(From Chief Woer's Perspective)
The next day, I sat beside the place where the Druid entered the underground and waited for a few minutes. Then the earth split open and trembled slightly. The Druid climbed to the surface and closed the earth back up. Just like the day before, we performed the same ritual, without any difference.
For three days, I kept a watchful eye on the Druid like an eagle, following him wherever he ran in the settlement, but I didn't see him do anything unmanly. Everything he did was to help us, and as he promised, he saved almost all the patients. Of course, as he said, he couldn't save everyone.
People with weakened constitutions cannot fight off high fevers and die, but the number is far fewer than we expected. Only 13 people died, which is nothing short of a miracle. Normally, we lose about 100 to 150 lives a year when fevers occur in Winter because they can be transmitted from one person to another.
If he claimed to be one of the Old Gods, I might believe him, but I don't think he's human. Because he wears a wooden mask, we don't know what he looks like, but just yesterday, several people wanted to thank him and rushed to his feet, but as he fell to the ground, they accidentally pulled open his robe made of moss, grass, and ivy, revealing his chest and arms. What we saw wasn't human skin, but tree bark, and the bark moved with every breath he took.
When I first saw his hands, I assumed he was wearing a pair of finely crafted gloves wrapped in bark, but I no longer think so, because I've never seen bark move like skin. Considering all that he could do, it's unsettling, but not shocking.
"Chief Woer, my work here is done, and I'm needed elsewhere. I'm leaving today, but I'd like to ask you for one thing. It's not a demand, just a request, and I'd be happy if you could grant it."
If he wants all our money, I will give it to him.
"My request of you is to spread this message far and wide, but when you do, you must say it aloud. A true Druid never asks for payment, nor does he accept any form of donation from those he has helped."
"After a while, word of my existence will spread, and eventually, actors and charlatans will try to imitate me to deceive kind people. To prevent this, you must spread the word about my methods."
"Yes, of course, we can do that. I'll send riders to every nearby village, and they'll talk about you to anyone who can hear them."
But my joy suddenly vanished. Many of the people we thought were going to die were not dead, which meant there were many mouths to feed, and our food was not enough to feed them all.
(Male protagonist's perspective)
"Chief Woer, what's wrong? You've suddenly become listless and lost in thought."
Woer sighed heavily and said.
"Those we thought would die haven't died, which means there are more people to support than we imagined."
Of course, I knew they had these problems, but I was going to go to another mountain tribe first, and then come back here to say that I had received new visions from the Old Gods, so the seriousness of the situation had affected them. But now it seems I don't have to do that.
I need a ritual to ensure the Plant Growth. If we sacrifice sheep, it won't do them any good, as it will halve the growing time and won't benefit the plants this Winter. However, if we use human sacrifice, the plants will grow in less than a day.
"Actually, I can provide a solution to your problem, but it won't be cheap. I'm not talking about the money."
"What is that?"
"What we need is a murderer who indiscriminately kills innocent people, not a sheep."
His posture and attitude seemed very uncomfortable, and he didn't know what to say.
"You mean...?"
"Yes, human sacrifices; we need to offer sacrifices to someone who murdered an innocent person."
We sat there for hours, and I explained to him what we needed to do and what kind of person we needed. I told him that if he wanted to do this, he needed someone with a dark soul. If they didn't have such a person, we shouldn't even consider it, because I didn't have a murderer in my pocket.
"Three people have been unable to be executed since the start of the pandemic and are awaiting execution, but I don't know what their souls are like."
We got up and went to the place where they were holding these people. I touched each of them, checking if their souls were tainted.
A stain on one's soul means that they knowingly and willingly murdered innocent people.
If the soul is completely dark, it either means that he has murdered many innocent people or that he has no remorse. People have no chance to deceive their own souls; a person can convince himself that he has not done anything terrible, but he cannot do so to his own soul.
Of the three, only one's soul was tainted; this man was still trying to deceive himself, saying he hadn't done anything deserving of death. He killed a prostitute, which was understandable. The other two were also murderers, but their crimes were different. One killed someone in a pub brawl, and unknowingly. The last one killed someone for rape. I can use other people's lives as sacrifices because when you kill an innocent person, you give up your own right to life.
Upon learning this news, Woer pondered for several hours before finally agreeing to hold the ceremony.
The next morning, with everything ready, we arrived at the valley below the settlement. I erected a stone pillar and inscribed runes on it.
( Plant Growth provides a bounty), and people sow grain seeds in the snow-covered fields.
I began chanting the incantation. "Vyguēsin muña, dono īlva lēda mirri hen aōha infi fortuy, se paro īlva lēda iā sȳz ceress (Nature bestows upon us your endless blessings, allowing us to reap a bountiful harvest)."
As soon as I finished chanting the incantation, I slit the man's throat. 150 points of magic flowed out of my body like water, then combined with the magic in the atmosphere and the man's blood, turning the stone pillar a deep red.
Starting from the stone pillar, green energy waves began to spread to a radius of two kilometers, melting the 30-40 centimeters of snow on the ground and thawing the earth.
As the soil thawed and softened, the seeds slowly entered the ground, and then, starting from the stone pillars, the earth turned a dark green. The man's body first turned into a mummy, and then the mummy-like body turned into dust, which then flew away in the wind. About 10 hours later, the fields within a 2-kilometer radius were filled with golden ears of wheat.