Chapter 45

Wendigo ran through the forest with Skadi on his shoulder. Of course, Wendigo adjusted his speed considering Skadi, but…

‘Fast, it’s too fast!’

No matter how much he adjusted, since he had never experienced his speed from a human’s perspective, the speed was inevitably quite fast.

Skadi grabbed Wendigo’s antlers, afraid she might fall off. It was an action she would have considered rude and disapproved of under normal circumstances.

Wendigo also noticed Skadi’s condition from the strange sensation on his antlers.

‘I didn’t know my antlers had sensation… This is how I find out.’

Feeling her tension, Wendigo gradually reduced his speed. Only then could Skadi relax and take in the surrounding scenery.

The trees were draped in mist that sparkled in the moonlight like silk, and the leaves covered in dew glittered brilliantly as if stars from the sky had settled on them.

‘Beautiful…’

Skadi gazed at the dreamlike forest with astonished eyes. Those beautiful sights passed by like a beam of light.

Intoxicated by that beam of light, Skadi set aside the worries she had been experiencing and burst into a bright laugh.

Wendigo ran not on the optimal path to the mansion, but on the most scenic route to accommodate her.

Perhaps because of this?

“Wendigo-nim. Look at the moon reflected in that valley! Mother used to say that night valleys bewitch women, maybe it was true!”

“My goodness, white trees… Could they all be frozen?”

Skadi’s chatter, which hadn’t been heard recently, burst forth and drummed on Wendigo’s ears.

Wendigo silently nodded and guided her. While her reactions were certainly worth seeing…

“The white tree we just saw had quite strong mystery in it… Should we take it with us when we return?”

“No. Let’s leave it be unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“What a waste…”

Whether it should be called the nature of a born shaman or an occupational disease.

Skadi ruminated on the beauty they had passed and concluded by relating it to shamanism. Wendigo was honestly a bit disappointed.

‘Can’t she just look and enjoy…’

Even to Wendigo, who had no hobby of appreciating things, the sights were admirable, yet her conclusion was ‘That could probably be used in shamanism?’

Still, since he could tell that Skadi was thoroughly excited by what she was seeing, Wendigo shook off his disappointment.

After all, if she was happy, the purpose of this walk was being well fulfilled.

Around the time Skadi asked about building a hut in the valley with the moon they had seen at first, Wendigo decided it was time to head towards the mansion.

The mansion in the forest.

That place was a space filled with memories of just Wendigo and Skadi.

There hadn’t been any grand events or discoveries, but perhaps because of that, it was likely the most comfortable and happiest place for Skadi.

‘There, she should be able to relieve her mental fatigue. And if I can alleviate Skadi’s anxiety, she’ll find peace of mind…’

“Wendigo-nim…”

“Hm?”

Wendigo came to his senses when Skadi called him in a slightly trembling voice. She covered her mouth and pointed ahead with quivering fingers.

Wendigo looked ahead and… froze.

There was the mansion. However, it wasn’t the mansion Wendigo remembered…

A beautiful flower garden was brightly embracing the mansion.

---

The day Wendigo first discovered the mansion with Skadi.

Wendigo had thought the mansion built in the forest was beautiful enough.

The faintly blooming woodbine and the mansion with its shadows cast by sunlight had the power to make one’s heart feel cozy, as if drawn in a picture.

‘Back then, I thought there couldn’t be a more beautiful mansion than this… But I was wrong.’

Wendigo blankly stared at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

Flowers of various colors bloomed beautifully, sparkling in the moonlight like stars in the night sky, and fireflies flew around, swimming through the air like the Milky Way.

The mansion shone beautifully alone in the night full of darkness.

Wendigo entered with Skadi. Worried about damaging even a single petal, he walked into the front yard of the mansion where the cross he had erected stood.

As Wendigo slowly lowered Skadi, she carefully got down and approached the cross.

The cross was entwined with white roses. Skadi stroked the roses blooming on the cross with a wistful look.

“I wish Mother could have seen this sight…”

“It’s beautiful. I never thought flowers would bloom so brightly even though it’s still cold.”

Wendigo was honestly bewildered. While it was true that he wanted her to regain composure by seeing something nice, he hadn’t expected to see something this magnificent.

‘Should I be happy about this… or perplexed…’

Wendigo approached Skadi’s side. Skadi looked up at Wendigo and smiled.

“Maybe… Wendigo-nim’s mystery affected nature. The mystery you used when burying the unknown shaman might have seeped into the ground, creating this scene…”

“A pleasant coincidence.”

Wendigo and Skadi sat beside the grave and watched the flower garden. For this moment, Skadi shed her position, worries, and anxieties, fully focusing on the beauty before her eyes.

Wendigo inhaled her scent.

A clear and refreshing fragrance.

He recognized it as the scent of pure peace.

Perhaps now he could help her shake off her worries?

“… Skadi. You seem to have been troubled recently.”

Skadi was surprised, her eyes widening at Wendigo’s first words, but soon realizing she couldn’t hide anything from Wendigo, she smiled bitterly.

“You caught me. Of course, there’s no way I could hide anything from Wendigo-nim…”

“No. To be honest, I didn’t know either. If Isaac hadn’t told me, I might have continued not knowing.”

Perhaps because of the unexpected name that came up. Skadi’s eyes trembled.

She lowered her head in apology and fiddled with her wrist.

“I’m just sorry to him. To think I tried to fill my inadequacies by exploiting others. As a shaman serving Wendigo-nim, I shouldn’t have…”

“Skadi.”

Flinch.

At Wendigo’s call, Skadi turned her head towards him. As his hand slowly approached, Skadi tightly shut her eyes.

Was he going to scold her?

… Of course not.

Wendigo had no intention of making someone who was already struggling even more difficult.

Wendigo carefully stroked Skadi’s head.

He had stroked her head before, but this time Skadi felt it was somehow different.

‘It’s warm…’

She had thought it was cold due to the chill that usually emanated from Wendigo’s body… but today, Skadi felt his touch was warm.

As a warm breeze blew through Skadi’s heart, Wendigo spoke calmly.

“You always refer to yourself as the shaman serving Wendigo. What’s the reason for that?”

“That’s! Because I serve Wendigo-nim…”

“If that’s all, it’s fine, but if there’s another reason, I’d prefer you not to do so.”

Skadi closed her mouth as the fear hidden in her heart was exposed. As tears welled up in her eyes, Wendigo wiped them away with his claw.

“I’m sorry. But I had to because there’s something I want to tell you.”

“What… kind of words?”

Skadi looked at Wendigo with a worried face. However, the words that came out of Wendigo’s mouth were something Skadi had never expected.

“Skadi. If you’re worried that I might leave your side, I promise you this. If you wish, I will never accept another shaman.”

“… What?!”

Skadi’s eyes flashed with shock that far surpassed the worry and anxiety that had been weighing on her heart until just now.

But Wendigo just smiled, stroking her head. Skadi hastily shook her head.

“No! In the future, Wendigo-nim will continue to rule over vast lands, so such a thing…!”

“I don’t mind. After all, I’m not with you because you’re a shaman. Skadi, do you remember the day we first met?”

Skadi nodded. How could she not remember?

That moment which was her salvation and gave her a reason to live from then on.

“At first, I helped you thinking I was just saving a pitiful woman. As a bonus, I thought it would be fortunate if you could teach me anything, given how ignorant I was.”

“At, at that time, Wendigo-nim…”

“I was stupid. I didn’t know the world and didn’t know what kind of being I was. No, to be precise, even now I don’t know what kind of being I am.”

Skadi rambled on excuses saying that wasn’t the case, but Wendigo skillfully let it go in one ear and out the other.

That wasn’t what was important.

“At that time… if you wanted, you could have deceived me. If you did well, there would have been countless ways to use my power to reign over this land.”

“Such, such a blasphemous act is impossible. More than anything… I don’t want to do such things.”

Skadi answered firmly. Wendigo was very pleased with that answer.

“Yes. I chose to be with you because I liked that aspect of you.”

Wendigo’s choice to be with her was based on seeing her heart.

Her talent was certainly enough to take advantage of a stupid spirit she had met by chance.

Given how she had been bullied for years, it wouldn’t have been strange if she cursed the world and committed evil acts.

Yet Skadi didn’t do that.

“There will surely be shamans more capable than you, and shamans wiser than you. However, the shaman I want to be with is not them. The shaman I want by my side is you, Skadi.”

With those final words, Wendigo gently withdrew his hand. Skadi looked up at him blankly.

… A single tear silently flowed from her eyes.

Wendigo gathered mystery in his hand.

The moonlight in the sky, flower petals, and pure cold energy and the freshness of plants.

Wendigo molded all of these to create a single ring. He had thought about making a necklace, but…

‘The ice necklace is there, so a ring would be better.’

Wendigo held out the ring to Skadi. The ring sparkled with a brilliant light as if the beauty of the flowers had seeped into it.

“Consider this my vow and token. I swear to always keep you by my side as long as you don’t discard this ring, and as long as you maintain your upright heart.”

Skadi looked at the ring once, then at Wendigo. The anxiety that had been eating at her heart was gone, but receiving this ring seemed too generous…

Thud.

“Ah.”

Skadi lurched forward as if pushed and grabbed Wendigo’s hand. Skadi turned around with a surprised expression.

There was nothing behind her. Skadi looked at the white rose blooming on the cross.

Was it a coincidence? Or something else?

The leaves of the white rose swayed in the wind that had blown. Skadi looked at the rose for a moment before turning back.

She grasped the ring and blurted out the answer she had been holding back.

“I… I also swear to serve Wendigo-nim for life.”

In the end, she burst into tears.

---

“…and that’s what happened!!!”

“Skadi-nim. You’ve told this story more than 10 times now… No, nevermind. Anyway, I’m glad it turned out well.”

“This is all thanks to Isaac-ssi.”

A few days had passed since Wendigo and Skadi made their lifelong contract(?).

Today too, Isaac felt like his ears were bleeding from listening to Skadi’s story full of praise for Wendigo.

It wasn’t easy to listen to a fairly long story 10 times without missing a single detail.

‘… Still, I benefited from it too.’

Thanks to Skadi’s anxiety disappearing like it had been washed away, the overworking of Isaac naturally disappeared. Rather, she even provided him with nutritious food and rest, saying she was sorry.

Moreover, Skadi shared her knowledge and experience with Isaac in a comfortable atmosphere, respecting his years of experience.

Isaac couldn’t help but shudder every time he learned shamanism from Skadi, not just because of the changed treatment.

The level was so high that all the shamanism Isaac had learned superficially until now was no different from trash…

“Isaac-ssi. Are you listening?”

“Oh my, of course. It’s still a beautiful… ring.”

“Right! I smile every time I look at it. Hehe.”

Isaac, who had been reviewing the shamanism he had learned, came to his senses at Skadi’s call. Skadi was showing off her ring again today.

Skadi stroked the ring on the ring finger of her left hand. Isaac broke out in a cold sweat every time he saw that ring…

‘The ring finger, according to Imperial tradition, means marriage…’

Isaac quickly shook his head, shaking off the outrageous imagination. It was because Isaac himself was the one who had told her about the Imperial tradition.

After all, Wendigo was a spirit and Skadi was human.

To an ordinary shaman(?)’s ears, Wendigo’s words were definitely not something embarrassing like a love confession. It absolutely shouldn’t be.

Surely Skadi, being a northerner, had ignored Imperial tradition and put the ring on the finger she found comfortable!

“Hehehe…”

“……”

Isaac took out some berries good for mental stability from his pocket and swallowed three.

As his wildly shaking mind cleared, Isaac inwardly resolved.

‘Let’s absolutely not think about anything related to that ring.’

If one had looked into the abyss and suffered damage, it was their own fault. Why make a fuss looking at an abyss that was just minding its own business?

When faced with a problem one can’t handle like this, one should know how to appropriately avert their gaze…

“Oh right! Wendigo-nim decided to bestow a reward on Isaac-ssi to express his gratitude.”

When Skadi delivered the news in a clear voice, Isaac froze as if hit by a petrification spell.

He hurriedly checked how many berries were left in his pocket. There were about five…

“Skadi-nim. I’m sorry, but could I possibly get about 10 more of those berries good for the mind and body?”

“If Isaac-ssi wants, even 100 is possible!”

Isaac barely swallowed the words asking for 100 that were about to burst out.