Chapter 54

As Osa closed her mouth in embarrassment, Wendigo looked at the other shamans.

The shamans blushed and lowered their heads deeply. As fellow shamans, they couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

No matter how devoted to shamanism, to think of taking corpses placed as warnings!

‘Damn bastards. Why not just properly request a trade instead of taking the human-faced trees and burying treasures?’

‘I knew they were terrible, but to think it was to this extent.’

As they couldn’t raise their heads out of shame, Wendigo looked at Skadi with a last hope.

However, Skadi seemed to agree with them, sighing deeply and nodding.

Wendigo let out an exclamation.

He knew shamans were strange fellows, but they truly exceeded his imagination!

“So… you’re saying they took the human-faced trees to use for shamanism?”

“Yes…”

Osa answered in a voice as quiet as an ant crawling.

Setting aside the eerie appearance and the minor(?) issue of it being human corpses, the human-faced trees were quite tempting materials for shamans.

“Impressive. If it can be used for shamanism, they’d even dig up graves.”

Flinch.

The shamans flinched as Wendigo muttered in bewilderment. Wendigo could tell what they were thinking without even asking.

‘It seems grave robbing is quite common.’

Wendigo was truly grateful that he had hired shamans based on character, if nothing else.

If he had selected based on skill alone, wouldn’t such insensitive fellows be roaming his land?

Thinking this way, he found the shamans before him admirable. To maintain human decency among such madmen.

“All of you, raise your heads. There’s no reason for you to be ashamed of what those bastards did.”

“We have no words to offer.”

“There’s no need to apologize for something you didn’t do. Everyone but Skadi may leave.”

The shamans bowed politely and withdrew, and Geron entered.

Geron looked quizzically at the retreating shamans with flushed faces and asked Wendigo.

“Did you perhaps rebuke the shamans?”

“No, it’s because of the human-faced trees.”

Wendigo told Geron about the shamans’ speculation. As the story went on, Geron’s face became a mess of shock.

Who could have imagined that someone would take those human-faced trees, with despair and pain vividly felt, for shamanism?

“They’re truly madmen.”

“I think so too. Anyway, now that we seem to have figured out why the human-faced trees were taken, let’s move on to the next issue.”

“Is there another problem besides this?”

Geron tried to recall if he had forgotten any reports, but nothing came to mind. The forest had never been as quiet as it was recently.

Wendigo clicked his tongue and said to Geron.

“They left payment, didn’t they? Shouldn’t we check if the value is appropriate?”

“Aren’t you angry? After all, you set them up as warnings…”

Geron spoke while observing Wendigo’s reaction. No matter how much payment was offered, taking something without the owner’s permission was something to be angry about, no matter how benevolent one was.

Wendigo spoke indifferently, as if Geron’s concern was nothing.

“What can be done about something that’s already happened? And well… it’s not like they took the corpse of one of my people.”

Wendigo wasn’t soft enough to get angry for the sake of someone he didn’t know, especially an enemy, in this world.

While it was a bit surprising that they took the human-faced trees, in the end, the warning was properly delivered, so minor issues could be overlooked.

Feeling that Wendigo was sincere, Geron recalled the treasures the warriors had brought.

“There seemed to be a considerable amount of silver coins, jewelry, and items related to shamanism.”

“Skadi will be responsible for checking the shamanism-related items with the shamans. If there’s nothing strange, they can discuss and share them.”

“I don’t think there’s anything extraordinary, but… if there’s anything useful, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright… but are silver coins and jewelry useful?”

Wendigo couldn’t remember seeing forest people buying and selling things with silver coins. Most transactions were done through barter.

Geron smiled at Wendigo’s question.

“Don’t worry. In the past, we couldn’t trade with the outside because we lacked strength, but now it’s certainly possible.”

“That’s good. Then tell the village chiefs to survey what items each needs and select people to go on a trading expedition outside.”

“Is there nothing you want, spirit-nim? After all, these are things you obtained.”

Wendigo shook his head at Geron’s question. Certainly, it was something obtained through hardship, but what could he need among things that could be bought with silver coins?

Clothes? Weapons? Or perhaps art?

‘There’s no way there are clothes for giants, and I don’t particularly need weapons. I wasn’t interested in art even when I was human.’

Wendigo declined Geron’s suggestion because he really didn’t need anything, but Geron felt reverence for Wendigo for once.

How ascetic this behavior was!

‘Usually he lacks dignity, but when he shows this side, I can’t help but feel reverence…’

“Ah. How about purchasing food ingredients that can’t be obtained in the forest?”

“Oh, that’s good. Please do that.”

“……”

As Wendigo licked his lips at the mention of new food, the reverence rising in Geron’s heart faltered.

… Still, there was no better figure to serve as a lord.

---

The city of Gephen, of the Freyr tribe.

Not all shamans who came to Gephen were overflowing with talent. Rather, most shamans often compromised with reality, hitting the wall of talent…

The shamans who traded(?) with Wendigo for the human-faced trees were also shamans who had compromised with reality.

Trung and Skalf, wandering shamans and merchants, were the protagonists.

The two whispered while displaying the human-faced trees in Syr’s hut.

“Are you sure this is okay? The spirit won’t forgive us just because we offered payment…”

“Oh come on. I asked that friend Isaac, and he said the forest spirit is rational and friendly to humans. It should be fine if we pay the price well.”

“Aish… Even so, a spirit being rational and friendly is hard to believe.”

“Then you can back out.”

“Hey friend, I was just expressing concern. We’ve already paid the price together, so I can’t do that.”

Trung and Skalf had been interested in the forest since hearing the news. It wasn’t a shaman’s curiosity, but a merchant’s instinct that signaled.

The instinct that they might be able to increase their wealth with this opportunity!

Of course, Trung and Skalf had headed to the forest outskirts with other shamans. And they were shocked when they saw the human-faced trees.

How surprised they must have been to see those infamous among shamans turned into trees.

Most shamans trembled at the spirit’s cruel act and returned, but the two calmed their startled hearts and started calculating.

Deducting points for being corpses… deducting more points for being well-known individuals…

Excluding that, the human-faced trees were items that could be sold at a high price.

Even to their weak spirit vision, the human-faced trees were clearly visible with mystery, and the symbolism of humans becoming trees was quite good.

A merchant should be able to sell even the underwear they’re wearing if they can sell it.

So they took them. Although they paid a large price, they were confident they could sell them for even more.

And their prediction was spot on.

“What are you two whispering about! Sell these trees to me!”

“I’ll pile up silver coins equal to their weight! Sell these trees to me!”

“Ahem. If it’s alright, would you sell me even just one arm? I have a rare material I recently obtained…”

The fact that they were once living humans wasn’t much of an issue. Among shamans, there were quite a few human dregs who didn’t care about such things.

As the auction heated up to the point where fights broke out among the shamans, Trung and Skalf trembled with ecstasy as if money was raining down from the sky.

It was indeed good that they went to the forest!

… Syr, the owner of the hut and the shaman of the Freyr tribe, was watching this scene with interest.

She was lost in thought while stroking her hair.

‘I expected something big was happening in the forest since hearing Isaac’s story, but… it’s beyond what I imagined.’

Syr opened her spirit vision and observed the human-faced trees. The human-faced trees certainly contained a lot of mystery, though insignificant compared to the mystery contained in the ice crystal.

‘Is it really a spirit overflowing with mystery?’

Even so, to waste precious mystery just to leave a warning… It was an incomprehensible act with her knowledge.

As she furrowed her beautiful brow, a butterfly flew from somewhere and landed on her shoulder.

[ Oh my. What could be troubling our pretty darling to make her frown like that? ]

“Freyja. I told you not to call me darling, it’s creepy.”

[ Creepy, you say. I’m a butterfly that praises beauty! You should consider it an honor to be called darling by a beautiful spirit like me. ]

As Freyja, the butterfly praising beauty, grumbled, Syr pressed her throbbing head with her fingers.

If other shamans had seen Syr speaking harshly to a spirit, they would have been shocked, but there was a reason Syr could do this.

Freyja was a spirit bound to the direct descendants of her bloodline, Freyja.

‘Why did the ancestor have to make a contract with such a fellow!’

While Freyja was indeed a strong spirit that had lived for a long time, Syr didn’t particularly like Freyja.

[ You need to cherish me more, darling. You don’t have to look far, just behaving like your mother or grandmother would be satisfactory~ ]

“Shut up. I have no intention of fawning over you like my mother or grandmother.”

Syr spoke venomously as Freyja chattered. Contrary to Freyja’s wishes, Syr was not a fool.

Her grandmother and mother lived indulging in Freyja’s power, fawning over her.

With Freyja’s mystery alone, they could bring anyone to bed and plunge them into ecstasy, obtain anything they wanted, and even enchant spirits.

But Syr wasn’t fooled.

‘They’re all fools. There’s no way a spirit would give such power without a price.’

Her grandmother and mother had short lives. Both were discarded like worn-out shoes by Freyja when they got old, after running wild intoxicated with power beyond their means.

Syr had no intention of becoming like that at all.

[ You’re really such a boring woman. Well… fine. Time is on my side anyway. When you change your mind, just tell me anytime~ ]

Freyja, failing to shake her resolve once again today, lost interest and left.

Syr sighed and took out a piece of parchment from her bosom.

“An expedition to the forest…”

The parchment listed the tribes and shamans participating in the expedition, and at the end was a request for her to join.

After much deliberation, she tore the parchment in half.

‘The ice crystal, turning humans into trees, it’s definitely not an ordinary spirit.’

She looked at Trung and Skalf. The two were dancing with joy after selling the human-faced trees at a good price…

And beyond them, she could see shamans with eyes clouded by greed.

‘There’s no need to act based solely on the possibility that it might be a spirit that likes pretty women.’

The greedy shamans would find out about the spirit on their own anyway.

She was convinced that now was the time to wait.