Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Human Shaman (1)
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"Is this the place?"
"Yes, it is."
"Just as the rumors said, it's in a remote mountain."
Knight and mages.
Leading them stood Count Behain.
"The Duke is showing great interest. Though known as a commoner, treat him with full courtesy, all of you."
"Understood!"
Harmens Duke, who oversaw the empire's finances.
He had a deep interest in a man named Chris.
A person who could foresee the future and bring all sorts of fortune.
He believed such a man could further increase the empire's wealth.
Count Behain thought the same.
Knowing success and failure in advance meant drastically reducing losses.
The potential of this man named Chris was limitless.
As the count was lost in thought, a mage's voice reached him.
"There's a massive magic barrier ahead!"
"A magic barrier, you say?"
Sweat poured from the mage's forehead.
The level of magic he sensed was tremendous.
"Normally, it would be such high-level magic that I couldn't even detect it."
"Then how did you notice it?"
"It feels like it was deliberately made obvious. Like there's intent behind it."
The atmosphere of the magic he sensed was exactly that.
A barrier spread as if to say, don't approach carelessly; turn back.
But how could he report this directly to the count?
Fortunately, they soon spotted a signpost.
"Hah, it says our entry is forbidden."
At the count's words, the knight beside him quickly replied.
"There is no path Your Excellency cannot take."
A remark thick with flattery.
Instead, the count grew angry.
"Are you in your right mind?"
"I apologize...!"
"It's said that Parmon and Closel are there together... tsk tsk."
The count glared at the knight with pity.
If high-level magic was deployed, wasn't it obvious who cast it?
Astor Closel.
It was magic that couldn't be dispelled, nor should it be.
Falling out of favor with those two was no small matter.
"We're turning back."
"But what of the Duke's orders?"
"The Duke will understand."
The knight fidgeted anxiously.
But he quickly calmed at the count's next words.
"Is there any noble in the empire who hasn't received favors from those two?"
"There is not."
"If those two had wanted to rise, the current ducal house would bear the names Klaus and Aster."
It was a fact known to all who knew.
That the peace they had now came because those two had sacrificed their own shares.
They were true heroes who set aside greed.
"If those two refuse, it's only proper we turn back."
With that, the count's party turned and began descending the mountain path.
The return would be quick.
If not for the procession they began encountering midway.
"Greetings, Count Behain!"
"Aren't you the head of the Giolf Merchant Group?"
"You remember me; it's an honor."
The count, surveying the merchant procession, looked down at its leader.
"Looking for that Chris fellow?"
"How did you...?"
"Then turn back. You won't meet him anyway."
The merchant leader's face paled.
If a count like him said to turn back, he had to.
One couldn't defy a noble's command.
As the count continued down, he encountered not just the Giolf Group but many others.
Mages and spirit users from the Magic Tower.
Even those of high rank he couldn't handle lightly.
Commoners were mixed in too.
"What in the world is going on?"
One of the count's knights came galloping back.
"Rumors are spreading fast across the empire. These seem to be people coming after hearing them."
"I need to meet Aster the Count."
They used warp magic to reach the empire's border.
But from here, it seemed best to go on foot.
The divination indicated greater gains that way.
The group had grown crowded with Drzant tagging along to the end.
Wanting to learn more about the rattle, or so he said.
Anyway...
"Luna, want to try repeating after me?"
"Kyak!"
"Al.Lu.Ord!"
"Awa woo!"
"Excellent!"
An absurd situation.
Stuck to my back all day, and that's all he says.
Aluerd, deeply shocked, was trying to teach Luna his name.
"My name is Aluerd."
Luna shook her head no.
"Bird!"
"Not bird, Aluerd."
"Kyak."
The reason Aluerd got called "bird" was simple.
Last time on the mountain summit, something the pope uncle said.
'Raised him as pope candidate, and he became the young master's bird.' A joke.
He'd actually flown around carrying him, so not wrong.
But it seemed firmly imprinted as 'bird' for Luna.
"Hmm..."
Lost in thought as I walked, I stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, my fate..."
A boy with humiliation energy sprouting thickly.
About 10 years old?
The ruinous aura wasn't from the boy but his parents.
"Lost both parents, looks like."
The parents' karma had fully descended on the child.
Seemed like there was someone sick in the family too.
"Feels too close to home."
At 10, it's hard to bear orphanhood.
Especially with sickness in the house.
"Hey, Aluerd."
"Yes?"
"You any good at healing?"
"Good enough not to get bowed to in apology."
That was sufficient.
Remove the humiliation curse, and he could live normally.
Tough, but his innate temperament wasn't weak; he'd manage.
"Follow me."
"Yes!"
As I approached, the boy looked puzzled.
Sudden stranger talking; natural reaction.
"Your sibling's sick, right?"
"...?"
"Parents passed; been a few years?"
"Chris, saying it like that makes anyone look at you weird."
Wariness dawned on the boy's face.
I patted Aluerd's back and said,
"This guy's a priest. He can heal your sibling."
"..."
"Solve that, and life gets way easier?"
The boy backed away slowly, then eyed Aluerd's robes and spoke quietly.
"Father said not to take help from strangers lightly."
"Well raised."
Better that way, with so many bad people out there.
Eyeing us, the boy spotted Luna on my back and relaxed.
"White hair... baby?"
"Hm?"
"Uncle, are you Chris by any chance?"
How does this kid know my name?
Definitely heard some rumor.
Rumors kept spreading weirdly.
The boy tilted his head.
"Just someone similar?"
If I could ease his wariness, what did rumors matter.
"It's me."
Staring hard, the boy giggled.
Pfft—
"...?"
"They said bigger than knights, voice super cool."
"I am him."
Hands on hips, the boy shot back.
"Think I'm a kid who falls for that?"
"I really am."
"And..."
Aluerd burst laughing at the next words.
"Chris doesn't talk like that."
Pfft...
"I am Chris."
Now I was starting to feel wronged.
"Sigh, what's the point."
Might as well help the kid.
"Anyway, this guy's a priest; take him. Know Illia Church? He's from there."
"...I know priest robes."
"Good."
"...I have no money. Heard priests charge a lot..."
Zing.
I glared hard at Aluerd.
How much had the church screwed up for a kid to say that.
"You guys were total messes, huh?"
"Ow...?"
"Only some priests! It's different now!"
The boy looked teary.
"Heard higher priests charge more..."
Zing—
"N-Nowadays, no! Divine power needs no price!"
Still glaring, so Aluerd started soothing the kid.
"Why not go see? I'll come with."
Aluerd followed the boy.
Much more human-like than before.
Better than 'I'm a holy knight' in full armor.
Returning, the old men wore greasy expressions.
"Splendid."
"Personality matching your power; how fortunate."
Embarrassing, but natural, right?
What kind of spirits dwell in my body...
From the spirit lady protecting kids till they grow; of course I am too.
"For a human, decent fellow."
Closel elder nodded ahead.
"Past there, a bit further, is Harp Kingdom's border."
I knew.
Otherwise, no way I'd sense this twisted energy.
"National fortune declining, declining. Already see fates twisting..."
Then, knights and soldiers crossed the street.
"Something happened."
"Empire's border in uproar; rare occurrence."
Soon, intriguing murmurs from townsfolk.
"They spotted orcs crossing the border."
"Wasn't there last time too?"
Orcs appeared? Obviously go check.
Elders thought same.
"Let's go."