Chapter 17

Dmitri.

He loved the village. But he didn’t love the land.

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

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

‘But not now.’

Although he didn’t know why the spirit denied breaking the palisade, this spirit was different, very different.

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

At least in this forest, there was no being that could go against the spirit before his eyes.

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 (it was unavoidable due to his size) and tapped the debris with his nail.

The wendigo’s nose caught Dmitri’s emotions. Awe, fear, and deep affection.

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

If he had fallen in love with him, he would have shuddered as if a bug was crawling on his back, but if the object was different, it was another story.

‘It’s similar to when I first met Hegilson.’

Loving one’s hometown and village is easy to say, but not easy to show in action.

There would be plenty of people in the world who would want the protection of a spirit. How many people wouldn’t want to wield the power of life and death?

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

“It’s admirable. Are they so precious to you that you’d overcome your fear?”

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

The wendigo realized he was telling the truth.

In a world like this, 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 own life.

It was just one question, but the wendigo could feel a lot about the village.

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

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

“For a young village chief to be so trusted, your reputation must be extraordinary.”

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

As Dmitri raised his head and spoke, the wendigo shook his head. Surely that couldn’t be the case.

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

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

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

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

Dmitri waved his hands, being modest. The title of village chief felt too heavy.

However…

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

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

“Uh, uhh?”

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

As the villagers started shouting one by one in excitement, soon they were chanting Dmitri’s name.

Perhaps because his heart was pounding too strongly.

Dmitri shed tears. The wendigo silently planted mystery in the ground.

The mystery, carrying his will, sprouted into a black and hard spear, and the wendigo pulled it out in one go.

“Take this. It’s a gift, as I remembered your figure fighting valiantly with a spear on the palisade.”

“Th-this?!”

As 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 the people. That’s why I’m giving you this gift.”

“Th-thank you. Thank you!”

Dmitri expressed his gratitude with tears. The wendigo nodded and stood up.

“I’ll take my leave now. Geron, you must be tired, but I’ll have to trouble you a bit more.”

“Not at all.”

Geron answered with a smile.

As the wendigo left his seat, Dmitri’s name resounded loudly.

---

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

Is this really what someone, no, a spirit… anyway, something that had just stirred up a man’s passionate fervor would think?

The wendigo, who had left his seat, was calmly evaluating the village. It wasn’t particularly about losing humanity or anything like that.

This was an inevitable thought for the wendigo, who had become a ruler of people.

‘Increasing numbers is good, but if you accept just anyone, parasites tend to follow.’

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

The wendigo wanted his people to be clean, and thus a test was necessary.

Fortunately, these people were more than satisfactory.

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

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

Such people shouldn’t cause problems even if they join the village.

So he diligently built up goodwill. He built it up so substantially that even he thought it was quite decent.

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

The wendigo looked up at the night sky, organizing his thoughts. Even though the world had changed, the moon was still beautiful.

He let out a hollow laugh.

‘I never imagined I’d be having these kinds of worries.’

Yet now he was evaluating people’s characters. Moreover, he himself wasn’t even human.

Truly, the ways of the world were interesting because you never know what lies ahead.

---

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

“You’re less flustered than I expected. Even if your head knows you need to leave, it’s not easy for the body to do so.”

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

For forest people, their homeland 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.

If monsters become rampant, they leave; if famine strikes, they leave; if a nasty chief appears in a neighboring tribe, they leave…

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

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

In an instant, houses were dismantled, and men and women alike lined up in rows carrying loads.

The wendigo slowly looked around at the people. Despite their small stature, 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 of the warriors and head to the village following their guidance. If you explain the situation to my shaman Skadi, she will welcome you.”

“Spirit-nim. Will you be alright without us?”

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

“Who do you think I am? I’m not someone who’ll get beaten up somewhere, so don’t worry.”

Dmitri scratched his head. Come to think of it, it wasn’t wrong.

‘Honestly, I can’t imagine Spirit-nim being defeated.’

Dmitri doubted if there was any being that could defeat the wendigo, except perhaps the celestial gods believed in outside this forest. He felt that even an ogre would be cut down in one stroke.

As two warriors chosen by Geron led Dmitri’s group towards the village, the wendigo once again set off towards his destination.

After walking for a while, pushing through the forest, Ivan cautiously approached the wendigo and spoke.

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

“If it’s something I can answer, I will. Go ahead.”

“If, if our tribe also asks, would you be willing to take us in as well?”

The wendigo stroked his chin. It wasn’t that he was pondering; he didn’t want to seem too eager.

Although he hadn’t seen Ivan’s tribe, he had quite a bit of faith in them. After all, what was the initial reason for his movement?

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

Rationally thinking, it would have been better for them to flee rather than alert others to the danger.

Yet they didn’t run away. Rather, they made efforts to warn others even while taking risks.

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

“Ivan, your tribe could have ignored the danger, but they moved for the sake of others. I have no reason to refuse such good people. Rather, I’d like to ask them.”

“Spirit-nim! Sniff!”

As Ivan’s eyes reddened, the wendigo felt uncomfortable. He didn’t expect tears over something like this.

‘Ivan might be weak in other aspects, but his tear ducts are definitely too sensitive…’

“Sob. Your words are too kind!”

“In my entire life, I’ve never met someone as benevolent as Spirit-nim!”

“……”

The wendigo swallowed his bewilderment and looked at the grown men shedding tears with a salty gaze.

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

As Geron burst into laughter, the wendigo chided him.

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

“Hohoho. I was wondering where Skadi-nim’s eloquence came from, but it’s clear she learned it from Spirit-nim.”

“What are you talking about, 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 the ability to enchant people like Skadi? Given 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 tried to soothe and comfort them even while moving. Of course, it had no effect. Rather, his actions were seen as caring for them one by one, only serving to draw more tears from the warriors.

His struggle only ended when they arrived at the next village.

“Spirit-nim. I can see the village over there.”

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

“Yes, yes! We’ll show Spirit-nim’s dignity with the brave appearance of forest people!”

“No, that’s not… Never mind. Do as you see fit.”

“Yes!!!”

Their response was resounding. The wendigo started to wonder if there might be something wrong with him.

‘They say people go mad when they encounter monsters like Cthulhu or whatever, could it be the same with me? No, they were normal at first…’

“Spirit-nim. I’ll go call the people.”

“That’s a good idea. They’ll probably be surprised to see my face… Hm?”

The wendigo was about to agree with Geron’s opinion when he paused, seeing the palisade gate open.

What came out of the gate were people. They approached with their hands raised high, as if they had no intention to resist.

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

“……”

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

Geron approached the people, trying to quickly clear up the misunderstanding.

“We are not plunderers. Strange things are happening nearby, and we came to inform you…”

“Kuhek!?”

Geron closed his mouth as the wendigo’s large arm shot out next to his face. He carefully turned his head to look at the wendigo.

“You. You smell suspicious.”

“Sp-Spirit-nim?”

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