Chapter 19

The wendigo looked at the corpse with a salty gaze. Not only was it being a parasite a problem, but its attitude was also utterly absurd.

‘Whether it’s a spirit or an evil spirit, these spiritual things basically have no manners.’

A creature that starts with a curse as a greeting while proposing a deal. Even the most generous being would find it preposterous.

Of course, the wendigo didn’t reject the deal solely because of the poor attitude. Attitude was something that could be decided whether to kill or not after hearing the deal’s content.

The reason for flatly rejecting the parasite creature’s proposal was the mystery it harbored.

A mystery like ten-year-old filth.

The wendigo wasn’t careless enough to make a deal with something that anyone could see was dangerously problematic.

The wendigo thought his judgment was correct. The mystery didn’t disappear even though the parasite had died.

The fact that it didn’t dissipate even after its death meant that the owner of the mystery wasn’t it. Clearly, the one it called mother or master was up to something.

‘If I investigate more closely, could I find out something?’

But it was so disgusting that he didn’t even want to approach…

Struggling between repulsion and necessity, the wendigo sighed and approached the corpse. Shouldn’t one see through what they’ve started?

The wendigo slowly extended his hand towards the corpse. He didn’t forget to surround himself with mystery in case of any danger.

The moment his claw touched the corpse, the mystery dwelling in the corpse stirred. The wendigo inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘As expected. How could such a foul mystery dwell without any reason.’

The corpse’s mouth opened, and a mystery reminiscent of a swarm of flies revealed itself.

The wendigo, who was about to imbue his claws with cold energy to disperse the mystery, paused.

The mystery before his eyes wriggled, and a bizarre voice began to flow out.

『Is it you? The foolish spirit who took my poor child’s life without permission.』

“What permission? If I get permission, does it matter whether I kill your offspring or not? If you’re going to talk nonsense, disappear. If not, state your business.”

『… You run your mouth without fear of the world, spirit. Do you think you can do this even knowing who I am?』

“If you didn’t like that, you should have revealed your identity from the start. Both child and mother are stupid at making threats.”

The mystery violently undulated, expressing anger. Though unsure of its identity, it seems the provocation was quite strong.

‘If I spat out the curses I learned in my past life, it would surely spit blood.’

Beyond the mystery, a grinding sound could be heard. It must have quite a lot of teeth, as the sound was incredibly noisy.

『If you want to know my identity that badly, I’ll tell you.』

The mystery spread widely and began to project something.

Its body, covered in chitin, was long like a snake, and its hexagonal mouth, filled with teeth as thick as a human’s forearm, was incredibly vicious.

It flickered its six sinisterly glowing eyes and flicked a spiny tentacle that protruded from its mouth like a tongue.

『I am the Whisperer, Gikas. The magical beast and mother of parasites.』

‘So, you’re saying you’re a parasite and a somewhat intelligent monster.’

Gikas introduced itself with a voice full of dignity, but the wendigo was indifferent. Isn’t it just saying that it’s still a useless parasite after all?

The one fortunate thing was that its name was normal. Otherwise, he would have had to worry about what to call it.

『I know well why you’re arrogant. The depth of the mystery forming your body is easily a hundred… no, even two hundred years wouldn’t be strange.』

The wendigo didn’t argue. More precisely, there was no reason to argue. When it was doing all the talking by itself, what was there to say?

Gikas mocked the wendigo. When he didn’t refute, it thought its words had hit the mark.

『Yes. You must have feared nothing in the world. What would a great spirit who has lived for two hundred years fear? However, there’s always something higher in the world…』

“Your introduction is disgustingly long. I’d like you to quickly get to the point and disappear.”

The wendigo regretted his words as soon as he said them. What he meant to think inwardly had slipped out of his mouth.

Not only was its speech cut off, but being insulted again, Gikas opened its mouth wide, revealing its teeth.

Each tooth, wriggling and moving, was quite threatening, but if he had been scared of such things, he would have lived hiding away.

As the wendigo snorted, Gikas glared at him with a murderous look, making a sound like clearing phlegm.

“If you’re not going to come here, just quickly finish what you were saying.”

『Your arrogance has crossed the line! Fine. If you’re that confident, come to the mountain.』

As Gikas shouted confidently, the wendigo paused. He asked Gikas, just in case.

“… Surely you’re not saying your base is in the mountains?”

『You’re quite suspicious. Or are you scared? If you head north, you’ll find a mountain. My nest is there, so come if you can find it!』

The wendigo was at a loss for words due to bewilderment. After all, what villain in the world would reveal the location of their base?

Unless it was lying. Among the words it spat out, that was the most truthful one.

Like a single flower blooming in the filth of a sewer.

Unless it was a complete idiot, it must have had some thought behind doing this…

‘But it still seems too idiotic?’

While Gikas had cursed the wendigo for being arrogant, from the wendigo’s perspective, Gikas seemed more arrogant.

Otherwise, why would it tell where it was hiding? Even if it had prepared a trap, the opponent would come anyway…

The wendigo pondered if there was anything more he could extract, but he couldn’t utilize what he had pondered. Gikas’s mystery had lost its power and dissipated.

‘I thought I could dig out more since it seemed like a sucker, but it’s a shame.’

Still, because it seemed like a sucker, he could quickly plan what to do next. The wendigo’s eyes gleamed as he lifted the corpse.

---

The Whisperer, Gikas, boasted an enormous size unlike its claim of being the mother of parasites.

Its huge body, capable of swallowing a bear whole, was obviously unnatural, and unnatural things have causes.

Gikas’s size was the result of repeated molting. This was possible because magical beasts, born with mystery, had shed the constraint of lifespan.

Gikas’s ability to hide with such patience was largely due to its origin.

‘How long have I waited for this day!’

Not a bear, not a wolf, not even a cat, but a parasite.

What Gikas, born as such a parasite, realized while stealing the bodies of other creatures and stealing knowledge, was its own weakness.

No matter how much it could steal bodies, if the strength of the main body was meager, it wouldn’t be strange to die at any time.

That’s why Gikas grew its size while lurking in a cave. To overcome the limitations of being a parasite, it held its breath in a dark cave, waiting for the right time.

Devouring the victims brought by its offspring and growing like a poison for three hundred years.

Gikas was convinced that the time had finally come.

‘Now no one can stop me!’

Its shell was as hard as rock, its teeth were sharp enough to tear even steel, and its body, filled with muscles, could kill even a bear with a single writhe.

That’s why it revealed the location of its nest to the wendigo without any fear. Of course, it wasn’t just reckless behavior based on pride in its strength.

Gikas provoked him because it had its own calculations. If it had been stupid from the start, it wouldn’t have acknowledged the limitations of its species and sought solutions.

What Gikas believed in was the foolishness of humans.

‘What a stupid spirit. Having such strong innate power yet not knowing how to dominate humans at all.’

How many humans had it eaten while hiding for three hundred years? Gikas believed without doubt that it understood humans perfectly.

The attempt to persuade humans was stupid in itself. Rather than dominating with overwhelming power, trying to recruit them with words!s are foolish. They look down on those who show kindness and believe they can wield others.

Moreover, unlike its offspring, they can’t establish a unified opinion and are always in conflict and suspicion.

Could that spirit possibly persuade such creatures?

‘It’s impossible.’

Narrow-minded humans wouldn’t easily believe a spirit coming to warn them of danger. How could they believe when it had hidden its existence for three hundred years?

Of course, humans would doubt again and again, and if so, they would surely offend the spirit’s mood in the end.

‘Then it’s over. It’s fine whether the spirit fights humans out of anger or gives up on increasing its numbers.’

If either of these succeeds, there’s no possibility of the spirit defeating its army. It would be fine even if the spirit, more annoyed than angry, retreats on its own.

The only way the spirit might gain an advantage is by understanding human hearts and shaking their shallow minds…

‘Such a thing is impossible. The arrogance of spirits is absolutely incorrigible.’

There’s no way a spirit could understand humans. How could a spirit understand what even it had accumulated as knowledge by devouring dozens of humans?

Worrying about such possibilities was foolish.

Gikas moved its body to change position. In the corner of the cave, the eggs laid by Gikas shook due to the movement.

Eggs containing over a hundred offspring.

They were set to hatch in just one more day. Gikas fell into pleasant contemplation, chattering its teeth.

What kind of puppets should it make with its offspring?

‘Beasts are good, but should I expand more monsters? No. The spirit will take at least 5 more days to get here, so rather humans…’

“Master! Something terrible has happened!”

“What is it? Has the food run short? If it’s such a problem, I told you to kill the fattest one and use it as food.”

Gikas, who was having pleasant fantasies, spat out annoyance upon seeing the human puppet that came to the cave.

The human puppet hastily shook its head. It wasn’t such a trivial problem.

“The spirit has appeared leading warriors! At least two hundred warriors are heading this way!”

“!? That’s impossible. How could it bring so many warriors arriving at this point in time!”

Gikas shook its body in shock. One egg burst because of this, but there was no time to care about that.

How on earth?!