Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Discord
“So this is Kalamaf? It’s smaller than I expected. Decent location, but such a backwater.”
In the middle of the procession moving through Kalamaf City.
In response to the young woman’s words from inside the carriage, the man sitting across from her gave a bitter smile.
“Please don’t say such things when we get there, miss. We’re in a position where we need to curry favor with our hosts.”
“Who do you take me for, an idiot? I’ll be all smiles and sweetness in front of them, don’t worry. It’s still better than staying at the main house anyway. Besides, men will give you anything if you just smile prettily at them.”
The haughty woman’s appearance justified her arrogance.
Short brown-black hair that fell to her shoulders, mysterious light purple eyes, and a petite, slender frame like that of a fairy.
Anyone would find her immediately attractive – not only was she beautiful, but her appearance matched her noble status, making her truly captivating to most men.
Shortly after, when the Zahar delegation arrived at the lord’s mansion in the center of Kalamaf, the woman stepped out of the carriage.
Under everyone’s admiring gaze, she smiled at those who had come to greet them.
“I’m pleased to meet you all. My name is Berit Zahar.”
Her demeanor showed no trace of her earlier haughtiness – she was now as shy and delicate as a flower.
The nobles of Kalamaf who had come to welcome her burst into exclamations of admiration.
As she smiled shyly, Berit recognized the gray-haired man standing in the center as her arranged marriage partner.
‘So that’s Turan? He’s certainly handsome as I heard… though not really my type.’
While immature girls might swoon over such refined features, she personally preferred a more rugged, masculine type.
Like the silver-haired man standing beside him, for instance.
Of course, looks weren’t everything – she would need someone with abilities worthy of her, but still.
While inwardly evaluating him, Turan approached and greeted her politely.
“Welcome, Berit. I hope you’ll enjoy your time in Kalamaf.”
As she took his hand while exiting the carriage, Berit secretly marveled at the scent emanating from him.
Despite being in contact with a beauty like herself, he wasn’t experiencing the slightest sexual attraction.
Clearly, he wouldn’t be as easily seduced as she had boasted.
* * *
Officially, Berit’s visit wasn’t presented as courtship for a political marriage, but merely as a friendly exchange between two great families.
Therefore, her official status was simply that of a guest.
Since it would have been inappropriate for a mere guest to bring an army, the Zahar mages who had escorted her this far returned to the desert.
Even her attendants were to be replaced with people from Kalamaf.
In reality, what both Turan and Zahar wanted from this exchange was more complex.
Turan wanted Zahar to at least remain neutral against Arabion, while Zahar aimed to assess Turan and Kalamaf’s internal strength and create a binding connection.
Thus, Berit was simultaneously a marriage candidate, a hostage, and a spy.
As if this weren’t complicated enough, she had yet another role to play.
“The daughter of Rahman, you say?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“He would be my fifth cousin’s son, I believe.”
Rahman, the only surviving heir of Zahar.
His relationship with Turan was truly complex.
Turan had helped eliminate his competitors—though Rahman remained unaware of Turan’s role in Ferga’s death—yet if Turan himself were to join Zahar, he would become an even more formidable rival than those eliminated.
Of course, this was a meaningless hypothetical since Turan had no intention of joining the Zahar family.
After all, wouldn’t he just end up as a new body for the Zahar family head?
In any case, sending Rahman’s daughter as a hostage carried its own message.
It suggested that they would offer Turan the status of son-in-law to the future Zahar family head in exchange for maintaining his independent force without challenging them.
After answering his question, Berit looked around and commented:
“There are quite a lot of light orbs both outside and inside the mansion.”
“Even if Zahar isn’t our only concern, we need to be vigilant against anyone who might try to infiltrate.”
The Kalamaf mansion had initially been designed by Zahar to prevent stealthy infiltration when they were trying to capture Turan, and was subsequently modified by the Berk family members with their techniques.
Additionally, Turan himself had attempted infiltration to identify and address any weaknesses.
As a result, it had become an extremely uncomfortable place for Zahar nobles.
His words carried the implication that he had no intention of removing these defenses just because she found them inconvenient.
Hearing this, Berit nodded.
“That’s fine. The main house has a similar structure anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s even more thorough there, if anything.”
Through Berit’s words, Turan learned that the Zahar main house was unexpectedly well-defended against invisibility.
This was valuable information that would have been difficult to obtain without visiting directly.
‘So they’re afraid of who might be hiding from each other…’
A family that used invisibility as a weapon had thoroughly implemented measures against invisibility in their own headquarters?
It seemed absurd, but when he thought about it, even they wouldn’t want to suffer from the paranoia that someone might be invisibly eavesdropping nearby.
Considering what Meisa had experienced in the past, who would even feel comfortable visiting the bathroom?
After exchanging a few more words, Turan dismissed Berit, suggesting she rest in her quarters.
When she suggested having a drink together, he firmly declined, citing that he was busy.
As she walked away, Berit inwardly gritted her teeth at his rejection.
‘He’s even more of an ice wall than I expected. What’s his deal?’
She had heard that Turan already had a woman.
The escaped heir of Arabion, the so-called Skeleton Princess?
She had apparently gained some weight and become quite attractive now, but Berit didn’t consider her a real competitor.
He probably just flattered her because of her power.
As she was thinking this, Berit’s eyes met those of a woman who appeared in the corridor.
Long, reddish-brown hair, blue eyes, and unlike herself, a tall and slender figure.
Though Berit had never felt inferior about her appearance among nobles before, something about this woman made her instinctively feel diminished.
It wasn’t simply that she was more beautiful, but rather that she emanated the kind of pressure one feels when meeting someone of higher status.
“Berit Zahar?”
“…Yes.”
“I’m Meisa Arabion.”… As Meisa unexpectedly extended her hand, Berit hesitated, wondering if she should take it.
Knowing that the other woman was a powerful noble, she feared her hand might be crushed the moment she took it.
Considering the history between their families, such a reaction wouldn’t have been surprising.
However, contrary to her expectations, the scent emanating from Meisa’s body contained no hostility.
Instead, there was only the kind of fondness and mild sympathy one might feel when seeing a cute animal.
“You must be tired from your long journey. I hope you’ll have a pleasant stay.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
After exchanging greetings and parting ways, Berit looked down at the hand she had just held as she walked toward her quarters.
Somehow, it still felt strangely warm.
‘How strange…’
Such kindness was unfamiliar to her.
Those of lower status wouldn’t dare look at her, the heir’s daughter, with such affection, while those of higher status saw her as someone to be wary of.
Although momentarily taken in by this unusual feeling, Berit soon reminded herself that this woman would come to hate her.
After all, she had to seduce Turan by any means necessary.
Only then could she gain power as the wife of the Zahar family head.
[TL Note- Turan is being referred Zahar family head in case she gets married with Turan.]
* * *
After sending Berit away, Turan entered his office and placed a small metal plate on his desk.
He then gently passed an electrical current through it.
With a slight crackling sound, the weak electric current flowed, and the metal plate began to float.
It hovered above his hand, rising, falling, and even spinning, before settling back down as the current was cut off.
‘As I thought, it consumes quite a bit of magical power and doesn’t provide much force.’
After his recent battle with Badal, Turan had asked the librarian about “the power to move metal” and learned about a new concept called magnetism.
Apparently, by properly manipulating electricity, one could exert force on metal?
Unfortunately, the librarian’s knowledge ended there; he didn’t know the specific methods.
His knowledge was based on books written by the ancient Freya gods or their servants and stored in the library.
Therefore, either no one had mastered this knowledge deeply during that time, or it had been considered a secret technique and hidden.
Just like thought acceleration or the Light of Judgment.
Still, just knowing that it was related to electricity provided enough causal information for Turan to now manipulate metal weakly using electricity.
Of course, it wasn’t yet practical for combat, and to advance further, he would need to either continue practicing or delve deeper into understanding the principles.
After all, magic becomes more efficient and powerful the more one understands it.
After spending some time practicing, people began to gather in his office one by one.
Meisa and Solif, Melo and Asiz, Haram, and others who could be considered the leadership of Kalamaf.
Before long, his office had transformed into a conference room.
Once everyone had assembled, Solif was the first to ask Turan about the recently arrived Berit.
“You just spoke with her alone, how was she?”
“Quite the viper, that one.”
From the moment they met, Turan had known that Berit felt no genuine attraction to him.
Yet she had shown natural skill in seduction, pretending to be shy, avoiding his eyes, or subtly brushing against his arm.
Had Turan not already had someone in his heart, and had he not detected her true nature, he might have been somewhat tempted.
Of course, knowing all this, he wouldn’t succumb to her advances even if they were the last two people on earth.
Hearing Turan’s words, Meisa, who was sitting nearby, responded with confusion:
“Really? She seemed like a nice girl to me.”
“You met her?”
“We passed each other by chance. She seemed very cute and sweet. Quite shy too.”
It appeared that Meisa had a poor eye for judging people.
Then again, her positive view likely stemmed from not considering Berit as a competitor.
Turan had already reassured her multiple times about this.
That this exchange was merely political, and that she was the only one he truly considered his partner.
After exchanging smiles and confirming their affection, Turan turned to Solif.
“Actually, she seemed more interested in you than me.”
“What?”
“Though she’s probably not your type.”
“Come on, let’s not talk about that.”
When Turan subtly referenced Solif’s romantic preferences that he had discovered in the Baraha records, Solif bristled.
Of course, Berit, being neither married nor particularly old at around thirty, was completely outside Solif’s usual preferences, but beauty often transcends specific tastes.
If she were to win over Solif, it might be politically useful.
Especially considering she herself was a noble with upper-tier magical power.
Though Solif wasn’t particularly handsome, he was presentable enough, and Turan briefly entertained the thought of attracting a useful Zahar noble through this unexpected means.
After summarizing his thoughts on the matter, Turan concluded:
“Well, she’s basically decorative, so there’s not much to worry about. Just please don’t do anything foolish. It would be troublesome for both of us if we had to kill her and request a replacement.”
Everyone looked at Turan with somewhat disgusted expressions.
His attitude made it abundantly clear that he would never fall for her seduction.
The discussion about their new guest ended there.
As they began the regular meeting, Asiz cleared his throat and produced some documents.
“First, I’ve summarized the recent changes in Kalamaf’s military strength.”
After the attack from Arabion, the Berk family had been reorganized with Melo as its head.
Naturally, Asiz’s position had become somewhat unclear as he transitioned from being the family head’s son to the family head’s brother, so Turan had taken him in as his steward and future vassal of his own family.
Asiz had changed significantly since losing his parents.
His previously positive, cheerful, and sometimes frivolous smile had diminished, and unlike before when he only enjoyed playing, he now devoted himself to various studies and training.
He had even returned to Haram’s hellish physical training regimen that he had once fled from.
Additionally, he had actively involved himself in administrative duties that most nobles tended to avoid, and surprisingly, he showed talent in this area too, making considerable progress.
Thanks to this, Turan could delegate such matters to him and allocate more time for personal training.
“Currently, Kalamaf has a total of 27 nobles, of which three are classified as top-tier, five as upper-tier, eight as mid-tier, and eleven as lower-tier.”
The classification criteria were based on what Turan had improvised with his friends in the past, and the measurements were directly detected by him using his Holy Relic.
The three top-tier nobles were, of course, Turan, Meisa, and Solif, while the five upper-tier included Haram, Melo, Asiz, and two dependents of the Berk family.
Melo and Asiz had just barely reached the upper tier after absorbing magical power during the recent battle.
It was a painful truth, but in the world of mages, one person’s death always served as fertilizer for another’s growth.
The remaining mid and lower-tier nobles were branch members of the Berk family or personnel dispatched by various families in the gray zone who had declared themselves vassals.
They had also sent knights, so unlike before when there were only seventy-five knights from the Berk family, their number now exceeded two hundred.
Listening quietly, Melo muttered:
“Looking at it this way, our combat strength hasn’t declined as much as I thought. In fact, we might even be stronger now…”
Although it might seem that mid and lower-tier nobles or knights couldn’t do much in battles between godlike nobles, their presence actually played a surprisingly significant role in combat.
Knights collectively harassing a lower-tier noble, freeing up that noble to harass a mid-tier noble, who in turn could intervene in battles between upper-tier nobles.
This chain reaction could ultimately influence even the confrontations between top-tier nobles.
In fact, the recent battle had ended due to the intervention of the Ravitas army that had suddenly appeared.
“It’s a shame the Ravitas nobles have returned.”
“They have their own affairs to manage too. They can’t keep such forces idle indefinitely.”
The Ravitas reinforcements that had arrived with Turan had recently returned to their main house.
This meant the two families were now in a state of semi-disconnected communication.
Still, since they had promised to send a delegation led by Rida soon, they would be able to discuss how to act as allies in the future then.
As they discussed their grand strategy, Turan asked Asiz a question that had occurred to him:
“By the way, how is the control of the newcomers?”
“Well, they’ve formed their own factions… but they listen to us. It’s all thanks to you.”
It’s natural for people to form factions even when just three gather.
Predictably, the mages who had gathered in Kalamaf had also divided into groups and engaged in minor conflicts, but fortunately, none had caused major disturbances yet.
After all, Turan’s reputation for having repelled the Arabion family head in direct confrontation was still formidable.
Of course, this too would gradually fade with time.
People are naturally forgetful creatures; even the Arabion vassals had eventually rebelled despite witnessing Badal’s overwhelming power.
They continued discussing various topics from city management to methods of training spies to monitor nearby great families, and time passed quickly.
Of course, they were only determining the direction here, with the detailed implementation left to the officials below them.
As the discussion was winding down, a topic both trivial and crucially important arose:
Deciding on a name for their new great family.
“Hmm.”
“A name…”
The problem was that they couldn’t easily decide what this name should be.
Idioms from ancient records, partial quotations from famous sayings, place names and personal names—all sorts of names were mentioned, but none perfectly satisfied everyone.
When considering that the name they were creating might last for thousands of years like Arabion and Zahar, they naturally became cautious.
They particularly needed to avoid anything that felt similar to those two families, since Turan was born as a mixed-blood between them.
Of course, it wasn’t publicly known that Turan also possessed Arabion’s power, but if their name sounded similar to either one, people would naturally assume a closer connection to that side.
“I liked Artos.”
“That sounds too similar to Arabion.”
“How about Kologa?”
“That’s too meaningless. The sound isn’t good either.”
Since this topic had been raised several times before, the same names were mentioned and the same objections were raised.
Eventually, as everyone fell silent, Asiz, who had raised the topic, looked around and said:
“Since we’ve had many opinions but nothing suitable, I asked the officials while giving instructions. What if we collected ideas for the family name?”
“From commoners?”
“They may lack power, but they all have minds to think with. In fact, they might be smarter than us.”
It certainly wasn’t a typical noble’s idea to delegate naming a great family to commoners.
Asiz unfolded a paper filled with various names and pointed to a highlighted section.
“So, we got hundreds of candidates, but there’s one really good one here. I think Turan will like it too.”
“What is it?”
“Parsha. It means ‘one who leads a flock.’ It also has meanings like ‘guide’ or ‘ruler.'”
This was a name that would have been difficult to suggest without knowing that Turan had been a shepherd until a few years ago, and that he still identified with that role.
Normally, mentioning a relatively humble former occupation to someone who had risen in status would cause offense.
However, Turan was quite pleased with this name.
Even for those who might think ‘shepherd’ was inappropriate, the meanings of ‘guide’ or ‘ruler’ seemed suitable for a family name.
“I like it.”
“It doesn’t sound similar to Zahar or Arabion, the sound is good, and the meaning is nice…”
“Shall we go with this one?”
Partly because they genuinely liked it, and partly because they wanted to settle this topic, everyone expressed their approval.
And so, the name of the great family that would rule the gray zone was decided in a somewhat casual manner.
Turan Parsha.
That would be his new name from now on for official purposes.