The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 41 - Tribal Conflict (6)

“Leshy…?”

As Viktor muttered quietly, the priest Anton beside him nodded.

“It must be because too much rain has fallen. It wouldn’t be strange for one to appear.”

Leshy.

Though commonly called forest spirits, from the principality citizens’ perspective, they were no different from evil spirits.

There was even a famous saying: “Don’t enter the forest in winter!” – such was their notorious reputation.

When Viktor tilted his head as if hearing this for the first time, Anton continued somewhat flustered.

“Have you never heard of a Leshy before?”

“I’ve heard of them, but weren’t they beings that only appeared in legends?”

“What? No. Though they don’t appear frequently, cases of people suffering damage from Leshys are reported every year.”

“I hear fur traders and hunters suffer greatly because of those troublemakers. Whenever one appears, you have to be prepared for death…”

Lukovich quietly whispered, supporting Anton’s words.

“Have you ever encountered a Leshy?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t be here now. The nickname ‘nightmare of the forest’ wasn’t given for nothing. But how could a Leshy appear when it’s not even winter…”

As he listened to those words, Anton quietly added,

“Leshys usually become violent in winter, but they also explode with rage during bad weather like this. With the roads cut off and water pooling like lakes from all the rain, it wouldn’t be strange for a Leshy to pick a fight with passing groups.”

“Oh… Father, I see. You’re truly knowledgeable!”

Lukovich exclaimed in surprise, praising Anton’s erudition.

Viktor also nodded with an admiring expression.

The young priest seemed to possess a tremendous amount of knowledge that didn’t match his age.

Anton bowed his head slightly with an embarrassed expression.

“Haha, it’s nothing special. All priests receive some education about evil beings and monsters. Military priests like me even more so.”

“Indeed… then Father, do you also know how to exorcise that Leshy?”

At Viktor’s question, Anton’s face hardened.

“A Leshy isn’t an entity that can be easily exorcised. Especially in the forest.”

“Hmm…”

“Fighting recklessly could result in great loss of life. There’s no need for that. It would be best to simply offer tribute – whatever it wants.”

Anton didn’t seem to find it particularly strange to offer something to an evil spirit.

“If we don’t have to fight, that would be fine. Let’s go inform the Count.”

The Count was already deep in thought with Mikhail, having summoned the mercenary captains.

After hearing Viktor and Anton’s story, he nodded with a stern expression.

“Tribute… it’s distasteful, but there’s no choice. But does that evil spirit understand speech?”

At the Count’s words, the mercenary captains began to murmur.

“What, is there some problem?”

At Mikhail’s words, one mercenary captain hesitantly spoke up.

“Well… Sir Knight. Those who speak with a Leshy are cursed to die… couldn’t we just shoot fire arrows at it?”

“Stupid talk. Fighting a Leshy in the forest is suicide. Was such an idiot really swaggering around as a captain?”

“Which bastard said that? Have you guys ever seen a Leshy? I have, you brat, I nearly died when I faced one before! You ignorant fucks…”

As the mercenary captains exchanged harsh words, Mikhail stomped the ground with a cold expression.

Thud!

“Where do you think you are to run your mouths so carelessly? Everyone be quiet.”

When Mikhail coldly released his intimidating aura, the mercenary captains began to mumble and close their mouths.

“If you want your rights respected, show proper respect to the noble person before you first. Keep in mind that His Excellency is showing great generosity simply by meeting with you.”

“S-sorry, Count.”

“We’ve committed a grave sin.”

Though the captains found it annoying, they bowed their heads for now.

The nobles’ antics weren’t anything new, and the Count was certainly among the better employers.

At least he paid well and didn’t mind meeting face-to-face with mercenaries.

In this respect, Count Yakobski had aspects that were truly unlike a high noble.

He laughed heartily and waved his hand.

“Now, now. Sir Mikhail. That’s enough. This is an urgent situation.”

“Yes, I apologize. You there, tell that story in more detail.”

The designated mercenary captain began his tale with an anxious expression.

“I once escorted a merchant caravan, and we encountered a Leshy in the forest. The creature smiled wickedly and demanded we offer a living beast.”

“Could the creature speak human language?”

“I-I’m not sure. But we definitely communicated. The caravan leader decided to offer tribute and exchanged a few words with it. I was standing far away, but some mercenaries stayed close to escort the caravan leader. But then…”

The captain swallowed hard.

“The Leshy took the tribute and disappeared, but not long after, those who had conversed with it began to fall ill. And they rotted away and died.”

At his words, the other mercenary captains made horrified expressions.

“Hmm, hmm… I specialize in fighting humans.”

“I’m not afraid of evil spirits or anything… but it’s unavoidably unsettling.”

The murmuring was gradually growing louder.

That’s when Anton quietly interjected in a low voice.

“That’s strange. I’ve never heard of a Leshy cursing those who offer tribute.”

“Father?”

Mikhail turned his head to look at Anton.

“Brother, please answer honestly. What exactly do you mean by ‘rotted away’?”

At Anton’s question, the captain began to stammer in confusion.

“Ah, well… I was too disgusted to look closely, but they said the flesh literally rotted away. While they were still alive.”

“Is that so? How did you deal with it?”

“Deal with it… when such disturbing things happened, how could we continue together? I immediately gave up traveling with them. I’d rather lose trust and penalty fees than become a victim of the curse myself.”

At the captain’s words, people’s expressions darkened.

His words didn’t seem like lies.

The Count quietly posed a question to the priest.

“What do you think? If a Leshy can rot people just by speaking with them, wouldn’t it be better to set it on fire?”

However, Anton shook his head with a serious expression.

“I’m not a specialist in demonology, so I can’t say for certain, but as far as I know, Leshys aren’t evil beings that freely distribute curses to that extent. Hmm…”

As Anton fell into thought, Viktor quietly approached.

“Father, you can tell just me. Is there some problem?”

“Ah, well… Sir. I think that caravan leader might have tried to cheat with the tribute. That’s why the enraged Leshy cast a curse…”

It was a plausible story.

“Leshys are fundamentally closer to spirits, so they’re not madmen who would curse people just for speaking to them.”

“Hmm, if that’s really the case, it’s not particularly strange.”

‘Isn’t that a common story from folktales? Humans being punished for trying to deceive spirits.’

If Anton’s words were to be believed, no matter how bad-tempered a Leshy might be, it probably wouldn’t curse people outright.

In that case, just listening to what it had to say should be fine.

Viktor spoke in a low voice.

“Your Excellency. I’ll try conversing with the Leshy.”

“Sir! You cannot. It’s extremely suspicious! If you were to be cursed… send this fellow instead!”

Mikhail cried out in horror, pointing to the mercenary captain who had told the story.

The captain’s face turned ashen as he let out an angry scream.

“It’s fine, Sir Mikhail. I’m not being reckless or acting out of false bravado.”

At Viktor’s calm words, not only Mikhail but the agitated people felt strangely reassured.

The Count spoke heavily.

“I don’t want to lose you in a place like this for no reason. Are you truly confident?”

“If you’re really worried, I’ll go with the Father here. The Father is knowledgeable about such monsters, so he’ll surely be helpful. Would that be alright?”

Anton nodded resolutely.

“I was the one who first suggested offering tribute. I want to take responsibility and step forward together.”

Eventually, the Count also nodded.

“Very well. You are the knight who performed a miracle. Who else can I trust? Sir Mikhail, keep watch and be ready to rescue them immediately if anything happens to either of them.”

“…Yes, my lord.”

Thus it was decided that Viktor would attempt to negotiate with the Leshy.

However, if anyone could have read Viktor’s true thoughts, they wouldn’t have been surprised to ask what kind of story he had been listening to.

‘If it shows signs of trying to curse us, I’ll just beat it up right away.’

****

The Leshy he encountered for the first time was much more normal than Viktor had expected.

He had imagined it would look completely monstrous, but it actually resembled human form quite well.

Its skin was pale as if a tree had taken human shape, branches grew from various parts of its body, and its long beard and glowing eyes shone with an eerie green light.

With a pole-like tall stature and strangely long fingers that seemed to nearly reach its calves.

While it was more normal than expected, objectively it wasn’t a particularly appealing appearance.

The Leshy was waving its fingers and shouting violently.

[Humans! Humans! Don’t come in, I said don’t come in, but you won’t listen, humans! You moldy creatures! You parasitic creatures! Why won’t you listen, why!]

And in front of it, quite a number of mercenaries had drawn their weapons but couldn’t do this or that, sweating profusely.

“Damn it! Can’t we just stab this bastard? I can’t stand it anymore!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Fight a Leshy in the forest? Go ahead if you want to commit suicide!”

“What the hell are we supposed to do? If we keep staying like this, that bastard might kill us all!”

“It seems very angry.”

As Viktor muttered calmly, Anton nodded tensely.

“It seems more violent than expected. We need to approach carefully.”

“But that creature can speak human language.”

“Hmm… almost nothing is known about the ecology of spirits. They’re truly shrouded in mystery. As a priest, I’m not particularly interested in such things…”

As Viktor and Anton approached the scene while conversing, the Leshy’s eyes began to flash menacingly.

[Humans! Humans! Maybe if you become forest nutrients, you’ll listen to me, humans!]

Unable to control its temper, the Leshy thrust its hands into the ground and stirred.

The muddy ground began to churn very unstably.

The mercenaries screamed.

“Aaah!!”

“Shit, just shoot! Kill that bastard! It’s planning to bury us alive!”

Viktor quickly shouted.

“We’ll be in big trouble if we leave it like that. I’m going ahead, Father!”

“Ah, Sir!”

Viktor left deep footprints as he strode into the explosive situation with heavy steps.