Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 108

Chapter 108

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Several hours after discovering Oneil’s death.

The subjugation team immediately transported their handler on the killer whale magical beast to the Avaccha main house to report their captain’s death.

Naturally, the Carmine family was thrown into chaos.

Although his character was held in low regard, Oneil had been a powerful figure whose magical power ranked among the top nobles of the main house.

How could such a person die while hunting a mere magical beast?

An investigation team was promptly formed, which included Jemel Carmine, Oneil’s father, brother of the family head, and one of the family’s absolute powerhouses.

“This way, Lord Jemel.”

“Hmm.”

The subjugation team members trembled as they watched the man approach with a supremely solemn expression.

After all, the investigation leader’s son lay face down right here as a headless corpse.

If Jemel decided to hold them responsible for his son’s death and execute them on the spot, he would likely receive only mild reproach from the family head before moving on.

Such high-ranking nobles were exceedingly rare compared to knights or middling nobles.

Whether aware of the subjugation team’s anxiety or not, Jemel looked down at his son’s corpse with an consistently expressionless face.

A moment later, what came from his mouth was an utterly dry question.

“Why is the head severed?”

“It, it seems to have been bitten off during battle, as it was found inside the octopus’s mouth.”

“Octopus teeth are sharper than I thought. I didn’t know that. Perhaps because it’s a magical beast.”

The way he touched the cut surface of Oneil’s severed neck made him seem like someone who had become numb from the overwhelming grief of losing a child.

“Please explain the incident in detail.”

“Yes, we departed smoothly from the operational area and were heading north…”

The adjutant reported with appropriate distortions of the truth.

She portrayed Oneil, who had actually been drinking heavily and causing trouble, as someone who had directed recovery efforts in damaged areas and actively planned operations.

Hearing this, Jemel clicked his tongue and said:

“Stop, he was my son—how could I not know him? No need to embellish unnecessarily. He was probably just drinking, wasn’t he?”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

Astonished by his remarkably objective view of his own son, the adjutant admitted the truth.

Having had her mind read once, she proceeded to honestly recount what had happened.

How he had delegated command while complaining, how during battle he had stayed in the back merely pretending to fight while occasionally rescuing knights with his whip, and how when things were nearly lost, he had jumped in alone claiming he would finish things…

It seemed almost too much to reveal, but Jemel and the other high-ranking Carmine nobles wore expressions suggesting they had expected nothing less.

“He jumped in alone?”

“Yes. He threatened to kill anyone who followed him, so none of us could help him. I’m sorry.”

“Hmm. He was braver than I expected. I didn’t anticipate that. Have I misjudged him…?”

Hearing his muttering, the adjutant was so surprised that she unwittingly widened her eyes.

Until now, she had thought his stiffness was due to overwhelming grief, but this attitude seemed worse than how one might react to the death of a pet dog.

Her surprise was brief, as she quickly lowered her eyes when Jemel’s gaze returned to her.

“But there doesn’t seem to be any magical power in Oneil’s body?”

“I believe it was absorbed while his head was being eaten. As for the magical beast, it was too severely wounded to digest the magical power…”

“So it died during absorption and the excess evaporated. Everyone, project your magical power.”

After ordering the subjugation team’s nobles to project their magic, Jemel confirmed that none of them had become unusually stronger, and nodded.

Thanks to this, they were cleared of any charges of plundering magical power from Oneil’s corpse.

While Jemel spoke quietly with the investigation team members, the subjugation team members anxiously bit their lips and fingernails like condemned prisoners.

Shortly after, their sentence was delivered.

“I believe none of the nobles who participated this time have reached their growth limits, is that correct?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

“The magical beast’s power will be distributed among the four of you. Absorb it immediately.”

Even the investigation team members were surprised by Jemel’s decision, not just the subjugation team.

One of the subjugation team nobles muttered incredulously:

“And, the punishment?”

“There is no punishment. You all did your best, and realistically, you couldn’t have stopped Oneil. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to the family head. Haven’t I raised my child foolishly, endangering everyone?”

“Lord Jemel…!”

Despite the death of his son, he was calmly admitting his own shortcomings—some of the subjugation team members were so moved they shed tears.

How could such a worthless scoundrel of a son come from such an excellent father?

While the subjugation team nobles were absorbing the magical power, Jemel stood at a distance, observing Oneil’s corpse again.

Others maintained a respectful distance, allowing the father to spend his final moments with his son.

“Hmm… I hope it’s not a fake? Even though he’s my son, I can’t really tell looking at him like this. Would it have been better if he hadn’t bloated?”

Jemel muttered as he examined Oneil’s bloated face and body.

The saying that parents know their children’s bodies well applies only to commoners—he, having handed his son over to servants from a young age, would hardly know his son’s physical characteristics.

He hadn’t raised the child with that level of interest or care.

“Vermilion Phoenix thought there was something extraordinary about him, so I wanted to raise him properly… tsk, I didn’t expect him to die like this.”

It was somewhat disappointing, as he had been not only a fairly useful talent but also a spare body to use in case one of them had an accident.

But that was all.

One child among hundreds who had existed before and thousands who would come after had died.

That’s how Jemel thought as he erased Oneil’s face, name, and their few memories from his mind.

One secret to living through the ages was to regularly clear unnecessary information.

* * *

After leaving Oneil’s water-bloated corpse with the subjugation team members, Turan carefully observed the final process while remaining hidden.

If someone from the investigation team, including Jemel, were to scrutinize Oneil’s death and uncover suspicions, such a body-switching strategy could never be used again.

Fortunately, the Carmine nobles more or less accepted the play he had created… Had they examined the body closely, they might have found one or two discrepancies, but most people don’t seek complicated, difficult truths when faced with what seems like an obvious conclusion.

After confirming that Oneil’s body was finally placed in a coffin, the newly freed Turan disguised himself as an ordinary fisherman and bought a boat from a nearby island.

“Now, where to begin searching…”

Instead of returning directly to the southern reclamation project, Turan ventured into the northern sea to find the merfolk.

Specifically, the merfolk royalty from Armani’s faction who had fought alongside him against the Giant Sea Serpent’s apparition.

After witnessing the octopus magical beast’s attack, Turan concluded that it was likely not a natural phenomenon.

The octopus attacking the city seemed more like it was fulfilling orders from someone rather than acting out of anger, hunger, or curiosity.

When he relayed this through the mirror, Solif asked with a worried expression:

[You’re going to meet the merfolk alone? If they’re using the power of Giant Sea Serpents, it will be difficult by yourself.]

“I won’t fight. I just want to confirm if they’re really driving magical beasts toward the coast.”

Once he knew the truth, they could always invade and destroy them together with Meisa and Solif when time permitted.

After all, the merfolk weren’t the only ones who could use faction power.

After finishing his report, Turan sailed alone across the northern sea.

‘It’s certainly lonely traveling by boat alone.’

When he had traveled with Solif and Meisa before, it had been a bit boring, but they could pass the time talking and laughing together.

Watching Bije’s cute antics had also been enjoyable.

Fortunately, he wasn’t completely without things to do—he had several books from Asiz in his large-capacity pouch, which he read to pass the time.

Using the power of his Stream bloodline to move the boat across the northern sea while reading a book, Turan looked like a scene from a painting.

“Ah, found them.”

After three days of exploration.

What he encountered was a group of merfolk attacking a ship.

Those on board, seemingly pirates by their appearance, had lost their will to fight and were jumping into the sea, only to be caught and eaten alive by the merfolk. Though they were villains, Turan was reluctant to watch this cannibalistic scene and decided to intervene immediately.

With a single gesture, seawater surged up and transformed into dozens of ice spikes that shot toward the merfolk.

“Kyaa-!”

The precisely aimed spikes instantly tore through the merfolk’s arms and legs, leaving them only able to writhe on the ground, emitting shrill screams.

The pirates, their bodies torn by bites, desperately reached out to Turan, but he ignored them.

Not only had he left his recovery magical device with Meisa, but he had no desire to save pirates who belonged to the wolf-kind.

Pulling one merfolk toward him using telekinetic magic, Turan immediately barked:

“Bring any of your royalty to me. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

However, the merfolk’s response was merely an animal-like “kyaak” sound and struggling.

Even when Turan applied torture techniques learned from Leto, it proved ineffective.

All the merfolk just drooled and smacked their lips at the scent of human flesh, making meaningful dialogue impossible.

“Tsk.”

Turan dispatched all the merfolk and then searched the boat.

As expected, the pirate ship was much older and more damaged than the one he had previously sold, so he abandoned it.

He also lacked a convenient way to sell it this time.

He encountered merfolk several more times as he traveled around the northern sea, but their reactions were consistently similar.

It wasn’t until the seventh encounter that he met a merfolk capable of conversation.

“You, you… are…”

A merfolk that could speak despite drooling.

It seemed to be of noble rank, judging by its stronger power compared to other merfolk and its good physique.

“Hey, can you hear me?”

“Y-yes… no, you… look too delicious… why…?”

“Are you a merfolk noble?”

“Yes…”

Perhaps being of noble rank allowed it to control its desires enough to communicate.

Turan seized and pressed it:

“Where should I go to meet your royalty?”

“Our, our royalty… escaped, through the mirror…”

“Through the mirror? You mean the mirror connecting to the southern sea?”

The merfolk noble gave Turan a look suggesting surprise that he knew about this.

“Humans know everything they need to know. So, have all the merfolk royalty gone south? No one left in the northern sea?”

The merfolk noble seemed reluctant to answer and kept its mouth shut, but when ice spikes creatively penetrated its claws, it screamed and soon spilled everything.

It seemed that as their instincts weakened and reason strengthened, their resistance to pain also decreased.

“The, the priest-king’s clan has revived… the royalty fled to avoid being killed by them…”

Though the explanation was lengthy due to the conflict between pain and hunger causing the merfolk to ramble, after asking several times, Turan could grasp the outline.

According to the explanation, when the merfolk royalty from Armani’s faction gained the Giant Sea Serpent’s power, other merfolk royalty fled to the southern sea, fearing purges.

Noble dregs like this one and commoner-class merfolk were left behind.

“Why are magical beasts attacking the coast?”

“Magical beasts…? Probably, the priest-kings… control…”

Turan’s face hardened at the mention that the Giant Sea Serpent’s clan possessed the ability to control magical beasts.

His suspicions seemed increasingly likely to be correct.

After asking a few more questions, Turan ended the noble’s life.

“Spare me…”

“If you wanted to live, you shouldn’t have tried to eat humans.”

Non-human species that harm humans were like wolves preying on sheep.

No matter how benevolent they might be among themselves, that wasn’t important.

* * *

Unfortunately, even interrogating the merfolk noble didn’t reveal where Armani’s relatives were located.

That merfolk noble belonged to a different royal faction.

According to the interrogation, merfolk from that faction were all engaged in fierce power struggles deep in the sea.

Those who came to the surface were all commoners or disconnected nobles… At that point, Turan decided to end his exploration of the merfolk and return.

He had achieved his primary objective—learning that merfolk, specifically those from Armani’s faction, were likely involved in the magical beast attacks on coastal areas.

Next time, he wouldn’t come alone.

Instead of calling Bije, Turan sailed his boat southwest.

Unlike Turan, Bije lacked tracking abilities, so Turan would need to explain where he was, which would likely result in wandering the vast northern sea.

It seemed better to reach the continent himself and then call Bije from a convenient meeting point.

‘I might as well visit Kalamaf while I’m at it.’

Continuing southwest from his current position would likely land him in the gray zone.

Going straight south would lead to the Enril Desert.

After sailing steadily for about five days.

Turan landed on some continental shore.

Having been at sea for quite some time, he felt a strange queasiness, similar to when he had disembarked from the Blue Marlin in the past.

“Excuse me, is this the gray zone? I got caught in a storm and don’t know where I am…”

“That’s right. You’re quite unlucky. I heard there’s hardly any wind these days.”

After confirming his location at a nearby fishing village, Turan changed into ordinary traveler’s attire and moved inland.

Kalamaf was the westernmost city in the gray zone.

Following the main roads and heading in the right direction would naturally lead him there.

[I’m coming soon!]

“Alright, if you get there first, wait carefully.”

Of course, there wasn’t much danger for a top noble-rank magical beast like Bije, but Turan smiled seeing Bije holding a slate through the mirror.

After running at a quick pace through uninhabited areas for about three days.

Upon reaching Kalamaf, Turan gazed with deep emotion at the city he had saved.

“Everyone seems to be doing well.”

From the city walls, which had once been half-collapsed but were now repaired, to the clothing of people passing by—everything looked much the same as when he had last departed.

This alone indicated that the lord who had contracted with him was governing the city reasonably well.

Before meeting Bije, Turan crossed the city gates intending to take a light tour of the interior, only to realize something unexpected.

‘What? My statue is gone?’

Though it would have been mortifying, he had secretly felt some pride—but the statues of Turan that had been installed beside each city gate had all been removed.

Had the family that agreed to rule this place removed them, thinking they interfered with their own influence?

Slightly displeased but not finding it incomprehensible, Turan clicked his tongue and headed toward the city hall.

He intended to verify that they were properly hunting magical beasts as agreed before leaving.

But then…

“Ha.”

A large notice posted in front of the city hall.

Beneath text explaining various reasons for new taxes that must be paid, Turan burst into laughter seeing the final line.

[This is declared in the name of Turan, Lord of Kalamaf.]

Needless to say, it wasn’t laughter of joy.