The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Returning to the city hall, Turan entered a meeting with the city's influential figures, who had now become somewhat more human-like.

"Winter is slowly coming to an end."

"There wasn't a single death from freezing this week. Ten people died, but eight were from old age and two from accidents during repair work."

"All glory to the great Turan!"

They praised how everything was improving and how it was all thanks to Turan's presence.

Half-listening to such worship, Turan looked at a map spread out on one side of the meeting room.

It showed the area around Kalamaf City.

'Still no signs of anything appearing from the west.'

Following the western road from Kalamaf led to the region where House Arabion was waging war with dark elves.

The unknown entity that had annihilated the house that previously ruled this city, likely a dark elf necromancer, would be there.

Now that the city was sufficiently stable, there was a need to scout beyond the western road to confirm the entity's identity.

He couldn't remain tied to this city for months or years just because it hadn't attacked.

With the power of his holy relic and the black eagle's mobility, he could identify what kind of being it was with relatively little risk.

When he expressed this opinion, everyone showed reluctance.

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Perhaps we should wait a bit longer..."

Meeting an unknown enemy that had annihilated the noble house that once ruled Kalamaf?

What would happen to this city if Turan died?

But while they thought this internally, they dared not stop him from going.

How could they dare to do so to one who was no different from a living Prea god in this city?

"If I sense anything strange, I'll return immediately, so don't worry. Even if it's an enemy too strong for me to overcome, I won't lead it to the city, so keep the people in check."

Turan informed them of this not to seek their consent, but because they needed to know he would be absent for a while.

Daruk and the city's influential figures had to bow deeply, wishing for his safe return.

After returning to his lodgings and resting for an hour to recover his magical power to its peak condition, Turan climbed out through the window.

"Let's go, Bize."

The black eagle, Bize, chirped and soared into the sky.

He was starting to get used to calling it by his mother's name.

Come to think of it, he hadn't called his mother by name much in the first place.

As they rose into the city's airspace, some citizens who noticed through the shadow called out to Turan.

"The black eagle! It's the black eagle!"

"Turan of Kalamaf! Protect this city forever!"

Turan was quite uncomfortable with the citizens' praise.

After defeating the enemy in the west, he planned to step down as Kalamaf's protector to resume his travels.

He had already thought of a way to find a noble to replace his position.

Namely, offering the city's governance rights in exchange for investigating his mother's whereabouts.

With the western threat gone, Kalamaf would be valuable enough to tempt any family head.

There was no need to distribute portraits like before anymore.

He could simply ask them to find a young pregnant woman in her early twenties who traveled alone on horseback twenty years ago.

Rather than hoping to find someone with excellent memory like Igon, it would be much more likely to find someone who remembered such a special case.

Such thoughts sometimes made him feel uneasy.

It felt like he was trading away the citizens who worshiped him like a god just to get information about his mother.

If the next lord didn't govern the city properly and people suffered, wouldn't Turan himself bear some responsibility?

'This is why I didn't want to take charge of a city.'

Lost in thought, Turan suddenly realized he had reached the edge of Kalamaf's territory.

Bize's flight speed was truly tremendous.

"Well, let's check..."

Along with his consciousness, the holy relic's senses began to expand.

Countless flames of life felt from below.

However, nothing resembling undead or dark elves could be sensed among them.

"Let's go a bit further, Bize."

Bize chirped and flew west again.

Turan set dark elves as the tracking target and even employed detection magic to check if anything could be caught, but nothing was found.

Had the threat that was here moved somewhere else?

'That would be troublesome in its own way.'

If they could defeat a visible enemy, they could feel at ease, but if it had moved somewhere, it meant it could return.

Moreover, without results, the lords of other cities wouldn't accept that the threat was gone.

He couldn't tell them he had thoroughly searched with Zahar bloodline tracking magic...

After sweeping left and right for who knows how long, just as he was thinking they might end up leaving the Grey Zone altogether, he saw a flame burning brightly ahead.

"Stop!"

When Turan urgently called out, Bize immediately began hovering.

This was an advanced technique possible only because it was a magical beast with overwhelming strength disproportionate to its size, impossible for ordinary black eagles.

In that state, Turan frowned as he observed the enormous magical flame caught in his holy relic's senses.

'Undead... no, a wizard?'

When he changed the tracking magic's target to human, the scent clearly indicated a wizard, and moreover, a noble.

Their magical power was even stronger than Ferga's, more than twice that of the current Turan.

Someone of that level would be classified as core talent even among great houses.

Then, the unknown being turned toward Turan's direction and lifted into the air.

'They noticed me? At this distance?'

Just as he was about to order Bize to flee south, Turan realized the other's method of flight was quite familiar.

The way of flying that involved floating up and then riding the wind...

Soon after, he came face to face with the wizard who had flown from far away.

"Turan?"

"It's been a while, Meisa."

Arabion's heir, Meisa Arabion, looked at him with surprise showing on her characteristically skeletal face.