I Became a Wendigo in a Fantasy World

56 – Episode 56

The warriors of the Lair tribe paid a heavy price for looking down on the forest.

The unfamiliar forest environment and the warriors who were not inferior in quality were problematic, but the appearance of bone-helmeted warriors and wolf riders was an unexpected variable.

“What kind of wolf is that big?”

“Think of it as a monster and deal with it. Aim for its eyes or feet and block its movements… Wow!?”

“Damn it. It’s an arrow again!”

“You despicable bastards. Show yourself like warriors!”

In front, forest warriors were pushing forward with a monster wearing a deer skull, and on the left and right, wolf riders were digging out wounds, and arrows were raining down from all directions.

The warriors of the Lair tribe were brave enough to match their natural temperament, but they could not win a fight just because they were brave.

Todel looked at the dead warrior covered in arrows and made a quick decision.

‘This is no win!’

The strength of a shaman is that he can cause strong variables in battle, but to be useful, he must have a chance of winning.

Half of the warriors have already died, so what chance of victory will there be if the shaman fights alone?

Todel tapped the amulet made of falcon bone that hung around his neck. Then, the magic contained in the amulet made my body feel lighter.

Todel encouraged the warriors with a sad expression.

“Descendants of great warriors. Proud warriors and marauders of Leir! Even if we die by their dastardly tricks, we will die with honor!”

“Todel!!!”

“Fight! Even if we die, we will never turn our backs. We would rather die standing with our swords driven into the heart of our enemies. I will confidently say by the side of our ancestors that we fought honorably!”

The ancestors of the Northerners were marauders who came from across the sea. They were believers who worshiped the warrior god.

They forgot the names of their gods, but they did not lose their faith. They still believed that an honorable death would merit them passage to the halls of the gods.

Todel’s encouragement was a powerful catalyst for them. Their reason was swept away by the rampage of killing, and their survival instincts were weakened by the deadly poison.

The warriors screamed and ran towards the enemy in front of them. The forest warriors stuck out their tongues at the severity of not caring about one or two arrows or light wounds.

“You crazy people. You can’t even remember the names of the gods and are determined to hand over their lives for a low price!”

“Stop it! There is no death as meaningless as losing your life to those guys!”

However, being prepared to die did not turn the tide.

For forest people who lived in terrible hunger and bitter cold, and for nomads whose lives were war, the readiness to die was not uncommon.

Todel also expected this situation to some extent. In the first place, they never thought that the warriors would defeat their enemies.

As all of his warriors threw themselves into the limbs, Todel turned his back without even the slightest regret.

‘This is not running away. I’m just retreating because I can’t let their might and the final days of their warriors go to waste!’

Thinking like that in the first place was tantamount to confessing that something was wrong, but Todel actually added.

If the deaths of the warriors are not revealed, who will swear revenge and reduce the danger to the Union?

Todel swallowed his humiliation and quickly retreated like a hawk…

“That’s a shaman? Comparing it to shamans who follow spirits… It’s so ugly.”

The forest warriors were amazed by the ugly and agile retreat. It was so shocking that even the wolf riders didn’t think of chasing Todel.

Of course, it wasn’t just the forest warriors who witnessed it. Some of the warriors who still had their senses became angry when they saw Todel’s antics.

“Todel. Todeel!!! You coward. Can’t you come back and fight honorably!!!”

However, despite the warriors’ screams, Todel did not look back even once. Todel disappeared in an instant, as if blown away by the wind.

Leir’s warriors cried out in resentment for Todel, who disappeared in the blink of an eye and died.

* · * *

“This is a big deal!”

“… Yes. It would be a big problem if he came to me while I was eating.”

While the Wendigo was enjoying her meal, Geron came to her with an urgent look on her face, and she gloomily put down the warm whole chicken.

Geron hurriedly called someone and put away the food. The Wendigo looked with longing eyes at the food being carried away by people.

“Spirit. I’m sorry for interrupting your meal, but it was such a big deal that I couldn’t help it.”

“I know. If it wasn’t something really big, there’s no way you would do something like this.”

The Wendigo sighed and tapped the armrests of her throne with her fingernails. Her mind understood it, but her heart was pounding with hot anger.

What kind of people would cause an accident and ruin what little fun we had!

“Tell me. What kind of damned bastards are eating my food, or are they messing with in the forest?”

“There has been a report that strangers have set up a military camp on the outskirts of the forest. The military camp, which is believed to be the main camp, is moving slowly and multiple detachments have entered the forest.”

“What about the damage?”

“That…”

As Geron blurted out her words with a troubled expression, the Wendigo brushed off her lingering feelings about food and she took the situation more seriously.

How great was the damage that Geron was so embarrassed that she hid her words?

“Is the damage greater than expected? If you were definitely attacked, it wouldn’t be surprising if the damage was greater.”

“Well, they say there wasn’t much damage. The separate units did not cooperate with each other and were destroyed individually…”

“……”

Wendigo was confident that she had seen quite a few greedy and foolish people in this world, but she was dumbfounded every time a new idiot like this appeared.

It’s normal to be happy when the enemy is incompetent… But isn’t this a bit too extreme?

“If there are not one detachment but several, doesn’t that mean there are quite a lot of warriors?”

“It seems so. According to the report, quite a lot of smoke was coming out of the military camp.”

“No, wouldn’t it take commanders to lead that many warriors? What on earth did they do to fight like this?”

“Hmm… This is my personal opinion. They may not be one force.”

Wendigo thought Geron’s guess was quite plausible. Wouldn’t she have at least pretended to join forces, even if they were incompetent, when ordered from above to join forces?

However, if they were a ragged army with multiple forces united, it was not strange for them not to cooperate.

Because the commanders the warriors follow as well as their goals may be different.

“Then it means that shamans and tribes have united… I think I know the reason.”

“After all, it must have been a trick by the exiled shamans, right?”

“It seems like that. Since they couldn’t do anything on their own, they probably promised loot and joined forces.”

In that case, there was a high possibility that the detachment was not an order given by the commander of the alliance, but was a group of people who received orders from a shaman or chieftain.

It’s not that they didn’t cooperate because they didn’t trust each other, but it was more likely that they couldn’t cooperate because they didn’t know each other’s existence.

‘If I go out and kill them like usual… It won’t solve the fundamental problem.’

The person who could move the tribe was the chief, and the person who could move the chief was the shaman.

At least we have to deal with the chieftain and the shaman to prevent this from happening.

“Tell the warriors not to attack the enemies, but to drive them deep into the forest.”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Is it okay? When we went to war with the Blue Mane Tribe, we were dealing with one tribe, but this time, it is a union of several tribes.”

“Don’t worry. I came up with an idea of separation that seems to work quite well for them.”

“What if it’s epilepsy?”

In response to Geron’s question, the Wendigo spoke while creating an ice crystal and placing it on her palm.

“I have what they want. I plan to use this to make them fight among themselves.”

* · * *

Todel went out with a detachment and came back with only his life saved.

However, the tragedy that Todel experienced was not his alone.

People tend to gather together with similar people, so there were at least five people, excluding Todel, who secretly took action to gain even a little bit of credit.

Gelmir did not miss this opportunity and criticized the tribes for acting alone.

“I didn’t know there were so many people who didn’t follow my command from the beginning. Surely you didn’t choose to follow my command either!”

“Hmm. It’s just a scouting party formed to scout the surrounding area. Gelmir, even if you were in total command of the alliance, you wouldn’t have the authority to even question things like this.”

“Huh, a scouting party? Is there anyone in the world who moves a third of the warriors he leads for scouting?”

Gelmir mocked him with a pitiful expression, but those who secretly moved the detachment only suppressed their anger and failed to refute it.

It may be that the special unit made some contribution, but most of the special unit suffered a blow that was close to annihilation.

Gelmir glared at the chieftains and punished them.

“There is nothing we can do. Everyone, move the military camp to the rear.”

“Gelmir!”

“Please be quiet. I’m punishing you lightly out of respect for my chieftain and shaman, otherwise it wouldn’t have gotten to this point.”

As Gelmir’s cold gaze passed over the chieftains, they chewed their lips and lowered their heads.

Watching that scene, Todel organized his thoughts. No matter how much I thought about it, it was strange.

Couldn’t a shaman of Gelmir’s level have anticipated that other tribes would act arbitrarily?

‘… That can’t be possible. It was clear that he knew all of this and ignored it.’

Just looking at the immediate results, it was Gelmir who benefited the most.

There was a justification for controlling the uncontrollable alliance, and I weakened other forces and dealt a blow to my enemies without any damage.

If Gelmir had a good reputation, one would have thought all of this was unfounded, but Gelmir’s notoriety was so sad that it was second only to being famous in the North.

“This is the end of today’s meeting. I hope we can get through tomorrow morning without this unpleasant incident.”

“Don’t worry. Unless those idiots cause an accident, what’s the point of something unpleasant happening?”

“Tsk, tsk, if you’re not capable, you should at least know how to act humbly.”

It seems that some tribes have joined hands with Gelmir before they know it, and they left the tent in droves with Gelmir at the center.

When Todel realized that he had been fooled by Gelmir’s trick, he trembled in anger and shame. He wanted to vent his anger at Gel Mir right away, but…

“Whew…Don’t act rashly for a while.”

“Chief. But in this situation, there is no way to make a contribution!”

“Stop and rest. I’m tired too, so I’ll rest today.”

Even the chief who looked up to him like a sage looked at him with suspicion and ordered him to step down. Todel trembled with a sense of humiliation he had never felt before.

Is that the fault?

Todel couldn’t sleep even at night. He walked around the military camp with the moon in the night sky as his friend.

He left the military camp and walked through the forest, venting his anger.

“If only I had power like Gelmir… If only I had the power of a chieftain!”

In the forest where no one was watching, Todel gritted his teeth and revealed his true feelings…

[ Do you want power? ]

“!”

From beyond the thick darkness of the forest… Someone spoke to him.