Shepherd Wizard Chapter 41

Translator: Pai_

A city without even a knight, let alone a noble?

The sturdy walls, which had seemed so reassuring just moments ago, now appeared like a sandcastle, ready to crumble at the slightest breath of any invader.

In reality, there was no city in this world that was not under the protection of a wizard.

"Excuse me, did you come from another city to save us?"

The guard who cautiously asked this question wore an expression filled with desperation and pleading.

However, Turan shook his head, dispelling such expectations.

"No. As I said a moment ago, I’m just a traveler passing through."

Hearing his honest answer, the guard’s face twisted with despair, though he didn’t dare protest.

How could a mere commoner even think of arguing with a wizard?

As Turan silently gazed at the man’s face, he let out a faint sigh and spoke.

"Still, I’ll at least find out what’s going on. Is City Hall functioning properly?"

"Yes, I think there are still a few people left!"

Turan wasn’t trying to learn about the city’s circumstances because he intended to seize control of an ownerless city or because he found their plight unbearable.

Even if abandoned sheep seemed pitiful, how many of such people could there be in the world?

If one were to live helping every unfortunate person they met, even a noble’s lifespan of several hundred years would fall short.

Turan simply wanted to verify the truth of the alarming rumors, that a powerful army of a different race had brought down an entire noble house.

He hadn’t offered to solve the problem, he had merely said he would look into it. Yet even this brought a glimmer of hope to the guard’s face.

After receiving directions to City Hall, Turan entered Kalamaf's downtown.

Contrary to his expectations of a bustling scene, the city was eerily silent.

‘The atmosphere… is heavy, extremely heavy.’

A quiet city wasn’t anything unusual.

Even Murei City, which he had visited in the past, felt incredibly busy at the time, though in hindsight, it was a modest town of about a thousand people.

What made this city feel so distinct, however, was the air of despair and hopelessness that seemed to pervade every corner.

The people roaming the streets, their eyes hollow and lifeless, were mostly either far too old or painfully young, and their attire was shabby even by commoner standards.

Buildings that appeared to be shops were all closed, while some had doors that looked like they had been broken down by thieves, yet no one seemed to care.

As Turan looked around the city, he was reminded of the shepherd dog he had once raised in his childhood.

The poor creature had grown so old that it couldn’t even lift its head, lying limp as if waiting for its final breath.

This city exuded the same atmosphere as that old, dying animal.

‘The young and able-bodied must have fled with their families, leaving behind only the weak who didn’t even have the strength to escape…’

Even in his thin travel attire, with a golden eagle perched on his arm, Turan’s appearance stood out, but unlike the guard at the city gate, the citizens of Kalamaf showed no interest in him.

Their misfortunes weighed so heavily on them that they didn’t even have the energy to notice their surroundings.

When he eventually arrived at Kalamaf’s City Hall, the same quiet atmosphere lingered.

The officials, who appeared to be clerks, were flipping through what seemed like paperwork, though their slow movements betrayed a lack of enthusiasm.

At that moment, one of the clerks accidentally tore a hole in a piece of parchment, muttered a curse under his breath, and glanced at Turan.

Noticing Turan’s attire, the clerk, perhaps reaching the same conclusion as the guard earlier, widened his eyes and exclaimed,

"Are… are you, by any chance, someone who has inherited the bloodline of the gods?"

At the question implying he was a wizard, Turan nodded slightly, and instantly, the clerks’ faces lit up with relief.

An older woman hesitated before timidly asking a question.

"Excuse me, I apologize for this impertinent question, but may I ask whether you are someone who has formed a noble house through your esteemed lineage?"

Judging by how awkwardly she asked whether he was a noble or a knight, it seemed that these people rarely had the opportunity to interact with wizards.

Either that, or the city’s noble families had been so excessively authoritarian that such interactions were discouraged.

"Turan. A wandering noble. Is there someone here who is in charge of this city?"

At his curt, authoritative tone, the clerks finally showed expressions as if they had been brought back to life. They looked like sheep wandering in the wild who had suddenly found a shepherd.

Some were even moved to the point of tears.

A short while later, an elderly man with a plump build, who introduced himself as the temporary overseer, led Turan to the topmost room of City Hall.

His name was Daruk. He had not held a particularly high rank originally, but as the oldest and most experienced of the remaining city officials, he had assumed the role of representative.

“It pains me greatly to welcome such an esteemed figure to a place so humble as this. Please forgive this disrespect and-”

“I’d prefer it if you kept things brief without overdoing it. I don’t know if this is just part of your culture, but it’s uncomfortable.”

Small towns tended to treat nobles with excessive reverence, but these people were especially extreme.

If he listened to every word they said, he felt like the entire day would pass by.

Daruk, noticing Turan’s irritation, hesitated for a moment before meekly responding.

“Ah, I understand.”

“On my way here, I heard that the nobles and knights of this city were wiped out by Dark Elves.”

“In truth, we don’t know the exact details either.”

Daruk began explaining the situation.

About three weeks ago, a few traveling merchants witnessed the corpses of beast hunters on a road west of the city.

Their steel weapons had been cleanly severed, a clear sign of a Magical Beast, and not just an ordinary one, but an exceptionally powerful creature. The merchants immediately rushed back to the city to report this to City Hall.

If it had been a minor Magical Beast, that would have been one thing, but a beast with predator origins was far beyond the ability of regular beast hunters.

Moreover, it wasn’t far, barely a day’s journey from the city, so two of Kalamaf’s knights were sent out to subjugate it. However, three days passed, and they did not return.

If two knights weren’t enough, it meant a larger force was necessary.

The head of the noble house ruling the city dispatched his younger brother and son, accompanied by ten knights, to eliminate the threat.

‘This is oddly reminiscent of that time we hunted the monkey-like Magical Beast.’

The only difference was that Turan hadn’t been part of this particular expedition, even the composition of the force felt eerily similar.

“So? What happened after that?”

“But… they, too, never returned…”

The disappearance of two nobles, a devastating loss for a small noble house.

The head of the house, abandoning even the city’s defense, gathered every knight who wasn’t too old or too young to fight and led them westward. A few days later, only one knight returned, battered and barely alive.

He declared that everyone had died, and when asked who had killed them, he uttered a single word: Undead Spirit.

“An Undead Spirit, huh.”

“There’s also a rumor spreading that Dark Elves are slaughtering and eating countless humans in the west. One scholar claimed that if Undead Spirits were involved, it must be the Dark Elves’ doing…”

As a result, rumors quickly spread that an army of Dark Elves would soon descend upon this place to devour all the humans. Many citizens fled, and the city was left in its current state.

“Did you request aid from nearby cities?”

“Well, we’ve sent messengers several times, but all of them were refused. They said they didn’t want to disperse their forces in such troubled times.”

Some of the nearby noble houses were even blood relatives of the deceased lord, yet they too were reluctant.

They had promised to send help once the situation calmed down a bit.

It was essentially the same as a rejection.

"They're scared."

After all, what use was gaining a city for free if it meant dying in the process?

With rumors of a Dark Elf army approaching, even a single knight would be too valuable to lose.

Turan tilted his head slightly and let out a small sigh.

“I understand the situation. However, I don’t think I’m capable of handling this-”

Just as Turan was about to voice his refusal, Daruk, who had been seated across from him, suddenly stood up and threw himself to the floor beside him.

“Please! I beg you, become the lord of this city!”

Even so, it was not something Turan could accept.

Becoming the lord of this city essentially meant binding himself to it.

A lord of a noble house was not to leave their main estate unless a war with another house or a similarly significant event demanded it.

This was because no one could predict when a formidable enemy might invade and devastate the city.

Turan recalled his time aboard the Blue Marlin.

The pressure he had felt back then, responsible for the lives of a single ship and its mere dozens of crew members…

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

He didn’t want to promise responsibility for something he knew he could not shoulder.

It wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

As he was about to express this sentiment, Daruk, with tears streaming down his wrinkled face, said something completely unexpected.

“These helpless sheep need a shepherd. I beg you, have mercy!”

To compare nobles to shepherds and commoners to sheep...

It was a metaphor Turan had heard from his mother as a child, one that had been deeply etched into a corner of his consciousness, yet he had never encountered it again throughout all his travels, until now.

Striving to suppress the disturbance this caused within him, Turan asked,

“Is that comparison a common saying around here?”

“Wh-what do you mean, sir?”

“That nobles are shepherds and commoners are sheep.”

“I’ve lived here my entire life, so I don’t know much about other regions, but in the Gray Zone, this metaphor is often used. Nobles are shepherds, knights are shepherd dogs, and commoners are sheep. Sheep obediently graze and follow where the shepherd dogs guide them, while the shepherd dogs protect the sheep and obey the shepherd…”

Daruk explained that the Gray Zone, as its name suggested, was a rocky region unsuitable for farming. Many people raised sheep on the sparse grasslands scattered throughout the area.

Over time, the metaphor had naturally taken root.

After hearing this much, Turan was halfway to certainty.

His mother must have been from this region, or at the very least, someone who had visited and stayed here.

It was a metaphor he had never heard before, not even around Hisaril Hill where he had grown up, nor during his interactions with the nomads of the Enril Desert, who raised large flocks of sheep.

“Then, have you ever seen someone like this? Her name is Bije. It might not be her real name. About twenty years ago, she would’ve been in her late teens or early twenties.”

Turan took out the portrait of his mother he always carried in his bag and showed it to Daruk. The old man studied it carefully before shaking his head.

“I’m afraid I don’t recognize her. I’m sorry. But if you’d like, I can distribute this portrait across the city to see if anyone else does.”

As he said this, the old man looked up at Turan with moist, aged eyes.

The meaning behind that gaze was clear.

If Turan wanted to pursue his goal, the city would at least need to survive.

Turan hesitated, then let out a sigh.

“As I said earlier, I cannot become the lord of this city. But I can act as a protector.”

“A protector, sir?”

“I’ll stay here temporarily and protect the city. Only until the threat from the west is dealt with, or a suitable lord is found for the city.”

“A savior has come to our city! We are saved!”

“The noble descendant of the gods is with us, so let us not fear-!”

In less than an hour, an official announcement was made throughout the city of Kalamaf, declaring that a new noble had arrived to protect them.

The ambiguous phrasing, that a savior, not a lord, had come, was intended to reassure the citizens without revealing that this arrangement was merely temporary.

A welcome ceremony was even held in the plaza in front of City Hall. Despite the lack of time and resources, the event looked surprisingly well-prepared, a testament to the officials’ desperate efforts.

During this time, no one dared to question whether Turan was truly a noble or, if he was, how powerful he was.

For one, there was no way to verify such claims, and even attempting to test his abilities could risk offending him.

However, the perspective of the citizens watching from a distance was naturally a bit different.

“Is he really… the real deal?”

“To be honest, he doesn’t look all that different.”

“Well, he’s as handsome as one of the Preah gods, I’ll give him that.”

“And what good is that? It’s not like Magical Beasts are going to run away just because of his face.”

Standing in the hastily arranged ceremony, Turan could feel the skeptical gazes of the citizens directed at him.

Perhaps thinking their voices wouldn’t carry over the distance, some even openly muttered sarcastic remarks without restraint.

Yet, despite their biting words, their eyes revealed something else, anxiety and a defensive instinct.

The citizens didn’t want to be let down again.

After already losing the lord who had once protected them, the idea that this unknown young man could be a fraud or might die just as easily would only double their despair.

“H-hey! Why is everyone so quiet?!”

Beside him, Daruk and the other officials, visibly anxious, scolded the citizens as if that would prompt cheers, but it did nothing to change the mood.

Watching this scene, Turan was suddenly reminded of the awe-inspiring lightning storm once conjured by the head of House Arabion.

At the time, he had thought it impressive but somewhat pointless. Now, he realized just how meaningful such displays could be.

Nobles were nobles because they demonstrated why they were worthy of that title. Showing the strength of their protector was critically important to instill trust.

‘Should I give it a try? After all, there’s not a single wizard in this city…’

Turan thought back to the actors who had played knights in the theaters of House Berg during his stay there.

Even with magic power that was negligible compared to a noble’s, they had performed dazzling flame tricks and convincingly acted as mighty wizards.

How had they managed that?

As flames began to rise from his hand, the plaza fell into momentary silence.

Some feared that the noble had heard their mocking remarks and was about to unleash his wrath. Others were thrilled, thinking that the youthful noble truly possessed the power to protect them.

But the show Turan intended to put on was just beginning.

The first step was to lower the temperature of the fire.

If the temperature dropped too much, the flames would become invisible, so maintaining the proper balance was critical.

Having practiced this before, Turan executed it without difficulty.

The next step was to expand the cooled flames upward.

The resulting flames, weaker than even the torches carried by commoners and laughable to anyone with the skill of a knight, would have been unimpressive in terms of quality.

However, none of the citizens at the ceremony were wizards, so no one was aware of that fact.

“A-ah…”

“O… Ooooooh!”

“Look at the fire! The fire!”

What Turan lacked in the intensity of the flames, he more than made up for with the sheer quantity of magic power he could exert.

The result of focusing his immense power on amplifying the scale of the weak flames was nothing short of extraordinary.

Piercing through the biting snowstorm swirling around the plaza, the sky hundreds of meters above burned a bright crimson.