Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Discord
After somewhat awkwardly concluding their drinking session with Tasan, Turan’s group sat facing each other in the lodging he had provided.
Turan first explained the situation to Meisa, who had remained behind and missed the earlier conversation.
“The head of the Baraha family?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
For the head of a great family—not just any ordinary family—to leave their base and travel across the sea to the distant western lands? As someone raised as the heir to a great family who understood their nature well, Meisa found this particularly difficult to believe.
But there was little chance that Tasan, who wouldn’t even know what the Baraha family crest looked like, would make up such a lie out of nowhere.
Solif, who had been sitting quietly, muttered with a half-dazed expression:
“Could it be because of me? Are they trying to capture me?”
If one traveled west from the southern sea, they would reach the Siraf wetlands—territory of Ravitas and one of the few locations where Baraha might know Solif had been.
“How old is the Baraha family head again?”
“Probably around 250 years old when I turned fifty… I think they celebrated their 250th birthday then.”
“So not yet 260. Certainly too young to be desperately trying to catch you.”
The reason mages lived longer than ordinary people was because magical power prevented both body and soul from aging.
Consequently, the heads of great families with their tremendous power tended to live exceptionally long even among nobles.
Even Badal, the head of the Arabion family who was considered elderly, was over four hundred years old, and the recently deceased head of Ravitas had lived past four hundred fifty.
Considering that even much weaker high-ranking nobles like Rida could easily live three hundred to three hundred fifty years, there was no reason for the family head to be desperate enough to personally search for Solif.
“Perhaps there’s some other reason.”
“Maybe some kind of illness?”
Although a noble’s body filled with magical power could easily resist all manner of poisons and pathogens, they weren’t immune to all diseases.
Congenital deformities or lifestyle factors could cause illness without external causes.
Meisa, who had lived with chronic dizziness and fatigue due to malnutrition, was a prime example.
Solif pondered Turan’s question before shaking his head.
“As far as I know, there wasn’t anything like that… but even if there was, they would have kept it secret.”
“That’s true. If rumors spread that the family head was terminally ill, it wouldn’t benefit anyone.”
“Then perhaps they’re going to Ravitas to receive treatment.”
Like Turan’s group, the Baraha family head’s tremendous power would likely render ordinary healers’ magic ineffective.
This theory also made sense.
At that moment, Meisa proposed a rather challenging idea.
“It might be a deception.”
“Deception?”
“Just because a ship bears the family head’s emblem doesn’t mean they must be aboard.”
“You mean they’re disguising themselves?”
Turan questioned as this thought hadn’t occurred to him, and she nodded.
“Yes. Most people can’t sense someone’s magical power from a distance like you can. Without meeting them directly, it’s impossible to know if the actual family head is aboard. Even that could be disguised with a body double who resembles them.”
“But if they’re disguising themselves, why?”
Every specific action should have a corresponding reason.
What reason would the possessor of such an exalted status as the head of a great family have to disguise their existence?
At that point, Solif shook his head, rejecting the suspicion entirely.
“The elders in our family are frustratingly rigid. The rules and protocols are no joke. Even if the family were facing imminent destruction, they’d still shout at anyone who broke protocol.”
Baraha was notorious among great families for strictly adhering to complex regulations as a matter of tradition.
Though it might be hard to imagine looking at Solif now, even he had suppressed his naturally free-spirited nature until he ran away from home.
“Well, ultimately we won’t know unless we see for ourselves…”
“We should probably adjust our plans going forward.”
Turan’s group had originally planned to travel east, briefly assess the Baraha family’s situation, and find an opportunity to extract Solif’s parents.
They had confirmed that Solif’s father, Godis, who had initially traveled west, had somehow returned to the east.
“I assume Godis is still at the main house?”
“I can’t be certain of that, but he’s definitely in the east.”
Turan took Godis’s hair from his pocket and activated tracking magic.
He could faintly sense the hair’s owner’s presence far to the northeast.
After putting the hair back, Turan shared a thought that had just occurred to him.
“If the family head is absent, we might consider more aggressive methods.”
“Aggressive methods?”
“We have the legitimate heir to Baraha with us. We could take over the family and intercept the returning family head.”
Turan’s group already possessed magical power exceeding high-ranking nobles, comparable to the level between heirs and heads of great families.
Combined with their various magical devices and exceptional magical talents, their actual capabilities were even greater.
If the three combined forces, overturning a great family without its head wasn’t entirely impossible.
Especially with Solif providing legitimacy for their takeover.
“Wouldn’t that be too dangerous? We don’t even know the true strength of the Baraha head, and more importantly, this could turn Zahar against us as well.”
“According to Ymir, they’re merely collaborators, not bound by a common fate.”
“I’m still against it. It’s too reckless.”
Solif and Meisa persuaded Turan that his recent successes had made him overly bold, and that this opportunity wasn’t worth such a risk.
“You’ve just turned twenty. Time is on our side. There’s no need to rush.”
In moments like these, despite his youthful appearance and light manner of speech, it was easy to remember that Solif was approaching sixty years of age.
Turan agreed to abandon the plan of completely overthrowing Baraha in direct confrontation.
“But this much is worth trying.”
“What is?”
“Infiltrating the family head’s residence and searching their secret facilities.”
Among all the world’s abilities, spirit magic that manipulates living souls belonged exclusively to the white elves.
Naturally, the Freya gods’ ability to achieve immortality by switching bodies was likely related to this… Yet despite entering the residences of Arabion and Carmine, where gods dwelled, Turan hadn’t sensed the presence of other races.
Given that his Holy Relic’s detection ability, depending on concentration, extended at least several hundred meters, this seemed impossible.
This suggested either that they had hidden the white elves somewhere other than their capitals, or that they had confined them in some special way.
Turan believed the latter was more likely.
Normally, the presence of the family head would make thoroughly investigating this impossible, but with the head absent…
Perhaps they could properly uncover these secrets.
* * *
The next day, Turan’s group left the Red Whale pirates’ base and headed east.
Naturally, they destroyed their boat at a suitable location and flew on the swing pulled by Bije.
During their flight, Meisa looked at the white foam rising from far below and murmured:
“I regret not being able to do that.”
“What?”
“The Wavecutter ritual.”
While they didn’t know what Leviathans were, making hunting them difficult, riding natural waves was certainly achievable with enough time.
But they didn’t have time for that now, as they were planning to infiltrate the Baraha main house while the family head was away.
The southern sea was immensely vast, covering an area large enough to contain the territory of a decent great family. Even Bije, who could cross such distances in a day or two, couldn’t traverse this sea without rest.
As a result, it took them a full three days to reach a shore in the east.
“Finally arrived…”
“My body feels stiff after flying non-stop.”
“You weren’t the one flapping your wings. Are you alright, Bije?”
In response to Meisa’s question, Bije chirped and fluttered his wings before leaning against Turan’s side.
Since they had been considerate of his physical condition during the journey, he wasn’t completely exhausted like before.
“So, where exactly are we?”
“Having crossed eastward from the southern sea… this should be grassland territory. To reach the main house, we need to head northeast.”
Southeast of the Enril Desert lay a barren grassland region which, like the western wastelands or forest regions, wasn’t controlled by any particular great family.
Consequently, it was heavily influenced by the adjacent great families, Zahar and Baraha.
“Grasslands… are they very different from the Dakein Plains?”
“Quite different. The soil isn’t healthy, and there’s little rainfall. Almost no one farms here.”
Meisa, who came from the Dakein Plains—the most fertile grain-producing region in the world—gaped in disbelief at Solif’s description.
She witnessed the truth of Solif’s words after they walked northeast for three or four hours to let Bije rest.
Despite covering more than 80 kilometers at a relatively leisurely pace, they hadn’t seen any proper farmland—only occasional mounted travelers and tents.
“A nomadic lifestyle seems quite similar to the Enril Desert, though that area has several cities around oases.”
“There are virtually no cities in these grasslands. Naturally, there are few noble families… though there are plenty of powerful horse magical beasts, so it’s not without valuable resources.”
True to his word, among the wild horses and wolf packs they occasionally spotted, several had awakened as magical beasts.
Some even possessed noble-level magical power.
Young nobles from various great families or those with the Beast Handler bloodline could likely achieve good results here.
Of course, Turan’s group was far beyond the stage of hunting such minor creatures.
“Sometimes bandits from here raid Baraha territory, which is annoying. Occasionally even noble bandits appear.”
“Noble bandits? Not knights?”
Solif smirked at Turan and Meisa, who looked as if they’d heard something preposterous.
“The people here have so few resources that they take pride in stealing from others. I’ve killed several bandit nobles from here in the past.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just wipe them all out at that point?”
“These grasslands are vast, though not as extensive as the Enril Desert. Searching everywhere would be too troublesome, so we just kill those who venture out. They’re basically human-shaped magical beasts.”
His tone carried the contempt for grassland people that he had likely absorbed from his family.
After listening to Solif’s lecture about the grasslands while walking for half a day, they spent the night and then boarded Bije’s swing again, continuing northeast.
While thinking that this vast grassland resembled a green sea, Turan turned his gaze toward a presence approaching from behind.
“…A black eagle?”
“Bije?”
“No, a different one.”
At Turan’s words, Solif also turned and exclaimed in surprise.
A massive black eagle, much larger than an ordinary person and at least ten times Bije’s size, was approaching from behind.
Its magical power seemed to be around the mid to upper-middle noble rank.
Naturally, even this level made it an incredibly powerful wild magical beast, one that would reign as a terrifying presence in regions without great families.
“What? Why is it following us?”
“Judging by its expression, it seems angry. This might be its territory.”
The eagle’s deep, heavy screech was much lower and weightier than Bije’s.
Likely due to the natural difference in size.
Sensing the challenge in its cry, Bije, who had been diligently flying, suddenly turned around and glanced at Turan.
Thanks to their soul bond, Turan understood what he wanted.
“Let’s get down.”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Solif’s question, Turan grabbed him and jumped off the swing, using flight magic.
After confirming that Meisa had also disembarked, Bije cut the rope tying the swing and let out his own screech.
The opposing eagle gave him a mocking look at his small voice, when suddenly—
“SCREECH!”
With a bizarre sound, the massive eagle’s body crumpled as if crushed.
Bije had charged with all his might, accelerated by wind magic, precisely piercing the larger bird’s sternum… Though the wild eagle had the advantage in size, Bije possessed far greater magical power and could use wind magic through Turan, making the difference in combat ability like heaven and earth.
So much so that the larger eagle couldn’t even properly perceive the incoming charge.
“What a waste.”
“What is?”
“That creature—if tamed, it could have been useful.”
Though Solif lacked Turan’s ability to sense magical power, he could still estimate its capabilities from its size and speed.
Hearing the regret in his voice, Turan replied:
“That would be difficult. Creatures of that caliber rarely submit to humans. Even soul bonding isn’t omnipotent.”
Even if subdued by force, it would be difficult to trust and utilize a magical beast that hadn’t submitted in its heart.
Even Bije had once abandoned a previous master with whom he had formed a soul bond.
Beast Handler families weren’t foolish for creating massive menageries and spending years confining and taming magical beasts.
“If you want to tame one, let’s find something smaller and more obedient. Perhaps there’s a creature that suits you well, like Bije does for me.”
While Turan was consoling Solif, Bije struck the falling eagle with lightning to ensure its death before returning to Turan.
Facing his triumphant expression, Turan said quietly:
“Let’s clean up first. We should descend and handle its magical power.”
Bije’s eyes, which had expected praise, turned sullen.
* * *
A day and a half later, Turan’s group left the grasslands and entered a new region.
As if mocking the barren grasslands, a massive lake like a sea and various connected rivers spread out before them.
This was the land ruled by the great family Baraha.
Commonly known as the Land of Five Lakes.
“It’s been a while.”
“I suppose. Should I say I’m glad to be back?”
Solif’s face showed mixed emotions as he viewed his homeland after so long.
Turan imagined he would probably wear a similar expression if he ever returned to Hisaril Hill.
Anyway, from now on they needed to be mindful of people’s attention.
Turan’s group landed near a lakeside not far from a city and immediately began preparing for infiltration.
First, Solif put on and activated his mask, which bore the face of a pirate they had killed during their voyage.
He transformed into a boy who appeared slightly younger than Turan.
This face was chosen specifically because its hair color was similar to Turan’s gray, though slightly darker.
Unlike him, Meisa used a magical device she had created herself to change her hair and eye color.
She changed her reddish-brown hair and blue eyes to gray like Turan’s, and standing side by side, they looked like siblings.
“Come to think of it, you two are distant relatives, right? Since you both have Arabion bloodlines.”
“If you’re going to call us relatives, then you probably have thousands of relatives in these grasslands too.”
As Meisa said, her blood relationship with Turan was meaningless.
According to what they had briefly investigated during their stay at the Berk family, Turan’s maternal ancestors had maintained the Arabion bloodline at least five generations ago.
However, her voice was somewhat sharp for simply stating facts, prompting Solif to grin teasingly:
“Right, I suppose you’d prefer not to be relatives.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
While the two were chatting, Turan put on the magical device that manipulated apparent age and infused it with magical power.
He set his age to appear in his early fifties.
A moment later, sensing the transformation was complete, Turan turned to the others and asked:
“Is it done? How do I look?”
His voice sounded rougher than before.
Like the voice of someone who had aged several decades.
Seeing his transformation, Meisa nodded.
“It worked well.”
“I’ve seen it before, but aging really changes your appearance dramatically. Even people who knew you before probably wouldn’t recognize you.”
Turan was about to create a water mirror but realized there wasn’t enough moisture in the grassland, so he took out a hand mirror instead.
Looking at his reflection, he muttered quietly:
“It’s strange how little I resemble Talis.”
Perhaps it was due to Zahar’s characteristic sharp eyes and high bridge of the nose.
Originally, Turan resembled Talis so closely that people who knew him well might suspect a blood relationship at first glance.
However, when his age was increased using the magical device, that resemblance diminished considerably.
His mother’s features became more prominent, creating a gentler, more vibrant impression.
Solif looked at him curiously and asked:
“That doesn’t weaken your body, does it?”
“It only changes outward appearance. Height, weight, and other attributes remain completely unchanged.”
If it could completely manipulate physical age itself, it would be superior to Ravitas’s immortality Holy Relic.
Despite appearing to be in his fifties, Turan’s physical abilities hadn’t diminished at all.
Of course, this also meant he couldn’t take the appearance of a pre-adolescent child, which was a limitation.
Once their disguises were complete, the three stood together and nodded in approval at each other’s appearance.
Turan appearing in his early-to-mid fifties, Meisa in her early twenties, and Solif in his late teens.
With all three having similarly gray hair, despite their dissimilar facial features, they looked like close blood relatives.
After all, it wasn’t particularly strange for family members to have completely different facial features.
“It would have been better if this guy’s eyes were gray too.”
“If they were, there’d be too little of his maternal family’s traits showing. Let’s consider it a natural variation.”
Responding lightly to Solif’s grumbling, Turan pointed toward the distant city visible ahead.
From now on, they would be an ordinary traveling family journeying through Baraha’s lands.