Chapter 045: Wendigo (2)
"Oh, ohohohot… It’s not oppa. What a shame."
She laughed, her voice trembling as if she were grinding her teeth.
"Huh? Bihen. Your face is super red. Wow, you’re like a beet!"
Of course, it was Bill again.
He tilted his head this way and that, inspecting me, looking like he’d barely survived the troll battle and now genuinely wanted to die by my hand.
Anyway.
I’d revealed my age as a warning, thinking she was deliberately teasing me by calling me oppa, but it seemed this woman genuinely thought I was older than her.
For reference, Bonnie and Clyde clearly looked like they were in their late thirties.
"Ugh, whatever. If you’re handsome, you’re an oppa, right? Isn’t that so, honey?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Haha."
Jayden stepped forward, lightly patting my back.
"I’ve heard plenty about the Barrow Mercenary Band. They say you’re a big deal in northern Conwell. Judging by your participation in this subjugation, you must have a deep connection with the Lady."
"Ohohohot! Big deal, my foot. As for the connection… well, it’s something like that."
"Reassuring to hear. But is it just the two of you? No other comrades?"
"We’re always just the two of us. Right, honey?"
Clyde, who’d been lost in thought, blinked like someone caught off guard and nodded with a goofy smile.
The conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so I stepped in.
"So, you were attacked as soon as you arrived at the rendezvous point?"
"Yup. You wouldn’t believe how shocked we were. No one was around, and we were panicking, when suddenly Roland-oraboni showed up to take us away.
Turns out, it was the Wendigo’s trickery."
"Wendigo?"
"Yeah, Wendigo.
A high-ranking Demonic Beast known for manipulating mana."
Jayden and I locked eyes.
Jayden, who’d been gaping, spoke up.
"Glad you’re safe."
"It was a close call. If it weren’t for my honey, we’d have been in real trouble. Wendigos usually only appear in the heart of the northern Demonic Lands. They mimic people and go ‘Krwang—!’"
Bonnie grimaced and growled, and since she already had an intimidating presence, I couldn’t help but flinch.
She unclenched her fists and cleared her throat.
"Anyway, the important thing is, if those things are here, it means the Demonic Corruption is seriously bad. We were about to hightail it out of here when you guys showed up."
"I see."
"We heard from the Lady. You’re aiming to earn knighthood through this subjugation."
"That’s the plan. Still feels surreal, though."
"Ohot! Let’s do this, boys!"
* * *
The rendezvous point was near Talrug Canyon.
To find the Lady’s party, we had no choice but to head deeper into the canyon.
I was utterly exhausted on the way, and it was all because of Bonnie.
That woman couldn’t keep her blasted mouth shut for a second.
"Handsome is handsome, but you know, it’s the vibe in your eyes? Ohohohot! Oh, look at me."
"…Vibe?"
"No, I mean, your aura’s unique. Honey, he’s from the Benkou family, right? Where’s your hometown? Definitely not Conwell."
The sudden mention of a high-ranking Demonic Beast stirred a memory I’d buried.
Eugene’s warning from before came rushing back.
Already on edge, I glared at Bonnie, silently begging her to shut up, when Bill popped up like an ambush.
"Bihen’s an Imperial. A noble, even. Hehe. Right, Bihen?"
"Oh my!"
Bonnie suddenly covered her mouth, then cupped her own cheeks.
"So that’s it. No wonder you seemed different. Ohohohot."
I closed my eyes.
Just when I’d gotten used to one thing, another popped up.
Was the constant appearance of fierce women some kind of karmic price for my luck?
…God, I’m tired.
"I’m really curious. A grizzled guard captain chosen by the great Lady Adeline, and an Imperial noble helping him. What’s the deal? Right, honey?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
I stared at Clyde.
Maybe this guy was an unrivaled master in the realm of life itself.
Not someone to pity, but to admire.
To think I’d feel curiosity about another couple’s story… It was a bizarre emotion I’d never experienced before.
As I tried to process it, the surroundings grew dim, as if evening had crept in.
Without anyone saying a word, we all looked up.
"The trees are huge."
"Ugh, the leaves are all dark and grimy."
Janson and Bill muttered, looking around.
It was true.
The branches of trees that seemed to touch the sky were covered with dark, bluish leaves that blocked out the sunlight like a canopy.
The visibility was tinged with the hue of early dawn air.
"Hmm. Now that I look, this place is practically made for Demonic Corruption."
Bonnie said, picking up a fallen leaf from the ground.
The leaf drooped as if soaked in water.
"For such a sunny place to have this kind of shadowy environment is chilling."
"What do you mean?"
"Honey, ever been to the Demonic Lands? They’re so cold you get shivers because the sun doesn’t rise. It’s probably the same in your Empire, right?"
Isn’t that common knowledge?
I almost shot back but swallowed my words.
I’d never once questioned why that was common knowledge.
"It’s basic magical theory. The sun is yang, the moon is yin. The foundation of all things is seen as this yin-yang balance. So, the Demonic Lands aren’t sunless; the yin energy overwhelms the yang, making the sun invisible to us. Just like here."
Bonnie looked up, and everyone’s heads followed.
That’s when it happened.
Woooooo—
A massive Demonic Beast’s roar echoed from afar, the vibration shaking the entire space.
We instinctively crouched low.
Bill, flat on the ground, asked in a trembling voice.
"W-w-what was that?"
"Wendigo. Just from the sound, it’s a damn big one. Nearly pissed myself, damn it."
Bonnie replied, her eyes darting side to side.
Her tone shifted dramatically when she got serious.
"You guys, stay put and don’t move. I can roughly pinpoint the Wendigo’s location with mana detection. We’ll scout ahead. Let’s go, honey."
Bonnie and Clyde vanished into the shadows of the trees as if sucked in.
After they left, the rumbling echoed a few more times.
Each time, Bill kept whimpering for his mom.
"Hnng, I’m scared."
"Cut it out, you punk. If you’re gonna cry like that, why’d you insist on coming?"
"Janson, don’t be so hard on him."
"…Sorry, Captain."
Watching the three of them, a memory surfaced.
Back during the Crimson Flame Cult incident.
Jayden had said he brought Janson and Bill for real combat experience, and I’d chewed him out for it.
I’d seen it as combat for training, not combat for combat’s sake.
‘Compared to back then…’
Janson had undergone a dramatic transformation.
Jayden, with his usual demeanor, was now under pressure to shine, making him a bit rigid.
I resolved to help these two as much as I could without overstepping.
"Janson. Don’t rush."
"Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?"
"When you’re lost and suddenly see your path clearly, the first thing you feel is impatience. That’s when you’re bound to trip. But the path we walk doesn’t just end with a fall—it leads straight to death."
"The path… we walk…"
I nodded, signaling both my acknowledgment of Janson’s growth and my own experience with the same.
"When I first learned the sword, I started with mastering myself. No need to hurry."
Keeping your wits in a blood-soaked battlefield isn’t easy.
You either overcome fear or get consumed by it—those are the starting points.
Seeing Janson’s frenzy earlier, I’d thought he was the latter.
Violent on the surface, but no different from Bill.
I was wrong.
Janson had already surpassed that.
His raw fighting spirit showed because his body couldn’t keep up.
Then I’d cheer him on. As a comrade.
Next, I turned to Jayden.
"You said you admired chivalry."
"Ah… Of course."
"You don’t need grand codes. Just recite one thing that comes to mind."
I felt more at ease than before.
At this moment, I could say my understanding of chivalry was a bit deeper than Jayden’s.
"Use your strength for the weak… Something like that. But why—"
"Exactly. You’ve already been doing it, Captain. Gaining a title will just mean more work. That’s the only difference."
I looked between Jayden and Janson, then lowered my head.
"No more, no less—just keep doing what you’ve been doing."
It was a reminder for myself as much as for them.
"Let’s survive first."
"…?"
"Our goal for this mission is to stay alive. Wendigos, trolls, whatever—I’ll handle them all. Just focus on keeping yourselves alive."
I unintentionally created a silence.
Amid the awkward quiet, our varied gazes crossed.
The Wendigo’s low growl echoed hollowly a couple more times…
Then, with hurried footsteps, Bonnie and Clyde returned.
"Big trouble, guys."
Bonnie said, panting.
Her artificially curled eyelashes trembled.
"It’s a Wendigo legion."
"Legion?"
"It’s not just one or two prowling around. They’re swarming like ants. A Mana Core-level leader is commanding them."
Mana Core.
In the Demonic Lands, within a certain range, there exists a leader or individual Demonic Beast responsible for the region’s beast proliferation and corruption.
These are collectively called Mana Cores.
Removing this core halts the beasts’ reproduction and corruption, allowing purification.
This is why fully purifying the Demonic Lands is near impossible.
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of widely scattered cores must be eliminated simultaneously.
"Is that thing the cause of this Demonic Corruption?"
"Not quite. Beyond them, I sensed similar levels of mana scattered around."
Bonnie added, her voice thick with fear.
"There are more legions of equal strength. Too many to even sense. The Lady’s party is probably trapped somewhere."
"If we have to take them out anyway, and they’re blocking our path, what’s there to think about?"
"…Huh? What’d you just say?"
"Lead us to where the Wendigos are."
Bonnie glanced at me, then slumped her shoulders like someone giving up.
We followed Bonnie and Clyde, who took the lead.
‘To think a Blood Devil would command mere beasts like these.’
It stung my pride, somehow.
Of course, there might not be a Blood Devil here.
Eugene only mentioned the possibility, not a certainty.
Not long after, we emerged from the shadowed forest to find a barren wasteland stretching below a cliff-like drop.
A horde of ape-like Demonic Beasts filled the ashen plain.
We lined up, lying flat, peeking over the edge to survey the area.
"There. See that one? That’s the leader."
Bonnie pointed somewhere among them.
It wasn’t hard to spot.
It was the biggest.
Sitting motionless with its back to us, it looked like a boulder covered in brown fur.
"A Wendigo that size is on par with a high-ranking mage. The other big ones won’t be pushovers either."
Among the horde, a few were slightly smaller than the leader, but all the minions moved on all fours.
Their appearances resembled stages of human evolution.
"How do they disguise themselves as humans? Is that a kind of magic?"
"A form of dark magic. Literally an unknown realm. From what’s known, Wendigos excel at mental manipulation. To mimic human appearances and control them like puppets means that leader is terrifyingly powerful."
"Dark magic. So it’s still magic?"
"Yeah. Magic woven from mana filled entirely with yin, no yang. Ugh, creepy."
"And the rest?"
"Well, they’re ferocious as hell, but they’re just the leader’s soldiers. Not worth special caution."
"So we just take out the leader."
Bonnie nodded vigorously, then froze.
Blinking, she stared at me as if to say, ‘You’re not serious?’
Ignoring her, I turned to Jayden.
"I’ll be back."