Shepherd Wizard-Chapter 205

Translator: Pai_

After securing Luska in a safe place, Turan returned to Kalamaf and headed first to the underground prison.

A area teeming with death row inmates captured from various places, even from the land of Varaha.

There was no innocent soul here.

Turan had personally used the Eye of Truth to confirm what crimes they had committed and whether they had indeed committed them.

The deepest part of the prison had originally been occupied by Nia, the princess of the White Elves, but her place was now vacant.

Since Rida would be working as Luska’s nanny for a while anyway, she had been allowed to treat this time as a vacation and spend it with the White Elves of Varaha.

Directly across from there, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard sat tied to a chair, his eyes half-dead.

“You’re a mess, Badal. You mocked Haroon-nim, but your stench is even worse.”

Badal Aravion.

Once the master of the Great Noble House Aravion and one of the most powerful wizards in the world.

Now he was bound in the body of a filthy commoner criminal.

Several magic artifacts for restraining magic power were layered upon him, in case he might somehow unleash power the same way Haroon had.

Startled by Turan’s voice, he sprang up reflexively.

“Uh, uhh, uaaa......”

“No need to be that happy to see me... So, have you thought of saying anything?”

At the question, Badal tightly closed his mouth and lowered his head.

Knowing that this meant defiance, Turan let out a small sigh and extended his hand.

“U-uaa, aaaaAAAAAH-!”

For several hours, terrible screams echoed through the space.

Badal lay sprawled in front of Turan, who was wiping his hands with a handkerchief, looking no different on the outside than before.

But the repeated destruction and regeneration seemed to have left an imprint in his memory, as he trembled like a fish that had been filleted alive.

"You have quite some backbone for your position."

Turan had thought that by shoving Badal into a death row body and torturing him, he could easily extract all the necessary information.

Experience had taught him that fallen gods’ endurance and willpower were generally worse than that of resolute commoners.

But contrary to expectations, Badal, surprisingly, withstood Turan’s torture for days without giving in.

Even though he clearly felt every ounce of pain, he remained silent in response to questions about Monarch’s whereabouts and plans.

“Then we’ll meet again.”

Turan left those words behind and departed.

He didn’t tell Badal that he would be leaving Kalamaf for a while. It was to make him imagine tomorrow’s torture and feel even more fear.

And the less information he had about the outside, the more pressure he would feel.

After coming up to the surface, Turan headed for the conference room.

There, the senior members of House Parsha, having completed all preparations, were already waiting for him.

“You’ve arrived, Family Head.”

“Mm.”

Having spent so much time with Luska, such formal meetings now felt strangely awkward.

Turan glanced briefly at Meisa and Solif, then checked the operation map laid out on the large round table.

“What has changed from the original plan?”

“Nothing.”

“Good. Then we begin today.”

The contents written on the parchment were simple.

The army of House Parsha would split into two and conquer the world.

It was the beginning of the final operation that would end all wars.

*

With the birth of the first descendant, the allied forces of the three houses had taken a brief rest.

News that they had begun moving again quickly spread.

The first army departed from Kalamaf and moved west.

Led by Meisa Aravion and three hundred or so wizards.

Though they were few in number to conquer even two fallen Great Noble Houses, conquest wasn’t their true purpose.

They were merely solidifying a throne they had already all but claimed.

Following the roads of the Old Empire, passing through forest regions, they swiftly advanced north and reached the Takein Plains in about two weeks.

“So this is the Takein Plains?”

“They say it’s the most fertile land in the world, but that must be an old tale now.”

The wizards of House Parsha looked around and spoke in a tone that sounded disheartened.

Just as they said, the current state of the Takein Plains was desolate, despite never having suffered a proper war.

Due to multiple conflicts, the number of wizards had dwindled, and infighting had prevented proper magical beast hunting from being carried out.

In just a few years, there were heaps of collapsed villages, ruined by magical beast attacks or raiders’ raids.

So much so that even some cities in the border regions could no longer be considered safe places.

“You’re the only wizards in this city?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

Meisa shook her head at the fact that only half a dozen knights had come out to greet her.

From what she heard, some members of the wizard family ruling this city had died in an accident, and a few others had joined the expedition to Kalamaf and were now missing.

She left behind the promise that if the nobles of that family ever returned, they would be pardoned on the condition of swearing loyalty, and then continued north.

Before long, Zavilin City appeared, originally a city of House Berk.

“We’re back......”

“Just how many years has it been?”

“Still, nothing’s changed.”

The knights of House Berk who followed Meisa looked around the city with nostalgic expressions.

Though the former ruling House Berk had fled in the night, and the city no longer enjoyed its former glory, it didn’t seem to have fallen too far.

Understandably so, as it was a territory once ruled by an Enchanter house and still had many magic artifacts.

With the cooperation of former government officials who had once served House Berk, the city was reorganized, and the Parsha army continued north along the road.

After passing through several cities, the capital of Aravion, Morgen City, finally revealed itself.

“Why is this city so huge?”

“Even Zavilin was more prosperous than Kalamaf, but how do all those people eat and relieve themselves? How’s it all managed?”

The country bumpkins from Kalamaf clicked their tongues in awe at the majesty of the metropolis with a population nearing one million.

Naturally, the citizens of Morgen City observed the Parsha wizards from a distance, peeking at them in secret.

Fortunately, no one bold enough to come forward and shout at them to get out of their land appeared.

After all, they were people educated for thousands of years to obey under wizards.

Passing by the murmuring crowds, Meisa finally entered the Fortress of Light for the first time in a long while and stood face-to-face with the wizards of Aravion.

'About a hundred in number......'

Even counting knights along with nobles, it was a severely lacking number.

The kind of scale one would expect from a normal wizard house, utterly insufficient for maintaining public order in a metropolis like Morgen.

Of course, most of the public order was handled by commoner police, but considering there were things beyond their ability, more people should have been present.

Moreover, most of them were either too young or too old to participate in the war.

“These are all the wizards of Aravion bloodline?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

Meisa, looking at them with cold eyes, first called out about twenty names.

Those called stepped forward, bewildered, not knowing why they were being singled out.

“Your families may have failed, but they died trying to do the right thing, so I’m giving you consideration.”

“Ah......!”

Only then did they realize that those being called separately were close to the assassins in the Badal assassination attempt.

Now that Parsha had won the war, they were considered meritorious contributors.

Of course, to the loyalists who had supported Badal, they were collaborators who had thrown their lot in with another house, but at any rate, it was that other house that now held the reins of power.

At that moment, one girl among them cautiously raised her hand and spoke.

“Um, Meisa-nim.......”

“What is it?”

“My parents participated in this war, and... could you tell me if they’re still alive?”

It was common knowledge that hundreds of Aravion wizards had been taken prisoner in the last battle, but their exact list was not accessible.

That was classified information of House Parsha.

Since she had intended to disclose it anyway, Meisa turned her gaze to the adjutant beside her and spoke.

“Do you have the compiled list?”

“Y-yes, Family Head...”

The adjutant, who had reflexively almost said Lady instead of Family Head, hastily corrected himself.

For Meisa was here not as the wife of House Parsha’s family head but as the new family head of Aravion.

Of course, with Parsha having won the war, it was already settled that Aravion would fall under their control, but justification was always something worth attending to.

“I will now announce the list of prisoners, so please listen carefully. Astraia Aravion, Argen Aravion, Eav Solude.......”

As Meisa read out the names of Aravion wizards who had been captured, following her instruction, reactions among the listeners were divided.

Those who heard the names of their family members let out sighs of relief, knowing they were at least alive. Those who did not hear any names consoled each other, saying they had likely escaped rather than died, but all of them showed darkened expressions.

While quietly observing their reactions, an elderly woman with white hair suddenly jumped out and shouted at Meisa in a loud voice of condemnation.

“The whore who crawled into bed with a Zahar half-breed has come! I heard you bore the child of the bastard who killed your father! What face do you have showing up here!”

"Ah, grandmother!"

“Stop her quickly!”

Though relatives of the old woman rushed to stop her, it was impossible to take back the voice that had already been shouted.

In the terribly heavy atmosphere that followed, Meisa silently stared at her for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Your name is Rusha, right? Badal’s sixth cousin.”

The Aravion wizards gasped as she mentioned the name of her deceased father without any honorifics.

“You should remember how your sixth cousin treated me. Are you saying things like that because you don’t remember? Or because you don’t want to remember?”

“You...!”

“Ah! Or are you resentful because your son died last time? Died trying to take an innocent hostage and use them for threats, of all things.”

At Meisa’s taunt, a bolt of lightning magic burst from the old woman’s hand in a surge of fury.

A spell powerful enough to incinerate an ordinary person in an instant and even pose serious danger to nobles stunned everyone.

“Ah......”

“Stop it!”

Just as the surrounding Parsha nobles moved to stop it, Meisa raised her hand to hold them back and received the spell.

With a crackling sound, the lightning wrapped around her upper body and was sucked away meaninglessly.

Seeing this, one Aravion noble muttered blankly.

“Sky Guardian.”

Those who recognized that the powerful sacred relic passed down in Aravion was wrapped around Meisa’s upper body let out soft groans.

Under everyone’s gaze filled with despair, Meisa took out a long hammer.

Heaven’s Punishment, an high-grade sacred relic once wielded by Badal Aravion, which had even inflicted a fatal wound on Turan.

Meisa swung the hammer lightly like a stick and slammed it down on the spot where the old woman had stood.

“Urgh!”

With a loud crash and a scream from someone nearby, a violet lightning bolt exploded.

Moments later, they realized that nothing remained where the old woman had been standing.

A single person had been completely obliterated without a trace.

“I’d love nothing more than to grind all of you into dust... but for now, I’ll end it here. If I paid back every grudge, no one would be left alive.”

There were too many things Meisa still had to do to vent all her anger on the surviving members of Aravion right away.

The Takein Plains had to be reorganized quickly so she could clean up the Nagin side as well, and she also needed to find the spiritual base of the Aravion Gods, which was likely hidden somewhere here.

Watching such a Meisa, the surviving members of Aravion realized instinctively.

Their new head was not particularly friendly toward them, and if they wanted to survive, they would have to grovel flat on the ground.

The powerless heir who had once been manipulated by adults had returned as a ruthless tyrant.

*

While Meisa was firmly suppressing the survivors of Aravion, Turan and Solif led the allied army of the three houses, Parsha, Varaha, and Lavitas, eastward.

Though Turan had been to the Enril Desert multiple times before, it was his first time marching with an army.

Because of that, he paid close attention to logistics such as drinking water and light cloaks to block sunlight.

"Ugh, look how stuffy this sandstorm is."

“Looks like they camped around here.”

Turan intentionally ignored Solif’s complaints and examined traces of what had once been a military encampment.

While surveying the site, Bije returned from the sky.

“How is it, Bije?”

-Nothing nearby!

“I see.......”

“What did she say?”

“She says there’s nothing in the vicinity that appears to be Zahar’s army.”

Using Bije’s transcendent vision and Tracking Magic, the search radius extended over a hundred kilometers in every direction.

If even with such a skill she couldn’t see any sign of thousands of wizards gathered, it likely meant the enemy had gone farther east.

“You don’t think they circled around and are planning to attack us from the east, do you?”

“They wouldn’t be that reckless. Even if they were, we’d get word right away, so don’t worry too much.”

Now that the Aravion army had been defeated, a significant portion of the Varaha army had returned to its capital, Helio City.

Even if Zahar intended to throw a wrench in the works by launching a surprise attack on Varaha, it would be difficult to instantly capture the Temple of the Sun, which blocks concealment abilities.

Moreover, once some time passed, Berit would likely summon the army from Kalamaf using the Jade Mirror, making it even less likely.

Eventually, the Parsha army continued marching eastward along the old imperial road that stretched across the desert, heading for Axum.

During their advance, they passed by Banifel City, which they had seen before.

"Is this that place?"

“Yeah. It used to be a pretty decent city.”

“Huh.......”

The ruined Banifel City and the collapsed Tomb of the Gods beside it.

The sight, like remnants of a once-glorious civilization, made even the allied wizards feel a bit uneasy.

"That guy who defected said they had set a trap here to catch you?"

“Right. They had set up a barrier and planned to ambush me the moment they got word I’d arrived. Unfortunately for them, the one who was supposed to activate the barrier and give the signal betrayed them, and the whole thing fell apart.”

If not for Kim Woong’s betrayal or rather, if that betrayal hadn’t been part of some larger trap, it might have been one of Monarch’s best chances to capture Turan.

Afterward, Turan sent people to bring in the leaders of small towns and villages around nearby oases.

Naturally, when commoners suddenly found themselves standing before the head of a Great Noble House, their legs trembled and they could barely stand properly.

“No need to act like that. Have a glass of date wine.”

“Th-thank you, my lord.”

The middle-aged man accepted the drink with an overly grand tone, the origin of which was unclear, and it slightly eased the tension among the others.

“Is the reason Banifel City still hasn’t been rebuilt due to House Zahar’s orders?”

“N-no, not exactly. But for a city to be sustained, there needs to be an oasis, and I understand that since Banifel’s oasis dried up, they didn’t bother trying to redevelop it.”

Originally, Banifel City had been maintained solely as a tourist spot because of the Tomb of the Gods, and with that site now destroyed, there was no longer any reason to rebuild. Most importantly, during wartime, it was risky to move resources around carelessly.

In other words, House Parsha and Turan were effectively one of the main reasons the city remained unreconstructed.

“I see. Then.......”

While Turan was taking the time to hear each person’s opinion one by one, he sharply glared at the next woman who stepped forward.

“Who did you say you were?”

“My name is Jaime. I’m here as a representative of the merchant guild leader of Oz City.”

“Oz City. I’ve been there before. Isn’t there a place in the market that sells fruit juice frozen with magic artifacts?”

“You know it!”

At Turan's words, Jaime responded with a delighted expression, nodding along.

The unexpectedly warm attitude caused the nearby Parsha wizards to show signs of confusion.

‘Does that woman have something?’

She was a commoner woman around forty years old, not particularly beautiful, and Turan clearly had no desire to take her as a concubine. Nor did she seem to possess anything exceptional among those gathered here.

And yet, Turan spent more than three times as much time conversing with Jaime compared to the others.

After she bowed politely and stepped back at his dismissal, Solif leaned in and whispered.

“What’s going on? Did you notice something?”

“No, it’s just a city I’ve visited before. I stopped by there on a little trip before going into the Tomb of the Gods. I have a lot of memories.”

[That woman just now, I couldn’t see any symbol inside her.]

Turan replied outwardly to Solif’s question, then secretly conveyed his voice using Wind Magic.

Solif’s expression hardened upon hearing that.

Because he too understood what it meant for a human to show no internal symbol at all.

Just like the former head of House Nagin, only Monarch’s puppets ever appeared that way.

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

“Yeah, that’s what it is.”

There was no way it was a coincidence that one of Monarch’s puppets would show up in front of the Parsha army at this moment.

Without any further words, the two exchanged a glance and reached the same conclusion.

*****

For more chapters, you can check out my Patreon here –>https://patreon.com/Pai_

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊