Chapter 144

While a brief silence flowed, Turan looked down at the banquet hall where people laughed and chatted, enjoying themselves.

The previous attack by Badal or the battle in the forest could also be considered a kind of war if one were to analyze it, but what Rida was referring to now was of an entirely different scale.

A massive war in which at least hundreds, possibly thousands of wizards would kill and be killed was about to unfold.

Suddenly, the recently deceased couple from the Berk family came to mind.

They had not been the only victims at that time.

People like the knight Bin, who had first welcomed Turan in Zavilin City in the past.

Though they were mere insects to those of high status, they were humans capable of thinking and loving, dozens of them meeting their deaths.

In the war between House Lavitas and House Varaha, even more people would surely lose their lives.

“It seems the preparations are complete.”

“There is still much lacking if you ask me, but you know this well. No matter how much we add, perfect preparation never exists.”

Besides, the more time they took to prepare, the more time the enemy would have to prepare as well.

“How much chance of victory do you estimate?”

“Around three out of ten. But if House Parsha supports us sufficiently, I estimate it could be more than six out of ten.”

“Support, huh.”

"As I understand it, your vassal, Solif, has matters to settle with House Varaha."

Their gazes turned to the lower part of the banquet hall, where Solif was thoroughly enjoying the alcohol.

He was excitedly chatting with Berit, who had been somewhat driven away earlier.

Outwardly, he looked just like any ordinary young noble.

In truth, it would be hard to realize that he was a powerful Guardian capable of withstanding the attacks of hundreds of wizards for hours, and a great Wizard of the Sun Bloodline.

“He seems to be getting quite close to the young lady of House Zahar. Is it alright to leave it as it is?”

“Yes, well. It doesn’t seem too bad just yet.”

Lately, Berit had started hovering around Solif after Turan showed little interest in her.

It was likely a strategy to provoke jealousy by showing interest in another man, or to create internal division within House Parsha.

But amusingly, Berit was the one feeling deeper affection with each meeting.

Honestly, it was hard to understand what exactly about Solif made her feel such romantic attraction...

Well, men and women have different perspectives, so perhaps it’s not so strange.

"I should summon him and ask directly about this matter."

"Indeed, before being lord and vassal, you are friends. I understand."

At Turan’s words, Rida smiled gently.

So, after the banquet ended, Turan, who was the last to leave, called for Solif as soon as he arrived at the lounge.

Solif still reeked strongly of alcohol, likely from having enjoyed the banquet so thoroughly.

"What's this about all of a sudden?"

"House Lavitas is going to wage war against House Varaha. Would you be interested in lending a hand?"

At Turan’s question, Solif wore a dumbfounded expression.

It was understandable.

How could someone so casually ask if he’d like to join a war between Great Noble Houses as a mercenary?

If he’d only half-heard Turan’s words, he might have thought he was being asked to run a simple errand.

“...Am I going alone by any chance?”

“It’s hard for both Meisa and me to leave our base, after all. Ultimately, it’ll be up to your decision. If you don’t feel inclined, we can just focus on material support instead.”

Of course, it was also an option to assign other nobles and knights under Solif to form a full army.

Although House Parsha was still a newly established house lacking internal stability, they could conscript enough to mobilize several hundred wizards through their vassal houses.

However, aside from increasing combat power, enlarging the army was a choice full of disadvantages.

The greater the number of troops, the more supplies are needed, and naturally, every time a relatively weaker wizard is added, the marching speed slows down.

Traveling from Kalamaf to Lavitas, and then to Varaha from there, would take an absurdly long time for a large army to move.

If they chose to move through the North Sea, there was also the possibility that House Zahar would interfere with some underhanded scheme.

“If you’re moving alone, I’ll lend you Bije. It should only take a few days to get there.”

The troops from Lavitas would, of course, sail for nearly a month, disembark on the Grassy Plains, and then move northeast.

If Solif timed his departure from Kalamaf on Bije properly, he could join them in as little as three or four days.

In other words, he could support the long-distance campaign while minimizing the time his base was left unattended.

"But I'm not sure if my support alone will be enough to win."

“There are certainly variables, but in terms of power, it’s enough.”

During the battle that triggered this war, the head of House Varaha sustained serious injuries in exchange for placing a deadly curse on Osel.

Even considering that Osel had the support of other high-ranking nobles and was armed with all sorts of sacred relics handed down through the family, their abilities were not vastly different.

Considering the curse placed on Osel was probably a skill, the head of House Varaha must have exerted their full power as well.

That is to say, at the very least, he wasn’t a monster like Badal of House Aravion, who would be difficult to face even with the three of them working together.

So while Osel and Solif faced the head of House Varaha together, if Lavitas's nobles pressured Varaha’s nobles.

“There’s still time, so if you say you’ll participate, I’ll ask Meisa to pour her full strength into making a magic artifact for a month. Something that will help you in battle or survival.”

Originally, a one-month period was the most efficient and powerful crafting time for an Enchanter to create a magic artifact.

If Meisa, who had the magic power of a quasi-head of house, focused her power entirely for that month, the resulting item would be stronger than any mediocre sacred relic.

The reason such items hadn’t been created easily until now was because Meisa’s strength would be greatly weakened for some time after the crafting process.

In a situation where no one knew when Aravion might attack, having their strongest wizard weakened would have been a fatal blow.

Still, if Solif were being dispatched alone, it was worth taking on that much risk.

What if the one they sent off to fight ended up being defeated and killed, or worse, captured and turned into the new host for the head of House Varaha?

Not only would one of the three heads of House Parsha be taken out, but the power of the hostile House Varaha could skyrocket.

"Meisa will take a risk for a while to create a powerful item, and the two of us will guard during her recovery period. Then you'll be dispatched when she recovers. Probably about two months from now."

“I get the idea. But… is it really advantageous for us if I go?”

“Of course. That’s assuming the outcome is good.”

If Solif was dispatched and Lavitas crushed Varaha, there would be a lot to gain for Parsha as well.

Not only would they earn another great favor from a powerful ally, but it would also mean crushing a potential hostile force.

As he explained this, Turan cleared his throat lightly and added,

“Not just that. We can even consider having you formally succeed Varaha.”

“Ha.”

Though he had been ousted, Solif was still originally the successor to House Varaha.

If he eliminated the head of the house and absorbed his magic power to reach the level of a family head, he would be fully qualified to take that position.

Of course, as someone who borrowed the power of an external force like Lavitas, it was unlikely that he would gain the enthusiastic support of the house’s members...

But in the end, what they needed was to reduce enemies and increase allies, or at the very least, increase neutral parties.

Even weakened, if the Great Noble Houses of Varaha, Lavitas, and Parsha united, it would signal the emergence of a massive power never before seen in this land.

“Well, fine.”

“Don’t you want to think it over a bit more?”

"In a man's life, sometimes you've got to take a shot."

Solif said, wearing an expression full of bravado.

*

Since the decision to participate had already been made, it was necessary to increase the chances of victory as much as possible.

Therefore, Turan not only requested Meisa to create a powerful magic artifact for Solif to use, but also instructed the Enchanters of the Berk family to craft magic artifacts that the House Lavitas could use.

Rida was greatly pleased by this and immediately accepted Turan’s request.

The promise was that when they crushed Varaha, one of the four who would obtain the family head’s magic power would definitely be Solif, and that full support would be given so that he could become the next head of Varaha.

After the week-long banquet ended and the nobles of Lavitas returned, tranquility once again settled over Kalamaf.

No, to be precise, it only appeared tranquil. Beneath the surface, something hot was bubbling and boiling.

“Uoooooh!”

"Don't shout! It drains your power!"

A hill near Kalamaf.

At the spot where Turan had once been beaten up by Meisa, a place filled with memories, he was now sparring with Solif using Light of Judgement.

Though it was unknown which of the four emblems the head of Varaha would use and how he would combine them, it was highly likely that the power of the Sun Bloodline would be the core of his strength. So they were training accordingly.

Naturally, the clash between these powerful wizards caused tremendous shockwaves around the hill.

Each time the Light of Judgement clashed in the form of a whip and scattered in all directions, the ground melted and lava poured out, distant rocks split apart, and at times the lower portion of a cliff would cave in, causing the upper section to collapse with a roar, triggering a landslide. Had there been any nearby houses, thousands of people could have died.

After a fierce bout, an exhausted Solif collapsed and let out a sigh.

"Whew, using so much power after a long time makes me dizzy."

“Still, training like this really sharpens your skills, right? I’ve been feeling rusty lately, probably due to a lack of actual combat.”

“Well, I’m not a monster like you.”

People like Turan and Meisa didn’t lose much of their skills even if they stopped training for several months, but ordinary wizards would quickly see their magical abilities regress if they didn’t train consistently.

To be more accurate, their sense for controlling magic would dull.

Solif also trained daily, but there was nothing like sparring against someone on his level to really sharpen his senses.

Of course, fighting for real with one’s life on the line, like in the Colosseum deep in the northeast Frostwind Forest, would be even more effective, but he only had one life, so that wasn’t an option.

As he lay catching his breath, Solif suddenly spoke up.

“More importantly… are you really okay with that?”

“With what?”

“Telling Berit about the war.”

After deciding to join the war between Lavitas and Varaha, Turan had given Solif a rather puzzling order.

He told him to subtly inform Berit that they would be participating in the upcoming war.

Since Berit had been meeting often with Solif while almost entirely avoiding communication with Turan, it wasn’t a difficult task.

What was hard to understand was why he would bother doing such a thing.

“Shouldn’t we be keeping that a secret from Zahar no matter what? What if they send reinforcements?”

Everyone who was in the know understood that Zahar and Varaha were quite closely connected.

Turan and Solif even knew that they had once sent one of their heir candidates as support.

And Turan had killed them all back then.

In response to Solif’s question, Turan scratched his chin and replied.

“Well, even if we don’t tell Berit, they’ll find out anyway.”

“Really?”

"House Zahar has already planted a spy among our servants or maids at our main house. They’ve covered their tracks so well that I don’t know who it is. So since we’ll be exposed anyway, we might as well make it seem like we don’t particularly guard ourselves around Berit. Make her feel useful.”

From the beginning, they hadn't told anyone that Solif would be the only one participating as support.

If there was no movement from Parsha until just before Lavitas’s army arrived at Varaha, Zahar would be thrown into confusion.

‘They said they’d send reinforcements, why isn’t the army moving?’ they would think.

Turan planned to take advantage of the opening and dispatch Solif to swiftly crush Varaha and seize the initiative.

In other words, knowing something poorly could be worse than not knowing it at all.

"I'm not sure if it will work out as well as you say."

“I can’t say I’m certain either, but we just have to do our best with what we’ve got. We can’t sit around forever.”

For the sake of this plan, Turan was also doing what he could in his own way.

For instance, selecting a trustworthy sailor from the port city east of Kalamaf and sending him to the Frostwind Forest, exchanging letters through Bije to assess the atmosphere there; or sending a letter to the Lavitas noble Mago, whom he met in the southeastern Grassy Plains, to inquire about the sentiment in that area.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t send anyone to the Land of Lakes where Varaha was located, but he trusted that Lavitas would conduct reconnaissance there on their own.

While the two took a breather and discussed the current state of affairs, a vibration came from within Turan’s clothing.

It was a call through the hand mirror.

“What is it, Ashiz?”

Although the owner of the hand mirror on the other side was originally Meisa, since she was currently in seclusion to create Solif’s magic artifact, she had entrusted it to Ashiz.

His face looked slightly irritable, perhaps from working late into the night, and he cried out urgently.

[Turan! You need to come back right away!]

“Don’t tell me we’re under attack again?”

Turan had thought it would take a bit more time for the weakened Aravion to finish reorganizing.

When Turan’s expression turned grave, Ashiz shook his head.

[No... it’s from the sea. Ophen City has requested aid. A giant sea serpent is occupying the coastline.]

*

Upon hearing that a Great Sea Serpent had appeared, Turan hurriedly returned to the estate with Solif.

Of course, they couldn’t leave immediately.

They had just finished sparring to the point where their magic was nearly depleted.

After resting for a few hours to recover their strength, Turan and Solif mounted Bije and headed to Ophen City.

As a family head from a Great Noble House, it would normally be appropriate to travel with dozens of guards, but since the opponent was not a human but a Great Sea Serpent, weak nobles and knights would be meaningless as part of their fighting force.

Besides, bringing them along would take far too much time.

At the port city of Ophen, located on the northeastern edge of the Gray Zone, the city lord greeted Turan’s visit with delight and bowed his head.

However, he also seemed a bit flustered to see that only Turan and Solif had come.

“Ah, my lord! I never imagined you’d come to help so quickly...!”

“This is urgent. Skip the useless formalities. Any casualties?”

“Some damage to facilities, but no human casualties.”

“That’s fortunate.”

The Great Sea Serpent that appeared this time was no doubt a member of Armania’s clan.

They must have shown restraint, knowing how sensitive Turan was to human casualties.

Ignoring the city lord’s suggestion to rest at the estate for a while, Turan immediately headed to the port where the Great Sea Serpent had appeared.

“Whoa...”

“That’s massive.”

"It would be terrifying if it attacked."

People had gathered around the harbor, murmuring as they stared at the Great Sea Serpent standing still on the shore.

You could say they were truly fearless.

Ironically, the gigantic Great Sea Serpent, which appeared to be about sixty meters long, was also observing the residents and buildings around the harbor with a curious demeanor.

“Make way! The great ruler of the Gray Zone, the head of House Parsha, is here!”

At the booming voices of Ophen City's knights, the townspeople flinched, parted to create a path, and quickly prostrated themselves.

Over the past few months, the reality that they had fallen under the domain of the Great Noble House of Parsha hadn’t yet fully sunk in, but at the very least, they knew the head of such a house was someone as powerful as a god.

“Clear the people out. If a battle breaks out, they’ll be in danger.”

“Yes, we’ll do so at once.”

After giving instructions to the lord of Ophen, Turan walked toward the Great Sea Serpent, passing through the crowd of people who worshipped him like a god.

Solif followed closely at his side, muttering softly.

“That thing... I don’t know why, but it’s pretty badly hurt. Who did it fight?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but it probably wasn’t a wound caused by humans.”

As Turan answered quietly and approached the harbor, the Great Sea Serpent finally seemed to notice the commotion among the tiny humans and turned its gaze toward Turan.

“Turan!”

As the Great Sea Serpent shouted, the citizens around the harbor screamed and scattered in fear.

The voice was so loud and resonant that it sounded like a war cry aimed at an enemy before battle.

However, the person it was directed at, Turan, could tell there was no hostility in that voice.

"Is that you again, Armania?"

“You recognized me!”

“What? That little mermaid brat from back then?”

Unlike Armania, who called out joyfully, Solif stared at the Great Sea Serpent in utter disbelief.

Well, the last time he had seen Armania, the boy had been barely the size of a baby shark, so it was only natural.

Now, the creature was even bigger than when Turan had last seen him.

“What are you doing here? No, first, change back into your mermaid form. Don’t scare the people.”

At Turan’s words, the huge body of the Great Sea Serpent instantly shrank and transformed into the form of a mermaid boy.

By then, most of the ordinary citizens had already run away in fright the moment the Great Sea Serpent called Turan’s name, so the only ones who saw this were the wizards of Ophen.

“I was going to do that anyway! But there were too many people. I was afraid they might attack me if I changed form.”

"Well, then it couldn't be helped."

Armania must’ve only transformed upon seeing Turan because he was certain Turan wouldn’t attack him.

Feeling slightly awkward at such trust, Turan noticed that even in his mermaid form, Armania had wounds all over his body.

As he placed a hand on Armania’s shoulder, the injuries began to heal shortly after.

“Oh, it’s warm...”

“Healing a mermaid isn’t all that difficult, actually.”

Of course, it took a bit more effort than healing a regular noble due to the powerful energy Armania possessed as part of the Great Sea Serpent lineage, but it was still manageable.

Soon, Armania was fully healed and shouted happily.

“You’ve got healing powers now too! Amazing! How did you do it?”

“It just happened somehow. So, what’s with the rampage? You made a complete mess of this place.”

Though no one had died, a glance to the side revealed that a couple of docks had been half-destroyed, and it would likely take some time to repair them.

When Turan pointed to the damaged parts, Armania replied with a gloomy expression.

“Ah, I didn’t do that on purpose... I just couldn’t control my speed well... But more importantly, something terrible has happened!”

“What kind of terrible thing?”

"Recently, my family members all recovered, and they've decided to go to war with humans! When I tried to persuade them not to, they tried to kill me for not changing my opinion, so I ran away!"