"So this is Kalamap? It's smaller than I expected. The location isn't bad, but it's a complete backwater."

In the middle of the procession crossing downtown Kalamap, the man seated opposite the young woman in the carriage smiled wryly at her words.

"Please don't say that when we arrive, my lady. You need to flatter him and win his favor now."

"Do you take me for an idiot? Don't worry. I'll be suitably humble to his face. It'll still be easier than living at the main house. Men will give you their very hearts if you just smile at them."

The woman was beautiful enough that her arrogant words hardly seemed an idle boast. With dark brown hair cut to her shoulders, mysterious pale violet eyes, and a small, slender, elf-like frame, she was a beauty who could charm anyone at first glance. And with noble status to match her looks, she was more than capable of bewitching men.

A short while later, the Zahar delegation reached the lord's mansion in central Kalamap, and the woman stepped down from the carriage. Amid murmurs of admiration, she smiled at those who had come to welcome her.

"My name is Berit Zahar. I look forward to getting to know you all."

She looked like a shy flower, without a trace of her earlier arrogance. The Kalamap nobles greeting her exclaimed in admiration.

Smiling bashfully, Berit realized that the gray-haired man standing in their midst was her prospective political husband.

'That's Turan? He's as pretty as they said... Still not my type, though.'

Inexperienced little girls might go wild over a pretty face, but she preferred men who were a little rougher and more masculine. Like the silver-haired man standing blankly beside him, for instance. Of course, looks weren't everything. He would naturally need abilities worthy of her as well.

As she silently assessed them, Turan greeted her courteously as she alighted from the carriage.

"Welcome, Berit. I hope you enjoy your time in Kalamap."

Taking his hand as she stepped down, Berit caught his scent and inwardly marveled. She realized that despite touching a beauty like herself, he felt not the slightest sexual urge. At the very least, he clearly wasn't someone she could casually seduce as she had boasted.

* * *

Officially, Berit's visit was not a courtship leading to a political marriage, but something closer to a goodwill exchange between two great houses. Her formal status was therefore strictly that of a guest.

A mere guest could hardly keep an army in tow, so all the Zahar wizards who had escorted her returned to the desert. Even her attendants would all be from Kalamap.

What Turan and Zahar actually hoped to gain from the exchange was a little more complicated. Turan wanted Zahar to remain neutral, at the very least, so that he could contend with Arabion. Zahar wanted to examine the true strength of Turan's Kalamap faction and establish a connection that would bind them.

Berit had thus come as a prospective political bride, a hostage, and a spy. That alone was horribly complicated, yet she had another role on top of it all.

"You're Lord Rahman's daughter?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I believe he's my father's cousin."

Rahman, Zahar's sole surviving heir, had a decidedly delicate relationship with Turan. Turan had eliminated his rival heirs—though Rahman did not know he had contributed to Perga's death—but if Turan himself joined Zahar, he would become an even more formidable rival than either of them.

Of course, it was a meaningless hypothetical, since Turan had no intention of joining House Zahar. What would he gain from going there except becoming its House Head's new body?

In any case, sending Rahman's daughter in particular as a hostage must have been a message of sorts: they would promise him the position of the next Zahar House Head's son-in-law, so he should stay here and build his independent faction.

Having readily answered his questions, Berit looked around.

"There are an awful lot of orbs of light inside the mansion as well as outside."

"Zahar isn't the only reason to guard against intruders."

Zahar had originally designed the Kalamap mansion to prevent infiltration by stealth in order to catch Turan. House Berg's people had subsequently remodeled it again, incorporating their own techniques. Turan had even tried infiltrating it himself to eliminate weaknesses, making it an unbearably stifling place for a Zahar noble.

Berit nodded at his implied warning that he would not remove the lights merely for her comfort.

"It's all right. The main house is much the same, anyway."

"Is it?"

"Yes. If anything, its precautions are even more thorough."

Through Berit's words, Turan learned that, surprisingly, Zahar's main house was thoroughly protected against stealth. It was useful information that would have been difficult to acquire without visiting himself.

'So even among themselves, they live in fear of someone hiding nearby...'

A house that wielded stealth as a weapon had rigorous anti-stealth measures at its own stronghold? It was absurd, but on reflection, they would hardly want to suffer the paranoia of wondering whether someone was hiding beside them, eavesdropping. Considering what Maysa had gone through in the past, how could anyone even use the bathroom in peace?

After exchanging a few more words, Turan dismissed Berit by suggesting that she rest in her quarters. When she proposed a drink together, he firmly refused on the grounds that he was busy with work.

On her way back, Berit inwardly ground her teeth at the rejection.

'He's even more unapproachable than I expected. What is his problem?'

She had heard that Turan already had a woman. Arabion's runaway heir, the infamous Skeleton Princess, wasn't it?

Apparently she had filled out enough to be presentable now, but Berit had assumed she would be no competition. Surely he was only flattering her for her considerable power.

As she thought this, Berit's eyes met those of a woman appearing down the corridor. She had long auburn hair and blue eyes, and unlike Berit, was tall and slender.

Never in her life had Berit felt inferior in looks among nobles, yet the moment she saw this woman, she instinctively felt cowed. It was not simply that she was more beautiful. There was an intimidating air about her, as though Berit were facing someone of higher status.

"Berit Zahar?"

"... Yes."

"I'm Maysa Arabion."

When Maysa abruptly offered her hand, Berit hesitated over taking it. Knowing she was a powerful great noble, Berit feared she might crush her hand the moment she accepted. Given the history between their houses, that would hardly be surprising.

Yet contrary to her fears, Maysa's scent held no hostility. There was only the sort of fondness one might feel toward a cute animal, along with a faint trace of pity.

"You must be tired after coming such a long way. I hope we get along."

"I hope so too."

After they exchanged greetings and parted, Berit walked toward her quarters, looking down at the hand Maysa had shaken. For some reason, it felt as though a curious warmth still lingered there.

'How strange...'

That sort of kindness was unfamiliar to her. Those beneath her station dared not regard an heir's daughter as something endearing, while those above her considered Berit someone to guard against.

For a moment, she basked in the tingling feeling. Then she remembered that the woman she had just met would come to hate her, and suppressed it.

She had to seduce Turan, whatever it took. Only then, by making him Zahar's House Head, could she seize power as his wife.

* * *

After sending Berit off, Turan entered his office and placed a small iron plate on his desk. Then he sent a mild current of electricity through it.

CRACKLE

Shortly after the weak current began flowing, the plate floated into the air. It rose and fell above his hand, even spinning around, before settling onto his palm when he cut off the current.

'As I thought, it uses more mana than I expected, and it's not very strong.'

After his recent battle with Badal, Turan had asked the librarian about the "force that moves metal" and acquired a new lead: magnetism. Apparently, manipulating electricity in a certain way could exert an attractive force on metal.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of the librarian's knowledge. He knew little of the specifics, including how to generate it. His knowledge came from books written by the Freyans and their followers during the old empire and deposited in the library.

Either no one at the time had acquired a deep understanding of the subject, or they had concealed it as a secret art, much like thought acceleration or the Light of Judgment.

Still, simply knowing that it was related to electricity established a causal link to some extent, so Turan could now use electricity to manipulate metal, however weakly.

Of course, it was not yet useful in combat. To improve, he would have to keep practicing or delve more deeply into its principles. After all, magic grew more efficient and powerful the more one knew.

He had been absorbed in practice for only a short while when people began gathering in his office one by one: Maysa, Solif, Melo, Asiz, Haram, and the others who could be called Kalamap's leadership. Before long, his office had become a meeting room.

Once everyone was assembled, Solif was the first to question Turan, asking about Berit's visit.

"You two spoke alone just now. How was she?"

"An absolute viper."

From the moment they met, Turan had known that Berit felt no sexual attraction to him. Even so, she had demonstrated a natural talent for seduction, shyly averting her eyes and casually brushing her arm against his.

Had Turan not already given his heart to someone, and had he failed to see her true nature, he might have been a little tempted. Now that he knew all of this, of course, he would not fall for her wiles even if they were the last two people alive.

Beside him, Maysa sounded puzzled by his assessment.

"Really? She seemed like a nice girl to me."

"You met her?"

"We happened to pass each other. She looked awfully cute and sweet. Very shy, too."

Maysa apparently had no eye for people at all. Then again, she could see Berit in such a positive light precisely because she did not regard her as a rival.

Turan had reassured Maysa time and again that this exchange was purely political, and that she was the only person he truly considered his partner.

After briefly exchanging affectionate smiles, Turan turned to Solif.

"Actually, I think she liked you better than me, Solif."

"What?"

"Though I know she isn't your type."

"Hey, let's not talk about that."

Solif muttered indignantly at the oblique reference to his taste in women, which Turan had learned about in Baraha's records. Of course, Berit was unmarried and only around thirty, putting her completely outside Solif's preferences. But didn't beauty transcend one's tastes to some degree?

If she fell for Solif, perhaps that too could be turned to political advantage. All the more so because she herself was a noble with upper-tier mana.

Imagining turning the tables and winning over a Zahar noble with a male seducer—though Solif was hardly handsome—Turan briefly summed up the matter.

"Well, she's mostly here for show, so there's no need to pay her much mind. I just hope she doesn't try anything foolish. Killing her and asking them to send a replacement would be a nuisance for both sides."

Everyone looked at Turan with a somewhat appalled expression. His attitude alone made it abundantly clear that he would not succumb to her charms.

That concluded the discussion of their new guest. When Turan announced the start of their regular meeting, Asiz cleared his throat softly and took out some documents.

"First, I've compiled the recent changes in Kalamap's strength."

After Arabion's attack, House Berg had reorganized with Melo as its head. Naturally, Asiz's position had become somewhat uncertain now that he was the House Head's younger brother rather than her son. Turan had therefore taken him on as his butler and a vassal of the house he would eventually establish.

Losing his parents had changed Asiz considerably. His ever-cheerful, optimistic laughter, which had verged on frivolous, was heard less often. Instead of caring only about amusement, he had begun devoting himself to study and training. He had even resumed Haram's hellish physical training regimen, the very one he had fled in the past.

He also eagerly took on administrative work of the kind nobles tended to shun, striving to learn. Unexpectedly, he proved talented at that too and made considerable progress. Thanks to him, Turan could leave such matters in his hands and devote more time to his own training.

"At present, Kalamap has twenty-seven nobles in total. Three are classified as top-tier, five as upper-tier, eight as middle-tier, and eleven as lower-tier."

They used the classification system Turan had improvised with his friends, so he had personally taken the measurements using his Holy Relic's senses. The three top-tier nobles were naturally Turan, Maysa, and Solif. The five upper-tier nobles were Haram, Melo, Asiz, and two of House Berg's guests.

Melo and Asiz had absorbed mana during the last battle and barely reached the upper tier. Painful though it was, in the world of wizards, one person's death always nourished another's growth.

The remaining middle- and lower-tier nobles came from Berg's collateral branches or had been dispatched by the various Gray Zone houses that had pledged themselves as vassals. Those houses had sent knights as well, bringing their number to over two hundred, compared with the mere seventy-five Berg knights they had before.

Melo, who had been listening quietly, murmured,

"Looking at it this way, our overall strength hasn't suffered as much as we thought. In fact, perhaps we've grown stronger..."

One might wonder what middle- and lower-tier nobles or mere knights could accomplish in battles between towering great nobles, but their presence made a surprisingly large difference.

Knights could gather to harry a lower-tier noble, freeing an allied lower-tier noble to harry a middle-tier noble, which in turn freed an allied middle-tier noble to interfere in an upper-tier noble's battle. As this chain continued, it could tip the balance even in fights between top-ranking nobles.

Indeed, the sudden arrival of Ravista's army had effectively brought the last battle to an end.

"It's a shame the Ravista nobles went home."

"They have their own affairs to look after. They can't leave a force that strong sitting idle forever."

The Ravista reinforcements who had flown in with Turan had recently returned to their main house. As a result, the two houses were now largely out of contact.

Still, they had promised to send a delegation led by Lida soon. They could discuss how to proceed as allies then. After a little more discussion of their overall strategy, Turan put a question that had occurred to him to Asiz.

"How are we doing at keeping the newcomers in line?"

"Well, they've split into factions among themselves... but they do listen to us. That's all thanks to you, though."

Put even three people together, and they were bound to divide into factions. Naturally, the wizards gathered in Kalamap had also taken sides and engaged in petty disputes, but fortunately, no one had caused a major disturbance yet. Turan's reputation for facing and repelling the Arabion House Head himself still rang loud and clear.

Of course, that too would undoubtedly fade with time. Humans were forgetful creatures by nature. Even Arabion's vassals had eventually harbored rebellious thoughts despite witnessing Badal's overwhelming power.

Time passed quickly as they went on to discuss everything from city management to training spies to monitor the nearby great houses. Of course, they were only setting the direction here; the officials beneath them would handle the details.

As the discussion began winding down, a subject arose that was trivial in one sense, yet truly important in another: choosing a name for their organization, the new great house.

"Hmm."

"A name..."

The problem was that they could not easily agree on one. They had considered all manner of expressions from old records, fragments of famous sayings, place names, and personal names. Countless suggestions had been made, but none had pleased everyone.

It was only natural to be cautious when the name they chose might endure for thousands of years, like Arabion or Zahar.

In particular, they had to avoid anything that sounded similar to either of those houses, since Turan was of mixed descent from both. Though his Arabion powers were not publicly known, a similar-sounding name might naturally lead people to regard his house as closer to one side.

"I liked Artos."

"It sounds too much like Arabion."

"What about Kologa?"

"It's too meaningless. And it doesn't sound good either."

Since they had already discussed the subject repeatedly, the same names met the same objections. At last, when everyone fell silent with nothing more to say, Asiz, who had raised the topic, looked around at them.

"We'd already come up with plenty of suggestions, but none seemed right, so I asked the officials while I was passing along instructions. I suggested we collect ideas for the house's name."

"From commoners?"

"They may not have power, but they all have brains. In fact, they might be smarter than us."

Even so, leaving the naming of a great house to commoners was certainly not an idea an ordinary noble would have entertained. Asiz unfolded a sheet covered with names and pointed to a marked passage.

"We got a few hundred candidates, and one of them was really good. I brought it because I thought Turan might like it too."

"What is it?"

"Parsha. Apparently, it means someone who leads a flock of sheep. It can also mean a guide, or a ruler."

It would have been a difficult name to suggest without knowing that Turan had been a shepherd until a few years ago, and that he still identified as one. People who had risen in the world tended to bristle when reminded of their former, humbler occupations.

Turan, of course, was delighted with the name. Even those who felt that "shepherd" was a little questionable thought that "guide" or "ruler" made a fine name for a house.

"I like it."

"It doesn't sound much like Zahar or Arabion, it has a decent ring to it, and the meaning is good..."

"Shall we just go with this?"

Half because they genuinely liked it and half because they wanted to settle the matter at last, everyone agreed. And so, in a somewhat haphazard fashion, the great house that would rule the Gray Zone received its name.

Turan Parsha. That was the new name he would use publicly from now on.