Ch.17Chapter 17

Dmitri.

He loved the village. But he did not love the land.

A village was ultimately a place where people gathered and lived together. Dmitri loved these people and the memories he shared with them.

That’s why he fought risking his life. It was the only way to protect the village.

‘But not now.’

He didn’t know why the Djin denied breaking the palisade, but this Djin was different, far too different.

It wasn’t about dignity or power. It wasn’t a judgment coming from his head, but his instinct was screaming.

That there was no being in this forest who could defy the Djin before him.

Dmitri trusted his instinct. That’s why he bowed his head without a moment’s hesitation.

“Hmm…”

The Wendigo sat on the remains of the palisade (unavoidable due to his size) and tapped the debris with his nails.

The Wendigo’s nose caught Dmitri’s emotions. Reverence, fear, and deep affection.

‘Surely he hasn’t fallen in love with me. If so, it must be family… or the entire village?’

If he had fallen in love with him, he would have trembled as if bugs were crawling on his back, but if the object of his affection was different, that was another story.

‘Similar to when I first met Hegilson.’

Loving one’s homeland and village is easy to say, but difficult to demonstrate through actions.

There would be countless people in the world who would want the protection of a Djin. How many would refuse the power to kill and save lives?

Yet people couldn’t do so because dealing with a Djin came with that much risk.

“How admirable. Are they so precious to you that you would overcome your fear?”

“Yes. This village took me in when I lost my parents early and could have died at any time. How could they not be precious to me?”

The Wendigo realized he was telling the truth.

In this world, it wasn’t easy for an orphaned man to love the village where he was born and raised. Yet he cherished the village enough to risk his life.

It was just one question, but the Wendigo could sense much about the village.

“Raise your head. I understand your heart well. However, being taken in by me means you must leave this place. Can you do that?”

“Yes. I’ve already discussed this with the villagers and received their permission.”

“A young village chief is usually met with suspicion, yet your reputation is impressive.”

“What? Oh, no. Me, a village chief? Our village is just too small to have someone called a chief.”

When Dmitri raised his head and spoke, the Wendigo shook his head. How could that be?

Even mere beasts choose a leader when they form a pack.

The Wendigo pointed at Dmitri with his finger. Dmitri looked at the Wendigo with a questioning gaze.

“You must have been their chief. It seems only you don’t know it.”

“What? That, that can’t be. How could I be the chief…”

Dmitri waved his hands in modesty. The title of chief felt too heavy for him.

However…

“Hey, Dmitri! If you’re not the chief, who is?”

“Mr. Dmitri. There’s a reason people don’t argue with what you say, you know?”

“Huh, what?”

He was indeed the chief. At the very least, he was the leader of the village.

As the villagers began to shout in excitement one by one, they were soon chanting Dmitri’s name.

Perhaps it was because his heart was beating too strongly.

Dmitri shed tears. The Wendigo silently planted a mystery into the ground.

As the mystery imbued with his will sprouted into a black, solid spear, the Wendigo pulled it out in one motion.

“Take this. It’s a gift because I was reminded of you fighting valiantly with a spear at the palisade.”

“This, this is?!”

When the Wendigo threw the spear, Dmitri reflexively caught it. His eyes widened at the fresh scent and unknown energy emanating from the spear.

“Continue to work hard for your people. That’s why I’m giving you this gift.”

“Th-thank you. Thank you!”

Dmitri expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes. The Wendigo nodded and stood up.

“I’ll be going now. Geron, it must be tiring, but I’ll have to trouble you.”

“Not at all.”

Geron answered with a smile.

As the Wendigo left, Dmitri’s name echoed loudly.

* * *

‘Well, this should be enough to melt their hearts. Creating my own people is truly a difficult task.’

Is this really what someone—no, a Djin… anyway, whatever it was—who had just ignited a man’s passionate fervor would think?

Having left his seat, the Wendigo was calmly evaluating the village. It wasn’t about losing his humanity or anything like that.

These were inevitable thoughts for the Wendigo who had taken the position of ruling over people.

‘Increasing numbers is good, but if you accept just anyone, vermin will follow.’

There’s a saying that character can be changed through effort, but the Wendigo didn’t easily believe such words. Character is formed over a considerable period of time.

The Wendigo wanted his people to be pure, and that’s why a test was necessary.

Fortunately, they scored well enough.

‘Dmitri, who is no different from a leader, is an upright young man, and the villagers also passed.’

People who repay kindness to their benefactors despite their poor circumstances.

Such people wouldn’t cause problems if they joined the village.

So he diligently built up goodwill. He built it up substantially, enough to think he had done a decent job even by his own standards.

This goodwill would be both a reason for them to work hard and a counterweight to suppress any insidious thoughts.

The Wendigo looked up at the night sky, organizing his thoughts. Even as the world changed, the moon remained beautiful.

He let out a hollow laugh.

‘I never imagined I’d be having such concerns.’

Yet here he was, evaluating human character. Despite not even being human himself.

Indeed, the unpredictability of life is what makes it interesting.

* * *

The village quickly prepared to leave under Dmitri’s instructions. The Wendigo was impressed by their speed.

“They’re less flustered than I expected. Even if the mind knows they must leave, the body doesn’t find it easy.”

“Hahaha, for forest people, migration is a common occurrence.”

For forest people, home was often the forest itself. This didn’t mean they loved the forest that much, but rather they had no time to become attached to the land.

They would leave when monsters rampaged, when famine struck, when a neighboring tribe got a nasty chief…

Seeing this, it was natural that Dmitri had little attachment to the land.

After all, it wasn’t where he was born and raised!

In an instant, houses were dismantled, and men and women alike shouldered their belongings and lined up in formation.

The Wendigo slowly looked around at the people. Despite their shabby appearance, they were full of energy. Above all, he liked that their eyes were clear and clean.

“Geron, assign some warriors to Dmitri. Dmitri, leave half the warriors and head to the village following their guidance. If you explain the situation to my Summoner Skadi, she will welcome you.”

“Spirit, will you be alright without us?”

The Wendigo burst into laughter at Dmitri’s question. He hadn’t expected to receive such concern.

“Who am I? I’m not someone who gets beaten up just anywhere, so don’t worry.”

Dmitri scratched his head. Come to think of it, that was true.

‘Honestly, I can’t imagine the Spirit falling.’

Dmitri doubted if there was any being that could defeat the Wendigo except for the celestial gods that people outside the forest believed in. By his feeling, the Wendigo could cut down an Ogre with a single stroke.

As two warriors selected by Geron led Dmitri’s group toward the village, the Wendigo once again set off toward his destination.

After walking through the forest for some time, Ivan cautiously approached the Wendigo and spoke.

“Um, Lord Wendigo. May I ask you one question?”

“I’ll answer if I can. Go ahead.”

“If, if you were to invite our tribe as well, would you take us in?”

The Wendigo stroked his chin. It wasn’t that he was contemplating; he just didn’t want to seem too eager.

Though he hadn’t seen Ivan’s tribe, he had considerable faith in them. After all, what was the catalyst for his movement?

‘It was thanks to Ivan’s tribe alerting us to the danger.’

Rationally speaking, it would have been better for them to flee rather than warn others of the danger.

Yet they didn’t run away. Instead, they made efforts to warn others of the danger, even at their own risk.

Moreover, the fact that they discovered a monster horde and survived was proof of their capability.

“Ivan, your tribe could have ignored the danger, but you moved for the sake of others. I have no reason to refuse such good people. Rather, I would like to make the request myself.”

“Spirit! Sniff!”

When Ivan’s eyes reddened, the Wendigo felt uncomfortable. He hadn’t expected tears over something like this.

‘Ivan may be weak in other areas, but his tear ducts are too sensitive…’

“Sob. Such warm words!”

“In all my life, I’ve never met someone as benevolent as you, Spirit!”

“……”

The Wendigo swallowed his bewilderment as he looked with a cold gaze at the grown men who were shedding tears, failing to act their age.

If it weren’t for the scent of trust and emotion they were emitting, he might have considered drowning them all.

When Geron burst into laughter, the Wendigo chided him.

“Geron, don’t just laugh, try to calm them down.”

“Hohoho. I was wondering where Skadi got her eloquence from, but it must be from you, Spirit.”

“What, I’ve never taught Skadi such things. I don’t even have the talent to teach.”

Geron blinked and burst into laughter again. The Wendigo felt wronged by Geron’s disbelief.

How could he possibly have Skadi’s ability to charm people? Due to his appearance, he instilled fear from the first meeting, so such a thing was impossible.

‘It must be that people in this world are just emotionally rich.’

The Wendigo comforted and soothed them even while moving. Of course, it had no effect. Rather, his actions were seen as caring gestures, only drawing more tears from the warriors.

His struggle ended only when they reached the next village.

“Spirit, I can see the village over there.”

“Indeed. Everyone, if you’ve heard me, please stop crying now. We can’t show an unseemly appearance to the people of that village.”

“Yes, yes! We will show the dignity of the Spirit with the demeanor of proud forest people!”

“No, that’s not… never mind. Do as you please.”

“Yes!!!”

Their response was resounding. The Wendigo began to wonder if there was something wrong with him.

‘They say people go mad when they encounter monsters like Cthulhu or whatever, am I like that? No, they were normal at first.’

“Spirit, I’ll go call the people.”

“Good idea. They’ll probably be surprised to see my face… hm?”

As the Wendigo was about to agree with Geron’s suggestion, he paused when he saw the palisade gate opening.

People came out through the gate. As if they had no intention to resist, they approached with their hands raised high.

“We have no intention to resist! Take whatever you want, just spare our lives!”

“……”

As the Wendigo fell silent, Geron felt sorry for him. Despite his frightening appearance, he was such a warm-hearted person, yet he had to endure such hardships because of his looks.

Geron approached the people quickly to clear up the misunderstanding.

“We are not raiders. There are strange happenings nearby, and we came to warn you…”

“Kuhek!?”

Geron closed his mouth when the Wendigo’s large arm shot out beside his face. He carefully turned his head to look at the Wendigo.

“You. You smell suspicious.”

“Sp-Spirit?”

As intense killing intent swept over him, Geron swallowed hard.