The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Turan fell into thought for a moment before answering with a smile.

"Indeed. I wonder why."

Afterward, the nobles from the seven cities whispered among themselves before requesting to withdraw.

"We know it's rude to leave without staying even one night, but as this is urgent, we'll speak with our family heads and return with answers as quickly as possible."

"Very well."

While custom dictated it was rude to come, state their business, and leave immediately, since he had planned to house these noble guests in the city hall anyway, it could be considered even.

After all the nobles had withdrawn, Daruk, who had been waiting outside the meeting room, entered and asked.

"Well done, Protector of the city. Do you have any orders?"

"Call a meeting."

"Everyone is already gathered downstairs."

Of course, when nobles from all nearby cities visited, important discussions about the city's future must have taken place.

It was natural for those who led the city to gather.

Shortly after, Turan announced to those gathered in the meeting room his intention to soon transfer Kalamaf's governance rights to another house.

Everyone's faces darkened upon hearing this.

"But great protector, this city still needs you..."

"The threat from the west will soon be eliminated by Arabion, and other houses will pay sufficient attention given their justification for obtaining governance rights. Then it should be maintained well enough without me."

Kalamaf's influential figures had secretly hoped Turan would establish his house here.

Unlike other nobles, Turan was a dedicated shepherd who didn't exploit them and used his abilities for the city's benefit, something they had never even imagined.

However, whether to maintain or transfer city governance rights ultimately depended on the nobles' will.

Originally, whether sheep or pastures, these were things bought and sold between people - sheep never got to choose who would raise them.

==

Naturally, the seven noble houses didn't immediately respond to Turan's proposal.

They would probably secretly gather information about his mother in their cities and surrounding villages, and only agree when confident they could win.

Since news about the transfer of governance rights was controlled, the citizens of Kalamaf lived each day hopefully, unaware they might soon have a new master.

Turan would sometimes sit on the city hall's roof and look down at their lives.

"They all live so diligently, don't they?"

Without the iron plate to write on, Bize could only answer with a chirp.

Turan looked at Kalamaf's citizens, those who would have died helplessly without him.

He recalled the question another noble had asked recently.

"Why go to such lengths..."

When he first awakened his magical power as a child, his mother had told him he was merely a sheepdog serving under a shepherd.

Because of this, Turan didn't consider himself particularly superior to ordinary humans, the sheep.

After all, he too was just a dog hiding in fear of the shepherd's tyranny.

Then Keorn taught him that Turan wasn't actually a dog but a shepherd, and that shepherds could be noble beings, not just fearsome ones.

A benevolent shepherd who cared for knights and commoners, sheepdogs and sheep, protecting them from wolves like magical beasts and other races...

Turan wanted to become such an ideal being as that old knight had described.

Not the evil shepherd he had feared in his childhood, who recklessly drove sheep and sheepdogs to their deaths.

While deep in thought, he sensed quite a powerful knight's presence some distance away.

'Who could it be?'

At first, he thought it might be a messenger from some house, but if so, one of the civil servants would have come to report to Turan first.

Whether noble or knight, they would normally announce their presence immediately upon entering another city.

The fact that there had been no report even though they had reached the city hall in the center meant no one had noticed their presence.

'Did they enter secretly?'

Though it would be funny for Turan to criticize this since he often did the same, it was generally considered rude in magical society.

They would have no defense if accused of infiltrating for assassination.

"Bize, will you stay here for a moment?"

After hearing a chirped response, Turan quietly concealed himself and jumped down from the roof.

Soon after, the other person's face was revealed.

Turan's eyes widened at the sight.

"Ah..."

He slipped into a nearby alley, dropped his concealment, and immediately called out while walking forward.

"Sir!"

Keorn, the knight of Arabion, turned his head sharply toward Turan.

Joy showed on his wrinkled face.

"So it was true! I came to check just in case, but to think it really was you!"

After this brief joy, Keorn cleared his throat and corrected his posture to greet properly.

"Excuse my rudeness, Turan of Kalamaf."

"Please don't call me that. You know I don't like such things."

"Your body's grown quite a bit, but you haven't changed at all."

Keorn laughed heartily at the playful complaint.

It felt strange to hear he hadn't changed at all right after Meisa had said he had changed a lot.

Even though the physical differences must have been much greater due to his training.

Shortly after, Turan brought Keorn to his lodgings in the city hall to avoid people's eyes.

It had been about half a year since they met?

Come to think of it, they had only met for a few days, yet why did it feel so good to see him?

It must mean Keorn had had such a big influence on Turan.

"I never dreamed we'd meet here. You must have had to take an incredibly roundabout route to get here."

While it wouldn't be too difficult for a knight to reach here from Hisaril Hill in half a year, the travel distance must have become enormously long since the west of the Grey Zone had become a battlefield.

With mountains blocking the north, he must have come through the south.

At Turan's words, Keorn made a slightly awkward expression.

"Ah, about that... I didn't just come here while traveling."

"If not traveling, then?"

"Actually, while traveling I heard news of the war and applied to rejoin the subjugation force. I've already fought with dark elves several times."

"Ah..."

So the old knight before him had come here not as a retired traveler but as an Arabion knight belonging to the subjugation force.

He probably learned of Turan's existence after his name and details spread within the subjugation force following his meeting with Meisa and her uncle.

"Did you tell Arabion's side about my bloodline?"

"I didn't. From what I heard, you didn't seem particularly interested in living as a Zahar noble. Was I being presumptuous?"

"No, you're right."

The old knight answered calmly, showing none of the tension characteristic of someone lying.

While Turan was smiling in relief at this fact, Keorn lightly cleared his throat and brought up his main business.

"Now I should do my duty as Arabion's messenger. More precisely, as Miss Meisa's messenger."

"Do you have a personal connection with her?"

The status difference between a mere knight and a great house's heir was far greater than that between ordinary nobles and commoners.

Though of course, Keorn was no ordinary knight.

"Not much, but I do know her somewhat. Somehow I ended up with a position above my station..."

"You mean Hero Keorn?"

"Don't tell me you saw that play?"

Keorn looked at him with an expression mixing embarrassment and self-deprecation before forcibly changing the subject.

"We'll talk about that later, let me first convey Miss Meisa's proposal."

"Yes."

"There's been a problem with eliminating the dark elf necromancer... the self-proclaimed Undead King, and she would like to request your cooperation."