Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 181

Chapter 181

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The atmosphere within Zahar’s stronghold, the Red Fortress, was always as sharp as a well-honed blade.

 

The Zahar nobles, born with more ruthless and cruel natures than others, would constantly roll their eyes searching for weaknesses to stab each other with, even while maintaining smiling faces, and they believed without doubt that their opponents were doing the same.

 

However, in recent days, they were feeling that the atmosphere they had always thought was razor-sharp had merely been peaceful everyday life.

 

The current Red Fortress was truly like a cliff where one wrong step would lead to a direct fall.

 

What was truth and what was a trap—only a few standing at the very top could be certain.

 

Everyone else was nothing but puppets dancing on stage with blindfolds on.

 

‘How stifling…’

 

Aden Zahar let out an inward sigh at the suffocating atmosphere as he looked down at the interior of the fortress.

 

Normally, his duty should have been to check if anyone was entering from outside the fortress, but even a noble was allowed the small transgression of briefly turning his gaze away.

 

‘No, actually even that feels a bit burdensome right now. Since I don’t know which of the nearby guys might report my activities to the higher-ups…’

 

Recently, there had been quite a commotion in Aksum, Zahar’s capital.

 

A conflict had broken out among the highest-tier mages who were considered part of their core leadership.

 

An ambiguous noble like Aden didn’t even have the right to know why that fight had occurred or how it had ended.

 

He only knew that the battle that started at the outskirts of the Red Citadel had continued into Aksum city, and that the city had been sealed after the conflict.

 

While he was lost in such thoughts for a while, Aden briefly noticed an unfamiliar servant passing by.

 

‘Seems like a face I haven’t seen before?’

 

Of course, it wasn’t as if he knew all the faces of the thousands of servants in the Red Fortress.

 

Still, there was usually a certain range of activity, so the faces he saw daily would naturally become familiar, but somehow he felt like he had never seen that fellow before.

 

Such thoughts lasted only briefly before Aden soon lost interest and turned his gaze away.

 

It was also because he was getting tired of constantly staring due to the bright light illuminating below the castle walls.

 

* * *

 

‘Did he… relax his guard? Good.’

 

While carefully moving after leaving the underground storage room, Turan had tensed up without showing it when a noble on the castle wall suddenly focused on him.

 

If he had followed and grabbed him asking who he was, it would have been difficult to answer.

 

In that case, he would have had to subdue and kill him as quietly as possible, then find a place to bury him.

 

Unlike Arabion’s stronghold where everyone had been living relatively peaceful daily lives, the interior of Zahar’s stronghold now was clearly filled with an atmosphere of searching for any suspicious individuals.

 

Naturally, in such an atmosphere, it was difficult to leisurely approach just anyone to gather information.

 

‘Do I need to take risks to gather information?’

 

Kidnap one of the Zahar nobles for interrogation, or disguise himself as that person to extract information…

 

Fortunately, through Berit in the past, he had learned in advance about the faces, names, positions, and personalities of important figures among the Zahar nobles.

 

If it hadn’t been for that, it would have been truly like ramming his head against a cliff with no information at all.

 

‘From the atmosphere, this seems to be the library. Over there is the residential area where those from Alma’s former faction mainly live… Is the family head’s residence over there? If all else fails, I might have to dig another tunnel to get in.’

 

While gathering information piece by piece, Turan’s face changed several times.

 

It seemed like having the same face continuously wandering around without doing anything would also be conspicuous.

 

However, despite such disguises, at some point he began to sense someone tracking him.

 

It was a noble with roughly mid-to-upper tier magical power.

 

‘Who is it?’

 

Was it a problem that he had been wearing the same clothes while moving around since there was no suitable place to change?

 

Or was it because it was inappropriate for servants to wander around in certain areas?

 

Or perhaps some special detection magic device or holy relic power?

 

Carrying such suspicions in his head, he lightly turned his head while circling around a building to confirm the appearance of his pursuer.

 

A middle-aged man with an appearance of about forty years old, a large nose, bushy mustache, and distinctive baldness was following Turan while observing him intently.

 

‘With that appearance, was it Paol Zahar? One of Talis’s close associates…’

 

An alarm bell rang in Turan’s head after confirming the opponent’s identity.

 

Once he appeared suspicious, it wouldn’t end with just somehow shaking off the tail.

 

If that guy went back to Talis and reported that there was a suspicious person who had shaken off his surveillance, the infiltration itself would turn into a failure.

 

Considering Talis’s persistence and thoroughness that he had experienced in the past, there was no possibility of casually getting past this.

 

‘I’ll kill him.’

 

But how?

 

If he fought in such an exposed place, his identity would be revealed immediately, and there were no secluded areas nearby.

 

Most importantly, if he suddenly moved to such a place, the opponent might sense something suspicious…

 

Just as he was thinking this, a foul smell entering his nostrils brought a new idea.

 

Turan immediately followed the guidance of his sense of smell toward the bathroom while continuing to check on his pursuer’s presence.

 

‘Good, he’s following.’

 

If he knew what Turan’s identity was, he wouldn’t dare attempt such a thing.

 

It seemed like he thought this side was just a spy who had infiltrated from another family.

 

Well, how many people would seriously believe that someone at the level of a great family head would personally transform and come visiting?

 

Moreover, if he reported just because he felt something strange without properly confirming, and it turned out to be a real servant, it would be embarrassing too.

 

Entering the bathroom, Turan frowned at the light orbs embedded densely throughout, shining brightly.

 

It seemed like every place except sleeping areas was illuminated this brightly.

 

Even this bathroom was for servants, yet it was in this state?

 

It was understandable that the mages of Zahar, born and raised in such a place, would have terrible personalities.

 

‘This place should work.’

 

A bathroom roughly five meters wide and ten meters long, with about three compartments separated by partitions.

 

Turan opened the door to one compartment and made the sound of sitting on the toilet, then used stealth magic, came out, and hung from a light orb positioned above the door.

 

This caused magical power to drain out briefly, but this much was bearable.

 

Time passed like this for about twenty minutes.

 

Perhaps wondering if the person who entered the bathroom had died, Paol quietly opened the door and entered, expressing puzzlement with an “Hmm?”

 

‘What?’

 

Even at such a close distance, he couldn’t sense any presence at all.

 

Although Zahar nobles’ senses were specialized in smell, he should at least be able to hear breathing.

 

Clearly that suspicious fellow had entered here—

 

Crack—Before his confusion could turn to realization, Paol’s neck was broken.

 

Turan, who had grabbed and twisted Paol’s neck while hanging from the ceiling with both legs, immediately closed the bathroom door and paid attention to sounds coming from outside.

 

If a commotion broke out, he would have to abandon infiltration and everything else and flee immediately.

 

‘Success.’

 

Letting out a sigh of relief, Turan examined the corpse he had just killed.

 

Thanks to breaking his neck with just the right amount of force for an instant death, no blood had flowed.

 

If blood had gotten on his clothes, it would have been impossible to hide that smell, so it was truly fortunate.

 

As Turan immediately changed into Paol’s clothes and took on his appearance, he sensed someone approaching from outside the bathroom.

 

Hastily stuffing the corpse into his large-capacity bag and entering a toilet stall, the door opened and someone entered.

 

“Ugh, gotta go. Gotta go.”

 

Some unknown servant glanced at the closed stall, then entered the adjacent stall, pulled down his pants and sat down.

 

After creating unbearable sounds and smells, only after he left again did Turan let out a sigh of relief.

 

‘Now, let’s slowly…’

 

Closing his eyes and concentrating, his spirit form immediately emerged from between his brows.

 

In the spiritual world visible only to spirit form eyes, he could see a whitish form remaining where Paol had died moments ago.

 

Not a spirit form solidified like fallen gods similar to spirits, but remnants containing only spiritual power and some lingering thoughts.

 

The power of soul magic grabbed those remnants and brought them before Turan.

 

[Paol.]

 

[Uh… ah…]

 

Perhaps because he hadn’t even recognized his own death?

 

Paol’s spirit form was just letting out vague moans without even having any particular obsessions.

 

Turan concentrated his mind and tried to penetrate his spirit form to extract information.

 

[What happened recently in Zahar, what is Talis doing? What happened to Zahar’s family head?]

 

Even in the remnants left by the combination of physical body and soul in life, memories remain after most of the essence has already flowed into the sea of spirits.

 

Thanks to this, Turan could glimpse several traces from Paol’s hazy memories.

 

Harun shooting while bleeding, explosions and roars, various projectiles flying through the air, fully armed Zahar nobles, and Badal who seemed to be under their escort…

 

Shortly after, Turan, who had escaped from all the visions, let out a low sigh.

 

‘As expected.’

 

From the circumstances, it seemed that Badal, who had personally come to Aksum, had joined forces with Talis and other Zahar gods to subdue Harun.

 

Unfortunately, Paol didn’t know why the high-ranking Zahar nobles had cooperated with the Arabion family head.

 

Or perhaps he knew but couldn’t read it through soul resonance.

 

‘Should I withdraw around here?’

 

Now that it was confirmed that Harun had fallen from power, whether Zahar was an enemy or not had been completely determined.

 

Since he had achieved his original purpose, withdrawing here would be the safe and wise choice.

 

However, what bothered Turan was whether Harun was alive or dead.

 

Of course, there was a high probability he was dead, but if he could at least recover his soul…

 

Though he might be a villain, it weighed on his mind to abandon and leave behind an old man who had treated him more like a grandson than even his real grandfather.

 

He was merciless to enemies but soft-natured toward those he considered his people.

 

Plus one more thing.

 

He still hadn’t found out what Arabion had used to persuade Talis and other Zahar gods to rebel.

 

If he was lucky enough to capture even one god’s spirit form, he could extract this information too.

 

After brief consideration, Turan decided to enter the family head’s stronghold and check directly.

 

His confidence in his own abilities also played a part in this.

 

Unlike when he had infiltrated Arabion’s main house in the past, the current Turan could sufficiently escape even if discovered.

 

‘The problem is how to infiltrate.’

 

There were roughly two methods available.

 

Either brazenly enter the family head’s residence with Paol’s face, or dig a tunnel and infiltrate like before.

 

Both had their own advantages and disadvantages.

 

The former was simple if successful, but problematic if Paol lacked authority to infiltrate the family head’s residence or if he encountered someone close who might recognize the deception.

 

The latter had the problem of risking separate detection measures in that location.

 

‘It would have been nice if this guy had been a possessed vessel…’

 

If that had been the case, he could have imprisoned and interrogated him like the other half-elves or Jemel and the two Carmine gods.

 

Unfortunately, an ordinary human’s soul has the parts responsible for memory and personality fly away beyond the sea of spirits upon death, leaving only spiritual power and lingering thoughts.

 

Their souls weren’t solidified like proper soul magic practitioners, fallen gods, or half-elves.

 

There wasn’t much time to deliberate.

 

If Paol had regular work, colleagues might come looking for him, and if he didn’t return home by nightfall, someone in his family would report it.

 

Fortunately, sitting on the toilet and thinking and deciding took exactly five minutes.

 

* * *

 

“Lord Paol.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Turan, wearing Paol’s face, solemnly accepted greetings from unknown opponents while walking.

 

Fortunately, this person he was disguised as had a relatively taciturn personality.

 

If it had been someone chatty about everything, imitating their speech patterns and coming up with conversation content would have been work from the start.

 

Of course, this kind of identity disguise didn’t have only advantages.

 

Unlike when he had been carefully sneaking around playing a servant, disguising as a proper Zahar noble made him feel that everyone passing by was focusing on him.

 

From servants to several knights patrolling the passages, and even nobles who seemed to be moving around with business like himself.

 

Turan deliberately imitated the gait of Paol, who had been chasing him earlier, as he walked toward the Zahar family head’s residence.

 

Toward the tallest building rising in this Red Fortress.

 

“Lord Paol, regarding the work you instructed last time…”

 

“Later.”

 

Walking and responding to such approaching words for about ten minutes.

 

Arriving in front of the family head’s residence, Turan stroked his mustache while calming his feelings and let out a sigh of relief.

 

‘As expected, the tunnel would have been the wrong answer.’

 

He could feel the magical power of a barrier surrounding the residence in a spherical shape.

 

Judging by the not-too-strong force, it seemed likely to be a type similar to the alarm magic device that Rida had used in the past, probably for alerting rather than defense.

 

As Turan approached the entrance, the noble guarding the front looked at him with a displeased expression.

 

“What is it, baldy? What’s your business?”

 

“I have something to collect on Lord Talis’s orders. Step aside, Kaiso.”

 

Turan knew this man’s name not because of information obtained through Berit.

 

It was because he was the Alma faction noble who had visited Kalamaf with Talis in the past and gotten angry at Turan.

 

Naturally, Turan—or precisely, Talis’s subordinate Paol whom he was disguised as—couldn’t look good in Kaiso’s eyes.

 

In any case, from that time onward, Talis had consistently shown support for Turan as his grandson externally.

 

“You’d better not think your power will last forever. Lord Rahman won’t keep his head bowed under him forever.”

 

“Thanks for the advice.”

 

At Turan’s response, a puzzled look crossed Kaiso’s face, but he soon snorted and stepped aside.

 

His response was somewhat different from the original Paol’s, but it didn’t seem suspicious enough to cause major problems.

 

Passing Kaiso and another Zahar noble and entering the barrier, Turan could hear a small “beep” sound.

 

Presumably, if the barrier was breached through somewhere other than the main gate, an alarm would sound immediately.

 

‘I wish I could install something like this at our house too.’

 

Even now, he was receiving help from various security magic devices made by Meisa, but honestly speaking, it was only at a level that he could somehow breach if he tried to sneak through.

 

Inevitably, the security level would be insufficient compared to the strongholds of established great families.

 

Harboring such desires inwardly, Turan concentrated his consciousness within the barrier.

 

Surprisingly, traces of powerful magical force were right on the floor below.

 

‘What, did they actually keep him alive?’

 

Since he had guessed that they would have already killed the body and imprisoned only the soul separately, Turan was inwardly surprised and immediately moved.

 

That was brief—he felt a strange sense of unease in the opponent’s actions as seen through his holy relic’s senses.

 

‘Too free.’

 

If they had imprisoned a family head with intact magical power, they should have tied him up with something, but the person downstairs seemed to be calmly reading a book.

 

Moreover, for some unknown reason, there was a woman who appeared to be a commoner kneeling in an unnatural posture across from him.

 

[He’s downstairs. Come down.]

 

Perhaps sensing his presence, a voice was transmitted through wind magic despite the considerable distance.

 

Through this, Turan’s face hardened as he realized the opponent’s identity.

 

He had never imagined that Badal Arabion would still be in the basement of Zahar’s family head’s residence.

 

‘Should I flee?’

 

What he had decided to risk was only pursuit by Zahar nobles at most.

 

A joint attack by Badal and Zahar nobles was a different story.

 

Even Harun, a strong opponent with whom he couldn’t easily decide victory, hadn’t been able to escape from them and had been captured.

 

Of course, in terms of mobility, Turan’s side would be much better.

 

After brief consideration, Turan soon moved toward Badal.

 

This was both from the calculation that fleeing here would look more suspicious, and from wanting to know what he was doing in this place.

 

Besides, if he was going to flee anyway, there wasn’t much difference between doing it right in front or one floor up.

 

For mages of their level, ceilings were something that could exist and then not exist.

 

Creak—Opening the door, he could see Badal reading a book with a warm cup of tea placed right beside him.

 

“Ah, it was the friend without hair. So, what brings you here?”

 

“…Lord Talis asked me to inquire when you would be returning.”

 

The most mundane business hastily contrived in an unexpected situation.

 

If Badal and Talis had previously agreed on when he would return, it might have been caught, but judging by Badal’s hearty laughter, fortunately that didn’t seem to be the case.

 

“It seems quite annoying that I’m staying here. As someone who agreed to bestow a favor, it’s rather irksome.”

 

Carefully storing the mention of bestowing a favor in his head, Turan pretended to avoid Badal’s eyes and turned his gaze to the side.

 

There, an unknown woman was bound to a torture device while kneeling.

 

Her age was roughly early twenties.

 

Her half-exposed body clearly bore traces of terrible torture, and whether she had been left like this continuously, there was even the foul smell of excrement.

 

‘Who is this?’

 

A woman that Badal was staying here to torture. And an ordinary person without even magical power?

 

Due to a series of unexpected events, his mind wasn’t working quickly.

 

That was brief—the moment he saw the woman’s half-unfocused eyes, Turan intuitively knew the opponent’s identity.

 

‘No way…’

 

Harun Zahar.

 

The once mighty ruler who had dominated the Enril Desert was confined within the body of a powerless woman.