Chapter 67

Even though competitors were driven away in droves, those who remained didn’t let their guard down. They realized that if they made a mistake, they could be driven out without even seeing the spirit’s face.

They couldn’t return without accomplishing anything after risking the danger of being purged by future chieftains.

The heirs looked at Jaken, who stood at the head of the wolf riders.

The leader of the wolf riders, who rode large wolves like horses, must surely have a close relationship with the spirit.

‘If I could gain his favor, I could gain an advantage in the succession competition.’

Of course, the heirs weren’t foolish enough to approach Jaken carelessly.

Those in power don’t easily allow others by their side.

Yakof, the third son of the Larsen tribe, took out a golden bracelet he had brought in preparation for such an occasion and approached a wolf rider.

“Excuse me, could I have a word?”

“If you have questions, ask. The spirit-nim has allowed it.”

“!”

When the wolf rider nonchalantly permitted questions, the heirs’ eyes lit up.

Doesn’t that mean the spirit had predicted this situation!

At that moment, the same conjecture flashed through the heirs’ minds.

‘The spirit’s test might have already begun!’

Thinking this way, even the appearance of the wolf favored by the spirit seemed suspicious.

Logically speaking, why would such a precious creature reveal itself to them?

The heirs, realizing they had been playing in Wendigo’s palm from the start, shuddered at his cunning.

“So what’s your question? If it’s nothing important, step back.”

“Ahem, well…”

As the warrior frowned and urged him on, Yakof cleared his throat and stalled for time.

Initially, he had planned to hand over the golden bracelet as a bribe to gain favor, but if the spirit had anticipated this situation, it could backfire.

Yakof fiddled with the golden bracelet in his pocket as he pondered.

‘Should I hand this over?’

The spirit had already anticipated that the heirs would ask questions and even given instructions.

Such a being would surely have anticipated bribes as well…

After a moment’s hesitation, Yakof decided to hand over the bribe. Upon reflection, he realized a spirit wouldn’t likely prevent bribes.s might have a very low chance of being incorruptible, but the probability of a spirit being so was even lower.

Especially the forest spirit, who was arrogant enough to drive away renowned shamans just for displeasing him.

Such a spirit wouldn’t prevent bribes. He would surely just collect them and have them brought to him.

“Ahem. First, I have something to offer in exchange for questions. It’s nothing grand, just a rather pretty bracelet…”

Yakof carefully held out the bracelet to the warrior.

Novak, the eldest of the Lefrune tribe, clicked his tongue at Yakof’s clumsy behavior.

‘Tsk tsk, offering a bribe, no, a gift in a situation where everyone is watching.’

Bribes needed to be given with consideration for time and place more than one might think.

When handing over a bribe in front of others, even the most shameless would have to refuse out of consideration for appearances…

“Oh. A golden bracelet? Thank you. Ask whatever you want!”

“!?”

When the warrior pocketed the bracelet without any shame, not only Novak, known as a cunning negotiator, but also the other heirs were shocked.

Even Sira stiffened her relaxed face in surprise.

Do the forest warriors… not know what honor is?

“Uh… What I wanted to ask is…”

“Come closer! I can’t let others benefit after you’ve given me a golden bracelet!”

“Ah, yes!”

As Yakof and the warrior, two shameless individuals, began to whisper, the other heirs’ bodies heated up.

Especially the good-for-nothings who had long since fallen behind in the succession race.

Those with nothing to their name needed something to be chosen by the spirit, didn’t they?

“Ta-Take my jeweled ring!”

“This is a famous sword sold by a wandering shaman. If you trace the engraved pattern with your hand, it shines with each swing…”

“Give it here. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

As the unconscious dam of not wanting to fall behind others collapsed, the heirs went crazy offering bribes.

Of course, not everyone did so.

Milosi, a red fox beastman with a scar over his left eye from the Lefrune tribe, sighed.

What was this power that made brothers and sisters act so shamefully…

Milosi shook his head and clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Even if they obtain information this way, it will be worthless.’

The value of information comes from its scarcity.

In a situation like this where even riffraff obtained information, its value was bound to hit rock bottom.

To put it bluntly, why bribe when they could just follow others without offending the spirit?

As a few besides Milosi looked at them pitifully or with contempt, Sira watched them closely.

[ What boring kids. There’s nothing as fun as those who go wild for a taste of power! ]

‘Not everyone is an idiot like the humans you used to play with.’

When Freya grumbled, Sira scolded the damn spirit.

To call them boring instead of feeling goodwill from such behavior.

Sira blocked out the nonsense flowing through her bloodline and memorized their faces.

If the forest spirit wasn’t a fool, those were likely to be the heirs the spirit would choose.

“They’re impressive individuals.”

“Indeed. Do you think the forest spirit… no, the spirit-nim will think so too?”

Sira hurriedly addressed Wendigo respectfully as she asked Jaken.

Jaken stroked the wolf’s neck and burst into laughter.

“There’s no need to address the spirit-nim respectfully in front of me. While my warriors and I are loyal servants to the spirit-nim, you’re not, are you, Shaman-nim?”

[ That’s right! You call me ‘hey,’ ‘you,’ ‘trash,’ but use honorifics for a spirit you’ve never even seen… Mmph! ]

Sira irritably suppressed the spirit that popped out tactlessly.

Why should she listen to such complaints when she wasn’t even Freya’s lover!

Smiling beautifully in a way that would naturally evoke goodwill from any man, Sira acted humbly.

“When stepping into the domain of the forest spirit-nim, one should naturally show respect.”

“Haha. I’m glad you say so, but…”

Indeed, a beauty’s goodwill easily broke down walls of the heart.

As Jaken grinned and smiled, Sira, judging that he had sufficiently lowered his guard, brought up what she wanted to ask him.

“But… won’t it be a big problem if the spirit-nim finds out the warriors accepted bribes?”

“Ah. It’s fine. Actually, the spirit-nim instructed us to actively accept bribes.”

“Ah… Do you collect the bribes to offer to the spirit-nim?”

Sira thought it was quite possible. Unlike ordinary people’s thinking, spirits weren’t beings that only coveted mystery.

They were beings that would take anything they could get.

So it wouldn’t be strange to collect the gold, jewels, and various treasures useless to spirits offered as bribes…

“Uh, no. We plan to collect those later and distribute them equally among the warriors.”

“……”

Sira checked the golden ring, suspecting Jaken might be lying.

The emerald set in the ring shone brightly, indicating that Jaken’s goodwill was intact.

Freya whispered in Sira’s ear in shock.

[ It really seems like a crazy spirit? Darling, how about turning back now? ]

Even Sira, who usually ignored most of Freya’s words, had to seriously consider it this time.

Where in the world is there a spirit that tells people to accept bribes not to monopolize them but to distribute them to warriors?

Sira could swear it wouldn’t be easy to find such a madman even among people.

[ Why on earth is he giving gold and jewels to such ugly kids? ]

‘I never thought there’d be a day when I’d have the same thought as this one.’

However, it was a shaman’s fate to move forward even if they couldn’t understand.

Sira asked Jaken another question.

“I-I never imagined bribes would be used like that. But won’t it cause problems for the spirit-nim in selecting an heir if information is revealed like this?”

Sometimes in areas without ties to spirits, fairy tales were passed down about kind children receiving blessings from spirits.

Of course, such things never happened. If they did, the spirit surely bestowed blessings based on talent, not the child’s nature.

It wasn’t out of fondness, but rather as a warning to other spirits.

However, in Sira’s view, none of the heirs seemed born with such heaven-sent talent.

What on earth was the spirit thinking in revealing information?

“Are you perhaps spreading false information?”

“Of course not. Everything they’re hearing is true.”

“Exactly what kind of information is it?”

“Hmm…”

Jaken stroked his chin as he summarized the core of the story. He had heard that shamans disliked rambling talk.

Jaken explained as briefly and concisely as possible.

“Simply put, since the spirit-nim is benevolent and dislikes those who oppress and overwork their subordinates, the story is to show as humble an attitude as possible.”

[… It really seems like a crazy spirit? ]

“……”

Sira was disheartened by the fact that she couldn’t deny Freya’s judgment.

---

In conclusion, Sira decided to try believing Jaken’s story.

Unless Jaken was a master conman capable of deceiving the eyes of a spirit that transcended time, although unbelievable, Jaken’s story was true.

[ Darling. No matter how I think about it, the probability of that guy being a master conman is higher than the probability of the spirit being kind! ]

… Of course, Freya thought the probability of Jaken being a master conman was higher.

A kind spirit in this world? It was more likely to meet a docile ogre.

At least ogres became docile after gorging themselves!

[ I know because I’m a spirit, but spirits can never be kind! Once born superior to mortals, we inevitably become arrogant! ]

“But look around. Honestly, there’s some truth to Jaken’s words.”

The forest village they had arrived at was peaceful.

Farmers were cultivating rich soil, shedding valuable sweat, and livestock were grazing and fattening up.

This scene, hard to find even in the warmest regions of the North, amazed not only the heirs but also Sira.

No, rather, because she was a shaman, Sira was more amazed than others.

The land, crops, and even livestock were clearly imbued with mystery, influenced by shamanism or spirits.

“At this level, it’s not strange for Jaken and the warriors to show loyalty.”

[ Darling! That’s why it’s strange! Why would anyone waste precious mystery to give such treatment! ]

Freya, unable to bear the frustration, materialized in fairy form and tapped Sira’s head while grumbling.

Sira continued walking regardless and spoke transparently.

“Maybe the spirit really is kind.”

[ You’re joking now, right darling? Even in my newborn days, only stupid spirits caught by gods did such things! ]

Freya recalled her childhood and shouted “Bah!”

In those days, she could indulge in mystery freely wherever she went, but Freya didn’t miss that time at all.

What good was overflowing mystery when gods, more arrogant than spirits, walked the earth and used spirits as their tools?

In those days, spirits bound by gods would swallow their humiliation and do menial tasks(?) like enriching the land and controlling the weather.

That was enough to crack one’s pride, but now it’s an era where mystery is scarce compared to those times.

‘… Though mystery seems to be stirring recently.’

However, the immediate scarcity was an unchanging fact.

[ Darling. I really care for you sincerely, you know? I even remember your name! ]

‘How ridiculous. Does that mean you can’t remember my mother’s or grandmother’s names?’

Though Freya herself didn’t realize it, she had a talent for pissing people off.

Sira, who had been listening attentively, felt the urge to throw Freya away due to the rising irritation.

Sira removed Freya from atop her head and said to her:

“Anyway, since we’ve come this far, shouldn’t we at least greet them before leaving? And who knows? It might not be a crazy spirit but a kind one.”

[ There’s absolutely no way… ]

---

“He-Hello! I am Yakof of the Larsen tribe…”

“The smell is terrible. You’re disqualified from succession.”

“……”

Wendigo spat out the words as if he couldn’t stand to look at Yakof due to the terrible smell emanating from his body.

As Yakof stared blankly at Wendigo, unable to accept reality, Geron called the warriors to drag Yakof away.

Sira watched this scene with a hardened face.

[ He’s really a madman? ]

Freya spoke to Sira with a serious expression, taken aback.

Sira regretted, for the first time in her life, that she should have listened to Freya’s opinion.