The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

"Did you seek help from nearby cities?"

"Well, we sent several messengers, but were all refused. They said they didn't want to split their forces in times like these."

Even houses that were related by blood to the deceased lord refused, saying they would send people after the situation calmed down.

It was essentially a rejection.

"They're scared."

Well, what use is getting a city for free if you die in the process?

When there were rumors of a dark elf army arriving nearby, even a single knight would be too precious to spare.

Turan nodded slightly and then let out a small sigh.

"I understand the situation. But I don't think I can handle this city's matters-"

The moment he started to refuse, Daruk, who had been sitting across from Turan, immediately stood up and prostrated himself right beside him.

"Please! Please become the master of this city!"

Even with such a plea, Turan couldn't accept.

Becoming the master of this place meant being tied to the city.

The head of a house couldn't leave their main residence unless there was a war with other houses or an equally major event.

Because they never knew when a powerful enemy might attack and devastate the city.

Turan recalled his memories from when he was aboard the Blue Marlin.

The pressure he felt then, having to protect the lives of just a few dozen sailors on a single ship...

Becoming the lord of this city meant taking responsibility for the lives of over ten thousand people, or at least several thousand even considering those who had fled.

He didn't want to say he would take responsibility for something he couldn't handle.

That wouldn't be right.

As he was about to express this intention, Daruk, tears streaming down his wrinkled face, brought up something unexpected.

"These weak sheep need a shepherd. Please, show us mercy!"

Comparing nobles to shepherds and commoners to sheep.

Who would have thought that this metaphor, which he had heard from his mother in childhood and had been deeply embedded in a corner of his consciousness, but had never heard once during all his travels, would come up here.

Trying not to show his agitation, Turan asked.

"That metaphor, is it commonly used here?"

"Wh-which one do you mean..."

"That nobles are shepherds and commoners are sheep."

"Having lived here all my life, I'm not sure about other regions, but in the Grey Zone, it's a common metaphor. Nobles are shepherds, knights are sheepdogs, and commoners are sheep - the sheep obediently graze and follow where the sheepdogs lead, while the sheepdogs obey the shepherd and protect the sheep..."

The Grey Zone, true to its name, had many stone mountains making farming difficult, so many people raised sheep on the sparsely growing pastures.

Naturally, this metaphor came to be used at some point.

Hearing this, he could be half certain.

That Turan's mother was either from this region, or at least had visited and stayed here.

This was an expression he had never heard around Hisaril Hill where he grew up, nor during his several exchanges with the nomads of the Enril Desert who raised many sheep.

"Then, have you perhaps seen this person? Her name is Bize. It might not be her real name. About twenty years ago, she would have been in her late teens or early twenties."

Turan took out his mother's portrait that he carried in his bag and asked, but Daruk looked at it carefully before shaking his head.

"I'm not sure. I'm sorry. But if you wish, we can spread this same picture throughout the city to check."

The old man then looked up at Turan with moist wrinkled eyes.

The meaning of that gaze was clear.

That if he wanted to do what he wanted, the city would need to at least survive...

Turan hesitated before sighing.

"As I said before, I cannot become the master of this city. But I can be its protector."

"Protector, you say?"

"I'll stay temporarily and protect this city. Until either the threat from the west disappears, or until the city finds a suitable master."

==

"A savior has come to our city! We are saved!"

"The noble descendant of the gods is with us, so fear not-!"

In less than an hour, an announcement went out in Kalamaf City that a new noble had come to protect them.

The ambiguous nuance that a savior, not a lord, had arrived was intended to reassure the citizens by not revealing that this measure was only 'temporary'.

A welcoming ceremony was even held in the square in front of the city hall, and despite the lack of time and resources, it looked quite impressive, suggesting the civil servants had prepared desperately.

Amidst all this, no one dared to try to verify whether Turan was really a noble, and if so, how powerful he was.

They had no way to judge in the first place, and they believed that even attempting to confirm his abilities would displease him.

However, the citizens watching from afar couldn't help but have a different perspective.

"Is he really... legitimate?"

"He doesn't look that different from anyone else."

"Well, he is handsome like the Prea gods."

"What good is that, do beasts run away just by looking at his face?"

During the hastily arranged welcoming ceremony, Turan felt the gazes of citizens looking at him with doubt.

Perhaps thinking they wouldn't be heard from that distance, some of them openly voiced their cynicism.

Unlike their cynical words, their eyes held anxiety and defensive instincts.

The citizens didn't want to be disappointed anymore.

In a situation where their protecting lord was already dead, if this unknown young man turned out to be a fraud or died as well, they would feel twice the despair.

"H-hey! Why is everyone so quiet!"

Beside him, Daruk and other civil servants fidgeted anxiously and needlessly scolded the citizens, but that didn't increase the cheering.

Watching this, Turan suddenly recalled the tremendous lightning storm that the head of House Arabion had shown.

At the time, he had thought it was impressive but somewhat meaningless, but now he understood that it had been a truly significant event.

Who would have thought it was so important for people to directly experience why nobles were nobles, and how powerful their protectors were.

'Maybe I should try something too. Since there isn't a single wizard here...'

Turan recalled the knight actors he had seen at a theater while staying at House Berk.

Even with magical power that was mere dust compared to nobles, they had created brilliant sparks and pretended to be powerful wizards.

How had that been possible?

As flames rose above his hand, the square suddenly fell silent.

Some feared that the noble had heard their criticism and was about to use magic in anger, while others rejoiced, realizing that this young-looking man truly had the power to protect them.

But the performance Turan wanted to show was just beginning.

The first thing to do was lower the fire's temperature.

If lowered too much, the fire would become invisible, so maintaining an appropriate level was important.

Having practiced this before, he passed this stage without difficulty.

The next thing he did was spread these temperature-lowered flames upward.

Flames with such low temperature that they weren't even as hot as torches lit by commoners, something that even a knight would probably laugh off and ignore.

But since there were no wizards among the citizens attending the welcoming ceremony, no one knew this fact.

"Ah..."

"Oh... ohhhhh!"

"Fire, fire!"

Turan's magical power, which would now rank in the front row even among all nobles combined.

The result of that power being concentrated solely on increasing the quantity, not the quality, of these faint flames was truly tremendous.

Breaking through the coldly swirling snowstorm, hundreds of meters of sky above the square burned red.