Chapter 55 – Giant Subjugation Quest #12
“…You mean the old giant? Based on the number of sleeping bags, the giant can guess better. How can you conclude that?”
The subjugation commander carefully asked old Nickel.
“Can’t you feel the smell? The old man’s musty smell.”
“I do not know.”
“If you don’t believe me, check the sleeping bag yourself.”
A few adventurers, including the subjugation leader, approached the sleeping bag near the campfire.
The leader of the punitive force sniffed each sleeping bag, sniffing it, but he was uninspired.
However, the captain of the subjugation soon opened his mouth with a surprised expression.
“Oh, that’s right! It’s an old giant!”
“How do you know that?”
“Did the barbarian guess?”
Among the whispering adventurers, the subjugation commander raised his hand.
In the hand of the subjugation commander wearing the gauntlet, thick, long, pure white hair was caught.
It was the hair of an old man with gray hair.
“It’s definitely different from the hair of the young giants I just encountered! How the hell does this old man…?”
“My nose is pretty good.”
The nickel inspiration that blows the nose feels strange.
Nickel old man, with whom he had a conversation during his vigil, was just a talkative old man, but now he has turned into a real savage.
It was like that when I split the giant’s head.
How can a person change in an instant?
“How should I deal with the old giants? Usually, the giants who plunder private houses are young, so I’ve never dealt with them. All other adventurers are probably the same.”
The leader of the subjugation looked around with a troubled expression.
Looking at the atmosphere, it seemed that the other adventurers had never met the old giant.
None of these many adventurers stepped forward with confidence.
First time!
All the adventurers in the subjugation party were on their first trip to catch the old giant.
In an atmosphere of obvious tension, Nickel’s old man opened his mouth in a calm tone.
Surprisingly, Nickel’s tone was calm.
“I don’t have any countermeasures, but I can tell you this. Old giants are weaker than younger ones.”
“Yes?”
“Because I’m old! Of course, my energy is bound to decline. My back is bent, and I don’t have the fighting spirit of young guys. If you fight alone, the old giant is rather easy to beat. Oh, of course, by the standards of the subjugation team.”
“So you’re saying there’s nothing to be wary of? Just aim for your knees like normal giants?”
“It’s not that there’s nothing to be wary of. It’s weak, but it might be more difficult to hunt an old giant.”
Old Nickel tapped his head with his fingers.
“Head! Old giants know how to use their heads! Wisdom that is incomparable to that of younger giants is contained in their heads. When I was young, I was caught by an old giant and almost died. The last time I felt threatened while hunting a giant was that day. It was the first time.”
“The old man almost died?”
The subjugation commander asked with an expression of disbelief.
At that moment, old Nickel said with a stern expression.
“Then am I immortal? I could be beaten and killed with a club. Barbarians are people too.”
“Oh, I see.”
When the leader of the subjugation bowed his head to apologize, Old Nick smiled and opened his mouth again.
“…You don’t have to worry about dealing with the old giant for the first time. As soon as he appears, I’ll do my best to knock him out of his skull. I’ll send him off in one blow before he tricks me.”
“Ohhhhh. I’m also a barbarian.”
So you’re saying you didn’t give your all in the previous fight?
I had my doubts, but Old Nick didn’t show any signs of getting tired.
Although there was blood on the body, it was all blood from the giant.
I don’t know if it’s a bluff or not, but old nickel must have been able to fight more.
“But will there be a reward for catching the old giant?”
“Yes. It is customary in the adventurer industry that if you hunt a newly appeared giant in the Giant Subjugation Quest, an additional reward will be paid.”
“That’s great! I just wanted to make a dress for my cute granddaughter. Now I’m done talking. Let’s go chase the giant. Remember that an old giant will appear somewhere in the cave.”
“Yes! Elderly!”
The leader of the subjugation burned his will to pursue the giants who had fled again.
However, not all adventurers had the will to do so. It was because quite a few adventurers were injured in the previous battle. Among them, there were people who were seriously injured by the fallen stalactites, so there was no choice but to stay.
“There are a total of eight wounded. Sister Kate will remain here to treat her, and a few more to escort the wounded. Maybe the giants will break through the encirclement of the pursuit team and attack this place.”
The punitive commander organized a separate force to escort the wounded. It is impossible to leave the wounded behind. Maybe it was spiders, not giants.
I agreed with the punitive commander’s judgment.
But for some reason, I was on the list of escorts called by the punitive commander.
The leader of the subjugation suddenly called my name.
“Lord Luke! Lord Luke, please stay here and escort the wounded.”
“Yes? Me? Could it be that it’s because I’m new?”
“I don’t mean that, it’s because Luke-sama, the wizard, is a trustworthy force. Just before, the giant’s knee was beaten with a water whip! I saw it well. It seems that Luke’s water whip can exert great power even from a long distance. To stop the fleeing giant, we need Luke-sama’s strength.”
It seemed that the subjugation commander had a pretty high opinion of me. An accident might happen if you really leave only small fish in the escort team. He said that he would put his hopes on me as a wizard.
‘I’m coveted for the bounty, but the old nickel will wipe it all out anyway. My eyes didn’t look normal while talking about my granddaughter.’
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that this was a sweet suggestion. After all, isn’t that old nickel going to wipe out the reward for killing the giant?
Because I was the only one who could deliver proper effective hits. Even if you hold a spoon, the giants are not easy guys who can aim for the last hit.
In front of this, there is a narrow passage in a straight line. It was a long structure with only one aisle. The odds of a giant breaking through the siege seemed low.
Then, escorting the wounded was a chance to eat the quest raw.
Even if you just kill time here, it’s 8 silver.
“Okay. I’ll stay here according to the will of the subjugation commander.”
“I’ll put Rebecca-nim, who is a fixed party, into the escort team.”
When I stayed with the escort, Rebecca also stayed.
Rebecca had a slightly regretful expression on her face.
“It’s a waste of 40 silver! You’re saying that the bounty went to us now, right?”
“Do you think of the bounty even after fighting the giants yourself? They say your bones are shattered just by brushing against them.”
“Th-but you never know. Luckily, the stabbing blow might reach the heart-“
“Aren’t you afraid of spiders but not afraid of giants? He’s a strange guy.”
“Because spiders are disgusting.”
Still, it didn’t seem like Rebecca was refusing to stay.
Her life is precious even to this spunky woman. The other adventurers whose names were called on the escort group’s list seemed to be secretly happy.
The number of escorts is eight in total.
An equal number of wounded, including Sister Kate, were left in the campfire of the giants, where the bonfire was burning. If anything, it must mean carrying the injured one by one and running away.
“Let’s go chase the giants.”
The adventurers in the pursuit team followed the leader and headed for the narrow passage.
It didn’t take long for the pursuit team to disappear from sight.
*
“You can’t move your body. The effect of the healing spell will decrease.”
“Ugh. I see, Sister.”
After the chase team started chasing the giants.
The escort crew, including myself, were resting near a campfire. Watching Kate eagerly run among her wounded.
Of course, not all personnel are taking a break.
The escort group’s adventurers were in charge of guarding the surroundings one by one in order. It was intended to prepare for the appearance of a giant.
“It’s very quiet here. Monsters don’t wander around.”
“Aren’t monsters afraid of giants too? Spiders are fearful monsters.”
Quite a bit of time passed, but there was no sign of monsters appearing around the giant’s camp.
As if thinking of this place as an off-limits area, even small animals were not found.
Thanks to this, the escort’s adventurers were able to rest without anything special.
In short, the inside of the cave was strangely quiet.
It’s so quiet, to the point where I feel rather anxious.
Could it be that I am too sensitive?
“Kuhm.”
I was nervous for nothing, so I kept talking to Rebecca.
Having a conversation can alleviate some of your anxiety.
“Are the pursuit team doing well? Didn’t they get hit by giants?”
“Why are you worrying unnecessarily? There’s a savage grandpa, so it’ll be enough to get rid of everything. That grandpa, when I saw him, he was saving a lot of energy.”
“Did you save your strength?”
“Didn’t you see that he caused a gust of wind with an axe? You have to be at least a first-class warrior to create that much power. That savage old man might be able to handle sword skills.”
The crazy act of bouncing off a flying rock with wind pressure was an impossible feat unless it was a superman.
I’d never seen a high-altitude drone, but I was sure Old Nick had something.
“Aren’t you hitting it too high though? If you could use swordsmanship, you’d have used it earlier. You just blocked the giant’s stick with your life.”
“Using sword skills consumes a lot of mana. It’s not a skill that can be used at any time. Anyway, seeing that savage grandpa fight, it reminds me of my master back home. I keep thinking about that and it drives me crazy.”
If it’s Rebecca’s teacher, he’s heard the story before.
The strongest swordsman in Jakarta Kingdom.
He was said to be a drone strong enough to rob a military base single-handedly.
The sword master, who can be said to be the apex of martial arts, is Rebecca’s master.
“Sir, then you’re saying that grandpa can fight against the army by himself? He says he’s similar to your teacher.”
“The atmosphere is similar. The atmosphere that never loses its cool. In terms of martial arts skills, of course my teacher is much stronger.”
“Is your teacher like that muscular old man?”
“No, she’s a very pretty woman. Her breasts are much bigger than mine.”
Do you have bigger breasts than Rebecca?
I swallowed as I recalled Rebecca’s teacher in my imagination. How big is it if it’s bigger than the melon-like Rebecca Chichi?
Are you on the same level as Wendy?
“Awesome. Your master’s jjijji.”
“Hey pervert son of a bitch.”
“I really want to go to your hometown.”
Rebecca looked at me with a disapproving expression, but then he smiled as if he had an idea.
“Yes. I wish I did too! If I had the opportunity to show you my hometown, I would be very happy.”
“You can’t go anyway? They say you can’t go inside because of the sandstorm.”
“That said, if-. If you ever come to my hometown, there’s something I’d like to show you first.”
“What?”
“The house I used to live in! I want to introduce you to my parents, and I want to let my younger siblings meet you too. I think my family will be very happy if I take you. You’re a wizard who knows how to handle water. Water is precious in our kingdom.”
“Um. Is that so?”
“Yes!”
You want to introduce me to your parents?
‘Oh, fuck. It’s a big deal just imagining it!’
It’s dangerous.
Her daughter, who had gone out of the kingdom, came home with a blonde tanned man.
If I were a parent, it would be enough to shed tears of blood from my eyes.
Besides, why are you introducing a guy you don’t even date to your parents?
Make each other uncomfortable.
“…”
That was when the conversation with Rebecca stopped.
The two of us, who had been talking for a while, stopped talking, and in an instant, silence fell over the giant’s camp. The other adventurers just rested with their eyes closed. Kate also sat around her campfire with a tired expression on her face as if she had finished her treatment before she knew it.
“Haam-.”
By this point, I was also relaxed, and I was yawning profusely.
Great! The sound of breaking stones echoed somewhere.
Could it be that the stalactite hanging from the ceiling is broken?
I lifted my head to check, but there was no particular shaking of the stalactites. The sound is coming from the walls, not the ceiling.
On the walls of the cave that surrounded the camp.
Blasphemy! The sound of stones breaking echoed once again.
This time while creating a huge crack in the cave wall.
“What?”
I stared at the cracking wall with a puzzled expression.
The moment when the adventurers who opened their eyes looked at the wall in the same way.
“…Crazy!”
The walls of the cave collapsed with a roar!
Shards of shattered stone fell to the floor, revealing a dark, deep passage beyond the collapsed walls.
At the same time, from the other side of the aisle, a huge object walked out of the darkness.
A white beard that reaches to the navel.
Greasy white hair.
A huge old man the size of a house appeared.
“Nice to meet you, continental people.”
The old man laughed lightly and opened his mouth.
Contrary to the easy-going smile, the old man’s hand was clutching his stick as if it were about to break.
“—Do you want to compete with this old Jotun?”
