The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

A city with no nobles, not even knights remaining?

The city walls that had seemed so reliable just moments ago now looked like a sandcastle that could crumble at a single breath from any invader.

In reality, a city without a wizard's protection in this world was no different.

"Are... are you here to save us from another city?"

The police officer's face was filled with desperation and pleading as he asked carefully.

But Turan shook his head, denying such expectations.

"No. As I said before, I'm just a passing traveler."

At the honest answer, the police officer's face twisted with frustration, but he dared not argue.

How could a mere commoner dare to talk back to a wizard?

Turan quietly observed his face before letting out a soft sigh and spoke.

"However, I'll at least look into what's going on. Is the city hall still functioning?"

"Yes, there should be at least a few people left!"

Turan's interest in learning about the city's situation wasn't because he wanted to claim an ownerless city, nor was it because he couldn't bear to see their pitiful state.

While the shepherdless sheep were pitiful, how many such people could there be in the world?

If one were to help every unfortunate person they met, even a noble's hundreds of years of lifespan would be too short.

Turan merely wanted to verify the threatening rumors about a non-human army powerful enough to cause the downfall of a noble house.

Even though he had only offered to look into the situation, not solve the problem, the police officer's face brightened.

After getting directions to the city hall from him, Turan entered Kalamaf city.

Contrary to his expectations of chaos, the city interior was eerily quiet.

'The atmosphere is... incredibly heavy.'

A quiet city wasn't particularly special.

Even Murei, which he had visited in the past, had seemed quite busy at the time, but thinking back now, it had been a peaceful place befitting a small city of just over a thousand people.

But what made this city feel particularly special was the atmosphere of resignation that permeated everywhere.

The people wandering the streets with empty, soulless eyes were mostly either too old or too young, and their clothes were shabby even by commoner standards.

Buildings that looked like shops were all closed, and some had broken doors as if they had been robbed, but no one seemed to care.

Looking at this city, Turan was reminded of the sheepdog he had raised in his childhood.

The one that had grown so old it couldn't even lift its head, lying limp, waiting for its last breath.

This city gave off the same atmosphere as that aged beast.

'Most of the young and able-bodied people must have fled with their families... only those too weak to even do that remain.'

His appearance in light traveler's clothes with a black eagle was still eye-catching, but unlike the police at the entrance, the citizens of Kalamaf paid him no particular attention.

They seemed to lack even the energy to look around, weighed down by the misfortune before them.

The Kalamaf city hall, which he arrived at shortly after, was equally quiet.

People who appeared to be civil servants were shuffling through what looked like documents, but their movements were sluggish, showing little enthusiasm.

Then, one civil servant who had cursed after accidentally puncturing a parchment glanced over and saw Turan.

Looking at his attire, the civil servant seemed to reach the same conclusion as the police officer earlier, as he exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Could... could you be someone who inherited the bloodline of the gods?"

When Turan nodded at the question implying he was a wizard, all the civil servants' faces lit up at once.

An older woman hesitantly asked.

"I... I beg your pardon for this incredibly rude question, but might I ask if you are one who has established a house with noble blood, or..."

Given how awkwardly they asked whether he was a noble or knight, they probably didn't have much interaction with wizards normally.

Or perhaps the noble house of this city had been so authoritarian that they didn't allow such things.

"Turan. A wandering noble. Is there anyone in charge of this city here?"

At his stiff formal speech, the civil servants finally looked as if they had found life, like sheep that had discovered a shepherd while wandering alone in the wild.

Some were so moved they even shed tears.

==

Shortly after, a plump elderly man who introduced himself as the temporary administrator led Turan to the topmost room of the city hall.

His name was Daruk, and while he hadn't originally held a very high position, he became the representative as he was the oldest and most experienced among the remaining city officials.

"It pains me greatly to receive such an honorable person in such a humble place. Please forgive this rudeness-"

"I'd prefer if you didn't elevate me so much and spoke more concisely. I don't know if it's the culture here, but it's uncomfortable."

While smaller cities tend to treat nobles with excessive formality, these people were extreme even by those standards.

If he had to listen to everything they said one by one, the whole day would pass just like that.

The elderly Daruk glanced carefully at Turan, wondering if he was annoyed, and answered quietly.

"Ah, I understand."

"On my way here, I heard that this city's nobles and knights were all killed by dark elves."

"To be honest, we don't know the exact circumstances either."

Daruk began explaining the situation after that opening.

About three weeks ago, some merchants spotted the corpses of beast hunters on the western approach to the city.

Even their steel weapons had been cleanly cut through, clearly the work of a beast, and a powerful one at that. They immediately rushed to the city hall to report this fact.

While minor beasts might be manageable, a beast that originated from a predator would be impossible for ordinary beast hunters to handle.

Moreover, since it was only a day's journey from the city, two knights from Kalamaf set out to eliminate it, but they didn't return even after three days.

If two weren't enough, more forces would be needed.

The head of the house ruling this city sent his younger brother and son with ten knights to eliminate them.

'Somehow this situation reminds me of when we hunted that monkey beast.'

The force composition was even similar, except that Turan hadn't been there.

"And then? What happened next?"

"Well, none of them returned either..."

The loss of two nobles was an unbearable level of damage for a small house.

The head abandoned even the city's defense and headed west with all knights except those too old or young to serve their role, and days later, only one knight returned, severely wounded.

He said everyone was dead, and when asked who killed them, he left only one word - "undead" - before breathing his last.

"Undead, you say."

"There were widespread rumors that dark elves to the west were slaughtering and eating countless humans, and some scholar said that if it involved undead, it must be dark elves..."

Thus, rumors spread that a dark elf army would soon arrive and eat all the humans, leading many citizens to flee and resulting in the current state.