the entire royal palace of the Sore Empire for the sake of formality. However, Henry had no idea that children had received invitations as well.

‘Is he the first Taeja?”

Looking at the boy, Henry naturally assumed he was the first-born Taeja. The second and third Taeja had yet to be born, but Henry had heard that the first Taeja had been born relatively early, so there was a chance that this kid was Chungang’s first child.

Having considered the possibilities, Henry kneeled down at eye level with the boy.

“You seem quite energetic. What’s your name, boy?”

“My name is Yuha!”

‘Yuha…’

The name definitely rang a bell. Henry went through his memories to remember who Yuha was, and he quickly realized…

‘Oh! The future general!’

Yuha was the general who would eventually assist Hongwol. Henry suddenly felt sorry for not calling Yuha by his name right away, but he quickly put on a smile so that the boy wouldn’t notice.

“Hmm, Yuha. Who did you follow to come here?”

“I came here with my father! Archmage, congratulations on the founding of the empire!”

“Haha!”

Henry couldn’t believe that a six or seven-year-old kid was congratulating him for something like that. Yuha seemed a lot brighter and lively than his future self.

Henry burst into laughter as he realized how endearing and sweet the future general of the Sore Empire was.

“Yuha, thank you. But you mentioned your father. Who’s your father?”

“My father’s name is Yucheon! He’s currently the great general protecting the Sore Empire.”

Henry instantly realized that he was the general who had gone inside to tell the Taejae about his arrival.

‘Son and father both becoming generals. A much more impressive family than I thought.’

Henry was amazed by the fact that Yuha would follow in his father’s footsteps and serve the Sore Empire as a general. He was happy and proud of both of them.

“Then is it your goal to follow your father and become a general as well, Yuha?” Henry asked with a bright smile.

“Yes! That’s right!”

“Hehe, then I guess I should at least give a gift to the future general of the Sore Empire, right?”

“Gi-gift?”

Yuha’s eyes sparkled at the word “gift,” and seeing his reaction, Henry realized that no matter how much they pretended to be like adults, children were still children at the end of the day.

Henry proceeded to search through his subspace for the perfect gift for Yuha. After all, the boy in front of him wasn’t just a boy; he was the general who had helped him fight against the Imperial Ten Swords.

Even though Yuha was just a young kid at this point in time, Henry didn’t want to disregard what he had done for him.

After a few more seconds of searching, Henry finally found a gift worthy of Yuha. He slowly pulled his hand out of the subspace…

“Woooah…”

Henry expected Yuha to be surprised, given that it looked like he was pulling something out of thin air. He took out a dagger for him. Deep inside, Henry would’ve liked to give Yuha a proper sword, like a longsword or a bastard sword.

However, considering Yuha’s age, a dagger seemed more appropriate. Henry figured that he could give Yuha a better sword as a gift when he grew older, as he already knew they were going to interact a lot in the future.

Henry handed Yuha the dagger with black ornaments and explained about it.

“The name of this blade is Loyal Dog. Once the Loyal Dog recognizes someone as its owner, it will never allow anyone other than its owner to wield it.

“Loyal… Dog.”

Yuha’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the dagger in his hands. He promptly bowed deeply and exclaimed, “Archmage! Thank you, Archmage!”

“Yes, Yuha. You’ll continue to grow up, so I shall send you a sword that suits you every year.”

“Oh, really?!”

It was only natural for a boy whose dream was becoming a general to be overjoyed after hearing that the best wizard on the continent would give him a new sword every year.

After accepting the Loyal Dog, Yuha expressed his gratitude several more times and then quickly walked away. Henry could tell that the boy was clever and intelligent just from their short interaction. And if nothing unexpected happened, Henry was convinced that Yuha would grow up to be the great general he had encountered in his previous life.

Just as Yuha disappeared, someone called out to Henry.

“Let me lead you inside, Archmage.”

It was none other than Yucheon, Yuha’s father. It seemed like he didn’t know Yuha’s interaction with Henry.

“You have a wonderful son, General.”

“Sorry?”

“Your son just congratulated me on the founding of the empire.”

“Haha! I’m sorry if that youngster troubled you, Archmage. Please accept my apology on behalf of him.”

”Oh, not at all. Since when is congratulating someone considered rude? I could tell how your son admires you. I look forward to seeing him grow.”

“Thank you, Archmage.”

Following their brief discussion, Yucheon guided Henry to where the Taejae was waiting. The two arrived at the reception room, where Chungang along with the left and right ministers were waiting for him.

The two ministers bowed as they recognized Henry.

“Welcome, Archmage.”

“Oh, it’s been a while since I saw the two of you,” Henry replied. “Greetings to you too, Taejae.”

At this, Chungang greeted Henry back. He was a man with distinctive masculine features.

The two decided to talk over tea, as both of them had eaten already.

“I can’t help but wonder… What brings you here this morning?”

“I’m sure the general has already told you, but I just wanted to stop by to greet you properly, as I haven’t had the time to do it sooner.”

Chungang was surprised as Henry confirmed what the general had told him. While the Eurasian Empire and the Sore Empire were allies, Chungang knew that it was merely a diplomatic relationship.

On top of that, Chungang was aware that the Sore Empire was just a weak country that paid tribute to the Eurasian Empire. Therefore, the fact that he was the emperor of the Sore Empire didn’t mean anything against Henry.

That was the reason Chungang was surprised when Henry apologized for not being able to greet him earlier.

“Taejae, would you allow a private conversation between the two of us? There is something I would like to discuss with you.”

“Of course. Leave us alone for a moment,” Chungang told the right and left ministers.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

With that, Henry proceeded to give Chungang the same story he had given Herabola about his ability to see the future.

“Does that mean… You can foresee the future now, Archmage?”

“Yes. My ability to do so is limited, so I only get random visions. However, I’ve been seeing visions about the Sore Empire lately, which is why I came here to see you, Taejae.”

“Hehe, the future of Sore, you say?”

“Yes. Not long ago, I saw a pretty important future.”

“What kind of future do you see?”

Henry continued with his lie, thinking it was more convenient than explaining how he actually knew everything.

“Taejae, in the distant future, a terrible disease will spread in the Sore Empire, one that not even you can avoid,” Henry explained with a slightly serious expression.

“A terrible disease that I can’t avoid, you say?”

“That’s right. In the vision, I saw you die early because of the disease. Your children will also contract the disease, and the entire Sore Empire will be at risk.”

“I-Is that really true?”

“Yes. But fortunately, you will have a daughter later on in life…”

Henry proceeded to explain how Chungang’ third Taeja, Hongwol, would be the only one to survive. He left out the treachery of the right minister. Given that Arthus was no longer in the picture, Henry thought that the right minister wouldn’t have a reason to betray the Sore Empire.

‘The Sore Empire is one of the rare countries on the continent that doesn’t accept the Church of Peace as its religion. That’s why they couldn’t fight off this pestilence, because they didn’t have the necessary healers. However, I can’t make them adopt a religion to prevent one disease. I guess there’s only one other way left.’

“Taejae, how does establishing diplomatic relations with our empire’s Magical Spire sound like to you?”

“Diplomatic relations with the Magical Spire?”

“It’s clear that an epidemic would be devastating for the Sore Empire. However, if you establish diplomatic ties with the Magical Spire and develop medical technology, you will definitely be able to avert that crisis.”

“Hmm, establishing diplomatic relations with the Magical Spire…”

Henry was indebted to Hongwol, even though it would be years before she was born. But even so, Henry wouldn’t ignore what she had done for him. So after much consideration on what she would like the most, this is what he had come up with.

Henry would return her favor by making sure that her father and siblings would be by her side.

‘To have the fate of the entire Sore Empire on her shoulders with no family is just too harsh.’

Henry smiled, thinking this was the perfect gift for Hongwol.