Chapter 103
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103
Two days had passed since Turan arrived at the Berk estate.
He spent his time in Asiz’s room, scouring the books his friend brought him for information on the Carmine family. There was much to learn, from the various histories passed down since the family’s founding to the intricate details of the vassals serving under them.
While the Orem Library held some knowledge regarding the Carmines, most of its records were woefully outdated.
“Hurry up and turn the page. How can a young man read so slowly?”
“You’re just too fast, Elder. I’ve only just finished this one,” Turan replied to the grumbling Librarian as he flipped the page.
As a spirit of the library, the Librarian possessed the ability to never forget a single word he read. Even if Turan were to forget a detail later, he could simply ask, and the spirit would provide the answer instantly.
“A spirit… It’s a shame I can’t see it myself,” Asiz muttered from the side.
“Hmph. Does he think I’m some kind of roadside attraction?” the Librarian huffed.
From Asiz’s perspective, it simply looked as though Turan was holding a conversation with thin air.
Turan spent his days diligently gathering intelligence. Around midnight, he would channel mana into his hand mirror to attempt communication with Meisa. Since they had agreed to connect at this specific time, it didn't take long for the mirror’s surface to ripple with mana from the other side.
[Ah, it worked! Turan, can you see me?]
“Yeah. It’s clearer than I expected, even at this distance. The mana consumption is manageable, too.”
On the other side of the mirror, Meisa’s eyes sparkled. She looked thrilled that the magic device she had created was functioning properly. Suddenly, someone shoved her aside and pressed their face against the glass.
[Let me see too! Oh… are you really in the Dakein Plains right now? That’s incredible.]
As Solif squeezed in to get a look, Meisa frowned and gave his back a firm pat, signaling him to move.
“Get that massive face out of the way.”
[Massive? How could you say such harsh things to a handsome man like me?]
After a brief chat with Solif, Turan spent some time through the mirror soothing Bije, who was still acting petulant. Regardless of the creature's mood, he was relieved to confirm it had returned safely.
Once things settled down, Turan gave Asiz a chance to speak with Meisa face-to-face.
“Me—Meisa?”
[It’s been a while, Asiz.]
“Is it really you? Your hair and eyes are the same, but…”
Asiz, who only remembered Meisa as a scrawny, skeletal girl, stood with his jaw hanging open at her transformation. It was a natural reaction; anyone who had known her before would have struggled to recognize her.
After staring at Meisa’s face in wonder for a long time, Asiz spoke softly.
“You don’t look as much like my aunt as I thought you would.”
[Does it seem that way?]
“Yeah. If anything, you look a bit more like my mother… Anyway, I’m just glad you finally gave up that stupid fasting. You wouldn't even listen when I was the one telling you to stop.”
[Ahaha…]
Meisa gave a strained, awkward laugh to brush off the comment. Asiz still believed her refusal to eat had been a requirement for her flight magic.
“Wait, you didn't quit just because you wanted to look pretty for someone, did you?”
[I—It’s nothing like that!]
Asiz, who had been teasing her playfully, noticed Meisa’s blue eyes wavering frantically. He shot a quick glance at Turan, then tapped the mirror to change the subject.
“More importantly, I heard you made this magic device yourself?”
[That’s right. I didn't realize it, but I seem to have a talent for this. Could you give me some advice?]
“I don’t know if my skills will be of much help, but… where were you having trouble?”
Though still inexperienced, Asiz was a properly trained Enchanter and was able to pass on several useful tips to Meisa.
Twenty minutes later, the connection flickered and died as the mana supply was exhausted. Asiz turned to Turan with a moved expression.
“Meisa is completely healthy! And her expression looks so much better than before… I’m so glad she’s doing well.”
Watching him shed actual tears of emotion, Turan let out a hollow laugh. He had known since their first meeting that his friend was soft-hearted and quick to cry.
“The joy of eating is an essential part of living, after all.”
“Exactly. Ah… this is great. Seeing her face makes all the worries I’ve been carrying just melt away.”
Seeing Asiz’s beaming smile, Turan couldn't help but let a small smile of his own slip out.
*
The day after the dramatic family reunion, Turan prepared to leave the Berk family. Having gathered all the necessary information, his high-capacity pouch now held twenty additional books that Asiz had purchased separately.
“You’ll be bored on the road, so you might as well read these,” Asiz had said nonchalantly as he handed them over.
However, the books were not items to be treated lightly. Although the Dakein Plains were prosperous and luxury goods were easy to find, books this thick and cleanly transcribed were expensive. Asiz had undoubtedly emptied several months' worth of his allowance to acquire them.
In return, Turan poured a heap of unrefined gold and silver nuggets onto Asiz’s bed before leaving the mansion. He knew that if he tried to give them directly, Asiz would stubbornly refuse, so this was the better way.
After leaving the city of Zabilin, Turan disguised himself as a common traveler and walked leisurely across the plains. The wind was beginning to cool, and the yellow, ripening wheat fields swaying in the breeze heralded the arrival of autumn.
I wish the Reclamation Site could become this fertile… Is the soil composition the key? I should take a sample and see if I can change things later.
Turan paused while walking northeast, picking up a handful of soil and rubbing it between his fingers. It was no secret that the Arabion nobles cast lightning over their cultivated lands every year after the harvest. While he didn't know the exact principle behind it, he wondered if doing something similar at their settlement might yield the same results. Of course, it would be difficult to sustain without an Arabion noble to provide the lightning every year.
After walking a safe distance from the city, Turan reached a secluded spot, cast a stealth spell, and took to the skies. This way, he wouldn't have to worry even if he encountered a wandering Arabion noble.
He flew east toward the Carmine territory for several days. Conserving his mana as he traveled, Turan eventually reached the slash-and-burn village where they had previously fought Visen.
As the sun began to set, he walked casually into the village, only to be met by a resident pointing a hunting spear at his chest.
“Who goes there!”
“I’m just a passing traveler who lost his way… Would it be possible to stay for just one night?”
“There are no guest houses in our village. Go down the mountain; there’s a larger village there. Go there!”
“The sun is already down. How can I make it down now? Please, consider it a life-saving favor and let me stay for one night. I don’t mind sleeping outside.”
“…Tsk. Just stay quiet and leave at dawn. Don’t go causing trouble!”
Perhaps due to the aftermath of the tragedy Visen had caused, the villagers were extremely wary of outsiders. Turan stayed the night, gathering information through brief, casual conversations with the men assigned to watch him.
“Come to think of it, I heard rumors that a noble who burns villagers to death has appeared again. Is this village alright?”
“We haven't seen anyone like that. If we had, we wouldn't be alive right now.”
Judging by the village’s intact state, it seemed Visen’s death was still well-concealed. Having confirmed his own traces were gone, Turan left the village at daybreak and headed straight for Abacha, the capital of the Carmine family.
Unlike before, when he had simply moved east toward the sea, this time he walked along the Great Road of the Old Empire, blending in with the commoners and listening to their stories.
“I heard a swarm of magical beasts came charging out of the sea not long ago.”
“Is that true?”
“I’m telling you. The high and mighty lords blocked them quickly, but I hear the damage wasn't small. Don’t go near the coast for a while. I saw one of them myself, and it was horrifying. That massive monster tearing through the village…”
An old peddler, sharing a campfire in an open field, shivered as he warned Turan.
Turan wondered why the marine magical beasts had suddenly attacked the land. It seemed too late to be a direct result of the Great Sea Serpent spirit’s rampage. It was more likely a side effect of the merfolk utilizing the Great Sea Serpent’s corpse.
Or perhaps the merfolk intentionally drove the beasts toward the shore…
Turan hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't want to be put in a position where he had to kill the allies who had fought alongside him against a powerful enemy.
After three days of walking the road and listening to various tales, Turan entered Abacha for the second time. He immediately realized the city’s atmosphere had completely changed.
The sailors and laborers wandering about all wore gloomy expressions, and the voices of the merchants shouting to sell their wares were filled with spite rather than cheer. The vitality and life he had felt in the past were nowhere to be found.
Turan circled the city briefly before heading straight toward the residential area of the Carmine family members.
The security here is quite tight… I suppose it’s only natural, since Zahar is a potential enemy.
While not as extreme as the Arabion family, who maintained a Wall of Light and operated checkpoints, the nobles of the Carmine main house had sealed off their headquarters with high walls. Considering that major members of families like Lavitas lived outside their main estates, this alone indicated a high state of alert.
However, unlike the Arabion family, who thoroughly blocked the sky, the area above was open. Turan was able to enter without much difficulty by using stealth and flight spells to descend from a high altitude.
If they’re going to go to war with Arabion, they should pay more attention to the sky.
Of course, they likely assumed they would see any flying Arabion noble coming from a distance.
Once inside, Turan sharpened his senses and began infiltrating the manors of nobles with powerful mana, just as he had done at the Arabion estate. Although they had sealed their libraries in various ways, Turan—who had already robbed several such places—skillfully bypassed their defense systems and searched through their collections.
What he hadn't expected was that his thorough search would yield such meager results.
Not here either…
Turan clicked his tongue in disappointment as he left the third manor. Despite searching the libraries of three high-ranking nobles, he hadn't found any particularly useful information. At most, he found records of corruption—the kind common to any great house—similar to what he had exposed at the Arabion estate.
Turan hadn't come here to find things like that. His goal was to discover how the relationship between the Carmines and the merfolk had been formed, whether that relationship still held, and if it had been broken, how it had happened.
It seemed that, like the Arabion nobles, these people did not keep secrets related to the gods in their private residences.
Leaving his disappointment behind, Turan exited the Carmine residential area and spent the night at a well-furnished inn nearby. He was glad that entry and exit were relatively free compared to when he had infiltrated the Arabion estate. Sleeping in the corners of manors every night was more exhausting than he had imagined.
Maybe I should disguise myself as an insider and search somewhere more secretive…
The next afternoon, while wandering through the streets of Abacha deep in thought, Turan heard the cry of a street vendor. Unlike the others who were gloomy or spiteful, this voice was quite cheerful.
“Get your skewers here! Freshly grilled skewers!”
A bearded man in his thirties, with a powerful voice, moved his hands busily in front of a sizzling grill. His skill seemed excellent, as customers were lined up. Turan watched him for a moment, then joined the line and bought a skewer.
“Keep the change.”
“Thank you, sir! Enjoy!”
As he ate the delicious pork skewer, Turan focused his consciousness on the vendor’s inner self.
Eyes glaring out from within a pitch-black darkness.
A knight bearing the symbol of House Zahar was selling skewers in a place like this. It was suspicious beyond belief.
A spy sent from Zahar… Judging by the fact that he’s a knight, is he lower in rank than Reto? Should I capture and interrogate him? Or follow him?
After a moment’s deliberation, Turan chose the second option. While he was confident in his ability to make people talk through pain, he knew there were those in the world upon whom such methods would not work.
Perhaps following this lead will yield better information than expected.
Ransacking the Carmine estate directly meant he had to sift through a massive amount of disorganized data to find what he needed. However, intercepting a spy’s information meant obtaining results that someone else had already collected and filtered. It was obvious which would be more useful.
That evening, Turan waited until the vendor closed up shop and followed him leisurely while under a stealth spell. Naturally, the vendor had no idea someone was right behind him as he led Turan to a dilapidated house on the outskirts of Abacha.
“Ugh…”
Upon entering the house, the spy stretched, acting as if he were exhausted. For someone of a knight’s caliber, selling skewers shouldn't have been that taxing. Was he so well-trained that he maintained the act even when no one was watching?
After the spy organized his wares, washed up, and lay down on his bed to snore, Turan finally began searching the old house. After nearly thirty minutes of searching, he discovered the collected data hidden beneath the floorboards under the spy’s bed.
Perhaps the spy felt there was no need for complex codes; the organized data was easy for Turan to read.
The locations of Carmine family members, their travel routes, the contents of their conversations… He’s certainly investigated a lot.
This information was likely obtained through internal collaborators or subordinates. There was no way a skewer vendor could gather all this on his own. This man was probably a middle manager who compiled information sent by his subordinates.
Considering that a skewer vendor would rarely be suspected, it was a fairly good strategy. They likely never imagined someone capable of sensing the mana of other mages would pass by and notice a vendor with knight-level mana.
While reading through the reports on the family members, Turan saw an entry regarding Visen.
Status: Out of contact after leaving with several members of a vassal family… Family presumes they are on a pilgrimage outside the territory.
It seemed the Carmine family was unaware of the deaths of Visen and her party. It was only natural, as they had been killed and buried in a remote area, making them difficult to find through conventional means.
Turan continued to scan the spy’s documents, clicking his tongue, until his eyes widened at an underlined section.
Second day of the ninth month: A secret meeting of the family’s high-ranking officials is scheduled. Infiltrate and gather information if possible.
A secret meeting scheduled for a week from now, involving only the top brass. Turan felt certain that if he could sneak into that meeting, he would be able to gather truly meaningful information.