The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

After asking a few more questions, Igon said she had asked him how to get to the west.

However, when he mentioned several nearby place names, she seemed completely unfamiliar with them.

This meant she wasn't someone who had lived in Kalamaf City for long.

"Ah, and thinking about it now, the horse she rode didn't seem to be from around here either. Its whole body gleamed with golden fur, clearly a fine horse at first glance, so I had to lock the stable securely."

Turan suddenly recalled a story he had heard long ago from Labus, the elder of the village below Hisaril Hill.

Before his mother's death, when he hadn't yet fallen out with the villagers.

Labus had stroked young Turan's head while telling him there had been an exceptionally fine golden horse in the village.

Hadn't he said it was such a magnificent beast that someone from a nearby city bought it for a high price?

Turan's mother must have ridden that horse to Hisaril Hill, then sold it to buy the sheep farm on the hill.

The villagers would have naturally lowballed the price of the horse.

'This much is certain now.'

There was no doubt that the woman the vagrant Igon spoke of was Turan's mother.

"What about her husband?"

"Well, truthfully, we didn't talk much about that. My dead wife used to scold me for flirting whenever I talked to pretty women..."

Besides, he said he couldn't even make small talk since she herself avoided socializing with others.

If she was truly on the run, it was natural that she would want to minimize contact with others.

After repeating his earlier questions to check if anything changed, Turan gave him several gold coins and sent him away.

"Oh my, receiving such a large sum makes me feel guilty..."

"It was worth it."

While several gold coins were pocket change to Turan, for that vagrant it was enough money to survive the winter and more.

Of course, he might lose it all gambling, but worrying about that would be excessive meddling.

Since giving such a large reward might increase false reports in the future, Turan instructed the civil servants to retrieve the portraits and stop accepting related information.

Anyway, now that he knew his mother wasn't from this city, it would be better to look in other cities.

After settling everything, he lay down on the bed in his lodgings at the top of the city hall.

"Whew..."

If she had headed west, then his mother must have come from either the north, east, or south.

Among these, the most likely were the east or south.

Either his mother or father must be from Zahar's side, explaining his inheritance of that bloodline.

More than that, the words about not becoming like his father bothered him.

Words that could be interpreted both positively or negatively depending on how one heard them.

If he thought about how she had said his father was a good person when he asked about him in childhood, it should have been meant positively.

But if so, why did she say not to become like his father, and why did she have to flee alone?

As he lay there covering his face with his hands, lost in thought, the black eagle made scratching sounds beside him, writing something.

When he looked up, it pushed forward an iron plate filled with sand.

[Hurt?]

This iron plate was something Turan had made after coming to Kalamaf. Unlike writing on the ground, it couldn't be used for long messages, but it had the advantage of being usable indoors.

Of course, it was too big and heavy to carry around, so it could only be used when resting in rooms like now.

"I'm not hurt, just my head is complicated."

[Turan sad when talk about Bize.]

"Hm?"

After being startled by the sudden comment, he realized he had talked about his mother many times in front of this one.

Since their first asking the lord of Komad City, this one had been by his side due to their soul bond.

Moreover, since their souls were bound, they even shared some emotions, so he couldn't hide his feelings.

[Who Bize? Mate?]

"No, my mother. The person who gave birth to me. Do you remember your mother?"

At Turan's question, the black eagle tilted its head before shaking it left and right.

[Don't know. I no mother.]

"I'm the same now."

It probably meant it couldn't remember rather than literally being born without a mother.

The black eagle stared at Turan as he stroked its head, then suddenly wrote.

[My name Bize.]

"Hm?"

[I am Bize.]

The black eagle quickly erased this and wrote another sentence.

[Turan sad without Bize.]

So, seeing that he seemed to be suffering from not having his mother, it wanted to take her name and be her replacement.

Turan burst into laughter unconsciously at such innocent, childlike sentiment.

"I appreciate the thought, but you don't need to do that. The time when I was sad about not having a mother passed long ago. Since it's your name, you should think more carefully..."

[Thought lot. I am Bize.]

Even when suggested to think of other names, the black eagle stubbornly insisted, clicking its beak.

After trying to persuade it several more times without success, Turan shook his head.

"Alright... if that's what you want. From now on, I'll call you Bize."

Actually, having the same name wasn't such a big deal.

Except for some names that were only commonly used in specific regions, people tend to use similar names wherever you go in the world.

Even Turan had met three or four people with the same name during his travels, and he had heard the name Bize several times as well.

"I'll be counting on you from now on, Bize."

[I am Bize!]

The black eagle, now bearing his mother's name, chirped and flapped its wings.

==

Separate from finding clues about his mother's existence, Turan faithfully performed his role as Kalamaf's protector.

In fact, given how he directly fed and raised them, it wouldn't be strange to call him their father.

"No way, logs flying by themselves..."

"Come on, no time to rest, let's quickly organize them and take them to the lumber yard."

"How are these stones so perfectly square? The dimensions are so perfect they don't even need to be cut further!"

After somewhat resolving the food supply issue, Turan also directly solved other material shortages using magic.

He secured large quantities of construction materials by either enchanting daggers with cutting enhancement magic and making them fly to fell dozens of trees, levitating them with floating spells, or using earth manipulation magic to transform rocks into building stones.

The process had the added benefit of practicing telekinetic magic for moving objects and earth manipulation magic.

With one powerful wizard using his strength as labor force, being no less effective than thousands of strong men, Kalamaf was rebuilt more quickly.

Moreover, as rumors spread that a powerful wizard protected the city, even those who had fled began to return, and after a few weeks, Kalamaf City showed similar prominence to its past, if not quite the same level.