Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 122

Chapter 122

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The Giant Sea Serpent that had been sucking in water from the sea.

When Turan learned that it was actually the naive merman boy Armani, he couldn’t help but stare blankly.

And shortly after, he realized one remarkable fact from the merman’s words.

“How does my face look to you right now?”

“Hmm? Your face? It looks exactly the same as when I saw you before!”

At Armani’s answer, Turan quickly created a water mirror using the nearby moisture and examined his reflection.

There, he saw the face of Gosan, the self-proclaimed illegitimate son of Baraha, with brown hair and eyes.

‘Do merfolk not see through this mask’s disguise? Or is it the Giant Sea Serpent’s power?’

Whichever it was, he was fortunate to have discovered this now.

Otherwise, he might have been caught off guard while attempting to deceive merfolk later on.

Turan released Bije’s legs and descended closer to the water’s surface using flight magic, matching Armani’s height.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“I’m eating water! Lots and lots of it, so I can become the biggest serpent in the world!”

Judging by his words, the water-sucking seemed to be their own form of strengthening ritual.

Whether they truly became stronger by simply drinking water, or by absorbing the magical power of marine magical beasts mixed in with it, was unclear.

After all, it wasn’t even certain whether merfolk grew stronger by absorbing magical power like mages did.

What was certain was that the merman boy before him had grown incomparably stronger than when Turan had last seen him.

When they first met, Armani had been barely distinguishable from an ordinary human.

By their second meeting, his magical power had been at best lower noble rank, but now it approached the highest tier.

This made him more powerful than Princess Rowina, the crab princess they had met before, and considering his true form was a Giant Sea Serpent, perhaps he should be compared to the merman king himself.

In some ways, his growth rate exceeded even Turan’s own.

Should he kill him before he grows even stronger?

The thought suddenly crossed his mind, but he decided to set it aside for now.

Although the merfolk would likely become his enemies in the future, this merman boy had consistently shown goodwill toward him.

There would be time enough for true hostility once they were certain they couldn’t coexist.

“I noticed you can transform into a Giant Sea Serpent now.”

“That’s right! Could you see it from below?”

“Somewhat. The water made it difficult to see clearly, but could you show me properly?”

At Turan’s request, Armani immediately dove underwater, then resurfaced transformed into a Giant Sea Serpent.

His length was around 40 meters, roughly just under half the size of the one they had hunted previously.

“Smaller than I expected.”

Of course, this comment only made sense from Turan’s perspective, having seen a much larger specimen. By normal standards, a creature of this size would be nothing short of a natural disaster.

Hearing Turan’s remark, the massive Giant Sea Serpent shook its head as if offended and said:

“That’s because I’m still young! After I drink more water and grow bigger, I can be as big as that shed skin!”

Though transformed, Armani’s voice remained high and thin like a boy’s, but it resonated with a buzz due to his enormous size.

Considering how loud the adult Giant Sea Serpent had roared, this was actually quite mild in comparison.

“Impressive. But let’s talk after you change back to your original form. Your voice is so loud it’s hurting my ears.”

At Turan’s words, Armani immediately reverted to his merman form.

He showed no sign of suspecting that Turan might take this opportunity to attack and kill him.

It seemed that despite gaining tremendous power, his innocent and gentle nature remained unchanged.

“Why are you alone? Where are your friends from before?”

“We came together on a ship, but I just came to check what was happening. We noticed a whirlpool as we were passing by.”

Armani, the culprit behind the whirlpool, smiled sheepishly.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. Where’s your family? Even if you’ve gotten stronger, I wouldn’t expect them to let a child wander alone like this. Can they all transform into Giant Sea Serpents now?”

“Hmm? Ah…”

Hearing this, Armani’s expression darkened, and he hesitated, avoiding eye contact.

“Sounds like something happened.”

Was it because Turan knew they were commanding magical beasts to threaten humans?

Even trying to catch his scent, all Turan could detect from the merman was a strong fishy smell.

After a moment, the merman boy sighed and said:

“Father and Mother are recuperating in the palace… and most of my brothers and sisters aren’t doing well either.”

“What? How did that happen?”

They had just seen that Armani had hunted the greatest threat, the Giant Sea Serpent, and taken its power, yet they had somehow suffered a major blow?

To Turan’s question, Armani hesitated before answering:

“Transforming into a Giant Sea Serpent is an extremely difficult and dangerous process. If you don’t have the right aptitude, you could die, be seriously injured, or even go insane.”

This was information that could be a fatal weakness for the merfolk.

It was so sensitive that it was surprising he would reveal it so easily.

Had Turan heard this from any merman other than Armani, he would have assumed it was deception.

“Does anyone else know this fact?”

“No one!”

At this bright, guileless answer, Turan clicked his tongue lightly.

If the Carmine family had known this, they wouldn’t have postponed contact with the merfolk until after the war.

They would have immediately invaded, slaughtered them all, and taken and disposed of the Giant Sea Serpent’s corpse.

“So, is everyone except you unable to function now?”

“There are a few brothers and sisters who can transform well, though not as well as me, and they’re driving out other tribes. If left alone, they might target our young ones.”

This matched what he had heard from the merman noble previously.

He had said that the royal families of other kingdoms had all fled in fear of being killed by Armani’s clan.

“Yet here you are, a child yourself, all alone.”

“I’m not a child anymore!”

After snapping back indignantly, Armani suddenly looked sheepish and said:

“Well, one of my sisters was trying to stop me from leaving. But I need to become stronger to protect my family, so I had no choice but to sneak out…”

In other words, he had once again escaped secretly and was out on an excursion.

Consistent in his own way, one might say.

“Well, at least you won’t get captured by pirates anymore. But do you know anything about marine magical beasts rampaging along the western coast?”

The magical beast he had encountered during his infiltration of Carmine territory clearly had a definite purpose in invading the domain.

And according to a merman noble, the “priest-king’s clan” of merman royalty who could transform into Giant Sea Serpents had the ability to control marine magical beasts.

Hearing this, Armani’s eyes widened in surprise.

“This is all news to me!”

Though Turan couldn’t smell his emotions, it was hard to find any trace of deception in that innocent expression.

Despite his immense power, it seemed the merfolk still treated Armani as a child and told him nothing.

Of course, judging by his current unauthorized excursion, that decision wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Oh! It really works! Over there!”

At that moment, Armani suddenly pointed to a spot where a giant herring was approaching.

Through their soul bond, Turan could sense the strong hunger Bije felt as he flew overhead.

“Can you command them at will?”

“It seems so. I never thought I could do something like this…”

Inadvertently, Turan had helped him discover yet another latent ability.

After summoning and dismissing several more magical beasts, Armani turned to Turan and said:

“Kind demon, from what you’re saying… the magical beasts attacking humans are probably the work of one of my brothers or sisters who went insane and left home.”

“And if they did it with a sound mind?”

“There would be no reason for that!”

“There could be. For example, using such attacks to distract the enemy.”

At Turan’s words, Armani groaned and clutched his head, then nodded.

“If that’s the case, I’ll stop that too. I’ll tell them not to do it.”

“Would that be possible?”

“Yes. Because I don’t want to fight with the kind demon.”

His clear, articulate manner made him seem much more mature than his earlier childish behavior suggested.

In response, Turan nodded and extended his hand.

“Good, I’d like to stay on good terms with you too. So, could I ask you for a favor?”

“A favor?”

“I’d like a few strands of your hair.”

* * *

After finishing his business, Turan was returning to the ship when he encountered Meisa flying toward him.

She sighed in relief upon seeing he was unharmed.

“What happened?”

“I came because I was worried when you were gone so long. Was everything alright?”

“I’m not sure if ‘alright’ is the right word… it was certainly significant. Let’s talk about it when we get back. Everyone should hear this.”

Since it would be cumbersome to take out and hang the swing in mid-air, Meisa stood on Turan’s foot and pressed close to him as they flew back to the ship together.

Seeing this, Solif, who had been waiting, whistled and said:

“My, what a lovely couple. No wonder we couldn’t help but worry.”

“Shut up.”

After exchanging their usual minor squabble upon landing, Turan explained to Solif and Meisa what had just transpired.

“So he can transform into a Giant Sea Serpent…”

“I expected as much, but hearing it directly makes it hard to breathe.”

“That means that monster could multiply into more than ten.”

Both remembered their battle with the Giant Sea Serpent.

Its imposing presence, like a living natural disaster.

And now, the various merman royalty who had fought alongside them could all potentially transform into Giant Sea Serpents—how formidable would their power be?

“There’s no need to worry too much. If they could become that powerful, Carmine wouldn’t be acting so passively. Especially considering how vigilant the gods are about challenges to their domain.”

As evident from how they stole the dwarves’ intelligence, the ancient Freya gods were extremely wary of the emergence of powers that could rival them.

Had all the merman royalty been capable of wielding power comparable to the gods—like the true Giant Sea Serpent—they would have immediately joined forces and crushed them, war or no war.

“This is all hypothetical, of course. I’ve decided to wait and see regarding the merfolk. I’ve received information suggesting the coastal invasions might not be deliberate, and most importantly, I got this.”

Turan took out his hair storage box from his pocket and tapped the newly filled compartment.

Inside was a damp tuft of Armani’s blue-gray hair.

“He just gave it to you?”

“He did. He even said that with this, he could find me wherever I am and help me.”

“That’s not why you took it.”

As the two gave him looks suggesting he had swindled a child, Turan shifted his gaze slightly.

“Anyway, I’ve passed on a message to them. I told them to prepare for the possibility of Carmine invading after the war.”

“Do you think they can defend themselves?”

“If that merman king can become a Giant Sea Serpent.”

Though Armani, said to have the highest aptitude, had grown so powerful, the other royalty with their naturally stronger base would likely be even more formidable.

Judging by the fact that they were still recuperating, it was difficult to say whether they could properly harness that power.

“Speaking of which, I wonder what’s happening with Arabion and Carmine.”

“That’s something we need to look into when we reach our destination. Though, since we haven’t been gone that long, I doubt war has broken out yet…”

The three simultaneously gazed westward, sharing the same thought.

* * *

Exactly one week after meeting Armani.

After landing somewhere on the western shore, they first surveyed the surroundings to determine their location.

They discovered they were somewhere in the southern part of Carmine territory.

Having confirmed the local geography, Turan’s group decided to change their disguises again.

During their stay in the Frostwind Forest, only Turan had disguised himself since Baraha already knew about Solif’s parents, but here circumstances were different, requiring new appearances.

Just as when infiltrating the Land of Five Lakes, Solif wore the mask and Turan used the age-altering magical device, which caused the watching Baraha couple to gasp in amazement.

“Truly… I can hardly believe my eyes.”

“I’m sorry, but could I possibly try that magical device?”

Solif’s mother, Romi, changed her apparent age to nearly twenty years younger and stared into the mirror with a mesmerized expression.

She seemed deeply captivated by the ability to regain her youthful face.

Meisa looked at her with an understanding expression.

“I could make one for you when we have time. It’s a bit difficult right now, though.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly ask for such a thing.”

Despite having traveled together for some time, the Baraha couple consistently maintained a respectful distance from Turan and Meisa. Perhaps they viewed them as beings of higher status, not merely as their son’s friends but as his equals as the former heir to Baraha.

Knowing that forcing them to be more casual wouldn’t make them feel more comfortable, Turan and Meisa simply accepted this dynamic.

After completing their disguises, Turan’s group flew through sparsely populated areas during the day and stayed in nearby cities in the evenings.

After ten exhausting days at sea, simply enjoying quality meals and accommodations helped alleviate their fatigue.

Unfortunately, since traveling with Bije would attract attention, he had to remain outside whenever they entered cities.

Either Turan or Meisa would always go out to sleep with him and provide comfort, so Bije didn’t feel neglected.

In truth, he preferred the outdoors to an ornate cage anyway.

As they passed through the southern hills and the edge of the Dakein Plains, Turan could sense the intensifying atmosphere of war.

Just as in the western wasteland when war broke out previously, the population had noticeably decreased and people’s expressions had darkened.

While taking a break on the ground during lunch, Meisa murmured wistfully, gazing northward:

“Ah, I miss my aunt…”

“Would you like to see her secretly?”

“No, it’s fine. It would just create unnecessary risk. I was just thinking out loud.”

While Turan could infiltrate without being seen by anyone using invisibility magic, this was impossible for Meisa.

At least they had exchanged letters with Asiz briefly, confirming everyone was safe, which provided some comfort.

After traveling for several days past the southern Dakein Plains and moving southwest,

In one city, Turan and Meisa simultaneously exclaimed in wonder.

“Wow…”

“Has it really been restored to this extent already?”

To the casual observer, it was just an ordinary city bustling with people, similar to countless others across the world.

Yet what made it special to them was its location in the heart of the western forest region.

Turan had passed through here while leaving Kalamaf with Bije, while Meisa had led a subjugation team through this area.

At that time, the place had been littered with corpses discarded by dark elves after being consumed.

Considering that less than four years had passed, the speed of recovery was remarkable.

“People who were hiding somewhere must have returned too. Just pioneers from the Dakein Plains or wastelands wouldn’t create a settlement of this size.”

Realistically, the dark elves, numbering only in the tens of thousands, couldn’t have killed all humans—their numbers were insufficient for such a task.

Those who had hidden in forests waiting for rescue by subjugation teams, as well as displaced people who had fled, must have returned.

Thus, the five of them crossed through the newly rebuilt city and the forest region, experiencing firsthand the resilience of humanity as they continued westward.

By noon of the fourth day, as they began entering the western wasteland region, Turan’s hometown, the surrounding landscape visibly became more barren.

Flying overhead, Solif looked down at the desolate land spread below and said:

“Seeing it again, I feel this might be the worst place to live in the world. Even the Siraf wetlands would be better.”

“It’s remarkable that enough grass grows to graze sheep.”

Since everyone in the group except Turan came from the world’s most prosperous regions—the Land of Five Lakes and the Dakein Plains—they found the cracked, dry earth of the western wasteland particularly striking.

Even Turan himself had been amazed by the increasingly lush natural environments as he traveled eastward after leaving Hisaril Hill.

“Oh!”

“Wow, is that…?”

At that moment, the Baraha couple riding the swing exclaimed in wonder as they pointed ahead.

After setting his Holy Relic to the Sun bloodline and looking forward, Turan too could see what had caught their attention.

Far beyond the horizon, a whitish shape was becoming visible.

The western boundary of the world that had accompanied Turan’s childhood—the Sky Mountains were coming into view.