Shepherd Wizard (Novel) - Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Discord
‘Never come back.’
When they read the hidden message in Godis Baraha’s letter, silence fell over the room for a moment.
Afterward, the three of them tried reading the letter in various ways to see if there were any other hidden messages, but they couldn’t find anything else significant.
“What could it mean?” Meisa asked.
“Perhaps Mr. Godis realized something was suspicious and left this warning. Or else…”
Turan swallowed the thought that had occurred to him—that this could be a double trap designed to make Solif feel sympathy for his father and encourage him to make contact.
“Huff.”
Perhaps troubled by this unexpected revelation, Solif frowned deeply, closed his eyes, and muttered something under his breath.
Meisa turned to him and asked, “Are you going to meet him?”
“I don’t know. If my father truly left that message out of concern for me, it would be proper to talk with him. But honestly, I’ve always thought that the affection my parents showed while raising me was all false.”
This was a natural conclusion if Baraha had indeed raised Solif strictly as a vessel for divine possession.
After all, the questionable educational methods used on him couldn’t have been implemented without his parents’ consent.
“If my parents truly loved me, and if my father is hunting me because my mother is being held hostage—damn, would they really go that far? Though it seems like something they would do…”
His rambling revealed his complicated feelings, so instead of responding, Turan and Meisa sat quietly and listened to his complaints.
However, not long after, they learned that these worries were pointless when a servant came to inform them that Godis had left Rida’s mansion.
“He left?” Turan asked.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Did he leave on his own, or did Lady Rida force him out?”
“A lowly person like me wouldn’t know such details…”
Well, what would servants know anyway?
Turan immediately went to see Rida and learned that Godis had indeed left of his own accord.
“He probably thought you might provide some clues, but when he found nothing useful, he left. Besides, he couldn’t very well use force here,” Rida said with a slight smile, then suddenly her expression hardened.
“However, be careful outside. If they target you beyond Ravitas territory, there’s nothing I can do to help. Just as I rely on the power of my great family, I must also prioritize its interests.”
She meant that while she would naturally fulfill her duty as a noble to care for Turan as a guest, she couldn’t risk conflict with another great family without justification for the sake of a young friend.
When Turan returned to their quarters and relayed this information, Solif nodded with an expression mixing disappointment and relief.
“So that’s how it is…”
“In the end, we’ll never know the letter’s true intention,” Meisa said.
In response, Turan pulled several strands of long silver hair from his pocket.
He had secretly collected them after Godis left the reception room.
“With these, we could track him down anytime if we want to ask questions.”
With Turan’s current magical power, using someone’s hair as a medium for tracking magic could detect their presence over thousands of kilometers.
With a bit of effort, he could even track Godis after he returned to the Baraha main house.
Hearing this, Solif nodded with a somewhat disgruntled expression.
“Hmm, let’s think about that later… after Meisa recovers. I’m not sure what to do right now.”
* * *
Over the next few days, Turan’s group spent relatively comfortable time at the Ravitas mansion, healing both body and mind.
Of course, Meisa and Solif found this time rather uncomfortable—one couldn’t move her legs and needed constant assistance, while the other had to maintain his disguise as a servant.
Fortunately, exactly one week later, they received word that the head of the Ravitas family had invited them.
Turan’s group headed to the central palace of the capital with Rida.
“By the way, Turan, I notice you always carry Miss Misha yourself instead of leaving her to the servants?” Rida asked with a sly smile as she watched Turan carrying Meisa during their journey.
“Ah, yes. It’s more comfortable this way.”
While Meisa and Solif weren’t awkward or uncomfortable with each other, there was still a sense that they were “friends of a friend” with Turan at the center.
That’s why Turan always carried Meisa himself when they needed to move, and Rida seemed to find this interesting.
“A man who’s too jealous lacks charm.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Responding naturally to Rida’s teasing, they entered a massive room in the innermost part of the palace.
The first things that caught their attention were the taxidermied remains of various enormous magical beasts and delicate craft decorations.
And visible only to Turan’s eyes, the flow of magical power surrounding the entire wall.
‘Some kind of magic seems to be cast here…’
Perhaps because of this magic covering the entire chamber of the family head, Turan couldn’t detect Osel’s magical power until they entered.
In the corners, a huge tiger and lion were crouched, both magical beasts with mid-tier noble-level magical power, likely pets kept by the family head.
The fact that no one else was present in the family head’s quarters was probably because Turan’s request to keep this treatment confidential had been conveyed through Rida.
From behind a veil at the far end of the room, the voice of a young boy was heard.
“I’ve heard the gist of it. You want my power?”
Despite having met Turan’s group before, Osel calmly asked as if they were complete strangers.
Since there was no need to reveal his abilities by pretending to know Osel, Turan respectfully bowed his head and played along.
“Yes, Family Head. I wish for my companion, Misha, to be healed.”
“I assume you understand what it means for the head of a great family to use their power directly.”
Though he spoke with a somewhat weighty tone, his voice was like that of a boy who had only recently gone through puberty, which almost made Turan want to laugh.
Of course, since offending Osel would be disastrous, Turan clenched his teeth.
“I am prepared to compensate for your grace. I will offer gold, silver, and the right to use my power once.”
“The right to use your power.”
Contracts where nobles sold their labor to others were actually quite common.
Typically, wandering nobles with no property would offer such terms to prosperous territorial nobles.
“However, I have a few conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“It must not involve harming innocent people, it must be a task with clear objectives and deadlines, and it must not be so difficult that it’s impossible with my abilities.”
Hearing Turan’s words, Osel made a sound of contemplation while stroking his chin, which likely hadn’t even grown facial hair yet, then spoke.
“As it happens, I have a task that perfectly meets those conditions.”
“What is it?”
“Wetland reclamation.”
Reclamation referred to filling in water-covered areas to create land.
This seemed like a natural necessity in Ravitas territory, which was mostly wetlands.
“Where and how much needs to be done?”
“The Koloa region in the southern part of the Siraf Wetlands. The area to be developed is approximately one hundred kilometers in both length and width.”
The fact that he immediately specified the size suggested that Osel had already prepared this task after hearing Turan’s conditions from Rida.
“It seems this is a project that’s difficult to mobilize the family’s power for.”
“The area is vast and the terrain is problematic, but above all, there are several troublesome magical beasts living there. It might take decades if done alone.”
Since even nobles of great families coveted the magical power of strong magical beasts, these “troublesome” creatures were likely those with special abilities that made them difficult to hunt despite not being particularly powerful.
The magical beasts of the Siraf Wetlands were notorious for being difficult to catch while providing little reward.
“Must I do it entirely alone, without any support from Ravitas?”
“You’re free to hire people, but you’ll have to cover the employment costs yourself.”
After considering briefly, Turan nodded.
He calculated that while ordinary nobles might need at least ten years for such a task as Osel suggested, with the power of three near-family-head-level nobles, it shouldn’t take nearly that long.
Even with terrible luck, it should only take a few months.
“Agreed.”
“I’m glad we could reach an agreement so easily.”
The conversation seemed to be concluding, but for some reason, Osel just stared blankly at Turan without saying anything.
“What is it? If we’re done talking, you may leave.”
“When will the treatment take place?”
“Naturally, after you complete your task.”
At Osel’s words, Turan shook his head.
“I need Misha’s help for the wetland reclamation. Please heal her first.”
“Why should I trust a wandering noble with no family backing? If you receive treatment and then flee, I would have expended my power for nothing.”
Osel’s cold response instantly chilled the previously amicable atmosphere.
At that moment, Rida, who had been watching from the side, clicked her tongue and said, “Don’t be so difficult, Family Head. Whether one’s body is whole or not is crucial when using magic. Why make things unnecessarily complicated?”
“Aunt!”
“If you’re going to assign a task, it’s better to do so in good spirits rather than with hard feelings.”
After saying this, Rida glanced at Turan and Meisa, then added, “Besides, though I haven’t seen much of them, I don’t think these young people would deceive us. We’ve had separate discussions, and more importantly, unless they plan to live without ever getting injured again, they wouldn’t dare do such a thing.”
The “separate discussions” likely referred to the necromancer incident she had mentioned before.
Though Osel had initially bristled at Rida’s childlike treatment of him, after listening to her words, he sighed and removed the veil with a single gesture.
The appearance of a handsome youth of fifteen or sixteen, whom they had seen before, was revealed.
Ravitas Family Head Osel stared at Turan and Meisa for a moment, then asked, “You’re not surprised to see me?”
“We had some idea already.”
“Hmph.”
Snorting, Osel turned to Rida and said, “This is troublesome, Aunt.”
“I apologize. I spoke out of turn. I won’t say another word in front of the Family Head from now on.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
While Osel had maintained a consistently haughty attitude toward Turan’s group, he behaved like a young boy his age when dealing with Rida, almost whining.
After bickering for a moment, they seemed to become aware of Turan’s group watching and cleared their throats, falling silent.
After a brief silence, Osel spoke in the same dignified tone as before, perhaps to change the atmosphere.
“First, let me see your abilities. Whether you’re qualified to make such demands of me.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a wave of magical power surged toward Turan and Meisa.
The tremendous torrent of power directly projected by the head of a great family, one of the strongest beings in this world.
Normally, such magical power projection contains no will and causes no phenomena, but the density was so high that the surrounding air seemed to distort.
In response, Turan and Meisa displayed all their magical power without deception, meeting his force head-on.
Since Meisa’s true abilities would be revealed during the treatment process anyway, and if that were the case, having Turan’s abilities appear too weak would only raise suspicion.
Moreover, revealing their true strength here would increase the value of their labor.
After confirming their power, Osel seemed surprised and flustered, remaining silent for nearly a minute before finally speaking.
“…Not bad. Very well. I agree to your conditions.”
Rida’s earlier words likely played a significant role in Osel’s agreement.
Nobles as powerful as them couldn’t treat serious injuries with ordinary magical devices, so they had no choice but to appease Osel, the world’s finest healer.
Additionally, given the two’s abilities, even Osel needed to show them a certain level of respect.
Seeing this, Rida clapped her hands together and smiled.
“Wonderful! Why don’t we proceed right away? As far as I know, the Family Head hasn’t used any magical power today.”
“Let’s do that, Aunt. Everyone, follow me.”
* * *
As if he had prepared in advance, Osel rose from his seat and led them to a room adjacent to the family head’s quarters.
Like the neighboring chamber, this room had magical flows covering the walls and floor, with several bed-like structures in the center.
“This is the treatment room. It’s imbued with power to repel evil energies that bring disease. First, the servant should leave. Don’t bring animals either, as they might aggravate wounds.”
“Ah, yes.”
Solif, who had naturally tried to follow them in, retreated outside with Bije, wearing an awkward smile.
Osel immediately cast a purification spell throughout the room, presumably to eliminate any harmful germs.
Turan wondered if they actually knew about microorganisms, or if they had simply learned empirically that this was necessary.
While he was pondering this, Osel pointed to one of the beds and said, “Lie down.”
As Meisa lay on the bed with a somewhat frightened expression, Osel brought over a huge saw that had been placed in a corner.
This too was a magical device imbued with considerable power.
“I’ll cut with this. If you don’t want pain, I can knock you out—would you prefer being hit on the head or having your breathing stopped?”
“I can help with that. Is that okay, Misha?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll do it yourself? It’s less work for me, but it’s not as easy as you might think.”
Despite Osel’s unnecessary concern, Turan skillfully rendered Meisa unconscious and laid her on the bed not long after.
Seeing this, the two Ravitas nobles looked at Turan as if he were a strange person.
“You both seem quite familiar with this, don’t you?”
Instead of responding to Rida’s comment, Turan simply bowed his head slightly, to which Osel clicked his tongue and said, “Whatever, let’s get started quickly. My time is expensive.”
The surgery began shortly after.
While Osel took the lead and Rida assisted from the side, Turan stood further back, observing in case of any unexpected situations.
“First from here… hmm, it cuts easily. Definitely.”
As Osel cut away at Meisa’s waist, Turan watched tensely.
If Osel were to betray them, he would immediately call Solif from outside to stop him while they treated Meisa again.
Fortunately, after completely cutting away Meisa’s waist, Osel immediately began using healing magic to repair it.
The way he delicately adjusted the position of internal organs and bones with his hands showed his extensive knowledge of human anatomy.
‘I suppose for the Ravitas Family Head, an injury like this is nothing.’
Though Rida also helped with the healing, she couldn’t match Osel’s direct intervention.
The severed parts rejoined as smoothly as clay, which was truly marvelous, and Turan couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to fight the Ravitas Family Head.
‘It would be difficult to reduce his combat effectiveness with ordinary injuries. Especially since healing oneself is probably easier than healing others…’
He had thought that the Ravitas Family Head, with healing and purification bloodlines, wouldn’t be very threatening despite his power, but if he could endlessly heal himself no matter how badly injured he was (as long as his head wasn’t cut off), he could be a more troublesome opponent than expected.
He could probably heal those weaker than himself even more easily.
In a group battle, he might prove more challenging than mages with typical combat bloodlines.
A moment later, after completing all the treatment, Osel let out a small sigh and said, “I never thought I’d be treating a mage of roughly my level after inheriting the family head position. Just who are you people?”
“We are Turan and Misha. For now.”
Implying that he might share more details if their relationship improved, Turan left it at that. Osel snorted but didn’t press further.
Telling them to see themselves out, Osel left first. About ten minutes later, Meisa woke up with a groan.
“Is it over?”
“Yes. It was simpler than I expected. Want to try getting up?”
At Turan’s words, Meisa carefully moved her legs, rose from the bed, and stood on both feet.
After jumping lightly in place a few times, her face bloomed with a bright smile.