Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 181.1

Translator: Pai_ 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The atmosphere of the Red Fortress, the stronghold of the House Zahar, was always as sharp as a well-honed blade.

The nobles of the House Zahar, who were born with a nature more cold-blooded and cruel than others, always wore smiling faces while rolling their eyes in search of weaknesses to stab one another with, firmly believing the others would do the same.

However, in recent days, they had come to realize that the atmosphere they had always considered tense was nothing more than a peaceful routine.

The current Red Fortress was truly like a cliff where a single misstep would lead to a fall.

Only a few who stood at the top could be certain of what was truth and what was a trap.

Everyone else was merely a puppet dancing on a stage with their eyes blindfolded.

‘How suffocating.......’

Aden Zahar sighed inwardly as he looked down at the inner part of the fortress, overwhelmed by the suffocating atmosphere.

Originally, it was his duty to confirm whether anyone was coming in from outside the fortress, but as a noble, it was permitted to occasionally divert his gaze for a brief moment.

‘No, to be honest, even that is burdensome right now. I never know which of those nearby will report my actions to the higher-ups.......’

Not long ago, there had been a major incident in Axum, the capital of the House Zahar.

A conflict had broken out among the top-tier wizards, considered the core class within their ranks.

A mmbiguous noble like Aden had no right to know why the fight had happened or how it ended.

All he knew was that the battle that had started on the outskirts of the Red Fortress had spread into Axum City, and that the city had been sealed off afterward.

While he was deep in thought, Aden briefly focused on a servant he had never seen before passing by.

‘Looks like a face I haven’t seen before?’

Of course, he didn’t know the faces of all the thousands of servants in the Red Fortress.

Still, since most had a limited range of movement, the ones he saw regularly tended to look familiar. But for some reason, that one looked completely unfamiliar.

He had only entertained that thought for a moment before quickly losing interest and turning his gaze away.

It was also because he was getting tired of staring continuously due to the bright lights illuminating below the walls.

***

'Did he......let his guard down? Good.'

While carefully moving after leaving the underground storage, Turan was extremely tense, though he showed no outward signs when a noble on the fortress wall suddenly took notice of him.

If the noble had followed and questioned him, asking who he was, he would have had no ready answer.

In that case, he would have had to silently subdue and kill the person, then find a place to bury the body.

Unlike the base of House Aravion, where people were relatively enjoying a peaceful daily life, the inside of the current House Zahar stronghold was marked by a clear intent to sniff out any suspicious individuals.

Naturally, in such an atmosphere, it was extremely difficult to casually approach someone and gather information.

'Do I need to take risks to gather information?'

Should he kidnap and interrogate one of the House Zahar nobles, or disguise himself as one to extract information...?

Fortunately, thanks to Berit in the past, he had already memorized the faces, names, status, and personalities of some key figures among the House Zahar nobles.

If not for that, it would have been like smashing his head into a cliff without any information.

‘From the looks of it, this must be the library. That side is a residential area mainly occupied by those formerly aligned with Alma’s faction... and the family head’s residence is over there? If it comes to it, I’ll have to dig a tunnel and enter again.’

While collecting information one by one, Turan’s face changed multiple times.

It was because a person walking around with the same face doing nothing would stand out.

However, making that effort seemed pointless, because at some point, he started to sense someone was tracking him.

It was a noble with mid-to-high-level magic power.

‘Who is it?’

Was the problem that he had continued wearing the same clothes due to a lack of places to change?

Or was it because he was wandering in areas unsuitable for servants?

Or could it be the effect of some special detection magic artifact or sacred relic?

With suspicion in his mind, he quietly turned his head while circling around a building and managed to confirm the appearance of the one tailing him.

A middle-aged man, probably around forty, with a large nose, thick mustache, and a striking bald head, was following Turan while observing him closely.

‘With a face like that, was it Faol Zahar? One of Talis's close aides.......’

A warning bell rang in Turan’s mind upon identifying the pursuer.

If he looked suspicious, simply shaking off the tail wouldn’t be the end of it.

If that man returned to Talis and reported that a suspicious individual managed to shake off pursuit, the infiltration itself would be considered a failure.

Given Talis’s persistence and meticulousness from past experience, there was no chance this would be brushed off.

‘I’ll kill him.’

But how?

If he fought in such an open place, his identity would be exposed in an instant, and there was no remote spot nearby to lure him to.

More than that, suddenly moving to such a place might itself raise suspicion.......

Just as he was thinking that, a foul stench wafting through his nose sparked a new idea.

Turan immediately followed his nose and began walking toward the restroom while continuing to check for the other’s presence.

‘Good, he’s following.’

If the man knew who he really was, he wouldn’t dare try this.

He must have assumed Turan was just a spy from another noble house.

Honestly, how many people would seriously believe that the head of a great noble house would disguise himself and sneak in personally?

Besides, if he reported something strange based on a mere hunch without confirming it and the person turned out to be a real servant, it would be quite embarrassing.

As Turan entered the restroom, he grimaced at the luminous spheres embedded densely even here, shining brightly.

It seemed that everywhere except the actual sleeping areas was lit up like this.

Even this was a restroom for servants, and it was still like this?

It was no wonder that the wizards born and raised in a place like this developed nasty temperaments.

‘This place will do.’

The restroom was roughly five meters wide and ten meters long, with about three stalls divided by partitions.

Turan opened one stall, made a sound as if he were sitting on the toilet, then cast Concealment magic, exited, and grabbed hold of the luminous sphere installed above the stall door, hanging there.

Because of that, a considerable amount of magic power drained from him momentarily, but it was bearable.

About twenty minutes passed like that.

Perhaps thinking the person who had gone into the restroom had fallen in and died, Faol quietly opened the door and entered, expressing a curious "Hm?"

‘What...?’

He was so close, yet there was no sign of anyone.

Even if the House Zahar nobles’ senses were specialized for smell, he should at least be able to hear breathing.

That suspicious guy had definitely entered here-

Crack. Before the question could turn into realization, Faol’s neck was broken.

Hanging from the ceiling by both legs, Turan snapped Faol’s neck, then immediately shut the restroom door and focused on the sounds coming from outside.

If a commotion broke out, he would have to abandon the infiltration and escape immediately.

‘Success.’

Turan let out a sigh of relief and checked the corpse he had just killed.

Because he had broken the neck with just the right amount of force for an instant kill, no blood had flowed.

If blood had stained the clothes, hiding the scent would have been impossible, so it was truly fortunate.

While Turan changed into Faol’s clothes and took on his appearance, he sensed someone approaching outside the restroom.

Hurriedly, he stuffed the corpse into the large-capacity pouch and stepped into a stall just as the door opened and someone entered.

“Ugh, I need to shit, seriously.”

A servant, whose identity was unknown, glanced at the closed stall, then entered the next one, pulled down his pants, and sat down.

Only after he produced an unpleasant sound and smell and then exited did Turan finally let out a sigh of relief.

‘Now, then, it’s about time.......’

When he closed his eyes and focused his consciousness, his spirit form immediately emerged from between his brows.

In a corner of the spiritual world, which could only be seen through the eyes of the spirit form, a pale, hazy figure remained at the spot where Faol had just died.

It was not a spirit form fixed in place like a fallen god or something close to a spirit, but rather a remnant left with only spiritual energy and fragments of thoughts.

The power of Soul Magic grabbed that remnant and brought it before Turan.

[Faol.]

[Ugh... ah.......]

Was it because he had not yet fully realized his own death?

Faol’s spirit form merely let out a faint groan, unable even to harbor a specific obsession.

Turan concentrated and tried to penetrate the spirit form to extract information.

[What has happened recently in the House Zahar? What is Talis doing? What happened to the head of House Zahar?]

Even in the dregs left in the union of body and soul that had mostly drifted into the sea of spirit forms, memories remained.

Thanks to that, Turan was able to catch glimpses of a few traces within Faol’s hazy memories.

Haroon firing a gun while bleeding, explosions and thunderous booms, multiple projectiles slicing through the wind, fully armed nobles of House Zahar, and Badal, who appeared to be under their protection.......

A moment later, Turan escaped from all the visions and let out a low sigh.

‘Just as I thought.’

From the situation, it seemed that Badal had personally come to Axum and joined forces with Talis and the gods of House Zahar to subdue Haroon.

Unfortunately, Faol did not know why the high-ranking nobles of House Zahar had cooperated with the head of House Aravion.

Or perhaps he did know, but Turan failed to read it through soul resonance.

‘Should I pull out at this point?’

Now that it was confirmed Haroon had lost power, it was clear whether House Zahar was an enemy or not.

Since the original goal had been achieved, withdrawing now was the safer and wiser decision.

However, what lingered in Turan’s mind was whether Haroon was dead or alive.

Although death seemed more likely, if he could at least retrieve his soul......

Though he was a enemy, the old man had treated him more like a grandson than his own biological grandfather ever did, and leaving him behind felt wrong.

It was his nature to be ruthless to enemies, but to soften when it came to those he considered his own.

And there was one more thing.

He still had not discovered how Aravion had persuaded Talis and the gods of House Zahar to rise in rebellion.

If he was lucky enough to capture even one of the gods’ spirit forms, he might be able to extract that information as well.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Turan decided to enter the family head’s residence and confirm things himself.

His confidence in his own abilities played a large part in that decision.

Unlike back when he had infiltrated the Aravion household, the current Turan could easily escape even if discovered.

‘The problem is how to infiltrate.’

There were two main options.

Either boldly walk into the family head’s quarters with Faol’s face, or dig another tunnel as before.

Both had their pros and cons.

The former would be simple if successful, but if Faol did not have the clearance to enter the family head’s residence or ran into someone familiar with him, he could be exposed.

The latter carried the risk that some detection method might be installed there.

‘If only this guy had been a possession vessel.......’

If that had been the case, he could have imprisoned and interrogated him like the other half-elves or the two gods of Carmine, including Jemel.

Unfortunately, the soul of an ordinary human, upon death, had the part that carried memories and personality fly off beyond the sea of spirit forms, leaving behind only spiritual energy and fragments of thought.

Their souls were not fixed like those of properly trained Soul Magic practitioners, fallen gods, or half-elves.

There was not much time to think.

If Faol had duties, a colleague might come looking for him, or if he failed to return home by nightfall, someone in his family might raise an alert.

Fortunately, it only took Turan about five minutes to think and decide while sitting on the toilet.

***