Chapter 27

The wendigo carelessly threw the seeds away and glared at the man.

Faced with the wendigo’s ferocious-looking face, the man shed tears and trembled violently.

“Please have mercy…”

“… I understand, so answer my questions.”

The man nodded frantically. It was an attitude unbefitting a warrior, but he couldn’t help it.

Death wasn’t scary, but being tormented eternally by an evil spirit was terrifyingly unknowable.

“Which tribe’s warrior are you? Why did you attack the people?”

“Th-that’s… Kuk!?”

“!”

The moment the man tried to speak, the mystery protecting his body transformed into a noose and gripped his neck.

The wendigo, slightly surprised, drew up his mystery.

‘Are they trying to prevent him from revealing secrets?’

The wendigo, with mystery wrapped around his claws, glared at the man’s neck.

If he slipped even a little, the man’s neck would fly off along with the mystery… but he’d die like this anyway.

‘It should be fine since I’m going to kill him anyway.’

The wendigo swung his claws towards the neck without hesitation. The claws exquisitely avoided the neck and tore apart the mystery.

However… the wendigo frowned. Something felt off.

“Kheuk!”

“Your backers are quite ruthless. Putting shackles on a subordinate entrusted with a mission.”

After confirming the man’s survival, the wendigo turned his attention to the mystery. The half-damaged mystery on his claws gathered into one and was causing something.

The mystery slowly began to take shape. A voice flowed from what seemed to be the mouth.

-I didn’t know there was a spirit who had settled in this forest.

“As expected. This forest has never been peaceful.”

The wendigo grumbled quietly as he sensed the spirit’s energy from the mystery.

What is there to eat in this forest that causes so many incidents!

The mystery, imitating the appearance of a wolf, glared at him and spoke.

-First, let me apologize. I didn’t know there was a spirit who had settled in such a place.

‘Well, the fact that he’s apologizing might mean he’s better than that boar or parasite.’

The boar had acted arrogantly and tried to lecture him as soon as they met.

And hadn’t the parasite thrown a tantrum as if time was some kind of official rank?

In that sense, the fact that he’s apologizing already gives him a good chance of being decent…

-That’s enough for apologies, now for the main topic…

“As expected. Spirits can’t be nice.”

-What did you say?

“It’s nothing, continue talking.”

The wendigo played innocent at the other’s question. There was no worry about being caught since he had no facial expressions anyway.

The mystery stared at the wendigo silently for a moment before speaking again.

-I am the one who devoured the wildness worshiped by the beastkin in the wide plains to the east… In human terms, I am called Oneton.

“My name is Wendigo. By the way, that’s unusual. Was the name Oneton given by humans?”

-Of course not. It’s disrespectful for humans to even call my name. So I made them call me by a name they could pronounce. Isn’t it the same for you?

Snorting and despising humans, it was clear this one had a nasty personality too.

The wendigo nodded slightly as if to say ‘go on’.

-You must be curious why a mature spirit like me has come to such a barren place.

‘I’m not really interested, I wish he’d just leave.’

-However, there are times when one must swallow their pride and make unavoidable choices. I too was in such a situation.

Oneton began his story, gazing into space like a noble wolf.

The wendigo listened, appropriately ignoring the other’s grand tale. He wasn’t interested in how cunningly and viciously the other had backstabbed spirits and humans.

After listening to the end, the wendigo summarized the conclusion.

“So… because your subordinates were incompetent, your perfect plan was ruined, and you had no choice but to enter the forest, hoping for a future opportunity?”

-Precisely.

Oneton nodded his head with satisfaction.

As expected of a fellow spirit, his understanding is quick!

While Oneton was evaluating the wendigo as a clever spirit, the wendigo was looking at Oneton with bewildered eyes.

If you remove the flowery language from his story and straighten out the twisted narrative…

‘Isn’t he just saying he got beaten like a dog and ran away after being greedy?’

To tell such a long-winded story about how he attacked the empire in the south and got badly hurt by humans.

‘No, in a world like this, if it’s called an empire, they must be strong.’

In any world, the name ’empire’ holds considerable value. It means they have the power to maintain the status of an empire among numerous forces.

Moreover, in a world where spirits and magical beasts run wild, if it’s called an empire, it can’t be weak.

Naturally, Oneton, who bared his fangs against such an empire, must be a somewhat capable spirit.

‘I’d like to avoid conflict if possible.’

-Now, let’s start the main story. Look at the map I’ve drawn.

Oneton’s tail spread wide and drew a map.

-This forest is located at the northern end of the continent. There’s nothing to eat, and the number of humans is even less.

In the north, there was an endless vast forest and human tribes.

To the east, the lands of beastkin nomads spread out.

In the west, the elven alliance was growing in power.

Finally, in the south, human and dwarf empires and kingdoms stood firm.

Honestly, compared to other places, this forest didn’t have many good points. Nevertheless, there was one reason why Oneton sought out the forest.

-This forest has only one advantage. It’s good for hiding.

“Are there no other advantages? Like being full of mystery… or having many magical beasts.”

-Nothing like that. It’s just a damn wide, barren land.

“……”

The wendigo glared at Oneton. He knew it already, but to spout such nonsense in front of someone, no, a spirit living here.

‘I want to smack him.’

-Let’s continue the story. The only advantage of this land is that it’s good for hiding. Criminals, witches, losers… such trash keep hiding here.

Oneton snickered, flicking his tongue. The wendigo had thought wolves were quite cool animals… but laughing like that made him look infinitely vulgar.

-So this land is a good place to wait for opportunities.

“Is it because there’s no worry about rumors spreading? I can’t accept that as the only reason why it’s good for waiting for opportunities.”

Indeed, this forest was a good place to hide. Even Gikas had been able to hide for three hundred years, partly because there were few people in the forest.

If a creature like Gikas had lived near a city, rumors would have spread in some way.

However, Oneton looked at the wendigo as if he were pathetic.

-Foolish one. Have you forgotten what a spirit should naturally think about?

“What are you talking about?”

-Of course, it’s about mystery. This forest is a very reasonable place to gather mystery.

How could it be suitable for gathering mystery when it’s not even full of mystery?

The wendigo pondered for a moment and then asked Oneton, suspecting the worst.

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about human sacrifice?”

-That’s right! Fortunately, you’re not a complete fool. This forest is the optimal place to gain mystery through human sacrifice.

‘A crazier spirit than I thought… no, this is what a normal spirit is like.’

The wendigo was disgusted but then came to terms with it himself. Even magical beasts chew up humans to increase their power, so spirits wouldn’t be any different.

From the perspective of the spirits in this world, the wendigo might be closer to a crazy spirit.

A crazy spirit obsessed with nurturing humans rather than thinking about increasing mystery by using them… That’s probably how other spirits see the wendigo.

While the wendigo was dumbfounded, Oneton revealed his ambitions in an excited voice.

-A land where sacrifices come on their own without anyone paying attention! Moreover, the beings living in this land are scattered, making it optimal for hunting!

“So why are you telling me this? There must be a reason for revealing your plans.”

-You’re quite perceptive. I like ones like you.

Oneton withdrew the map, met the wendigo’s eyes, and bared his teeth in warning.

-If you don’t interfere with me, I’ll especially refrain from touching your subordinates. Fighting a spirit after coming all this way would be a waste of mystery… and I pity you for living buried in this land.

“Are you saying I shouldn’t care whether you cause trouble in the forest or not?”

-That’s right. As expected, you’re quick-witted, making it easy to talk. Then I’ll assume you understand. I hope there won’t be any need to get red-faced next time.

As Oneton finished his piece, the mystery lost its form and crumbled. The mystery that had served its purpose oxidized and returned to nature…

“Unbelievable.”

“Y-yes, that’s… Kuhek!”

The wendigo swung his claws and severed the man’s neck. Keeping him alive would only accumulate resentment without any benefit.

More important was Oneton’s threat. As expected of a spirit renowned for its viciousness, this one was no ordinary being either.

It was just talk, but he was essentially saying, ‘If you interfere with my business, you won’t be able to live unscathed either.’

“He seems to think he’s being reasonable in his own way…”

An ordinary spirit might have thought so. Those ones would probably be like, ‘Forest… human sacrifice meta… memo’ and aim for the next target.

But the wendigo had no such thoughts. Rather, he felt irritation rising.

‘Just when I was trying to gather humans and live well properly!’

If such beings ran wild in the forest, forget about people gathering, he would surely be lumped together with them.

For the wendigo, whose goals differed from the spirits of this world, it was absolutely unacceptable behavior.

‘How vexing. To dare to make threats about causing trouble in my land.’

Strictly speaking, the forest belongs to everyone in the world… but he had no intention of letting it slide. Especially not for someone who makes threats when he should be bowing his head and entering humbly.

‘Such fellows need to be shown through actions, not words.’

The wendigo decided to move immediately.

“Skadi. Are you outside? If so, come in…”

The wendigo stopped mid-sentence as he was about to call Skadi. The man he had just killed was still there, so if he called her now, there might be a misunderstanding…

Before he could correct himself, Skadi entered, having heard the call.

Skadi quietly looked at the wendigo’s face once, then at the corpse with its neck severed.

She swore to the wendigo with a determined face.

“I’ll make sure this fact never becomes known to the village.”

“No, it’s not what you’re thinking. Really.”

“Yes, I believe in Wendigo-nim. I’m sure Wendigo-nim had a reason for doing this.”

“……”

A firm will to not reveal the secret even if a knife were at her throat.

Faced with Skadi’s solid determination, the wendigo regretted not telling her in advance.

It took him quite a while to explain the situation and convince Skadi.

Whether it was understanding or consideration, he wasn’t exactly sure…