The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard-Chapter 120: The Missing Librarian (2)

What Turan wanted to know was how House Baraha was searching for Solif.

Considering he was last spotted in the southern seas, they might expect Labitas here to be one of his hiding places.

"Let’s see? Was there anything unusual? Ah, someone from House Baraha in the east did come by recently."

Surprisingly, Rida mentioned the information Turan wanted as if she had been waiting to.

When Solif visibly flinched beside him, Meisa jabbed him in the ribs to calm him down.

"What business brought them from such a distant place?"

"It seems an heir to a great house betrayed their house and ran away. They said there’s a high possibility he’s hiding somewhere in the southern archipelago, so they issued wanted notices to all houses adjacent to those seas, saying he absolutely must not be killed but captured alive so his mana can be absorbed."

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"To capture rather than kill a great house’s heir - that’s beyond ordinary houses."

Even just the forces of Baraha nobles who had come to capture Solif were enough to easily annihilate several ordinary houses.

Even just killing him would clearly require more than ten houses combining forces.

Even then, the possibility of being picked off one by one was greater.

"In exchange, they’re offering quite excellent magic devices just for reporting his location, and if you succeed in capturing and handing him over, they’ll reward you with a relic no less. They’re probably targeting great houses with this one. Are you not interested?"

"Not particularly interested... Do they have portraits or anything?"

"I did receive some but haven’t looked at them. I can get them for you if needed."

"No, I was just curious."

Turan glanced at Solif while answering.

He had thought Baraha would pursue him secretly, only contacting a few great houses rather than openly like before, but it seemed they had issued a full-scale wanted notice.

At this rate, it would be difficult to act with his original face in areas adjacent to the southern seas.

’Should I let Solif use this mask for now?’

While that would make him unable to read bloodlines, that was an issue that could be solved by briefly borrowing it when needed.

While thinking this, Turan suddenly remembered something and asked another question.

"Were there any stories about me?"

"You? Did you do something?"

"Yes, I did annihilate a pirate group in the southern seas."

Considering that pirate group’s true identity as a front for House Baraha, the possibility that Turan was known to have saved Solif was not small.

However, hearing this, Rida shook her head with an incredulous laugh.

"How many pirates are there in the southern seas! Such rumors don’t even reach us. That’s for subordinates to handle."

"I see."

This meant House Baraha had only put Solif, not Turan, on their wanted list.

’Did they just judge me as a small fry unrelated to Solif? I’m grateful if they did, but...’

Well, at most only Tasan of the Red Whale pirates would know how powerful a mage Turan was.

If he didn’t say anything, from Baraha’s perspective Turan was just one of many wandering nobles, and they might have thought it just a coincidence that their pursuit force was annihilated while failing to capture Solif.

Of course, the exact details would probably require searching Baraha’s main house to know, but just learning he wasn’t wanted was quite a valuable discovery.

’Come to think of it, I should visit the Red Whale pirates later too. Need to check if they properly returned the people who were on that island.’

Though the route wasn’t ideal, it seemed fine to visit them after stopping by the library.

==

After chatting a bit more, Turan expressed his intention to leave to Rida and Osel.

They said they planned to stay around this hot spring area for a while, and during that time it would be troublesome if they came across wanted posters with Solif’s face.

Rida felt uncomfortable as if they were driving Turan’s group away, but Osel seemed pleased that the uninvited guests were leaving.

In any case, this meeting had revealed one important fact.

That Labitas likely wasn’t in the grasp of a divine being.

Afterward, instead of immediately flying away on Bize, Turan’s group moved northwest through the wetlands on foot while focusing on magic practice and health recovery like before.

When he judged enough flesh had been gained, Turan implemented his second plan for Meisa’s health recovery.

"Come on, push harder!"

"Aaaagh-!"

At Turan’s command, Meisa screamed while straining to push her legs with a bright red face.

What she was doing was the secret method of physical training that Turan had once done under Haram.

She was performing this with some techniques that Solif had learned in House Baraha incorporated, with Turan and Solif substituting for the training magic devices needed.

One supporting her back while the other firmly pressed down on her legs.

When she exhaled roughly from exhaustion, Turan firmly ordered as Haram had done to him in the past.

"It’s not time to rest yet, one more time!"

"I really can’t anymore..."

"I’m telling you, doing one more when you’re really exhausted helps. Quickly!"

"Aaaaaaagh-!"

Though this physical training was truly torturous to the point of death like it had been for Turan in the past, the effects were certain.

Due to nobles’ physical characteristic of naturally pursuing ideal forms under mana’s influence, as soon as flesh filled in where there had been only bones and skin, it immediately transformed into muscle, making her body sturdy.

Of course, since her skeletal frame itself wasn’t very thick, reaching a healthy build like Haram or Solif would be impossible, but even reaching the level of an ordinary adult woman would allow her to display quite useful physical abilities backed by powerful mana.

After dedicating themselves to Meisa’s rehabilitation while heading north for three to four weeks like this, finally the wetlands ended and wastelands spread out before them.

Seeing the western wasteland region again after quite a while, Turan slightly squinted his eyes and said.

"Let’s go straight through here. I feel a bit uneasy."

"Come to think of it, didn’t you fight some army here?"

"Yeah. Though I didn’t leave any traces... better safe than sorry."

Though by now Baltas’s side had probably won the war, they would have to reach Orem to know for sure.

Turan’s group looked down at the ground while flying over the wasteland region riding the swing pulled by Bize.

"It seems empty overall."

"But seeing people traveling around, the war must be over."

Since Bize also remembered visiting the library before, they were able to reach Orem City directly without getting lost.

"Hey, you there! Wash up before coming in!"

"Oh come on, this much should be fine..."

"Get out quick if you don’t want to get hit!"

Watching a merchant and guard bickering, Turan let out a small sigh of relief.

The atmosphere in Orem City was the same as before.

"This place hasn’t changed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Looks like they won the war. It’s better that the owner didn’t change."

After smoothly passing through the city gates, the three headed straight for the palace where the lord would be.

While Turan had sneaked in alone before, they couldn’t do that this time.

Unless they were going to force their way in, they would need permission.

"Is that the library?"

"That’s right."

"It’s so tall..."

Meisa seemed to be seeing Orem’s library for the first time too, letting out an impressed exclamation.

Soon after arriving at the lord’s mansion, Turan waved at the knight guarding the entrance.

"Hey, it’s been a while. Your name was-"

"Ah, noble ones! Welcome!"

Fortunately, the guard at the entrance was the knight he had first met at the library, so there was no need to show his mana separately.

Following his guidance into the lord’s residence, Turan’s group soon met Orem’s new lord.

"Welcome. So... Turan? I heard about you from Marvin before."

Orem’s new master, Gilon Baltas, was the nephew of the previous lord Lug and the older brother of Marvin who had gone hunting with Turan before.

He said he had inherited the position after Lug lost his life near the end of the previous war.

"I offer my condolences for the previous lord’s passing."

"Thank you. Your consolation seems to ease my grief a little."

Of course, contrary to his words, his face showed no sign of sadness.

Turan didn’t bother asking what had happened to Izella, who had been the previous lord’s daughter.

Whether she was dead or alive, showing interest in her might displease the lord before him.

Unlike the previous lord who had granted entry lightly with the purpose of catching monkey masu, this lord wanted money in exchange for using the library.

Perhaps it was because the territory had been devastated by war.

Since they had more than enough gold and silver anyway, Turan offered a bundle of gold coins to receive permission before heading to the library with the others.

"Welcome, noble ones."

"Here’s the permit."

"Confirmed. Please enter."

After entering while receiving the knight’s polite greeting, Turan called out loudly to the librarian as soon as he confirmed the door was closed.

Since he knew from experience that voices inside wouldn’t leak outside, there was nothing to hold back.

"I’ve returned, Elder!"

"Seems like I can’t see them."

"Me neither. Damn, what a shame. To think we can’t directly see and hear an ancient spirit."

Solif seemed especially disappointed, probably due to his strong interest in ancient tales.

At their gazes urging him to make introductions quickly, Turan shook his head.

"No, I can’t see them right now either. They seem to have gone upstairs for a moment."

Though they usually always stayed on the first floor, perhaps they had found something to look up?

Turan’s group waited for a few minutes on the library’s first floor, but the librarian didn’t appear.

"...Elder?"

Turan’s voice echoed emptily through the library.