Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 143

Translator: Pai_

The emergence of the newly established House Parsha was, naturally, made known to all the nearby houses.

Spies who possessed the magic power of a knight or noble and were therefore caught by Turan's senses were either killed or banished, but a few managed to escape the surveillance network by luck.

They spread the news to the surrounding areas by all means, whether by sending messenger birds or riding swift magical beasts.

Thanks to that, even though only a short time had passed since the house had been named and announced, congratulatory messages had already started arriving from neighboring houses.

This happened even before any messenger had been sent to them.

During a break, when the three of them had gathered after a long time, Meisa tossed a letter and lamented about that part.

"We definitely need some way to gather information too. Right now, it's like we're just keeping our eyes closed..."

Of course, the fastest and simplest way was for Turan to personally investigate while riding Bije, but that was nothing more than an ad hoc solution.

The family head of a great noble house could not simply move around lightly like that; not only would it undermine the trust of the vassals under him, but it would also be difficult to respond to attacks like this one.

Naturally, this recent outing had been necessary and yielded many gains, but going forward, such actions would need to be avoided.

Naturally, House Parsha wasn’t sitting idly by either.

Whenever he had time, Turan tried to tame relatively docile magical beasts near Kalamaf using the power of the Tamer Bloodline, turning them into mounts. Meisa worked to simplify the communication magic device she had previously created so that it could be used more easily.

And lastly, Solif was designing a beacon system around Kalamaf, modeled after the one House Varaha prided itself on.

“Well, it looks like the beacons will work reasonably well. The problem was always the lack of stationed knights, but their numbers have increased a lot recently.”

“That’s a relief.”

Turan nodded at Solif’s words.

Of course, since they didn’t have many nobles with the Illusionist Bloodline, they couldn’t transmit messages as quickly and reliably as Varaha, but since the area was relatively small, adopting that method seemed worthwhile.

“Well, that’s enough about house matters for now...... You two, how's your personal training going?”

“I think I can use about seven skills now. The number of uses varies for each.”

Meisa answered as she immediately formed a light green wind blade in her hand.

God's magic, the techniques they referred to as ‘skills’.

Since she had finally succeeded in combining the symbols during the battle with Badal, Meisa had been steadily training to increase the number of skills she could use and how often she could cast them.

Unfortunately, unlike Turan, she couldn’t freely pull multiple handles inside her mind, and repeatedly pulling the few she could access caused her severe headaches, regardless of magic power depletion.

It was uncertain, but it seemed some kind of mental resource was being exhausted.

Instead, Meisa had a skill that Turan didn’t possess.

When she picked up the quill on the table and concentrated her mind, before long, a crackling sound emerged, and blue lightning sparked from the quill.

“Lightning Quill?”

“I succeeded with it recently. It seems to be a technique that simply imbues nearby objects with the lightning attribute.”

Turan checked Meisa’s inner world using the Mimic Relic.

He saw lightning and storms erupting with each strike of a hammer on an anvil.

"You combined three symbols?"

“Yeah. But it feels a bit unnatural and awkward.”

“That’s probably because it lacks the power of the Fighter Bloodline.”

In the inner world of Badal that he had seen before, and again recently, a thick, strong hand held a hammer and struck the anvil.

Meisa, lacking that hand, made the hammer striking the anvil seem weak.

“Do you think it’ll help with Enchantment Magic too?”

“Very much so. I’ve been testing this technique in all the magic devices I’m making lately, and it definitely helps improve performance. Of course, Lightning Magic doesn’t work very well on nobles from House Aravion...... but it should still affect the vassals.”

The most important duty Meisa held in the house was crafting combat magic devices to enhance their combat capabilities.

Of course, since she was also a core combatant, she couldn’t pour out all her strength to create powerful magic devices like Melo or Ashiz. However, thanks to her immense power, she could still produce devices of a level useful to ordinary nobles just by exerting moderate effort.

As a result, the current nobles and knights of House Parsha possessed a considerable number of magic devices and boasted skills beyond their actual combat power.

With no great noble house possessing the Enchanter Bloodline at present, there was no enchanter stronger than Meisa.

While the two were talking about enchantment magic for a moment, Solif, who had been sitting with his eyes closed in deep concentration, let out a long sigh and spoke.

"Damn, I'm really not getting anywhere with this. I feel like I could do it if I just knew the method.”

Unlike Meisa, who knew the fusion method of the Storm Bloodline, Solif still hadn’t succeeded in the fusion of the Sun Bloodline.

Considering that his aptitude for soul magic was not significantly inferior to Meisa’s, it really did come down to whether or not he knew the correct method, just as he had said.

On this matter, Turan also found it difficult to give any advice.

The elder of House Varaha he had fought in the past hadn’t fused the Sun Bloodline, but had instead unexpectedly combined the Fighter and Guardian Bloodlines in combat.

"I wish I could grab any of those gods and ask them. Think your grandfather would tell us if we asked?”

“Of course not. He absolutely won’t tell. And even if he did, it’s not something you should carelessly imitate.”

At present, House Zahar was showing an oddly friendly attitude toward Turan and House Parsha, but that didn’t mean they could let their guard down.

To begin with, Turan himself possessed a body that the gods of Zahar would salivate over.

Them sending a hostage-cum-spy like now and pretending to be on friendly terms was likely because Turan was openly antagonizing Aravion.

Apart from the fact that the past war had been a sort of theatrical performance, it was highly probable that the two houses were rivals even in the world of the gods.

After all, the downfall of a competitor is the very path to one’s own joy.

“If Aravion falls, the next battle will probably be against Zahar. Or maybe even just before or right after that.”

This was precisely why House Parsha, while sharpening its blades and raising its strength against Aravion, had yet to launch an attack.

The Gray Zone, where they currently resided, bordered both houses and allowed for an offensive against either side, but at the same time, left them vulnerable to invasion from both directions.

After briefly touching on the complicated political matters, the group shifted the topic back to the original subject, soul training.

Turan instructed the two to draw out their spirit bodies.

Before long, Meisa’s and Solif’s spirit forms emerged from their bodies and floated gently in the air. Turan did the same, drawing out his spirit form and standing before them.

He then reached out and lightly pulled at the needles embedded densely in their heads.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaargh!”

Fortunately, the half-groans and screams of the two were spiritual in nature and did not resound in the physical world.

After a while, when Solif begged him to stop, Turan let go and assessed the outcome.

“Looks like I pulled out about four and a half again today.”

“My head is throbbing.......”

“Are you sure this is actually helping?”

“I can’t be completely sure either, but it doesn’t feel like pulling them out is doing any harm.”

The instincts of someone deeply trained in soul magic couldn’t be dismissed as mere hunches.

Like prophets who read weather and the future by observing clouds and stars, high-level soul magic users possessed a kind of supernatural foresight.

Of course, that wasn’t to say Turan, who had learned soul magic through introductory texts, had reached such a level. However, since some time ago, he had been feeling a powerful, almost certain intuition about this part.

If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have taken the risk of pulling out the needles.

“More than that, it’s frustrating that there’s no way to train soul magic further around here. Would’ve been nice if we could extract something from Cadrum.”

"Still no news from him?"

"None at all. I haven't even tried looking for him in the past few weeks. Been too busy."

From persistent torture to verbal persuasion.

At one time, Turan had persistently tried to draw even a single word from Cadrum’s spirit, but these days, he was practically leaving him alone.

He had grown weary of banging on what was essentially a wall, especially when there was so much else to do.

While they were in the midst of a discussion on whether they should simply crush Cadrum’s soul since there had been no progress, the three of them simultaneously fell silent.

Moments later, someone knocked on the door of the lounge where they had been resting.

“Come in.”

At Turan’s words, the door opened, and in came a knight who had once belonged to House Berk but had now been reassigned directly under House Parsha.

With a somewhat tense expression, he reported to Turan.

“Report from the south. Multiple wizards, friendly, distance of 150 km.”

“Beacon?”

“Yes.”

"Looks like they're almost here. Is everything prepared for the banquet?"

“Yes, sir!”

“Well then, shall we wrap up and get ready?”

“Let’s do that.”

Hearing the knight’s report, Turan left his seat and stood up.

It was now time to act in the capacity of House Parsha’s family head.

*

“May infinite glory lie before the new great noble house, Turan Parsha. And may we become your eternal allies.”

“Your generous blessing is gratefully received. Thank you, Madam.”

In the garden in front of the mansion at Kalamaf.

Where there once had been well-kept trees and lawns, a large outdoor banquet venue had been installed.

At its center, Rida Lavitas greeted Turan with formal courtesy, as if they were meeting for the first time.

Originally, Turan, being hundreds of years younger, had addressed Rida with honorifics, but he could not do so on this occasion.

As the family head, if he showed deference to a mere noble, even if she had once been his saviour, it would appear as if House Parsha were subordinate to Lavitas.

Fortunately, Rida’s status was more than justified by her immense magic power and her significantly advanced age, so treating her with moderate respect as he did now was appropriate, not too lowly, yet not disrespectful either.

While the two representatives exchanged greetings, the nobles of House Lavitas who had entered the banquet hall quietly murmured their admiration.

“This is better set up than I expected.”

“I wasn’t really expecting much, to be honest.”

Though Parsha had repelled Aravion once, that feat had been accomplished by Turan and a few powerful nobles through their personal prowess.

Everyone knew that House Parsha was almost a hastily assembled group and lacked the scale and foundation to truly be called a great noble house.

However, Kalamaf, upon their arrival, turned out to be far more impressive than expected.

Though the interior still felt a bit empty, within the vast and grand walls, the mansion itself was nothing short of magnificent. Considering it belonged to a newly founded great house, it more than deserved a passing grade.

Naturally, Turan had a hand in all this.

Although he had lost the Earthmover Bloodline last time, the mastery he had accumulated over time hadn’t disappeared. With Earth transformation magic, he had rapidly undertaken a variety of construction works in a short time.

Meisa and Solif, being accustomed to such labor, were also a great help.

Some might view this as mere superficial pomp and consider it distasteful, but such visible displays were important.

Humans, after all, are emotional beings; regardless of a person’s actual skill level, people tend to instinctively shrink back or look down on others based on what they see and feel.

A while later, seated at the head table facing Rida, Turan spoke with a respectful tone, unlike earlier.

“Thank you for visiting us, Rida.”

“Think nothing of it. The family head asked me to convey his apologies for not being able to attend personally. More than that, I heard there was some unfortunate event recently. Are you all right?”

“Ah......”

The unfortunate event must have referred to the death of the Berk couple.

With a bitter smile, Turan lightly moistened his throat with the liquor placed before him.

“It is a painful wound, but everyone is trying to accept it and move forward.”

“I can only tell you to stay strong. As someone who has lost many dear people, I know that words offer little comfort.”

At Rida’s wise and age-tinged words, Turan responded with a gentle smile.

It wouldn’t be good for someone in the position of a family head to openly reveal his emotions.

Turan suddenly felt that the rise in his status was binding him yet again in a new way.

The establishment of a base had chained him with the fear of enemy attacks, preventing him from leaving. Then, another shackle came in the form of needing to restrain any actions or words that didn’t suit his station...

His train of thought was broken by a woman’s voice from beside him.

"House Head, if it's not impolite, could you introduce this lady to me as well?"

Berit Zahar.

His sixth cousin, feigning innocence, looked up at Turan with bright, expectant eyes as she addressed him.

At this, Rida laughed heartily and said,

"In our House Lavitas, it's not considered rude to converse without introductions when meeting for the first time."

“I see! My name is Berit Zahar.”

“Rida Lavitas. Zahar, you say, might I ask your relationship to the family head of that house?”

“He is my grandfather.”

“Then that would make you sixth cousins with the head of House Parsha here.”

Just like Meisa had in the past, Berit showed a hint of displeasure when her familial relationship with Turan was highlighted.

However, she was far more skilled at controlling her emotions, and the displeasure quickly vanished from her face.

After exchanging a few more words with Rida, Berit seemed to sense that the older woman wasn't particularly eager to talk with her, so she excused herself with a smile and left.

The elderly noblewoman, who had also sent her off with a soft smile, turned her slightly drowsy eyes toward Turan.

"I heard about it, but you really did bring a lady from House Zahar, Turan."

“That’s how it turned out. It was a condition they set.”

“Did Miss Meisa not get angry?”

“She beat me until my nose broke. And then forgave me.”

At Turan’s words, Rida laughed and slapped her knee.

Her youthful appearance made her occasional elderly gestures feel oddly out of place.

"It doesn't seem like just a broken nose was the end of it. I see something familiar hanging around Meisa's neck."

Rida gestured toward Meisa, who was mingling with her relatives, Melo and Ashiz.

She had noticed that the necklace around Meisa’s neck was none other than Lavitas’s sacred relic, ‘Modest Wish’.

“She didn’t exactly forgive me because I gave her that, though.”

"If I weren't a Lavitas noble and received that, I wouldn't have been able to sleep from joy. While it’s true men also long for youth, what can compare to a woman’s desire for it? Of course, it must still be a great gift to you as well.”

Shortly after confessing his love, Turan had given ‘Modest Wish’ to Meisa.

Just as Rida said, part of it was the hope that his beloved would remain eternally youthful, but even more so, Turan personally didn’t find much use for it.

With his Lavitas Bloodline set through the Mimic Relic, he too would enjoy the same blessing of eternal youth as them.

“Love stories among the young are certainly an entertaining subject... but I do have one thing I want to confirm.”

“What might that be?”

“I suspect there are too many ears around us here.”

At Rida’s words, Turan immediately used Wind Magic to block the airflow around the two of them.

Feeling this, Rida let out a soft breath of admiration.

“As expected.”

“You may speak freely now.”

“How closely do you plan to align yourself with House Zahar?”

“I see them as potential enemies.”

"I see."

Rida nodded without surprise, as if she had expected this response.

“Well, if you truly intended to form a proper alliance with them, you wouldn’t have treated that young lady so coldly. The family head specifically asked me to confirm your stance on this matter.”

For Osel, knowing whether Turan intended to align closely with Zahar or not was an issue of great importance.

After all, House Varaha, known for its friendly ties with Zahar, had now become an irreconcilable rival of House Lavitas.

Then, Rida subtly lowered her head and whispered in a hushed tone.

Though they both knew the air around them was sealed, she did so to emphasize just how important and secret this conversation was.

“Then, I suppose I should explain why I asked such a question earlier.”

Just hearing her say that was enough for him to guess what her next words would be.

“An invasion?”

"You're wise indeed. That's correct. As soon as this delegation returns, we plan to invade Varaha."

The young-looking elderly lady announced the coming of war with a gentle face.