Chapter 94

The one who causes discord, the woman who loves barren lands, the troublemaker who makes crowns that will break.

Just by looking at the titles referring to Jurturu, anyone could guess that she wasn’t such a good god.

However, in ancient times, there were quite a few who worshipped Jurturu as a god.

She shared her power more generously and equally than anyone else.

The criterion for this was none other than… pure fun.

To be more specific, she wanted to enjoy the sight of those who got what they wanted but gradually fell apart.

The sight of those who had already achieved what they wanted sufficiently but couldn’t stop their steps and headed towards the cliff on their own was truly…

“I don’t care about your twisted tastes, just tell me the solution quickly. At this rate, your precious toy will disappear in my stomach.”

“Tch, you don’t understand the beauty of desolation that comes from being trapped in the delusion of doing the right thing and falling apart.”

“The world has decided to call that mental illness.”

Wendigo refuted Jurturu’s claim with cold eyes.

There’s a saying that from afar it’s a comedy, but up close it’s a tragedy, but he declined to be caught up in the aftermath of that tragedy.

Jurturu looked pitifully at Wendigo, who was missing out on half of life, and slowly approached.

Wendigo reflexively reached for his ice sword…

“Are you going to keep acting like a wimp!?”

“Should I welcome a disaster god with open arms when she approaches? Explain why you’re coming closer.”

First impressions are important for trust.

Naturally, the first impression of Jurturu, who liked crazy people and was quite crazy herself, wasn’t great.

Come to think of it, if she hadn’t given power to Isabel, wouldn’t this troublesome situation have been avoided?

Jurturu seemed to understand this much, as she sighed and folded her arms.

“It can’t be helped. To check the soul that went into your stomach, you either need to think of a way to spit out the soul or…”

“I’ve never dry heaved before. No, isn’t it strange that there’s a soul in my stomach just because it entered through my mouth in the first place?”

“… Or I have no choice but to find the soul directly.”

Jurturu grinned and wiggled her fingers. From that blatant attitude, Wendigo noticed that Jurturu was clearly enjoying this situation.

The problem was that he needed to check what effect the soul he had swallowed might have…

Gulmag approached Wendigo and whispered:

“Can’t we just kill that one? We know a god too.”

“Eh? The god you met isn’t just me?”

Jurturu jumped onto Gulmag’s shoulder and looked at the two with a surprised expression.

Gulmag grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and threw her away as she acted rudely. Jurturu, as if she had expected this, did a somersault in the air and landed lightly.

‘It’s frustratingly disappointing how safely she landed.’

Wendigo inwardly clicked his tongue in disappointment and recalled the god he knew.

Certainly, Allfather could be said to be a god favorable to him, but…

“That guy isn’t such a reliable one either.”

Allfather was, to put it nicely, a meticulous schemer, and to put it badly, a con artist who would steal your nose while closing your eyes.

Of course, contracts made in the name of the creation god are absolute, but one can’t overlook that there are always loopholes in the world.

As Wendigo looked sour, Gulmag nodded as well.

Come to think of it, neither side was particularly close to being called kind.

Jurturu, unable to contain her curiosity, raised her hand high and asked Wendigo:

“Who’s the god you met? There aren’t many losers who are this unwelcome even in the north.”

“He calls himself Allfather. He was once the king of the northern gods… Oh, your expression is quite nice.”

Jurturu looked at Wendigo with disgust as soon as she heard Allfather’s name.

Wendigo was delighted by this blatant display of displeasure.

Sometimes mental violence can be stronger than physical violence!

“Ugh… I feel like my ears are rotting. Of all people, you had to meet that guy.”

“Weren’t you called the youngest god? Do you have a bad relationship with Allfather? Perhaps you call him big bro… You really hate it, I see.”

Until now, Jurturu hadn’t cared whether she was threatened with the ice sword or thrown, but calling Allfather her big brother seemed to be quite an insult.

Jurturu glared at Wendigo like an angry wildcat.

That’s how much she disliked being associated with Allfather.

She gritted her teeth and recalled old memories.

“Calling that guy who took away all the toys I worked hard to make ‘big brother’? Ugh, I’d rather do it with you guys.”

“We decline that too.”

Wendigo and Gulmag simultaneously expressed their disgust and politely declined.

While they didn’t want to antagonize a god if possible, they didn’t particularly desire to be on such familiar terms with a god either.

What if they got caught up in troublesome matters because of that?

Jurturu looked at Wendigo with a blank expression and then smiled.

Come to think of it, if Wendigo and Allfather were on good terms, wouldn’t Allfather dislike it if she left her traces on Wendigo?

“Hey. I’ll handle it cleanly, so let’s quickly find my toy!”

“Let’s make a contract first.”

Wendigo told Jurturu what needed to be done first, as she looked like she might make him open his mouth at any moment.

He wasn’t naive enough to make a verbal contract just because she was called a god.

Of course, this might scratch Jurturu’s pride as a god…

“Huh? Of course we should do that.”

“?”

Jurturu looked at Wendigo with a bewildered expression, as if he had stated the obvious.

Wendigo, who had suddenly become someone without common sense, stared blankly at Jurturu.

In fact, one of the reasons why Jurturu could be worshipped by many believers was that she was truly a straightforward god.

She granted what was asked, gave what she wanted to give, and then literally remained an observer.

Setting aside that eccentric taste, there might not be another god this fair.

“Fraud is something gloomy guys like Allfather do. I don’t commit such boring acts!”

“… I really can’t tell if you’re a good guy or a bad guy.”

“If we’re being precise, I’m a bad guy. I always give power only to those who will fall apart.”

Jurturu, who boldly proclaimed herself as an honest bastard, made a contract with Wendigo in the name of the creation god.

A contract stating that she would check Wendigo’s condition and take Isabel’s soul, without causing any other harm.

As soon as the contract was made, Jurturu climbed onto Wendigo’s shoulder.

“Now, can you open your mouth wide?”

“… Do I really need to open my mouth? If you’re a god, wouldn’t there be a cleaner method?”

Wendigo was uncomfortable with the idea of her putting her hand in his mouth.

How many people in the world would be okay with someone sticking their hand down their throat?

However, Jurturu firmly shook her head.

“Unfortunately, if it were the old me, it might have been possible, but my true body isn’t in the middle realm now~ So such high-dimensional methods are difficult.”

“Wendigo, don’t worry. I’ll kill her as soon as she shows any suspicious behavior.”

Gulmag raised his stone club and beat his chest, trying to reassure Wendigo.

Certainly, Gulmag could blow Jurturu away in an instant.

“… I’m counting on you.”

“To think I’d receive death threats in my life.”

Jurturu looked bewildered as she concentrated.

Perceiving a soul with a temporarily created body was harder than expected.

Wendigo steeled himself and opened his mouth wide towards the sky.

---

After a brief wait, ruminating that he wouldn’t put strange things in his mouth from now on.

Jurturu wiped away bright red beads of sweat and pulled her hand out of Wendigo’s mouth.

At her fingertips, an eyeball that looked exactly like her eyes was moving around, wet with some unknown black liquid.

“Hmm…”

“This is ominously unpleasant. Is the condition very bad?”

Jurturu leaned on Wendigo’s shoulder and stroked her chin in thought, a pose that didn’t match her child-like appearance.

Naturally, Wendigo became worried.

If someone called a god was pondering this much, the problem might be big.

After thinking for a long time, Jurturu reached a conclusion.

“For now… it seems my toy has disappeared.”

“Are you saying I absorbed it?”

Wendigo felt his chest tighten as if he had eaten rotten meat.

Even if it wasn’t complete, the idea of a strange woman’s soul like Isabel’s mixing with his body was quite unsettling.

Jurturu tapped Wendigo’s head with her finger and asked him:

“This head, I mean. It’s not yours, right?”

“Wendigo, should we kill her even now?”

As she suddenly asked about the ownership of the head, Gulmag raised his club, ready to swing at any moment.

Where in the world would someone’s head belong to someone else?

Surely this god must be planning something strange…

“Well, it seems that way.”

“!?”

Gulmag was greatly surprised to realize he had held a prejudice(?).

To think there was a being in the world who used someone else’s head as their own.

While Gulmag was recovering from the shock, Jurturu nodded and opened her mouth.

“Even saying the toy disappeared is just a guess. It was hard for me to check the inside with my eyes.”

What Jurturu saw inside Wendigo’s mouth was endless darkness.

A cold and damp space that continued endlessly… At least she could be certain it wasn’t a physical space.

If such a space existed in reality in the middle realm, it would be called a demon realm.

“You’re not just making excuses because you ran out of power after giving too much to Isabel, are you?”

“I may have been exiled for a long time, but the difference between mortal power and divine power is like heaven and earth. Besides, you easily repelled it too!”

Jurturu strongly denied it. In fact, Wendigo knew she was telling the truth.

He just found it hard to accept that his body was connected to some strange space.

How could one believe that an unknown space existed inside their stomach?

‘This will be hard to dismiss as… unavoidable.’

Wendigo tried not to pay much attention to his own existence if possible.

He knew that the more deeply he dug into himself, the stronger his questions would become.

Wendigo, who always prioritized the present, tried not to harbor doubts as much as possible, but…

Having heard such a story, it was unavoidable to feel a sense of alertness that he should take at least a little interest.

On the other hand, Jurturu lost interest quickly when she realized that part of her toy had disappeared to an unknown place.

“Hueee… I couldn’t find it even though I stuck my hand in your mouth. My toy…”

“… Jurturu, you’re like a novice.”

“I want to live as a kid forever~ Happily doing what I want!”

“Is this the end then?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like we can find out more by checking your stomach further, and no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem like a weak woman’s soul like Isabel’s could survive there.”

As she nodded, Wendigo could instinctively feel that the contract he had made with her had ended.

From now on, Jurturu and Wendigo were strangers…

“Wait. We still have a deal left.”

“Huh?”

Jurturu, who was about to dismantle her hastily created body, was puzzled when Wendigo stopped her.

She had told him about his condition, and she had given up on finding part of her toy, so the contract had ended cleanly…

What did he mean by saying there was a deal left…?

“Ah.”

“That’s right. You should hand over something good since I cooperated in finding the soul.”

“Wait, wait wait! That’s not right! I didn’t get anything in the end, right?!”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of cheating like Allfather? I cooperated properly despite your rudeness… This is disappointing.”

Wendigo pressed Jurturu by mentioning Allfather.

He judged that comparing her to Allfather, whom she disliked so much, would be quite effective.

That prediction wasn’t wrong. As soon as that name came out, Jurturu gritted her teeth and shouted:

“No matter what, treating me on the same level as that guy is not okay! Fine. But since I didn’t get anything either, I’ll only tell you where it is. You have to find it yourself!”

‘Is she kinder than I thought?’

Wendigo was starting to understand the hearts of those who worshipped her.

This one, she might mess up the world because of her tastes, but she’s not really malicious!

Jurturu grumbled as she picked up a stone from the ground and cut it to make it flat.

She engraved a pattern on it and then handed it to Wendigo.

“Here, take it. I’ve written the location of a treasure I lost long ago on this pebble, so go find it later.”

Wendigo thought the pattern engraved on the pebble looked similar to a compass.

That thought wasn’t far off, as when he moved the pebble around, the pattern engraved on the stone moved around, pointing somewhere.

“You’re certainly incomparably more honest than Allfather.”

“Of course. I live as I please, but I don’t lie.”

Jurturu snorted and then was engulfed in flames.

She was thinking of going back and looking for an interesting toy.

As Jurturu, gradually turning to ashes, seemed to remember something, she shouted towards Wendigo:

“From now on, my toys won’t come near your territory!”

“Oh, thank you. Is this a kind of favor?”

Wendigo was surprised by Jurturu’s unexpected consideration.

Honestly, he had thought he would run into Jurturu a few more times.

So he had been wondering how to extract the treasure next time…

“It’s not? If toys wander around near your territory, I think you’ll smash them, that’s why.”

Jurturu wanted to see the story of a soul falling apart, not see it get smashed by a spirit.

If such a being wandered in Wendigo’s territory, wouldn’t it die before she could enjoy the story?

Jurturu didn’t want that.

“……”

Of course, it was an absurd answer to Wendigo.

Having said what she needed to say, Jurturu completely turned to ashes and disappeared, and Gulmag looked at the ashes for a moment and then said to Wendigo:

“Wendigo, it seems being around you is a good choice after all.”

Because strange and interesting beings always appear around you.

Wendigo felt like he could hear words Gulmag hadn’t even said ringing in his ears.