72 – Episode 72
Freya’s guess made the Wendigo tremble.
If what Freya said was correct, she was said to have been born from the remains of a demonic beast, or from the remains of a being equivalent to a demonic beast.
The Wendigo wondered if Freya was playing a trick on her, so she asked her.
“So you’re saying that the owner of my head wasn’t me, but someone else?”
[ You can say that, right? Of course, the owner of that head would have died long ago. ]
“……”
After hearing the answer, the Wendigo stared blankly into space, and Freyja giggled and patted his head.
Even without looking at the Wendigo’s expression, one could roughly guess what he was thinking.
There are many other noble and beautiful birth stories, but who in the world would like someone who was born from the head of a corpse?
He must be dissatisfied with his own existence!
‘Then should we discard the hypothesis that my existence is strong because I came from another world? I thought it was quite possible.’
… Of course, that was Freya’s idea because she didn’t know much about Wendigos yet.
The Wendigo didn’t particularly care that she was born from her corpse.
Except for the fact that she came from a corpse, she didn’t have any problems living.
‘What if another one like me doesn’t appear in the future…’
The Wendigo nodded her head and accepted Freya’s reasoning.
“It’s definitely a very likely story. It wouldn’t be strange to think that my power is unrelated and that it’s a gift left by the owner of the head.”
[What is it? Isn’t it too easy to get over it? Isn’t it unpleasant or humiliating? ]
“There is no meaningless death in the world, so why is it shameful?”
[ … I don’t know anything else, but I think you’re definitely a mutant spirit. ]
When the Wendigo responded calmly, Freyja looked at the Wendigo in disgust.
The Wendigo ignored the gaze and prepared the next question. Her reasoning from Freyja increased her faith in her.
As the Wendigo stood with her small expectations, she asked Freyja a question.
“Where does my mystery come from? I have never felt my mystery run out.”
[ Huh? What is that…!? ]
Freya, who thought it was nonsense, was surprised when a bunch of pure white roses bloomed in her Wendigo’s hands.
She realized that it was not just a rose to show off, but that it was the same rose she had given to him as an apology.
The rose was imbued with a coldness that could freeze a person to death with just one petal.
The Wendigo wrapped her roses into her bouquet and presented them to Skadi.
“What, Wendigo?”
“Take it. It would be a waste to give it to someone else.”
With her face a mess of joy and embarrassment, Skadi hurriedly took the bouquet of flowers that the Wendigo held out to her.
Sir watched the scene and swallowed his saliva in disappointment.
‘I would be happy if I could just get one flower from there!’
Sir could understand that Skadi was happy.
A shaman would naturally be happy to receive such a rare gift!
… Of course, Skadi had no intention of using a single flower petal carelessly.
“hehehe…”
‘Well, I’m glad you like it.’
Leaving behind the wandering Skadi, the Wendigo asked Freya.
“Do you feel like my mystery has diminished?”
[ Isn’t it obvious? I made dozens of roses like that without any preparation, and of course the mystery… Hasn’t diminished!? ]
Freya doubted her own senses. She wouldn’t be surprised if the Wendigo’s mystique was torn apart, but she didn’t feel it diminished one bit.
“Is there even the slightest possibility? That her skull is quite old, giving her a lot of mystery.”
[ Uhm… ]
Freya closed her eyes, lost in her thoughts… She slowly walked away from the Wendigo.
“?”
The Wendigo looked at Freya in confusion. As she was worried, she couldn’t figure out why she was moving away.
After widening the distance sufficiently, Freyja opened her eyes and spoke to the Wendigo in disgust.
[ I don’t know. What are you. Scared. ]
“……”
In her heart, the Wendigo lowered her trust in Freya a notch.
* · * *
In conclusion, she failed to completely reveal the identity of the Wendigo, but she did not care much about the Wendigo himself.
It seemed that realizing the secret of her birth would not change the direction of my life…
“Spirit! That guy stole three chickens from the village!”
“No! I just brought home a chicken that was wandering around without an owner!”
“You’re lying! I clearly remember what the chicken looks like, so why are you talking nonsense!”
“No!”
Even without worrying about such things, the forest was overflowing with accidents.
The wendigo checked her scent and made her verdict.
“Both sides say everything is true. However, it was wrong to not look for the owner of the chicken that ran away and was not a wild chicken, so we will punish it appropriately.”
“Ugh… I understand. If it’s true, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The two men who participated in the trial did not complain about Wendigo’s ruling.
A spirit with the ability to see through the truth says so, so who can deny it?
Even after they left, the trial continued.
There were quite a few trials in the past, but recently there was really no time to rest.
Problems that occurred only between forest people and forest people began to involve outsiders as well.
“The next people should come in quickly.”
“Yes. This time, it was a dispute between the forest people and an outside merchant, and the forest people killed a pig with a long sword and fifteen silver coins…”
No matter how much you install a filter and check carefully, the human heart is like a reed.
It is said that a herbalist who came into the forest to collect precious herbs became a thief when he discovered an even more valuable herb.
A merchant who came to make an honest transaction tried to rob the pure forest man of his silver coins.
A hunter came to hunt and hunted down a bag full of silver coins…
“You’re crazy. Cut off that guy’s head.”
“Wrong, wrong! I was blinded by silver, so stop!”
“Shut up and follow me!”
… Anyway, filtering out people did not make the world peaceful.
After a while, the Wendigo, who had been holding the trial for a long time, declared her recess and sat down on her throne and sighed.
“Sometimes I think humans and spirits are the same when it comes to accidents.”
“How about taking a break and having some refreshments?”
“Umm…”
The wendigo struggled with her urge to nod.
Snacks made by crushing nuts, mixing them with flour, baking them, and then spreading honey on them are definitely delicious, but…
“Still, it seems too extravagant. The snacks would have to be quite large to fit my size.”
“Then I understand that you would like to eat it.”
As Geron chewed away her worries, the Wendigo looked at him with her sad eyes.
However, there was a reason why Gueron had no choice but to be as firm as he was.
You can’t just watch your esteemed lord being reluctant to eat sweets.
‘The spirit is so frugal. ‘The country should also encourage it a bit.’
Geron quickly ordered his servants to prepare refreshments.
The wendigo clicked her tongue when she saw the baked goods the size of her human head and the fruit juice in an oak barrel.
“I feel like my luxuries are increasing more and more these days.”
“Being too frugal is also a disease. Just considering the supplies coming in from outside and the crops growing in the forest, you can eat more than this.”
Geron sipped the tea that came with the Wendigo’s refreshments and persuaded the Wendigo.
The grains produced abundant fruits, and the animals gained weight and shiny fur without any care.
Even the civilization that the forest people lacked is increasing as they begin to interact with outsiders.
In this situation, there was no one who could criticize the Wendigo for just enjoying some refreshments.
If there was such a fearless guy, his limbs would have been disintegrated by the forest people long ago and turned into fertilizer for the forest!
“It’s enough to just enjoy the taste, but what’s the point of eating a lot? It’s better for the children growing up in the future to eat a lot.”
“That’s a good thing, but the kids are eating well too. Even though it’s not a festival, the number of days we eat meat is increasing…”
“You should eat meat at a young age and grow well.”
Geron glared resentfully at the Wendigo, who did not back down even a word.
It’s certainly a great statement, but why does it make me so angry?
The Wendigo tried to ignore Geron’s gaze and savored her snack.
For those who struggle with food all day at the temple, the snacks were an appropriate balance of savory and sweet.
‘It’s a shame there’s no coffee. No, do you want to exist in this world too?’
As I got lost in random thoughts, my hands automatically started to speed up.
It was then.
“Cow!”
A crow came through the window of the temple and landed on Geron’s shoulder.
Of course it was not an ordinary crow. It was a crow trained to convey urgent matters to Geron.
The Wendigo, who had already eaten all of her snacks, asked Geron as she washed her mouth with her juice.
“What’s going on?”
“Uh… I heard an ogre appeared inside the forest?”
“Omg…”
The Wendigo grumbled inwardly as she set down her oak barrel.
‘This damn forest can’t last more than a year without an accident.’
* · * *
Ogre.
I don’t know whether to say it was fortunate or unfortunate, but the ogres of this world were the same as the image that the Wendigo knew.
Has the strength to pull down a tree and skin as hard as a rock…
A hideous monster with a strong fighting spirit and ferocity.
Of course, I had no intention of entrusting such a monster to the warriors. There is no reason to take damage when there is a suitable person, right?
The Wendigo took her Skadi without any escort and headed to the village where the war message had been sent.
To be honest, she was quite worried. If such a monster had appeared, there was no way the village would have been safe.
But…
“Meet the spirit! I am Dushan, the chief of this village.”
The village was fine, but it was too fine. Not a single building collapsed, and even crops and livestock were safe.
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As she looked around, the wendigo could not contain her curiosity and asked the village chief.
“I heard that an ogre appeared… Is the village better than I thought?”
“That’s right. An ogre did appear, but this one is a bit unusual.”
“It’s special?”
The Wendigo had no idea, so she looked at Skadi. However, she shook her head as if Skadi had not expected anything.
The village chief took notice, asked permission from the two, and began to guide them.
The place the village chief took us was a hill near the village…
There, an ogre in tattered pants was eating a deer, its blood dripping.
The ogre was chewing his deer’s head, bone-in, and when he found the chief, he swallowed his head.
After shooting out the bone stuck in his mouth, the ogre looked at the chief and opened his mouth.
“Human, I told you not to come visit me before I brought the leader. It’s hard for me to bear hunger.”
“!”
Skadi and the Wendigo looked at the ogre in surprise…
‘If you think about it, it’s not surprising.’
The Wendigo regained her composure when she remembered that she was even stranger than the ogre.
The village chief politely pointed at the wendigo and introduced it to the ogre.
“Gulmarg. This is the person you were looking for. He gives us grace…”
“Human, you lie. That’s a spirit. A spirit is a bastard. A bastard, you can’t be the leader. You’ll be beaten to death.”
“……”
The ogre denied the village chief’s words with a rock-solid attitude.
The Wendigo was greatly impressed by the attitude of the ogre, Gulmarg.
Isn’t the ogre smarter than you think?