The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Chapter 117 A Distinguished Guest (1)

After breaking the hug, the three maintained an awkward silence for a moment before deciding to first relieve their travel fatigue.

While Meisa took care of Bize, Turan and Solif soaked in the hot spring.

"Oh, this is amazing... though it would've been better if it was a bit hotter."

Though they were in the hottest pool in this hot spring area, where he had entered with Rida before, even that didn't seem to satisfy Solif.

Well, one of the two bloodlines latent in his body was the power to handle fire.

Just as Turan was born with excellent sense of smell and reflexes, Solif possessed the ability to detect various types of light and resistance to heat.

Though not to an absolute degree, as evident from how Baraha nobles were injured by explosions.

While quietly enjoying the heat with closed eyes, Solif spoke softly from beside him.

"Hey, Turan."

"What?"

"That lady, isn't she completely fallen for you?"

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Just look at her attitude earlier! Well, even I would fall for a man who turned a whole great house upside down to save me if I were a woman."

"That's not it."

According to his experience so far, people feeling so-called 'love' gave off a scent like a beast in heat.

But Turan had never once smelled that kind of scent from Meisa.

Even during the hug earlier, he only felt somewhat complex emotions mixed with joy and sadness.

Not knowing this, Solif spoke with a lecherous smile as if he knew everything.

"Come on, don't be so stiff. You took the risk because you were interested in her too, right?"

"I took the risk of getting on Baraha's bad side when saving you too, but I hope you don't think that was because I was interested in you."

"No, how can you compare those..."

Clicking his tongue as if dumbfounded by Turan's response, Solif changed the topic.

"At least speak more casually. We're all similar in status, ability, and age, but with you two being so formal with each other, I feel awkward being the only casual one."

"I'm not sure about the others, but saying we're similar in age seems a bit shameless."

Compared to Turan at nineteen and Meisa at twenty-two, Solif was fifty-eight, nearly three times their age.

Of course, considering that top nobles live for nearly three to four hundred years, it wasn't enough of a difference to not be considered the same generation.

Hearing this valid point, Solif burst out in frustration.

"If you're going to treat me like an old man, at least show some respect for your elder!"

==

After finishing their bath, the two dried off and dressed before separating to handle their respective tasks.

Turan advised Solif once more as he was leaving.

"Solif will be preparing dinner soon, but I think we should inject food before that. You haven't been able to eat anything since leaving last time, right?"

"...Yeah. I tried, but it still doesn't work well."

Turan could read self-loathing in Meisa's face as she answered.

He guessed it was anger at herself for being weak and unable to overcome her mental wounds.

Instead of immediately suggesting starting the food injection, Turan placed a hand on Meisa's shoulder and spoke calmly.

"I don't know how you feel. I've never experienced the pain of not being able to swallow food. But Leto is dead, and when I'm beside you, no Zahar noble can secretly approach."

During the interrogation of Leto last time, Turan could roughly guess why Meisa suffered from an eating disorder.

It was probably due to the memory of suffering after being poisoned along with her mother and younger brother when they were killed.

Turan tried to reassure her by saying that the one who had poisoned them was dead, and even if someone tried something similar, he could stop them.

However, instead of expressing gratitude upon hearing this, Meisa groaned softly and shook her head.

"That's... actually, it's not because I'm afraid of being poisoned."

"Then?"

Though Turan asked unconsciously, he expected not to receive an answer to this.

After all, Meisa had consistently avoided talking about that day.

But perhaps thanks to their hearts growing closer after agreeing to speak casually, after hesitating for a moment, she blurted out:

"I feel too cowardly."

Instead of asking why she considered herself cowardly, Turan maintained silence.

He had an intuition she would soon explain the reason herself.

As expected, Meisa immediately opened up about what had happened in the past.

Ten years ago, three people who had gone on a picnic to a scenic hill near Morgen City.

However, sudden abdominal pain began while eating lunch, and her younger brother who hadn't awakened his mana deteriorated fastest.

What saved him was Meisa's healing magic device, who was already considered the heir despite her young age.

Though it couldn't remove poison and was like pouring water into a bottomless pot, it could at least prevent immediate death while blood poured from their entire bodies.

The problem was that during this, both her mother with low-rank noble level mana and Meisa herself fell deeper into poisoning.

While her mother and younger brother pleaded with Meisa for help through their pain, all she could do was shed bloody tears while alternately using the healing device to postpone death.

Even the knights who should have been around for protection had all disappeared, so Meisa had to keep holding the magic device without being able to call for help.

Her mother and brother continually crying for help while shedding bloody tears, the pain of poisoning that felt like her whole body was burning, gradually depleting mana...

"In the end, I used my remaining mana to heal myself. I was scared. Afraid that I would die too if I kept healing them. Maybe I could have saved everyone if I had just tried a little harder."

Meisa's reddish-brown hair covered her as she hung her head as if she were a criminal.

Having heard the whole story, Turan realized he had completely misunderstood the cause of her eating disorder.

The wound residing in her inner self wasn't fear of death, but guilt from surviving after abandoning her family.

What would be good to say here?