The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Even when attacks occasionally broke through this system, they couldn't inflict fatal wounds.

After all, the clothes wrapped around her body were top-tier defensive magical devices that the master of House Berk had invested two whole months to create.

After fighting for a while, Meisa burned the undead to death and drove a bolt of lightning into the Undead King's head.

Just as even powerful wizards are merely human without magical power, strong necromancers are mere dark elves without undead.

Only the silver crown remained on the charred corpse.

'Ah...'

The moment she confirmed victory after the long battle, familiar dizziness swept through her head.

A signal from her body weakening from malnutrition.

Just then, someone grabbed and supported Meisa's stumbling wrist.

"Are you alright?"

Realizing her supporter was Turan, the youth with gray hair and eyes, Meisa let out a sigh of relief.

The first person she had ever met with talent matching her own.

And whether he truly didn't know his bloodline or was hiding it... someone who had cared for rather than killed her when she was defenseless before.

That alone was enough for Meisa to give him deep trust.

At least he was more trustworthy than those trash who threatened her after killing her mother and younger sibling, trying to pin everything on Zahar.

Meisa desperately needed an ally who wasn't under the family's influence.

"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy... How did the battle go? I couldn't see while focusing on this side."

"It's almost over."

True to his words, the battle was entering its final stages, with dwarves and dark elves being one-sidedly slaughtered while some knights were even collecting human corpses.

Shortly after, an Arabion noble approached Meisa with excitement from battle still on his face to report.

"A great victory, young lady!"

"What are the casualties?"

"Still counting, but compared to last time it's not even a quarter! We've confirmed about two nobles and thirty knights dead!"

"Why did those two die?"

"One was hit by a large magical device and the other fell to undead. Um, but young lady..."

"What?"

Seeing his gaze directed beside her, Meisa finally realized she was naturally being supported by Turan.

"Ah, sorry. I forgot."

"It's fine."

Turan was about to say he didn't mind since she was so light, but stopped himself.

It might sound like he was mocking her emaciated body.

Standing on her own feet, Meisa gave orders again as if nothing had happened.

"Don't forget to capture some alive. Especially dwarves, ones that look intelligent."

"Understood."

"Find out whether they figured out how to use those magical devices themselves or if someone taught them. And collect all intact magical devices."

After the noble disappeared with his orders, Turan looked at Meisa clutching her head, dizziness apparently not yet gone, and asked.

"I heard those were ancient dwarf relics."

"Did Keorn tell you?"

"Yes."

"That's right. Long ago, dwarves weren't blind like now and were skilled enough to make such things. Now they're closer to beasts."

"Did the gods do that?"

Meisa turned to look at him in surprise at his words.

It was an idea that would never come from someone who normally worshipped the Prea god-folk.

Even she wouldn't have dared imagine such a thing if she hadn't read related content in her family's secret archives.

"...Why do you think that?"

"I learned by chance before. That gods could create entirely new creatures if they wanted. Naturally, they could make them blind or stupid too."

"Don't say that anywhere else."

Turan nodded while gazing steadily at Meisa.

Thanks to her words just now, he could be certain that great houses held several secrets about the gods.

==

Shortly after, having finished clearing the battlefield and tending to the wounded, Arabion's army first proceeded with distributing merit rewards.

While the dark elf and dwarf corpses were worthless and burned completely, the magical power from undead and dead wizards had to be absorbed right away.

Especially the corpses of wizards sacrificed in the last battle hidden deep in the ravine needed to be processed quickly before they became undead.

"First Meisa, you defeated the Undead King so you're first... "

"Never mind, Uncle. These small fry are meaningless to me."

"I suppose so."

The stronger a wizard becomes, the harder it is to grow from low-quality magical power.

Though the undead controlled by the Undead King were quite powerful, they held little meaning for a wizard of Meisa's level.

For her to grow now, she needed to absorb power from wizards of equal or greater level, or magical beasts.

Either killing several mythical-grade magical beasts, or absorbing magical power while holding her current family head father's funeral.

Either way would take at least a hundred years.

"Then since it's difficult to sort out the remaining achievements, we should distribute based on magical power possessed and degree of injury. I've already reached my growth limit so it's meaningless to me, so next in order..."

"Then I'll give up my captured undead to Turan."

At Meisa's words, Arabion's nobles stirred simultaneously.

While they might be small fry to an overwhelmingly powerful wizard like her, the Undead King's undead were nutrients that could instantly boost magical power significantly for ordinary nobles.

Yet she would give up the right to absorb such things to a mercenary who wasn't even family, even if he was personally brought by the heir?

Since nothing had been mentioned about this before the battle, those who naturally assumed he wouldn't participate in magical power distribution felt like they had been blindsided.

If Turan had said he would participate in the power distribution, at least half the nobles would have opposed his involvement.

"You didn't set the condition of excluding him from power absorption when bringing him? No, surely you didn't offer magical power as compensation?"

"How else could I bring someone of his skill? Above all, I'm just distributing what would have been my share anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Still, that's different... you should have at least said something beforehand."

Kadram sighed, then approached Meisa and whispered softly.

"Think carefully, Meisa. Not even a few hours have passed and already rumors are spreading that you've lost your judgment, falling for that man."

"Thank you for your concern, but it's not like that."

The two had a brief staring contest, but eventually Kadram shook his head and backed down first.

Turan was allocated six of the Undead King's undead with the strongest magical power.

Even so, they were all beings that had burst apart at a single attack from Meisa, so they wouldn't provide much power, but at this level, just being able to grow was reward enough.

"Then let's begin absorbing magical power."

Turan absorbed the magical power from the ashen remains of the undead with a bitter smile, feeling the fierce hostility from behind and the sharp gazes of three others absorbing power alongside him.

Since one of the undead was an Arabion noble, he had secretly buried the Mimicker holy relic.

The sight of some absorbed magical power dispersing would definitely be noticed.

One, two, three, four, five...

Turan's eyes narrowed while absorbing the magical power of the sixth and final undead.

Though it might have been his imagination, for some reason he thought he heard something click inside his body.