Shepherd Wizard Chapter 62

Translator: Pai_

The power and range of attack magic are fundamentally inversely proportional.

Since the amount of magic power available for a spell is limited, focusing on power reduces the range, and focusing on range reduces the power.

However, the magic unleashed here on the coast of Parayan Island defied that principle.

The force that incinerated everything within a radius of several dozen meters and pulverized the pirates, leaving not even their corpses, amounted to nothing more than a few breaths' worth of recoverable magic power and a mere handful of pitch-black powder.

Brushing off his blackened palms, Turan once again realized just how powerful and dangerous the 'Spirit of Fire' truly was.

‘This absolutely cannot be shared with other houses.’

Although he had combined it with wind magic to dramatically expand the explosion's range, even considering that, the power was absurd.

At this level, it was practically no different from a disposable magic artifact.

Of course, given the method of its creation, the likelihood of someone accidentally replicating it was close to zero.

The process of combining three materials in precise proportions and having a wizard expend magic power to mix them was excessively intricate.

‘The only ones besides me who know about this... were probably the nobles of House Carmine who helped me kill Ovil, right?’

Among them, most showed little interest, but only Visen, the leader, had curiously copied the notes from his notebook.

They were more focused on the ritual that granted the Pyromaniac Bloodline, and considering that saltpeter and sulfur were not particularly easy resources to acquire, the chances of them producing the 'Spirit of Fire' were slim. Even so, it was worth staying cautious.

While calming down Bije, who was complaining about her ears hurting, Turan landed on the ground and methodically executed the surviving pirates one by one.

Some had remained inside the buildings, either asleep or too lazy to come out, about thirty in total.

“P-please spare me, I beg you-”

“Dieeee-!”

“Please, let me serve you! I swear my loyalty!”

The responses from those who had been hiding varied.

Some immediately begged for their lives upon seeing the devastated coastline, others courageously resisted, and still others switched sides outright, surrendering on the spot.

Turan spared a few who at least seemed obedient, burying them in the ground using Earth Manipulation Magic instead of killing them.

The ones who resisted the longest were the two knights assigned to defend this island. Turan incapacitated them by sending a pinch of the 'Spirit of Fire' flying with wind magic before detonating it.

He could have killed them without using it, but he wanted to gauge how much was needed to eliminate a knight-level wizard.

“Ughhh….”

The experiment's results: one was killed instantly, while the other was left in a near-death state, his internal organs ruptured completely.

Thanks to that, Turan could now roughly estimate the required amount and distance for optimal effectiveness.

The barely surviving knight, seemingly aware of his impending death, spat out blood as he cursed.

“You’ll pay for this… Our captain… will have revenge…!”

“I was already planning to pay him a visit soon. To tell him to cut this crap out.”

Turan replied before kicking the knight’s head, putting an end to his suffering.

There was no doubt that this Corvinus was a noble-level wizard, but he still wouldn’t be stronger than Turan.

If he were that skilled, he wouldn't have resorted to piracy in the first place.

As he continued his work, Turan sensed a group of a dozen or so people gathered inside a certain building.

Even through the distinct acrid scent of the 'Spirit of Fire', an overwhelming stench emanated from within.

Breaking down the door of what appeared to be a large warehouse, he found, as expected, a group of women in ragged conditions, huddled together like livestock.

“P-please save us! We’ll do anything, anything at all… Just please….”

“Were you all kidnapped by the pirates?”

“Yes!”

"Then get yourselves organized and come out. You’re free now.”

After saying that, Turan turned away and stepped outside without looking at them.

Many of them were far from well-groomed, and unless they had a personality like Rida’s, they probably wouldn’t appreciate his gaze.

A short while later, the women hesitantly emerged from the warehouse.

Upon seeing the countless pirate corpses strewn across the area, some gasped in awe, while others screamed in horror.

Some of them, having suffered long-term abuse, were so weak that they couldn’t even stand on their own and had to be supported.

“T-there’s a mine inside! The men who were kidnapped are there too-”

“I’ve already freed their shackles. How many pirates were there on this island?”

“I don’t know exactly, but around sixty or seventy, I think.”

Turan counted the ones he had wiped out with the large-scale explosion, those he had personally killed, and those he had buried in the ground, then nodded.

The numbers more or less matched. Even if a few had left the island for some reason and hadn’t returned, there wouldn’t be more than one or two still alive.

Besides, the only ship on the island was a single sailing vessel docked at the village harbor, so they wouldn’t have been able to escape in any case.

“For now, wash up and get some rest. The ones I buried over there are still useful, so don’t kill them.”

After instructing the women to clean themselves up and find clothes to wear, Turan immediately returned to the mine.

The miners were gathered near the corpse of a brutally torn-apart overseer, their faces filled with anxiety.

Upon seeing Turan, their expressions brightened instantly.

“Ah, the wizard has returned!”

“You’re safe! H-how did things go in the village?”

Their relieved and hopeful expressions reminded Turan of the citizens of Kalamaf.

Sheep looking solely to him, seeking reassurance.

Turan admitted to himself that he was beginning to enjoy protecting and being revered by such people.

Even if his grin stretched from ear to ear, he would never openly admit it to anyone.

“The pirates have all been taken care of.”

“Yes! Ah, we’ve prepared something for you!”

“Prepared?”

“Well, since you came to collect saltpeter… If you need anything else, we can have it all transported to the village as well.”

At first, Turan wasn’t sure what they meant, but it seemed that while he was busy wiping out the pirates, the miners had been organizing the mined minerals inside the cave for easy collection.

“I’ll take care of this myself, so for now, go out, wash up, and rest. I’ve also rescued the women, so look after them.”

“The women…? Ah!”

“Please, let her be alive… Teia…”

Some of the miners seemed to have connections with the women in the village. Without even taking a moment to clean themselves, they immediately ran toward the village.

After confirming that everyone had left, Turan reached out toward the tangled mess of rocks and minerals.

He melted down the gold- and silver-infused stones with intense flames, separated the molten metal using Liquid Manipulation, and crushed the saltpeter completely before dividing it with Telekinetic Magic.

Ironically, this process consumed several hundred times more magic power than incinerating an entire village and slaughtering dozens of pirates.

He had to meticulously control the heat to prevent it from spreading elsewhere.

Once he solidified the molten gold and silver into ingots and measured their size and weight, each weighed over ten kilograms.

If refined into currency or bullion later, it would amount to a considerable fortune.

However, Turan’s primary objective for coming here was saltpeter.

Upon checking the secured amount, he frowned.

‘It’s too little….’

Perhaps because it was a secondary mineral extracted alongside others, the amount of saltpeter powder was only about ten kilograms.

Considering that saltpeter was the primary component of the 'Spirit of Fire', he would need at least dozens of times more to feel at ease.

Turan picked up a miner’s pickaxe and stepped deeper into the mine.

‘If it’s not enough, I’ll just mine it myself.’

He had never worked as a miner in his life, but with overwhelming strength, skill hardly mattered.

With each swing of the pickaxe, empowered by magic, the earth split apart, and whenever the tunnel threatened to collapse, he forcibly reinforced the ceiling with Telekinetic Magic and Earth Manipulation.

A single, extraordinarily powerful wizard-miner could far surpass the labor of hundreds of ordinary miners.

A few hours later, Turan emerged from the mine with more than his target amount of saltpeter.

“Phew… This should be enough.”

[Are you finally done?]

“Yeah.”

[I’m exhausted.]

“Alright, let’s head back and rest.”

Bije, who had been digging alongside him with her beak and claws, wrote with an apparently tired expression.

After securing a large amount of saltpeter, Turan returned to the village, where the kidnapped survivors were busy with various tasks.

Those in poor condition were lying down and resting inside the least damaged buildings, while the healthier ones had taken out food supplies and were preparing meals to care for the sick.

‘They’re in better shape than I expected.’

He had assumed they would just sit around blankly, but having survived even after being kidnapped, it seemed they had a different level of resilience.

After confirming that none of the buried pirates had managed to escape, Turan approached the kidnapped survivors.

They were in the middle of a discussion.

“Um… is this really okay? Technically, all this food belongs to him as spoils of war…”

“We have to keep people alive, don’t we? I doubt he wants corpses. If we don’t feed the sick right now, they’ll die- Oh, wizard!”

A woman, who had been scolding a burly man, noticed Turan and quickly lowered her head.

The others also stopped cooking and greeted him, with some even going so far as to kneel.

“Stand up.”

Since his voice carried the power of Taming Magic, they had no choice but to obey.

As they stood there, confused by what had just happened, Turan asked in a flat tone.

“You’ve been taking care of the sick and preparing food.”

“Y-yes…”

The woman leading them appeared to be in her mid-thirties. It seemed she had naturally taken charge, acting as an elder sister figure.

Turan spoke to her in a gentle tone, easing her tension.

“Well done. Continue organizing the people, setting up places to rest, and maintaining order. If any more pirates show up, call for me.”

She had probably expected to be reprimanded. Instead, as Turan turned and walked away, she collapsed to the ground, her legs giving out in relief.

Now that he had assigned the tasks to someone capable of taking charge, things would remain stable for the time being.

With that settled, Turan returned to the beach and dug up the few pirates he had buried earlier.

Naturally, they didn’t even think about resisting the wizard who had single-handedly annihilated an entire village in an instant.

“You want to live, don’t you?”

“O-of course! If you spare us, we’ll serve you with absolute loyalty!”

“I’d give my life for you…!”

Since he had only left alive the most cowardly of the bunch, their competition for loyalty was as desperate as it was pathetic.

After silencing them with a simple gesture, Turan asked his question.

“Among the pirates around this area, who is the cleanest?”

“C-clean…?”

“You mean the one who bathes the most?”

As expected of lowly pirates, their thinking was utterly abysmal.

“I mean the one who is the most honest and doesn’t prey on civilians. At the very least, someone who doesn’t kidnap people like you scumbags.”

“Someone like that…?”

“Is there anyone?”

“The 'Red Whale Pirates'?”

“Come on, they’re still pirates at the end of the day.”

“No, I heard their captain doesn’t tolerate human trafficking.”

“How does their business even work like that?”

After some back-and-forth discussion, they concluded that the 'Red Whale Pirates' best fit Turan’s criteria.

They still attacked merchant ships to collect tolls and even engaged in plundering, but they never engaged in kidnapping and were strict about punishing indiscriminate raids on fishing villages.

After learning their base of operations, Turan buried the pirates back into the ground and went to confirm the information with the survivors.

Hearing similar responses from them, Turan then informed the kidnapped people of his plan.

“I’ll arrange for the 'Red Whale Pirates' to send you back home. Since you all come from vastly different places, it would be impossible to personally return each of you. The cost for this can be covered using part of the minerals from the mine.”

The kidnapped people had come from a wide range of locations, from the Siraf Wetland area to small nearby islands, the southern Enril Desert, and eastern fishing villages.

Returning all of them would take several months.

Rather than attempting to return each individual by himself, it was a better option to select a reliable group among the pirates who operated multiple ships and entrust them with the task.

A man, visibly shaken, asked with a fearful expression.

“B-but… will the pirates actually keep their promise?”

“They will. Unless they want to end up like that Corvinus or whatever his name was.”

Originally, Turan had planned to leave for the Takein Plains immediately after securing the saltpeter. However, after witnessing what had happened here, he changed his mind.

Seeing corrupt shepherds who kidnapped and ruthlessly abused others' sheep, practically no different from wolves, had altered his course.

Turan couldn’t go around exterminating every pirate in the South Sea, but eliminating at least one visible thorn was not difficult.

Right now, he had the strength to do so.

This act would serve as a clear warning to other corrupt shepherds as well.

After finalizing his plans, Turan entered the largest and most spacious house previously used by the knights and immediately began producing 'Spirit of Fire'.

Since he had gathered charcoal powder by using dozens of trees near the village, all the necessary materials were perfectly prepared.

The actual combination process did not consume much magic power, but creating several hundred kilograms of it took an entire day.

He also made sure not to overexert himself. If that Corvinus guy decided to attack at that very moment, he needed to be in fighting condition. So, he stopped and rested whenever he had used up a reasonable amount of magic power.

After completing his preparations, Turan stepped outside, where he was met by the woman he had appointed as the village leader.

She hesitated slightly before speaking.

“W-wizard. We have gathered and organized all the wealth in the village. Would you like to check it?”

“Wealth?”

“Yes. We collected what was found on the pirates' corpses, as well as the minerals from the mine that had not yet been delivered tto higher-ups.”

“Ah.”

Thinking about it, it was only natural. Not all the mined minerals would have been immediately sent away.

However, being so preoccupied with producing 'Spirit of Fire', he had completely overlooked the fact that there would still be stored reserves left uncollected.

Following her to the storage area, Turan was greeted by a sight far beyond his expectations.

There, stacked before him, was a stockpile of precious metals, several times the amount he had refined in the mine the previous day.