Chapter 5

It wasn’t strange for Skadi to be confused.

Anyone would experience cognitive dissonance when facts they knew were denied.

The important thing was to regain composure and have the mindset to solve the problem. Skadi quickly regained her composure.

When examined one by one, it wasn’t such a big problem.

What did it matter if he didn’t know his limits, or if he didn’t know his own name?

From Skadi’s perspective, the wendigo didn’t seem like a being who would struggle with such issues. The only real problem was that he didn’t know his own origin…

“Since Wendigo-nim can control cold energy, you might have an origin related to ice, frost, or snow. Ah, considering your head and body, beasts might also be your origin…”

“Calm down, we can figure out my origin step by step. For now, let’s solve the immediate problem at hand.”

“Ah, yes!”

The wendigo calmed Skadi, who had started to get carried away. From what he had observed while walking with her, Skadi, despite her seemingly calm exterior, was quite… easily ignited.

‘Is it because she had a difficult childhood? She seems to have a need for recognition.’

This is why deprivation is so scary. How much must she crave recognition to try so hard to prove her usefulness to a monster(?).

The wendigo and Skadi were able to reach the outskirts of the village only after walking for quite some time. The wendigo spotted the village located outside the forest in the distance.

The village seemed quite chaotic, with men who looked like members of a vigilante group talking with serious expressions.

“It seems they’re worried because those who were tracking you haven’t returned.”

“The ones who chased me weren’t exactly well-regarded in the village… But I suppose the village would be worried. If they were so concerned, they should have stopped them from chasing me in the first place. Serves them right.”

The wendigo realized that she was sugar-coating her words because she was in front of him. Judging by her expression alone, it wouldn’t have been strange if she had spat out curses right then and there.

Feeling pity, the wendigo gently placed his hand on her head and stroked it. Skadi looked up at the wendigo, startled.

“It’s just that your hair and eye color are a bit different. You must have had a hard time.”

“Ah, no. Thanks to that, I met you, Wendigo-nim.”

Skadi replied in a small voice, her face flushing red. Seemingly embarrassed, she quickly moved towards the edge of the forest and shouted in an awkward voice:

“L-let’s go, Wendigo-nim! I’m sure there will be things you’ll like in my mother’s hut!”

“Alright. Just in case, we should prepare weapons…”

Just as he was about to step out of the forest, the wendigo felt a strange sensation.

That sensation was… yes, like unbreakable chains binding his entire body and pulling him back into the forest.

He was bewildered by this intense aversion he felt for the first time.

“… Skadi. Are there spirits that can’t leave certain places?”

“I don’t know about places, but there are spirits that can’t be summoned without specific mediums. Like not being able to summon fire-related spirits where there’s no fire, or not being able to summon earth-related spirits at sea…”

Skadi’s eyes widened as she answered the wendigo’s question. He wouldn’t have asked such a question without reason. Then…

Skadi looked at the wendigo. He was standing still at the boundary between the forest and the grassland, as if blocked by a wall.

The wendigo spoke matter-of-factly:

“It seems I can’t leave the forest.”

“!”

Skadi’s eyes widened, and the wendigo sighed in frustration.

Well, that figures. Even dragons, the ultimate fantasy weapon, have restrictions, weaknesses, and drawbacks, so it was unlikely that he would be without limitations.

The wendigo, he was a being that couldn’t leave the forest.

---

“I’m sorry. I said I’d escort you, but I didn’t know I couldn’t leave the forest.”

“No, it’s okay. This might even be a good thing. At least we can guess what your origin might be!”

The wendigo nodded with a bitter smile. Anyone who wasn’t a fool could understand.

Setting aside whether he was a spirit or not, anyone could guess that if he was a being that couldn’t leave the forest, his origin was likely the forest itself.

It was good to know what his origin was. It was better to know than not to know, even if he wasn’t sure how useful it would be.

The problem was that because of this, he couldn’t leave the forest. But sending Skadi alone to the village was too dangerous.

Family or friends had gone after a witch, but only the witch returned? It was obvious that nothing good would come of it.

‘But if we turn back, it’s a shame to leave behind Skadi’s belongings, and there must be some way…’

At that moment, a thought flashed through the wendigo’s mind.

If he couldn’t help directly, couldn’t he help indirectly?

“Skadi. It seems the only way for you to go into the village and retrieve your belongings is to contract with me.”

“C-contract? Really?”

“Don’t you want to? If you don’t want to, then…”

“No! I do. No, more than that, it’s an honor!”

When he asked, thinking Skadi seemed hesitant, she strongly denied it, her eyes shining. Of course she wanted to contract with the wendigo.

The reason for her hesitation was that she thought the wendigo could easily contract with a more talented shaman than herself.

The reason shamans contract with ill-tempered, arrogant, and picky spirits was simple in the end.

The mysterious abilities that can be handled through spirits are that attractive!

If they could handle even a part of the wendigo’s cold energy, there would be shamans lining up to offer him the most beautiful maiden in the village.

That’s why Skadi, who had been shunned by spirits, didn’t have the courage to step forward and demand a contract…

“But… is it really okay with someone like me? I hate to say this, but I’m shunned by spirits, and my appearance…”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure if I’m a spirit. And does contracting cause any big problems?”

“Not really, but a contract is something sacred and solemn…”

“If there’s no problem, just do it. From what I can see, you’re more than qualified.”

In the wendigo’s eyes, Skadi was quite a good talent.

Although she lacked some confidence due to years of mistreatment by people, just looking at how she recited the knowledge received from her mother showed that she was intelligent.

Moreover, she had a strong will and didn’t waver much even in unfamiliar situations. Above all…

‘Honestly, I’m curious about a shaman’s belongings.’

It was a proposal that largely reflected his personal curiosity. Unaware of this, Skadi was deeply moved by the wendigo’s trust in her.

“I never thought Wendigo-nim would trust me this much!”

‘I feel a bit guilty.’

A sense of guilt for deceiving an innocent maiden reared its head, but the wendigo deliberately ignored it.

---

Rolo, a member of the village vigilante group, didn’t like the fact that he had to stand guard late at night. While it was common for the vigilante group to stand guard at night to prepare for beast attacks, this case was a bit different.

Rolo looked at the forest shrouded in darkness in the distance while smoking.

“Damn, all this trouble because we couldn’t catch one woman. If it was going to be like this, we shouldn’t have chased her in the first place.”

“I know, right? We could have gotten a lot just by raiding the shaman’s hut…”

As Rolo grumbled, Maxim, who was standing guard with him, agreed. Rolo didn’t like Maxim’s words either.

Given the atmosphere in the village, he couldn’t say it out loud, but honestly, he couldn’t understand why they were being so cruel to the shaman.

“Hey. The shaman has done so much for us. My mother overcame her illness thanks to her. She lived out the lifespan given by heaven and passed away peacefully because of her. She even helped me when I was bitten by a wolf.”

“I know. I know, but honestly, there should be a price for saving that cursed brat. To put it bluntly, maybe your mother was sick because of that brat?”

“No, what the… Never mind. I shouldn’t say anything.”

Rolo was about to say something to Maxim’s nonsense but stopped. Come to think of it, wasn’t he just as bad?

He was indeed a bastard for ignoring the benefactor’s daughter out of fear of people’s gazes, despite receiving help.

Rolo glared and took a drag of his smoke, then looked back at the forest as he exhaled. There was still no sign of those who had gone after the witch.

Instead, he saw something else. A woman was walking towards them from the forest.

Rolo was shocked when he realized who she was.

“Wait, isn’t that Skadi? Why is she here?”

“Oh, it really is her?”

Rolo dropped his smoke in surprise. Just as he was about to pick it up and put it back in his mouth, a cold wind swept past, extinguishing it.

As the smoke went out, Rolo shivered from the chill running through his body. He looked at Skadi with an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Skadi was approaching the village with a terrifyingly calm expression. She didn’t look at all like a woman who had fled from the village.

Rolo instinctively realized something was wrong.

“Hey, hey. Something’s off. We need to call the captain right…”

“Hey, you witch! What guts do you have to come back? Did you come back to collect your mother’s corpse, pretending to be a daughter?”

Rolo tried to warn Maxim as he slowly backed away, but Maxim was more of a bastard than Rolo thought.

A lecherous look settled in Maxim’s eyes. He had been interested in Skadi since childhood. Of course, it wasn’t a good kind of interest.

Skadi was beautiful enough despite her unusual appearance… and most men were crazy about pretty women. Maxim was one of those many men.

Maxim approached Skadi and pointed his spear at her. He said, licking his lips:

“I don’t know how you escaped the pursuit and came back, but if you spend just one night with me, I’ll not only give you your mother’s corpse but also some travel money…”

“For someone with a dull mind and senses as blunt as livestock, you sure talk well with that loose mouth of yours.”

“… What?”

That stupid utterance was Maxim’s last words.

As Skadi grabbed his spear, cold energy burst from her fingertips.

As frost formed on the spear, Maxim panicked and tried to let go. But he couldn’t. Her cold energy had instantly frozen the spear along with his hand.

The frozen spear emitted cold energy from Maxim’s hand to his body, and towards his heart. As the cold energy took over Maxim’s body, his body turned blue and frost settled on it.

Skadi looked at the corpse that was Maxim with indifferent eyes and let go of the spear. As her gaze turned to Rolo, he drew in a breath.

“… I’ll spare you because you showed respect to my mother. In return, tell the villagers.”

“Wh-what should I tell them?”

Rolo asked hurriedly, afraid she might change her mind.

“Tell them to bring all the items from my mother’s hut. If anyone hides anything, they will end up like this trash.”

“B-but people won’t believe it. How could someone freeze to death in the village, not in a snow field… Hup!?”

Skadi created an ice sword and struck Maxim’s arm, causing it to shatter and fall to the ground.

Rolo closed his mouth at the horrific sight. When Skadi gestured, he picked up Maxim’s arm, watching her carefully. The arm was eerily cold.

“If you take that, they’ll believe it even if they don’t want to. I’ll say it once more. Everything from my mother’s hut. If even a grain of wheat is missing, that person will die.”

“Y-yes, of course! I’ll go and tell them that!”

Cold energy swirled around Skadi, as if representing her emotions. Rolo nodded vigorously, his eyebrows frozen.

As she gestured, Rolo threw away the spear he was holding and headed towards the village. Skadi watched him go.

Through the ice necklace around her neck, the wendigo was also watching the scene.