The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard-Chapter 129: Gods Still Walk Among Us (1)

Like all divine beings, Imir’s speech was mixed with unidentifiable words presumably from the heavens, but Turan was used to separating them and focused only on the clear content.

Things like how he had survived, and where he had been hiding for thousands of years.

The conclusion that could be drawn from this was clear.

Night Hunter Otas was not the god currently ruling Zahar. Your next chapter is on novelbuddy

No, rather, Imir, a god who survived into modern times, had believed that he had perished in the distant ancient past.

’This is troublesome...’

Turan was newly grateful for the fact that he was wearing a mask.

If not, he would have revealed his shocked expression to his opponent.

The original plan to pretend to be an agent of the god ruling Zahar had been completely scrapped.

While an ordinary person might have panicked and not known what to do, even in this situation, Turan thought as hard as he could to figure out how to use this newly acquired information.

Thanks to using thought acceleration, he was able to come up with a fairly plausible plan in just about one second.

"He has always existed. You just didn’t know. Because the Night Hunter shows himself to no one."

Turan’s newly devised strategy was to present the non-existent Night Hunter as his backing.

As expected, though Imir showed a somewhat bewildered expression, he didn’t directly refute this.

"That’s just like something he would say... So, what’s this message Otas wants to deliver? More importantly, I’m the one who wants to talk! We weren’t even on such bad terms before, yet like this-"

"He has dwelled in his hiding place for many years for resurrection, so he wants to know how the world is turning."

When Turan cut off his words, Imir narrowed his eyes, seemingly displeased.

His following words were clearly tinged with sarcasm.

"He doesn’t want to read a history book or something, does he?"

"Tell me which gods have survived, and which houses each of them is ruling."

"Ah, that? It’s not difficult to answer. It’s not really a big secret among us. But..."

Imir spat and said in a contemptuous tone.

"If you want to hear it, first untie this, you stupid NPC! How dare you order around a god like this?"

His attitude was such that someone watching might mistake Turan for being the one bound in chains rather than him.

Perhaps it was due to the arrogance of being a divine being who had lived for ages moving between human bodies like toys, and the assurance that his soul would remain intact even if Renode’s body died.

Turan silently watched Imir for a few seconds before slowly opening his mouth.

"You seem to believe your soul will return intact when that body dies, but the Night Hunter has granted me a method to harvest souls. If you really won’t listen, I’ve received permission to just take your soul."

At Turan’s words, instead of becoming frightened, Imir frowned and showed anger.

"Bullshit. If such a method really existed, why try to persuade with words instead of using it already? Besides, none of Otas’s classes had such an ability!"

However, contrary to the bravado he showed on the outside, a faint scent of fear wafted from his body.

While not quite certainty, it meant he had at least some doubt.

The fact that he could maintain such a calm facade was probably due to his worldly wisdom gained over long years.

Turan lowered his voice and spoke as if threatening.

"It’s not for the likes of you or me to guess what new powers he gained while crossing the boundary between life and death. I’ll just tell you what he warned - if this is used wrongly, the soul might be destroyed. It would be a shame for us too if our source of information ended up like that. That’s why we’re trying to persuade with words."

"Well..."

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"But if you provide sufficient information, we’re willing not only to release that body but also to provide separate compensation. Something you’ll find quite satisfying."

"What kind of freezing compensation?"

"I’ll tell you about the secret of true immortality."

Of course, no such method actually existed, but Turan freely issued empty promises.

After a moment of silence at this speech offering a carrot after the stick, Imir asked with a suspicious expression.

"Tell me more."

"Instead of parasitically extending your life in mortal bodies like you lot do now, you can regain your authority as a complete god. Just like my master has now."

At those words, a faint yearning appeared in Imir’s eyes.

From the start, they probably weren’t too happy about having to continue living as parasites in other people’s bodies.

Especially when in a state like now, inhabiting a body of mere high noble level.

"...If such a thing was possible, why do this? Even that Nazi bastard ruling the desert would kneel and wet himself if Otas returned maintaining his full power. World conquest would be like eating cold porridge."

Those words meant that even the power these gods had accumulated over long years was far inferior compared to a Prea god-folk in their prime.

To the extent that even the Zahar head who had fought the mighty Arabion head, and the god called Nazi behind him, wouldn’t dare to challenge them.

While inwardly trembling at this fact, Turan again forced a choice with an intimidating attitude to brush aside Imir’s question.

"I’ll tell you everything about that too when paying the compensation. Now choose. Will you trade, or will you maintain loyalty while risking the possibility of your soul being destroyed?"

Unlike his arrogant behavior from earlier, Imir’s eyes rolled about as he showed signs of falling into contemplation.

Probably due to a hint of fear about the threat to snatch his soul, and temptation regarding the reward of regaining a god’s body.

Moreover, even the price to be paid for it wasn’t particularly significant information, was it?

After all, information about where the surviving gods currently reside isn’t something that absolutely must be kept secret among those who know it.

After a while, Imir spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.

"I can’t talk about my side. Our boss can tell when someone talks about him outside."

When mentioning the ’boss’, an even greater fear than when soul destruction was mentioned appeared on Imir’s face.

From the statement that he could detect just the mention of his existence, Turan could guess why the library’s spirit had been kidnapped, and who the god ruling Arabion and Nagin was.

’The Life Scholar...’

The Prea god-folk who had criticized Night Hunter Otas and created the underground labyrinth.

Probably the conversation about him in the library had become an issue.

What was hard to understand was that there didn’t seem to be any major problems when discussing related matters with Meisa, Solif, Asiz, and others.

It’s not like he had been particularly more careful when mentioning it then.

"Instead, I’ll tell you everything about the other factions. How about it? Anyway, Otas is probably interested in the Enril Desert side, right? He didn’t like coming out of there even before."

"Good. But tell me about all forces outside the Enril Desert too."

Sensing this was the final point of compromise, Turan immediately accepted the proposal.

Imir fell silent for a moment as if organizing his thoughts, then slowly began his explanation.

"First, the leader of the force currently ruling Zahar is Nazi. He’s been inhabiting the family head’s body for generations."

"What kind of god does Nazi refer to? Is it a name?"

"Just relay it like that. Otas will understand what it means anyway."

Turan considered pressing for more details but gave up.

If he wanted to maintain the setting of being the Night Hunter’s messenger, it would be difficult to argue against those words.

If he tried to cover it up by saying his memory wasn’t complete or something similar, the ’true immortality’ offered as compensation would be doubted.

Moreover, given that he mentioned the Zahar forces first, Imir was clearly still suspicious that Turan might be one of their group.

Or perhaps he thought Night Hunter Otas would be most interested in that side first.

"There are probably three or four more under Nazi, but usually they’re either possessing someone among Zahar’s key figures or vassal house members, or they’re dormant. It’s not easy to find a suitable vessel, and making one directly takes a lot of work."

"When you say making a vessel, do you mean manipulating personality from childhood?"

"You know about that too?"

"Roughly. Explain in detail. Do you use soul magic?"

Since this was more important information than what was mentioned earlier, Imir chewed his lips for a moment before starting his explanation again.

The fact that Turan had shown signs of already knowing somewhat probably had an influence.

"That’s right. We use the help of soul magicians to transfer bodies, and the synchronization rate is higher the more similar the personality and habits are. Usually we just find someone moderately similar like this body and possess them, but for those with high potential or specific talents, we sometimes train them from childhood to have certain personalities or hobbies."

Turan saw Meisa and Solif’s bodies trembling slightly as they surrounded Imir.

This was because what they had only guessed at was now being confirmed through Imir’s mouth.

"Is all soul possession like you?"

"What?"

"Looking at it, the original body owner’s consciousness seems to remain - is that kind of coexistence common?"

Honestly, looking at it from the outside, it was a much more moderate method than he had guessed.

At this rate, it seemed closer to coexistence than soul theft.