Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 156.1

Translator: Pai_

Meeting room of the House Parsha.

After presenting quite a convincing story to Turan and the surrounding vassals, Jemel temporarily excused himself.

Only then did the vassals, who had been quietly listening, begin to discuss.

“What do you think?”

“It doesn’t sound too bad to me. After all, it is a calamity that needs to be dealt with.”

“Besides, I like that the other side is showing a humble attitude.”

The House Parsha, thanks to Turan’s fame for repelling the head of the House Aravion and negotiations with the House Zahar, quickly solidified its position for a newly rising great noble house. However, compared to the long-established and traditionally rooted great noble houses, the reality was that they still fell short in rank.

But now, even if not one of the most ancient houses, the rather powerful House Carmine was treating them as a step above?

Wasn’t it only natural to feel a surge of pride?

Seated at the head of the table, Turan read the atmosphere of the group and quietly spoke.

“Seems like everyone wants to accept it.”

“Yes, after all... even the compensation that Carmine is offering is no small thing.”

To form this joint venture, Carmine had laid out shockingly generous terms- two sacred relics, one magic battleship, and two hundred tons of gold.

That was an exceptionally favorable offer, even for a request to a great noble house for assistance.

“Do the others share the same opinion?”

“I have a slightly different view.”

The one who spoke was Haram, a guest of House Berk, Turan's mentor, and one of Parsha's most powerful assets.

Maintaining a solemn expression, he said,

“With a war against Ruvan expected soon and the threat from Aravion still not stabilized, we would effectively be opening three fronts. We cannot handle that.”

"But don't we need to eliminate the Great Sea Serpent anyway?"

“Since a maritime ban has been issued, the urgency is not on our side. It would be better to let Carmine, who has the North Sea as their base, to handle it themselves.”

To a noble’s question, Haram replied coldly and, as if his duty ended there, closed his eyes and nodded.

Watching this quietly, Turan addressed everyone.

“As he said, we are not in a situation where we can afford to be relaxed. We will decline Carmine’s offer.”

“If we reject this, neighboring houses may look down on us...”

The person who began to object soon trailed off in the face of the surrounding atmosphere.

Turan chose not to scold him and thereby diminish his own authority.

‘Thanks to Master rejecting it at the right moment, it’s easier to bring up now.’

Turan had also decided to reject the proposal as soon as he heard it, but not simply because he was concerned about expanding the fronts, as he had just said.

Considering that the threat of the Great Sea Serpent wasn't temporary, it would be better to finish it off through cooperation when possible.

The problem was that Carmine couldn't be trusted.

'They abandoned their capital because they were overpowered? What a joke.'

According to Turan’s recent battle experience, each member of the Great Sea Serpent clan had abilities comparable to or slightly inferior to an average family head.

Their number was around a dozen, and the king and queen would be slightly stronger than that.

In that case, if the head of Carmine, Lawyer, were to unleash the power of a god along with other possessed vessels, they should have been able to repel or kill them.

'Unless Carmine's vessels are half-elves like those from Varaha or Ruvan.'

Half-elves, due to the fusion of gods and white elf souls, suffered significant disadvantages in drawing out gods power.

Unlike those like Turan, Meisa, and Solif, who had a proper coexistence of soul and flesh and could freely combine symbols with the power of the soul with no side effects other than the depletion of spiritual power, the others couldn’t.

Was it because White Elf souls and gods symbols were inherently incompatible powers?

If Carmine’s gods were similar types, it could be understandable, but otherwise, there was a high possibility they were scheming something.

For example, they might join the battle only to stab them in the back near the end...

In fact, there was an even bigger reason for the rejection than all of this.

It was the smell.

Throughout the time Jemel came to Turan and told his stories, not a single body scent emitted from Jemel.

‘He probably used some kind of magic artifact or sacred relic to hide it. Because he knows I carry the Zahar bloodline. But still.’

Logically, if he had no ulterior motives, there would be no reason to hide his scent while coming to ask for help.

He must have something shady within, some emotion he must not reveal to Turan, and that’s why he hid it.

That alone was enough for Turan to lose all intention of accepting any offer from him.

If rejecting it meant becoming enemies?

Then that would just mean they had decided to turn hostile long ago anyway.

Not long after, Jemel returned to the conference hall and looked startled upon seeing Turan expressing rejection.

“Wh-why... Lord of the House Parsha, please reconsider. This is not just an issue of our house but something for all of humanity.”

“My decision will not change. At the very least, if Aravion were destroyed or a rightful head were established, we could consider cooperation, but not now. Go back.”

The rightful head he spoke of was, naturally, Meisa.

Even after that, Jemel added all kinds of sweet words trying to sway Turan’s decision, but when Turan said “I don’t want to hear anymore,” he had no choice but to shut his mouth.

A mere aide to a family head could not casually bare his teeth before another house’s head.

In the end, having gained nothing, Jemel looked up at Turan with eyes full of fury and muttered under his breath with a clenched jaw.

Despite being unable to smell the other’s scent, Turan could distinctly sense the raw emotion.

“...I will withdraw. I pray you live long.”

Were those emotions Jemel’s? Or were they from the god possessing him?

Either way, it didn’t really matter.

*

Before long, word of the events between House Parsha and House Carmine spread widely.

The story that the ones who had lost their capital came to ask for help and were rejected.

Some criticized that it was disappointing that Parsha refused to help fellow humans, while others argued it was only natural considering the powerful enemy beside them.

Most of the high-ranking wizards of the House Parsha, who had recently gone with Meisa to rescue Ophen, reached a tentative conclusion that Turan’s decision was correct.

A few were momentarily dazzled by Jemel’s submissive attitude and the extravagant compensation, but when thought through calmly, the Great Sea Serpent was simply too powerful an enemy to be swayed by that.

After the envoy left, another event soon arose that proved Turan’s decision to be right.

From the far east came word that the great noble house Ruvan had begun advancing toward Varaha’s territory.

“A war?”

"Yes. It's really giving me a headache. We were just starting to normalize the territory..."

Due to repeated wars, the Land of the Lakes, which belonged to Varaha, was chronically short of wizards, to the extent that even Solif, the family head, would go out himself to hunt magical beasts.

Though some wizards from Parsha and Lavitas were staying there both for support and surveillance, their number was small, so it was understandable.

“How many troops?”

“I haven’t seen them myself, so I can’t say for sure, but the number is around twelve hundred.”

“1,200... What about Varaha?”

"If we really squeeze everything out, eight hundred. Of course, most of them are not combat-ready."