Chapter 72

Freya’s conjecture made Wendigo feel uneasy.

If Freya was right, it meant that he was born from the remains of a monster, or a being comparable to a monster.

Wondering if Freya might be joking, Wendigo asked her back:

“So you’re saying the owner of my head wasn’t me, but someone else?”

[ You could say that. Of course, the owner of that head would have died long ago. ]

“……”

As Wendigo stared blankly into space after hearing the answer, Freya giggled and patted his head.

Even without seeing Wendigo’s expression, she could roughly guess what he was thinking.

With so many other noble and beautiful origin stories, who in the world would be happy to hear they were born from a corpse’s head?

Surely he must be expressing dissatisfaction with his own existence!

‘Then should I discard the hypothesis that my existence is strong because I came from another world? I thought it had quite a high possibility.’

… Of course, this was Freya’s thought because she didn’t know Wendigo well yet.

Wendigo didn’t particularly care that he was a being born from a corpse.

Except for originating from a corpse, there wasn’t any particular problem with living.

‘As long as another one like me doesn’t appear later…’

Wendigo nodded and accepted Freya’s reasoning.

“Indeed, it’s a highly possible story. It wouldn’t be strange to think that my seemingly unrelated powers are gifts left by the head’s owner.”

[ What? Aren’t you accepting this too easily? Aren’t you uncomfortable or ashamed? ]

“There’s no meaningless death in this world, so why would it be shameful?”

[ … I don’t know about anything else, but you’re definitely a mutant spirit. ]

When Wendigo responded nonchalantly, Freya looked at him with disgust.

Ignoring her gaze, Wendigo prepared his next question. Freya’s reasoning had increased his trust in her.

Wendigo asked Freya with a small expectation:

“Where does my mystery come from? I’ve never felt the depletion of mystery so far.”

[ Huh? What do you… !? ]

Freya, who thought it was nonsense, was shocked when a bunch of pure white roses bloomed in Wendigo’s hand.

She realized these weren’t just for show, but identical to the rose he had offered her as an apology.

The roses were imbued with cold that could freeze a person to death with just a single petal.

Wendigo wrapped the roses into a bouquet and held it out to Skadi.

“We-Wendigo-nim?”

“Take it. It’s too precious to give to others.”

Skadi hurriedly took the bouquet Wendigo offered, her face a mess of joy and confusion.

Sira watched this scene and swallowed her saliva in regret.

‘Even just one of those would make me so happy!’

Sira could understand why Skadi was happy.

Of course a shaman would be delighted to receive such a rare gift!

… Of course, Skadi had no intention of carelessly using even a single petal.

“Hehehe…”

‘Well, I’m glad she likes it.’

Leaving the grinning Skadi behind, Wendigo asked Freya:

“Does my mystery seem to have decreased?”

[ Isn’t that obvious? Creating dozens of such roses without any preparation, of course the mystery should… it hasn’t decreased!? ]

Freya doubted her own senses. It wouldn’t have been strange if Wendigo’s mystery had been torn away in chunks, but she couldn’t feel any decrease at all.

“Isn’t there any possibility, however small? Like the skull being so old that mystery overflows?”

[ Hmm… ]

Freya closed her eyes and fell into thought… and slowly moved away from Wendigo.

“?”

Wendigo looked at Freya puzzled. He couldn’t understand why she was moving away while thinking.

After creating sufficient distance, Freya opened her eyes and said to Wendigo with disgust:

[ I don’t know. What are you? You’re scary. ]

“……”

Wendigo inwardly lowered his trust in Freya by one level.

---

In conclusion, they failed to completely uncover Wendigo’s identity, but Wendigo himself didn’t particularly care.

It didn’t seem like the direction of his life would change by realizing the secret of his birth…

“Spirit! That guy stole three chickens from the village!”

“No! I just took care of chickens wandering around without an owner!”

“Liar! I remember the chickens’ appearance clearly, how dare you spout nonsense!”

“It’s not true!”

Even without worrying about such things, the forest was overflowing with incidents and accidents.

Wendigo confirmed the smell and passed judgment:

“Both sides are telling the truth. However, it’s wrong not to look for the owner of escaped chickens that aren’t wild, so I’ll impose an appropriate punishment.”

“Urgh… I understand. If it’s true, there’s nothing I can do.”

The two men participating in the trial didn’t object to Wendigo’s judgment.

Who could deny it when a spirit with the ability to see through the truth said so?

Even after they left, the trials continued.

There weren’t few trials before, but recently there was truly no time to rest.

Problems that used to occur only between forest people now began to include outsiders.

“Next people, come in quickly.”

“Yes. This time it’s a dispute between a forest person and an outside merchant, the forest person exchanged a long sword and fifteen silver coins for a pig…”

No matter how carefully you set up filters and check, people’s hearts are like reeds.

An herb gatherer who came to collect precious herbs in the forest finds even more precious herbs and becomes a thief.

A merchant who came to make an honest deal tries to squeeze every silver coin out of innocent forest people.

A hunter who came for hunting tries to hunt people with pockets full of silver coins…

“He’s insane. Behead that guy.”

“I-I’m sorry! I was blinded by silver coins!”

“Shut up and follow!”

… Anyway, filtering people didn’t make the world peaceful.

A little later, after holding trials for a long time, Wendigo declared a recess and sat on the throne, sighing.

“Sometimes I think humans and spirits are no different when it comes to causing trouble.”

“How about resting while having some refreshments?”

“Hmm…”

Wendigo resisted the urge to nod and agonized.

The cookies made by grinding nuts, mixing with flour, baking, and then spreading honey on top were certainly delicious, but…

“It still seems too luxurious. To match my body size, the cookies would have to be quite large.”

“Then I’ll take that as you want to eat them.”

When Geron lightly chewed up his concerns, Wendigo looked at him with disappointed eyes.

However, Geron had his own reasons for being resolute.

He couldn’t stand by and watch his respected lord hesitate to eat mere cookies.

‘The spirit-nim is too frugal. I should encourage him a bit.’

Geron quickly ordered the servants to prepare refreshments.

Wendigo clicked his tongue seeing cookies baked to the size of a human head to match his size, and fruit juice in an oak barrel.

“I feel like I’m becoming more extravagant these days.”

“Being too frugal is also a disease. Just considering the goods coming in from outside and the crops growing in the forest, you could eat more than this.”

Geron sipped the tea that came with Wendigo’s refreshments and tried to persuade him.

Grains bore abundant fruit, and beasts grew fat and grew glossy fur without needing care.

Moreover, the conveniences of civilization that forest people lacked were gradually increasing as they began to interact with outsiders.

In this situation, there was no one who would criticize Wendigo for enjoying some refreshments.

If there were such a fearless person, they would have long since been dismembered by the forest people and become fertilizer for the forest!

“It’s enough to just enjoy the taste, what’s the point of eating a lot? It’s better for the children who will grow up to eat more.”

“That’s a good point, but the kids are eating well too. Even on days that aren’t festivals, the days they eat meat are increasing…”

“They should eat meat and grow well at a young age.”

Geron glared resentfully at Wendigo, who wouldn’t back down a single word.

It was certainly an admirable statement, but why did it make him so angry?

Wendigo deliberately ignored Geron’s gaze and savored the cookies.

As expected of those who wrestle with food all day in the temple, the cookies achieved a perfect harmony of appropriate nuttiness and sweetness.

‘It’s a shame there’s no coffee. No, I wonder if it exists in this world?’

As he fell into idle thoughts, his hand automatically began to move faster.

That’s when it happened.

“Caw!”

A raven entered through the temple window and perched on Geron’s shoulder.

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary raven. It was a raven trained to deliver urgent matters to Geron.

Wendigo, who had already devoured all the cookies, washed his mouth with fruit juice and asked Geron:

“What’s the matter?”

“Um… An ogre has appeared inside the forest?”

“An ogre…”

Wendigo put down the oak barrel and grumbled inwardly.

‘This damn forest can’t go a year without an incident.’

---

Ogre.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the ogres of this world matched the image Wendigo knew.

Possessing monstrous strength that could uproot trees and skin as hard as rock…

An ugly monster with strong fighting spirit and ferocity.

Naturally, he had no intention of entrusting such a monster to the warriors. Why suffer unnecessary damage when there was a suitable person?

Wendigo headed towards the village where the missive had come from, taking only Skadi without separate escorts.

Honestly, he was quite worried. With such a monster appearing, the village couldn’t possibly be safe.

But…

“We greet the spirit-nim! I am Dushan, the chief of this village.”

The village was intact, too intact. Not a single building was destroyed, and even the crops and livestock were safe.

Wendigo, who had been looking around, couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked the village chief:

“I heard an ogre appeared… but the village seems more intact than I expected?”

“Well, about that. An ogre did appear, but this one is a bit peculiar.”

“Peculiar?”

Wendigo had no idea what he meant, so he looked at Skadi. However, Skadi also shook her head, seemingly without any guesses.

The village chief watched their reactions and asked for permission before starting to guide them.

The place the chief led them to was a hill near the village…

There, an ogre wearing ragged pants was tearing into a deer dripping with blood.

The ogre was chewing on the deer’s head, bones and all, when he spotted the village chief and swallowed the head whole.

The ogre shot out the bones stuck in his mouth and opened his mouth, looking at the village chief:

“Human, I said don’t come before bringing leader. Me, hard to endure hunger.”

“!”

Skadi and Wendigo looked at the ogre with surprised eyes…

‘Come to think of it, it’s not that surprising.’

Wendigo recalled that he was an even stranger being than the ogre and regained his composure.

The village chief politely pointed at Wendigo and introduced him to the ogre:

“Gulmag. This is the person you were looking for. The one who bestows grace upon us…”

“Human, lying. That spirit. Spirit is son of bitch. Son of bitch, cannot be leader. Get beaten to death.”

“……”

The ogre denied the village chief’s words with an attitude as firm as a rock.

Wendigo was greatly impressed by the ogre, Gulmag’s attitude.

What a smarter ogre than expected!