Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 186

Chapter 186

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The recent situation of the Carmine family, which once dominated the Northern Sea, could hardly be called good.

 

Having suddenly lost their capital Avacha to attacks from the Giant Sea Serpent merfolk and retreated to a temporary capital inland was, needless to say, terrible enough.

 

Even more horrific was the fact that in the midst of all this, they had cooperated with the very merfolk who had invaded and destroyed their capital to attack the Parsha family, who were fellow humans with whom they had no particular grudge, and had failed miserably.

 

“Tell us! Was this attack really according to the family head’s will?!”

 

“How dare you raise your voice knowing who you’re speaking to? These young ones are getting presumptuous…”

 

“This isn’t a situation that can be resolved by using age to suppress us!”

 

“My friend also died in this expedition, but was he really taken voluntarily without coercion?”

 

“Why would you do such a thing in this situation…!”

 

No matter how much mage families had vertical structures with the family head at the apex, such actions were bound to be criticized.

 

Especially since the reason for the attack was something they could hardly reveal openly to others.

 

If the attack had at least succeeded, they might have made excuses like preventing a great family that would become a future threat, but failure made even that difficult.

 

In other words, the reason they were being criticized wasn’t immorality but incompetence.

 

While the Carmine family was experiencing such internal strife, someone came from the Parsha family.

 

Not someone who had contacted them in advance saying they would come from far away, but someone who suddenly burst forth from the outskirts of the city as if erupting from the ground.

 

“Why did they come?”

 

“I don’t know. They said they had to speak directly to the family head.”

 

“Damn, just because they won one fight, they’ve completely become the master.”

 

Though the Carmine nobles ground their teeth at the messenger’s arrogant attitude, they couldn’t just tell him to get lost.

 

Having lost their capital and many high-ranking nobles including Jemel Carmine, their power was not what it used to be.

 

Thanks to this, the messenger from the Parsha family who had come managed to trample the conference hall where the family head had personally attended with muddy feet, without even revealing his business.

 

“Notice to Carmine family head, Rodor Carmine. Parsha family head Turan Parsha requests a meeting. If you agree, come to the summit of Mount Agran by sunset on the 12th day when you receive this letter. Permissible accompanying personnel: four people.”

 

Mount Agran was a mountain to the south of their current temporary capital, broadly connected to the mountain range that connected to the Gray Zone below.

 

And since it was already well past noon, telling them to come by sunset literally meant to run over as soon as they received the letter.

 

Moreover, considering that Mount Agran belonged to Carmine’s hill territory, it also meant that the hostile family head had trespassed without permission.

 

“Has the Parsha family head gone mad!”

 

“What exactly do they take us Carmine for…!”

 

“Such rudeness cannot be tolerated!”

 

Even the young nobles who had been criticizing the family head and upper echelons couldn’t help but be angry at such an audacious declaration.

 

Then Carmine family head Rodor raised his hand to restrain everyone while maintaining an expressionless face.

 

“Is that all? It seems like there should be more content.”

 

“Family head…”

 

“I’ve never met him directly, but the Parsha family head I know wouldn’t have sent just that and nothing more.”

 

When everyone showed signs of calming down at the family head’s words, the Parsha messenger swallowed once and continued.

 

In fact, he too had wanted to read the content below immediately, but not only was it difficult to understand its meaning, but there was also the family head’s instruction to “take a break once,” so he had no choice.

 

“…The meeting content concerns the price of the ‘King of Calamity’ and the method of returning home.”

 

Not many understood the messenger’s subsequent words.

 

Only a very few within Carmine knew that the head of the western Nagin family had instigated Turan’s attack, and that he had promised an ancient god’s holy relic in return.

 

There were even some among the god vessels who didn’t understand the part about “the method of returning home.”

 

For some with rather slow minds, returning to their world was something that seemed completely impossible.

 

However, among them, the relatively clever Lawyer, Rodor, understood the content.

 

After hesitating briefly, he nodded and asked.

 

“Does the Parsha family head also have four attendants?”

 

“No. He has decided to set foot on Carmine land alone.”

 

Hearing the messenger’s words, Rodor lightly projected his magical power.

 

The force that returned from the messenger, who seemed to feel pressure and broke into a cold sweat, was at the level of an ordinary noble.

 

He wasn’t particularly someone who could serve as military strength.

 

“Good. To meet the time, it wouldn’t matter if we went a bit earlier.”

 

“He said it would be better if you could come as quickly as possible.”

 

“Family head! Are you really going to respond to such a rude invitation?”

 

“The family’s dignity-“

 

“Wouldn’t it be worth having a conversation at least? The meeting place is in our territory anyway.”

 

At Rodor’s words, those who had been about to speak passionately couldn’t continue.

 

It would be ridiculous for them to get angry when the actual party involved, the family head, said it was fine.

 

Then another noble raised a practical problem.

 

“There might be a trap waiting. Since the Parsha family head possesses the power to manipulate space, an enemy army might pour out from the meeting place…”

 

“Then we’ll take our army to the foot of the mountain. That should be fine, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Rodor’s eyes gleamed with interest at the unexpectedly immediate confirmation.

 

“Does a mere messenger have the authority to decide such things?”

 

“The family head gave instructions in advance.”

 

So the thoughts he had come up with hadn’t escaped Turan’s mind.

 

For Rodor, who was quite confident in his own intelligence and enjoyed scheming, this was somewhat unpleasant, but he lightly clicked his tongue and dismissed his emotions.

 

“Well, fine. Then let’s depart immediately. Prepare.”

 

* * *

 

Not long after, magical beasts for Rodor and Carmine’s top nobles to ride were prepared.

 

Most of the magical beasts raised by the Carmine family were marine creatures, and many had died or been severely injured in the last capital battle, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any that could help with movement on land.

 

It was just that their numbers weren’t many and their magical power wasn’t very strong, making them difficult to mobilize at the army level.

 

Rodor chose all four attendants to accompany him as vessels like himself.

 

Since two of the original seven gods who ruled Carmine had been captured by Turan, essentially all of them had gathered.

 

“Is it a coincidence that the number matches exactly?”

 

“Hardly. We should assume Karl or Yota already spilled everything.” Karl was Jemel’s nickname used among them, and Yota referred to another god captured with him.

 

They assumed that the two who had already been captured as prisoners had probably told Turan all sorts of information.

 

They would have done the same if they had been captured.

 

“More than that, did you understand what that guy said?”

 

“The King of Calamity is obviously something they know because those guys spilled it, but I don’t understand what the second part means.”

 

“Probably a method to return to Earth.”

 

At Rodor’s words, the other gods widened their eyes.

 

“Is that… possible?”

 

“But even if I could return, I don’t really want to go.”

 

“Don’t you want to drink cola?”

 

“You’d go back to an Earth human body just to drink cola?”

 

“Ah, thinking about it, that’s true too.”

 

They skillfully conversed while riding magical beasts, crossing hills and streams.

 

They ignored people who were startled and pointed at seeing five swift-footed magical beasts like wolves, deer, mountain goats, and snow leopards carrying people.

 

“Anyway, that’s why I decided to meet him. We’ll have to find out the exact details after talking, but… there might be people among us who want to return if they could.”

 

“Mm.”

 

They moved while discussing among themselves for an hour like this.

 

Finally, Mount Agran, the promised meeting place, came into view.

 

“Up there…”

 

“Did everyone bring their items properly?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“It feels a bit like conquering a boss, makes me nervous.”

 

“This isn’t time to be playful. It’s really dangerous, so stay sharp.”

 

At Rodor’s rebuke, one of Carmine’s gods made an awkward expression and nodded.

 

Despite recent setbacks including the last battle, there were still some among them who couldn’t take this situation seriously.

 

It was due to the inertia built up over thousands of years of living as rulers that couldn’t be easily shed.

 

Well, even human elderly in their seventies or eighties couldn’t easily change their youthful concepts, so how much more so for elderly beings thousands of years old?

 

“Detection?”

 

“For now, there’s only one human presence.”

 

“He really came alone. How brave.”

 

When a colleague who could draw upon Tracker class power through soul magic said this, Rodor muttered with admiration.

 

No matter how confident he was in his own power, he wouldn’t be unaware that Rodor had come with other vessels.

 

Just from limiting the number to five, it was clear he had intended for only them to come.

 

Perhaps he was confident he could at least extract himself even if the talks went poorly and they became hostile?

 

He would find out by meeting and talking directly.

 

After climbing the steep mountain on magical beasts for about five minutes like this, they finally reached the summit and faced a young man who was sitting on a rock reading a book.

 

A young man with ash-gray hair tied back and ash-gray eyes.

 

Turan Parsha was waiting for them.

 

“Faster than I thought. The sun still has a long way to go before setting.”

 

“The foothills are probably seeing sunset. The sun sets late at the summit.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

Snap. Closing his book, Turan used tracking magic to check if there were others who had followed besides them.

 

Judging by the human presence approaching from far away numbering in the hundreds, it seemed they had brought an army as expected.

 

Anyway, it would take quite a while for them to climb the mountain, so it didn’t matter.

 

This surprise meeting initiated by Turan had two major advantages.

 

First was minimizing the time loss that occurred during sending a messenger, receiving a reply, setting a meeting place, and then the two sides facing each other.

 

Thinking of how it had taken months to meet with Harun before, the advantage was obvious.

 

And second, unlike recently, he could avoid being isolated by invading the heart of the opponent’s forces.

 

Turan remained unshaken knowing that Rodor and those behind him were all Carmine vessels.

 

He was confident that even if he couldn’t defeat them, he could at least escape without much difficulty.

 

‘Knowledge gained from someone’s death is regrettable, but…’

 

Feeling bitter inside, Turan forcibly redirected his consciousness.

 

Now was the time to focus on the meeting.

 

“Neither of us are idle people, so let’s get straight to the point. Monarch gave you the King of Calamity, right?”

 

“You…”

 

When Turan casually mentioned the name, Rodor showed noticeable reluctance.

 

Even though he had once been in an adversarial relationship with him.

 

“Are you doing that on purpose?”

 

“Who knows.”

 

Turan answered Rodor’s questioning with laughter.

 

As he said, mentioning Monarch’s name at this place was intentional.

 

Given his characteristic of being able to detect when he was mentioned, Monarch would learn that Turan and Rodor had met and talked at this place.

 

If the two tried to cooperate on something again later, this fact would become quite an uncomfortable thorn.

 

“Stop the nonsense.”

 

“Nonsense is nonsense, but I’m asking seriously. There might be a possibility that Jemel was mistaken.”

 

“Yes, that’s right. It’s that guy. Though the one who directly delivered and instructed was his right hand.”

 

“Badal?”

 

Rodor hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement.

 

When Turan nodded with an “hmm,” he asked a question.

 

“Then now I’ll ask. What does the second part mean?”

 

As expected, for those gods, being able to return to their original world seemed to have greater meaning than he had thought.

 

For Turan, who had no intention of returning to live in Hisaril Hills, it was an emotion difficult to understand.

 

Perhaps it was because of so-called patriotism?

 

Or maybe the culture they had enjoyed really provided such tremendous pleasure.

 

Even though Turan had partially absorbed Kadram, Jun-seo’s memories, he couldn’t understand with just that.

 

The life of Jun-seo he had felt was filled not with happiness and joy, but with inferiority complex and hatred toward the world.

 

“Since you spoke honestly, I should answer too. That guy and Zahar joined hands again. They found a way to return home and decided to go back together.”

 

Seeing the faces of Rodor and the Carmine gods stiffen, Turan calmly laid out the stories he had heard from Harun.

 

The story of maintaining god bodies and returning to the old world to reign as gods there.

 

Rodor, who had been quietly listening, stroked his beard with his hand and asked.

 

“What’s your reason for telling us this story?”

 

“Why do you think that guy didn’t make such a proposal to you?”

 

The justification for the Arabion-Nagin forces including Monarch and Badal bringing in Zahar’s gods lay precisely in the tracking and stealth abilities they possessed. While the bloodline abilities of the two families that dominated humans and animals or wielded lightning and wind were sufficiently attractive, they considered those two abilities also important for ruling that world.

 

Moreover, the skill they could use by combining bloodlines, the ‘Eye of Truth,’ was an indispensable ability as a ruler and interrogator.

 

But Turan deliberately omitted that fact and brought up a story he had concocted himself.

 

“Probably because he doesn’t want to share power with you. You’ve been in adversarial relationships with other gods for thousands of years while controlling merfolk and borrowing their power.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“If those guys leave among themselves, only you and us will remain here. What happens next goes without saying, right?”

 

If Meisa took over Arabion after Badal disappeared, it would mean four families – Arabion and Parsha, Ravitas, Baraha – would press Carmine without being checked.

 

Even Carmine at its peak, not in its current fallen state, couldn’t withstand such an attack.

 

Of course, considering their great advantage in battles at sea and rivers, they could abandon the mainland and flee to islands in the Northern or Southern Sea to survive while continuing to harass them, but…

 

Wasn’t the reason the Carmine family had desperately climbed onto the continent in the first place because they didn’t want to live like that?

 

Being skilled in naval warfare didn’t mean they enjoyed living on the sea.

 

Especially considering the threat from the Giant Sea Serpent merfolk, who were still difficult to consider allies despite one collaboration, it would be even harder to endure.

 

“Even if you later receive a proposal to join them, you should consider that there’s a high possibility of being abandoned. If they had really intended to go together, they would have talked about it in advance.”

 

Even if they later promised companionship in exchange for opposing Turan, that would be a lie, the snake-like whisper seeped into the ears of the Carmine gods.

 

In the midst of everyone becoming gloomy, the god in a young woman’s body shouted in an irritated tone.

 

“Stop beating around the bush and say what you want to say. What do you want from us?”

 

Looking at her heavily frowning face, Turan suddenly thought of Bisen.

 

The young noble who had once subdued a mad noble with him and later went mad himself.

 

Being from the same bloodline, they naturally resembled each other, but their expressions and manner of speaking were completely different.

 

Well, thinking about it, the personality inside that body was most likely male.

 

According to information he had gathered, there were almost no gods who were originally female.

 

“Obviously, I want to join forces. If we defeat them, the technology to cross worlds will fall into our hands, so you can take that and go to the original world while leaving this land to us. Isn’t that good for both sides?”

 

The same proposal he had made when surrounded by Zahar’s gods in the past.

 

The Carmine gods whispered quietly among themselves, but their faces showed no signs of rejection.

 

No, rather, they looked expectant.

 

Naturally, even those who had said they wanted to remain here didn’t want to lose the powerful noble bodies and status they had, so if that could be preserved, there was no need to say which was better.

 

Nuclear missiles, aircraft carriers, and tank units were somewhat worrying, but with just a couple of family head-level mages, even that could be sufficiently overcome.

 

If they strategized well, even that wouldn’t be necessary.

 

While his colleagues were firing up their happy circuits, Rodor, who had been quietly listening, made a thoughtful expression then sharply questioned back.

 

“That guy isn’t an idiot. If such a thing were possible, he would have proposed it to you first rather than us. Isn’t there a reason why it’s unacceptable?”

 

Indeed, his nickname “Lawyer” referred to an intelligent person, so his thinking was better than the other guys.

 

To this, Turan brought out the answer he had prepared in advance.

 

“Right. I also received a similar proposal but refused. I heard that the plan’s execution requires the body of a powerful mage well-made like Meisa. I don’t know the reason.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Rodor groaned, intuitively sensing from the words that this was a line difficult for Turan to compromise on.

 

If that was the case, wasn’t cooperation difficult for their side too?

 

“What’s the solution to that?”

 

“Grinding up their souls to make new bodies. Several god souls should be able to substitute for hundreds of thousands to millions of people.”

 

At Turan’s words, all the Carmine gods made disgusted expressions.

 

The number of people they had sacrificed for their immortality wasn’t small, yet they showed such attitudes?

 

Though he felt like sneering at their contradictory behavior, Turan gritted his teeth and held back.

 

“That’s a bit…”

 

“Are you reluctant to sacrifice because we’re all fake and you’re real humans?”

 

“Uh, no. It’s not exactly that, but.”

 

The god in the middle-aged man’s form muttered as if making excuses, but Turan’s words were precisely the sentiment shared by the fallen gods remaining in modern times.

 

That the natives of this world were mere NPCs, but only they who came from the real world were true humans.

 

Because of this, even when they fought several times and captured each other, instead of cruelly cutting up spirit forms as Turan had done, they would imprison them and use them as hostages for negotiation.

 

Once they started being cruel, they might have to kill and be killed until truly alone in this closed world.

 

Toward such people, Turan firmly declared.

 

“So I’m saying I’ll do the dirty work. You just need to join forces with me to fight when it’s time to fight, and after winning, go back and enjoy the world to your heart’s content.”

 

The Carmine gods stared at the hand Turan extended.

 

Though they had once been called the king of demons by other races, this felt truly like a demon’s proposal.