The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

When Turan muttered to himself, Meisa answered, and immediately a knight brought over a dwarf and instructed him to pull only the lever part of the magical device he was holding.

When the creature pulled the lever, there was a hissing sound as steam erupted and a metal piece was fired.

"Oh."

"So it really only fires when dwarves pull it."

"What kind of magic is this?"

"I wonder if it would work with a severed hand?"

Contrary to one creative noble's idea, it couldn't be fired that way, perhaps because it could detect when a hand was severed.

They tried various other experiments afterward, but the results weren't very promising.

The metal pieces fired from the dwarves' magical devices weren't simple pieces of iron but something made through some special process, and their internal structure couldn't be examined because the moment they tried to take them apart, steam would explode and ruin the components.

Moreover, after firing several shots, the liquid inside would run out and it couldn't be fired anymore, and even the dwarves didn't know how to refill it.

In other words, it was a disposable tool.

"You said the Undead King gave you these? Where did he get them from?"

They tortured the few surviving dark elves to question them, but they didn't know the details either.

They only knew that the Undead King, who had originally been just one of the underground kingdom's royalty, had obtained tremendous necromancy skills one day after acquiring a silver crown, and while fleeing, he had obtained these magical devices and provided them to the dwarves to make them his allies.

Hearing this, one noble clicked his tongue with a regretful expression.

"If we could make and use these ourselves, they would have been quite useful."

Turan recalled the natural laws he had learned from the librarian in the past while observing the device being used several times.

Hadn't they said that water increases in volume when it becomes steam...

'Could it be that the metal pieces are propelled when that liquid inside turns to steam?'

Though he couldn't understand how pulling a single lever could cause that, he thought that might be the principle behind it.

Some of the more educated nobles of Arabion came to similar conclusions, but no one knew how to recreate it.

After organizing all the information they had extracted from threatening the prisoners, Meisa asked those who had returned from searching deeper in the ravine.

"Did you find any books or documents inside?"

"No."

"There were quite a few human bones. Most of them were old though."

"Then we can clean up."

Understanding the meaning behind those words, the dwarves and dark elves trembled.

==

Fortunately, since the rock at the ravine entrance would automatically open when someone tried to leave from inside, they didn't need to wait a full day.

When they came out into the open area, Turan could feel his newly acquired sense for detecting wind becoming fully active.

"Whew..."

"Finally can breathe, it was too stuffy in there."

"Who wouldn't agree?"

A few Arabion nobles grumbled, seemingly having felt something similar.

Turan spoke to Meisa who was walking beside him.

"Then I'll stop by the tent to get Bize and head out first."

"That would be good."

Meisa, who wasn't happy about Turan building relationships with other Arabion nobles, immediately agreed.

Then, she added words that left some room for possibility.

"We'll see each other again, right?"

"Next time, I'll definitely repay the debt I owe you. And..."

Turan hesitated for a moment, wondering if it might be too meddlesome, before speaking up.

After all, friends who exchange favors should be able to express their concerns.

"While it's good to keep your body light for flying, you should still eat something. I'm worried about you."

Hearing those words, Meisa gave a bitter smile.

"I'll think about it."

Turan was certain she wouldn't listen to his advice, but he couldn't force her if she didn't want to.

After parting with Meisa and arriving at the tent with quick steps, Turan saw Bize and Keorn engaged in some strange game involving wing movements and hand gestures.

"Looks fun, sir."

"Oh, you're back! Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine. But..."

[Turan! Keorn fun!]

Though she had seemed disapproving until just before he left, Bize now appeared completely absorbed in playing with the old knight.

"The subjugation went well, and there weren't many casualties. I think I should leave now."

"Already? At least have a meal..."

"This isn't the situation for that."

When he briefly mentioned what had happened inside the ravine, Keorn let out a small groan.

Certainly, staying here any longer would only make the atmosphere terribly worse.

There must be quite a few people who were dissatisfied with Turan right now.

"Then it can't be helped..."

"What will you do from now on, sir?"

"I'll have to think about it after I return. I'll probably retire and spend my time doing odd jobs. My joints are starting to ache, and I've traveled enough."

Looking at him now, Keorn did appear noticeably older than when they first met.

Perhaps it was due to the time spent traveling and participating in the subjugation.

Turan fell silent for a moment before offering words of blessing whose meaning even he wasn't sure of.

"Live long."

"I will."

Fortunately, Keorn's smiling face looked a bit younger than before.

On the way back, Turan activated his holy relic's senses to check if anyone was around.

Bize tilted her head, showing signs of wondering why he wasn't riding her.

"Just a moment, I need to check something."

==

After calming her down, Turan made a light gesture to create wind.

Like when he had swept away those vagrants in the past.

But the wind that arose this time was completely different from then.

While back then he could only strengthen the wind's force and slightly adjust its direction, now he could freely control the wind like his own fingers and wrap it around his body.

Moreover, the magical power consumption was perhaps about one-tenth of what it used to be.

Turan was certain.

That he had gained the bloodline ability to control wind.

"Somehow I thought this might happen..."

With a troubled feeling, he gestured and the wind rose, completely flattening the surrounding grassland.

In the current era, the ability to control wind was the exclusive privilege of the Arabion with the Storm bloodline.

In other words, this meant that Turan's parents were descendants of both House Zahar and House Arabion, two mortal enemy families.