Chapter 59

“I see, I understand what you mean.”

Geron, who had been looking back and forth between the arrows and Wendigo’s face, nodded with a stern expression.

Meeting Geron’s eyes full of certainty, Wendigo nodded back. He had predicted that Geron, who handled the affairs of the forest, would understand immediately.

“You plan to sweep away the enemies in one go by imbuing your power into those arrows.”

“Yes. Imbue power into the arrows… huh? What do you mean?”

“What? Weren’t you planning to use those arrows to severely punish the enemies? Then the chieftains of the alliance would blame each other and cause internal strife…”

“……”

Wendigo wondered if Geron was joking, but realizing that the emotion he felt from him was sincere, he regretted anew.

How violent and ignorant must he have appeared for Geron to think of him as a murderous maniac!

“Did I seem that ignorant? Even so…”

“Ignorant? Anyone with power like yours would have done the same.”

Geron firmly rebutted Wendigo’s complaint. Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange for Wendigo to subjugate the enemies with overwhelming power if he wanted to.

Sometimes, harsh punishment drives out wicked hearts more effectively than gentle rule.

If Wendigo used his power, even the warriors of the alliance would bow their heads and submit…

“I told you I have no intention of fighting that way.”

“I thought perhaps you were very angry at the outsiders.”

“No matter how angry I get, wouldn’t that method harm the forest too? I’d prefer not to use such methods if possible.”

At Wendigo’s answer, Geron barely held back from saying, “Don’t you fight while making a mess of the forest plenty of times normally?”

Sometimes, one must know to turn a blind eye to their lord’s peculiarities.

It was then that Skadi came with Oneton to meet Wendigo.

She greeted Geron and Wendigo with a bright smile.

“Wendigo-nim. Geron-ssi. I heard you had something to ask of me, so I came.”

“You’ve come at just the right time.”

Wendigo welcomed Skadi warmly. He thought she would immediately understand his plan.

Indeed, Skadi was an astute shaman. She immediately deduced Wendigo’s plan by looking at the unfolded map, the atmosphere, and the ice arrows made of mystery in Wendigo’s hand.

“Wendigo-nim. While annihilating the enemies with these arrows is quite a good method, it might give people reason to fear you.”

“……”

Even Skadi, whom he had trusted, evaluated him as a warmonger, causing Wendigo to hang his head in disappointment.

‘Did I, did I fight like such a madman?’

He felt wronged. He had always tried to live peacefully, so why was he being misunderstood like this?

He had merely killed some spirits, torn apart some monsters, surrounded things with fog, and…

‘… Come to think of it, I really did fight like a madman.’

Realizing that he had truly lived like a warmonger, Wendigo heaved a deep sigh.

How had he, a pacifist, become so stained with blood…

Wendigo felt especially bitter about the world today.

---

Fortunately, Skadi’s misunderstanding(?) was quickly resolved. From the beginning, she had thought Wendigo was preparing a violent method because of the arrows.

Although they took the form of arrows, what was contained within them was the mystery of cold that went beyond maintaining hardness and shape.

Skadi had suspected that Wendigo was preparing for mass slaughter because of that mystery.

Learning the truth, Wendigo asked Skadi with a sour expression:

“Is there that much mystery in them?”

“Yes. Honestly… if such arrows were shot, it wouldn’t be strange if a severe cold swept through like a storm and people turned into ice fragments.”

“Were they such terrifying arrows???”

Geron looked at Wendigo with an astonished expression. He had said it wasn’t a violent method, but weren’t the arrows closer to a disaster than mere violence?

Wendigo felt Geron’s gaze but quietly ignored it. It was possible to be so brazen because he had been scolded by Geron countless times before.

Wendigo extracted chunks of mystery from the arrows and handed them back to Skadi.

“Is this enough?”

“It’s still quite dangerous. Not enough to cause a disaster like the previous arrows, but any shaman would immediately notice something strange about the arrows.”

“Even with just this much?”

“If you offered to let them take the arrows instead of being hit by them, probably five out of ten would try.”

Wendigo was quite intrigued by Skadi’s example. If done well, he might be able to make the alliance’s shamans volunteer…

“No, that won’t do. Killing only shamans would just spread rumors of a mad spirit who shoots shamans dead.”

“Considering your authority as a spirit, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.”

“I don’t want to gain authority through infamy. By the way… it’s not easy to make these, just like when I made the ice crystal for Isaac.”

Wendigo grumbled as he extracted mystery from the arrows. Because the mystery he usually used was so immense, he was inevitably clumsy at such delicate work.

Watching this, Skadi realized something strange.

“Wendigo-nim. Do we necessarily have to use arrows made by you?”

“Hm? Of course, since I plan to shoot the arrows, I should make the weapons… oh.”

Wendigo paused after reflexively answering Skadi’s question. Come to think of it, any arrows would do, not just ice arrows.

From the beginning, if they noticed they were ice arrows, they would naturally suspect Wendigo as the owner.

Wendigo stared blankly at the now hollow ice arrows, feeling deflated.

He had succeeded in extracting the mystery while maintaining hardness as he wanted, but…

Unknowingly upset, Wendigo broke the arrows. He threw them to the ground and vowed:

‘To think they’d make me go through so much trouble. I should leave them with a proper warning.’

If the alliance hadn’t attempted to invade the forest from the beginning, he wouldn’t have had to worry about this.

Wendigo resolved to completely annihilate the alliance.

“Just prepare a few arrows. Skadi, prepare a means to amplify the sound of the arrows.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry.”

And that sentiment was conveyed to Geron and Skadi as well. They sensed a faint anger in Wendigo’s voice but didn’t pay it much mind.

Although Wendigo himself denied it, in their opinion, Wendigo was a spirit who could become infinitely cruel to enemies.

For such a Wendigo, it wouldn’t be strange to want to severely punish those alliance bastards who had caused chaos in the forest.

… If Wendigo had known their thoughts, he would have felt quite wronged.

---

Recently, there were hardly any days when a smile left Todel’s face. Ever since making a secret agreement with Wendigo, everything had been going smoothly.

He picked fights with those he disliked within the alliance, sowed discord among the greedy ones, and enjoyed himself for the first time in a long while.

Of course, if he had done such things without any preparation, Todel would have immediately found himself in a precarious situation and lost his head.

Naturally, there was a reason Todel could cause trouble and avoid punishment…

“Reading the path with my shamanism, I see that traps made by them are abundant ahead. Let’s change direction over there.”

“Yes, Shaman-nim!”

After the first failure, Todel always seemed to predict obstacles and enemy ambushes in advance, as if he was reading all paths.

When he ordered the standard-bearer of the vanguard with the face of a wise sage, the standard-bearer answered with full respect and turned the horse’s head.

‘Of course… we were sometimes ambushed, but that much damage is unavoidable to completely deceive the alliance bastards.’

Todel didn’t even blink at that level of loss. After all, the warriors weren’t his assets to begin with.

As Todel moved with a smirk, the traitors gathered around him. They asked Todel with worried expressions:

“Todel. Is there no message from the spirit this time?”

“The alliance bastards are starting to suspect us… isn’t there anything we can do?”

“Haha. Don’t worry. Who am I? I’m the loyal subject who suggested to the spirit to recruit you all. Of course, if there was any plan, he would have told me.”

The traitors were anxious about suddenly being put in charge of the alliance’s vanguard. It was strange that they were suddenly given what they had been clamoring for before, even when they weren’t given it no matter how much they caused a fuss.

Seeing their weak appearance, Todel barely held back his laughter as he placated the traitors.

He was pleased to see those who had looked down on him for his poor skills now bowing their heads and watching his reactions.

Who would have known that he, who had been the lowest in rank, would rise above others like this?

‘This is why deception is a battle of momentum.’

On the day he first spoke with another traitor, Todel instinctively realized that this group of traitors was also an opportunity.

They had all received the same question about desiring power. The problem was that they couldn’t understand why the spirit had chosen them among so many others.

While others were looking for reasons, Todel thought differently.

What did the reason matter? What’s important is that they have no way to resolve that concern, and he can use that!

Todel went around boasting that he was the one who had informed the spirit about potential recruits.

That alone was tantamount to implying that he could exert influence on the spirit.

The reason he could do this was because Todel was the only shaman Wendigo contacted.

Naturally, the one who manages the channel of communication with superiors holds power.

“There wasn’t much to say today. He just said to guide the army along the path he told us about.”

“Really? Is that all?”

“I told you so. Your behavior is very suspicious. You haven’t betrayed us again, have you?”

“Oh, oh no! Of course not. I was just worried, that’s all. Just worried.”

As one chieftain who had been pressing him backed down with his tail between his legs, the others also watched Todel’s reactions. Their eyes glittered with jealousy and humiliation, but Todel liked even that sight.

Wasn’t all of this the weight a victor had to bear?

‘Come to think of it, the spirit contacting only me might be a kind of hint. A hint that he’ll promise me a high position if I control the traitors well.’

Otherwise, what reason would there be for creating such a situation where power is concentrated on him?

Just as Todel was lost in imagining who to cut off and who to make his subordinates, a messenger rushed to him with urgent news.

“Shaman-nim! A thick fog is rolling in from the front. If we continue marching like this, visibility…”

“Tell them not to worry. I checked, and it seems the enemies have withdrawn, probably finding it difficult to fight in the fog as well.”

Todel, who had initially been interested at the mention of urgent news, quickly lost interest at the mention of fog.

Since the spirit hadn’t specifically mentioned anything, he assumed the fog was naturally occurring, not intended by the spirit.

Even so, the messenger hesitated, seemingly unable to easily accept the order to march into the fog.

Todel swung his whip at the messenger who was being annoying without knowing the truth. The messenger screamed and fell to the ground.

“Go! Go and tell them to march quickly!”

“Ugh… Y-Yes, I understand.”

The messenger, with his back skin torn, barely managed to answer while biting his lips. As the messenger left, the army advanced towards the fog.

As the surroundings gradually darkened to the point where one could barely see the face of the person next to them, voices of concern rose again among the traitors.

“Are you sure this is alright? The fog is too thick…”

“Didn’t I tell you? I said it’s fine..!?”

Even the most pleasing sight can become irritating if it continues.

Just as Todel, unable to stand it anymore, was about to raise his voice.

Five or six arrows flew from the rear of the army and rained down on the traitors. The one who had voiced concern died with an arrow piercing his neck.

“Wh-What is this!?”

Caught off guard by a situation he had received no warning about from the spirit, Todel panicked and hurriedly took out a talisman to prepare a defense.

Even so, the chieftains who were used to war tried to calm the soldiers while raising their shields, but…

“The chieftains in the rear have betrayed us!!! They’re trying to kill us all to seek forgiveness from the spirit!!!”

“Behind us! Enemies have appeared behind us!!!”

Someone shouted before they could. Their voice was so loud that even in a situation where they couldn’t see what was in front of them, the warriors sensed that something had happened.

The chieftains and shamans sensed that something had gone wrong, but there was no time to calm the warriors.

“Arrows!!!”

“From behind, arrows are coming from behind!!!”

Another rain of arrows fell on the warriors’ heads. The warriors reflexively stopped their advance and turned around, screaming.

Todel, witnessing a scene he had never expected, blankly watched and sensed:

Something, something in the plan had started to go awry.