hotmtlnovel Chapter 9 A Shepherd Must Protect His Sheep
Chapter 9 A Shepherd Must Protect His Sheep
According to what Turan had learned from his mother, marriage between man and woman was truly sacred.
A ceremony swearing undying love until death in the name of god.
When he showed a blank expression at such an important thing being mentioned so casually, Izella waved her hands while giggling.
"What's with that reaction? I was just joking!"
"Young lady, please..."
"Alright. But give it some thought! The position beside me is currently empty!"
With that, Izella disappeared beyond the corridor.
The butler, who kept apologizing while wiping his brow with difficulty, looked like he had aged ten years in an instant.
Shortly after, Turan opened and entered the most grand and imposing door in the castle.
A study filled with stuffed masu, antique furniture, and elaborate ornaments.
Seated in a chair at its center was Lug Baltas, head of House Baltas and lord of Orem city.
"Welcome, young noble. You already know my name, I assume?"
"I am Turan."
Behind the head of Baltas stood a man and woman carrying swords respectfully—they seemed to be knights guarding him based on the atmosphere.
Though it seemed pointless for a noble of his rank to have knight guards.
At Turan's words, Lug asked with what appeared to be an interested expression:
"Turan, is that all?"
"Due to hostile houses, I cannot reveal my house."
"Hmm, what major conflicts of that scale have happened recently? Hardit and Corel, Ire and Kelau, Arabion and Zahar—"
The moment he heard the names Arabion and Zahar, Turan concentrated on not showing his emotional reaction on his face.
After listing several house names this way, when the other showed no reaction at all, Lug snorted as if finding it boring.
"Well, we currently have no hostile houses anyway. However, when the Baltas bloodline comes under your protection in the future, I trust we will receive the same hospitality we showed you."
"I promise."
Thus, a noble's hospitality to another noble was a promise to respect each other and avoid conflict.
If one refused hospitality despite entering another house's territory, it was equivalent to declaring to the territory's master "I am not your guest. I have come with malicious intent."
This aligned with the customs of hospitality Turan had learned from his mother.
"So, you want to use the library? For what purpose?"
"Due to my unique upbringing, there's much I don't know, so I want to learn about the world through books."
Hearing this, Lug snorted.
"I'll tell you in advance since quite a few people come after hearing strange things—there are no amazing ancient magics or secrets for increasing mana in the library."
"That's fine. I wasn't hoping for such things."
Turan expressed that he truly didn't care.
He really just wanted to learn what he didn't know from living on the hill his whole life.
Staring at Turan, Lug shook his head.
"If you want, there's no reason I can't let you in. There aren't any secrets related to our house in there anyway. Since there's some time today, rest and we'll see about tomorrow. Is that alright?"
"I won't forget your lordship's kindness."
"Yes, I believe you won't."
A meaningful smile played on Lug's lips as he nodded while looking this way.
==
The next day, Turan left the castle and headed to the library accompanied by one Baltas knight.
The guard at the entrance—a different person from yesterday—nodded after seeing the paper with the lord's signature.
"Entry permit confirmed, noble one. Welcome to the Sky Library."
The first things that greeted Turan inside were several desks and chairs, and spiral stairs following the round wall.
Around halfway through the book, Turan felt hunger and closed it after memorizing what he had read.
'This is amazing.'
Now he knew what strange terrain lay to the east, and how the other races he had only vaguely heard of looked, what ecology and culture they had.
This much from reading just half a book—what would he learn after reading all of those?
His heart pounded with anticipation.
==
After receiving permission to enter the library, Turan repeated a life of reading books at the library every morning and returning to the castle only when evening came.
On the second day, he learned how wizard houses from great houses to ordinary ones interacted with each other, and what systems they used to manage cities and villages.
On the third day, he learned in detail what materials from which regions were processed how to make the things he had thoughtlessly passed by.
On the fourth day, through a masu guide, he learned what powers different creatures typically awakened into as masu, what physical characteristics symbolized what powers.
On the fifth day, he learned that many relics from the old empire era were still scattered and remained throughout the world.
From this library to the stone road he had seen on his way to Orem were among them.
As he accumulated such knowledge one by one, the world that had seemed just an unknown space became increasingly clear.
The feeling of evolving from an ignorant shepherd boy into something a bit better...
Though there wasn't the visceral pleasure like when eating delicious food or gaining mana, he felt a separate intellectual satisfaction.
And on the sixth day.
While heading to the library, Turan received a summons from Lug.
When Turan arrived at the study, he immediately brought up his business.
"I hear you're making good use of the library?"
"Yes."
"I trust you know that permitting you to use the library was a favor, separate from treating you as a noble. I'd like to receive payment for that now."
"Please speak."
If they heard this side only took without granting requests, wouldn't they soon tell him to get lost?
Typically, the customary time for a noble to host a visiting guest in their territory was three to four days.
For Turan, who had slightly exceeded this, there was a need to grant his request.
"Recently, a masu has appeared north of Orem and is attacking passing people."
"You want me to hunt it?"
Lug nodded at Turan's question.
"Four knights who went to subjugate it were eaten without returning. It seems a noble will have to step in directly, but our house can only mobilize two. If you join to make three, it would be much safer."
House Baltas consisted of six people total—Lug's couple, Lug's younger brother, daughter, and two nephews.
Among them, Lug's brother and one nephew had gone out as lords of other cities, he himself had to protect the city in case of emergency, and his wife wasn't skilled in combat.
Therefore, they could only mobilize two nobles—his daughter and nephew.
"I understand."
He readily agreed both because he hadn't been gathering practical experience and mana lately due to reading books, and because he recalled Keorn's words from the past.
That humans were always threatened in their living spaces by masu, and therefore wizards should repel them...
Though Orem's commoners weren't his sheep, everything he ate, drank and wore must have come from them.
A shepherd must protect sheep from wolves in exchange for living off their wool and meat.
Just as he nodded, a sudden doubt occurred to him.
Considering what Murei's official had said, nobles and knights weren't very active in masu hunting, so why was he responding so actively?
When asked indirectly, Lug answered:
"The northern road he's blocking is an important trade route. It's been blocked for ten days already, so we need to open it quickly."
Ten days...
Turan recalled Lug's meaningful smile when he had asked to use the library five days ago.
He felt rather at ease now understanding why he had readily permitted use of the library.