The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard-Chapter 87: That Noble’s Presence (1)

From further conversation, it turned out that Tasan’s use of "elder brother" wasn’t some grand concept like sworn brotherhood.

It simply meant that as one person, he placed and respected the other above himself.

In other words, this didn’t establish any lord-vassal relationship requiring mutual obedience and protection.

While it was fine since it meant conceding a point, being called brother by a man nearly a hundred years older was truly bizarre.

Even Tasan, unlike his earlier excited shouts, seemed to have regained some composure, his voice mixed with embarrassment and self-deprecation.

"Anyway, I understand elder brother’s... intentions well, so I’ll take responsibility for returning those people home. Of course, no passage fee needed. Right!"

"Yes, Captain-!"

The officers standing behind unanimously shouted at Tasan’s cry.

Though some seemed to sigh over the costs of operating ships here and there, at least they tried not to show such attitudes outwardly.

However, Turan shook his head and objected to Tasan’s words.

"No, I’d feel better giving you something."

If pirates couldn’t be eliminated from the South Sea, it would be better to have decent pirates gain power.

But if Tasan returned the kidnapped people home without compensation, the Red Whale pirates’ finances would suffer accordingly, and naturally their influence would shrink.

Moreover, if he came later to punish them for not doing the job properly, they could use livelihood as an excuse.

Turan wanted to eliminate even the possibility of such excuses.

"I think the ship we came on should be enough."

Initially he’d planned to use minerals from the island, but thinking about it, compensating with the ship they’d arrived on seemed better.

Though smaller and shabbier than the ship he’d sold in the North Sea before, it was still a sailing ship.

Tasan strongly refused, saying it wasn’t necessary, but when a seemingly intelligent officer among his subordinates earnestly persuaded him citing financial issues, he soon accepted with a gloomy expression.

"Ahem, while it’s embarrassing to receive payment for doing the right thing, refusing would trample on young elder brother’s face. I’ll do many good deeds to make the ship worthwhile!"

"That’s good enough."

And so ended the strange negotiation where the giver tried to give more and the receiver tried to receive less.

==

After finishing their talk, Turan had the people from the pirate ship disembark to rest on the island.

Those from distant homes might need to make long voyages, so they needed to replenish their strength.

Several of them, mainly women, wanted to follow Turan, saying they weren’t confident about living properly after returning home, but to him traveling alone, ordinary people would just be burdensome baggage.

When he distributed enough money for them to settle anywhere, though tearful, they soon acquiesced.

Turan didn’t just play around during the break.

First, he extracted information about the Cobinus pirates from the pirates brought from Parayan Island.

Thanks to cross-referencing with information from the Red Whale pirates, he learned quite a bit, from organizational charts to defense systems, and the abilities and armaments of the leader and officers.

Meanwhile, whenever he had time, Turan secretly moved around inside the Red Whale pirates’ compound to spy on their internal situation.

He expected they would show behaviors not seen in front of guests when among themselves.

As a result, he could fortunately conclude they weren’t that two-faced.

Of course, some low and mid-ranking pirates harbored dissatisfaction with Tasan’s policies and secretly wanted to enjoy murder and plunder, but at least such attitudes weren’t mainstream.

Rather, if there had been none like this, he would have suspected mind control magic.

Even while spending such busy time, he occasionally participated in drinking sessions Tasan called for fellowship, and thanks to this, he learned one surprising fact.

"Solif came here?"

"Yes! He was truly a man among men."

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

Tasan nodded with a nostalgic expression.

In fact, it was this Red Whale pirate group that had told him about the saltpeter on Parayan Island.

Though at the time, they hadn’t known about the kidnapped miners being used.

"He came looking for my bloodline ability. Said he was looking for someone strong and good at swimming."

Though he was disappointed to find Tasan had just an ordinary historical bloodline, regardless, they became friends and spent several days drinking together.

Turan thought he knew what Solif had been looking for.

One of the bloodlines contained in the Mimicker holy relic was called "Wave Handler."

And according to their conversation then, Solif had learned somewhere that one of the drowned god’s bloodline abilities was outstanding physical ability and swimming skill, so he was searching for their descendants.

Though if descendants had really survived, they would likely have been widely known already, so the direction of his search seemed wrong.

After spending three busy days doing various tasks.

Finally finishing all arrangements, Turan expressed his intention to leave.

"Are you really sure you’ll be alright alone, young elder brother?"

"Yes. Having others along would be more troublesome."

Though Tasan groaned as if thoroughly unconvinced, for Turan, being alone was truly more convenient.

That way he could freely use abilities like stealth and fire spirits.

Before leaving, Turan left both advice and warning for Tasan.

"Let your subordinates know there are some who think differently. I’ll check later if those I protected properly returned home, and if there’s a problem, they’ll make an enemy of a wizard who can defeat the Cobinus pirates alone."

"I’ll keep it in mind."

Tasan answered with a serious attitude.

==

Naturally, since the Cobinus pirates’ territory was where Parayan Island was located, Turan had to go back northwest.

Though it had taken three days by ship, riding Bize, he could return in just hours.

No matter how much he increased speed by blowing wind, the basic speed difference between flying and sailing was enormous.

After confirming the corpses were still left untouched, presumably because news of the Parayan Island pirates’ annihilation hadn’t spread yet, Turan stopped at several islands while heading north to compare his remembered sea charts with his position.

Though there were a few errors, by late evening he could find his first target.

’This is Mikan Island, and that far one is Binatu Island... good, we’re almost there.’

The Cobinus pirates’ base was in three main locations, forming a triangle shape on the map, hence also called the Triplet Islands.

Since Cobinus and the pirate officers usually traveled by ship between these three islands, their location could only be found by directly checking.

Turan flew over one of them, Binatu Island, while activating his holy relic’s senses.

About two hundred pirates, ten knights, one noble...

At first he wondered if it might be Cobinus, but the magical power was too weak for that.

It barely exceeded the minimum threshold for nobility.

Probably one of the top officers.