I Became a Wendigo in a Fantasy World

8 – Episode 8

The owner of the voice was a man. A man, incredibly thin and trembling on the ground, looking like he could collapse at any moment.

He didn’t seem like he was from the village Skadi used to live in. In just a few days, there was no way anyone would starve unless all the food went bad.

Then this was a complete stranger. Wendigo revealed himself slowly so as not to startle the other man.

“Eh, ehh?”

The man stared at Wendigo with trembling eyes. He was at a loss to grasp the situation.

Could he believe the sight of the huge spear piercing the deer, and the giant creature, at least twice his size, slowly walking towards him?

The chilling air surrounding them caused the man to shiver, his teeth chattered as he looked up at Wendigo.

‘Am I, going to die?’

The man stared blankly at the Wendigo, having lost all sense of reality. The Wendigo was flustered at his dumbfounded state. It had thought the man would scream or make a move against it, but it hadn’t expected him to just stand there, vacant as if his mind was not functioning correctly.

After watching the man for a moment, the Wendigo decided to make the first move.

“Who are y…”

“aaahhh!!!”

As soon as it opened its mouth, the man’s face turned pale and he passed out. He had thought the Wendigo was attempting to engage in conversation with him not for the conversation itself but to eat him. The Wendigo, somewhat astonished, looked at the man.

‘Does this one have something wrong with his head?’

The Wendigo sighed, taking care of the man along with the window and the deer. The man seemed benign at least by the smell, so it thought of hearing him out.

“Ugh… I’m going to be eaten…”

‘I want to just leave him behind.’

The Wendigo seriously contemplated leaving the man, who was mumbling nonsense and straining, but managed to maintain its sanity. If left in the woods, the man would definitely be eaten by a wild animal.

When it returned to the manor house, carefully carrying him, Scadi, who had sensed its strength, came to meet it. Scadi’s gaze fell upon the man. Confused, she asked the Wendigo,

“Did you bring this man to eat as well? I’m afraid I haven’t learnt the art of offering humans as a sacrifice, I may not be able to satisfy your…”

“That’s not why I brought him. What do you think of me?”

Scadi coughed, unable to respond. There was something strangely disappointing about Wendigo’s voice.

Looking at Scadi for a moment, the Wendigo sighed and set the man down. After all, what could possibly be Scadi’s fault? She only reacted in such a manner because the request was unreasonably absurd.

“It seems like he fainted due to the stress of the situation. Once he regains his strength, I’m going to hear him out and will consider letting him go.”

“What if he turns out to be a strange person?”

“Then we should kill him,” Wendigo responded nonchalantly. He had no particular intention of taking any risks.

Saved once, only to act peculiar in a situation where even death would not be strange?

It would be a natural death. He had no intention of stopping him if he chooses to walk towards his own death voluntarily.

It was this man’s fate to decide.

* * *

“Ugh!”

Hagilson broke out in a cold sweat and woke up from his sleep. He urgently felt his body as soon as he got up.

Arm was okay, legs were okay, shoulders too…

“They’re all fine…?”

“You’re awake, I see.”

Hagilson turned his head at the sound of an unfamiliar woman’s voice. A white-haired woman with red eyes, Skadi was glaring at him with a blank expression.

Only then did Hagilson realize that he was not in the forest. The subtle scent of wooden furniture calmed his mind and soul.

“Wh-where am I? I was definitely in the… In the forest…”

Hagilson shivered as he tried to recall his memories. He could not forget the image of the monster.

Its huge body, the bone-chilling coldness, but the most frightening was the monster’s head.

The deer-like head emitted an eerie light and stared at him. And those teeth, they seemed sharp enough to rip his throat apart at any moment…

“Was it…a dream?”

“What dream? You’ve finally regained your senses.”

“?!”

Hegilson was taken aback by the voice coming from behind Skadi, his mouth dropped open at its identity. The owner of the voice was the monster, Wendigo, that Hegilson had encountered earlier.

Lowering its stature, Wendigo entered the room. Upon its entrance, Skadi bowed her head and exited the room: she was going to grab some stew.

Naturally, only Wendigo and Hegilson were left in the room, an awkward silence enveloping them. Wendigo was the first one to break the silence.

“Firstly, I would like you to know that I have no intention to harm you. I’ve no interest in hunting humans, or in torture.”

“Th-Thank you. Are… Are you, a fairy?”

“Just take it that way. I have a question and I want your answer: why were you wandering in the forest? To my knowledge, no human village is nearby.”

At Wendigo’s straightforward question, Hegilson darted his eyes around. It was clear he was unnerved; there had to be something.

Wendigo read the man’s emotions.

‘He’s quite anxious and worried… but there’s a little bit of hope.’

He wouldn’t have been wandering in the forest just to stave off immediate hunger. If that was the case, he would have sought food near the village.

There was no village near the mansion, that much was clear to Wendigo from his hunting and patrolling.

There must have been some other reason…

“Mr. Wendigo, I’ve brought the meal.”

Back in the room, Skadi held two bowls of warm stew in her hands. The stew, filled with venison, onions, and carrots, wafted an appetizing aroma.

Rumble, of the man’s stomach reacted to the smell. Overcame by embarrassment, Hegilson clutched his belly, but the noise didn’t stop.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Hegilson of Nidhorn tribe, I used to be a hunter in the village.”

“Okay, Hegilson of Nidhorn, have some stew first and then tell your story. It seems you have been starving for quite long.”

Once Wendigo gave permission to eat, Hegilson started devouring the stew restlessly. Not only was he starving, but Skadi’s stew was also incredibly delicious. The deer meat was perfectly cooked and melted easily, while the onions and carrots were nicely soaked in the broth – it was a delicacy. Hegilson, who emptied his bowl in no time, licked his lips with regret.

Wendigo offered the stew in his hand. Startled, Hegilson waved his hands in refusal. He might have been hungry, but not enough to take food from a fairy’s share.

“No, no! How could I possibly touch the offering dedicated to the spirit!”

“Even this much wouldn’t be enough to fill me up. I’m not so hungry that missing a meal would kill me. Eat, no need for formalities.”

“Tha… that is…”

Overwhelmed by the kindness of the Wendigo, Hegilson wept. To think that such a benevolent spirit existed in this world!

Hegilson ate his stew between sobs. Wendigo watched him thoughtfully.

“Nothing indeed fills a man like food.”

Feed a beast and it will show affection. Given the same to a starving person? That’s truly game-changing. Wendigo dug out from Hegilson feelings of gratitude, touch, and guilt. It melts the heart to see that a single bowl of stew does that to a man.

After finishing his stew smeared with tears, Hegilson set aside his doubt and unburdened his untold story.

* * *

When a person is overwhelmed with emotions, it’s only natural for them to have a lot to say.

With his caution gone, Hegilson began to pour out his tale. His upbringing, how happy his life had been, how beautiful his lover was…

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Stories that would have struck others as mundane, yet with Hegilson’s talent for storytelling, Wendigo paid attention.

“A truly beautiful love story in this world, indeed.”

“Hmm, seems so.”

In no small way, Skadi was involved, listening to the story with immense concentration. Wendigo felt it would be outright rude to interrupt when someone else was so engrossed.

‘He would have done well as a bard in the city.’

“But one day, disaster struck our village. Our crops rotted and weeds grew in abundance. Furthermore, beasts attacked whoever tried to flee the village… We couldn’t just sit still and await our doom.”

“So, you fled? Managed to survive by avoiding these beasts?”

“It’s thanks to the other villagers. Many held off the beasts, prepared to die. That’s why I and a few others made it out of the village.”

Wendigo fell into deep thought. As he heard it, this story was anything but normal.

The village, wherever it was, may have been susceptible to crop diseases. Cereals could get diseased from either cold, frost, excessive humidity, or even pest infestations.

However, the question of beasts was a different matter altogether. People often thought that beasts naturally ate man, but such cases were far and few between.

Animals were clever enough to avoid torch-lit groups of men wielding weapons.

Usually, starvation or a tasted-of-human-blood drove them to attack humans, but…

“Did these beasts not attack your village? If they were just attacking people who ventured out, that suggests that they were prowling around the perimeter.”

“Yes, the beasts strangely prowled around the village, preventing people from leaving. And we instinctively knew this was no normal occurrence. We believed… it was the act of a spirit.”

Hegilson cast a covert glance at the Wendigo, worried that it might feel offended. To his surprise, the Wendigo, sensing Hegilson’s apprehensions, burst out in mild laughter. Why should it be offended just because a spirit had been cursed at?

“You can curse or mock the spirits freely in front of me. If you ask me, they all deserved to die after hearing the stories,” it said.

“Oh my, Spirit! What are you saying? I would never think of such a thing!”

“If you comprehend that it’s the deed of the spirits, you’ll seek to help, won’t you? It was the reason why you headed to meet the shaman across the forest, right?”

“Yes, my mother once mentioned that there exists a solitary shaman in the forest. I wanted to find him…”

Wendigo quickly understood who the shaman Hegilson was searching for. It had seen the shaman, who once lived solitarily in the forest, a while ago.

The problem was that the shaman had now found his peace. It would be impossible for Hegilson to meet the shaman unless he had turned into a spirit after his death.

“Regrettably, you can’t meet that shaman. He has returned to nature some time ago.”

“What!? Is that true?”

“Yes. But there is a shaman who has inherited his legacy.”

Hegilson felt a mix of emotions.

Although it was not the shaman mentioned by his mother, the existence of a successor meant there was a shaman available! The thought of having a way to save his village incited a fire of hope in Hegilson.

“Can you tell me where I can find them? I would be ready to serve them in gratitude if you could arrange a meeting with them!”

“I do know where. It’s a shaman who has made a pact with me, how could I not know? Serving is alright, but I do not need servants. Just repay the grace, only the grace.”

“Thank you, thank you! Then where should I go to meet them?”

The place? Well, it’s here.

Wendigo beckoned Scady. As Scady approached, Wendigo patted her shoulder and said, “Scady is the successor. I vouch for her skills.”

Being acknowledged by Wendigo, Scady proudly squared her shoulders. Hegilson looked at Scady with a startled gaze.

He had thought she was an attendant serving the Wendigo, but she turned out to be the shaman herself!

“You seem startled. Are her hair and eyes bothering you?”

“No, no! I am not so dull as to judge a person by such things. Just… she is younger than I expected.”

It wasn’t easy to think of Skadi as a shaman right off the bat. She was adorned with various charms laced with magic, but on the surface, she was merely a beautiful lady. Heigelsson hadn’t been truly convinced by Wendigo’s reassurance when Skadi pierced him with her icy glare, pulling a dagger out of her pocket. As she invoked the magic imbued in the blade, it transformed into a sword of ice within seconds. Heigelsson recoiled at the chill emanating from the sword.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ve never met a young shaman like you before, I didn’t mean to offend you!”

“Even if you don’t trust my words, doubting Wendigo is something I won’t tolerate. Be mindful of that.”

“Y-yes, of course!”

As Heigelsson quickly apologized, Skadi responded with frigid indifference. Internally, Heigelsson heaved a sigh of relief.

“Skadi and I will resolve the issues that have befallen your village. We’ll discuss the fee later. Don’t worry, we won’t ask for an unreasonable amount.”

“Do we really need to involve the spirit as well?”

Heigelsson was disconcerted. He hadn’t planned to employ the help of a spirit. It was difficult to estimate the cost of employing a shaman, let alone when invoking a spirit’s help, he couldn’t fathom how substantial the fee might be.

“Are you declining my offer?”

“hahahaha… If the spirit helps us, what do we have to fear? Instead, we should be grateful!”

When Wendigo asked, Heigelsson didn’t dare to refuse. He had the impression that Skadi might stab him right then and there if he did. Heigelsson realized that it took more courage than he’d thought to refuse an offer. He could only pray fervently for Wendigo and Skadi’s mercy.