Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 236

Translator: Pai_

The first time the idea came up that their world needed a name was right after the existence of Earth and various extraterrestrial beings was revealed.

Originally, names are unnecessary when one exists alone; they only hold value when calling someone or being called by someone.

The first proposed name was 'Ranch'.

The world of Shepherd Turan, the sheepdogs who follow him, and the sheep protected by them.

The one who opposed this idea was Meisa.

'I think it gives too negative an impression.'

Considering that the ones who would hear the name of their world would mostly be people from other worlds, she argued that the impression given by the name “Ranch” would not be very pleasant.

In truth, referring to them as raised sheep was, in a sense, no different from treating them as livestock.

Since the opinion had merit, the name “Ranch” was put on hold, and several other names were proposed.

'Disc', 'Plate', 'Dawn', 'Omnipotence', and so on.

The name that was ultimately chosen, “Cradle”, was proposed by Ashiz’s hyung, Melo.

'Among the many worlds, we’re no different from newborn infants now, are we? In that sense, the world barrier that protects us is essentially a cradle.'

One could argue that he was seeing everyone in the world as newborns, but in reality, those who realized the essence but could not handle it were no different from newborns.

Even Turan, who was the most powerful wizard in the world at the time, had been trampled without even being able to resist Monarch, who wielded the essence.

Likewise, thinking that their world would eventually become a place that raises those who can handle the essence, gods, the name “Cradle” wasn’t bad at all.

Thus, the name of their world was decided.

***

“You’ll be staying here.”

To the two wizards who had come from the world of Cradle, the President of the United States provided a luxurious accommodation.

They had heard it was a five-star hotel, one of the finest even in their world.

From the reception room, which was larger than the Soo-ho's room, to the simple yet elegant furniture and the panoramic view of New York City at night, everything was beyond perfect.

The styles were so different that it was hard to compare, but in their world, this place could be on par with the mansions of the heads of great noble houses.

However, Turan’s face twisted subtly as he stepped inside, guided by the hotel manager.

“Um, is something uncomfortable? If you let us know, we’ll be happy to make adjustments.”

The manager asked carefully, reading the guest’s discomfort.

He had served many famous people before, but never a wizard from another world, so how could he know what might have caused offense?

Instead of answering, Turan made a small gesture, causing mechanical devices to pop out from various parts of the room.

Cameras and wiretaps that had been hidden here and there burst out, making the manager’s jaw drop.

“W-what in the world is this?”

“I don’t know their exact purpose, but they seem like devices that extract internal information. Is it considered proper etiquette in your world to install such things in a guest’s room?”

“Absolutely not! I swear, our hotel would never do such a thing!”

Cameras and wiretaps in a guest room, such a thing would only be done by voyeuristic perverts running some seedy motel.

The moment word got out that a five-star hotel had such devices, it would become a massive scandal enough to shut it down immediately.

Realizing through the Eye of Truth that the manager was not lying, Turan softened his tone slightly and made a request.

“Then I suppose I should speak with your president. Could you connect me to him?”

“P-please wait just a moment!”

The hotel manager stepped aside, made a call on his phone, and then shouted at someone with a thunderous voice.

He yelled things like how they had urgently cleared out the room upon request, and yet someone had the audacity to pull this kind of stunt, and that if it ever happened again, he’d leak everything to the media regardless of any confidentiality agreements.

For Turan, who thought of the president as someone akin to a family head, it was quite a novel sight.

The image of an innkeeper shouting at a family head or their subordinate for sneaking around in their own establishment, such a thing was unimaginable in their world.

Is this what they call democracy?

A few minutes later, the face of the President of the United States once again appeared on a laptop held by a man in a black suit.

He politely apologized, saying that it seemed someone had acted without orders from their own intelligence agency and that he would make sure nothing like this ever happened again.

“Twice. I’ll let it go, the first time they attacked me and this attempt. But if there’s a third time, even my patience will reach its limit.”

With an expressionless face, Turan ended the conversation with that warning.

After the door closed, Meisa looked around with a slightly uneasy expression and spoke.

“There won’t be any more of that stuff now, right?”

“Probably. Can’t you sense it too?”

“Still, your senses are more reliable.”

Those who handled the essence could perceive the world in a form different from others.

While walking down the hallway, Turan had recognized that the CCTVs were transmitting their visual data elsewhere, and he was able to notice that something similar existed in the room as well.

“If I’d had this sense from the beginning, Soo-ho ssi wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble.”

“But if that were the case, getting in contact with the upper echelons of this country would’ve been more difficult. Anyway, look at this. It looks like food.”

“Where?”

“Should we ask if we can eat it? Wasn’t this the device they said to use for contact?”

Turan picked up the room service phone provided inside and inquired, and after being told that a special meal provided by the government would be sent up, he shrugged at Meisa after setting the phone down.

“They said we can look forward to it.”

“I hope it’s enough to lift my mood again.”

Fortunately, her hopes were satisfied not long after.

The food that arrived under the name of room service several dozen minutes later was so excellent that it eliminated all complaints.

"Wow, this Earth food is even more amazing than I thought...!"

“They use all kinds of interesting spices. I think this is Chinese food, and this one must be Indian.”

Since it was impossible to know what people from another world would like, the U.S. government had sent up food from virtually every country.

From American-style steak and fries to dishes originating from all across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America.

It was practically a culinary exposition of every dish on Earth that could be obtained at this hour.

Luckily for Earthlings, the combination of genetically engineered ingredients and all sorts of chemical seasonings was more than enough to tantalize the taste buds of the two wizards.

Given that the culinary culture of the world of Cradle, where creativity was limited and spices were scarce, was comparable to or even worse than medieval Earth, the difference was truly immense.

Meisa preferred strongly flavored Indian or Mexican dishes, while Turan enjoyed cuisine similar to that of Cradle but far more advanced, mainly Italian or French food.

It took nearly four hours for the two of them to eat food enough for about a hundred people.

“We finished it all...”

“Should we ask for more?”

“Let’s stop. We don’t want Earthlings going broke from trying to treat us. I also don’t want to seem like some glutton.”

If anyone had known they were worried about bankrupting the United States by eating too much, they would have burst out laughing.

And if they had known that the two really could eat until America was impoverished, they would have gone pale.

For the two of them, who could revert the food in their stomach into information and disperse it, eating was something they could do endlessly if they so wished.

After finishing their meal, the two sat across from each other, sipping wine to cleanse their palates as they looked down at the night view of New York.

Despite the late hour, there were still quite a few buildings with lights on.

“Just like the country we visited before, but this place is truly amazing. The buildings are so tall, and there are so many people. To think a single city holds as many people as the entire Takein Plains.”

“Someday, we should develop our world to this level too.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

At Turan’s confident words, Meisa smiled warmly and nodded.

Because that was exactly the kind of man she loved.

In reality, there was a minor issue in that they lacked petroleum and various underground resources, but in exchange, they possessed the overwhelming power of magic.

If they could successfully merge that with the Dwarves’ steam-based civilization, it might allow them to grow in a direction entirely different from Earth.

Of course, to enable all of these changes, they would need a large supply of presence from Earthlings.

Hopefully, the upcoming event tomorrow would help them achieve their desired goal.

***

Day three of their Earth visit.

Turan and Meisa fully enjoyed the luxurious facilities of the hotel and had quite a few conversations with the U.S. government.

The Americans hoped to win their favor and, little by little, draw out information about the world of Cradle.

How many individuals possessed the power called magic, how strong they were, whether Earthlings, like Soo-ho had done before, could also learn magic...

Turan answered only appropriately to such questions, and when the inquiries became too deep, he showed displeasure and shut them down.

It felt a bit like they were stalling for time, but since the luxurious life at the hotel and gathering information through the computers inside was quite entertaining, there wasn’t much to complain about.

Unlike them, who were fairly relaxed, the side facing issues was actually the U.S. government.

Despite having every participant in the operation sign strict confidentiality agreements and tightly managing devices, information had leaked from somewhere.

In truth, ever since Turan had transformed into a Golden Eagle and broadcast his voice throughout the state of New York, concealment had become nearly impossible.

"America is hiding the wizards responsible for the recent San Francisco disaster!"

It didn’t take long for that leaked story to become headline news across the world.

Heads of state from various countries and countless domestic media outlets swarmed in demanding the truth, and the government could not ignore such pressure.

After all, democracies were systems designed so that such demands couldn’t be suppressed by force.

“I was hoping we could keep it secret for a while longer.”

“It would’ve been difficult. The party in question didn’t seem too keen on secrecy to begin with, and we’re in no position to enforce it.”

President Mike Wilson nodded with a bitter expression at his aide’s words.

It was unfortunate that the dream of a government-run special unit of wizards had vanished even before it began, but it was foolish to dwell on what had already failed.

Had the relationship with the other side been a bit friendlier, it might have been different, but it had all started with an attack, followed by cameras and wiretaps planted in their room, getting caught doing that was a fatal blow.

In a situation like this, if it were revealed that the whole world was looking for them and the U.S. was hiding them, the relationship with the Wizard Emperor would completely collapse.

And that did not align with the national interest of the United States.

If they were wild animals that couldn’t be hunted or controlled, the only option was to feed them what they wanted and beg them not to bite.

At 3:00 PM Eastern Time, the President officially announced the existence of Turan and Meisa from the White House.

“We have made contact with two wizards, one of whom is the ‘Golden Eagle’ involved in the San Francisco disaster. According to him, the incident was triggered by a powerful evil wizard who invaded from their world...”

Naturally, this kind of statement from the President's spokesperson threw the world into utter chaos.

Who would’ve imagined that such fantasy-novel-like words would come out of the mouth of a presidential spokesperson?

If not for the mysterious wizards who had appeared in Central Park and a few conflict zones in the past, this would have been dismissed as an AI-generated video or something similar.

“I have a question!”

“Why are the wizards not appearing in public!?”

“Is it true they’re a secret government weapon-”

“Do they really want peace!?”

The spokesperson, brushing off the reporters’ relentless shouting with a dismissive wave, made an additional announcement.

That about three hours from now, the wizards would assist in the recovery efforts from the San Francisco disaster.

While journalists from all over the world rushed to book flights to airports near San Francisco, the president, who had started all this, was having a video call with someone.

[That’s more or less how it turned out.]

“That’s exactly what you wanted. But in that case, doesn’t that mean I have no choice but to appear on a broadcast? You people seemed very wary of that.”

[That… just forget it. We’ve decided to believe that nothing can be done through video and audio.]

“Hmm.”

Although Turan couldn’t use the Eye of Truth on someone beyond the screen, he instinctively knew the president wasn’t telling the truth.

Still, it wasn’t something worth worrying about deeply, as either way, it didn’t matter much to him.

[Currently, other world leaders also want to speak with you. Would you be willing to meet with them?]

“I have no reason to refuse. But only after I finish handling things on this side.”

[I see.]

It seemed the U.S. president didn’t want them to make contact with other countries.

Was it similar to how the head of a wizard family wouldn’t want a powerful wandering noble to be handed over to another family?

Not long after that conversation, Turan and Meisa arrived at Sacramento International Airport.

A military transport plane had been used for their travel.

Due to the urgency of the situation, they couldn’t recall the spatial coordinates of that location, making teleportation impossible, and the U.S. government did not want them flying across the mainland.

Sacramento International Airport was the closest and still-intact facility following the massive earthquake that had struck all of San Francisco.

“Is that them?!”

“This way!”

Due to the overwhelming crowd, they had to be escorted by dozens of heavily armed soldiers.

Strictly speaking, the soldiers weren’t protecting Turan and Meisa, but protecting the crowd from recklessly rushing at them.

“Please look over here!”

“You frauds! Do you think you're the first of your kind we've seen?!”

“We’re from The Washington Post!”

Ignoring the noisy voices coming from afar, Turan turned to the person the president had assigned to them.

A man with a closely cropped haircut, introduced as a lieutenant colonel, spoke politely.

“We’ll first be moving to UCD Medical Center. It’s the largest hospital in Sacramento and currently houses a large number of critical patients who were severely injured in the disaster.”

“Lead the way.”

Though his tone was as commanding as a noble's, his attitude was fairly gentle, and the lieutenant colonel recalled the instructions passed down from higher up.

Weren’t they told to be careful not to offend them, as they were like arrogant Arab royalty?

Still, they didn’t seem to be quite that bad.

In any case, thanks to the soldiers’ efforts in pushing through the swarm of international reporters, they were able to board the prepared vehicle and arrive at the UCD Medical Center.

Due to advance notice, there were hardly any people there other than patients and medical staff.

“Damn it, I still don’t understand what the hell we’re doing. Does the president really believe he can take full responsibility for this? Asking us to remove critical patients from their rooms and gather them like this, even just for a short time...”

“As I told you before, this is an emergency situation.”

“Looks like he thinks he’s not a president but a Führer. Just remember this: if things go wrong, I won’t be the only one who dies.”

Through the conversation between someone who seemed to be the hospital representative and the lieutenant colonel, Turan could sense that the president had made considerable sacrifices to accommodate his request.

If there were no visible results here, things could get troublesome.

Of course, that wasn’t going to happen.

In front of the massive hospital, a tent large enough to accommodate several hundred people had been set up.

Inside, medical staff were moving busily with equipment they had brought out, doing their best to care for the critical patients, those whose conditions were so severe they could barely be sustained outside their hospital rooms.

Turan clicked his tongue as he watched this.

‘There really are a lot of people in bad condition.’

The aftermath of the battle between the two Transcendents that reached San Francisco at the time was truly immense.

Over 50,000 dead, and at least ten times that number injured.

This was the result after Turan had stepped in to contain it. Had he ignored it and gone after Monarch instead, the number of deaths would have had to be multiplied by at least twenty.

Compared to that, the patients in this hospital were, quite literally, only a handful.

But to someone, each of them was as precious as an entire world.

A man who had lost both legs, an elderly person with half his internal organs gone and replaced by machines, a girl in a coma after a head injury...

Each of them desperately needed a miracle.

The kind of miracle Turan and Meisa could easily grant.

“Want to go first?”

“I’ll watch you do it once first. I’m not used to Healing Magic, so I might make a mistake.”

After checking with Meisa once, Turan stepped forward and reached out toward the wounded.

From a distance, hundreds of cameras recorded the scene.

*****

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