Chapter 53

Wendigo ordered his doppelgangers to move the human-faced trees to the temple.

Though not as much as Wendigo himself, considering how ferocious the doppelgangers looked, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant sight.

The scene of large, monstrous beings wearing deer skulls moving trees with human faces would have been enough to make a weak-hearted person faint.

Wendigo looked at the human-faced trees moved to the temple entrance and felt a bit of regret.

‘I made them as a warning, but honestly, they’re a bit scary.’

Even the faces of those who died peacefully can be eerie to some people. Then how much more frightening would faces distorted by pain and despair be?

Wendigo looked at Skadi and the five shamans who had come to check the human-faced trees.

‘… I should have prevented the other shamans from seeing this, except for Skadi.’

Perhaps because they were acquainted, all the shamans were trembling with pale faces.

Wendigo pretended not to see them and asked Skadi for her opinion.

“Was it too extreme a measure, even if it was for a warning?”

“Even if you ask me, I think everything Wendigo-nim does has a reason…”

Skadi shrugged with a troubled expression. She knew well that she had become quite lenient when it came to matters related to Wendigo.

Knowing Skadi’s personality, Wendigo decided to change the subject of his question. His gaze naturally turned to the nearest shamans…

“If-If the spirit-nim desires it, isn’t that the right thing to do!”

“We always believe in and follow the spirit-nim!”

“… It would be foolish to ask you all as well.”

As flattery reflexively burst out as if his gaze were a blade, Wendigo shook his head.

Wendigo sent someone to call Geron. Geron was greatly surprised when he saw the human-faced trees decorated(?) at the temple entrance.

“Trees with human forms, how remarkable.”

“Is it too severe after all?”

“Pardon? If it’s for a warning, I think it’s a good method?”

“… What did you just say?”

Wendigo looked at Geron with bewildered eyes. He didn’t expect the most normal and rational Geron in the village to make such an eccentric statement.

Wondering if it might be a joke, but Geron answered with quite a serious expression.

“I think it’s quite a good method. Light warnings make people harbor bad intentions, but heavy warnings prevent people from acting recklessly, don’t they?”

“I forgot you were once a warrior too. I should have asked an ordinary person about this.”

“I consider myself to have quite a cool head among warriors… Above all, for forest people, this level is necessary to be called a warning.”

“What do you mean by that?”

As Wendigo expressed puzzlement, Geron was taken aback. He thought Wendigo would naturally know about the barbaric nature of the forest people.

Although they were now being integrated into one group centered around Wendigo, until recently, forest people had a strong tendency to not easily trust each other and were exclusive.

From the start, with food being scarce and the environment harsh, wouldn’t it be crazy to expect neighbors to be friendly?

Given this environment, forest people were basically wild and tough. Naturally, they were equally fearless, so their warnings were never light.

For forest people, cruel and impressive warnings that would make the other party not even think of approaching were natural.

“Honestly, this tree…”

“Call it a human-faced tree.”

“Yes. This human-faced tree can be seen as quite a clean warning. Although it uses a corpse, the limbs are intact and the face is recognizable, isn’t it?”

“Strange. If such warnings are common, why haven’t I seen them before?”

“Using corpses for warnings requires considering decay, and usually, there’s no need to do such things unless there’s a threat nearby. Moreover, unless someone wants to die, who would dare issue such a warning to you, spirit-nim?”

“That’s true.”

They wouldn’t use corpses of their own tribe members, and beasts might gather at the smell of blood.

Considering that, the human-faced tree was indeed a good warning. It didn’t emit the smell of blood and was impressive as well.

“Then at least the forest people won’t fear me because of the human-faced trees.”

“Uh…”

“Shh. Just let it go at times like this.”

As Geron was about to say something, Skadi quickly covered his mouth.

She thought that whether Wendigo made trees from corpses or tore people apart to kill them, it didn’t seem like it would change people’s attitudes towards Wendigo.

… From the beginning, the forest people feared Wendigo as much as they respected him.

“Geron. Tell the people to place these human-faced trees outside the forest… What are you two doing?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“I was just telling Geron-ssi that I had something to ask him.”

Geron and Skadi looked at him with pitying eyes, but Wendigo didn’t notice.

Sometimes, not knowing can be beneficial.

---

Separate from fearing Wendigo, Geron and the forest people diligently carried out his orders.

They cut off branches and leaves from the human-faced trees to make them more recognizable, and even painted them to make the expressions more vivid…

Perhaps because it had been a long time since they left a warning(?), people decorated the human-faced trees carefully.

“No. Shouldn’t we carve some wounds on the face to make it more frightening?”

“Would they be scared just by carving wounds on a distorted face? Rather, we should hollow out the heart area a bit…”

“Can’t we make the arms move a bit? If we bend them well, it might add more liveliness.”

… In a way, they might not be being careful, but rather enjoying it.

Still, the forest people’s craftsmanship was excellent. The human-faced trees, after being decorated, were certainly miserable-looking while still being easily recognizable as who they were in life.

The completed human-faced trees could be considered works of art…

“Aren’t these just statues?”

“Ahem. It seems everyone got excited since they’ve never handled such things before.”

Geron cleared his throat and made excuses.

If they had been real corpses, they might have made them more vicious and scary, but the human-faced trees were still trees after all.

Even for forest people skilled at leaving cruel warnings, leaving warnings with trees wasn’t easy, so they focused on bringing out the inherent atmosphere of the material.

As a result, the six human-faced trees became sculptures depicting a scene of tragedy.

Wendigo admired the forest people’s artistry, no, savagery, as he examined the human-faced tree sculptures.

“Still, they made them quite vivid. What material did they use for the tears of blood in the eyes? It looks so real…”

“They used real blood.”

“… No wonder I smelled blood.”

Wendigo grimaced and moved his face away from the sculpture. Surely this would be a pretty good warning.

‘Is this enough?’

It was then.

Skadi opened the door and entered, bowing to Wendigo. In her hand was a fairly large piece of leather.

“Wendigo-nim. To help with the sculpture, I mean the warning, I brought some writing engraved on leather. Would you like to take a look?”

“Writing, huh. Certainly, just looking at this might not be enough to understand the meaning.”

‘Unless they’re complete idiots, seeing a human become a tree should be warning enough.’

Geron sent a cold look at Wendigo’s reaction but didn’t voice his thoughts.

It was for Wendigo’s dignity, and above all, Skadi had worked hard to create these words. There was no reason to interfere.

Wendigo looked over the leather she handed over.

[ Those who habitually lie. Those who commit sins and do not know how to repent. Those who harm others through deception. These three shall incur the wrath of the forest. They shall atone for their sins in agony. ]

“How is it? I put a lot of thought into these words.”

“… The rest is fine, but isn’t atoning in agony a bit much? I don’t have the ability to turn souls or living beings into trees. Much less the ability to torment the dead.”

As Wendigo spoke with displeasure, Skadi shook her head.

A strong warning doesn’t always need to contain only the truth.

“Certainly, even if Wendigo-nim could, you wouldn’t turn living beings into trees.”

“No. I don’t have such abilities… probably.”

Wendigo, who was about to refute Skadi’s words, couldn’t easily give a definitive answer. He wasn’t sure if he really couldn’t do it since he had never tried.

Skadi smiled and nodded.

“I know you’re not the kind of person who would do such things even if you could. But isn’t it excellent as a warning?”

“Hmm. I can’t argue with that.”

Certainly, a warning that one wouldn’t find peace even after death was quite threatening. Everyone wanted to be at peace after death.

As Wendigo showed a positive reaction, Skadi draped the leather over the shoulder of Gunrod’s sculpture.

With a face fallen into despair, shedding tears of blood, and now with words implying eternal suffering, it was quite eerie.

Wendigo nodded at the satisfactory result.

‘This should be enough to keep trash-like fellows from even approaching the forest.’

---

The human-faced trees were erected at the forest’s borders as a warning.

The forest people felt proud of this proud(?) work. Not only was the material special, but it was sufficiently threatening even to their eyes.

“This should be enough warning for those guys, right?”

“Of course. Who would ignore such a brutal warning? Unless they want to become trees and suffer eternally…”

“We should add this to the patrol route just in case. What if outsiders damage it out of mischief?”

The warriors patrolling the forest added the path where the warning was left to their patrol route to prevent any damage to this warning.

For the forest people, this warning was also a source of pride that they were under the protection of the spirit. They couldn’t let such a thing be damaged.

A day passed, two days passed, and over a week went by.

There were no incidents of the human-faced trees being damaged. That was certainly the case, but…

“Huh? The sculptures. Where did the sculptures go!?”

“Hey. Isn’t something shining on the ground there?”

A week and a few days later, the human-faced tree sculptures disappeared as if by magic. The warriors were furious and tried to find the culprit, but to no avail.

Instead, they found silver coins and some treasures on the ground where the human-faced trees had been, and this news was delivered to Wendigo, who was enjoying his culinary pursuits at the temple.

Wendigo called those most suitable for this kind of situation.

“I’m sorry for calling you all when you must be busy.”

“Not at all. How could we not respond to your call when the grace bestowed by the spirit-nim is as vast as the sky?”

The shamans, led by Skadi, bowed and answered. Only a week had passed, but the shamans were completely enchanted by this forest.

Although gathering materials was a bit difficult, they could freely discuss shamanism among themselves, and the forest people showed respect without suspicion or wariness towards them.

Moreover, there was no need to cause trouble to obtain mystery. If they visited Wendigo and explained their reasons, they could receive sufficient mystery.

Isn’t this what paradise would be like for a shaman?

“Why have you called us? Is there perhaps an item you need or a ritual you desire?”

“No, that’s not the reason… The human-faced trees have disappeared, and we can’t understand why, so I called you.”

“?”

The shamans were puzzled by the news that the human-faced trees had disappeared.

Who would take those hideous things, let alone break or damage them?

“Was there anything unusual?”

“Apparently, treasures were buried in the ground.”

“……”

The shamans looked at each other in silence as if by agreement. Even Skadi sighed, holding her head.

Seeing their strange reactions, Wendigo felt that they had realized something.

“Do you understand what happened?”

“Yes… well, you see…”

The shamans lowered their heads, their ears turning red. Wendigo’s curiosity grew at their strange reactions.

What on earth could be the reason?

As Wendigo stared intently, the shamans whispered among themselves and then pushed Osa forward.

She was chosen as the representative because she was the only woman among the shamans who had come from outside and had become the closest to Skadi.

She revealed their speculation quietly, her face red as if she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.

“It seems that shamans took them…”

“……”

Wendigo stared blankly at Osa, dumbfounded. She lowered her head deeply in embarrassment.