Shepherd Fire

Shepherd Fire (シェパード・ファイア, Shepādo Faia) is an anthropologist who studies the world's folk religions and Spitz Fire's older brother. He went missing in Yada Village eleven years ago.
==Physical description==
==Personality==
==Biography==
===History===
When he was little, Shepherd lived in Japan because of his father's work. For that reason, Spitz often did fieldwork in Japan after becoming an anthropologist.
15 years ago, Shepherd came to Yada Village for research. The mayor took him in and told him about the dam construction plans. Shepherd then proposed to use the legend of Yadagami-sama's powers to play some pranks to prevent the construction. To his shock, the mayor did as he had suggested and hid the construction machinery in the mountains; he later thanked the brother for giving him this idea.
Four years later, the brother learned some forbidden information while doing fieldwork in a "certain" country and subsequently became the target of a "certain" organization. He managed to throw off his pursuers and returned to Yada Village with his younger brother, Spitz, in the summer.
He and Spitz went around the village, asking people about Yadagami-sama before they returned to the hut in the evening. They went to bed at ten p.m., and when Spitz woke up at six a.m. the next day, his brother was gone. Despite the best effort of Spitz, his family, and the police, the search never went anywhere because the mayor was hiding the brother in the mountains to repay him for his help years before, and the villagers were helping him with this endeavor, e.g. by feigning ignorance and supplying Shepherd with necessities. For example, Mii would bring bags with food for him to the Yadagami Shrine.
At some point, Shepherd found Muroi unconscious in the mountains. He carried him to the foot of the mountain and left before Muroi woke up. Because he did not know about Shepherd, Muroi thought Yadagami-sama rescued him.
===Yadagami-sama Murders Case===
The day Spitz Fire returns to Yada Village to search for his brother again—this time with Ron Kamonohashi and Totomaru Isshiki—, Mii brings food in an insulated bag for Shepherd to the Yadagami Shrine.
The next day, the surveyor's corpse is found in the waterfall basin. After Ron, Spitz, and Toto expose the mayor as the killer, Kill on Sight is activated. Ron orders the mayor to fall into the waterfall, and the mayor complies. However, when Totomaru goes to stop him, the ground under them crumbles. Totomaru manages to grab the edge and the mayor, but cannot hold on for long. Shepherd who was watching everything from the woods throws a rope to them and quickly leaves afterward. Mii, Spitz, and Ron then pull Toto and the mayor up.
After the mayor's arrest, Spitz, Mii, Toto, and Ron return to the mayor's house. There, Ron calls out Shepherd who has been hiding behind the house. He shows himself and wants to know how they found out about him. Totomaru, on Ron's behalf, tells him about Muroi's "Yadagami-sama" story, Mii's bag by the waterfall, and her odd reaction when she met Spitz afterward.
Shepherd is impressed by the deduction and confesses that he has been living in the mountains for all these years to hide from a "certain" organization, though he refuses to name it. When the surveyor found out about Shepherd, he tried to extort money from the mayor to keep the secret. The surveyor eventually escalated his intimidation and threatened to reveal the whereabouts of Shepherd which drove the mayor to kill him.
Because he does not want to live at the expense of other people's happiness, Shepherd asks Totomaru to arrest him for instigating the heavy equipment theft 15 years ago. Spitz and Mii protest, but Shepherd holds firm. Then, Ron challenges Shepherd's words: The mayor may not have been protecting him but his granddaughter's feelings for Shepherd.
Shepherd is surprised to hear that and asks Mii if she really feels that way; she wordlessly confirms it. Ron and Toto then leave Shepherd, Spitz, and Mii alone.
==Etymology==
* Like his brother Spitz, Shepherd was named after a dog breed, the German Shepherd.
==Trivia==
* His given name was only revealed in the anime's credits.
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Male characters
Category:Yadagami-sama Murders Case characters
Category:Civilians
Category:Yada Village residents