Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 100

Chapter 100

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Dense jungle and half-rotting water pooled in the wetlands.

A flame rose in this primeval land that had not permitted human footsteps for countless ages.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time flames had appeared in this land.

Occasionally, lightning from the sky would strike trees, bringing heat to this land.

But the fire that emerged this time was not something that could be stopped by the abundant moisture in the air, the damp trees, or the puddles on the ground.

Fire fueled by an enormous amount of magical power grew endlessly in scale and spread in all directions.

“My goodness, it burns so well.”

The flame magic unleashed by a high noble of the Sun Bloodline at full power was enough to subdue the primitive nature.

With a sizzling sound, the puddles pooled on the ground instantly evaporated and rose into the air, while the soaked trees and water plants were reduced to ashes.

Naturally, countless creatures that made the wetlands their home were also affected by this fiery devastation.

From tiny insects to lizards, frogs, otters, fish, and several types of birds.

Innumerable lives were extinguished, releasing acrid burnt smells along with massive amounts of water vapor, ash, and smoke that billowed upward.

People from a highly developed civilization would have decried this as terrible environmental destruction.

[Shiiik-!]

At that moment, with a sharp sound, a giant swamp python about five meters long broke through the flames and lunged at Solif.

Thanks to the reptile’s characteristic mechanical reflexes, it managed to bite his arm instantly, but unfortunately, the snake’s venomous fangs couldn’t even pierce his skin.

“Ugh, this filthy thing.”

As Solif simply swung his hand, the giant snake’s body was smashed into the ground with a thud.

He wouldn’t have been harmed by such a low-level magical beast anyway, but to inflict effective damage on the current Solif, who had awakened the Guardian Bloodline, one would need at least high-noble-level power.

Without that, one couldn’t even cause a scratch even if he was completely defenseless.

After burning to death a few more magical beasts that broke through the flames to attack him, Solif shouted toward the sky.

“It’s done! Blow it away!”

With his shout, the massive amount of water vapor rising into the sky suddenly began moving southward.

As if gripped by the hand of an invisible giant.

This was created by Meisa, who was hanging from Bije’s leg as they flew through the sky.

She perfectly synchronized with the wind-controlling eagle hawk to create a wind barrier, blowing the byproducts of Solif’s flames beyond the earthen wall built to the south.

And to finish this, Turan, who had been waiting beyond the wall, infused the incoming water vapor with cold energy using the Karmain Bloodline’s power.

The instantly liquefied water poured into the river.

Afterward, Turan crossed the wall using flight magic and extended his hand over the ash-covered ground, drawing out even the water that had seeped deep into the soil.

“Solif, the container.”

“Here.”

As Solif beside him created a light vessel tens of meters in diameter, Turan manipulated the rising water to fill it.

Finally, the three combined their powers to use telekinetic magic to empty the vessel into the river beyond the wall, roughly completing the cleanup.

“Great, this section is done!”

“Shall we stop here for today? We’ve used a lot of magical power, and it looks like the sun is about to set.”

“Ugh, I’m hungry after working so hard. Aren’t you too?”

As Solif rubbed his stomach and asked, Bije snorted and took out a piece of jerky from the pouch on his chest to eat.

Meisa flew lightly into the sky and came back down, saying, “I’ve checked. There are no water leaks.”

“Good, then let’s go back and rest. Bije, if you please.”

Boarding the swing pulled by Bije and rising into the sky, Turan looked down at the land spread out below.

In the middle of the dense forest, a barren area like a gaping hole proudly displayed its presence.

That was the result of Turan’s group diligently reclaiming the wetland over the past three weeks.

First, they installed a levee next to the southern river that supplied water, blocking the route.

Then they created an isolated square space by raising the surrounding soil, completely burning the ecosystem inside with massive firepower to turn it into ruins, extracting the remaining water, and compacting the dry land.

For ordinary mages, creating such large-scale environmental changes would be difficult, and even if they managed to do it once, they would be completely exhausted. But those with transcendent magical power like them could do this multiple times.

The attacks from magical beasts that emerged during the process weren’t even threatening.

Thanks to this, the reclaimed land created by the three of them already covered an area of over ten kilometers in each direction.

“How much of the area have we reclaimed so far?”

“Well, I haven’t measured it precisely, but it must be more than a tenth, I think.”

“At this rate, we’ll finish in a few months.”

“I wonder if Mr. Yoz will faint when he returns and sees this.”

“Are you still calling him ‘Mr. Yoz’ even when it’s just us?”

“Ah, damn. It’s become a habit.”

The three chatted leisurely as they flew north across the yet-to-be-reclaimed wetlands.

As the wetlands ended and the reclaimed plains came into view, Turan narrowed his eyes and with a single gesture, dropped several lightning bolts onto the ground with loud crashes.

“Magical beasts?”

“Yeah. There are more than before. They’re fleeing northward.”

As Turan’s group began reclaiming from the southern part of the wetlands, some magical beasts that sensed the threat, like now, would flee to the open plains in the north.

Although this area was terribly rural, there were still several villages and towns, so to avoid unexpected accidents, they needed to clear these creatures in advance.

The Journey to Koloa City

After flying north, hunting magical beasts, and cleaning up several times, Turan’s group arrived at Koloa City, the only city in the Koloa region.

The population of this city was about 1,500, with only three knights as the only mages present.

It was similar to Murei City where Turan had first emerged into the world.

This was because this place was the frontier of frontiers, not only for Ravitas but for human society as a whole.

“The gods have arrived!”

“Lords of the world!”

“Ohhh!”… The commoners who saw Turan’s group prostrated themselves, pressing their foreheads to the ground without exception.

A scene that remained unfamiliar despite having seen it many times.

Turan inwardly clicked his tongue as he passed by them and entered.

In this place, high nobles like them were not just revered as god-like beings but actually worshipped as gods.

Most commoners could barely read and had only learned theology by hearsay, so their logic was that nobles they had never seen in their lives were no different from gods.

When Turan’s group approached the mansion in the center of the city, they were greeted by a group of particularly ragged-looking commoners.

People missing an arm, leg, finger, or toe, or suffering from terrible skin diseases with their bodies wrapped in bandages.

All of them prostrated themselves before Turan’s group and cried out:

“Great and mighty gods! Please look upon these poor souls!”

“We have come hearing the rumors!”

“Please save my daughter! I will offer all my possessions!”

Seeing this, Solif wore an expression of disgust, but Turan and Meisa walked toward them without changing their expressions.

[“Everyone line up in an orderly manner. Healing will be bestowed upon all.”]

Despite never having been trained to line up in an orderly fashion, the commoners immediately formed a line at the divine command.

Some frowned, thinking they had been cut in line, but no one got angry or shouted.

How could they commit such blasphemy before the gods?

At the front of the line, Turan handed the recovery potion magical device to Meisa.

As she infused it with magical power, the liquid inside sloshed.

“Where does it hurt?”

“H-here, this hand. It rotted after being bitten by a venomous snake…”

“It will hurt, but bear with it.”

The end of the wrist the man held out was blunt as if cut by something, probably to prevent further rotting.

Meisa swiftly cut off the end with the magical device dagger Turan had lent her and applied the recovery potion to the cut surface.

The man, who had been suppressing his screams with difficulty, was astonished when a fair hand, completely different from his sun-tanned skin, grew out.

“My hand… it’s back! Thank you, goddess! Thank you so much!”

Of course, as seen when treating Bisen’s victims before, such measures wouldn’t have been necessary if they had just given a sip to drink, but there were far more people needing treatment now than then.

And they didn’t have enough magical power left to give the recovery potion to everyone.

Afterward, Meisa, with the help of Turan and Solif, continued to treat various ailments one by one with the recovery potion, from amputations like the one just now to skin diseases, fevers, and all sorts of other illnesses.

Turan, who had been quietly watching from behind, stopped one patient and said:

“What ailment brought you here?”

“I, I was bitten by a poisonous insect, and my whole body has been shivering…”

“Surely you’ve heard the rumor that those who seek false treatment without being ill will receive terrible punishment.”

At Turan’s words, the middle-aged man looked at him with a pale face and prostrated himself.

“I’m sorry, so sorry! I just wanted to receive your blessing…!”

“Get out.”

With the Holy Relic’s perception, Turan could detect even the minuscule amount of magical power possessed by commoners, essentially the power needed to maintain life, and through this, he could easily determine their health.

Though he couldn’t know exactly what was wrong or how.

After filtering out the malingerers, several patients who had been whispering among themselves quietly disappeared, but there were still many patients left.

By the time the treatment finally ended, the sun had already set.

“Goddess more beautiful than the Earth Mother, I will serve only you forever. You saved my daughter, so all my possessions…”

“I understand, now go home. We don’t accept payment.”

At Solif’s intervention, the young man who had been embracing his young daughter with tears finally disappeared after bowing deeply several times.

Sighing lightly, he looked around and said:

“I thought this town had few people, so why are there so many sick humans? They never seem to end, even treating them daily.”

“If you count all the people living within a few days’ walking distance, it still amounts to tens of thousands. It seems the rumor that one can receive treatment here has spread widely.”

In mainland Ravitas, nobles regularly tour various cities and villages to hold events where they treat commoners, but the Koloa region was so remote that nobles with such capabilities rarely visited.

In fact, this kind of event likely had a significant influence on why the commoners here worshipped Turan’s group as gods.

After all, healing power was the representative authority of Ravitas nobles.

As Turan’s group casually chatted on their way back, those who had been treated behind them embraced each other in joy but also bowed deeply toward the mansion, remembering the grace they had received.

The mansion located in the center of the city.

The one who greeted Turan’s group as they boldly entered through the main gate was one of the knights who originally ruled this city.

“You’ve worked hard today as well, great ones!”

“Where are the others?”

“As you instructed, they are patrolling the surroundings. If any strong magical beasts appear, we will report immediately!”

“Well done.”

In truth, the presence of Turan’s group was nothing short of a natural disaster for the knights who originally ruled this city.

Being assigned to such a rural place meant enduring poor living conditions in exchange for not having to answer to anyone, but suddenly they had masters they had to bow to.

Moreover, since they had brought instructions from the main house to cooperate and provide resources and manpower needed for reclamation at appropriate market prices if requested, they couldn’t just treat them as guests.

They didn’t know why such nobles had come to work in this rural place, but they must have some connection to the main house.

They couldn’t refuse Turan’s recent instruction to watch out for magical beasts coming up from the south, because if he later told the main house that “the knights weren’t doing their job,” there was nothing they could do.

“Then I’ll be going now as I have matters to attend to…”

“Carry on.”

Afterward, Turan’s group washed and changed clothes in the best room of the mansion, which had originally been used by the knights, and then gathered at the dining table.

A woman who looked like a simple country housewife brought out grilled ribs made with swamp wild boar and apples, and a steamed dish combining fish and crab meat.

“Oh, this is delicious. This town may not have much else, but it certainly has a variety of foods.”… “Well, wetlands have a greater variety of organisms than other regions. Remember how shocked you were when we ate frog dishes the other day?”

“That’s because I’d never eaten it before! And I wasn’t the only one! You’re the only one who can casually put such things in your mouth when you’re not even from this region!”

While Turan and Solif chatted, Meisa was carefully chewing and swallowing the food placed before her, one bite at a time.

With her eyes closed, savoring the meal intently, she looked almost reverent.

A moment later, after finishing a meal that would be enough for an ordinary person, she wiped her mouth and said:

“I’m done here. It was a good meal, Lute.”

“I’m just delighted that the goddess has said so.”

The middle-aged woman called Lute smiled contentedly at Meisa’s compliment as she cleared the dishes.

This was precisely why Turan’s group spread rumors and gathered the sick for treatment even while proceeding with the reclamation project.

One of the treatments for Meisa’s chronic eating disorder was to boost her self-esteem by helping others in this way.

Thanks to healing hundreds of people from the first day until now, Meisa could now eat with considerable ease.

Of course, it wasn’t yet at the level of a normal meal by high noble standards, but at least she no longer needed to be fed while unconscious.

“But I’m not sure if this is a temporary effect or not. Remember how those burning people we healed reverted back after a short time.”

“Well, you need to develop the habit of eating like this. But you can’t spend your whole life just helping others.”

“Why not?”

When Meisa asked this, Turan and Solif looked at her as if to say “what are you talking about,” and she continued:

“No, I just thought it wouldn’t be bad to keep living like this in the countryside, reclaiming land and helping people.”

She added with a somewhat shy expression that she wasn’t just healing people for the sake of eating, but that she found great fulfillment in giving someone a new life.

Was it because of such a disposition that she could gain self-esteem by treating people?

While Turan, who had been secretly feeling superior and proud from the commoners’ praise, discreetly shifted his gaze to the food to hide his childish true feelings, Solif sighed deeply and shook his head.

“Sigh, I absolutely couldn’t live like this forever. How could anyone spend their entire life in a place like this with no proper taverns, gambling halls, theaters, or libraries? I’m only enduring it because it’s just for a few months.”

As he said, Koloa City had virtually no opportunities for cultural activities.

It was essentially just a slightly larger village, so this was natural.

This was also one of the important reasons why nobles didn’t flock here to develop the area despite the presence of mines.

Ordering innocent nobles to develop wetlands in such a place would cause discontent even for the head of a great family.

Asiz, being a theater enthusiast, would probably have been writhing in agony.

That’s why the knights of Koloa whispered that Turan’s group must be exiled nobles who had committed some great crime.

“Don’t you feel any empathy or emotion when you see people rejoicing?”

“It’s not that I don’t feel anything, but I don’t want to live in a place like this forever just to see that. I left my family because I wanted to travel the world, you know? If I see the same scenery and do the same thing for months, I’ll die of boredom.”

Ignoring the argument between the two, Turan looked up at the large moon in the sky.

Indeed, it was more peaceful to spend each day like this than to struggle over lurking gods or the secrets of the world.

He wasn’t sure if living like this forever would be enjoyable, but at least for now, he wanted to enjoy this time.