Ch.109Chapter 109

Freya, realizing that Wendigo was serious, showed her disgust and refusal.

“No way. Why should I go meet them!”

“You just said they were pretty and you liked them. Just meet them and help with the conversation, don’t be so reluctant.”

“Honey, I was interested in them over 1000 years ago, okay? Since then, I’ve been stuck in the north!”

Despite Wendigo’s persuasion, Freya wouldn’t give in easily. She simply didn’t want to meet elves with whom she had no good memories.

Freya gritted her teeth as she recalled the being the elves had fallen head over heels for.

“Do you know how messed up their heads are? They’re so enchanted by The World Tree, that damned tree, that you can’t reason with them.”

“The World Tree… I’ve heard about it from Skadi. It’s large and beautiful, like a Djin that the elves worship.”

The World Tree was a special tree, as one could guess just from its name.

According to continental lore, it bestowed special blessings upon the elves, protecting them from gods and spirits…

Elves blessed by The World Tree weren’t easily enchanted even by Freya’s exceptional beauty.

“Isn’t it natural that they’d be difficult to seduce if such a being blessed them?”

Wendigo was puzzled. From his perspective, it was completely obvious.

After all, the best way for gods and spirits to seduce mortals was through mystery, and if the strongest means was blocked, what could be done?

But from Freya’s perspective, it wasn’t obvious at all.

“That’s because you don’t understand. The World Tree’s blessing is different from a god’s blessing.”

While a god’s blessing was like shoving a lump of power into the body, The World Tree’s blessing was a gradually accumulating power.

They ate plants growing where The World Tree’s roots reached, dried leaves smoked like tobacco, and filled their bodies with sap to let the blessing seep into their bodies.

Naturally, this slow accumulation meant that the amount of blessing each elf carried varied greatly.

The problem was that despite this, it wasn’t easy to conquer (?) the elves…

“Even those with just a handful of blessing have such strong faith… I really don’t like it!”

‘Hmm, hearing this story, it seems she was definitely the bad one here.’

Listening carefully, it made sense that elves would worship The World Tree.

Simply put, wasn’t The World Tree an upgraded version of Gicas?

And it wouldn’t be strange if the blessed plants, leaves, and sap all had special effects.

In fact, the very ability to resist Freya’s seduction due to accumulated blessings was a special effect in itself.

‘…No matter how I look at it, The World Tree is the clear winner from the elves’ perspective?’

If anything, it would be strange for any elf to fall for Freya.

Unless they were unusually plain-looking for an elf—but elves were naturally beautiful, so they had little reason to obsess over beauty.

Unless they were narcissistic or pathologically obsessed with beauty…

“Anyway, I absolutely refuse to go!”

Freya screamed as if she had nothing more to say, then flopped down on the audience chamber floor.

She truly hated the idea of meeting elves who had left a deep wound in her pride of being able to seduce anyone with her beauty.

It was absurd, but matters of pride usually were.

“What the…”

Of course, Dario Kaffustin, who had no pride to speak of, looked at her with disbelief.

Was this really a Djin who had lived for over 1000 years (actually over 4000)?

Finding that the Djin he had worked so hard to bring was more unruly than expected, Dario approached Geron and whispered.

“Has His Majesty lived for about 2000 years? Otherwise this doesn’t make sense.”

Geron chuckled and shook his head. To someone who knew enough about Wendigo, this was nonsense.

“His Majesty is quite young. Younger than not only Lady Freya, but also you and me.”

‘Geron is a capable elder, but he’s not good at jokes.’

Even the most perceptive sometimes fail to see the truth.

While Dario was discovering this new side (?) of Geron, Wendigo silently looked down at Freya.

Freya refused to back down even when faced with Wendigo’s chilling gaze.

“Sigh…”

“Giving up?”

When Wendigo heaved a deep sigh, Freya turned only her head to ask him.

Instead of answering Freya’s question, Wendigo called a servant from outside the audience chamber and gave an order.

Shortly after, the servant who received Wendigo’s order brought someone in.

With a loud noise, the audience chamber door opened, and Shir appeared with disheveled hair.

“Freya!!!”

“…Hiccup?”

Though Shir was often irritable, this time she was especially angry.

It was understandable, as she had been working late nights on the important matter of establishing a university.

So why was she angry at Freya?

“If you’re going to lounge around while others work hard, at least earn your keep!”

Wendigo’s faithful servant had relayed his master’s words to Shir without missing anything.

The gist was that while lounging around while others worked hard could be forgiven, harassing the forest maidens and refusing to help with important university matters could not.

Of course, Freya had enough sense not to harass women.

She did torment Dario a bit, but he was neither a maiden nor a woman.

…But that didn’t excuse Freya’s idleness.

“My darling~ Getting too angry is bad for your skin… Ow!? Owowowow!?!”

As Freya tried to slither away like a snake, Shir grabbed her hair with both hands and applied force.

Freya screamed in pain as if her head was being split in half, but Shir showed no mercy.

Instead, she shook Freya’s head as if pleased to have caught her.

“Ugh. Stop, honey, calm down~”

“Oh, really!”

As they say, love and hate are two sides of the same coin. When Freya whined, Shir pushed her away in irritation.

Freya collapsed on the floor like a tragic heroine and looked up at Shir, who pointed at her and shouted.

“Go with the Djin right now and help solve the university problem!”

“But…”

“If you don’t, don’t even think about seeing my face again!”

Shir flipped her hair irritably and left the audience chamber.

After taking the full brunt of Shir’s anger, Freya, as a proper Djin, didn’t move a muscle…

“Um… I think she’s broken?”

“Well, she brought it on herself.”

Freya was in a state of shock, her hand still outstretched.

Apparently, Shir’s words had been more shocking than expected.

Wendigo approached Freya and tapped her shoulder with his claw.

Fortunately, she was still conscious, as she turned her head toward Wendigo with a devastated expression.

Seeing her pitiful state, Wendigo clicked his tongue lightly and encouraged her.

“You should have just listened.”

Freya burst into profanity out of deep frustration.

…At least it was undeniable that she had regained her spirit.

* * *

Having successfully persuaded (?) Freya, Wendigo headed east with a minimal entourage.

This group naturally included himself and Freya, along with twenty elite wolf riders and…

“Why do I have to come along too…”

“Because you were the first to encounter the elves.”

Dario, who hadn’t even had a chance to rest, was dragged along.

He grumbled out of habit, but his complaints fell on deaf ears.

After all, wasn’t it only natural that he should take responsibility, having been the one who suggested getting help from elves to establish a university in the forest?

“I’m the most annoyed one here! I got my darling mad at me because of you guys!”

If anyone had the right to feel wronged, it was Freya. How could she not, having been dragged away from her leisure time?

Moreover, she had incurred the wrath of her beloved… no, her contractor, which was enough to make her weep tears of blood.

“Shir always seemed irritated with you anyway.”

When Wendigo’s sharp observation flew in, Freya glared at him and grumbled.

“Don’t talk about my darling when you don’t know her well! Shir’s charm lies in her kindness despite her grumpiness. You understand, right?”

“Woof woof!”

Freya tickled the neck of the giant wolf, Oneton, who was carrying her, and asked for his opinion.

Oneton didn’t care who Shir was or what Freya was asking about, but he barked cheerfully to enjoy the pretty woman’s touch.

Wendigo stared at Oneton in disbelief.

He had once considered raising the wolf as a guard dog for Skadi and had given him strength, but…

‘When did he become such a womanizer, and he’s gotten so fat too.’

With the forest’s rapid growth, there was no need for Oneton to guard Skadi anymore, and the wolf’s fate had become enviable.

He lived a life of eating whenever he wanted and following women and female wolves around.

‘The original owner of his name must be crying in the afterlife.’

“Your Majesty, we’ve confirmed warriors surrounding a village up ahead.”

The warriors who had gone scouting returned to report their arrival to Wendigo.

Shortly after, upon reaching the eastern edge of the forest, Wendigo discovered a village built on what was almost a cliff.

Warriors had set up positions and were monitoring the village, and there were dozens of arrows stuck in the ground between the positions and the village, suggesting there had already been several skirmishes.

The lead wolf rider approached the position and loudly announced the king’s arrival.

Naturally, the position erupted in chaos, and Wendigo considerately waited outside for a moment.

Dario shrugged his shoulders with delight at the shouting coming from the position.

“They all seem flustered by our appearance.”

“Kid, it’s because of me and Wendigo, not you.”

“…Can’t you just let me have this? And I’m not a kid—”

As Dario and Freya bickered, Wendigo raised a single claw to silence them, having confirmed that preparations inside were complete.

A warrior wearing a bone helmet and what appeared to be tribal chieftains emerged from the position.

They knelt before Wendigo and greeted him with extreme courtesy.

“We are truly sorry to have caused the Forest King to visit such a humble place.”

“As one who bears the helmet bestowed by the King, I am ashamed that I could not punish those who dared trespass on the King’s land. Please take my head…”

“Enough, what fool would take a head for something like this?”

When the bone-helmeted warrior subtly reached for his weapon, Wendigo exclaimed in disgust.

The standards for bestowing bone helmets were strict, but not so harsh as to demand lives for such matters.

The warrior and chieftains expressed their gratitude for not being punished and bowed their heads once more.

“What I instructed you to do was to monitor the elves, so there’s no crime to speak of.”

“But… they arrogantly demanded to speak only with the King!”

As the warrior burst out in indignation, the chieftains frowned and nodded.

If they were a powerful force, it might be understandable, but what nerve did these people, who had merely formed a small village, have to summon the king so casually?

It was an unbearable insult to those who had offered sincere loyalty.

‘It’s not entirely wrong, which is the problem.’

However, it was also true that meeting elves from the great forest across the sea was a golden opportunity.

Wendigo praised the warrior and chieftains for their efforts and gazed at the elven village.

The village, at the end of dozens or perhaps hundreds of arrows, was surrounded by walls made of dozens of intertwined trees.

“Were there any casualties?”

“No. We only provoked them from beyond their range to make them waste arrows. But…”

“Arrows kept raining down as if they were sprouting from the ground. According to someone familiar with the local geography, there shouldn’t be many trees behind those walls.”

After hearing this, Wendigo looked at Freya. She shrugged as if the answer was obvious and spoke.

“How long do you think elves have been with The World Tree? They could probably make hundreds of arrows from just one small tree.”

“Endless arrows… It’s fortunate there were no casualties.”

If there had been, heads would have had to roll, regardless of the reason.

Having confirmed that there had been no real conflict, Wendigo stood where he could be clearly seen from the village and took a deep breath.

As his chest swelled greatly, Dario covered his ears in horror.

[To those who dare set foot on my land without permission, secretly establish a settlement, and threaten warriors who follow my command: Show yourselves and explain your reasons immediately, or I will turn you all into forest fertilizer.]

A powerful, terrifying voice erupted from Wendigo’s mouth, and the hundreds of arrows stuck in the ground froze and shattered.

Naturally, the wooden walls protecting the village didn’t fare well either.

The trees forming the walls lost their vitality as if caught in severe cold and died.

Freya watched the scene with a blank expression and muttered.

“…Seems like you didn’t need to bring me after all?”

If anyone resisted after experiencing that, even Freya would want to see their face.

They would surely be the most foolish person in the world.

* * *

Fortunately, the elves weren’t fools.

After a very brief silence, part of the wooden wall protecting the village crumbled, creating a path.

Through this path emerged a woman in pale green silk clothes and two elderly elves.

Strangely, however, the elves who were slowly approaching suddenly seemed to see something disturbing and began whispering among themselves in alarm.

“Are they overwhelmed by the King’s majestic appearance?”

“Why not just say they’re scared of how he looks? Dario, go find out why.”

“……”

Caught flattering unnecessarily, Dario gaped as he looked back and forth between Wendigo and the elves.

Even so, did it make sense to send him alone to people who had been threatening to fill anyone who approached with arrow holes just yesterday?

‘…Damn, thinking about it, I guess it does make sense. If they have brains, they wouldn’t dare harm me.’

Of course, that was logical thinking, but when did the world ever operate on logic?

They might take him hostage out of fear.

However, Dario wasn’t bold enough to refuse Wendigo’s order. Reluctantly, he rode his horse toward the elves.

Shortly after exchanging words with the elves, Dario returned with a sour expression and relayed their message.

“Um, they say Freya must be the evil woman the elders spoke of? So they don’t want to talk with her present.”

“……”

Wendigo stared at Freya in disbelief, hoping for some explanation.

But she avoided his gaze and pretended not to notice.

At least not denying her guilt was Freya’s last shred of conscience.

…Or perhaps she was just shameless.