Chapter 25

Winter was both the most treacherous and the quietest time.

Unless it was an extremely urgent situation, there was no reason to wander around enduring the bone-chilling cold.

Especially in this forest where blizzards… no, snowstorms raged, wandering around in winter was literally a choice close to suicide.

The wendigo recalled the few memories he had of winter, standing in front of the snow-covered palisade.

No, could this even be called a memory?

‘… Finding a frozen dead bear isn’t exactly a fond memory. It’s more suited for a ghost story.’

To think there’s a forest where bears fail at hibernation and freeze to death. At this point, the forest people were simply awe-inspiring.

How did they survive in such a forest?

“Wow, now that spring has come, it feels warm and nice!”

“The snow isn’t even thinking about melting yet, are you sure it’s spring?”

“Eh? Isn’t it spring since the snowstorm has stopped?”

When Geron looked at him as if asking about common sense, the wendigo thought he understood how these people had managed to survive in the forest.

Those who would die from just this much had certainly already become wandering spirits.

“Everyone, quickly clear the snow! You might lose your toes if you’re not careful!”

“The snow has frozen here. Someone bring a hammer!”

As spring arrived, people began moving in unison to clear the snow.

Breaking the frozen ice with hammers and awls, shoveling snow to appropriate places, carefully sprinkling hot water when necessary…

Seeing the hot water freeze instantly upon contact with the snow, the wendigo clicked his tongue.

“If boiling water freezes in an instant, this really isn’t normal cold.”

“But the forest people are amazingly fast, perhaps because they’re used to it. I was worried about how to clear all this snow.”

Skadi, wrapped in a soft fur cloak, looked at the people curiously from beside the wendigo.

Although she was a woman raised in a cold land, she was weak to the cold compared to the forest people. After all, the forest people had some… frighteningly healthy aspects.

“Hahaha! Thanks to Skadi-nim’s totem, the snow is soft!”

“Woohoo! Let’s clear all the snow before sunset today!”

“That’s the spirit. Old-ro!”

To think this was the extent of reduced cold thanks to the totem. It truly was a terrifying forest.

As the burly warriors forgot the cold and began clearing the snow piles, the ground around the palisade was quickly revealed.

The wendigo scratched the frozen ground with his claw. Vivid black soil stuck to his claw.

“The black soil has already spread this far.”

“Hmm… It will probably continue to spread. Honestly, it’s spreading faster and wider than expected.”

Indeed, it was performance worthy of a 300-year-old fertilizer, no, heart. For the land around the village to turn into black soil already, when not even a year had passed.

The wendigo was looking at the ground contentedly when he raised his head, sensing a presence in the forest.

The snow-covered forest was perfect for creatures to hide, but they couldn’t deceive the wendigo’s senses. Someone was clearly moving through the forest.

However, it wasn’t an attack. The wendigo called Geron, recognizing the familiar presence. It was time to welcome guests.

“It seems Ivan and the other villages have arrived. Geron, tell the people to prepare a feast.”

“Yes. I’ll tell them to prepare warm clothes and food.”

The wendigo nodded.

Those who had trudged through the snow must be hungry, but how much would they long for warmth?

If they filled their stomachs with warm food and wrapped themselves in fur, even non-existent goodwill would surely spring forth.

‘Such small acts of kindness return as solid loyalty.’

The wendigo decided to go out and greet them personally, since it wasn’t too far anyway.

“Skadi. I’ll go out to meet them, so prepare the feast with Geron.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare perfectly so that people can feel Wendigo-nim’s mercy and benevolence!”

“No, there’s no need to prepare so grandly, just do it moderately.”

Skadi’s eyes, which were about to burn brightly, drooped. It was pitiful, but unavoidable.

When she sincerely prepared something, it became unstoppable, so preemptively blocking it like this was the best method.

The wendigo barely kept his mouth shut as permission was about to burst out, and headed towards the forest.

---

As the wendigo entered the forest, he felt his senses sharpen more than usual. The forest itself was more suited to him than the village in the forest.

Thanks to this, the wendigo noticed that something was amiss.

‘This presence isn’t human?’

The wendigo raised his head and smelled the scent flowing through the forest.

The smell of beasts coming from Ivan’s direction.

It was somehow different from livestock. There was a sense of wildness unlike pigs or chickens.

Then, does that mean wild animals were following them…

‘With over three hundred humans moving as a group, it’s unlikely that predators, let alone monsters, would eye them.’

It might be a coincidence that their paths overlapped, but the wendigo didn’t believe in coincidences.

He had experienced too many incidents in this world to believe in such things. He created an ice axe in preparation for a fight.

‘Their movement speed has increased!’

Sure enough.

They began to act strangely. They started chasing Ivan’s group at a fierce speed.

The wendigo ran through the forest, drawing up his mystery.

‘I’ll strike them all at once when I see an opening.’

The wendigo closed the distance with Ivan’s group in an instant, as if folding the ground as he ran.

He shouted towards Ivan, visible in the distance.

“Ivan!!!”

“Spirit-nim!”

Ivan, who had been trudging through the snow, brightened up when he heard the wendigo’s voice.

He had been worried that the wendigo might have left the forest during winter, but to think he came out to greet them like this.

If he could hear his voice, he must be nearby!

“Spirit-nim is nearby. Find Spirit-nim!”

“Ivan. I, I can see Spirit-nim over there…”

“If you can see him, just say so, why are you stutter…!?”

When the warrior pointed with a trembling hand, Ivan looked in that direction with a bright smile.

And was shocked.

The wendigo was running towards them, carrying a large ice axe and exuding an ominous atmosphere.

Ivan froze in place at the sight that naturally evoked fear, and quickly racked his brain.

‘Did I do something wrong!?’

Nothing particular came to mind.

The only thing was that he had moved ahead without waiting for Spirit-nim’s instructions…

But no matter how he thought about it, it wasn’t something deserving of having his head cut off.

He had packed all the valuables from each village and brought everyone safely, so it wouldn’t be strange even if he received praise.

‘Then is it because I came too late? What if he thought I broke my oath and tried to run away?’

No matter how rational and benevolent, the wendigo was still a spirit… at least as far as Ivan knew.

Even with excellent understanding of humans, a spirit is still a spirit.

What if the wendigo had overlooked that humans could freeze to death crossing the forest in mid-winter?

It was quite possible. There’s no law saying spirits can’t make mistakes.

At times like this, calmly explaining the circumstances could clear up misunderstandings. But…

‘Being rational, benevolent, and kind, he’ll surely listen to an explanation… right?’

If not, it would be a big problem. The image of that huge axe severing his neck flashed through Ivan’s mind.

“Ivan!!!”

As the wendigo’s voice grew louder, Ivan swallowed dryly and tensed up.

The moment they face each other, quickly explain!?

《 Duck!!! 》

The wendigo shouted loudly as he burst out of the forest. There was no time for explanations as the enraged beasts had reached right in front of them.

However, the problem was that the wendigo was in a state of having drawn up a lot of mystery.

As the chilling shout struck their ears, Ivan felt his heart shrink.

When he met the wendigo’s eyes emitting an ominous light, he felt the urge to faint right away.

He forgot his original plan and gave in to his instincts.

“I’m sorry!!!”

He immediately knelt down, forgetting about explanations or anything else.

Others weren’t much different. Without anyone taking the lead, they screamed and sat down.

Faced with the anger of a being of higher rank, their knees gave out regardless of their will.

“Well done!”

The wendigo praised their quick action.

He had just shouted because he was in a hurry, but indeed, sincerity always comes through.

They lowered their posture without hesitation, as if sensing there was some reason!

‘I don’t know what they mean by saying they’re sorry!’

With the obstacles gone, the wendigo let out a roar and swung his axe widely.

As the mystery imbued in the axe exerted its power, a snowstorm wrapped around the axe.

“Grrrr!!!”

The wolves that had just arrived bared their teeth with fierce growls.

As the wendigo’s axe drew a crescent, the snowstorm became a massive slash and flew towards the wolves.

The slash cut down more than ten wolves in one go. Naturally, the wolves following behind hesitated.

The wendigo leapt into the center of the wolf pack and ordered Ivan.

“Ivan! Come to your senses and take up arms! It’s an ambush!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sor… ambush?”

Ivan, who had been begging for forgiveness in a daze, turned his head to look at the wolves and was shocked.

It really was an ambush!

Ivan, who had been staring blankly at the wolves, inwardly cheered. He realized that the wendigo’s target wasn’t him.

‘He didn’t come to kill me!’

“Ivan!”

“Yes! Everyone, come to your senses and take up arms! Beasts have appeared!”

When the wendigo called Ivan again, he finally took command.

The warriors, being perceptive, realized that the wendigo wasn’t targeting them. They sighed in relief and began to counter the ambush.

“They’re just wolves. Block them with shields!”

“Make torches, make torches! Threaten them with fire!”

As the warriors dealt with the attacking wolves, the wendigo raised his weapon with relief.

Every time the axe swung, wolves were cut to pieces and flew through the air, and with one roar, five or six wolves became ice fragments without even screaming.

Even with one kick or punch, wolves were pulverized and died miserably. Watching this, Ivan made a resolution.

‘I must never mess with Spirit-nim!’

Ivan was too wise to do such a thing.

As the wendigo continued to massacre the wolves, creating a blood storm…

“Yelp, yelp!”

The wolves that had been drooling like they had rabies began to tuck their tails and run away.

The wendigo watched the fleeing wolves for a moment and then walked towards the people.

Ivan awkwardly smiled as he watched the wendigo approaching with heavy steps.

The killing intent emanating from the wendigo was too intense to smile naturally.

Ivan greeted him with the most polite attitude possible.

“Sp-Spirit-nim. It’s an honor to see you again.”

“Ivan, you’ve worked hard bringing these people. Crossing a snow-covered forest must have been no easy task… Truly impressive.”

“!”

Ivan felt his heart swell at the wendigo’s sincere praise.

As expected, Spirit-nim is so wonderfulㅡ

“But there’s a rat hiding.”

As the wendigo flicked his finger, roots sprang from the ground and wrapped around a man. As he twisted his body with curses, the wendigo slowly approached him and…

Thwack!

Flicked his forehead.

Considering the wendigo’s size, even a normal forehead flick was no different from a punch.

As the man fainted bleeding, Ivan unconsciously lowered his eyes.

He was indeed benevolent and excellent, but…

There was no helping that he was scary.