Chapter 68

The heirs were equally dumbfounded.

No, rather, as the chieftain was decided according to Wendigo’s mood, their bewilderment was even greater than Sira and Freya’s.

Who would have thought one could lose the qualification to be chieftain for no other reason than smelling bad?

“Let, let me go! Surely the spirit-nim must have made a mistake… Argh!”

“Shut up! The spirit-nim said you’re disgusting, what mistake could there be!”

“Let go before I break your wrist!”

Yakof, who had been driven out, caused a commotion denying reality, but the warriors didn’t forgive such rudeness.

For a moment, the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking could be heard.

When the sound of something being dragged away was heard, the heirs tensed up, breaking out in cold sweat.

They watched the spirit’s reaction and sniffed, checking their own smell.

‘Damn, I think I smell a bit of sweat.’

‘Good thing I brought a scent pouch.’

Some had brought scent pouches or perfumes to mask their smell, but most hadn’t.

Why on earth would warriors who lived with blood and sweat as companions carry such things?

A red fox beastman tapped the scent pouch on his waist and sneered at his siblings:

“Tsk tsk, do my half-siblings not know what manners are? You should have prepared like me.”

“Kiamen!”

A sibling glared at him, baring their teeth, but Kiamen smiled insidiously, certain that his siblings would be driven out.

Due to inheriting animal blood, beastmen naturally had strong body odors.

‘Heaven is helping me!’

If the spirit was disgusted by mere human smell, he would surely be disgusted by his siblings’ smell and drive them out.

Then naturally, he would become the chieftain of the Lefrune tribe!

“You there. Beastmen, come forward.”

The heirs of the Lefrune tribe frowned and stepped forward. They were the only beastmen here.

Kiamen watched his siblings step forward pitifully and was about to smile in victory…

“You there. You come forward too.”

“Huh? Me, you mean?”

“Are you not a beastman but a human wearing animal skin? Don’t be troublesome and come forward quickly.”

Wendigo ordered Kiamen as if he found it ridiculous. Kiamen, who hadn’t expected to be included, bit his lip and stepped forward.

As Kiamen approached, one of his siblings mocked him:

“You were so proud just for having a scent pouch, now look at you. How strong must your smell be for the scent pouch to be useless?”

Grind.

Kiamen glared at his sibling, grinding his teeth. Of course, his sibling ignored Kiamen’s gaze.

Just as Kiamen was about to raise his fist, unable to overcome his shame, Geron stepped in to stop them.

“Have you forgotten you’re in front of the spirit-nim? Unlike the spirit-nim, we have poor patience, you should know.”

Geron warned them with a fierce glare. Behind him, warriors were waiting, ready to draw their swords at any moment.

“We-We’re sorry.”

“Please forgive us!”

Kiamen and his sibling lowered their eyes and begged for forgiveness.

Geron showed his forgiveness by patting their shoulders.

Watching this scene, Wendigo whispered to Geron as he returned to his side:

“Aren’t you scaring them too much?”

“Isn’t this because you suddenly drove someone out, spirit-nim? I don’t like playing this role either.”

Geron grumbled, glaring at Wendigo.

It’s not like he enjoyed intimidating people he just met.

“We don’t know which of them will be chosen by the spirit-nim, but shouldn’t you show at least a minimum of authority?”

“If they’re not idiots, they wouldn’t think of attacking, would they?”

Wendigo thought it unlikely such fools existed.

Even when several tribes united and attacked, they couldn’t even inflict proper damage.

Even Gelmir, who was the leader of the alliance, had his neck cut off…

However, Geron shook his head and spoke firmly:

“The world is wide and fools are many. Wasn’t it just now that those fools ignored the spirit-nim’s warning and started a fight?”

‘It’s sad that it’s convincing.’

Wendigo couldn’t refute Geron’s words. Indeed, considering they ignored the warning even when using corpses, the people of this world were not ordinary.

They were the kind who wouldn’t hesitate to do anything given the chance.

“Well, alright. It doesn’t matter much since they were going to be driven out anyway.”

Wendigo dismissed Geron and stared at the heirs of Lefrune.

As the huge monster, no, spirit looked down at them, the heirs felt fear creeping up from the bottom of their hearts.

It was extremely unpleasant, as if the light that couldn’t be called eyes was peering into their hearts.

‘It seems to have gotten a bit colder.’

‘Damn. I can’t tell what he’s thinking since he has no expression.’

Wendigo scanned the heirs and sniffed. And he couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Huh, you all resemble your father a lot.”

“Our father… you say?”

Milosi recalled his father and asked with a sour expression. It wasn’t a very pleasing thing to hear.

Of all people, he didn’t want to admit resembling his father, infamous as a con man.

Wendigo nodded in affirmation.

“Yes. Perhaps because he was quite memorable, I can be sure.”

Flinch.

Except for Milosi, the rest of the heirs perked up their ears, sensing an opportunity.

‘Could it be that father deceived the spirit?’

It was quite possible. The Lefrune tribe had been skilled in deception from old times, and their father was the most vicious con man among them.

For the first time in their lives feeling respect for their father, they decided to actively sell out their father.

“Our father is indeed an extraordinary person.”

“Was he famous from the beginning?”

“Of course! There’s no one in the North who doesn’t know father’s name.”

“I see…”

Wendigo nodded.

Indeed, if he was someone who could lie even while being beaten, his record must be impressive.

There would be no regrets in driving out those who resembled such a person.

‘No need to think further.’

Wendigo pointed at Milosi with his finger and said:

“From now on, he will be the chieftain of the Lefrune tribe.”

“Uh… you mean me?”

Milosi pointed at himself and asked. It was something he hadn’t expected at all.

Naturally, his siblings who had been actively appealing to Wendigo were greatly shocked and glared at Milosi.

What on earth about him had pleased the spirit!

“May I ask why you chose me?”

“You’re the only one whose smell is clean.”

“Spirit-nim…”

Geron grabbed the back of his neck and tapped Wendigo’s leg with his sword. It was a signal begging for a proper explanation.

Wendigo decided to explain a bit more properly for Geron’s sake.

“And unlike the others, you don’t resemble your father at all.”

“… Did my father, I mean Valken, perhaps offend the spirit-nim?”

“Hmm… I don’t think it was to that extent.”

When Wendigo denied it, Milosi inwardly sighed in relief.

Indeed, in a life-or-death situation, with what guts would one try to con a spirit…

“He just tried to hide a few heirs, ignoring the conditions I demanded. Deceiving an enemy isn’t particularly strange, I suppose.”

“Ah, shit.”

Milosi exclaimed in admiration at his father’s amazing judgment.

---

Milosi’s rude reaction was safely overlooked thanks to Wendigo’s generous tolerance.

Geron also didn’t severely scold Milosi, considering that his father had tried to con the spirit.

He thought Wendigo was at fault for revealing such information in the first place.

“You used to explain things well in the past, but lately…”

“I can’t just tell them about my abilities. And talking too much isn’t dignified… How many mind-calming fruits are you eating?”

Thanks to this, Geron ate mind-calming fruits again today to suppress his anger.

Fearing he might collapse from stress, Wendigo changed the subject.

“Still, it’s fortunate we’ve filtered out quite a few.”

“Crunch. Indeed, the numbers have reduced significantly… but are they really bad people?”

“You’re too much. What do you take me for? I told you to drive them out because they’re truly all trash.”

To others, it might have seemed like he issued expulsion orders for the outrageous reason of smelling bad, but Wendigo had quite seriously screened the personnel.

Who would have known that half of the heirs who came rushing in would reek of rot?

Thanks to this, the issue that was supposed to be decided in a day had to be postponed.

“More importantly, was there anything strange about the shaman called Sira?”

“That shaman girl is said to be behaving quietly. Rather, I heard she’s trying to get close to people by greeting them?”

“Is that so? Strange.”

Wendigo stroked his chin, recalling his first impression of Sira.

Her beauty rivaling Skadi’s was surprising, but Wendigo focused on the scent emanating from her body.

‘Her scent was quite fragrant… but there was definitely a spirit’s smell mixed in.’

At the very least, it was certain she was a woman related to spirits. Although her purpose for coming to the forest was still unknown…

“Call Skadi. And the shaman called Sira as well.”

“Are you thinking of meeting her directly?”

“Yes. I’ve become quite curious.”

That was something to find out from now on.

If she came with friendly intentions, she could become a friend depending on the conditions.

If not, she would have quite a painful time.

---

While the heirs were trying to wash their bodies and remove their smell, Sira wandered around the village gathering information.

In her view, the forest spirit was an extremely eccentric spirit.

At least the spirits she had seen before, even if they insulted and tormented others, never drove them away.

However, Sira returned to her lodging without any gains.

Throwing herself on the bed, Sira frowned and muttered:

“Did they all take a vow of silence or something? Why are they all so desperate to praise such a spirit?”

Protecting people, managing the land and forest while giving compensation to shamans…

Why on earth would a spirit do such things!

Sira agonized, messing up her hair vigorously. Freya appeared beside her and cackled.

[ Kyahaha! Darling, you think too much. You should just accept that such spirits exist and move on. ]

“You were serious at first too!”

[ Eh. That was because I was really bewildered. And I think I roughly know why he did such things? ]

Sira glared at Freya’s sparkling eyes and crossed her arms.

“Surely you’re not going to say he really drove them out because he disliked their smell?”

[ Oh my. Do you think I’m such a tactless spirit, darling? I wouldn’t play such a joke knowing you’d get angry. ]

‘The opponent is a spirit. The opponent is a damn spirit. The opponent is a spirit with terrible luck…’

Sira swallowed her irritation while inwardly cursing Freya.

Freya arranged Sira’s messy hair and whispered in her ear.

[ I think he must have the power to judge people by their smell. ]

“That’s impossible. Spirits can’t wield powers unrelated to their core, right?”

A naive shaman might have agreed, but Sira was not a naive shaman.

If such a thing were possible, why would Freya, who had lived for an immeasurable time, only use powers limited to the realm of beauty?

Despite Sira’s point, Freya didn’t back down from her assertion.

[ Mutations don’t only happen to beasts and humans, darling. ]

Just as extreme cold is indistinguishable from heat, sometimes spirits were born based on something that seemed completely unrelated.

This world always flowed based on infinite possibilities.

“But in all the history books and information I’ve found so far, there’s no such spirit…”

[ How long do you think you’ve been recording history? In ancient times, such things were quite common. These days it’s hard to find because fewer spirits are born. ]

Unlike usual, when Freya answered with a serious attitude, Sira couldn’t help but believe her words.

Freya gave sincere advice for the shaman she truly cared for.

[ Darling. How about leaving the forest without being greedy? Regardless of his power, mutant spirits are rarely normal… ]

“Sira-nim, are you there! The spirit-nim is calling for you!”

[ Oh my. ]

Freya, who had been giving advice with a serious face until just now, was startled by the voice from outside and looked at the door.

Then she looked back at Sira, pretending to wipe away tears as she spoke.

[ Sob sob. I will never forget you, darling! ]

“Stop saying unlucky things and come with me!”

I thought it might be, but this is why spirits!

Sira opened the door, grumbling. The warrior was flustered and glanced inside, checking.

Contrary to her words about coming along, there was no one else in her room.

The warrior looked at Sira with pitying eyes. He recalled the superstition that sometimes shamans who mishandle magic become madmen.

‘Has she already gone mad at such a young age…’

Grind.

Of course, Sira wasn’t mad. In her bloodline, there was an ill-tempered spirit…

Knowing he wouldn’t believe even if she explained, Sira sighed and asked the warrior:

“… Just guide me quickly.”

“Yes. I didn’t hear anything.”

“……”

Sira felt her anger rising at the tactless warrior’s response.

Sometimes, heavy silence was more welcome than foolish consolation.