The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

One week remained until the giant sea serpent's arrival.

Turan's group spent their time practicing magic and discussing how to cooperate when catching the enormous monster.

The merfolk royalty, including Rowena and Arma, also joined in to debate what roles they should take.

"If you can't breathe and need to stay above water, couldn't I support you? That wooden scrap you rode in on will obviously be smashed to pieces once the real battle starts."

The one speaking was a merfolk royal who could transform into a sea turtle, with a shell length of seven meters.

After briefly marveling at the size, which was even larger than the stronger Rowena's form:

"Can't you go any faster?"

"This is my maximum speed! To go faster, I'd have to reduce my size!"

Watching the sea turtle plodding along as if weighed down by its own mass, Turan let out a small sigh.

Fortunately, it was somewhat faster when swimming, and even with a reduced size it would still be large enough for three people to climb aboard, so it would be helpful for resting.

It seemed difficult to use it for rapid movement, though.

The other merfolk royalty also demonstrated their transformations into various sea creatures.

From the long cutlassfish to squid, blue marlin, killer whale, and even jellyfish...

Naturally, they didn't just transform into large animals, but like Rowena, all had one or two special abilities.

Such as piercing everything with a sharp snout, or emitting electricity from tentacles, or releasing sonic waves by shouting.

As the saying goes, there's give and take.

As they actively participated, Turan's group also revealed some of their techniques.

From Turan's specialty of stone-throwing techniques to Meisa's lightning spells and Solif's "Light of Judgment."

When the golden whip struck the waves, evaporating water and creating steam, the merfolk exclaimed in amazement.

"Ohhh...!"

"I thought demonic powers only dealt with manipulating and freezing water, but they're more diverse than I expected."

Having apparently had little experience with human wizards besides those from House Kamain, the merfolk royalty found the techniques demonstrated by Turan's group quite fascinating.

Finally, after showing explosion magic using fire spirits, one of the royals said:

"It's similar to our mother's technique. I wish she were here."

"Mother?"

"Yes. She stayed at the palace to protect the weaklings and youngsters who wouldn't be helpful. This one was brought along because there wasn't time to take him back."

A young princess said this while grabbing Arma, who had been pestering his brothers and sisters while swimming beside them, and pulling his cheek.

If the merman queen was a powerful figure, though perhaps not as much as her husband, she would have been a great help. It seemed they had taken out a kind of insurance to prevent the complete destruction of their kingdom.

For Turan's group, this was both unfortunate and fortunate.

If the merfolk side became stronger, the hunt would become easier, but the likelihood that they would seize control would also increase.

"You said the merman king can transform into a whale, right?"

"That's right. He's truly impressive. He'll probably lead the charge in battle."

The merman king was currently away from the island because he had taken on the role of personally guiding the giant sea serpent to this location.

Something about gradually stimulating it and moving in a circular orbit?

Though they hadn't explained the details to Turan's group, as ones who had served the giant sea serpent since ancient times, they clearly possessed various knowledge about it.

Perhaps it was also related to the ability of the trident he carried.

After learning about each other's abilities to some extent and researching methods to fight together, they separated and began special training to prepare for battle at sea.

During this time, Turan developed several spells, including creating a tube connected to the ground to breathe underwater in an emergency, and manipulating surrounding water to move his body like when steering a boat.

"Ughh..."

"Try harder, this is the most important technique for you."

"Easier said than done! Do you think I'm a genius like you guys?"

Although Turan had created it, the one practicing most intensely was Solif, who couldn't fly because he wasn't good at wind magic.

Watching him floundering as he tried to move his body using water, Turan said quietly:

"Bize will move as a pair with you anyway, but just in case she gets badly injured and can't fight, you need to be prepared to fight underwater."

He didn't mention the possibility of death out loud for fear of bringing bad luck, but they all knew there was a chance that someone might die in this battle.

That was the very nature of combat.

The probability might vary depending on one's strength, but fundamentally, it meant risking one's life.

Moreover, they couldn't perfectly predict the power of their opponent until they confronted it directly.

Bize, sitting on Turan's head, tilted her head and stretched out her foot to write on the water.

[Could we die?]

"Don't worry, you just need to support by flying with Solif. I'll never put you in danger."

[Turan must not die either. Neither should my mate, nor my servant.]

"Who's a servant?"

When Solif, who was listening nearby, spoke with an irritated expression, Bize flapped her wings lightly, blowing water at him.

Spitting out seawater, Solif asked Turan:

"So you two will be fighting while flying directly?"

"Yes. Carrying all three of us in a storm would be too much of a burden for Bize."

Meisa, who was smoothly manipulating water to move her body nearby, answered instead.

Though she learned a bit slower than Turan, she too showed incredibly genius-level achievement in this aspect of magical sensitivity.

Solif stroked his chin, where silvery stubble had grown a bit, and said in a worried tone:

"But is it right to use everything without hiding anything? I'm worried about rumors spreading elsewhere."

"Well, those merfolk don't seem to have much interaction with the land... and this is just a guess, but this kingdom will probably cut ties with House Kamain soon. After that, they won't have much to do with other great houses."

This was the natural conclusion drawn from combining the merman king's displeased expression regarding the lawyer, Kamain's god, and his ambition to revive the abilities of the ancient royalty using the giant sea serpent's corpse.

It's not surprising that those who have gained enough strength for independence no longer wish to remain subordinate.

Hearing this, Solif exclaimed "Ah!" while slapping the water with his palm.

"Speaking of that! What are you going to do about it?"

"About what?"

"The giant sea serpent's corpse. You're not really going to hand it over completely, are you?"

"What if I don't?"

"Those royals are restraining themselves now, but somewhere along the coast, people are still being eaten by merfolk. I really don't know if it's a good idea to give such tremendous power to the merfolk."

"If they don't break their promise, I have no intention of breaking mine. That's what a promise is."

Though some of the noble-class merfolk occasionally showed appetite when looking at Turan's group, at least the royalty showed no such signs.

In that case, Turan would treat them as intelligent beings capable of dialogue—as people—and act accordingly.