Chapter 101

How did things end up growing this big?

Wendigo sighed while reading the messages unfolded by the servant as he sat on the throne.

The servant who received the cold-infused sigh with his whole body shivered.

“I’m sorry. Why don’t you take a break and let someone else handle this?”

“N-No! I can endure this much!”

When Wendigo expressed concern, the servant shouted bravely despite trembling.

Though he felt sorry, Wendigo couldn’t help but keep sighing.

Wasn’t it natural to sigh while continuously reading such boring messages?

“Not even able to eat snacks, what am I doing…”

“With messages continuously pouring in, what can we do? Still, it’s all hardship for establishing the university, so we must endure.”

Geron encouraged Wendigo while speed-reading messages and listening to his complaints.

Naturally, he didn’t usually handle work while having a private audience with Wendigo in the audience hall, but this time it couldn’t be helped.

With new work continuously coming in, working separately in two places wasn’t efficient.

Above all, allowing chieftains to participate in… no, put their spoons into the university establishment was beyond Geron’s authority.

Wendigo, who had read through messages full of lavish flattery, clicked his tongue and waved his claw.

“These damn fellows want to participate but send proper proposals instead of trying to freeload.”

The servant neatly folded the messages and put them aside.

There were instructions not to carelessly discard messages even with useless content, as they could be used as insulation materials for people.

Looking up at Wendigo, who was trying(?) to take care of people even today, the servant frowned and cursed those who sent the messages.

“To send such useless content, I’m worried they might be looking down on the Spirit Lord.”

“Well, your words have a point. Unlike those who have faced the Spirit Lord’s power directly, to most northerners, the Spirit Lord is just a grateful being.”

As the servant spoke with a face full of discontent, Geron nodded while reading two messages simultaneously.

While those who belonged to the Northern Alliance had experienced submitting to Wendigo’s power and held reverence towards him, other northerners were not like that.

People tend to believe what they’ve seen.

To most northerners, Wendigo was a grateful but strange(?) spirit who brought abundance to barren land, not a normal spirit that harms people.

‘… Still, being afraid seems normal.’

Wendigo, who had been quietly listening to Geron’s words, was utterly dumbfounded.

How many warriors had died by his hands so far, yet there were still those harboring such soft thoughts?

“How many have I killed, surely they wouldn’t think that way.”

“How many arrogant bastards are there in the world? Moreover, those with sense don’t easily believe rumors…”

Given the times, unless one was naive, people didn’t easily believe stories passed from mouth to mouth.

How many wanderers are there who boast with exaggerations just to earn some drink money?

Naturally, people often judged after discounting half before even verifying the truth of rumors, and there was no law saying it shouldn’t be the same for Wendigo.

As evidence, Geron handed Wendigo the message he was reading.

“So isn’t this an attempt to plant people under the pretext of such useless promises?”

“Keep that separate. I’ll recite it in front of them later when we meet and shame them.”

Wendigo clicked his tongue and instructed.

While universities require many resources, it’s not just full of losses.

Introduction fees for recommending talents, research funds received in exchange for research in specific fields, enrollment fees naturally paid when entering university…

If the foundation is laid at the beginning and no major problems arise, universities are institutions with more ways to make money than expected.

Moreover, as a place optimized for seeking talent, anyone in a position to try would want to try.

“How many fools are there to accept such contracts…”

“The north is a land of warriors. It seems some who’ve focused on building strength all their lives become chieftains and occasionally get deceived.”

“… Keep those fellows separate. I think there might be use for them later.”

Geron quietly nodded, and the servants, quick-witted, rechecked the messages and sorted out those who dared to try to deceive Wendigo.

It’s unclear how this list will be used, but surely they won’t meet a good fate.

‘Why are we suffering because of these damn fellows?’

‘I hope it’s a death list.’

Wendigo, Geron, and the servants sorted out those who deserved punishment with unified intent.

… To the extent that finding messages with good proposals was pushed to the back burner.

It was inevitable that the disliked ones drew more attention.

---

From intellectuals renowned for intelligence in villages to famous warriors and merchants in the north, and even all tribes sent messages.

It took four days for Wendigo and Geron to organize the messages.

Wendigo muttered while looking at the neatly organized mountain of messages.

“Damn, there’s a lot.”

Geron nodded.

It was indeed damn many, as messages that were just a single sheet of paper each formed a mountain.

Especially since they had to read many more messages while organizing those…

“Now that we’ve sorted through as much as we can, I’ll send people outside the forest to verify if the contents of the messages are trustworthy.”

The fortunate thing was that for the time being, there wasn’t much for Wendigo and Geron to do.

They couldn’t just believe the sorted messages as they were, so they had to have those with deep loyalty discern the truth of the contents written in the messages.

Wendigo nodded while looking at the messages with a strange emotion.

‘It’s ironic that I want all the contents to be true since we sorted through them with difficulty, yet I also hope about half are false.’

After all, it remained unchanged that he had to meet them directly in the end to judge if they were useful.

Noticing the emotion in Wendigo’s gaze, Geron cleared his throat and gestured to the servants.

They had to quickly remove those cursed things from their lord’s sight, or else the university and everything might come to an end!

‘We can’t ruin an achievement befitting our lord just because of some rascals.’

The servants, who had somewhat noticed the importance of these messages, hurriedly divided and gathered the messages and left the audience hall.

Messages with regions, tribes, and names written on them would serve as guides for the warriors.

“There should be time until people return. Coincidentally, Skadi-nim has baked an apple pie for the Spirit Lord herself, how about relieving your fatigue while enjoying it with tea?”

As it was now a matter of time to resolve, Geron massaged his stiff shoulders and recommended rest to Wendigo.

Hearing the words “Skadi’s apple pie,” Wendigo’s spirits seemed to lift instantly from their drooping state just moments ago.

‘I haven’t had the chance to eat it recently.’

In the past, Skadi had plenty of leisure time and often served personally made dishes, but lately, she hadn’t had such leisure.

As her responsibilities increased, she rarely had time to cook herself.

Moreover, now that she was in charge of an institution as difficult to gauge as a university…

Recalling the taste of the sweet yet tangy apple pie Skadi baked after a long time made his mouth water.

“Skadi must be busy too, I feel bad for making her do this.”

“Isn’t it a measure of how much she thinks of the Spirit Lord?”

Shortly after, servants who received Geron’s instructions brought out a huge apple pie.

Naturally, he couldn’t eat it all alone when others were present.

Wendigo cut out a portion and offered it to Geron, and Geron didn’t refuse the apple pie he was eating after a long time.

Crunch!

The appropriate combination of tart apple flavor and sugar enveloped the tongue, and as the tea lightly swept away the stimulating sweetness, it couldn’t be more refreshing.

Of course, drinking tea was a bit inconvenient due to the protruding mouth structure.

‘I can’t use my tongue like a straw like a horse either.’

Still, Geron smiled contentedly as Wendigo enjoyed the tea he liked.

After savoring the last remaining piece, Geron lightly washed his mouth with tea and stood up from his seat.

“I’ll take my leave first.”

“Are you going to work already?”

Wendigo looked at Geron with regretful eyes.

Geron nodded as if it was natural.

“Now that the urgent matters are over, shouldn’t I handle the postponed work? Ah, do you have any other tasks to assign?”

“… Even the most shameless person in the world wouldn’t assign more work to you.”

Geron, who was obviously joking, burst into laughter when Wendigo grimaced.

Wendigo thought it was a really hard joke to take and folded his arms.

“Keep the separately organized list well stored. I’m thinking of calling those guys too when inviting people later.”

“It’s not surprising as I expected it. Are you planning to kill them?”

As it wasn’t really surprising, Geron asked frankly.

Among the villains Wendigo had met so far, those who returned alive could be counted on one hand.

Those who belonged to the Northern Alliance?

He couldn’t be certain, but by now, their necks might have been cut off by one of their children and they might be wandering in the afterlife.

So it wouldn’t be strange to think of this list as a kind of death list…

“Do I look like someone who kills people indiscriminately?”

“You’re not one who kills indiscriminately, but you do kill bad guys, don’t you?”

“……”

Wendigo was at a loss for words at Geron’s answer.

It wasn’t Wendigo’s style to spare villains believing they would repent and reform.

With more villains than good people in the world, why is there any need to keep villains alive?

“… I don’t plan to kill them all. There might be those who made wrong judgments due to momentary greed.”

In other words, it wouldn’t be strange if those rotten to the core lost their heads.

However, there was no reason for Geron to worry about such things.

‘If our lord would cut off their heads, it means they deserve to die in the first place.’

Wouldn’t it be beneficial for the world if such people died quickly?

If such sinful lives could help our lord rule the forest and the north, they should consider it an honor.

---

The Empire had approached the northern tribes in various ways over a long period of time.

Sometimes they responded harshly by supporting families near the north, and sometimes they extended a hand, presenting the Empire’s abundance and civilization as a carrot.

The Kapustin family was one that had joined the Empire quite recently among them.

Naturally, as latecomers, the Kapustin family was still not recognized by the imperial nobles…

“Hahaha! Finally, finally my chance has come!”

“Congratulations, young master!”

Dario Kapustin, the second son of the Kapustin family, read a message that flew in from the northern edge and cheered.

Finally, an opportunity for them to gain recognition in imperial society had arrived.

‘At first, I laughed at the idea of establishing a university in the impoverished north, but it’s quite a big fish!’

Merchants trading with the Empire traveled through tribes friendly to the Empire or families of northern origin connected to the Empire.

After all, having connections with the Empire made it easier to cross into the Empire.

Thanks to this, Dario heard about the university and realized it had quite high potential as he gathered information.

The spirit called the Forest King, who had recently made a name for himself in the north, was the main agent of the university establishment.

Ruling the most abundant land in the north, and with power so great that he couldn’t be carelessly provoked.

If such a being was establishing a university, it surely wouldn’t be completely useless.

One of his subordinates smiled slyly and flattered Dario.

“As expected, I was certain that young master Dario was extraordinary from the moment I saw the writing that moved Baron Kapustin’s heart! To think you would even move a spirit’s heart!”

It was blatant flattery, but Dario enjoyed it, raising the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t entirely wrong, as Dario was mentioned as the next successor for winning his father’s favor with his innate flattery skills.

It was a kind of talent to only say pleasing words.

“Enough with the flattery, prepare to head north. We must move now to reach the end of the world according to the promised schedule.”

“A-Are you going to meet the spirit directly?”

“Ha, there’s nothing to be so afraid of. Spirits and people aren’t that different.”

When his subordinate became scared, Dario snorted.

While it might seem frightening to visit a spirit’s lair, not even human, Dario wasn’t afraid.

After all, capturing the other’s heart depends on how one uses their mouth.

‘Even my father, as suspicious as he is greedy, was swayed by me. A spirit wouldn’t be any different.’

Moreover, according to rumors, he supposedly valued humans highly.

What an easy target to manipulate!

‘Well, there are also stories about him killing quite a few people.’

Facing hundreds of warriors alone, witches trying to capture the spirit but having their souls taken…

It was a rumor full of exaggerations so difficult to guess how much was true.

While the spirit’s power was said to be strong, how could one face hundreds of warriors alone in this world?

Only uneducated northern bumpkins would believe such rumors.

‘The threat is minimal, and the reward is as vast as a mountain!’

Dario was certain that his time had come.