The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard-Chapter 131: Old Friend (1)

While moving east from the snowy region, Turan first checked exactly what state the librarian was in.

This was because he was concerned about how the librarian had mentioned feeling powerless, perhaps due to being far from the library.

Of course, since they had neither the ability to handle spirits nor knowledge about them, their method had to be crude.

After repeating primitive experiments by having him enter and exit the jewel box several times, the conclusion drawn was simple.

The librarian had now become a spirit completely dependent on the jewel box, and in the process had lost most of the powers he could use when connected to the library.

For example, this included abilities like identifying bloodlines that he had used in the past.

"Sorry I can’t be of help."

The librarian spoke with his usual indifferent and bored attitude, but he showed subtle signs of apology by avoiding eye contact and glancing away.

Turan smiled and comforted him.

"It’s fine, you’ve already helped me a lot before."

Of course, this didn’t mean the librarian had become useless.

Thanks to still retaining records of all the books that had existed in Orem’s library.

"So you’re saying that among Silver Sun’s unknown bloodlines, two were Guardian and Healer?"

"Probably. According to the records, he often called himself a ’protector’, and there are anecdotes of wounds healing when he laid hands on the injured."

On the carriage pulled by Bize, Turan analyzed the ancient gods’ bloodlines together with the librarian sitting in the air opposite him.

When he recited the librarian’s words so others could hear too, Solif, sitting beside him, whistled.

"I never saw any of those stories even though I’ve searched through all the archives in our house out of interest in history."

"Then it was probably deliberately concealed. To eliminate clues that could complete the type, or what you call bloodlines."

The reason why was roughly guessable.

Probably they were wary of nobles independently completing the god’s bloodlines again.

The relatively well-known Night Hunter’s bloodlines weren’t particularly concerning since two had already perished.

"So Silver Sun’s bloodlines were Sun combining Pyromaniac and Illusion, plus Guardian and Healer... Solif, do you have any relatives with those two bloodlines?"

"Don’t think so. My grandfather has the Sun bloodline and grandmother was a commoner concubine. On my mother’s side, grandfather was an Earth Keeper and grandmother had the Sun bloodline. Don’t know much beyond that."

"That is rather ambiguous."

Like in Turan’s case, there could be variables in the commoner grandmother’s bloodline, but if not, it seemed far from Silver Sun’s bloodlines.

Were they trying to replace the two bloodlines of Guardian and Healer with the power held by the god’s soul?

Then, Meisa, who had been listening quietly, spoke softly.

"Compared to that, mine is more certain. Father had Storm and History, mother had the Artificer bloodline."

"The name of the lightning-controlling bloodline among Storm bloodlines-"

"Was Thunder Sage. A name forgotten in modern times."

While listening to the librarian explain quietly from the side, Turan took out a small notebook and charcoal to write down:

[Silver Sun = Pyromaniac + Illusion + Guardian + Healer] Experience more tales on novelbuddy

[Thunder Lord = Thunder Sage + Air Mage + Artificer + History]

[Night Hunter = Tracker + Hunter + Shadow + Alchemist]

[Rage of Bitter Cold = Berserker + Frost...]

When he wrote down others like the Earth Mother revered as the progenitor of the Earth Keeper bloodline and the Limping Goddess revered as the progenitor of the Artificer bloodline, quite a long list was created.

Solif pointed at the Thunder Lord part and said.

"At this rate, couldn’t Meisa just get all four of a god’s bloodlines herself? Assuming additional ones awaken like with Turan."

"No way."

"No, you never know. You and I are bodies chosen by the gods... damn, why don’t I have anything like this?"

At Solif’s praise that ended in self-deprecation, Meisa shook her head and looked at Turan.

"It’s just an unlikely possibility anyway. If we’re talking about that, Turan is much better. He already has four bloodlines guaranteed."

"Well, I’m guessing the combination is as important as the number of bloodlines, so I’m not sure."

According to their research so far, there was no Prea god-folk with the same bloodlines as Turan.

They still didn’t know whether this combination was possible with a god’s soul, or if it had something to do with obtaining all four bloodlines.

Next, Turan was going to write about the Life Scholar but gave up thinking that writing it could draw attention just like speaking it, and instead wrote down the owner of his sacred artifact.

[Drowned God = Wave Handler + Mimicker + ? + ?]

Seeing this, Meisa pointed at the words "Wave Handler" and said.

"This, could it be referring to the Stream bloodline?"

"Probably not. From what I heard from the labyrinth’s gate before, one characteristic of the Wave Handler bloodline was exceptional physical ability."

In contrast, the Stream bloodline that handles water and other fluids wasn’t particularly suited for close combat.

Having obtained similar information while investigating this independently in the past, Solif had even gone looking for pirates-turned-nobles with excellent physical abilities, like Tasan of the Red Whale pirates.

"Sir, do you know anything about this?"

At Turan’s question, the librarian thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I have no idea. I can only know the knowledge from books that have entered the library."

It seemed records about that god hadn’t reached Orem City.

Clicking his tongue in disappointment while organizing the gods’ bloodlines, Turan voiced a thought that suddenly occurred to him.

"You know, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but aren’t the bloodline names really inconsistent?"

"What do you mean?"

"Even among great houses, some combine two bloodlines into one name like Storm or Sun while others don’t, and some bloodlines describe phenomena while others describe the people who use the power..."

The Sun bloodline’s components, Pyromaniac and Illusion, were prime examples.

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The former refers to someone who enjoys setting fires while the latter names the ability itself.

When he first learned from Keorn in the past, he had noticed this and asked, but the old knight said he only knew what he had been taught and didn’t know the origins of the names.

Hearing this, Meisa and Solif looked at each other and made expressions suggesting they found it hard to understand too.

"Is that... so?"

"I just accepted it since everyone called them that."

Unlike Turan, the two didn’t seem to feel any particular sense of dissonance with this naming system.

While tilting his head at the strange disconnect, the librarian briefly explained about it.

"Actually, Pyromaniac was sometimes called the Flame bloodline, and Illusion was called the Illusionist bloodline. I don’t know exactly how certain titles became established... hmm, I should probably go in now. Getting tired."

Saying that, the librarian yawned lightly and then seeped into the jewel box as smoke before anyone could respond.

This too was one of the changes that occurred when the librarian became dependent on the jewel box.

Feeling fatigue when active outside for long periods.

After looking down at where the librarian had disappeared for a moment, Turan raised his head to look at Bize flying in the sky.

Not only had the wing beats weakened, but intense fatigue was transmitted through the soul bond.

"Let’s land and rest soon too. We’re well beyond Nagin house territory now, so this should be safe enough."

==

After landing on a small hill in northern Dakein Plains, Bize fell into an exhausted sleep almost like fainting.

It was actually quite a forced march.

They had flown for several hours to Orem City, rested for half a day, then immediately flew north for a day and a half, briefly rested, and flew for a full day.

Moreover, this wasn’t just flying alone, but with a large metal carriage and three people hanging from its feet.

If Bize didn’t have magical power at the level of a decent high noble, and if Turan and Meisa hadn’t taken turns assisting the flight with wind magic, it would have been an impossible feat.

After staying one night at a campsite, Turan’s group took turns carrying the completely exhausted Bize as they walked east on foot.

Fortunately, thanks to using tracking magic to find and avoid traces of people, they didn’t encounter anyone.