Shepherd Wizard

Side Story - The King of the Sea

Translator: Pai_

To humanity, the sea had always been a place of boundless dread.

For one had to contend with the enormous sea Magical Beasts that rose from the deep ocean floor, the Mermaids who sometimes climbed aboard ships, and the fickle weather that might capsize a vessel at any moment.

And yet, even today, people still set sail to cross those treacherous waters.

This, in a world where trains and automobiles ran across the land, and Transfer Mirrors existed that could carry a person across vast distances in an instant.

There were two main reasons for this.

First, land trade routes alone were not enough to move goods between regions.

Second, the Transfer Mirrors were restricted; not just anyone could use them freely.

In truth, during the early days of the Empire's founding, most of the distribution system had relied on Transfer Mirrors.

Arabion's vast stores of grain were scattered across the world through them, Zahar's spices spread in every direction, and even the massive timber of the forest regions was exported that way.

Naturally, in such circumstances, no fool would bother putting a ship on the dangerous sea to reach some distant place.

As time passed, however, keeping the Transfer Mirrors open for indiscriminate use gave rise to a number of problems.

The most notorious among them was the arrest of criminals.

"Colt Brook, I heard he was here?"

"According to the report, he fled to Merem through a Transfer Gate."

"Damn it! Request cooperation, now!"

Then, when they actually arrived there, they would hear he had gone off to yet another region, and after a few rounds of this, the number of cities they had to request cooperation from would climb past ten.

By that point, he was as good as uncatchable.

As criminals fleeing through Transfer Mirrors became more and more common, the use of the mirrors, once open to anyone, began to be restricted.

At first it started as a registration system, but with people moving about so frequently, gaps inevitably appeared, and eventually the mirrors became something that could only be used in limited cases, with the permission of each region's Feudal Lord or the head of an institution.

Naturally, under such circumstances, the Transfer Mirrors could no longer function as trade routes.

People came to rely on the trains and automobiles hailed as the latest means of transport, and on that old means of transport, the ships that traveled the sea.

Though, of course, their design was nothing like it used to be.

"Ugh, I want a drink."

The ship carrying Eirik, the sailor muttering on the deck, was exactly one of those vessels fitted with all the latest technology.

He'd heard the hull was clad in iron plates and that it ran on a steam engine, built with Dwarf technology.

Supposedly it could travel from Comad, the port city in the northern Enril Desert, to Avacha, the former capital of Carmine, in just a fortnight.

They said the weather here in the North Sea wasn't as rough as it used to be, but even so, that was an enormous reduction.

Back in the days of sailing ships, people said it took more than a month.

As Eirik stood blankly lost in thought, taking in the sea breeze, the boatswain's grating voice sounded behind him.

"Eirik, did you finish cleaning the deck before taking your break?"

"All done, sir. Look how it sparkles."

"Sparkles, my ass, you little punk. There's rope lying all over the place right there, plain as day. Clear that away and scrub it all down."

"Damn it, why is it always me......."

Even as Eirik muttered his complaints at the boatswain's bellowing, he obediently did as he was told.

Out of all the many sailors aboard, the reason he alone had to do this work was that he'd been caught drinking on night watch.

Ordinarily it was an offense that would have earned him the whip, but thanks to the revision of the human rights laws banning excessive corporal punishment, he'd gotten off with just this.

'Long live His Majesty the Emperor.'

While he worked, silently praising the great Emperor who showed such consideration even for the bodies of sailors, Eirik suddenly felt the ship lurch and stopped in his tracks.

"Huh......?"

"Emergency! All hands assemble! Fetch the wizards!"

"Yes, sir!"

Their ship carried two 3rd-class Wizards of the Stream Archetype, who commanded water.

An ordinary fishing boat was one thing, but any vessel crossing the open ocean was required to hire capable Wizards.

A moment later, these men, who a few decades earlier would have been called Nobles, pushed through the swarming sailors, came up on deck, and asked.

"We heard you called for us, boatswain. What's the matter?"

"An unnatural tremor was detected just now. We think it may be a Magical Beast......."

"So you're saying you called us without even properly confirming it."

When the younger of the two Wizards spoke curtly, the boatswain shut his mouth.

Wizards might no longer be the lofty, exalted beings they once were, but they remained a class with great power and many privileges.

"Damn it, riding a ship is enough of a hassle as it is. Listen, boatswain. If you're going to call us, do it only when it's actually nec-"

Fortunately, the boatswain was spared the need to spell out his reasons at length.

With a thunderous roar, the ship pitched as though it had collided with something, knocking down everyone standing on deck.

The Wizards, at least, barely managed to hold their footing thanks to their superior physical abilities, but they were just as shaken as the rest.

"Wh-what is this?"

"A Magical Beast!"

Considering that the Steamship they rode displaced thousands of tons, the sheer scale of a Magical Beast that could rock it this much needed no explanation.

Considering also that high-ranking Wizards regularly patrolled the shipping lanes and hunted down any powerful Magical Beasts, they had been caught up in a stroke of foul luck that happened maybe once every few years, if that.

'Damn it, of all the rotten luck.'

Even as the Wizards cursed their misfortune, they didn't dare think of running.

Setting aside whether the unidentified Magical Beast would even let them live, if by chance they did survive, from the moment they abandoned their duty and cast aside the helpless, the chance to gain a second Archetype and be promoted to 2nd-class Wizard would never come to them again.

"Gobin, on three, we dive together!"

"Got it!"

One, two, three, and with the signal the two Wizards plunged into the water, burning mana to seize hold of the water around them.

As befitted those bearing the Stream Bloodline, they possessed the ability to breathe underwater, so there was no fear of drowning.

But they had barely assumed combat stances when both men saw the true form of the Magical Beast looming beneath the ship, and their eyes flew wide.

'No.'

'Oh, this is fucking insane.......'

A single colossal fish, nearly half the size of the Steamship, was watching them intently from within the sea.

Its round eyes open, betraying no emotion, as with most fish.

Given that a Magical Beast's size generally scaled with its combat ability, and given that the thing looked completely unfazed despite having just collided with a Steamship, fighting it would be suicide.

A creature like that would take at least a 2nd-class Wizard, and a considerably skilled one at that, to even stand a chance.

No, it might even take one of the 1st-class Wizards, of whom only a handful existed in the entire Empire.......

'Let's run.'

'We can't.'

'Who cares about our record right now? Nothing's worth more than our lives!'

Like the practiced Stream Wizards they were, the two swiftly exchanged their thoughts in sign language even underwater.

Just then, the enormous fish Magical Beast moved, and the currents around them churned wildly.

It seemed the creature possessed the ability to command water as well.

'Ngh-!'

The two Wizards had to strain with everything they had just to keep from being swept away.

Naturally, the Steamship floating above was tossed about just as violently by the waves, several meters high, that surged up without warning.

As the sailors on deck cried out in shock at the sudden calamity, the boatswain shouted urgently.

"The wizards will take care of it! Don't panic!"

The boatswain, mouthing a lie even he didn't believe, lost the ability to speak at the sight that followed.

He had just watched the giant fish spring up above the water with a heavy bounce before sinking back down.

The moment the resulting wave slammed into the ship's flank, the deck tilted to an angle of nearly ninety degrees.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

"Help me-!"

The seasoned sailors each grabbed whatever they could and tried to hold on, but they weren't professional rock climbers; there was no way they could cling on through something like this.

Watching his crewmates spill pitter-patter into the sea, the boatswain gritted his teeth.

'Damn it.'

Then, after that single great heave, as they braced for a second attack, they noticed that for some reason everything around them had gone quiet.

"Huh?"

"What the......."

Cautiously releasing his grip on what he'd been holding, the boatswain realized the seawater had turned a deep crimson.

Was it the blood of the sailors who had fallen just now?

No, for that, the amount of blood seemed far too great.......

As the thought crossed his mind, the fish that had been rampaging moments before shot up out of the sea, and the boatswain let out a yelp and fell flat on his backside.

And a moment later, he realized that the fish was clamped in the jaws of an enormous Great Sea Serpent.

The colossal Great Sea Serpent, easily more than two hundred meters long, looked down at them and spoke.

"Uh......."

[Did I startle you, appearing so suddenly? Anyone hurt?]

"N-no, not at all. O King of the Sea."

Even faced with a being far mightier than the fish from moments before, the sailors neither despaired nor cowered in fear; instead, they let out sighs of relief.

Some of them even knelt reverently on the deck and bowed.

"Thank you, King of the Sea!"

"Great Armania!"

"We greet the Emperor's Great Sea Serpent!"

The Great Sea Serpent, Armania, gave no outward sign at the sailors' flattery, but inwardly he was humming a happy tune.

His mood much improved, he maneuvered his massive body with delicate care, scooping up even the sailors who had fallen into the sea and setting them back on deck.

[Ah, and these two as well.]

And last of all, the two Stream Wizards, who had been dragged down into the depths by the currents.

They too expressed their respectful thanks to Armania.

"Truly, thank you for saving us. We thought we were going to die down there......."

[Never mind that. If I'd been slow to catch a thing like this, goodness knows what even kind Turan would say.]

At the way he mentioned the exalted Emperor's name so casually, they were reminded anew that this enormous Great Sea Serpent was a being appointed Feudal Lord of the sea by the Emperor himself.

The new Empire might be a place where several Non-human Races lived alongside humans, but even among them, those recognized as equal in rank to the Feudal Lords were a rare few indeed.

Lastly, Armania looked at the two Wizards and offered some kindly advice.

[Still, the sea is a dangerous place, so you'd do well to get a bit stronger while you're at it. Understood?]

"U-understood."

They could hardly talk back to the sovereign of the sea and insist that they were Wizards who, in the old days, would have been called Nobles themselves.

Satisfied by the pair's reluctant reply, Armania nodded and vanished into the sea.

*

"......And that's what happened!"

"So what you're saying is, you just got lucky protecting that ship, and it was attacked because you failed to keep the shipping lanes clear in the first place?"

"Uh, is that how it works out?"

That evening, back in Kalamaf, Armania flinched at the reply that came as he was boasting about the day's events.

Seeing his reaction, Turan chuckled and offered him some encouragement.

"I'm joking, joking. You did well. The sea is so vast and deep that even I have trouble controlling it completely. Thank you, King of the Sea."

"Hmph."

Even for Turan, who wielded Essence and commanded godlike power, controlling the entire sea perfectly was difficult.

To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he had far too much to do to invest his time in it.

That made Armania's regular patrols of the Empire's sea routes, like today's, a great help.

There were times when he provided real, practical aid, as he had today, and even when he didn't, the mere fact that such a being guarded the sea lanes gave heart to those who ventured out onto the water.

At the title King of the Sea, Armania tried not to show how pleased he was, but regrettably, unlike his Great Sea Serpent form, a Mermaid's face was ill-suited to hiding expressions.

Bije, who was lying right beside them, gave a little cheep, and Turan relayed it.

"She says you're an embarrassing sight, getting this thrilled over a little praise."

"Why, that little!"

Armania bristled for a moment at the criticism from his old rival of a bird, but then, as befitted the King of the Sea, decided to forgive her with a magnanimous heart.

That creature might be the Empire's Sacred Bird and all, but in the end, she had never received a title like "King of the Skies" as he had, nor was she regarded as a Feudal Lord, had she?

Of course, that was because Bije was effectively an extension of Turan himself and had no need to receive a lower rank, but Armania chose, quite arbitrarily, to believe that he held the higher position.

"By the way, you look tired. Are you all right?"

"Can't be helped. It's not as if I have just a little on my plate."

It was now some twenty years since the Empire's founding.

The first generation born after its establishment was just coming of age, and incidents and troubles of every kind were frequent.

Chief among them, conflicts with the older generation who had lived through the era before the Empire.

Watching Turan lightly press a hand to his forehead, Armania nodded.

"Mm, being Emperor certainly looks exhausting."

"Why don't you take this chance to become Emperor of the Sea yourself? Have a bunch of children. Then you wouldn't have to patrol the shipping lanes in person."

"No thanks. I'm going to keep living alone, just like now."

Armania, who was gradually reaching young adulthood as a Mermaid, could have rebuilt the Mermaid kingdom like his father before him, had he set his mind to it.

Mermaid royalty like himself had already died out, of course, but Mermaids of the noble class still lived in hiding here and there in the deepest parts of the sea.

But Armania had made the decision never to have children as long as he lived.

He had no confidence he could perfectly control any newly born Mermaid royals, and the burden of leading an entire race was more than he cared to bear.

"Besides, love's better shared with humans anyway."

"Honestly, how did you ever grow up like this?"

At that sly remark, Turan sighed, at a loss.

Just as he said, Armania was notorious for having gone through one human lover after another in the years since the Empire's founding.

He'd once meddled with a married woman and ended up brawling with her husband, and another time he'd been caught two-timing a pair of women and had to flee for it.

In his romantic ventures, being of a Non-human Race was hardly a flaw at all.

He was a Feudal Lord of the sea, appointed by the Emperor himself; what would something like that matter?

No, if marriage wasn't the goal, it could even be called an advantage for casual affairs.

After all, there was no chance of a slip-up during a fling ever ending in pregnancy.

"That's all fine, but keep it in moderation. And leave the married women alone, especially."

"But of course."

Answering carelessly, Armania helped himself freely to the food and drink laid out on the table.

Lazing about in Kalamaf, eating and drinking, had always been one of his greatest pleasures, but since the goods of Earth had been brought in, the quality had risen so far that it was incomparably more enjoyable than before.

Thanks to that, he was able to shake off, to some degree, the gloomy thoughts rising in his heart.

The words he couldn't bring himself to say to Turan, and swallowed instead.

'I don't want to make a family ever again.'

The memory of decades ago, when he had sided with Turan and hunted down his own family, still lingered in his chest like a brand.

Armania had no wish to suffer that pain a second time.

If he had children, and one of them turned against Turan and the humans, championing the rights of Mermaids, he would have to put them down with his own hands.

Just as he now patrolled the seas and personally hunted the man-eating Mermaids who preyed on humans from time to time.

Rather than that, it was far more pleasant to live as he did now, as the Empire's king of the seas, guarding the routes of the South Sea and the North Sea, enjoying human civilization and loving human women to his heart's content.

Like the innocent boy he'd once been, back when he knew nothing at all.

The thought lasted only a moment before Armania caught a trace of pity in Turan's eyes as they quietly studied him.

At that gaze, which said Turan understood exactly what he was thinking, Armania grinned and held out his cup.

The drink they shared in a wordless toast soothed the aching heart of the last Mermaid royal left in the world.

*****

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