The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Chapter 34 Tempting Prey

After the gathering ended and returning to his quarters, Turan stroked the black eagle's head while lost in thought.

The second-in-command of Zahar, someone who looked so similar that Lord Karl thought of him immediately upon seeing Turan's face...

He wasn't someone Turan could just go meet right away.

Being second-in-command of a great house meant he was an even more powerful wizard than Meisa.

If Turan turned out to be some blemish that needed to be erased or something similar, he would surely be crushed like an insect the moment his existence was discovered.

'Still... it's not bad that I've found one definite lead.'

At minimum, he now had someone to question once he became stronger than he was now.

There was no need to rush.

He was still young, barely more than a child as a wizard, and had plenty of time.

Afterward, Turan spent several days at the Dirmin palace.

It was proper etiquette to stay for a few days when receiving hospitality.

Time passed quickly as teaching letters to the black eagle was quite entertaining.

"I am a black eagle."

[I am a black eagle]

"Good, you wrote it well."

[Good you wrote it well]

"I didn't tell you to copy that. And you made mistakes."

By the third day, the black eagle finally became able to compose sentences with letters.

Though it still frequently made mistakes when sentences got even a little longer, it could be considered better than most country bumpkins.

"Have you decided on a name?"

[Not yet]

"'Not yet' isn't your name, is it?"

Instead of writing an answer, the black eagle shook its head as if to say don't make unfunny jokes.

Just as Turan burst out laughing at that sight, he asked with a serious face.

"Then can you tell me now? Why you chose me."

At Turan's question, the black eagle tilted its head before slowly writing letters on the ground.

It felt like a person carefully choosing their words.

[You good your inside me match perfect]

"Did you mean to say 'good'?"

When Turan pronounced it and wrote the letter on the ground, the black eagle clicked its beak and nodded.

"And there are many other mistakes too. We still need to study more."

Watching the creature make a dejected expression, Turan analyzed what he had just heard.

Originally, there was a certain limit to how magically a wizard could bond with magical beasts.

The limit was proportional to one's magical power, so the stronger or more numerous the magical beasts you bonded with, the fewer you could bond with afterward.

If there hadn't been such a limit, beast tamers would have long ago dominated the world by bonding with hundreds or thousands of magical beasts.

However, there were several problems with assuming Turan's limit was particularly wide.

First was the fact that heirs of great houses had come to see this creature.

There was no way such people's magical power would be weaker than Turan's.

Additionally, though it had escaped before, it had been sold once, which meant it had bonded then too.

In other words, there was something different from the limit.

Perhaps it was due to his innate bloodline, mixed between Zahar and another house...

Though he explained this theory, it seemed even the black eagle didn't know exactly what that 'perfect match' feeling was.

While they were in the middle of such conversation, a booming laugh was heard from behind.

"Hey, Turan! What are you doing in the yard so pathetically with that bird?"

After the first gathering, the Gashub couple seemed to consider Turan as merely an insignificant small fry who got lucky, showing no further interest.

But unlike them, the fallen noble Dolf Meren started acting friendly and becoming a nuisance by visiting his quarters.

If he just came to hang out, Turan could deal with him appropriately and send him away, but the problem was that he kept trying to force physical intimacy, saying they should build friendship as fellow physical nobles.

It was obvious he didn't really want to become friends but rather wanted to enjoy a sense of superiority by dominating in areas where he had the upper hand.

Anyway, dealing with that annoying fellow would end today.

When Turan stood up and turned around, Dolf tilted his head at his attire.

"Hm? Are you going somewhere?"

Turan was not only fully dressed but also wore a long white overcoat worn by locals here and had a bag slung at his side.

There was a long metal rod newly attached to the side of the bag, and the black eagle, which had hopped up to perch on it, glared at Dolf.

"I'm leaving today."

At Turan's visit, the nomadic tribe's people were wary at first, but seeing he was an individual without proper armament except for having a large black eagle, they lowered their guard.

The forearm-length dagger on his back was considered more of a daily necessity than armament.

"Welcome, traveler. May the kindness I bestow return in full. But is that black eagle perhaps a magical beast?"

"How could it be? It's just a particularly large one."

Turan calmly lied and was invited to the old chieftain's tent for a meal.

The nomads also seemed to be the type who considered it dishonorable to treat guests poorly, so he was able to enjoy quite a luxurious feast.

Though of course, it couldn't compare to meals at noble houses in either quantity or quality.

"Where does brother come from?"

"I came from Komad."

"The big city by the sea? You seem young to have come so far alone."

Of course, Turan had only lightly run for two or three hours at most, but for commoners, it was a distance that would take several days of walking without rest.

Afterward, the chieftain kept asking detailed questions about where he was going and what kind of person he was, even making an offer asking if he wouldn't consider staying and marrying one of the tribe's young women.

Wondering why he asked, it seemed this tribe had unusually few young men for its size.

There could be several imagined reasons for this.

Attacks by magical beasts or fierce animals, bandits, or perhaps some kind of natural disaster...

While hard to imagine in the Dakein Plains, it would be difficult to compare Arabion, with its high population density thanks to high productivity, to Zahar, which was based in the vast Enril Desert on equal terms.

The difference in area that one noble or knight could protect would be several times greater.

After vaguely deflecting the chieftain's meddling and finishing the meal, Turan again announced he would depart southwest.

"You'll walk the desert at night in this winter? You'll freeze to death! It's madness. Stay here tonight."

Though the old man said this, Turan refused and set out.

It wasn't particularly because he thought the chieftain might secretly send in a young woman in the middle of the night.

Rather...

"Come out, Mr. Dolf."

As he was leaving the oasis area, Turan muttered quietly while looking behind him.

Shortly after, Dolf Meren emerged from behind a rock with an awkward expression.

"Oh my, you knew?"

Thanks to the holy relic, Turan could precisely detect the location of nobles or knights within ten-plus meters, or tens to hundreds of meters when extending his senses.

And according to those senses, Dolf had been tailing him continuously since he left House Dirmin.

This was why he had walked all the way here without riding the black eagle.

While flying would shake him off immediately, he wouldn't be able to know what purpose the fellow was following him for.

He had planned to run away if there was any sign of him bringing companions, but even extending his senses to hundreds of meters, he couldn't feel the presence of anyone else.

"I just thought it might be dangerous for a young friend to travel alone. This desert is quite dangerous..."

"Are you after my magical power?"

As he hated dragging out conversations, Turan immediately got to the point.

Indeed, hearing this, Dolf immediately took off his mask and grinned.

"You knew and still came out to a place like this? I don't know if you're brave or just brainless."

Robbery and murder for magical power.

This was considered an act more taboo than cannibalism or infant murder in noble society.

Because it reminded them of the fact that for nobles, the most tempting prey was not magical beasts but other nobles.

Just having rumors spread about committing such acts was enough for not only the perpetrator but their entire house to be ostracized by all nearby nobles until their bloodline was cut off before long.

The fact that noble houses emphasized guest hospitality could also be considered an extension of this sentiment.

"Now I see why nobles hate fallen nobles so much."

"Heh, you talk down to me despite being in the same situation. No, aren't you even worse than me?"

Dolf looked down on Turan and spoke mockingly.

"Judging by your strong magical power but pathetically weak strength, you must be from the primitive Guardian bloodline? One that's lost even the power to strengthen the body, only defense remaining. I don't know how you built up such power, but it's wasted on a worthless person like you, so quietly hand it over."

Since he was of Guardian bloodline but had poor physical abilities, he would be easy to defeat in combat, yet his magical power was actually slightly stronger, so the reward would be sufficient.

Moreover, being a fallen noble, he would have no relatives to investigate his death or make it public.

Where else could there be such tempting prey?

Turan looked at Dolf approaching with leisurely steps before turning his gaze to the sky.

On a moonless night, only the faintest starlight illuminated the desert.

"Stay up there."

The black eagle chirped and quickly flew up into the sky.

In the moment Dolf flinched, thinking he might try to escape on the bird, Turan's body disappeared into the pitch-black darkness.

This side also considered the opponent tempting prey.