Chapter 56
#56. The Giants' Table
"Zephar—!!"
Galad's scream echoed through the enormous undergrowth of the floating island.
It was a truly pitiful sight: the Mithril-rank adventurer who had once ruled the skies of the South was openly sobbing.
His precious partner was dangling from a giant's hand like a chicken destined for soup.
"Sob…! How could this happen…!"
It was just then, while Zephar's head hung low.
[Hm? Gogon? Those little ones sitting on your shoulder… Could they possibly……?]
It was a young voice.
A giant girl with blonde hair braided into twin tails and freckles covering her cheeks stared intently at the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.
[No way…… Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!]
The giant girl screamed and came running.
The earth shook every time she stomped her feet.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
[These…… these are humans, aren't they!?]
The girl thrust her enormous face toward them while holding a wyvern in each hand.
Kylan's black hair fluttered in her breath.
[Mm-hmm. I found them. Invited them. To our village. Did I do well? Very cute.]
Gogon puffed out his chest proudly, and the blonde girl began hopping up and down, unable to contain her delight.
[They're totally! Totally adorable!!]
The ground shook as though an earthquake had struck.
Gogon's gaze turned toward the wyvern in the girl's hand.
[B-but, Rina.]
Gogon wore an awkward expression.
[Those birds aren't food. They're the cute humans' friends… Are they dead?]
At Gogon's words, the girl called Rina poked the wyvern's cheek.
[They're not dead. I only gave them a tight hug, that's all! Right, Tapa?]
[What Rina says is true. I only poked it, but it fainted.]
Another female giant beside them chimed in.
[Here. The one I'm holding is fine too. It's breathing just fine. Listen for yourself.]
Tapa brought Zephar's snout close to Galad, who was sobbing in the basket.
"……."
Pffft. Hssss. Hss.
A faint breeze escaped Zephar's nostrils as he foamed at the mouth with his tongue hanging out.
"Oh. Looks like he's still breathing?"
Hans smiled calmly and gave a thumbs-up.
Only then did Galad sink backward in relief.
Kylan watched the scene with an impassive expression and thought,
'Fortunately, the pack animals aren't dead. Without them, there's no way back to the ground.'
[Heehee. Humans are cute!]
"Um, excuse me…?"
Rina gently placed Aria, who was shaking her head in refusal, atop her palm.
Then she led the way toward the village.
[Let's go! To the village!]
"Um, excuse me…? Excuse me?"
Unfortunately, no one answered the Tower Master's voice.
***
"Uaaah…… Uaaaaah…"
Aria gripped Rina's thumb tightly and trembled as she stared ahead.
The giants' village. Its scenery was truly magnificent.
Stone houses. Carts. Even the livestock.
Everything was six or seven times the size of a human.
As they crossed the center of the village, countless giants turned their gazes toward the group.
"It's a human! So cuuute—!"
"I want to touch it too! Let me touch it just once!"
When a crowd of giant children came rushing over, Rina raised one hand and shouted at them.
"No! You'll break them if you touch them wrong! I'm taking them to Grandpa!"
She looked like a child proudly showing off a cute chick bought at the market.
Aria had suddenly been treated like a pet, but she did not have the courage to complain.
Rina stopped in front of the largest hut in the giant village and knocked on the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After a short while.
A hoarse voice came from inside.
[Who is it, during naptime……]
Creeeeak─
The door opened, revealing a giant with a thick white beard.
It was Grang, the village chief of the floating island.
[Gogon? Rina? If you've finished gathering, how many times have I told you to go to the food storage instead of coming to my house to play……]
The chief's eyes, which had been about to launch into a scolding, turned toward Rina's palm.
"Ah, hello. Haha…"
[…...!!]
The chief stood there with a dazed expression, staring down at the Tower Master for a long while.
[I invited them. Cute humans. They wanted to meet the village chief.]
Gogon grinned, showing his gums.
The chief seemed to ponder for a while, then slowly opened the door and stepped aside.
[Come in, for now.]
***
The inside of the hut was filled with enormous furniture.
Thanks to the chief's consideration, the group sat huddled together in the middle of the dining table.
They looked as though they had become the giants' main course, but there was nowhere else to sit.
The wyverns were resting inside a large cage.
Their lives were not in danger, but judging by how limp they were, they seemed to need some recuperation.
Several giants sat in a circle around the table, including Chief Grang, Gogon, Rina, and a large man who appeared to be Rina's father.
Rina in particular still seemed fascinated by humans, and she blinked as she brought her face right up to Aria's.
"H-hiik……."
Aria, terrified, hid behind Lumiela's back.
[I grabbed it just as the bird was about to escape up a tree!]
[Not bird. Wyvern. They are human friends.]
At some point, the giants began chattering among themselves.
They were incredibly noisy.
How they had discovered the humans.
How they had caught the wyverns.
They rambled on and on, but their sentences were oddly broken and incoherent.
They clearly were not a particularly intelligent race.
After listening for a long while, the chief frowned.
[Everyone, quiet…! So? Why did you come to where we live?]
At least the chief and his granddaughter Rina were relatively capable of holding a conversation.
[That's right! That's right! Why did you come here!? Cute friends?]
Rina asked while still holding her face right in front of the Tower Master.
"E-eeek……!"
As the enormous eyes came right up to her face, Aria hunched her shoulders and let out a small scream.
Kylan stepped forward to represent the group.
"I heard there's a stone here containing tremendous magical power. It's called the Sun Crystal… Do you happen to know it?"
The Sun Crystal. A legendary treasure said to exist on the floating island.
It was the wedding gift he intended to give his wife.
At Kylan's question, the chief's benevolent face hardened.
Ssssssip.
The chief opened his eyes wide and stared into empty space.
The dining table, which had been bustling only moments ago, fell silent as though it had all been a lie.
'As I thought… perhaps it isn't something they would readily hand over to outsiders.'
Galad was the first to put a hand on his weapon.
The giants' grim expressions made it seem as though a battle might break out at any moment.
Kylan was also busy calculating in his head how to steer the negotiations.
After a short while.
The chief, who had been drawing out the moment, finally opened his mouth.
[…...I don't know anything like that, though?]
At that vacant reply, Galad, who had been tense, suddenly lost his balance and staggered.
The chief looked at Rina's father, who was sitting beside him, and asked,
[Do you know?]
[Hmm, not sure…?]
Gogon also scratched his head and blinked.
[I've never heard of it either. Is it something to eat?]
[Sweet name. Sounds delicious…]
They had not been seriously pondering the matter.
They had merely been turning over a word they had heard for the first time, then given up when they could not find it in their memories.
Chief Grang gave an awkward smile at the speechless group.
The atmosphere grew friendly again.
[Please understand, little friends. We've lived so long that we often forget old things and difficult names. Hah hah hah.]
[I don't even know. If I ate breakfast. Today.]
[Pffhaha! Stupid Gogon!]
'......What am I supposed to do about this.'
Kylan's head began to throb.
They did not seem to be lying.
Their brains' capacity clearly could not keep up with their size, and they had genuinely lost the memory.
[That aside!]
Just then, the chief clapped his hands as though trying to change the mood.
His clap left everyone's ears ringing.
[You must be tired after flying all the way here from a distant land! We have precious guests, so naturally we must bring out food first! You must all be hungry!]
[Dinner! Dinner time!!]
[That's right. I was hungry too.]
[Human guests! Let's prepare lots of yummy things!]
No sooner had the chief finished speaking than Rina and Gogon cheered and ran toward the kitchen.
After a short while.
The food the giants proudly brought out was set on the dining table.
[Here! Our village specialty! Eat your fill!]
"……."
"……."
The expedition members' expressions all stiffened at the sight of the food.
"U-urgh……!"
The Tower Master covered her mouth and gagged.
On the plate lay an unidentified animal's leg, its fur barely plucked and its exterior roughly singed, filling the air with a foul stench.
Beside it, larvae as thick as forearms crawled and writhed, alive, atop the juice of crushed fruit.
If hell existed, perhaps this was what it looked like.
Galad already had a vacant expression, and even Hans, whose appetite was extraordinary, quietly began backing away.
"I-I'm sorry……! They went to so much trouble to serve us……!"
Even Lumiela, who said that, was staring at some distant empty space rather than the plate.
Even Kylan, who had tamed the Northern orcs with capitalism, could only surrender with all four limbs before this raw, unprocessed menu.
'......I suppose I should eat at least one bite out of courtesy.'
Just as Kylan slowly reached out his hand, Eleanor, who had been sitting quietly, sprang to her feet.
"Chief! Could you show us the kitchen?"
The chief tilted his head at Eleanor's spirited voice.
[Kitchen……?]
"The place where you cook!"
[Aha! You mean the mixing place!]
"The mixing…… place?"
Lumiela muttered quietly with an ominous expression.
A mixing place.
The wording itself seemed ominous.
There was something troubling about the choice of words alone.
At Eleanor's earnest request, the expedition party climbed onto Rina's palm again and moved to the giants' kitchen—or rather, their mixing place.
There, a giant auntie who was preparing dinner greeted them.
[Oh, little guests.]
[She's the best cook in our village!]
Rina said proudly from beside her.
A little later, the best cooking in the giant village began.
The auntie brought over a huge wooden barrel, then began laying out the ingredients while humming to herself.
[Hmm-hmm~ Put this in too.]
Several larvae as thick as forearms were tossed into the wooden barrel.
[Put that in too.]
A handful of crushed fruit poured down over them.
[Can't leave this out either.]
A handful of mysterious plant roots was added as well.
The auntie nodded in satisfaction, then picked up a huge pestle and began pounding the contents of the barrel.
After pounding, mixing, and mashing for a long while.
The auntie held out a bowl to the group.
"……Surely that's not all, right? You're going to roast it over a fire or something, aren't you?"
"S-surely not. Even so, there's no way that's the end……."
Just as Galad and Lumiela whispered to each other.
The auntie took the bowl away again.
[Hoho. Look at me. I almost forgot.]
“...See?”
Lumiela let out a sigh of relief.
Everyone finally relaxed.
But then the auntie brought the bowl to her own mouth and puckered her lips.
Sluuuurp.
It was a sight no one could believe even after seeing it with their own eyes.
A huge, sticky glob of saliva dripped into the food.
Without a care for the horrified faces around her, the auntie plunged her pinky finger into it and began stirring.
[You have to add saliva so it slides down your throat smoothly. There! Done!]
"……Ugh!!"
"Bweeegh!!"
Northern and Southern people alike covered their mouths and began gagging.
Galad, who had somehow forced a bite down at the dining table earlier, was practically wailing toward the kitchen floor.
As expected of a Mithril-rank adventurer.
Even in this situation, he did not commit the discourtesy of spilling the contents in the kitchen.
Kylan silently watched the horrifying scene and inwardly patted himself on the chest.
'I nearly ate something like that. As expected, my wife is the best.'
Eleanor rolled up her sleeves as though she could not bear to watch any longer.
"I…… I'm actually quite good at cooking. May I help you?"
At that, the giant auntie gave her a suspicious look.
Then she snorted.
[Little humans are going to cook? Will that even make a dent in our hunger?]
Considering the giants' size, it was a reasonable question.
Even a hundred servings of human-sized rice balls would not amount to more than a single bite for them.
But Eleanor was not intimidated. She quickly scanned her surroundings, looking for a prospective customer.
"Miss Rina, would you help me? I'll make you something very delicious."
[Wow……!!]
Rina's enormous eyes sparkled brightly.
[I will! I will!]
Eleanor, the genius Finance Minister who had conquered the Northern table with a single bowl of meat soup, stood ready to work her magic on the giants' dinner table at last? No—maybe just the first course?
Her eyes glowed blue.