Ch.72Chapter 72

Freya’s conjecture made Wendigo feel disgruntled.

If Freya was right, it meant that he was born from the remains of a beast, or at least something comparable to a beast.

Wendigo wondered if Freya might be joking and asked her again.

“So you’re saying the owner of my head wasn’t me but someone else?”

[You could say that, I suppose? Of course, the owner of that head would have died long ago.]

“……”

As Wendigo stared blankly into space after hearing her answer, Freya giggled and patted his head.

Even without seeing Wendigo’s expression, she could roughly guess what he was thinking.

With so many other noble and beautiful origin stories out there, who in the world would be happy to learn they were born from a corpse’s head?

He must surely be bursting with dissatisfaction about his existence!

‘Does this mean I need to discard my hypothesis that my existence came from another world and that’s why I’m strong? I thought that was quite plausible.’

… Of course, that was just Freya’s assumption because she didn’t know Wendigo well yet.

Wendigo didn’t particularly care that he was born from a corpse.

Aside from originating from a corpse, there wasn’t really any problem with his existence.

‘As long as another one like me doesn’t show up later…’

Wendigo nodded and accepted Freya’s reasoning.

“It’s certainly a plausible story. If I think of my unrelated powers as gifts left by the head’s owner, it’s not strange at all.”

[What? Aren’t you accepting this too easily? Don’t you feel disgusted or humiliated?]

“There’s no meaningless death in this world, so why would that be humiliating?”

[…If nothing else, you’re definitely a mutant Djin.]

When Wendigo responded indifferently, Freya looked at him with disgust.

Wendigo ignored her gaze and prepared his next question. Freya’s reasoning had increased his faith in her.

With a small sense of expectation, Wendigo asked Freya:

“Where does my mana come from? I’ve never felt it depleting.”

[Huh? What are you…!?]

Freya, who had thought this was nonsense, was shocked when a bunch of pure white roses bloomed in Wendigo’s hand.

She realized these weren’t just for show but identical to the roses he had given her as an apology.

The roses were infused with cold energy so intense that even a single petal could freeze someone to death.

Wendigo arranged the roses into a bouquet and offered it to Skadi.

“W-Wendigo, sir?”

“Take it. It would be a waste to give it to someone else.”

Skadi hurriedly took the bouquet with a face mixed with joy and confusion.

Shir watched the scene and swallowed with regret.

‘Even just one of those would make me so happy!’

Shir could understand why Skadi was delighted.

For a Summoner, receiving such a rare gift would naturally be exciting!

…Of course, Skadi had no intention of carelessly using even a single petal.

“Hehehe…”

‘Well, I’m glad she likes it.’

Leaving the grinning Skadi behind, Wendigo asked Freya:

“Does my mana seem to have decreased?”

[Isn’t that obvious? You created dozens of those roses without any preparation, so of course your mana should… wait, it hasn’t decreased at all!?]

Freya doubted her own senses. Even though Wendigo should have used up chunks of mana, she couldn’t feel any reduction at all.

“Is there any possibility? Perhaps the skull is so old that mana overflows from it?”

[Hmm…]

Freya closed her eyes in contemplation… and slowly moved away from Wendigo.

“?”

Wendigo looked at her with confusion. He couldn’t understand why she was distancing herself while thinking.

After creating sufficient distance, Freya opened her eyes and said to Wendigo with disgust:

[I don’t know. What are you? You’re scary.]

“……”

Wendigo mentally lowered his faith in Freya by one level.

* * *

In conclusion, they failed to completely uncover Wendigo’s identity, but Wendigo himself didn’t really care.

It didn’t seem like discovering the secret of his birth would change the direction of his life…

“O Djin! That man stole three chickens from the village!”

“No! I just took care of chickens that were wandering around without an owner!”

“Liar! I remember exactly what those chickens looked like. Stop talking nonsense!”

“I’m not lying!”

Besides, the forest was already full of incidents and accidents without him worrying about such things.

Wendigo checked the scents and delivered his judgment.

“Both sides are telling the truth. However, these weren’t wild chickens, and not looking for the owner of escaped chickens was wrong, so I will impose an appropriate punishment.”

“Ugh… I understand. If that’s the truth, I have no choice.”

The two men involved in the trial didn’t argue with Wendigo’s judgment.

Who could deny the word of a Djin with the ability to see through the truth?

After they left, the trials continued.

There had always been plenty of trials before, but recently there truly was no rest.

Problems that used to occur only between forest people now began to include outsiders as well.

“Next people, come in quickly.”

“Yes. This time it’s a dispute between a forest person and an outside merchant. The forest person exchanged a longsword and fifteen silver coins for a pig…”

No matter how carefully they screened people, the human heart is as fickle as a reed.

An herb gatherer who entered the forest to collect precious herbs might become a thief upon discovering even rarer herbs.

A merchant who came to trade honestly might try to fleece an innocent forest person of all their silver.

A hunter who came to hunt might hunt a purse full of silver instead of animals…

“He’s insane. Behead that man.”

“I’m sorry! I was just blinded by silver!”

“Shut up and follow me!”

…In any case, filtering people didn’t make the world peaceful.

After a while, Wendigo, who had been conducting trials for quite some time, declared a recess and sighed while sitting on his throne.

“Sometimes I wonder if humans and Djin are equally prone to causing trouble.”

“Would you like to rest while having some refreshments?”

“Hmm…”

Wendigo resisted the urge to nod and pondered.

The pastries made from ground nuts mixed with flour, baked and topped with honey, were certainly delicious, but…

“It still seems too luxurious. To match my size, the pastries would have to be quite large.”

“Then I’ll take that as a yes.”

When Geron casually dismissed his concerns, Wendigo looked at him with disappointed eyes.

However, Geron had his own reasons for being so firm.

How could he stand by and watch his respected lord hesitate over something as simple as eating pastries?

‘The Djin is too frugal. I should encourage him a bit.’

Geron quickly had the servants prepare refreshments.

Wendigo clicked his tongue when he saw pastries baked to match his size—about the size of a human head—and fruit juice served in an oak barrel.

“I feel like I’m becoming more extravagant these days.”

“Being too frugal is also a problem. Considering just the goods coming from outside and the crops growing in the forest, you could eat much more than this.”

Geron sipped his tea that came with Wendigo’s refreshments as he tried to persuade him.

The grains yielded abundant fruit, and the beasts grew fat with glossy fur without needing much attention.

Even the conveniences of civilization that the forest people had lacked were gradually increasing as they began to interact with outsiders.

In this situation, no one would criticize Wendigo for enjoying some refreshments.

If such a fearless person existed, they would have long been dismembered by the forest people and turned into fertilizer for the forest!

“Enjoying the taste is enough. What’s the point of eating a lot? It’s better for the children who will grow up to eat more.”

“That’s a good sentiment, but the children are eating well too. They’re even having meat on days that aren’t festivals…”

“Children need to eat meat to grow well at a young age.”

Geron glared resentfully at Wendigo, who wouldn’t back down even a bit.

It was certainly an admirable statement, but why did it make his blood boil?

Wendigo deliberately ignored Geron’s gaze and savored the pastry.

As expected of those who spent all day working with food at the temple, the pastry had the perfect balance of nuttiness and sweetness.

‘It’s a shame there’s no coffee. Or does it exist in this world?’

As his mind wandered, his hand automatically moved faster.

That’s when it happened.

“Caw!”

A crow flew through the temple window and perched on Geron’s shoulder.

It wasn’t an ordinary crow, of course. It was a crow trained to deliver urgent messages to Geron.

Wendigo, who had already finished all the pastries, washed down his mouth with fruit juice and asked Geron:

“What’s the matter?”

“Um… an Ogre has appeared deep in the forest?”

“An Ogre…”

Wendigo put down the oak barrel and grumbled inwardly.

‘This forest can’t go a single year without an incident.’

* * *

Ogre.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Ogres of this world matched the image Wendigo had in mind.

They possessed monstrous strength capable of uprooting trees, skin as hard as rock…

And were hideous monsters with strong combativeness and ferocity.

Naturally, he had no intention of leaving such a monster to the warriors. Why suffer casualties when there was someone suitable for the job?

Wendigo headed to the village from which the message had come, taking only Skadi with him without additional guards.

Honestly, he was quite worried. With such a monster appearing, the village couldn’t possibly be safe.

But…

“I greet you, Djin! I am Dushan, the chief of this village.”

The village was intact—too intact. Not a single building was destroyed, and even the crops and livestock were safe.

Wendigo, looking around, couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked the chief:

“I heard an Ogre appeared… but the village seems surprisingly intact?”

“Well, about that. An Ogre did appear, but this one is a bit unusual.”

“Unusual?”

Wendigo had no idea what to expect, so he looked at Skadi. But Skadi also shook her head, having no predictions.

The chief, reading their expressions, asked for permission and began to guide them.

The place the chief took them to was a hill near the village…

There, an Ogre wearing tattered pants was tearing apart a deer dripping with blood.

The Ogre was chewing on the deer’s head, bones and all, when it noticed the chief and swallowed the head whole.

After spitting out bone fragments stuck in its mouth, the Ogre looked at the chief and spoke:

“Human, I told you not to come before bringing leader. I, hard to control hunger.”

“!”

Skadi and Wendigo looked at the Ogre with surprised eyes…

‘Come to think of it, this isn’t surprising.’

Wendigo regained his composure as he realized that he himself was an even stranger being than the Ogre.

The chief politely pointed to Wendigo and introduced him to the Ogre.

“Gulmarg. This is the person you’ve been looking for. The one who bestows grace upon us…”

“Human, lying. That thing Djin. Djin is son of a bitch. Son of a bitch cannot be leader. Will be beaten to death.”

“……”

The Ogre, Gulmarg, denied the chief’s words with rock-solid determination.

Wendigo was greatly impressed by Gulmarg the Ogre’s attitude.

What an unexpectedly intelligent Ogre!