Chapter 241: Wendigo

Someone from the forest.

Not people from Shi Ying Town, nor the already exterminated rat people.

According to the ghoul Pan Ni.

This is a gang composed of Wendigos and undead.

Interestingly, they did not come with malice, but were respectfully seeking an audience with the forest ranger outside.

"When did we become friends with the undead?"

Rod thought to himself while using 【Tree Walker】 to arrive at Henry Farm.

Outside Henry Farm.

Pan Ni summoned a small undead army, surrounding a gang of undead led by Wendigos.

Most Wendigos are creatures transformed from humans who froze to death.

Perhaps this is a contingency left in their bloodline by a high-level existence of a deer-like race; every Wendigo, upon transformation, merges with the skull of a reindeer or elk.

Regardless of which deer it is, their antlers are quite massive, entwined with branches or the skulls of prey.

Their bodies are the same: various corpses, flesh and blood, branches, leaves, and bones mixed together, gathering into a huge creature three to five meters tall.

As Rod stepped forward, the tallest Wendigo saw him.

He bowed from afar.

Rod didn't care much, just glanced at him a couple more times.

He approached Pan Ni's side.

At this moment, the ghoul lady summoned that rotting giant elephant, looking down on the visitors from above.

Seeing her master approach, it quickly jumped down and knelt on one knee.

"What's the situation?"

"Good afternoon, my lord. Pan Ni Cheng Gong has successfully intercepted a group of lawless rogues and protected the safety of the forest!"

Pan Ni was very excited.

This is an achievement!

It is a step toward her redemption as one who has committed crimes! It also means she is one step closer to being able to live in her master's cottage!

"Misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! My lord Ranger!"

That tallest Wendigo hurriedly explained.

"My name is Belkin, and I have come specifically to pledge allegiance to the Ranger of Windwall Forest!"

"Pledge allegiance to me?"

Hearing this, Rod was somewhat surprised.

Is my forest some kind of charitable institution? Why would a group of evil spirit creatures come here to pledge allegiance?

Could it be that my feat of slaying two seventh-rank beings has spread, and they came here because of my reputation?

Belkin said respectfully:

"We came from Gem City in the south, traveled all the way to the mining district of Shi Ying Town to settle down, and heard that the Ranger of Windwall Forest is powerful and willing to shelter banshees, zombies, ghouls, and other undead creatures."

In fact, various cults, wars, and internal strife along the way terrified them; they only wanted to find a place to settle down properly.

He glanced at the ghoul Pan Ni, who was still kneeling motionless, then at a tree spirit standing quietly at the edge of the Bai Yu District forest not far away, radiating a powerful aura.

He silently swallowed a mouthful of non-existent saliva.

A sixth-rank high-stage ghoul mage willingly submitted, with a seventh-rank mid-stage tree spirit standing behind her, yet this tall human man in front of him only had sixth-rank mid-stage spiritual accumulation?

Disguise!

It must be a disguise!

It must be seventh-rank! Maybe even eighth-rank?!!

Hearing this.

Rod was not disturbed by the other's flattery.

"But I heard you were harassing workers in the mining district of Shi Ying Town."

"Misunderstanding, another misunderstanding!"

Belkin's era as a human must have been quite long ago; his speech was mixed with many old-fashioned terms:

"We are new here, do not understand local customs, and after a long journey, the spiritual energy in our brothers' bodies was exhausted, so we had to absorb a little from humans to replenish it. These past few days, that witch Young Lady from Shi Ying Town has been causing us trouble every day; we simply cannot bear it anymore."

Rod had no intention of letting a group of evil spirits live in the forest.

On one hand, they are not girls; on the other hand, Wendigos are undead creatures inherently possessing evil attributes with a craving for fresh flesh and blood, and he was too lazy to deal with them.

He did not beat around the bush, but directly expressed his refusal.

Belkin felt very uncomfortable and expressed regret.

He was very polite; despite being refused, he still took out the prepared gift—a meatball.

Its function is to ward off the cold.

There was no way; this group of fellows had migrated here with nothing.

The five meatballs were squeezed out from their own bodies.

"So what are your plans next?"

Belkin pretended to be pitiful and said, "If my lord Rod is unwilling to take us in, we can only continue eastward, continuing our long journey, hoping to find a stable home near human settlements."

"Saying that is useless; you are not girls, so I will not sympathize."

"Girls?"

Belkin pushed out a slightly petite Wendigo. "She is."

This girl Wendigo glanced at Rod, then shyly averted her gaze.

She looked very shy.

Although she was no different from the Wendigo beside her — all of them wore deer skulls, their bodies piled with bones, branches, and blood-flesh.

"Wait… doesn't this one look exactly like you?"

Rod was speechless.

Forget gender, he couldn't even tell these Wendigo apart from one another.

Still, for some reason, this group of fellows seemed rather pitiful.

"Fine, I'll help you find that witch at the Town Hall and see if she can give you a place to settle down."

"Really?!!!"

Watching Belkin's excited look.

Rod sighed.

Besides, the dark elves over at Coral Bay had summoned a red dragon, and this group of Wendigo was fairly capable — a decent addition to the ranks.

He sent a 【Far Voice Chain】 message to the witch Dimia.

He waited for quite a while.

Dimia arrived in a flash of 【Spatial Shift】.

She first had a quiet word with Rod.

Turns out she too had noticed this group of Wendigo were greenhorn, small-time country undead with no real experience.

The only good thing was they still kept to the rules and had never harmed anyone.

"Actually, I'd long had the idea of recruiting them, but never had the chance — I owe you a favor for this."

Even in winter Dimia still wore that very revealing evening gown; it seemed to be a precious magical item.

Winter air was dry.

The witch's skin was delicate, yet right now it still stayed a soft pink, bouncing and jiggling as she walked.

"It's all for the peace of this place." Rod waved a hand.

A smile spread across Dimia's baby-round face: "Yes, all for peace."

Private chat ended.

Then she put on a very reluctant look.

She said their appearance was frightening, said they were causing trouble at the mine, and gave the Wendigo a thorough scolding.

The Wendigo had crossed paths with her several times before, and every time they'd been blasted by her spells until they couldn't tell north from south — how would they dare step out of line? They forcibly suppressed the urge to flee, lowered their heads, and obediently took the lecture.

At this point Rod stepped in to play the good cop.

Saying things like "do me a favor," and that at least they hadn't hurt anyone.

He coaxed them until they were all dumbfounded, their hearts moved — Mr. Rod was truly such a good man, they must marry all the girls in the clan to him, and so on.

In the end, Dimia signed a magical contract with their group, officially joining Shi Ying Town.

Rod took a glance.

It wasn't service to the Shi Ying Town Town Hall, but service to the witch Dimia alone — and with low pay, life-threatening work, and all sorts of unequal terms.

That's our Dimia for you — a master of exploitation.

He silently blessed this group of Wendigo in his heart.

(End of chapter)