The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

After leaving Kalamaf City, Turan flew using the old imperial road leading west on the ground as a reference.

Shortly after, he saw the building where the Arabion army had been stationed during the battle with the dark elves.

'They didn't destroy that one.'

Given the number of wizards, it wouldn't have been particularly difficult, but they must have thought there was no need to go to such trouble.

Perhaps it would serve as a rest stop for travelers passing between the Grey Zone and the mid-west from now on?

Though it would more likely collapse before then, since it was a building roughly constructed with magic.

Passing beyond this and continuing westward, the grey rocky mountains ended, giving way to land where forests and plains harmoniously blended.

This was the area commonly called the Mid-Western Forest Region, where the largest and highest quality trees grew in the west.

It was near a city on the western side of this region where Turan had met Asiz in the past.

'There really isn't a single living person around.'

Even after spreading search magic set to detect humans over several dozen kilometers in all directions, nothing was caught.

The cities and villages sparsely visible on the ground below were all in ruins.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say death had settled over this entire land.

'Were the dark elves truly wolves incapable of coexisting with humans?'

According to what they learned from interrogating the captured dark elf, the reason for this massive invasion was revenge for the murder of the Undead King's most beloved youngest daughter and son-in-law while they were sightseeing aboveground.

Since humans ruled this land, it must have been humans' doing, so they tried to satisfy their grudge by killing their fellow beings.

Though it seemed utterly ridiculous as a reason for countless humans and dark elves to die, orders from the royal family who handled the undead were essentially law in their society, so it couldn't be helped.

In that respect, it was unpleasantly similar to human society where wizards' orders were absolute.

'The daughter and son-in-law must have been those two who tried to kill Asiz.'

Turan thought there was about a fifty-fifty chance this fact was known within Arabion.

It would depend on how well House Berk had kept it under wraps.

Of course, he didn't feel particularly guilty or ashamed about it.

After all, it wouldn't have been right to let Asiz die there and leave those two dark elves to hunt humans for sport.

Though the people who were sacrificed here might think differently...

'May you rest peacefully in the celestial palace.'

Turan prayed for the people below.

Whether the gods were really in the celestial palace, whether they would accept human souls, he couldn't be sure anymore...

But if not, if the dead had nowhere to rest, that would be too miserable.

==

Unlike when flying over the Enril Desert before, there was no need to hurry, so Turan moved at a leisurely pace while letting Bize rest adequately.

They flew only during daytime when visibility was clear and the sun provided warmth.

When the bird tired, he would walk directly with it at his side, and at night they would find an empty village to rest in.

One of the major changes from his previous travels was meals.

Thanks to the large capacity pouch received from Meisa containing various dried foods, cooking utensils, and spices, he could now make fairly decent meals even on the road.

"Is it tasty, Bize?"

[Too salty!]

"Stop complaining and eat. It's not like you're doing the cooking."

[I could cook better with my feet!]

They progressed smoothly and safely, occasionally arguing with Bize who claimed it could do better than Turan even cooking with its feet.

On the fourth day of traveling like this.

Turan realized this was near the forest where he had met Asiz in the past.

Going a bit further, he could see Maderi City, the place he had warned about having a hidden dark elf city.

Naturally, this place too was invaded and reduced to ruins.

"I wonder if anything would have been different if I had warned them more strongly..."

Though Bize tilted its head beside him as if asking what he meant, Turan just smiled and brushed it off.

Certainly, nothing would have changed even if he had insisted more strongly then.

The dark elves' offensive had been faster and more powerful than anyone could have anticipated.

Things might have been different if the nobles here had gathered to respond, but who would have known before being directly attacked?

After passing Maderi, another day of flying.

Just as the western forest region was ending and somewhat uneven hills were spreading out, people started appearing again.

They had arrived at the western prairie region that Turan had once thought incredibly prosperous, but was actually considered the frontier when looking at the world as a whole.

After quickly passing several cities he had avoided before as bothersome, it wasn't long before Orem City came into view.

'...Was this place always so small?'

Though it had certainly seemed like the place with the most people gathered in the world when he saw it before.

Well, at that time Turan had only seen small villages with dozens of people and small cities with a thousand people at most.

Then suddenly seeing a city with tens of thousands of people living in it, how large must it have seemed?

But looking at it now, Orem City was at most similar in size to Kalamaf or slightly larger.

Having ruled as the savior and master of a city of that size, this city now looked endlessly small to Turan's eyes.

"Good work, Bize. Want to rest here while I make a quick visit?"

[Won't take long?]

"It won't. Um, probably. If nothing happens."

Perhaps remembering times when he had said this but taken long anyway, Bize tilted its head with a doubtful expression before writing to make something delicious for dinner later and flying off.

Turan lightly waved goodbye then entered Orem City.

'Ah, it's that police officer from back then.'

The one who had told Turan he was dirty and should wash was guarding the east gate.

Well, it hadn't been years since he came, so how much could the people have changed in that time?

Since he was using concealment magic, the officer didn't even notice Turan passing right in front of him.

Having entered the city gate without being detected by anyone, Turan headed straight for the library visible in the distance.

Using concealment ability actively now made him realize anew how unreasonable this power was.

Probably even if he were to break into the central mansion in this state and slaughter the Baltas family, they wouldn't even be able to resist.

But walking around the city interior while concealed, the atmosphere somehow felt a bit unsettled.

'Did another magical beast appear?'

Turan briefly considered dropping his concealment to ask someone but just continued approaching the library.

It would be troublesome if someone recognized him.

As always, passing by the knight standing guard in front, Turan grabbed the lock securing the library door.

After blowing wind into the keyhole a few times to understand the internal structure, he precisely aligned the internal cylinder using psychokinetic magic and unlocked it.

'Success.'

Originally, even using psychokinetic magic, without knowing the internal structure one could only crush the insides rather than delicately unlock it.

But using the storm bloodline power, it was possible to unlock the lock by blowing in wind and sensing its flow.