Chapter 57

The night when the shimmering moon in the sky bewitches human villages and the curtain of darkness separates oneself from others.

There were few times that shook the human heart like the night. Naturally, evil spirits and malicious beings seized this time to pour poison into human hearts.

The being that spoke to Todel was, of course, not some ancient evil lurking in the forest.

Why would such a being hide in a land of only trees, rocks, and snow?

The owner of the voice was Wendigo. Of course, he didn’t come in person.

He had borrowed the body of the large raven usually used to convey Wendigo’s orders to find Todel.

‘I’m not sure if this will work.’

Wendigo’s plan was simple. To persuade a shaman or chieftain responsible for an important position in the alliance to collude with him.

This required appropriate discord and rewards… but honestly, it wasn’t a method he was confident in.

Unlike making people his allies, this was his first time trying to turn an enemy into an ally.

‘Moreover, the relationship between them and me can’t be called good by any means.’

The shamans from outside had attacked first, but Wendigo had made trees out of the shamans’ corpses and left them as a warning.

Of course, they were trash enough to take the human-faced trees and use them as materials, but grudges were far from rational judgment to begin with.

Moreover, the forest warriors had beheaded the enemies who invaded the forest, so it wouldn’t be strange if their hostility was at its peak.

“Who’s there! Show yourself!”

As Todel shouted while being wary of his surroundings, Wendigo moved the raven to perch on his shoulder.

The raven’s size was large enough to be compared to a person’s upper body, and naturally, it was quite heavy, causing Todel to stagger.

Not expecting a raven to fly over and sit on his shoulder, Todel frowned and glared at the raven.

‘Now even a mere raven dares to insult me…!?’

However, Todel recognized the raven’s identity and widened his eyes in shock.

It seemed familiar, and indeed, wasn’t it that raven that had been following the shamans and cawing noisily?

Although he had fled without saving face from the forest warriors, he was still a shaman after all.

Todel barely held his trembling heart and asked the raven:

“Are you the forest spirit?”

[ That’s right. ]

“!!!”

As the voice of the being who had asked the question earlier flowed from the raven’s mouth, Todel’s body shook as if struck by lightning.

He hadn’t expected to face Wendigo again so quickly. Who could have imagined that Wendigo would come to him first!

“For you to secretly seek out a shaman on such a late night… it’s truly unexpected.”

Having confirmed that the raven was Wendigo, Todel threw away the negative emotions he had been burning until just now and pretended to be calm.

Fundamentally, negotiation is about making the other party anxious.

As if to prove that his talent for persuading and moving tribes was real, Todel tried to hide his true feelings with an expression and posture that hinted at coolness…

‘He seems to have fallen for it halfway already.’

However, Wendigo wasn’t fooled at all. While expressions and posture could be hidden, the smell emanating from the body couldn’t be concealed.

How could he not notice when just moments ago there was a terrible smell, and now suddenly a fragrant scent was being emitted as if flipping a palm?

Unaware that his emotions had already been exposed, Todel asked Wendigo with a stern expression:

“Why are you asking me such a question? Aren’t we enemies, spirit?”

[ You talk too much. I already know you desire power. Surely a shaman like you hasn’t failed to grasp my intentions. If you don’t like it, I’ll find someone else… ]

“Ahem! It was just a question to make sure we understand each other clearly.”

As Wendigo showed signs of annoyance and flapped his wings, Todel unconsciously grabbed the raven’s legs and cleared his throat.

He hadn’t expected Wendigo to try to leave so casually without any lingering attachment.

‘It seems I’m not the only target for persuasion…’

Images of the shamans and chieftains who had been rebuked at the meeting flashed through Todel’s mind.

Not only had their pride been wounded, but they were certainly not men of little greed, so it was obvious they would fall for the spirit’s sweet talk.

Todel rubbed his palms together like a merchant and carefully asked Wendigo:

“Spirit. If I’m correct, I believe you came to persuade me… is that right?”

[ Yes. It’s all because of the war you lot started. The chieftains wouldn’t have pushed their precious warriors into this land without reason. It’s obvious that you stimulated the chieftains’ greed and incited war. ]

“Hmm. We had no choice but to try to negotiate with you, spirit…”

[ I may not know everything about this world, but I do know that those who negotiate with swords are called bandits. ]

“……”

Wendigo nailed them as bandits without giving Todel a chance to make excuses. Honestly, it wasn’t wrong.

What kind of merchants negotiate with force? No matter how you look at it, that was indeed banditry.

Todel couldn’t refute even that much, so he blushed and avoided Wendigo’s gaze.

[ At least you know to be ashamed. ]

“You didn’t come to insult me, did you? If you want to persuade me, offer rewards instead of the whip!”

When Wendigo looked at him with cold eyes, Todel burst out shouting. As expected of an experienced shaman, he was excellent at turning around unfavorable topics.

[ Seeing is better than hearing. ]

“Huh? What…!?”

Another raven flew over and fluttered in front of Todel’s eyes, holding out something in its claws.

When Todel took the object, the raven disappeared without making a sound.

[ You didn’t answer, but I know you want power. And that object is the reward I can give you for betrayal. ]

“What is this?”

Todel shook the reward Wendigo had offered with a sour expression.

A ball-shaped object sealed with leather imbued with shamanism.

[ I hid the mystery in case it might be discovered. Unseal it. ]

At Wendigo’s command, Todel swallowed dryly and unwrapped the leather.

What kind of object could require such a seal…

“This is!”

[ It’s not as good as the ice crystal Isaac took, but it should be plenty attractive to you lot. ]

Todel was shocked by the clear and refreshing mystery flowing from beyond the unwrapped leather.

It certainly wasn’t as vast as the ice crystal Isaac had brought, but the identity of the object sealed in leather was an ice crystal.

The surprise was momentary.

Todel hurriedly sealed the ice crystal with leather again. He was worried that other shamans might sense the mystery and come looking.

He asked Wendigo with a much more polite attitude than before:

“Are, are you really giving this as a reward?”

[ That’s just the advance payment. Depending on how you act, you might receive something even greater. ]

Gulp.

At Wendigo’s sweet temptation, Todel felt his mouth water and his throat dry up with thirst.

If Todel had been a righteous shaman with firm convictions, he would have immediately thrown the ice crystal and boldly declared, ‘I cannot betray those who share my cause!’ However…

“I was too foolish to recognize your greatness, spirit! Please allow me to serve you to atone for my rudeness until now!”

[ …… Shamans sure have an amazing talent for gilding their tongues. ]

Wendigo was so dumbfounded that he revealed his true thoughts. He had expected Todel to be quite interested, but he didn’t expect such an intense reaction.

A man should not sheathe his sword until he has cut off the enemy general’s head once it’s drawn, but Todel didn’t care at all.

If the original purpose had been war, it might have been different, but wasn’t the reason he came on this expedition to gain a legitimate(?) opportunity to negotiate with Wendigo?

As Todel skillfully let his mutterings slip and waited for a response, Wendigo issued orders to Todel.

[ What I want is not that difficult. ]

“Even if it’s a difficult task, if you desire it, spirit, I’m prepared to break my bones…”

[ It’s really not a difficult task, so stop the flattery. What you need to do is create discord within the alliance. ]

“You mean sowing discord? But it will be difficult for me alone.”

They say one loach can muddy a pond, but that’s only possible if the situation allows it.

If he made a mistake, he might not only be driven out of the pond but possibly be chopped to pieces alive.

No matter how tempting Wendigo’s reward was, Todel wasn’t crazy enough to throw away his life.

[ Don’t worry. I plan to select others besides you to cause internal strife. ]

Wendigo didn’t expect that much skill from Todel either. If he had been that talented, he wouldn’t have been utterly defeated by the forest warriors.

From the beginning, these were people who had cooperated solely based on self-interest, without any proper justification.

Once five or six of them start muddying the waters, shouting matches would break out in no time.

Todel seemed to have noticed this much and showed signs of relief.

The raven possessed by Wendigo took off from Todel’s shoulder. It perched on a tree branch and opened its mouth.

[ When you hear a raven cawing late at night, come to the forest. Until then, it’s enough to carry out my orders. ]

“How could I refuse? I shall look forward to the day we meet again.”

As the raven took flight, Todel bowed politely to see it off. His face, looking down at the ground, was clearly triumphant.

Who could have known that the conflict in the forest would turn into such an opportunity!

‘When the alliance crumbles, the other shamans will fall away, and then the only one who can negotiate with that spirit will be… hehehe.’

Todel returned to the camp with a sinister laugh.

---

“Will this be alright? Even if the alliance crumbles, the traitors might cause problems.”

“Geron. Don’t worry too much.”

Geron asked Wendigo, who had released his possession, with a worried expression. He couldn’t trust the alliance’s traitors.

However, Wendigo lightly answered his concern as if there was nothing to worry about.

And for good reason…

“I understand your concern. How can we trust those who push people to their deaths for their own greed?”

“That’s right. The shamans who have received your grace this time are beyond doubt in their character, but not those guys. When the alliance crumbles and they start demanding their reward…”

“It’s fine. From the beginning, they are destined to die when the alliance crumbles.”

“… Pardon?”

When Geron looked at him with surprised eyes, Wendigo answered as if it was obvious.

“Geron. I said I would give them a reward, not that I would let them live.”

“Spirit-nim, you usually don’t seem like a spirit… but sometimes when dealing with enemies, you do seem like one.”

“Isn’t that too harsh? I’ve never harmed anyone who didn’t harm me first. And honestly speaking, if we’re talking about cruelty, those shaman bastards are more cruel than me, if not equally so.”

“No, it was truly a spirit-like thought. Honestly, I was worried because you treated people too leniently… but seeing this side of you puts me at ease.”

“…… Now you’re really going too far.”

Wendigo looked at Geron with sulky eyes at being called spirit-like, and then possessed the body of another raven.

[ Do you desire power… ]

To recruit another traitor.

Geron watched this scene and kept exclaiming in admiration.

---

Gelmir thought he could control the alliance by intimidating those who had made mistakes and recruiting those who followed his will.

The former wouldn’t be able to act rashly as they needed to achieve military exploits, and the latter would follow his words as they could stand above others.

After that, he planned to gradually conquer the forest using well-controlled warriors, but…

“We will wash away our sins with military exploits! Make us the vanguard!”

“You conscienceless bastards! How is that atonement? You’re just whining!”

“Ha! If you don’t like it, we’ll act separately!”

“Ahem. We did make mistakes. But do you remember which tribe is supplying the most food you’re eating?”

“You madman. To threaten with food in the middle of a war! Come out. Let’s talk with swords!”

“Oh my. I was just asking if you remembered, why are you like this?”

“Arghhhh!!!”

Gelmir’s plan went awry from the very first step. Those who should have acted like criminals started intimidating others instead.

He thought he had properly established discipline on the first day, but…

‘What the hell happened in just a few days for them to act like they’ve all taken drugs!’

Gelmir gritted his teeth with rising anger.

He hadn’t gritted his teeth no matter how angry he got since he got older, but this was an anger he couldn’t endure without grinding his teeth.