Ch.53Chapter 53

The Wendigo ordered his avatars to move the human-faced trees to the temple.

Considering how malevolent the avatars looked, though not as much as the Wendigo himself, it wasn’t a pleasant sight to behold.

The scene of a large, monstrous being wearing a deer skull moving trees with human faces would have caused any faint-hearted person to faint, and no one would find that strange.

The Wendigo looked at the human-faced trees placed at the temple entrance and felt a slight regret.

‘I made them as a warning, but honestly, they are quite frightening.’

Even the faces of those who died peacefully can be creepy to some people. How much more terrifying would faces contorted with pain and despair be?

The Wendigo looked at Skadi Brynhild and the five Summoners who had come to inspect the human-faced trees.

‘…I should have prevented the Summoners from seeing this, though Skadi is fine.’

The Summoners were all trembling with pale faces, suggesting they had known the deceased.

Pretending not to notice their reactions, the Wendigo asked Skadi for her opinion.

“Was this too extreme for a warning?”

“Even if you ask me, I believe everything you do has a reason…”

Skadi shrugged with a troubled expression. She knew well that she had become quite lenient when it came to matters related to the Wendigo.

Knowing Skadi’s personality, the Wendigo decided to change his target for questions. His gaze naturally turned to the nearest Summoners…

“If-if the Djin wishes it, then it must be the right thing to do!”

“We always believe in and follow the Djin!”

“…Asking you all was a mistake too.”

The Wendigo shook his head as flattery reflexively sprang forth as if his gaze were a blade.

The Wendigo sent someone to call for Geron. When Geron arrived, he looked at the human-faced trees decorating(?) the temple entrance and showed great surprise.

“Trees with human faces—how remarkable.”

“Is it too severe after all?”

“Pardon? I think it’s a good method for a warning, isn’t it?”

“…What did you just say?”

The Wendigo stared at Geron with astonishment. He hadn’t expected the most normal and rational person in the village to make such an eccentric statement.

Wondering if it was a joke, Geron answered with quite a serious expression.

“I think it’s quite a good method. A light warning makes people harbor ill intentions, but a heavy warning prevents people from acting rashly, doesn’t it?”

“I forgot you were once a warrior. I should have asked an ordinary person about this.”

“I consider myself quite cold-blooded among warriors… Above all, for forest people, this level is necessary to be considered a warning.”

“What do you mean by that?”

When the Wendigo expressed confusion, Geron was taken aback. He had assumed the Wendigo would naturally know about the savage nature of the forest people.

Though they were now becoming unified as one group centered around the Wendigo, until recently, the forest people had been strongly exclusive, not easily trusting one another.

In an environment where food was scarce and conditions harsh, expecting neighbors to be friendly would be madness.

Due to these conditions, forest people were fundamentally wild and tough. Naturally, they were fearless, so their warnings were never light.

For forest people, cruel and impressive warnings that would prevent others from even thinking of approaching were the norm.

“Honestly, these trees…”

“Call them human-faced trees.”

“Yes. These human-faced trees can be considered quite clean warnings. Though corpses were used, the limbs are intact, and the faces are still recognizable.”

“Strange. If such warnings are common, why haven’t I seen them before?”

“Using corpses for warnings requires consideration of decay, and there’s usually no need for such actions unless there’s a threat nearby. Besides, what human would dare issue such a warning to you, Djin, unless they had a death wish?”

“That’s true.”

They wouldn’t use corpses from their own tribe, and there was always the risk of animals being attracted by the smell of blood.

Considering that, the human-faced trees were indeed good warnings. They didn’t emit the smell of blood and were quite impressive.

“Then at least the forest people won’t fear me because of the human-faced trees.”

“Uh…”

“Shh. Just let it go at times like this.”

When Geron tried to say something, Skadi quickly covered his mouth, showing her quick wit.

She also thought that whether the Wendigo made trees from corpses or tore people apart, it wouldn’t change people’s attitudes toward him.

…After all, the forest people feared the Wendigo as much as they respected him.

“Geron. Tell the people to place these human-faced trees outside the forest… What are you two doing?”

“Ah, nothing!”

“I just had something to ask Geron.”

Geron and Skadi looked at the Wendigo with pitying eyes, but he didn’t notice.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

* * *

Regardless of their fear of the Wendigo, Geron and the forest people diligently carried out his orders.

They trimmed the branches and leaves of the human-faced trees to make them more recognizable, applied some paint to make the expressions more vivid…

Perhaps because it had been a long time since they had left a warning(?), people carefully decorated the human-faced trees.

“No, shouldn’t we carve some wounds on the face to make it more frightening?”

“Would carving wounds on an already contorted face make it scarier? We should rather hollow out the heart area…”

“Can’t we make the arms move? If we bend them well, it would add more liveliness.”

…Perhaps they weren’t being careful but rather enjoying themselves.

Still, the forest people’s craftsmanship was excellent. The finished human-faced trees were certainly both tragic and easy to recognize as who they had been in life.

The completed human-faced trees could be considered works of art…

“Aren’t these just sculptures?”

“Ahem. It seems everyone got excited since they haven’t handled such things before.”

Geron cleared his throat and made excuses.

If they had been real corpses, they might have made them more gruesome and frightening, but the human-faced trees were still trees after all.

Even for forest people skilled at leaving cruel warnings, leaving warnings with trees wasn’t easy, so they focused on bringing out the inherent atmosphere of the material.

As a result, the six human-faced trees became sculptures depicting a scene of tragedy.

The Wendigo admired the forest people’s artistic sense, or rather their savagery, as he examined the human-faced tree sculptures.

“Still, they made them quite vivid. What material did they use for the bloody tears in the eyes? They look so real…”

“They used real blood.”

“…No wonder I smelled blood.”

The Wendigo grimaced and moved his face away from the sculptures. Surely this would be a sufficient warning.

‘Is this enough?’

Just then, Skadi opened the door, entered, and bowed to the Wendigo. In her hands was a fairly large piece of leather.

“Wendigo. I’ve engraved some text on this leather to help with the sculptures, or rather, the warnings. Would you like to take a look?”

“Text, huh. Indeed, just seeing these might not convey the meaning.”

‘Unless they’re complete idiots, they should understand that humans turned into trees is a warning.’

Geron gave the Wendigo a salty look but didn’t voice his thoughts.

It was about the Wendigo’s dignity, and more importantly, Skadi had worked hard on the text. There was no reason to interfere.

The Wendigo scanned the leather she handed over.

[Those who practice deceit. Those who commit sins and know not repentance. Those who harm others through deception. These three shall incur the wrath of the forest. They shall atone for their sins in agony.]

“What do you think? I put a lot of thought into these words.”

“…Everything else is fine, but isn’t it a bit much to say they’ll atone in agony? I don’t have the ability to turn souls or living beings into trees. Even less so the ability to torment the dead.”

When the Wendigo expressed his discomfort, Skadi shook her head.

A powerful warning doesn’t always need to contain only truth.

“Certainly, even if you could, you wouldn’t turn living beings into trees.”

“No, I don’t have such abilities… probably.”

The Wendigo, who was about to refute Skadi’s words, couldn’t give a definitive answer. He had never tried it, so he couldn’t be certain whether he truly couldn’t do it.

Skadi nodded with a smile.

“I know you wouldn’t do it even if you could. But isn’t it excellent as a warning?”

“Hmm. I can’t argue with that.”

Indeed, the warning that one wouldn’t find peace even after death was quite threatening. After all, everyone wanted peace after death.

Seeing the Wendigo’s positive reaction, Skadi draped the leather over the shoulder of the Gunlod sculpture.

With a face of despair, bloody tears, and text suggesting eternal suffering, it was quite eerie.

The Wendigo nodded in satisfaction at the result.

‘This should keep trash-like individuals away from the forest.’

* * *

The human-faced trees were placed at the forest boundary as a warning.

The forest people felt pride in this proud(?) work. Not only was the material special, but it was also sufficiently threatening even to them.

“This should be enough of a warning to those bastards, right?”

“Of course. Who would ignore such a gruesome warning? Unless they want to become trees and suffer eternally…”

“Let’s add this to the patrol route just in case. What if outsiders damage it out of mischief?”

The warriors patrolling the forest added the path where the warning was placed to their route to prevent any damage to the warning.

For the forest people, this warning was also a source of pride that they were under the protection of the Djin. They couldn’t let it be damaged.

A day passed, then two, and more than a week went by.

The human-faced trees weren’t damaged. That was certain, but…

“Huh? Where did the sculptures go? Where are the sculptures!?”

“Look here. Isn’t something shining on the ground?”

A week and a few days later, the human-faced tree sculptures had disappeared as if by magic. The warriors were outraged and tried to find the culprit but couldn’t.

Instead, they found silver coins and a few treasures on the ground where the human-faced trees had been, and this news reached the Wendigo, who was enjoying culinary delights at the temple.

The Wendigo summoned those most suitable for this matter.

“I’m sorry to call you all when you’re already working hard.”

“Not at all. How could we not respond to your call when the grace you’ve bestowed upon us is as vast as the sky?”

The Summoners, led by Skadi, bowed and answered. Though only a week had passed, the Summoners were completely enchanted by this forest.

Materials might be a bit hard to obtain, but they could freely discuss sorcery among themselves, and the forest people didn’t suspect or feel uncomfortable around them, instead showing respect.

Moreover, there was no need to cause trouble to seek mysteries. If they approached the Wendigo and explained their reasons, they could receive mysteries sufficiently.

Isn’t this what paradise would be like for a Summoner?

“Why did you call us? Is there something you need or a ritual you desire?”

“No, not for that reason… The human-faced trees have disappeared, and I can’t understand why, so I called you all.”

“?”

The Summoners were puzzled by the news of the human-faced trees’ disappearance.

Who would take those hideous things, not just break or damage them?

“Was there anything unusual?”

“Treasures of gold and silver were buried in the ground, they say.”

“……”

The Summoners looked at each other in silence as if by agreement. Even Skadi scratched her head and sighed.

From their strange reactions, the Wendigo sensed they had figured something out.

“Do you know what happened?”

“Yes… well…”

The Summoners blushed and lowered their heads. Their strange reactions increased the Wendigo’s curiosity.

What could the reason possibly be?

As the Wendigo stared at them, the Summoners whispered among themselves and then pushed Osa forward.

She was the only female among the Summoners who had come from outside and had become closest to Skadi, so she was chosen as their representative.

With a red face, quietly as if wanting to hide in a mouse hole, she revealed their speculation.

“It seems Summoners took them….”

“……”

The Wendigo stared at Osa in disbelief. She lowered her head deeply in embarrassment.