Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 139

Translator: Pai_

A few months ago, the false information that Turan had spread among the survivors of Aravion had an even more powerful effect than expected.

“Are you saying that the white elves have taken over the upper ranks of our Aravion? What kind of absurd nonsense is that?”

“Don’t just dismiss it as nonsense. Think about it seriously. Elder Lin, for example. Didn’t he change quite a lot from his younger days? Not in a natural way, but noticeably, around a hundred and fifty years ago.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it...”

“I also thought it was nonsense at first, but the more old memories I recall, the more suspicious things I find.”

Those who were from the main family but belonged to the non-mainstream due to their lack of competence despite their age, or elders from the vassal houses.

Some who had spent their childhood with certain possessed bodies took Turan’s rumor seriously.

That was because there were indeed occasional cases where a person would suddenly and strangely change out of the blue.

In fact, lies are far more effective when subtly mixed into truth than when made up entirely from scratch.

Naturally, in such a situation where internal turmoil was boiling over, it was difficult to raise an army immediately.

Especially because Cadrum, the most active confidant of the family head, had even fallen in battle, Aravion had literally become a giant without a head.

At this rate, it seemed even a civil war might become inevitable.

If only Turan’s body had been fine, and if he had been aware of this confusion, he might have intervened to actively instigate a full-scale civil war.

Since, with Meisa as his figurehead, he would not have been lacking in legitimacy.

Unfortunately, however, Turan had no way to check how things were developing within the House Aravion.

There was no one within the Berk family, just a mere vassal house, who could properly carry out an espionage mission, and if Turan himself were to infiltrate Aravion, he would be unable to defend against attacks from other houses.

Thus, against the vassal houses that were openly rebelling against Aravion without any central leadership, a single superhuman appeared.

"F-family head."

"Yes, do I still look like a white elf to you too?"

Badal Aravion.

Now over four hundred years old, with only death awaiting him, his aged eyes gleamed fiercely.

His figure, who had been frail and sickly until just recently, now seemed like a lie.

The man lying across the broken ruins looked up at his lord and pleaded.

"I, I harbored foolish thoughts. Please..."

Before he could even finish his words, lightning surged from Badal’s hand and burned his body.

After a blinding flash that could blind one’s eyes, only ashes remained.

“There shall no longer be any traitors on this land.”

At the declaration of the family head, everyone bowed their heads deeply and praised Aravion, the descendant of the great Thunder Lord.

Whatever they thought inside, at least on the surface, they expressed submission before that overwhelming power.

*

It took about three weeks for the family head to personally suppress the rebellion.

Just as the Takein Plains were starting to stabilize, Aravion sent an envoy to Carmine, who had until recently been preparing for war.

Thanks to riding the fastest magical beast in the family without rest, it took him less than five days to arrive.

“A peace offer?”

“Yes.”

“I heard things haven’t been going well for you lately, but why should we care about that?”

The head of the Carmine family, Rodor Carmine, wore a look of disbelief as he lightly burned the letter that had been delivered to him.

It was Aravion who, until just recently, had been provoking them and gearing up for war, and now that their own situation had worsened, they wanted to call it off?

War wasn’t some children’s game.

Of course, after living for so many years, these matters of politics and war had long started to feel like entertainment to them, but even so, it wasn’t something to be treated lightly or with mercy.

At Rodor’s attitude, Lin Aravion, the elder of Aravion who had come as an envoy, spoke with a solemn expression.

“There is something I must tell you apart from the document I handed you earlier. Would it be possible to request a private audience?”

“Well, fine. I permit it. Everyone, leave us.”

“Will that be all right?”

“You think that guy could actually harm me somehow?”

Lin Aravion, though one of the most formidable elders of Aravion and a veteran of war, was already over three hundred years old.

In contrast, Rodor had immense magical power befitting a family head, and his physical age was still in his mid-thirties.

Considering how physical health and reflexes are crucial even in battles among wizards, there was practically no possibility of any incident occurring.

A moment later, with only the two of them remaining, Rodor created an orb of light to brighten the surroundings and asked.

“What’s on your mind? Don’t tell me you’re here to appeal to some sort of camaraderie as fellow easterners.”

The conversation from this point was not between a great house’s head and an elder, but between foreigners from a distant place.

Accordingly, Lin also straightened his deeply bowed back and faced him.

“Our secret has been exposed.”

“To whom?”

“To a bastard of the House Zahar bloodline named Turan. He’s now building his own faction in Kalamaf of the Gray Zone. We must crush him before he grows any further.”

“Turan? Ah, I think I’ve heard of him before…”

After thinking briefly, Rodor soon remembered where he had heard the name.

Wasn’t it Phoenix no, Talis, who came to visit not long ago and said he was his grandson?

“But isn’t that a rather flimsy excuse? That kind of resistance from mere natives could be crushed by any one of you, couldn’t it?”

“He’s not at that level. He’s already strong enough that even I would have trouble handling him alone. On top of that, he has two others of similar strength as his companions, and he can even use Soul Magic. Rom has already been captured without being able to escape.”

Rodor was momentarily speechless at Lin’s explanation.

If beings like them, possessed bodies, revealed their true power, ordinary nobles were usually trampled like insects.

But now one of them had even been captured?

At such an unbelievable claim, he immediately voiced the suspicion forming in his mind.

“Could it be that your leader engineered something? No being with that kind of power could be born naturally.”

“I figured you’d think that. But the answer is, of course, ‘No.’ We already poured everything into creating Meisa. That guy is a naturally occurring anomaly.”

Rodor stroked his short beard, sinking into thought.

A natural born wizard so powerful that even possessed bodies like them couldn’t easily overcome him?

A mysterious being not seen once in the past several thousand years, it made his heart, which he thought long dead, start to pound.

“Well, I get the gist of it. So, what’s the compensation?”

“Compensation?”

“From the way I hear it, that guy baring his fangs is mainly against you and Varaha. Doesn’t seem like it concerns us much. Your problem is your own, and if you started the provocation, you ought to pay for it.”

At Rodor’s words, the wrinkles on the Aravion elder’s face contorted.

He had always been an eyesore, acting like some self-proclaimed ‘Lawyer’, but he hadn’t expected him to try to profit from a situation that posed a threat to all of them.

"...Are you really going to be like this?"

“Yes, I really am.”

After a brief silence and a battle of gazes, it was Lin who first looked away.

It was the result of the difference in their respective standings and the difference in physical stamina and magic power of the bodies they possessed.

“Fine. I’ll talk to our leader. Separately, I’d also like to ask for assistance.”

“From us? What about Caesar?”

“We already proposed it to him, but his response was lukewarm.”

“Maybe he suspects you’re staging another act? You’ve done things like that often enough.”

Rodor, observing Lin’s awkward cough, realized his suspicions were correct.

Despite having lived for thousands of years, how could he still be so easy to read?

There was a clear reason why that guy had chosen Rom, known as Cadrum, as his confidant over the fool standing before him.

‘So, Caesar decided to stand by and watch, huh.’

He wasn't unaware of the thoughts of Caesar, the ruler of House Zahar.

Everyone knew how cunning he was, the one who ruled over both House Aravion and House Nagin.

Would his personality, which had been persistently exposed on message boards every few months for scams, change just because he had reigned as a god for thousands of years?

Suppressing a sneer, Rodor made a light gesture with his hand.

“Anyway, I’ve heard enough. I’ll hold off on helping, and since you say this concerns all of us, I’ll accept a modest compensation. You may leave.”

“...Thank you.”

“Oh ho, how dare you. You should say, ‘Thank you, Lord Head.’”

“Thank you, Lord Head.”

Lin replied in a tone like he was spitting out the words in response to the continuing mockery, and as he turned around to leave, Rodor, now alone, whistled softly.

A melody from a faraway memory that didn’t exist in this world.

'Who would have thought that what I was worrying about would be resolved like this. How lucky.'

In truth, the House Carmine wasn’t in a position to be growling about “surrendering something if you want a truce” to Aravion.

This was due to the presence of great sea serpent mermaids that had been circling around the North Sea and posing a threat for some time now.

Though there hadn’t been a physical clash yet, the family’s main forces simply couldn’t be withdrawn from their capital in Avacha.

And now, in a situation where they were about to face a two-front war, one side was asking for a truce?

And in the midst of this, after pretending to be a bit stronger, they even got a free meal. It couldn't get any better.

“Turan, Turan...”

But his joy was short-lived, as Rodor muttered the name Turan that he had just heard.

A native born in this world, and yet a dangerous element daring to rise to their level and oppose them...

‘Might be fun to toy with him, but still, I should eliminate him when I get the chance.’

Cutting off dangerous sprouts early.

That was the very secret to how they had survived for thousands of years.

The head of House Carmine added Turan's name to his personal kill list.

*

Whoosh-

Feeling the wind brushing past his ears, Turan gazed into the distant Gray Zone.

It had been two days since receiving the urgent news.

He was now flying swiftly northward on Bije, accompanied by the reinforcements sent from Lavitas.

“Are you okay, Bije?”

-Tired...

Within Turan’s mind, Bije’s voice came faintly, as if it might vanish any moment.

It couldn't be helped.

Bije was flying at full speed without rest, carrying a huge net with dozens of people hanging from her legs.

No matter how powerful a magical beast she was, there was a clear limit to her strength and stamina.

“I’m really sorry. But hang in there just a little longer. Meisa and Solif, and everyone else, they’re in danger.”

-Okay...

Flap, with the sound of wings beating, the ground below was once again swept far behind.

Turan looked down, trying to calm his growing anxiety.

‘Two top-tier nobles, five high-ranking ones, fifteen mid-tier... With this force, we should be able to stand our ground.’

Of course, the best reinforcements would have been Family Head Osel, but he had only just gotten out of bed and couldn’t function as meaningful combat power right away.

Moreover, if he had been mobilized, the Lavitas main house would have been left far too vulnerable.

By contrast, the high-ranking nobles who had been aiding in Osel’s recovery only lacked magic power and stamina, so they could simply recover those while flying.

Though, in this current situation, it was a bit doubtful whether they could recover much stamina at all, even if magic power wasn’t an issue.

“Are we far off!?”

“We’re almost there!”

“Ugh, seriously, please let me sit down next time...”

One of the Lavitas nobles hanging from the net below clutched his mouth and gagged, looking nauseated.

It would have been much better if he had the large group saddle he had used when crossing the mountains with the Berk family members, but unfortunately, he had left it behind in Kalamaf. As a result, he was now using a makeshift saddle made of netting.

Turan was the only one riding directly on Bije’s back, under the pretext of leading the movement.

As they approached the vicinity of Kalamaf, Turan closed his eyes and used Tracking Magic to locate Meisa’s trail.

‘Southwest of Kalamaf... I smell blood. Is she injured?’

Clicking his tongue briefly in sudden concern, Turan then sensed Solif’s presence.

The two of them weren’t very far apart.

Then, upon confirming Ashiz, Melo, and the head couple of House Berk, he realized they were all in a similar direction.

It seemed they were fleeing the city.

In other words, the enemy was overwhelmingly strong.

‘No way.’

If there was such a force currently in Aravion, it could only be one.

Turan realized that the suspicion he had feared was becoming reality.

“He’s here.”

A murmur tinged with fear dispersed into the air.

Soon after, Bije, carrying Turan and the Lavitas wizards, flew sluggishly, now completely exhausted.

Just before she completely collapsed, Turan gave the order to land.

“You really worked hard, Bije. Get some good rest.”

-Turan, fight...

“I’ll handle things from here.”

If Bije, this exhausted, joined the fight, it would only be worrying and more of a hindrance.

Perhaps sensing Turan’s thoughts, Bije quietly entered his body and fell asleep.

While the Lavitas wizards who had landed stretched out their stiff joints, Turan used the tracking magic he had been maintaining to pinpoint his allies’ location.

“They’re this way. Let’s all run.”

“Yes.”

As uncomfortable as it had been hanging from Bije’s net, the Lavitas wizards would’ve liked to rest a little longer. But seeing Turan on the verge of bursting from urgency, they couldn’t say a word.

The twenty or so wizards ran across the low hills faster than most wild beasts.

Before long, bright light and booming noise began to erupt from the distance, signaling where the battle was taking place.

The fight was occurring near the border between the Gray Zone and the western forest region, closer to the forest itself.

“It’s that way!”

“I’ll go ahead!”

After informing the top-tier noble of Lavitas who had come with him, Turan immediately launched himself from the ground with a powerful stomp.

He shot forward even faster than when he was walking moments ago.

‘They better be okay...’

The fact that Tracking Magic was working meant their bodies were still intact.

If one tried to track someone who had died, unless it had just happened, a distinct corpse stench would always rise.

Even knowing that logically, he couldn’t stop worrying that something might have happened to Meisa, Solif, or the others.

His anxiety was directly reflected in the magic, allowing him to fly faster than usual.

Moments later, the battlefield came into Turan’s view.

"Aaaargh-!"

“Die! You filthy traitors!”

“Please spare me!”

“Just a little longer, hang in there!”

What he saw first was Aravion’s wizards attacking the House Berk’s members.

The Berk wizards, outnumbered, were sticking together and focused entirely on defense, but even at a glance, it was clear they were struggling.

Toward them, Turan stopped flying and immediately loaded a metal orb into his slingshot and fired.

Riding the wind path he now created as naturally as breathing, the orb tore through the air and exploded with a thunderous boom at the target.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Urgh!”

Those who screamed at the sight were the members of House Berk.

Naturally, the Aravion wizards who had been pursuing them were instantly torn apart and killed by the shockwave.

Though they were momentarily stunned by the unexpected attack, their faces brightened as Turan flew in from the front.

“Ah...!”

“Lord Turan!”

“Thank you!”

“Where are they headed?”

There was no time for pleasantries, so Turan got straight to the point.

The one who appeared to be the leader answered.

“They're moving toward the western canyon. We were ambushed along the way and got scattered, so I’m not sure where the others are…”

“No need. I’ll handle it. Just get yourselves to safety there.”

“Yes, sir!”

After rescuing that group, Turan once again set his Tracking Magic targets to Meisa and Solif.

In truth, he didn’t even need to do that to find them.

They were right where the fiercest battle in the area was taking place.

Before long, Turan laid eyes on Meisa and Solif, locked in a brutal fight, covered in blood, in a truly desperate struggle.

And standing opposite them, an old man.

Just then, it seemed that man had noticed Turan’s presence as well. He stopped pressing his assault on the two and took a moment to catch his breath.

A gruff, aged voice that Turan had heard before echoed in his ears.

“So, I finally get to meet the friend who kidnapped my daughter.”

Badal Aravion, head of the House Aravion, threw out a joke with a humorless face.