Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

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When living on the Hisaril Hills, money was something that Turan considered merely present or absent, nothing more.

Since available items were extremely limited, no matter how much money one had, there wasn’t much to spend it on.

But after coming down to the world, he realized money was far more extraordinary than he’d thought.

If magical power was the key to omnipotence, money was the substance of omnipotence.

From delicious food to books, and even magical devices or magical beasts like Bije, everything could be traded with money.

Even nobles valued gold and silver enough to mint them into currency.

And now, the wealth spread before Turan’s eyes matched or even exceeded everything he had earned until now.

About a hundred crudely cast gold ingots, four hundred silver ingots…

There were also carelessly piled ornaments and jewels that were clearly plundered from somewhere, and among them was even a magical device.

‘None of them had anything like this during the fight, where did this come from? Did they find something hidden?’

Wondering this, Turan tossed and caught a bead containing something sloshing inside before storing it in his pocket.

Though unlikely, it could be a trap-type magical device harmful to its user, so reckless use was forbidden.

This was why he hadn’t yet confirmed the functions of the two magical devices obtained from the previous fight in the western wilderness.

Nobles with Buyeosa bloodline could analyze magical devices’ functions, so he could ask Asiz later in the Dakein Plains.

After surveying the warehouse, Turan asked the woman he had appointed as leader.

“Is anyone demanding their share?”

“Sh-share, you say?”

“The miners worked hard to dig up this gold and silver, so I thought they might feel wronged if I took it all. Plus, some of these ornaments might have belonged to someone originally.”

At Turan’s words, the woman made an expression of disbelief before quickly trying to manage her expression.

“Of course not! We’re already grateful just for being rescued from the pirates, and you’re even paying to send us home. No one would make such a shameless request!”

Turan thought there might be a few such shameless people, but he detected no nervous scent typical of liars from her.

If she was managing things well, there was no need to worry further.

“Then that’s settled. How are the sick people?”

“Thanks to your concern, everyone’s much better! Though it’ll take time to fully recover.”

Though it had only been a day, rest with hope was far more efficient than rest in despair.

Providing abundant meals had also helped greatly.

And sadly, those too sick to recover quickly had already died and been thrown into the sea.

“I assume no one is too sick to handle sailing?”

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t take too long…”

“Then let’s start preparing to sail. Just tell them to pack food and water, nothing else. Leave the pirates on the shore to me.”

“Should we load all these treasures too?”

“Just leave them be.”

While the woman went to relay orders, Turan stuffed the massive amount of wealth into his large-capacity pocket.

Fortunately, gold and silver were heavy but not bulky, so they didn’t take up as much space as expected.

After organizing the pocket’s interior to access items when needed and leaving the warehouse, he saw the kidnapped people busily preparing for departure.

“Should we load this too? It seems like it’ll spoil soon.”

“We can just eat it quickly. I’m more worried about whether this many people can handle such a large ship… We don’t have any skilled personnel like navigators.”

“Wouldn’t the mage have everything planned?”

“Still, maritime matters are different.”

Judging by the distant voices, the kidnapped people seemed anxious about their future but believed Turan would somehow manage.

Listening quietly, Turan went to the buried pirates, dug them up, and asked.

“Raise your hand if you can guide us to Cobinus’s base.”

The pirates exchanged glances at Turan’s question.

Though they feared him, they seemed more afraid of betraying Cobinus.

But since they were already selected as the most cowardly among pirates, persuasion wasn’t difficult.

“If you’re useless, I’ll have to dispose of you here.”

“I know!”

“Me too!”

It was somewhat suspicious that all three claimed they could do it, but at least one of them should be capable.

Turan took out rope, tied their wrists so they could never escape, and dragged them onto the sailing ship.

The former miners loading food and water quickly bowed their heads.

“Save the courtesy for work. I want to leave quickly. Lock these guys in a corner room and keep them just alive enough.”

“Ah, understood!”

Turan didn’t just hurry them along but helped load cargo and prepare for departure using telekinesis magic.

Having learned from sailors when aboard the Blue Marlin in the North Sea, he could single-handedly do the work of dozens.

Soon after, as the pirate ship unfurled its sails, Turan used wind magic to push them.

A method he had tried while aboard the Blue Marlin before, but had considered too inefficient to attempt for long.

But now Turan had more than double the magical power of that time, and though incomplete, the bloodline ability of Arabion who ruled the wind.

“Whoa, the wind?”

“It’s a tailwind! No, this is almost hurricane level, I wonder if the ship might fly away…”

Despite some people’s worries, the ship smoothly cut through the sea.

Their destination was Anik Island, the Red Whale pirates’ base.

* * *

As one miner had predicted, operating the pirate ship was a situation where Turan had to handle almost everything alone.

Not only the women, but even the men who had worked as miners only knew how to handle small fishing boats or work as low-ranking sailors, not how to operate a sailing ship.

The critical problem was that no one knew exactly where Anik Island was.

Even the pirates only knew the name but not which direction to go from here, so Turan resolved this difficulty with a simple and certain method… just like when finding Parayan Island, by stopping at passing ships and islands to ask directions.

Though in a faster and more certain way than before.

“It’s a black eagle magical beast! A magical beast is coming! There’s someone hanging from it…”

“L-lower your weapons! Right now!”

Turan had Bije fly high to search for sailing ships, and when one was spotted, he flew over and projected magical power.

Then the knights stationed one or two per large sailing ship quickly told their subordinates to give up resistance.

It was because they sensed the presence of a great mage who could easily crush even their lord, someone they might never have a chance to see in their lifetime.

They couldn’t dare to resist when they realized their opponent could sink the ship with a single gesture.

“O great and mighty descendant of the gods, I am a knight of House Razbet, protecting this ship by my master’s orders-”

“Which direction should I go to reach Anik Island?”

“What? Ah, Anik Island is… Navigator!”

“That is, uh-south! Probably…”

“Thanks.”

After confirming the direction to proceed, Turan tossed a silver coin onto the deck before returning to the pirate ship on Bije.

The knight and sailors stared blankly at the departing figure, recording this as one of the incredible things to tell others later.

After repeating this process several times over three days.

Turan confirmed they were nearing their target island and stopped the ship to recover magical power while checking on the people’s condition, which he hadn’t had time to do while busy moving.

“A few people complain of seasickness, but otherwise fine.”

“That’s fortunate then.”

Given the forced high speed from constant wind, the ship’s ride couldn’t help but be uncomfortable.

It would have been better if he could properly steer to catch currents, but Turan’s learned navigation skills were only crash course level, making that difficult.

After final checks on everyone’s condition, Turan steered the ship toward the distant Anik Island.

As they approached, two similarly sized sailing ships came out to meet them, presumably to respond.

“Hey, where are you from? Stop the ship!”

“Keep coming and you’ll sink!”

Unfortunately, none of the pirates who jumped out were mages, so Turan reached out to make seawater surge up and pour over both sailing ships.

The pirates, suddenly soaked like drowned rats, trembled.

“I’ve come to see your captain on business. Go back and report.”

At Turan’s words, both sailing ships fled back to the island as fast as they could.

Shortly after, presumably informed that a pirate mage had invaded, the returning ship carried someone with noble-level magical power.

Standing at the bow with a long harpoon in hand was a large man with red hair and beard.

Turan recognized him as Red Whale and immediately projected magical power.

The other man groaned briefly before shouting in a frivolous pirate manner.

“What kind of person comes to where kids play with that much power! No, you look young but surely aren’t actually a kid!”

Such attitude even after confirming Turan’s power – either ignorant or gutsy.

“Are you Red Whale?”

“That’s right!”

“I came with a request, but first I demand treatment as a guest according to custom. Though a pirate, as a noble you should know such protocol?”

“Uh…”

Red Whale wore a blank expression at Turan’s words.

As if saying, what’s that?

Perhaps being fundamentally a pirate despite nobility meant ignorance was inevitable.

Turan clicked his tongue lightly and quickly explained the customary hospitality practiced by continental nobles.

Hearing this, Red Whale quickly nodded and shouted.

“Ah yes, of course! I knew all that already! I, Tasan, as one who inherited the gods’ blood, how could I refuse to host noble blood!”

Though awkward to the point of theatricality, his subordinates behind him praised this with exclamations of how cool it was.

Truly pirate-like behavior.

* * *

Red Whale Tasan’s residence, though fairly large and grand, fell far short of continental nobles in refinement and luxury.

Leaving the kidnapped people on the pirate ship, Turan formally met his counterpart in the largest hall as a guest.

Red Whale pirate band’s executives lined up behind Tasan while Turan was alone, but the latter’s side dominated in presence.

Natural, since even their strongest Tasan’s magical power was less than half of Turan’s, and the rest were merely knight level.

“So, you said you had a request? Don’t know which house you’re from, but someone of your skill must be quite famous on the continent, what would you need from us?”

“Regardless of my strength, I’m still just one person. That’s why nobles bother maintaining houses and training knights. Unfortunately, I don’t belong to any house.”

The doubt in Tasan’s eyes suggested he didn’t quite trust those words.

Turan shook his head lightly and got to the point.

When he told the story of the island four days’ sail north or northwest, and the people kidnapped to work as miners and sex slaves there, Tasan roared.

“Cobinus, that dog!”

With the thunderous shout, the massive harpoon pierced the floor with a bang.

Though known not to order kidnappings, such a violent reaction to other pirates’ kidnappings was unexpected.

After fuming for a while, he looked at Turan and asked.

“So, are you suggesting we go eliminate Cobinus together?”

“Since you operate relatively nearby, you must have seen how strong Cobinus’s magical power is. How does it compare to mine?”

At Turan’s question, Tasan tilted his head with an “hmm” before saying.

“Well… I’m not very good at measuring power and it’s been a while since I met Cobinus, but you’re probably stronger, though I’m not sure.”

“Really?”

Considering Turan’s current magical power was unmatched among single-bloodline mages, it was strange.

Could he be an illegitimate child inheriting a great house’s bloodline?… Though unexpected, it wouldn’t significantly affect the plan.

With excellent magical skill plus the Fire Soul, Turan was confident in easily defeating even an equal-level mage.

“He’s among the strongest pirates in these southern seas. Though I pride myself on my skills…”

His suddenly timid attitude was so different from his previous hot-tempered behavior it felt like changing masks.

Perhaps he had been severely beaten by Cobinus before.

“Anyway, my request is simply to return those kidnapped people to their homes. I’ll pay the passage fees.”

But why?

Not just Tasan, but all the Red Whale pirate executives looked at him as if he were a strange creature.

Tasan asked, representing them all.

“Why?”

“Why pay? Well, if I forced you, you probably wouldn’t do it properly-”

“No, why do such a thing at all? What do you gain from it?”

“At least it’ll make me feel good.”

He didn’t mention how pleasing the sight of sheep praising him for sending them home was, and thus how he disliked seeing them disappointed and frustrated.

That would expose too much of his inner self.

Hearing the answer, Tasan’s face hardened as if angry, then he waved his hand back.

Soon after, a subordinate brought sugarcane liquor like what Solif had given.

“Turan, you said? Did you research me beforehand?”

“I only checked that you’re a relatively moderate pirate who just raids merchant ships without kidnapping or massacring civilians. With others, they’d sell them again rather than send them home.”

Tasan studied Turan suspiciously for a while, but there was nothing to fear since he spoke truth.

After a moment, he offered a drink and said.

“My parents were fishers. Father died falling into the sea when I was eight, mother was kidnapped by pirates when I was ten.”

So Tasan was a noble-level magic power holder born to commoners.

Though extremely rare, such cases happened quite often because while the chance of nobles being born to diluted commoner blood was tiny, the much larger number of births meant it happened occasionally.

Likely going back a few generations in Tasan’s family tree would reveal at least one knight’s or noble’s illegitimate child.

“Though I became a pirate due to my low birth, I’ve never kidnapped people, only raided merchant ships because of it. But you say you just do it because you want to, making me feel ashamed of myself. By those words, you’re now my brother! Accept this drink!”

Faced with this middle-aged man’s bearded request, Turan had no idea what expression to make.