Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Discord
In the play ‘Hero Keorn’ that Turan had seen in the past, the war between two great houses was depicted as an honorable battle.
Knights clashed with weapons while nobles competed for supremacy by throwing fire and lightning at each other.
However, the actual war was conducted in a much more sinister and vile manner.
First, Zahar’s nobles would secretly approach while concealed, contaminating prepared food and water, or ambushing and sniping those who left the main force for scouting and communication.
At night, they would openly bombard with magic and repeatedly flee, making it impossible to get proper sleep.
In contrast, daytime belonged to Arabion.
They advanced slowly but surely while illuminating their surroundings, and replenished their lacking supplies by forcing cooperation from the ruling families of the regions they passed through.
Naturally, those who refused were burned to death with lightning, assumed to be Zahar’s pawns.
Since Zahar couldn’t eliminate all noble families in Arabion’s advance route beforehand, they changed their strategy while the enemy slowly approached.
They dispatched a small detachment of nobles and knights to directly invade the mainland.
Their targets were mainly small cities scattered throughout the Dakein Plains.
The main family residences were too burdensome as the heads might be there, but these small cities were defenseless since their nobles and knights had been drafted.
The detachment slaughtered the few remaining nobles and knights and plundered valuable assets from the central mansions. During this process, some took interest in those who had been raised to become nobles’ concubines.
Turan’s mother, Bizela, was a girl kidnapped from Kimel, a small city in the southern Dakein Plains.
“Bizela?”
“Yes. If my memory serves me right, that was definitely her name.”
Turan pondered as he repeated his mother’s real name, which he was hearing for the first time.
It certainly sounded more upper-class than Bije.
More feminine too.
“I still remember her because she was such a unique person.”
“Unique how?”
“Well, you see…”
While caring for the kidnapped women, Sarina classified them into two types.
First were the compliant type, second were the resistant type.
The compliant type accepted their fate and tried to escape being treated like livestock for breeding by seducing men.
They would flatter Zahar’s nobles and knights who had killed their families to receive special treatment.
The resistant type would refuse meals and try to ruin their faces to decrease their value, swearing to kill their family’s murderers.
Except for a few with exceptional beauty, they were all disposed of in various ways before long.
But Bizela was neither of these types.
She wandered around all day like a tourist, asking questions to the servants everywhere she could go.
Why did people here dress like this?
What was this food called and how was it made?
What was the name of the god people here worshipped…
Once, when another kidnapped lady criticized her for being so excited, her response was remarkable.
‘Isn’t it interesting that there are people living like this in places we don’t know about? At least it’s better than being locked up in a house and having to flatter people!’
Naturally, this was extremely insulting to ladies who had been educated their whole lives to become nobles’ concubines, so Bizela became an outsider among them… Thanks to this, Sarina, who attended to her, naturally became close and heard many personal stories.
She had wanted to become a traveling merchant since childhood but was slapped by her father who said it was impossible, or that the education at home was so boring she felt like dying, and other such stories.
“She said that while she was sad her family was dead, they never cared about what she wanted anyway, and that she was happy to see a different world like this rather than being stuck in that suffocating mansion forever.”
Turan imagined his mother twenty years younger, probably around his current age, based on Sarina’s explanation.
A strangely quirky and positive young lady who declared this wasn’t so bad, even after losing all her family and being kidnapped…
It didn’t match at all with the cynical and exhausted woman in his memories.
What could have happened to change that quirky girl so much?
“What about the man?”
Turan was as curious about his father as his mother.
Since his mother was the daughter of an Arabion knight, his father was undoubtedly either a Zahar noble or knight.
Given the circumstances, he thought it was likely a noble.
While all magicians might seem equally high-ranking to common people, nobles wouldn’t have looked kindly on a mere knight taking a woman as his concubine.
Moreover, while magical potential wasn’t perfectly inherited from parents, Turan’s potential was too high to have come from a knight and commoner.
“There was exactly one person who looked for that lady. A young man, well, I don’t know his real age-”
“But he looked young. What about his appearance or name? Was he a knight or noble?”
“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t remember that much. There were too many people we served back then…”
Turan clicked his tongue in disappointment but soon accepted it.
Thinking about it, it was natural.
That former innkeeper was special – normally people wouldn’t remember the face of someone they’d briefly seen twenty years ago.
“However, I do remember some things she said about the man she was meeting. That he was a kind person despite looking cold, that they planned to travel together someday, and she didn’t seem to dislike him at all.”
Turan felt great relief at Sarina’s additional comment that she had seemed like a girl in love.
While the circumstances of their first meeting being kidnapping was problematic from the start, if there had been love between them, that alone seemed enough to help him feel positive about himself.
Though his mother had said his father was a good person in the past, Turan had secretly suspected it was just empty words for her son’s sake.
Sarina continued explaining about Bizela.
From stories of being locked in solitary confinement after being mistaken for trying to escape while running around the mansion to build stamina for travel, to setting the garden on fire while trying to learn how to make fire by rubbing sticks together.
Turan eagerly stored these amusing anecdotes in his memory.
“She must have become pregnant about three or four months before escaping, but even then she talked about it. She said all these skills would be useful when the three of them traveled together. But I never expected her to suddenly run away…”
One night, while returning from some minor errand outside the mansion, Sarina encountered Bizela.
When Sarina hurriedly blocked her path, Bizela was startled and pleaded from atop a horse she must have stolen from somewhere.
Her face was incredibly gloomy, unlike her usual cheerful self.
“She begged me to pretend I hadn’t seen her, so I asked. Didn’t you say you would travel together as three later? Why are you running away now…”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she had been seeing the world too beautifully. That there was no true freedom in this world, and we were all just livestock raised by shepherds in the end. She said she couldn’t give that fate to this child.”
It was the same thing his mother had said when Turan first awakened his magical power.
In the end, Sarina pretended not to see Bizela escape, and twenty years passed.
Turan could guess that his father must have helped his mother escape.
Otherwise, how could she have gotten a good horse capable of running thousands of kilometers, and how could she have evaded Zahar’s trackers?
“Well, are you satisfied?”
Alos, who had been quietly listening from behind, asked in a subtle tone.
Turan hesitated briefly before nodding.
He was convinced that other families couldn’t provide more detailed information than these people had.
It was already a significant gain to know for certain that there was no point in looking for relatives on his mother’s side.
Though he didn’t know who his father was among Zahar’s nobles or knights, or why he hadn’t stayed with his mother, that would probably become clear when he went to the Enril Desert later…
Above all, he was satisfied just to have indirectly experienced what his mother was like in the past, which he hadn’t known.
“From now on, Kalamaph is yours. Please govern faithfully according to the contract.”
Alos smiled, showing his white teeth at Turan’s response.
* * *
With the discussion in the upper chamber concluded, Kalamaph city began preparations to formally transfer governing rights to House Meburn.
Some civil servants from Bigen city came over to take over certain duties and inspect the city’s condition, and they all couldn’t help but marvel at the related documents.
“My goodness, are these numbers even possible…?”
“It’s literally like a corpse coming back to life.”
Looking at population and financial records, Kalamaph was indeed like a city that had died and been resurrected.
All thanks to the power of one person.
Turan, the one who had created this miracle, was now packing his belongings for the last time.
“Time for another journey. Should be fun, right, Bije?”
[Where are we going?]
“To the Sky Library in the southwest. Come to think of it, you won’t be able to see the Librarian Elder. Since I’m going secretly, it might be hard to bring you inside.”
This time, he planned to sneak in while concealed, complete his business, and leave.
The first time he had gone through proper channels for permission, worried there might be secret measures that could detect even Zahar’s concealment, but now he knew there weren’t any.
Given Turan’s current magical power, it was unlikely, but it would be annoying if the family head there tried to push marriage with his daughter again.
“Come to think of it, I really stayed here a long time.”
Since starting his journey, his longest stay had been one month with House Berk, but here in Kalamaph he had somehow spent two or three months, making it his longest residence.
Turan checked his familiar city hall lodgings one last time before opening the door.
Daruk, who had stepped down from his position as mayor, bowed to him.
“Have you come, Great Turan?”
Now that he had officially stepped down as protector, his title had become Great Turan.
The one who had saved the city of Kalamaph from death, achieving great deeds that other nobles wouldn’t dare attempt.
“Must be disappointing not to continue as mayor.”
“It was a position beyond my station anyway. Besides, I’m too old now.”
Indeed, Daruk was sixty-six or so – for someone who wasn’t a magician, it was time to rest at home.
“Please accept this first.”
“What’s this?”
Daruk opened a chest that had been beside Turan’s room, revealing large amounts of gold and silver coins.
Where did this poor city get such wealth?
“The citizens collected it. It’s money from selling the animal furs Great Turan brought and excess stone, so it rightfully belongs to you anyway.”
“Use it for the city.”
“If left here, it will become House Meburn’s property, not the citizens’. Please don’t refuse.”
Turan looked at Daruk and realized, like last time, that he wouldn’t back down.
Probably about eight hundred gold coins and two thousand silver coins.
Far too much to fit in a backpack, but he had the large-capacity pouch from Meisa.
After confirming Turan had taken the money, Daruk smiled and said,
“May I escort you to the outside one last time?”
“Of course.”
While following, Turan sensed presences outside with his holy relic perception.
Thousands of people lined up in the square a bit away from city hall…
His excellent detection ability was quite inconvenient at times like this.
These things should be surprising and pleasant when discovered unexpectedly.
[“Waaaaaah—-!”]
As expected, what greeted Turan outside city hall was an enormous crowd that seemed to include all of Kalamaph’s citizens.
Mostly composed of elderly and children, the survivors of the old ruined Kalamaph.
They were waving makeshift flags made of sticks and cloth, crudely painted with an eagle and a man like a coat of arms.
There were also embarrassing phrases like ‘Long Live Great Turan’ and ‘Our Savior’.
“This is embarrassing.”
“Please don’t say that. Just for today, everyone has gathered to praise your greatness.”
Turan scanned the faces of those looking at him.
Infinite gratitude, sadness at his departure, worship and praise…
Those reactions, sometimes positive and sometimes negative, were familiar from the past few months, but now felt somewhat regretful knowing he wouldn’t see them again.
‘Did I actually enjoy being praised like this?’
Feeling awkward at discovering this childish side of himself, Turan quickened his pace.
As he reached the city gate through the packed crowd, he saw something standing there.
The citizens who had been waiting revealed a three-meter statue as they quickly pulled away white cloth.
A young man with a black eagle at his side.
It was an exact sculpture of Turan.
“…When did you make this?”
“It’s a bit rough since we made it hurriedly, but we plan to make better ones later. They’re installed at all four city gates.”
Daruk answered cheerfully from beside him.
If he had used the gates even once, he would have noticed, but he hadn’t because he always rode Bije.
Even if he had glimpsed it, he wouldn’t have thought it was a statue of himself.
At most, he would have assumed they were building new structures.
“Doesn’t House Meburn dislike it?”
“We got permission in advance. They also liked that these statues would clearly show how the city’s governing rights were transferred.”
“When people are still struggling to make a living…”
“Sometimes there are things more important than survival. For the citizens here, commemorating their savior is one such thing.”
[“That’s right!”]
Several citizens behind them shouted in agreement with Daruk’s words.
Feeling awkward, Turan stopped his complaints and passed the statue through the city gate.
In the distance, he could see the familiar grey zone’s rocky mountains.
He tried to think of some grand speech for his final look back, but the statue’s impact was too great and nothing came to mind.
“Well… I had thought of many impressive things to say, but I can’t remember them.”
“What need is there for words? Everything you’ve done until now is more precious than that.”
Since when had this old man become such a smooth talker?
Turan’s mouth opened and closed several times trying to speak, before finally ordering Bije to take flight.
The familiar floating sensation as the ground rapidly fell away.
Looking back, he could see some citizens finally letting their held-back tears flow.
And so, Kalamaph’s savior left the city.