Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 146

Chapter 146

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As should be obvious, Armani’s existence had to be kept strictly secret even within the Parsha family.

After all, weren’t mages supposed to be protectors of humanity against magical beasts and other species?

Considering how much the Arabion nobles had been shaken when Turan had accused their upper echelon of being white elves, one could imagine the significant repercussions if word spread that they were harboring a merman.

Not to mention the additional problem of Armani’s relatives coming to find him after hearing such rumors.

Therefore, to maintain complete secrecy, Turan kept Armani hidden in the deepest part of the Parsha mansion, specifically within his own quarters, for several days. He wasn’t allowed to show his face except in front of a few trusted individuals.

“But haven’t the mages in Ofen already seen everything? Like us bringing him around and stuff?”

“I’ve made them keep quiet. If word gets out… it would be uncomfortable for everyone.”

Turan replied to Solif’s question with a somewhat bleak expression.

Though he was the lord and master of the lord of Ofen as the head of the great family Parsha, the lord-vassal relationship formed between them was still extremely thin.

As such, Turan had paid a considerable price to keep the mouths of Ofen’s lord and his subordinates shut.

He had given away a significant portion of his wealth, including even a useful magical device.

Despite offering such excessive compensation to an ordinary mage family, if rumors still leaked out?

Well, after the carrot must come the harsh whip.

He could only hope it wouldn’t come to that.

After about a week, Asiz finally arrived with a somewhat haggard face, bringing the newly created magical device.

“Is this it?”

“Yes. It doesn’t have any particularly special functions, so I made it quickly.”

It was a mask that covered not just the face but the entire head.

The front was plain silver with no patterns, while the sides had decorations reminiscent of a lion’s mane, concealing the distinctive fin-like ears of a merman.

After examining the mask from various angles, Turan handed it to Armani standing beside him.

“Would you like to try it on?”

“Where… Wow! I can see clearly even with this on!”

“That’s its function.”

The mask Armani wore had two main functions.

First, as just mentioned, it didn’t obstruct the wearer’s vision or other senses.

Without such a feature, wearing it almost all day would drive someone mad from discomfort.

And second…

“Let me try.”

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Good. It doesn’t come off.”

Turan nodded as he tried to pull off the mask Armani was wearing.

The function that prevented anyone but the wearer from removing it worked even better than expected.

Of course, applying enough force would break it, but at least it wouldn’t come off if someone accidentally knocked it.

“Wear that from now on.”

“Does this mean I can go outside now!?”

“Yes. But you must never take it off in front of others.”

“Of course!”

Perhaps feeling confined after being trapped in Turan’s quarters, Armani cheered and ran out wearing the mask.

The members of the Parsha family were bewildered by the sudden appearance of this unidentified masked boy.

Who could he be to cover his face, and why was the family head paying such close attention to him?

Normally one might assume he was a son, but Kalamaf’s Turan was only twenty-four years old, too young to be the father of a boy who appeared to be in his mid-teens despite wearing a mask.

And naturally, when such a suspicious person appears, movements to gather information follow.

The most famous spy of the Parsha family immediately went into action.

“You said your name is Aren?”

“That’s right!”

Aren.

That was Armani’s new name.

Through several experiences with disguises, Turan knew that aliases should be somewhat similar to one’s real name to be easier to remember.

In truth, considering that merfolk intelligence capabilities were limited to the islands of the Northern Sea, there might not have been any need for an alias, but it was better to be cautious.

Berit’s eyes gleamed maliciously at Armani’s naive responses.

“I’m Berit. I’m the family head’s fifth cousin. May I ask what your relationship with the family head is?”

“Friend!”

Berit, who had subtly omitted her surname Zahar to lower his guard, frowned at the simple answer.

A friend, he says.

She immediately recalled the people Turan referred to as friends.

Meisa Arabion, Solif Baraha…

She could guess that only powerful individuals at the heir level of great families, ones at his own level, were considered his friends.

The only exception was Asiz, but even he was a talented individual from the Enchanter family that many great families desired.

‘Could he be the heir of Ravitas? He doesn’t match the physical description I’ve heard about the Ruban heir…’

In reality, Ravitas didn’t have an heir since family head Osel was still young, but Berit didn’t know that.

Ravitas territory was so isolated that intelligence gathering was difficult.

After chatting a bit more, she wrote a letter to the Zahar main house with her guess about Aren’s identity.

That he was either the heir of some great family, or at the very least, a noble with a bloodline useful enough to be made a vassal.

While this clumsy spy was unintentionally spreading false information, Turan had sent a letter far to the south.

To the Ravitas fleet that should be cutting through the Southern Sea toward Baraha territory.

“I hope there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Surely not. Even with the worst luck, they wouldn’t encounter each other.”

Meisa, lying with her head on Turan’s lap as he grumbled while sitting on the lounge sofa, answered with her eyes gently closed.

Just yesterday, she had completed the new magical device for Solif and was in a terribly weakened state.

So weak that she might not even be able to defeat an ordinary mid-rank noble.

As such, Turan always kept her within his protective range wherever she went after leaving her workshop, cradling her like now.

Occasionally Berit, seeing this, would burn with jealousy, but the excuse was too perfect to complain.

What could she say when a top combatant of his family was unwell, and he needed to provide close protection?

“Here, ah-”

“I have hands, you know.”

At mealtime.

Though grumbling, Meisa opened her mouth and accepted the spoonful of soup Turan offered… As she quietly chewed, she suddenly recalled their time at the bakery a few years ago.

Back then, even imagining being fed seemed incredibly lewd and shameless.

How on earth had she come to engage in such affectionate acts on a daily basis after just a few years?

Well, if we’re talking about shamelessness, nothing could compare to being knocked unconscious and having food pushed through a tube shoved down her throat.

At the time, she had accepted it because her body was in poor condition and the situation was desperate, but thinking about it now, it was truly horrifying.

Recalling this, she looked at Turan, who tilted his head curiously.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

Of course, this didn’t mean she disliked the current situation.

Is this how a baby bird feels when protected by its mother?

There was a sense of security that came from being unilaterally protected while in a powerless state, different from fighting shoulder to shoulder as equals.

Having lived for years unable to trust anyone as a protector after losing her mother, this feeling evoked a nostalgic comfort for Meisa, as if returning to childhood.

* * *

While the two lovers were freely displaying their affection without concern for others’ gazes, Bije returned from the Southern Sea with a reply.

Having previously collected Rida’s hair with her permission and given it to Bije, Turan had used tracking magic to pinpoint the battleship in the middle of the ocean and deliver the letter.

The golden eagle, still carrying the scent of the sea on her feathers, proudly demanded a gift from Turan.

-I worked hard, so give me something delicious!

“Of course I have something prepared, my lady.”

Although she sometimes enjoyed intellectual activities like reading history books as Rida had advised, ultimately, Bije’s most primal pleasure was food.

While she savored honeyed roast pork, Turan unfolded Rida’s reply.

[I received your letter well. Fortunately, we haven’t encountered the Giant Sea Serpents you mentioned, but there has certainly been an increased frequency of merfolk appearances. We’re currently passing through the southern part of the Enril Desert, and there are even rumors that some merfolk are not just attacking the coast but actually entering inland. Be careful, as some might be heading toward Kalamaf.]

The rest detailed minor incidents with Osel during the voyage and the expected landing date.

This was written in the hope that Turan would send Solif at that time as promised.

After folding the finished letter, Turan sighed with relief, realizing that the worst-case scenario he had envisioned had not materialized.

The sudden appearances of merfolk were naturally just other merfolk tribes that had fled to the Southern Sea, now panicking at the emergence of the Giant Sea Serpent clan.

And from the postscript, he could infer:

“That’s a relief. It seems the Giant Sea Serpent clan has already moved up to the Northern Sea. It would have been terrible if they had clashed with Ravitas.”

“You think those who entered inland were them?”

“What other reason would merfolk have to enter the desert? Ordinary merfolk would become dried-up fish despite any oases.”

As evident from Armani surviving for months trapped in the bottom of a pirate ship in the past, merfolk could survive reasonably well even without living in water.

However, their skin, unlike humans’, was protected by a somewhat slimy mucus, requiring periodic moisture replenishment.

This was why Armani’s quarters always had a bathtub filled with cool water.

“Aren, how effectively could your kind fight on land?”

Using the alias for familiarity’s sake, Turan addressed the masked Armani, who repeatedly tilted his head.

Each time, the lion’s mane attached to the sides swayed, which he seemed to enjoy.

“Well, we can fight on land, but we’d be much weaker than near water. I’d guess about half as strong…”

“I see.”

Turan clicked his tongue lightly, abandoning one of the plans he had prepared.

The plan to leak information about the Giant Sea Serpents’ northward movement to Zahar through Berit.

If the Giant Sea Serpents could exert reasonable power on land, he might have benefited from having the two sides wear each other down, but according to Armani, they would likely just be slaughtered one-sidedly.

Even worse would be if Zahar subdued or negotiated with the Giant Sea Serpents and formed an alliance.

It was better to let them continue as planned, heading north to the Northern Sea to fight with Carmine.

During their conversation, Solif exhaled heavily as he read Rida’s letter.

“Three weeks from now?”

“That’s right. We should join a bit earlier in case information has leaked to Baraha and they’re actively preparing for defense.”

Since direct movement to Baraha mainland through the Southern Sea was impossible, the basic plan was to land in the grasslands and move north, just as Turan’s group had done in the past.

At Turan’s words, Solif took several deep breaths in and out.

Like someone feeling constricted.

“Nervous?”

“Extremely.”

Like most mages from great families, Solif didn’t have any particularly deep personal connection with his family head.

Not all heirs would be like this, but since Solif had been raised as a vessel, they likely wanted to avoid creating impurities in the educational process.

Turan gestured slightly toward Solif and said:

“But you have that item we got recently. Trust in that.”

“Heh.”

Solif touched the cloth hanging on his back and gave a loose smile.

The magical device Meisa had recently created.

Thanks to her investing nearly a month of power, accepting temporary incapacitation, its function surpassed even decent Holy Relics.

“Of course, don’t just rely on that. You’ve been practicing soul magic consistently, right? And regular magic.”

“Ah, nagging… Of course.”

“Then let’s extract your spirit form. Let’s remove a few more needles today.”

“Ugh.”

At Turan’s words, Solif shook his head as if disgusted but soon obediently extracted his spirit form.

Since Meisa’s spirit form had weakened from the effort of creating the magical device and recovering from its aftereffects, only Solif was receiving the treatment to remove spirit needles.

Thanks to their continued efforts, the needles, which had numbered in the hundreds when first seen, had now been reduced to around forty or fifty.

“At this rate, we might be able to remove them all before the expedition…”

“Are you sure this will actually do something good?”

“I’m telling you it will.”… Of course, Turan wasn’t entirely certain what effect it would have, but he had an intuition bordering on certainty that it wouldn’t be negative.

And so once again, the sound of removing needles and short screams echoed only in the spiritual world.

* * *

They say it’s always calmest before a storm.

The atmosphere in the Parsha family, as war approached, grew more peaceful than ever.

Meisa, gradually recovering, left Turan’s side to resume her daily life, while Solif was frequently absent for training.

Meanwhile, Turan was so busy that he could have used two bodies.

As the head of Parsha, he received audiences with the lords of various cities who had become his vassals, confirming and addressing their complaints, approving resolutions for major issues in the city and throughout the gray zone…

Amidst all this, he also oversaw the combat training of the nobles and knights directly under Parsha.

Normally, advice from other mages to those who had reached a certain level would be considered unnecessary meddling, but Turan’s case was somewhat different.

“You’ve improved a lot, Ojo. Your activation speed has doubled.”

“I-It’s an honor, Family Head!”

The lower-ranking noble from the nearby Korkan family exclaimed in delight when Turan addressed him by name.

These mages, conscripted under the name of the Parsha family, had roots in various families but were directly under Turan’s command. Naturally, they had little bond with him, making them a force not easily managed.

To address this, Turan not only had Enchanters under his command create magical devices for them to use but also offered advice and encouragement on magical techniques whenever time permitted.

Initially, the Parsha mages thought that the young family head with powerful abilities was merely engaging in frivolous activities based solely on his strength, but as their skills improved each time they followed his advice, they couldn’t ignore his guidance.

‘This used to be much more difficult before.’

Recalling when he first taught magic to Asiz, Turan inwardly chuckled.

Back then, he couldn’t understand why other mages couldn’t learn and handle magic as easily as he could, finding it frustrating, but after meeting many people throughout his life, he had naturally grown accustomed to this as well.

For those less capable, offer teaching from a lower perspective.

Perhaps his ability to internalize knowledge that others decades older struggled to grasp came from his experiences traveling to many places and facing many situations from a young age.

After finishing his duties, Turan instructed those diligently practicing magic:

“After dinner tonight, all troops I’ve designated are to assemble at the mansion’s third training ground.”

“Yes, Family Head!”

The Parsha mages expressed obedience rather than questioning the divine-like family head’s instructions.

This was the result of the control he had gained over his forces by approaching them as a teacher for the past couple of months.

Turan looked down at these respectfully bowing individuals with a complex expression.

‘Do I really need to take them…’

The thought of just taking Meisa and Solif instead wouldn’t leave his mind.

Those two would likely survive in most situations, but if he took many troops, weaker individuals, some of them would surely die.

But a shepherd sometimes had to push his sheepdogs in front of deadly threats.

While wolves were focused on the sheepdogs, the shepherd could more comfortably land a stone on the enemy’s head.

Leaving the training ground, Turan looked up at the bright sun in the sky.

By tonight, when that sun had set and the moon had risen, they would be in the eastern land of Baraha.