Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Three days later, Turan and his group set sail toward the island where their strategy was planned.
Perhaps due to the storms stirred by the Great Sea Serpent, the sky was perpetually shrouded in dark clouds, with strong winds blowing and high waves crashing.
Naturally, theirs was the only boat navigating the area, so there were few onlookers to witness the small fishing vessel gliding across the water.
“Indeed, humans wielding the power of demons handle boats like this. It’s as fast as most mermaids swimming,” remarked Rowina, the mermaid princess aboard with them, offering her quiet observation.
Armani, standing beside her, nodded and said, “It’s much faster than when I rode with them before. It wasn’t like this back then.”
“That’s because three of us are driving it now. The mackerel’s all grilled—want some?” Turan offered.
“Thanks!” Armani replied.
After grilling and eating the mackerel caught with fluid manipulation magic, Armani transformed into a baby shark and leapt into the sea, saying he’d inform his family of Turan’s group’s arrival first.
Focusing the holy relic’s senses toward the ocean, Turan felt a small presence rapidly moving away underwater.
“For all that talk earlier, that kid swims faster,” Turan noted.
“Of course he does—he’s a shark. It’s enviable, being able to swim so swiftly,” Rowina sighed, watching Armani disappear.
According to a casual conversation, though she could take the form of a crab, which allowed her freedom on land, it made her slower than her kin underwater.
Thus, in this fight, she planned to team up with Turan’s group on land.
Meisa looked at Rowina and asked, “By the way, how is it decided what creatures you can transform into? Is it just something you’re born with?”
“Something like that. You can influence it to an extent, but there’s a natural predisposition. I could’ve become a different type of crab if I’d wanted, but… it wouldn’t have made much difference,” Rowina explained.
In ancient times, some royals could take the form of the Great Sea Serpent, but that was now a mere legend. These days, royals like Armani, who could transform into large creatures like sharks or whales, were seen as having high potential.
Though still young, Armani was considered a promising talent among the mermaids.
“No wonder there was a fuss when he went missing,” Turan mused.
“Hm? Oh, well… it wasn’t that big a deal. We figured he’d come back on his own,” Rowina replied, brushing it off as if it were trivial, catching Turan’s attempt to highlight his role in saving Armani.
Her unyielding attitude, even after agreeing to cooperate, drew a wry chuckle from Turan as he gazed at the northern horizon, where the island was starting to come into view.
“You’ve kept that promise from before, right?” he asked.
“Of course. Aside from the royals joining the fight and a few noble-class attendants, there’ll be no one else. Managing the lower classes is honestly quite exhausting for us,” Rowina assured.
This was one of the conditions Turan had demanded from the mermaids.
He’d insisted they not bring the lower-class mermaids, who’d be of little help in hunting the Great Sea Serpent and could become a bothersome burden.
It was about maintaining balance between their group and the mermaid forces.
No matter how powerful they were as mages, facing thousands of mermaids swarming them amid a battle with the royals would inevitably drain their magic and stamina.
“And you? Are you really bringing that bird into the fight? It looks risky,” Rowina questioned.
“It’s tougher than it seems, so it’ll be fine,” Turan replied.
As he patted its head, Bije closed its eyes in contentment, then shot Rowina a smug look, as if saying, “Do you even comprehend my worth?”
The very reason Turan had even considered hunting the Great Sea Serpent was Bije’s presence.
Having wings to detect and escape a formidable foe first made a monumental difference, no matter how strong the enemy.
Before landing on the island, Turan, as he’d done before, activated a tracking spell, scooped up a handful of seawater, and sniffed it.
“…Good. At least there aren’t a bunch of mermaids around.”
He estimated maybe a dozen or so at most.
Since the destination island wasn’t particularly large, upon landing, he activated the holy relic’s senses and could scan the entire area.
There was one mermaid equivalent to a top-tier human noble and another slightly weaker, plus six ranging from upper to mid-tier.
Lastly, there was one lower-tier mermaid—likely Armani—bringing the total number of royals to nine.
With Rowina here, that would make ten.
Additionally, he sensed about ten more faint mermaid presences, far weaker than the royals.
These, bearing flames akin to an average human’s—like Armani when they first met—were probably the noble-class mermaids brought as attendants.
Turan discreetly relayed this to Solif and Meisa using wind magic.
Meisa asked with a meaningful look, [Ten royals… That kid’s not much combat strength, so nine. If it came to a fight, could we handle it?]
[Plenty. Mermaids are generally stronger than nobles of the same rank, but so are we. Just remember: we absolutely cannot let ourselves weaken below them during or after the fight,] Turan replied.
The most critical thing in this battle was to never forget that the mermaids were unreliable allies.
If they expended too much strength hunting the Great Sea Serpent and their power waned, they’d need to prepare for a potential ambush.
“We’re here. Let’s disembark,” Turan announced.
***
While they whispered among themselves, the boat reached the island, and Turan’s group stepped off with Rowina, heading inland.
Since the island wasn’t large, it took only a few minutes to reach where the mermaid royals were gathered.
“Oh, those humans?” one said.
“They all look so young—are they really that strong?” another questioned.
“Rowina must’ve judged them well enough,” a third chimed in.
The mermaid royals they met spoke in a casual, almost flippant tone, which felt unexpectedly different.
Turan had anticipated stiff, formal speech like Armani and Rowina’s, but perhaps those two had simply learned an odd way of speaking.
Among them, clad in seaweed-like clothing, the notably small-framed Armani greeted Turan.
“That gray-haired one’s the kind demon, Turan, who saved me! He’s super strong—beat Rowina without her even landing a hit!”
Rowina’s lips twisted into a wry smile, her pride stung, but she didn’t protest.
It was true she’d been thoroughly outmatched.
The royals, hearing Armani, looked at Turan’s group with heightened interest.
“Hoh…”
“I heard she lost, but that badly?”
“If they’re that strong, they’d be among the top demons on land. You got lucky, little one.”
As they chattered, Turan’s gaze shifted to a noble-class mermaid standing respectfully behind the royals.
He was staring intently at Turan’s group, drooling from the mouth.
“Whoops.”
“Hey, Yakon. I told you to control yourself. It’s unbecoming,” a royal scolded.
“My apologies, Prince…” the noble mermaid said, quickly wiping the drool with a bow.
Turan had heard that noble-class mermaids, while not as disciplined as royals, still had decent self-control, yet this one was like that.
It gave him a sense of how little restraint the lower-class mermaids they scorned must have.
Turan narrowed his eyes, observing the mermaids excitedly chattering about them.
*‘It’d be nice if I could read their emotions too.’*
Though he didn’t fully understand how, Turan could sense human emotions to some extent through scent.
This even applied to most ordinary beasts, but unfortunately, mermaids were an exception.
Whether it was their fishy odor or something else, he couldn’t tell.
Just then, Rowina shed her human clothes, donning the seaweed attire typical of mermaids, and said quietly, “Let’s start with introductions.”
“I’m Turan. This is Sol and Misha. Looking forward to working with you,” he said.
Stopping there, one of the mermaids tilted their head in confusion and asked, “Hm? That’s it? Don’t you humans have families or something?”
“Some humans roam without those,” Turan replied.
The mermaids looked puzzled but, lacking deeper knowledge, shrugged it off as if it were no big deal.
Next, the mermaids introduced themselves, and surprisingly, they were all children of the current mermaid king.
One older brother of Rowina, four younger brothers, three younger sisters.
And Armani, making nine in total.
Listening quietly, Turan soon voiced a question.
“What about other relatives?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, your father, the mermaid king, must have siblings too. Where are their kids?”
Judging by the numbers, the royals’ reproductive capacity didn’t seem lacking. If such relatives were included, their forces could rival a great family.
One mermaid answered matter-of-factly, “They’re all dead, obviously.”
“…How?”
“We sent them off ourselves. There’s only one king in the kingdom, and only his bloodline can thrive.”
When the previous king was replaced, all royals not of the new king’s direct line were purged, the young royal explained with a casual attitude that belied the shocking revelation.
Turan glanced at Solif and Meisa, who looked equally stunned.
“Is that normal?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s the same for mermaid kingdoms beyond ours—” the royal began.
“Don’t ramble about unnecessary things, Koloba,” Rowina interrupted sharply, silencing the talkative royal.
Multiple mermaid kingdoms? That was news to Turan.
‘Well, other races aren’t all one group either, so it makes sense.’
Beyond the necromancer king Meisa had defeated, dark elves likely thrived somewhere underground, and surviving dwarf clans probably lingered in the gray zones.
There was no need to assume mermaids were a single faction.
This realization sparked a new thought.
Perhaps these weren’t the mermaids Ymir had mentioned, the ones allied with the Lawyer.
If so, he might’ve been off the mark from the start…
Swallowing his doubts, Turan directed a follow-up question to the seemingly reckless royal who’d just spoken.
“Didn’t you ask other kingdoms for help?”
“Huh? Then we couldn’t keep the corpse to ourselves. That’s why we’re doing this,” Koloba replied.
“Koloba!” snapped Rowina’s older brother, the king’s eldest son, but Turan had already heard what he wanted.
Just then, the tenth royal he’d sensed emerged from the bushes, striding forward. Armani, who’d flinched at the suddenly tense atmosphere, beamed and shouted, “Oh, Father! You look like you had a good poop!”
“Quiet, you little runt,” growled a middle-aged mermaid with white hair and a beard down to his navel.
Unlike the golden crowns or pearl necklaces of storybooks, he wore none, but his imposing eyes and deeply lined face exuded an authority a cut above the others.
What truly set him apart was the trident he leaned on like a staff, radiating immense magical power—clearly no ordinary artifact.
*‘A holy relic, top-tier…’*
A treasure equal to or surpassing Turan’s Mimic holy relic. The mermaid king surveyed Turan’s group calmly, then spoke with a displeased expression.
“Young mages, huh. Barely sixty years old, at best.”
“Strength doesn’t always come with age,” Turan replied, deliberately using informal speech to assert equality.
He sensed that showing deference here would let the king treat him as a subordinate.
As expected, the king’s eyebrow twitched at Turan’s casual tone, but he didn’t erupt in anger.
“Cheeky brats,” he muttered, snorting as he sat on a large stone chair, looking down at them haughtily.
Turan met his gaze and said, “By the way, I think the deal needs some tweaking.”
“What deal are you talking about?” the king asked.
“The Great Sea Serpent’s corpse. Rowina said it had no value, but it doesn’t seem that way now.”
“Who said that?” the king demanded, turning his head.
The royals all looked at Koloba, the talkative one.
“Uh, I just…” Koloba stammered.
“You didn’t even ask other kingdoms for help to monopolize it, so it must be pretty valuable to you, right?” Turan pressed, staring into the king’s deep reddish-black eyes.
After a ten-second staring contest, the king shook his head with an exasperated expression.
“Humans, I swear! So what do you want? Should I split the useless corpse in half for you? Or do you want a chest of pearls?”
“You mean those things from clams?” Turan asked.
“No idea why, but humans seem to love them,” the king grumbled.
“Father’s talking, so shut up, you idiots!” barked the eldest son, silencing the muttering royals behind him.
Seeing this, Turan understood a bit why the king favored Rowina.
“Nothing grand, just some info about the surface would be nice,” Turan said.
After all, the royals before him didn’t seem to possess any notable artifacts.
Likely because wielding items was difficult in their transformed sea creature states.
The only worthwhile thing was that trident, but demanding it would obviously derail the Great Sea Serpent hunt.
Thus, the most reasonable price Turan could ask was information.
“…That’s it?” the king asked.
“Of course.”
“What info?”
“The Lawyer.”
The king narrowed his eyes, glaring at Turan, then nodded shortly after.
“Fine. Just the two of us. You lot! Go play somewhere else!”
“But I’m curious about the humans,” one protested.
“Me too,” another added.
“Get lost, now!” the king roared.
As the grumbling royals dispersed, Turan likewise had Solif and Meisa step back.
Alone now, the king asked quietly, “Where’d you hear that name?”
“From Ymir,” Turan replied.
Since they were on opposing sides, he freely dropped the name. The king tilted his head, puzzled.
“Don’t know that one.”
If he didn’t recognize Ymir, it meant the king wasn’t deeply involved in the gods’ schemes.
At best, he was a minor pawn.
That the Lawyer used his nickname even with allies suggested he wasn’t fully committed to this partnership.
“Are you working with the Lawyer?” Turan asked.
“‘Working’ might not be the word, but we’ve had ties for generations. They hold our leash,” the king said.
His tone and expression hinted at not just a lack of fondness but outright resentment toward the Lawyer.
Yet he followed because the Lawyer had some leverage over the mermaid kingdom.
Of course, he wouldn’t elaborate on what that was.
*‘Does he rule over multiple mermaid kingdoms?’*
If so, it explained how the Lawyer could stand against numerous formidable foes as a single entity.
A handful of such mermaid forces could crush a great family with ease.
If his domain spanned both seas, his influence would be even greater.
Then, the king fixed Turan with a sharp gaze and asked, “Are you one of those monster kin too? Living an eternal life?”
“Looks like you already know the answer, even if I don’t say it,” Turan replied.
“Hah, I should’ve guessed… Young humans being this strong. What mischief are you up to now?” the king muttered.
“Hunting the Great Sea Serpent is genuine, so no worries there. As long as you don’t pull anything funny,” Turan assured.
The king shook his head, looking fed up.
“Even if I killed you here, you’d just come back someday for revenge, right? I’ve no interest in gifting my clan an eternal enemy.”
“Lucky for both of us, then,” Turan said.
If the king mistook him—and the other two—for Freya gods, it’d be a perfect deterrent against betrayal.
No one would be foolish enough to make an enemy of someone who’d return from death.
Suppressing his delight, Turan maintained a calm demeanor.
“So, that’s all you wanted to ask?” the king pressed.
“Why didn’t you ask the Lawyer for help with this? Seems like something he’d jump at,” Turan said.
He wasn’t sure if a god’s vessel gained limitless magic, but there’d be no reason to pass up absorbing such potent power.
At the least, it could be gifted to spare vessels.
The king frowned, confused by Turan’s question.
“Isn’t that something you’d know better? Why ask me?”
“I’m not the Lawyer’s buddy,” Turan clarified, subtly emphasizing he was from a different faction.
The king snorted lightly, “Hmph.”
“The seal using that holy relic you took was his idea in the first place. Hunting it was never mentioned. If he knew, he’d never let us have the corpse,” the king explained.
“Why not?” Turan asked.
Instead of answering, the king widened his reddish-brown eyes, staring at Turan intently.
He seemed unsure if this was just probing or a genuine question.
After a moment, he spoke slowly.
“Because it’d let us return to being true mermaid royals. Back to the days when we could take their form as priests of the Great Sea Serpent.”