The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Meisa showed obvious discomfort, and while this uncle wore a friendly smile, the feeling he gave off wasn't good at all.

"And who might this young man be? Ah, I should introduce myself first out of courtesy. I'm Kadram Arabion. I'm Meisa's uncle, and my older brother is the head of House Arabion."

As he spoke these words, magical power flowed from Kadram's body and pressed against Turan.

When Turan met this with equal force, a look of surprise crossed his face.

"I am Turan of Kalamaf."

"Kalamaf? My knowledge must be lacking as I haven't heard of this family name... No, isn't that the name of a city to the east?"

"That's right. Being a fallen noble who doesn't even properly know my parents' bloodline, I have no family name to claim, so the city people call me that."

Hearing the words "fallen noble," Kadram spoke with an expression of incomprehension.

"You don't look very old, yet your power is remarkable. I'd believe it if you said you belonged to a great house."

"I was once indebted to House Berk. That's also when I formed a connection with Miss Meisa."

When Kadram's questioning of this suspicious person was countered with the claim of being their house's guest, he turned to Meisa as if asking if this was true.

"He's telling the truth. More importantly, Uncle, please go back first. I'll finish up here and return soon."

"But Meisa, leaving you alone here with someone we don't know..."

"Go."

Her tone was so authoritative and sharp it seemed somewhat rude for addressing an uncle.

Kadram replied that he understood and flew back into the distance.

After a moment of silence, Meisa sighed and apologized.

"I'm sorry. Like last time, I keep showing you unsightly behavior."

Thinking about what she meant, Turan recalled that when they parted last time, Meisa had also been losing her temper with an Arabion noble.

For some reason, she seemed to act arrogant and cold only toward people from House Arabion.

This behavior seemed even more striking because she was remarkably kind and friendly to outsiders like Turan and the people of House Berk.

"Everyone has circumstances that prevent them from smiling at everyone."

"Thank you for understanding. Next time we have a chance, I'd like to hear what happened during your travels."

==

After parting with Meisa, Turan patrolled the area for a while longer before returning to Kalamaf.

Although he had been gone for just a few hours, the city's influential figures, who had spent the time as if their lifeline was burning away, burst into tears and fell to their knees when they saw him flying back on the black eagle.

"Oh my, Lord Turan. When you didn't return, I thought something might have happened, I, I..."

"Stop being so emotional, man. Welcome back, sir. Did you find any clues?"

As Daruk pushed aside the crying old merchant and asked this, Turan gave Bize a treat while responding.

"Fortunately, I found some clues. It seems the culprit is a dark elf necromancer who came over from the western forest. I also learned that Arabion's army is stationed about eighty kilometers to the west."

"Ah, you mean Arabion's army?"

"Yes. They'll take care of the necromancer, so we don't need to do anything on our end."

Though they seemed to be having some trouble tracking it due to it hiding in dwarf territory, given how they had completely uprooted the dark elf den that had risen near Maderi City, they must have their own tracking methods.

After finishing the situation report and returning to his rest area, Bize grabbed the iron plate and wrote something again.

[Turan!]

"What is it?"

[Meisa we met today.]

"Yes, it was Meisa. But why?"

[Meisa's inside matches with me too.]

"Matches with you?"

It was the same thing Bize had said when it first wanted Turan.

Did it mean that if Meisa had met Bize before Turan, Bize would have wanted to serve her as its master?

Seeing his surprised expression, Bize quickly wrote and erased several times.

[But I chose Turan.]

[Meisa has no chance.]

[Turan is happy!]

Turan chuckled at these words that seemed to be encouraging him, saying "you're lucky to have me," and stroked its head.

Anyway, this seemed worth thinking about.

Why did Bize say that only Turan and Meisa, of all people, matched perfectly with its soul?

==

A week after meeting Meisa, Turan felt his duties in this city were gradually disappearing.

As the weather grew warmer, Kalamaf was becoming a city that could sustain itself without relying on a powerful wizard's strength.

Besides patrolling for the necromancer that might come from the west, he had nothing to do but practice magic, making each day rather boring.

And as if reading Turan's thoughts, a new task that only a noble could do arose.

Namely, entertaining noble guests.

"Protector of the city, noble guests have arrived!"

"Noble guests?"

To Turan's question, the civil servant respectfully answered.

"Yes. A joint delegation from all surrounding cities - Bigen, Arond, Rummel, Labana..."

"Show them in."

Shortly after, Turan received the nobles from seven cities in the city hall meeting room.

"It is our first time meeting, Lord Turan of Kalamaf. We request your hospitality as guests."

"You are most welcome. However, I'm afraid you'll have to stay in the city hall lodgings - would that be acceptable?"

Although Kalamaf had normalized considerably, it wasn't as if they had an abundance of good houses.

This was because they needed homes for people who had fled and returned to the city.

Therefore, the central mansion remained unrestored and was still being used as lodging for vagrants.

"...City hall lodgings, you say?"

The nobles in the delegation couldn't hide their bewilderment at Turan's answer.

The city hall, being a space where mainly commoners worked, couldn't compare in luxury to a mansion.

They were already offended at being received here instead of in a mansion's reception room, and now being told to stay in these lodgings was practically like being told to leave.

"I'm not trying to treat you poorly - Kalamaf currently has a housing shortage. The central mansion is open to those without homes."

"Opening the central mansion, that's absurd..."

"Then, Lord, I mean, where do you take your meals and rest?"

"I eat and sleep here too."

A noble lord giving up his mansion to commoners and staying in mere city hall lodgings?

Hearing this, the delegation nobles looked at each other and became certain of one thing.

That this Turan absolutely could not be a secret weapon raised by a great house.

No matter how good their acting, those arrogant ones would never do such a thing.

'Could he really be a fallen noble?'

'Seeing how he knows nothing of dignity or propriety...'

'This changes things somewhat.'

Toward these nobles exchanging glances, Turan asked.

"I'd like to hear why you've come to see me - who would like to explain?"

"I will speak."

The one who quickly stepped forward as representative was the son of Bigen City's lord, located southeast of Kalamaf.

With a face that looked clearly intelligent, he brought up an unexpected topic to Turan.

"We would like to propose a marriage alliance between Lord Turan of Kalamaf and our seven houses."