Ch.24Chapter 24

“I’m disqualified as a Summoner. Rather than living like this, causing trouble, I should abandon the grace bestowed by Wendigo and become a savage…”

“Calm down. It’s not like a major problem has occurred. It’s just that the soil has turned a bit black.”

When Skadi muttered with a soul-drained look, Wendigo became flustered and tried to help her regain her spirits.

He hadn’t called her to scold her in the first place. He had just called her to analyze the cause because he found it interesting…

Above all, Wendigo couldn’t sense any harm from the soil.

“Now, put aside your confusion and focus on the soil. Do you sense any negative energy from it?”

Skadi carefully raised her head to examine the soil. The soil had lost its fine brown color and turned black, but it was hard to consider it contaminated.

Rather, the strange vitality emanating from it felt almost gentle.

Skadi carefully picked up some soil, fiddled with it, and smelled it.

Instead of the characteristic stickiness and vomit-like smell of contaminants, it had appropriate moisture and a subtle grassy scent.

Skadi searched through her knowledge to identify the soil.

“This seems to be… black soil.”

“Black soil?”

Skadi nodded carefully. Apparently, her confidence had dropped due to the unexpected occurrence.

Regardless of Skadi’s reaction, Wendigo was surprised by the mention of black soil. Black soil wasn’t some fantasy dirt. Such soil existed on Earth too.

Notable regions included the black soil belt in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine.

‘It sounds like cursed land by name alone, but if you look into it, it’s quite the opposite.’

The black soil belt, to put it more plainly, was fertile land.

Thanks to being composed of humus rich in nutrients, it was perfect soil for plants to grow.

But… why would such soil appear where the heart was planted, or rather, buried?

“Such soil wouldn’t appear without reason. Do you have any idea why?”

“Just a moment. Let me think…”

Skadi straightened her posture and fell into thought. Once again, her honor as a Summoner was at stake.

‘I must get this right, in my mother’s name!’

Though she wasn’t sure what sins her departed mother had committed, Skadi nonetheless racked her brains until they cramped.

And she deduced one appropriate possibility. She began explaining while drawing on the ground.

She drew a large heart and wrote “300 years” next to it.

“The heart Wendigo brought isn’t an ordinary heart. Honestly… I find it hard to believe that a Beast lived for 300 years.”

“Is that so difficult to believe? I thought Beasts could also transcend their lifespan.”

“Well… unlike Djin, Beasts are frequently hunted. Probably because there’s much to gain from them.”

“……”

Wendigo was dumbfounded, but he could understand to some extent.

Even in modern times, weren’t there animals that went extinct or nearly so because they were considered delicious or good for health?

Since the effects of Beasts could be tangibly felt, it wasn’t strange that humans would risk their lives to hunt them.

Catching just one could be equivalent to a chance to become a hero!

For some people, it was no different from an opportunity to completely change their lives.

“Compared to elusive Djin that are useless even when caught, they certainly make one’s mouth water. I understand that long-lived Beasts are rare. But what does that have to do with this?”

“My mother said that byproducts from magical creatures that lived over a hundred years could create unparalleled treasures.”

She drew the treasures she knew next to the heart.

A hammer that strikes lightning, a belt imbued with a giant’s strength, a dagger that reduces opponents to a handful of blood…

The extraordinary treasures of heroes in old tales were sometimes divine artifacts bestowed by gods, but more often they were treasures created from Beasts that heroes had caught.

She wrote numbers next to the treasures.

From as little as fifty years to as much as a hundred years.

However, only Gicas’s heart was granted three hundred years.

“These are the levels of Beasts my mother estimated. She thought at least this much was needed to create such items. But the heart Wendigo brought is three hundred years old.”

“So it’s like burying three treasures?”

Skadi shook her head. So it wasn’t that impressive?

“It’s more serious than that. It might be different if they were three separate treasures. But this is one. And it contains the strongest power, the heart.”

“……”

From what Skadi had learned, hunting a Beast that lived fifty years was enough to create a treasure.

But the Beast Wendigo had caught had lived for a full three hundred years. The depth of mystery in Gicas’s heart was incomparable to other treasures.

Naturally, there was rarely a reason to bury such an item. Even if humans found it a bit creepy, they would have caused an uproar trying to use it immediately.

‘No. I thought others were like him since he said he’d been hiding for three hundred years… but he was more impressive than I thought.’

Gicas’s pride seemed justified now.

While others died young before reaching a hundred years, he had lived for three hundred. It would have been strange if he didn’t have pride.

… He truly was a pitiful worm, no, parasite.

After depicting how the mystery rising from the ground gathered around the heart, Skadi continued her explanation.

“The method I learned from my mother involves making the flowing mystery of nature wash away the essence, but this heart is different in depth. Instead of washing away, it’s colliding.”

“Shouldn’t the land rot then? His mystery wouldn’t be the type to coexist with nature.”

“That’s a different story. Even if it doesn’t coexist with nature, its foundation still begins in nature.”

Even elephant-killing poisons, epidemics that kill thousands, plague-spreading pests, and even human-made herbicides.

In the end, their essence always started from nature. They were just particularly troublesome in their properties.

Before the greatness of mother nature, even Gicas’s mystery was merely exceptionally troublesome.

“Eventually, the mystery held by this heart will crumble before the power of nature… and this soil is the byproduct, in my opinion.”

“I see.”

Regardless of whether her reasoning was right or wrong, Wendigo accepted it.

After all, he had merely become a monster similar to a Djin by chance, with no strong connection to sorcery.

In such complex matters, it was right to follow the judgment of someone with deep understanding, experience, and knowledge.

If an outsider made a judgment, it would only cause problems without resolving anything.

Moreover…

‘For something resembling a worm monster from a certain movie, making the land fertile isn’t strange at all.’

Honestly, regardless of Gicas’s origin, his appearance was so worm-like that it didn’t feel odd that the land became fertile thanks to his heart.

If problems arose later, they could deal with the heart then.

Wendigo encouraged Skadi, who was looking up at him anxiously.

“As expected, Skadi is the only Summoner I can trust. I hope you’ll continue to help me in my inadequacies.”

“If I can be of even slight help, I’m only too glad!”

She regained her confidence and answered brightly.

In conclusion, though the fate of the heart remained uncertain, wasn’t it a good thing that Skadi was happy and Wendigo was satisfied?

Sometimes, it was best to just let things be.

* * *

Even as the heart exuded whatever it was—poison or nutrients—time continued to flow.

Leaves fell, trees became bald, and animals began their winter preparations in their own ways.

Naturally, people also started preparing to endure winter.

Preparing food, replenishing firewood, repairing houses to keep out the cold wind…

At least this winter, thanks to the totem Skadi had erected, the cold was less severe; otherwise, they might have had to prepare for death.

‘The village benefits greatly from Skadi.’

“Kueeeeek!?”

Wendigo, who had hunted an elk with a spear (this time without any screams being heard), thought as he returned to the village.

Honestly, in matters related to the village, Skadi’s efforts shone more than Wendigo’s. After all, unlike Wendigo, Skadi was human.

It’s difficult for modern humans to form empathy with medieval humans.

Unlike Wendigo, Skadi understood people’s hardships very well, and she helped people as much as she could within her abilities.

‘That’s why people gather to listen whenever she gives a speech.’

Wendigo returned to the village and watched Skadi addressing people in the square.

With a bright smile, moving her staff here and there to elicit responses from people, she was like a decent politician…

‘No, that’s going too far.’

Wendigo shook his head to clear the thought. Why would Skadi need to draw support from people?

She had already captivated people perfectly with both her abilities and character.

This was truly something she did because she enjoyed it.

“When Wendigo extracted the mystery from the evil earth dragon (地龍), it lost its power and breathed its last. However, even though it died, its mystery still remained!”

‘She’s really excited.’

Wendigo smiled slightly seeing Skadi’s flushed face as she told the story.

But what was this about an earth dragon? He had never caught such a thing.

Wendigo slowly approached Skadi. Not sensing his presence, Skadi continued her story in high spirits.

“When we planted the mystery he extracted in the ground, the mystery that the creature had wielded greedily followed its natural course and made the land fertile! This black soil is proof!”

‘In an instant, the parasite became an earth dragon.’

Wendigo was dumbfounded. Not only had the parasite Gicas become an earth dragon, but its mystery had nothing to do with the land…

Somehow Gicas had become a notorious evil dragon that had stolen the mystery of this land.

As problematic as Skadi’s exaggerated story was, the warriors were also an issue. Drunk on honor, they boasted with shrugging shoulders.

“Ha, it was truly magnificent. The minions of the evil earth dragon charged at us with strange cries, but we who serve the Djin raised our swords without the slightest fear!”

“When the Djin threw a giant spear made of ice, screams erupted as if the world was collapsing!”

‘These guys, have they forgotten that what they faced was a parasite?’

Even the warriors, who could have refuted this, started believing ‘Ah, what we faced wasn’t a parasite but an earth dragon!’ and soon Skadi’s exaggerated story became truth.

Someone among the people spotted Wendigo and pointed at him. Wendigo trudged over to them.

“Djin! Is it true that what you defeated was an earth dragon?”

“Does this mean we can live on fertile land from now on?”

‘If I say no, they’ll be terribly disappointed.’

When people looked at him with sparkling eyes, Wendigo looked at Skadi. She was looking at him with even more intensely shining eyes than the people.

If another Djin had seen this scene, they would have praised her, saying, ‘Not bad for a human!’

A mere Summoner couldn’t make people truly worship a Djin. People’s distrust of Djin was as hard as steel.

But look at them.

They were all looking at him as if a fairy or mountain god from an old tale had appeared in person.

Wendigo felt something beyond respect from them.

In the past, he would have recoiled and waved his hands at the emotions they were sending. It was natural since he had never received such treatment.

But now?

“Yes. After a fierce battle with it, I tore out its heart. And since I returned its mystery to nature, this land will soon become fertile soil.”

“Ooooooh!!!”

Wendigo threw the elk far away and proudly acknowledged the fact. He received the admiration that erupted around him without wavering.

The current Wendigo felt no resistance to being worshipped. He had become thick-skinned through living.

But it was thick skin with its own reasons.

‘If I can’t live quietly, I must become the best.’

Djin, Summoners, and now Beasts. Things that couldn’t even be imagined on Earth kept appearing.

It wouldn’t be strange if more outlandish things bared their teeth in the future.

In such a world, there was only one way to survive.

Become so strong that others can’t touch you!

He was already quite strong, but it would be foolish to be content with his current strength. When an opportunity passes before your eyes, shouldn’t you seize it?

So whether it was lies or embellishment, there was no shame in receiving people’s worship…

“O Djin, look upon us with favor!”

“Look upon us with favor!!!”

‘… It’s still a bit embarrassing.’

Perhaps it was because he still had some conscience left.

Wendigo struggled to overcome the embarrassment.