Sky Giant

"Your Highness! I thought you had slipped out of class, but what are you doing in a place like this...? Hm? A little person, you say?"

The one who came rushing toward us was a fully armed giant clad in golden full-body armor and carrying an enormous spear as tall as the giant himself. I could not see the giant's face because of the helmet. However, judging from the fact that he was called 'Grandpa,' the giant was probably elderly. The voice also had the seasoned rasp characteristic of an older person.

The giant seemed wary of us. O-okay! We needed to communicate! I had to make it absolutely clear that I meant no harm!

"Pleased to meet you, Giant-dono. I am Izam, a humble magician. I happened to spot this boy while traveling through the skies, so I stopped him and asked him to tell me about himself."

The giant had been on guard, but after hearing my explanation, he seemed to relax. Had he understood that we meant no harm?

"...Magician Izam-dono. There is no need to be concerned, is there? I take it His Highness approached you because he could not contain his curiosity?"

"I-I'm busted...!?"

Hey, boy! You could have talked your way out of it if you had just kept quiet! Apparently, he was not very good at lying.

In any case, he had been called 'His Highness.' This boy was undoubtedly the son of someone of high standing in giant society. I could even infer that he held a position akin to royalty or a tribal chieftain.

"Good grief. It was fortunate that Izam-dono was a reasonable person, but what did you intend to do if he had attacked His Highness without a word?"

"Ugh... I'm sorry, Grandpa..."

"Being honest and apologizing is a good thing, Your Highness."

As he spoke, the old giant got off the sheep and floated toward the boy before patting him on the head. Um... I know this is rich coming from me, but how could he float with a body that huge!? He was about as big as a humanoid weapon from a robot anime!

"Ah, I have neglected to introduce myself! I am Karolos, one of the Titus in service to the great Titus Lord-sama. And this young man is His Highness Lysandros, son of the Titus Lord-sama."

"The Titus...?"

"Oh? Izam-dono, are you unfamiliar with the Titus? By the way, you said all of you were traveling. Where are you headed?"

"We intend to go to the southern part of the Luxresia continent, but why do you ask?"

"I thought I might see you all on your way as an apology for the trouble His Highness caused you."

Huh? Seriously?

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"Wow! There are Races like that on the surface, too!"

We naturally accepted Karolos's offer. It would have been a shame to miss the chance to ride a sheep of super-dreadnought proportions, and this might lead to another event. In this game, actively interacting with NPCs was unquestionably encouraged.

Along the way, Karolos asked us to tell Lysandros about our adventures and what the cities on the surface were like as payment for the ride. This was a lesson for Lysandros. He had originally escaped from a classroom lesson, and Karolos had devised this plan because he wanted to prioritize learning through enjoyment.

"If anything, I am more interested in the kingdom of the Titus."

Through their conversations with Karolos and Lysandros, we learned a great deal. First, the Titus were a Race of giants who lived in the sky. Adult males reached around twenty meters in height, while adult females reached around eighteen. I had not noticed at first, but their hair had a feather-like appearance, as did the rest of their body hair. As a Race, they all possessed the Flight Skill, which was how they had been floating earlier.

Next was the sheep we were riding. It was apparently a monster called a Cloud Sheep. These monsters lived in the sky and had a symbiotic relationship with the Titus as their companions. Among them, the Ancient Cloud Sheep Emperor, which had lived since ancient times and was the ancestor of all Cloud Sheep, was extraordinarily huge.

That's right. What Iris had seen was the leg of the Ancient Cloud Sheep Kaiser. And what we had thought was a cumulonimbus cloud was actually the Ancient Cloud Sheep Kaiser's body!

The Titus had built their kingdom atop the Ancient Cloud Sheep Kaiser. A being as large as a building was living atop a monster larger than a mountain. It was an excessively huge story in every sense of the word.

"Heh heh. Your Highness, the world is a vast place, is it not? The same is true for us Titus."

"Yeah! Hey, tell me more!"

"Sure thing! That happened a little while ago..."

Jigoro, Iris, and I took turns telling them all sorts of stories. Jigoro, who was poor at honorific speech, used a rough manner of speaking, but the two Titus did not mind at all. Apparently, that was because the Titus were generally an easygoing Race.

Many of them seemed to go beyond easygoing and become careless or act selfishly, so meticulous people like Karolos were rare and had a difficult time. I could well imagine the troubles he had to endure.

According to Karolos, there were various other giant Races besides the Titus, such as the Gigades, Okeas, Jotun, and Typhon. Their personalities differed as well. Some giant Races consisted entirely of stern and upright people, while others consisted solely of belligerent ones. We were told that we should do our research before making contact with them. In other words, we had been lucky that the first giant Race we encountered was the generous Titus.

"...And that's about it. One day, I'll definitely beat him, just you wait."

"Wow! Which do you think is stronger, that Great Tengu-san or Father? What do you think, Grandpa?"

"Hmm, I cannot say. However, the Great Tengu of Spirit Island is famous enough to be known among us as one of the strongest classes of yokai. At the very least, if the Great Tengu fought our king at full strength, our king would not defeat it easily."

"As strong as Father!? Amazing!"

Lysandros's eyes opened wide in surprise. It was unclear whether giants were monsters, but among monsters, those bearing titles like 'King' or 'Emperor' seemed to be the strongest.

"Oh? You three, it seems we are nearly at your destination."

Oh? The Cloud Sheep was unbelievably fast! The one Lysandros had been riding was considerably faster than Kal's flight speed, but apparently that one had still been a child. Even while carrying Lysandros, the three of us, Kal, and Lysandros's Cloud Sheep, the one Karolos rode raced like the wind.

This was probably due to its physique. I did not associate sheep with having long legs, but its body was simply too enormous. It seemed to cover nearly a hundred meters in a single step. Since it moved those legs so briskly, it might have been traveling at airplane speeds. If so, why did we not feel any wind pressure?

There must have been some secret behind it, but there was no point worrying about that now. What mattered was that our destination was already right in front of us.

"Aww, we just became friends..."

"Your Highness, you must not be selfish. These people have somewhere to be, too."

"Mmm... Oh! Then take this!"

Karolos soothed Lysandros, but then the boy seemed to have an idea. He grabbed his own hair and yanked out several feathers at once. Then he offered one to each of us. The feathers making up his hair were enormous, just like the rest of him. One of them was as tall as I was. I should appraise it.

――――――――――

Sky Giant Head Feathers Quality: Superior Rarity: S (Special Grade)

Head feathers of a Sky Giant who dwells in the heavens

For the Sky Giants, white is a noble color, and these belong to royalty

Can be spun into an extremely rare fiber

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I see. So these are called head feathers, and they can be processed into fiber. They looked like valuable items, but since I had received them as a token of friendship, I would not alter them. That would be rude, and far too wasteful!

"Grandpa is wearing a helmet, so he probably doesn't know this, but white feathers are a color reserved for royalty like me and Father! Come visit our country someday! If you show them this, I'm sure we'll be able to meet again! And when you do, tell me more stories about the outside world!"

"All right. I'll bring our other companions then. It's a promise."

"Yeah!"

Lysandros beamed innocently. Heh heh heh! This meant we could now visit the country of the Titus, didn't it? There were so many places I wanted to explore that I hardly knew what to do with myself!

Oops, I might have gotten too excited. Anyway, this meant we had gained one more destination to aim for together. A kingdom of giants living atop a sheep floating in the sky... It sounded like something out of a fairy tale.

"You can let us off here. Thank you very much for bringing us this far."

"Thanks, old giant and Prince-san!"

"Thank you very much. And thank you too, Sheep-san."

"Grrrrrr..."

Even as we exchanged our farewells, Karolos's Cloud Sheep continued moving steadily onward. Thanks to that, we had somehow reached a point where it would take only about ten minutes to arrive at our destination at our usual flight speed. So we said goodbye with our thanks. Jigoro made an American-style farewell gesture, while Iris stroked the Cloud Sheep as though reluctant to part. ...Did Iris like sheep? If so, she might be happy to see some wool.

"No, no. We should be thanking you for telling His Highness those valuable stories. We look forward to meeting you again someday."

"Yeah! See you!"

After dismounting from the Cloud Sheep, we returned to our original positions and took to the sky once more. We gradually descended as we headed toward our destination.

"Bye! You'd better come, you hear me? You absolutely, positively have to come!"

Lysandros's voice reached us from behind. Though they had been our traveling companions for only a short time, we were sorry to part with the two of them as we continued onward.

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"There it is. That's our destination, the city-state of Bigdaleio."

The southern part of the Luxresia continent consisted of dry wastelands and deserts. The city-state of Bigdaleio was a nation centered around an oasis in the wasteland near the desert, and was composed mainly of monsters, with Orcs at its center. It was a nation of honorable warriors, with a character apparently diametrically opposed to the greedy, base image that usually came to mind when one thought of Orcs.

Although there was no disparity among Races, as one might expect from a nation of monsters, the stronger someone was, the more likely they were to earn the respect of those around them. Conversely, the strong had a duty to protect their companions. Even travelers who were merely staying in the city had to fight and hunt the monsters threatening Bigdaleio if they were strong enough.

This applied to players as well, and anyone wishing to stay for an extended period had to hunt countless monsters. It was not a place where one could relax like Birdie Perch. Production Jobs were an exception, however. As long as they seriously engaged in production and paid an appropriate lodging fee, they could apparently stay for a long time.

"Ugh... It's hooooot..."

"Really? Feels just right to me."

The southern part of the Luxresia continent was hot during the day and cold at night. It might have been a harsh environment for Iris, who possessed Fire Attribute Vulnerability. Her tentacles even looked a little wilted. Jigoro, on the other hand, seemed to be in his element thanks to his Fire Attribute Resistance. It was entirely possible for the surrounding environment to cause a status ailment. We should investigate the matter later.

"If it's too much, tell me anytime... Hm? Is someone fighting monsters over there?"

I was thinking of hitting Iris with an even weaker Water Ball when I noticed something fighting ahead of us. On one side was a swarm of giant, earthworm-like monsters, while the other consisted of heavily armed warriors.

I could not see their faces, but judging by their location, they were almost certainly warriors from Bigdaleio. I could only guess from a distance, but the warriors seemed to be at a disadvantage. The monsters were larger and more numerous, so that was hardly surprising.

"Hey, hey. We aren't going to ignore them, are we, brother?"

"Of course not. For humanitarian reasons—and practical ones, too."

Eiji and Toji had already been told that we were on our way. Still, outsiders arriving on dragons could reasonably expect to be attacked. So, while acting out of the spirit of helping people—or rather, monsters—we intended to lend the warriors a hand and enter Bigdaleio smoothly.

"Eek... A battle?"

"You don't have to overdo it. Just throwing items will be enough support."

"Yeees..."

"Let's go, Kal!"

"GROOOOOOOOON!"

Iris's weak nod worried me a little, but we hurried toward the battlefield to help the warriors who were struggling.