Shepherd Wizard

Chapter 92

Translator: Pai_

One week remained until the Great Sea Serpent arrived.

Turan and his group spent their time practicing magic and discussing how to ensure success when hunting the massive monster.

Rowena, Armania, and the other merfolk royalty also joined in the discussions, debating what roles they should take.

"If you can't breathe underwater and need to stay above the surface, why don't I support you? The piece of wood you came on is obviously going to be smashed to bits as soon as the real fight starts."

The one speaking was a merfolk royal who could transform into a sea turtle, with a shell length of a staggering seven meters.

Turan admired the sheer size of the creature, even larger than Rowena, who possessed far greater strength. However, his amazement was short-lived.

"Can't you move any faster?"

"This is my max speed! If I want to go faster, I have to shrink my body!"

Watching the sea turtle slowly plod forward as if weighed down by its own mass, Turan let out a small sigh.

Fortunately, it was a bit faster when swimming, and even when it reduced its size, it was still large enough for three people to ride on. It would at least be useful for resting.

It seemed, however, that using it for quick transportation would be difficult.

Aside from that, the merfolk royalty displayed their ability to transform into various sea creatures.

From elongated cutlassfish to squid, blue marlin, orcas, and even jellyfish...

Of course, they did not merely turn into large animals. Like Rowena, each of them possessed at least one unique ability.

Some could pierce through anything with their sharp snouts, release electricity from their tentacles, or emit sonic waves by roaring.

As the saying goes, when something is given, something must be returned.

Since the merfolk were actively demonstrating their abilities, Turan’s party also revealed some of their own techniques.

Turan showcased his expertise in slingshot techniques, Meisa displayed her lightning spells, and Solif cast Light of Judgment.

As the golden whip struck the waves, evaporating water into steam, the merfolk let out awed exclamations.

"Ooooh…!"

"I thought the power of devils was just about manipulating and freezing water, but it's more diverse than I expected."

It seemed that, aside from the wizards of House Carmine, the merfolk royalty had little experience with human magic users, making Turan’s party's abilities all the more fascinating to them.

Finally, when he demonstrated the explosion spell using the Spirit of Fire, one of the royal merfolk remarked,

"This is similar to our mother's technique. It would have been good if she were here."

"Mother?"

"Yes. She stayed at the palace to protect the ones who are too weak and young to be helpful. This one was brought along because there wasn't time to take him back there."

A young princess, swimming beside them, grabbed Armania, who was clinging to his older siblings, and stretched his cheeks as she spoke.

If the merfolk queen was a powerful fighter, even if not as strong as her husband, she would have been a great help. However, it seemed they had taken precautions to ensure the complete survival of their kingdom, acting as a kind of insurance.

For Turan’s party, it was both a shame and a relief.

If the merfolk had been stronger, the hunt would have been easier, but at the same time, they would likely hold more control over the situation.

"The merfolk king is a whale, right?"

"That’s right. He is truly incredible. He'll probably be leading the charge in battle."

Currently, the merfolk king was away from the island, as he had taken on the task of luring the Great Sea Serpent to this location.

Was he provoking it little by little from afar, gradually adjusting its trajectory?

Though the details were not shared with Turan’s party, the merfolk, having worshiped the Great Sea Serpent for generations, clearly had extensive knowledge about it.

Perhaps it had something to do with the power of that trident they possessed.

After gaining some understanding of each other's abilities and discussing combat strategies, they split up to begin individual training sessions to prepare for battle in the ocean.

During this time, Turan developed a few new spells, one that created a tube connecting to the surface for emergency breathing underwater and another that manipulated the surrounding water to move his body, similar to how a boat moved.

"Urgh..."

"Try harder, this is the most important technique for you."

"Easier said than done! Do you think I'm a genius like you guys?!"

Although it was Turan who created the technique, the one who trained the hardest with it was Solif, who was unable to fly due to his poor control over wind magic.

Turan watched him struggle to move his body using water and spoke in a low voice.

"Bije will be paired with you, but you should also prepare for the possibility of fighting underwater in case she gets seriously injured and can’t continue."

He avoided saying that someone might die, fearing it would bring misfortune, but they all knew there was a real possibility of casualties in this battle.

After all, that was the very nature of combat.

The likelihood of survival varied depending on one's strength, but in the end, battle was fundamentally a fight for one's life.

Moreover, this opponent was one whose full power they could not accurately predict until they faced it directly.

Bije, who had been perched on Turan’s head, tilted her head and stretched out her foot to write on the water’s surface.

[Could we die?]

"It’s fine. Just focus on carrying Solif and providing support. I’ll make sure you’re never in danger."

[Turan shouldn't die either. Neither should mate, or servant.]

"Who are you calling a servant?"

Solif, who had been listening, flared up in protest, only for Bije to flap her wings lightly and splash water at him.

Solif spat out the seawater with a disgusted expression and turned to Turan.

"So, the two of you will be flying around during the fight?"

"Yeah. Carrying all three of us through the storm would be too much of a burden on Bije."

Meisa, who had been smoothly manipulating the water to move her body, answered in Turan's place.

Although she was slightly slower at mastering the technique than Turan, her talent in magical perception and control was extraordinary.

Solif stroked his chin, where a slight silver beard had begun to grow, and spoke in a worried tone.

"But… is it really okay to reveal everything without holding anything back? I’m worried the word might spread."

"Well, those merfolk don’t seem to have much interaction with the land. Also… this is just my guess, but I think this kingdom will cut ties with House Carmine soon. After that, they won’t have much reason to associate with other major noble houses either."

Given the merfolk king’s displeasure toward Carmine’s god, the lawyer, and his ambition to revive the power of the old royal bloodline using the Great Sea Serpent’s corpse, this was a natural conclusion.

It was not surprising that those with enough power to be independent no longer wished to remain subordinate.

Hearing this, Solif suddenly smacked the water with his palm and exclaimed,

"Oh, that! What are we going to do about it?"

"About what?"

"The Great Sea Serpent’s corpse. You’re not really going to hand it over intact, are you?"

"What if we don't?"

"The royal family might have self-control and act all friendly now, but I bet there are still people getting eaten by merfolk somewhere along the shore. I don’t know if it’s really a good idea to give them such immense power."

"As long as they don’t break our agreement, I have no intention of breaking it either. A deal is a deal."

Some of the noble-class merfolk still occasionally looked at Turan’s party with a hint of hunger in their eyes, but at least the royal family showed no such signs.

So, Turan would treat them as intelligent beings capable of communication, people, accordingly.

If the other side wished to uphold their promise, it was only right to do the same. That was the golden rule.

Meisa, who had been listening, cleared her throat softly and said,

"I agree. Besides, if things go as Turan says, the merfolk growing stronger would actually weaken the gods’ control over them, right? That’s a win for us."

Outnumbered two to one, Solif sighed and flopped onto the water, lying down in resignation.

By now, he had trained enough to master the technique of solidifying water beneath him like a bed.

"Fine. I don’t care anymore. You figure it out."

"Don't worry too much. After all, once we’ve taken down the Great Sea Serpent, we’ll be strong enough to prevent them from using their newfound power to oppress humans."

According to the merfolk king, the Great Sea Serpent was far weaker than it had been at its peak. However, if they managed to hunt down a creature capable of triggering such natural phenomena, they would undoubtedly gain immense power.

Perhaps they could even surpass the level of top-ranking nobles and reach the level of great house family heads.

"Besides, even if they gain the power to transform into the Great Sea Serpent, it won’t be an overwhelming threat. After all, only one of them will survive to become king."

When Turan brought up the merfolk's customs, Solif and Meisa immediately turned their gazes toward the merfolk royalty, who were playing among themselves a short distance away.

At that very moment, a young royal was pouring sand over Rowena’s head, only to let out a shriek as he was struck in retaliation.

"Right… Now that you mention it, I really do find them fascinating."

"What about them?"

"They’re supposed to kill each other when it comes time to inherit the throne, right? So how can they be so friendly with each other?"

"If it were me, I wouldn’t even dare to stand next to them."

Meisa, still lying lazily on the water’s surface, chimed in. Turan glanced at the merfolk before answering, almost as if making an excuse.

"Well… I suppose their moral values are different from humans'."

In truth, Turan himself had trouble understanding it.

How could siblings who would eventually have to kill each other maintain such a harmonious relationship?

If he had been one of the mermaid royals, he would have tried every means to eliminate his brothers and sisters.

Conversely, if he judged that he could never be the final victor, he would have fled the kingdom from the start.

Yet they continued to regard each other as siblings and got along well, despite clear differences in power and talent.

When he said this, the two looked at Turan intently.

"What?"

"I mean… I never really thought about killing them all off first." (TL Note: If you find this line confusing, it is spoken by Solif. He's expressing that, unlike Turan, his first thought wouldn't have been to kill his brothers and sisters if he had been in that position.)

"Sometimes, I really think your mindset is a little off."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, really."

Meisa and Solif nodded in unison.

*

After finishing their training, Turan’s group, tired of eating fish, hunted a beast and prepared a meal using various spices and grain flour brought from Migel Island.

With his hunger satisfied, Turan turned to Meisa, who was licking her lips after taking just a single bite.

"Let’s go replenish your meal."

"Okay."

Meisa stole a glance at Solif before nodding.

Although they had done this numerous times during their time together, she still seemed reluctant to let Solif see the process of this feeding activity, as if it were something as private as using the restroom.

"Bring back some water while you’re at it."

Solif, aware of this, deliberately acted as if it was nothing special. However, at times, his forced indifference only made the situation feel even more awkward.

After finishing the feeding process in a secluded part of the forest, Meisa began putting on her magic artifacts again. As she did, Turan finally voiced a thought he had been considering for some time.

"After this hunt, we might need Solif’s help too."

"For what?"

"For this. If you keep getting stronger, it might become difficult for me to knock you out on my own."

Back when she had been frail and weak, it hadn’t been an issue. But as Meisa’s health improved, it was becoming increasingly challenging for Turan to make her lose consciousness during the process.

Of course, if they had the same amount of magic power, Turan would be stronger due to his superior physical build.

However, the problem was that Meisa possessed one of the highest levels of magic power among top-ranking nobles, whereas Turan was on the lower end of that spectrum.

On top of that, if she absorbed the Great Sea Serpent’s magic power after this hunt and didn’t hit her limit, Meisa was the one with the greater potential for further growth.

When absorbing magic power from a significantly stronger being, the process was more efficient for those who already had greater power to begin with.

"Even now, it’s already this difficult. By then, one of us might have to hold your legs while the other knocks you out."

The place where Meisa had instinctively struggled earlier was now nothing more than a patch of ground that had been completely churned up.

Hearing this, Meisa let out a small hum.

"That would be a bit..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If it comes to that, I’d rather go hungry for a while. Or I’ll try to find another way."

That "other way" referred to what she had recently discovered, boosting her self-esteem by helping people.

If not for the urgent need to hunt the Great Sea Serpent, they had originally planned to roam the North Sea, rescuing merchant ships in distress to fulfill that need.

But with the current storm raging, neither merchant ships nor pirate ships were moving around, making it a difficult option.

"Then, let’s try that method first when the time comes."

"Alright."

And with that, the two of them had already decided what they would do after the hunt.

In other words, it was a silent vow that none of them would die in the battle ahead.

*

As the days passed with alternating cycles of training and rest, the weather on the island grew increasingly violent.

The winds strengthened, the rain poured down in torrents, and occasionally, thunder rumbled across the sky.

Noticing the strange changes in the climate, the island's animals began moving in panicked herds, and even fish in the sea started surfacing in an unusual state.

As a result, the previously amicable atmosphere among them gradually turned tense.

The realization set in, the great battle was near, and some of them might truly not survive it.

Finally, on the fated day, a terrifying storm engulfed the island.

"At this rate, we can barely hear each other's voices!"

"From now on, unless it’s urgent, use hand signals to communicate!"

Of course, Turan and Meisa could transmit their voices using wind magic, and Solif could create floating text with illusion magic.

But with every bit of magic power precious for the upcoming fight, they couldn’t afford to waste it. Instead, they had prepared and practiced a few simple hand signals in advance.

[Can you see?]

[I can see.]

[What about now?]

[I can’t see well from here. Did you mean ‘up’?]

Just as they were testing the effective range of their signals, they spotted Rowena trudging toward them, clearly frustrated by the muddy ground.

As she got closer, she practically shouted over the roaring winds.

"The king will be here soon! The location is the eastern coast as planned!"

"Got it!"

After relaying the message to the others, Turan stroked Bije, who was perched at his side, to reassure her before moving forward.

By the time he arrived, the merfolk royalty had already gathered.

"He’s fin…ally… here…"

"On…ly… a little…"

The storm was so severe that none of their words carried properly.

Makun, the merfolk prince who could transform into an octopus, approached and spoke in a low voice.

"About five minutes left."

"Understood."

"The plan remains unchanged, right?"

"We need to make one adjustment."

"What is it?"

"The barrier… it’s useless now."

The day before, Turan had poured most of his Barrier Master Bloodline magic into setting up a barrier along the eastern coast.

It was meant to provide some form of support during the battle.

But now, it was completely scattered, likely torn apart by the storm.

A normal storm wouldn’t have been able to do that. However, the Great Sea Serpent had fused with the storm spirit, imbuing it with magical power.

Hearing this, the king's eldest son clicked his tongue.

"Nothing we can do about it, then. Not like we were relying on it anyway. Anything else?"

"No. And actually, I think it’ll be here sooner than five minutes. It’s coming right now."

"What? Damn… Everyone, prepare for battle!"

At Makun’s shout, the merfolk royalty began transforming, one by one.

Except for a small number, including Rowena, who could operate on land, everyone else submerged into the sea, while the sea turtle lifted Turan and his party onto its back.

In that state, Turan took a deep breath while watching the torrent of power approaching from afar.

"It’s coming..."

He sensed a presence, stronger than before, likely the merfolk king, followed by a colossal being trailing behind him.

A giant snake that seemed to be made of wind, with its insides constantly swirling.

The Great Sea Serpent was approaching.