Indeed, I Understand What You Mean.
Geron, who had been glancing back and forth between the arrow and Wendigo's face, nodded with a hardened expression.
Meeting Geron's eyes full of conviction, Wendigo nodded back. He had anticipated that Geron, who handled the forest's major and minor affairs, would grasp it immediately.
"You're planning to infuse the arrow with your spirit power and sweep away the enemies in one shot."
"Yeah. Infuse the arrow with power... Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Pardon? Weren't you planning to rain down severe punishment on the enemies with that arrow? Then the allied chieftains would start blaming each other, leading to internal strife..."
"......"
Wendigo wondered if Geron was joking, but sensing the man's emotions were utterly sincere, he felt a fresh wave of regret. How barbaric and brutish must he have seemed for Geron to see him as a bloodthirsty maniac!
"Do I really come off that thuggish? Even so, that's a bit much..."
"Thuggish? If you possess power like yours, anyone would do the same."
Geron refuted Wendigo's grumbling with a resolute expression. Honestly, if Wendigo wanted to crush the enemies with overwhelming force, it wouldn't be strange at all. Sometimes, stern punishment drove out savage hearts better than gentle benevolence. With Wendigo's power, even the allied warriors would bow their heads in submission without issue...
"Well, I already said I wasn't planning to fight that way."
"I just thought perhaps you were truly furious with the outsiders."
"Even if I was angry, that method would harm the forest too, wouldn't it? I'd prefer not to use it if possible."
At Wendigo's response, Geron barely held back the words, 'Haven't you already wrecked the forest plenty while fighting in the past?' Sometimes, one had to turn a blind eye to a lord's peculiarities.
It was then that Skadi arrived with OneTon to meet Wendigo. She greeted Geron and Wendigo with a bright smile.
"Wendigo-nim. Mr. Geron. You said you had a request for me, so I came."
"Perfect timing."
Wendigo welcomed Skadi warmly. He figured she would catch on to his plan right away.
And sure enough, Skadi was a clever shaman. Taking in the spread-out map, the atmosphere, and the mystical ice arrow in Wendigo's hand, she instantly inferred his intentions.
"Wendigo-nim, wiping out the enemies with this arrow is a decent method, but it might give people a reason to fear you."
"......"
Even the trusted Skadi viewed him as a warmonger, and Wendigo slumped his head in dejection.
'Have I... have I really fought like a madman?'
He felt wronged. He had always tried to live peacefully—why this misunderstanding? He'd only beheaded a few spirits, torn apart some beasts, shrouded everything in mist, and massacred a village...
'...Come to think of it, I really have fought like a madman.'
Realizing he'd indeed lived like a warmonger, Wendigo let out a deep sigh. How had he, a pacifist at heart, ended up so bloodstained... Today, the world felt especially hateful to him.
Fortunately, Skadi's misunderstanding(?) cleared up quickly. She'd assumed Wendigo was preparing something extreme because of the arrow. Though it looked like an arrow, what it contained was mysticism of cold that went beyond mere hardness and form retention.
Skadi had suspected mass slaughter preparations due to that mysticism. Learning the truth, Wendigo asked Skadi with a sullen expression.
"Does it really contain that much mysticism?"
"Yes. Honestly... if this arrow is shot, a blizzard could rage like a storm, and people turning into ice shards wouldn't be surprising."
"Was it that terrifying an arrow???"
Geron stared at Wendigo with a baffled look. He'd said it wasn't violent, but wasn't this arrow beyond violence—practically a calamity?
Wendigo felt Geron's gaze but quietly ignored it. It was a shamelessness born from enduring Geron's scoldings for days on end.
Wendigo extracted a lump of the mysticism from the arrow and held it out to Skadi again.
"Is this enough now?"
"It's still plenty dangerous. Not enough for disaster like before, but any shaman would instantly notice something off about the arrow."
"Just for this much?"
"If you offer it instead of shooting, maybe four or five out of ten would try for it?"
Wendigo was quite tempted by Skadi's example. If played right, the allied shamans might volunteer themselves...
"No. Killing just the shamans would spread rumors of a mad spirit who shoots shamans dead."
"Considering your authority as a spirit, it doesn't seem like a bad thing."
"I don't want authority built on infamy. Anyway... like with the ice crystal for Isaac, this isn't easy."
Wendigo grumbled as he drew out the mysticism from the arrow. His usual mysticism was so vast that delicate work like this was bound to be clumsy.
Watching him, Skadi noticed something odd.
"Wendigo-nim, do you really need to use an arrow you made yourself?"
"Hm? Well, since I'm the one shooting it, I naturally have to make my own weapon... Ah."
Wendigo answered reflexively to Skadi's question, then paused. Now that he thought about it, any arrow would do—he didn't need an ice one. If they spotted it was made of ice, they'd suspect Wendigo anyway.
Wendigo stared hollowly at the now-empty ice arrow. He'd succeeded in extracting the mysticism while keeping its hardness intact, just as desired...
Overcome with inexplicable frustration, he snapped the arrow. Tossing it to the ground, he vowed.
'Making me go through all this hassle. I'll leave them a proper warning.'
He wouldn't have agonized like this if the alliance hadn't invaded the forest. Wendigo resolved to utterly annihilate them.
"Just prepare a few arrows for me. Skadi, get something ready to amplify the arrow's sound."
"Yes."
"Don't worry."
And that resolve reached Geron and Skadi too. They sensed faint anger in Wendigo's voice but didn't dwell on it. Though Wendigo denied it, to them, he was a spirit who turned endlessly cruel toward enemies.
For such a Wendigo, wanting severe punishment on the alliance that sowed chaos in the forest was only natural.
...If he'd known their thoughts, Wendigo would have felt quite wronged.
Lately, Todell hardly had a day without a smile on his face. Ever since striking a secret deal with Wendigo, everything had gone smoothly.
He'd picked fights with alliance members he disliked, sown discord among the greedy ones, and savored long-lost pleasures.
Of course, pulling such stunts without preparation would have cornered him instantly, costing his head. But there was a reason Todell could rampage and escape punishment...
"My divination reads the path ahead—it's riddled with their traps. Turn that way."
"Yes, shaman-nim!"
After the first failure, Todell always scouted every path ahead, preempting obstacles and ambushes.
As he issued commands with the face of a sage, the vanguard rider replied with reverence and turned his mount.
'Of course... we get hit by ambushes sometimes, but that's unavoidable to perfectly deceive the alliance.'
Such losses didn't faze Todell a bit. Warriors weren't his assets anyway.
As Todell smirked and advanced, the traitors gathered around him. They asked with worried faces.
"Todell, no word from the spirit this time?"
"The alliance is starting to suspect us... Got any plan?"
"Hah. No need to worry. Who am I? The loyal one who advised the spirit to recruit you all. Of course he'd inform me if there was a plan."
The traitors were uneasy about suddenly leading the alliance vanguard—a role they'd begged for before but been denied. It felt suspicious.
Seeing their pathetic state, Todell suppressed bursting laughter and reassured them. It thrilled him that these once-scorned weaklings now bowed and watched his mood.
Who could've guessed the lowest in rank would rise above them all?
'That's why scams are all about momentum.'
On the day he first spoke with another traitor, Todell instinctively saw the group as an opportunity. They'd all been asked the same: did they crave power?
The issue was why the spirit chose them among many. While others sought reasons, Todell thought differently.
What did reasons matter? What mattered was they had no solution to their dilemma—and he could exploit it!
Todell boasted that he'd told the spirit whom to recruit. That alone implied he influenced the spirit.
He could do this because Wendigo contacted only him. Those who control access to superiors always gain power.
"No special word today. Just guide the army along the path given."
"Really? That's all?"
"I said so. You're acting awfully suspicious. Not betraying us again, are you?"
"N-No! Of course not. Just worried, that's all."
As the questioning chieftain backed off, the others eyed Todell warily. Their gazes burned with jealousy and humiliation, but Todell relished even that. Wasn't it the winner's burden?
'Come to think of it, the spirit contacting only me might be a hint. Promising high status if I control the traitors well.'
Why else stage a situation concentrating power on him? Lost in fantasies of purges and puppets, a messenger rushed up with urgent news.
"Shaman-nim! Thick fog rolling in ahead. If we advance, it'll be..."
"Tell them not to worry. I checked—looks like the enemies retreated, unable to fight in the fog."
Todell, initially intrigued by "urgent," lost interest at "fog." No word from the spirit meant it was natural, not planned.
The messenger hesitated—marching into fog blindly was hard to accept. Todell whipped the meddlesome fool, ignorant of the truth.
The messenger screamed and prostrated.
"Go! Tell them to advance quickly!"
"Ugh... Y-Yes, sir."
Biting his lip as his back tore open, the messenger barely replied. As he left, the army pressed into the fog.
As surroundings darkened to where only nearby faces were visible, worried voices rose among the traitors again.
"This is really okay? The fog's too thick..."
"What did I say? It's fine..!?"
Even sweet sights grate if endless. As Todell raised his voice in irritation—
Five or six arrows whistled from the rear, raining on the traitors. The worrier took one to the throat and died instantly.
"Wh-What!?"
Caught off-guard with no spirit warning, Todell panicked, hastily pulling out a talisman for defense. Battle-hardened chieftains raised shields to calm the soldiers, but...
"The rear chieftains betrayed us!!! They're killing us all to beg the spirit's forgiveness!!!"
"Enemies from behind!!!"
Someone shouted first, voice booming. Even blind in fog, warriors sensed something happened.
Chieftains and shamans intuited trouble but had no time to calm them.
"Arrows!!!"
"From behind—from behind!!!"
Another volley fell over the warriors' heads. They halted, screaming, and turned rearward reflexively.
Todell stared blankly at the unforeseen chaos, intuiting: something had gone terribly wrong with the plan.