“I also mean the people from long ago, when this story first started circulating. They should have been able to easily confirm whether a wizard died in the village at that time.” Logan Smith said with a smile, “Since this story has been passed down for so long, it means it probably really happened.”

This reasoning failed to convince Raymond Craig:

“But when you make up stories, you often use phrases like ‘over a hundred years ago,’ ‘hundreds of years ago,’ or ‘a long time ago’ so that no one can verify them.”

“That’s why I want to ask your dad to confirm it!” Logan Smith wore an expression that clearly said, “Now you know why I want to ask your dad.”

“I guess that makes sense…” Raymond Craig accepted the explanation, but still felt something was off.

As the two left the square and walked deeper into the village, Raymond Craig finally realized:

“But why do you want to confirm whether such a legend is true or not?”

“A wizard, come on, a wizard! If we can confirm which house he used to live in and where he was buried, maybe we could discover his secrets and gain some extraordinary powers ourselves.” Logan Smith said, sounding like he was telling the truth, even though it was probably a lie.

Sure enough, Raymond Craig gave him a look that said, “Don’t try to fool me”:

“Most of those stories are made up to scare kids. How could they be real?

“Besides, seeking a wizard’s power would get you thrown into the Inquisition!”

The Republic of Intis is located on the northern continent of this world. The orthodox deities are the “Eternal Blazing Sun” and the “God of Steam and Machinery.” The churches of these two gods have divided up almost all the people’s faith, and they do not allow the “Goddess of the Night” church or the “Lord of Storms” church from the Loen Kingdom, the “Mother Earth” church from the Feynapot Kingdom, the “God of Knowledge and Wisdom” church from Lemberg and other central and southern countries, or the “God of War” church from the Feysac Empire to proselytize here.

The Inquisition of the “Eternal Blazing Sun” church has always been feared by the people. Countless heretics and nonbelievers have been locked up there and subjected to cruel treatment.

Logan Smith burst out laughing:

“Why are you worried about that now? You just said yourself, most of those legends are made up. There’s almost no chance of actually finding anything a wizard left behind.

“Besides, even if we really did find something left by a wizard, we don’t have to inherit that kind of forbidden power. We could just hand it over to the church and get a reward from them. Hmm, as a wizard, there are bound to be plenty of treasures among his burial goods.”

The church Logan Smith referred to was the “Eternal Blazing Sun” church, because in their village of Cordu, there was no “God of Steam and Machinery” church—those were usually found in big cities and places with factories.

Seeing Raymond Craig listening with his heart pounding, Logan Smith clicked his tongue inwardly and added:

“Do you really want to become a shepherd?”

The shepherd he was talking about wasn’t the idyllic kind city folk imagined, not someone who was part of the family, driving a few sheep out to graze every morning and just watching over them.

In the Dalliege region of Reston Province, where Cordu village was located, being a shepherd was a profession—a hard and lonely one.

They were hired by flock owners, driving dozens or even hundreds of sheep back and forth between the mountains and the plains.

This was called transhumance—every autumn, when the alpine pastures around Cordu village withered, the shepherds would drive the flocks out of the mountain passes to the warmer plains far away, often crossing borders into Feynapot, Lemberg, and other countries. In early May, they would drive the sheep back to the villages, shear the wool, wean the lambs, and in June, head up the mountains to the alpine pastures, living in huts, making cheese while tending the flocks, until the weather turned cold.

Year after year, the shepherds moved with the flocks, spending their lives on the road, with only a tiny bit of time to return to the village. As a result, most of them were single, rarely married, and couldn’t start families. The few widows who had to become shepherds for a living were very popular in this group.

Raymond Craig fell silent.

After a long while, he hesitantly said, “I’ll go along with you. This sounds fun and could help pass the time.”

Normally, once a family decided which child would become a shepherd, they would send him to work for a flock owner between the ages of fifteen and eighteen to learn the trade. After three years, the child would officially become a shepherd and look for work everywhere.

Seventeen-year-old Raymond Craig had already found various excuses to delay this for more than two years. If his life didn’t change, he would have to start learning to be a shepherd next year.

“Let’s go.” Logan Smith patted Raymond Craig on the shoulder. “Is your dad in the fields or at home?”

“There’s not much work lately, and Lent is coming up. If he’s not at home, he’s at the tavern.” Raymond Craig sighed enviously again. “You don’t know any of this? You’re definitely not a farmer. You’re lucky to have such a good sister!”

Logan Smith put his hands in his pockets and walked on slowly, ignoring Raymond Craig’s complaints.

As they neared the village’s shabby tavern, someone came walking down the side road.