950. Giant Iritum
Encred stepped forward, his nightwalk dangling from his waist, and stood alone before the giant.
The size difference was considerable. From the outside, he looked as if he could be blown away like a blade of grass at the giant’s beckoning.
Of course, no one, including Leona, seemed uneasy. It was understandable. He was on his way back from slaying the demonic spirit.
Encred seemed even more different these days. Even to a non-knight, he seemed to have grasped the truth and stepped into a new world. He seemed to transcend everything, to wander alone in another world.
“My name is Iritum.”
The giant spoke. Encred nodded.
The giant Iritum glanced at the night walk slung around Encred’s waist and then turned his hand back. He was planning to pull out the axe hidden behind his back if he got distracted.
Encred saw everything, but he left it alone. He didn’t mind taking out the axe. Contrary to his actions, he still showed no will to fight.
Besides, whether he wielded an axe or was bare-handed, Encred didn’t seem to care.
‘Is this arrogance?’
Encred accelerated his thinking, assessing his own condition.
It wasn’t arrogance. It was confidence.
“ask?”
Encred asked, concluding with a brief question. Iritum didn’t even roll his eyes. He didn’t even pretend to look around.
thud.
The giant knelt, one hand behind his back, and his head bowed slightly.
“Please save me.”
It was a look of desperation. Encred silently gazed at the kneeling giant.
Beheading him was no easy feat. As I said before, it didn’t matter whether he pulled out an axe or the giant’s strength to tear a boar apart with his bare hands.
The power that made humans look down on giants was now abundant within me.
That’s why I had the luxury of watching and thinking.
Leona, watching from behind, knew that no matter what the giant said, the choice in this position was not hers, and Dunbakel didn’t think much of it.
The others, including the merchants and Juol, were surprised by the giant’s sudden appearance and became mere onlookers.
“A giant can even kneel?”
“I could usually solve it with brute force, but this guy is special.”
“What do you mean, ‘please spare me’?”
Rem looked ahead, drowning out the crowd’s idle chatter. He sensed Encred was listening. Given recent events in the West, Rem had little affection for giants. Still, that didn’t mean they should be killed at every opportunity.
He’d seen plenty of good giants during his time wandering the continent. Slaughtering them all by race was genocide. Not just any genocide, but a massacre.
Even the empire that unified the world’s currency and language through war wouldn’t wipe out a single race.
“I come from the South.”
Then a giant named Iritum began his story. He was the leader of my clan, and by chance, he had found refuge in the south.
His story needs no length. His purpose was simple, and his actions were straightforward.
“I needed a place to live.”
The racial trait of a warrior-loving race makes most giants warriors. Iritum used this trait to join the southern army. This was the birth of the giant army. It
wasn’t actually an army raised by a southern king, but rather a brilliant individual named Iritum who united a clan of giants to form the giant army.
“With the great powers losing, our situation became dire. We couldn’t claim land, and if we stayed, many of the idiots would keep causing trouble, and our reputation around us plummeted to its lowest point.”
If left alone, the entire clan would have become sacrificial lambs to block the demonic realm.
Meanwhile, several disobedient fools emerged, and they were the giant thieves Encred had encountered.
“I didn’t send them. Those bastards are a mess from the south. I barely managed to keep them alive, but they kept causing trouble. I tried to kill them with my own hands, but they ran away in the middle of the night.”
Iritum didn’t speak in fluent or flowery language, but he was direct and clear in his meaning.
“Can we get a place to live?”
Iritum didn’t discuss a deal. He pleaded for his life. Leona had considered intervening if it were a deal, but she refused, so she simply watched.
The giant wanted to live and maintain his clan. His dream was both grandiose and simple.
“We too can cultivate the land and live.”
The giant clans, mostly warriors, lived together in clans, but even they often split apart. Iritum dreamed of a settled giant village. He was a giant who believed in the power of the group.
Perhaps he dreamed of stability.
Just as some Frocks crafted trinkets with slippery hands that struggled to hold anything properly, so too did some among the red-blooded giants, those who aspired to such a life. It was
like the boy’s dream of becoming a herbalist,
or the girl’s dream of being a highlander in the mountains, born with divine power.
Iritum’s words were not false. Encred pulled a horned dagger from his pocket. A thrown weapon would pierce a giant’s skull.
The giant’s gaze sunk. He brought forward the hand he had hidden behind his back. Knowing who he was facing, he knew resistance was meaningless, so his hand remained empty. He didn’t grasp his axe. He clenched his fist and placed it on the ground, seeking mercy from the one before him.
It was also not an easy action for a giant to do.
* * *
“Every time I come, it brings a storm to the West and destroys everything that is bad.”
Ayul spoke to his father, and his father, the great chief Narae, closed his eyes and then opened them to answer.
“Yes, he really is a great man.”
“And Rem too.”
“Yes, aren’t you sad to see him go again?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad, but if you had said you wouldn’t leave and would stay here, I would have broken something.”
Give back what you receive. Repay kindness. Respond with your heart.
That’s the spirit of the West.
Encred helped the West, and Rem helped him. Conversely, Rem should do the same. Westerners repay what they receive with double.
This applies to both grudges and favors.
Furthermore, “Maji”—acting appropriately at the right time—is the right thing to do. A man who upholds the spirit of the West—that’s Ayul’s companion.
“We must protect our land with our own strength.”
The chieftain said. The West protects the West. It was the orthodoxy.
Of course, many will die immediately. There are still many monsters here and there. There will be a shortage of hands to fight them.
But that’s okay. This isn’t a fight over scarce resources, but for a brighter tomorrow.
“When the end of the war they long for comes and they return, will you welcome them back then?”
The chief asked. The subject was omitted, but of course it was Rem.
“I hope that day comes every day. It would be even better if it comes before Kio becomes an adult.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Surviving until then was another challenge for the West. The gentle breeze blowing through the West was gentle and warm.
And two days later, a visitor arrived in the West. A group of giants. To be precise, one giant, holding up both hands without weapons, approached first and shouted.
“Accept the guests!”
He shouted again, repeatedly showing his unwillingness to fight.
“Treat me like a guest. Here’s a sign!”
He pulled out his horned dagger, placed it gently on the ground, and stepped back a long way.
It was a rare weapon, a dagger always carried by the Savior of the West. Several eyes recognized it.
Geomnare, riding out on his bellopter, brought the horned dagger and the note tied to it.
The giant breathed quietly. Hearing Geomnare’s “sseueuup” (a gasp), he glanced at him and returned.
“Wait.”
The giant nodded at her words. The note tied to the dagger was Encred’s letter.
[It would be nice to show some generosity.]
The lands of the West have always held much. Each of the minor tribes, and even the cannibal tribes before Rem left, were together. They squabbled and fought, but they helped each other in the face of natural disasters.
If they weren’t cannibals, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have another giant clan settle in this land.
Well, that was the gist of it. He also added that if Rem were to encounter anything, he could kill them all.
Geomnarae knew it wasn’t his choice, so he handed the note to Ayul.
Ayul was the next leader of the Elder Bears and the next chieftain to inherit the Big Narae tribe.
Ayul looked at the note and thought. Even if it was a simple request, if it came from Encred, he couldn’t refuse.
It was the words of the savior, the slayer of the magic realm, the one who ended the silence. There was no way he wouldn’t keep it.
‘I’m not saying you have to listen unconditionally, right?’
Ayul glanced at the giant, thinking. Iritum wiggled his fingers, waiting for a response.
Ayul read the letter again carefully.
He wasn’t suggesting they just find a place to live next to the city. Encred’s proposal was clear.
The West would handle the complexities, but he was simply setting the direction.
“We don’t want precious land. The one next to the Demonic Realm is fine. Instead, we want to live there.”
The giant spoke abruptly. He was concerned about his opponent’s worries. Iritum was unusually clever for a giant. He knew that living next to the half-completed demonic realm that Encred had destroyed was far safer than living next to the vibrant demonic realm in the south.
As before, a giant’s weapon was force, and with that as his weapon, he fought for life once again.
Nothing can be achieved without sacrifice. That’s the world Iritum knew. He grasped this simple truth and continued to advance. Thus, he merged several clans and became the leader of a clan with over two hundred members, including children.
“Encred sent it.”
Only after Geomnarae spoke again did Ayul come forward.
“Recite it.”
The letter didn’t go into detail. Iritum responded to Ayul’s words in his usual straightforward tone. ”
This is what I hoped for, and how we came to this point.”
Ayul needed more time to cultivate Western warriors. And yet, he had to fight the Demonic Realm.
In that sense, the arrival of the giants to the West was welcome.
‘As long as we don’t have to fight amongst ourselves.’
That’s how it will be.
However, the lands of the West are vast. They’ll expand even more when the silence disappears. That means
there’s plenty of land to play in. We wouldn’t mind accepting a clan of giants. As long as they don’t betray or do anything strange.
Listening to Iritum, that giant’s purpose isn’t fighting. So, would they also be dealing with the occasional wandering giants in the West?
It seemed likely.
But what about the more practical issues?
How long will it take to erase and erase all the silence that once existed?
Five years. At least five years.
Ayul calculated faster than anyone else. The number of warriors to train, the number to sacrifice, the time to endure, the equipment to be acquired, the food and resources consumed.
This was the conclusion he reached after calculating for several nights.
First, lead the warriors, kill all the monsters and beasts, then build dozens of fortresses around the silenced area to prevent further invasions.
‘After that, it’s all about digging up rotten trees and digging up the ground.’
Even though Rem, Encred, and Dunbakel had taken out the annoying monsters, they were still at this level.
‘What if a herd of giants joins here?’
They can invest more time and effort in training their warriors. Above all, if they establish their residences near the Demon Realm, the resources consumed by various problems will be reduced.
Ultimately, this means they won’t have to sacrifice their western warriors right away.
‘It’s like using mercenaries.’
Ayul concluded.
If something were to go wrong, he’d have to fight the giant again.
‘That’s when Rem comes.’
My husband is the warrior who killed silence. The title of “Magic Slayer” isn’t unique to Encred.
Moreover, those giants came with Rem’s permission. If they were an immediate threat, Rem wouldn’t have left them alone.
So, it’s safe to say this was an unexpected gift.
No matter how strong the giants were, the Western warriors alone would be more than enough to deal with them over time.
Ayul needed time.
Time to convince the surrounding tribes to unite, and time for the seeds Encred had sown to grow and bear fruit.
The giants’ arrival would buy him time.
“good night.”
Ayul gave permission. Iritum had intended to prove his worth several times, but was taken aback when permission was granted so suddenly.
“Huh? You can do it?”
“Okay, I’ll give you a place to live and food to eat. In return, you fight.”
“Okay.”
It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. The giant reflected once again on the fact that kneeling before the mad knight commander was indeed the right decision.
Despite some twists and turns, the giant clan had finally established itself in the West.
* * *
When Encred returned to the Border Guard, several letters arrived from Krang.
The seal was royal. These weren’t letters to be opened lightly. They were different from the usual letters of greeting.
“It was something that even Lord Christ could not open carelessly.”
This is a letter from Edin Molsen, who had previously joined the city. He continued:
“If you need anything from the city’s lower-level administrators, call me anytime.”
“I heard that lower-level administrators have a lot to do.”
“Lord Chrys is not a man who gives a lot of favors.”
“So you’re dissatisfied?”
“I meant that I’m extremely satisfied.”
Edin grew up in a noble family. He was well-versed in etiquette and understood their ways. Perhaps that’s why he treated Encred with such respect, even now.
He never forgot his place and role, no matter what others said.
While Chrys painted the overall picture, Abnair specialized in military affairs.
‘Edin is the one who takes care of the inside.’
Kreis expressed his satisfaction with the arrival of Edin Molsen.
“I really liked that guy. I was even thinking about taking him with me when I open my own salon.”
It was high praise that Christ said he’d take her. Of course, it wasn’t something Edin Molsen wanted at all.
Everyone’s dreams are different, after all.
Encred opened the letter.
In a typical Krangian way, the first line clearly stated the purpose.
[They say they invited you from the empire.]
It was added that they would discuss the matter in the capital and that they should come when the time was right.
