With Night dangling at his waist, Enkrid stepped forward and stood alone in front of the giant.
The difference in size was considerable. Just on the surface, it looked like one gesture from the giant would send him flying like a blade of grass.
Of course, no one, Leona included, felt anxious. That made sense. They were on the way back after destroying a Demon land, after all.
Besides, Enkrid had seemed even more different lately. Even to someone who wasn't a knight, he looked like someone who had awakened to a principle and stepped into a new world. He seemed detached from everything, as if he alone were walking through some other world.
"My name is Iritum."
The giant said. Enkrid nodded.
Giant Iritum glanced at Night hanging from Enkrid's waist, then moved a hand behind his back. If things went wrong, he was planning to pull out the axe hidden there.
Enkrid saw it all, but left it alone. That was because it wouldn't matter even if the giant drew the axe. And unlike his actions, he still showed no Will to fight.
Besides, whether he held an axe or was barehanded made little difference to Enkrid.
'Arrogance?'
Enkrid accelerated his thoughts and judged his own state.
It wasn't arrogance. It was certainty.
"A favor?"
As Enkrid came to that conclusion from the short question, he asked. Iritum did not even roll his eyes once. He didn't even pretend to weigh this and that.
Thud.
The giant dropped to one knee. He placed one hand behind his back and lowered his head slightly.
"Spare us."
It looked full of desperation. Enkrid silently looked at the kneeling giant.
Cutting off his head would have been no task at all. As said before, it didn't matter whether the giant drew an axe or used the strength in those bare hands that could tear apart a boar.
Because power that would let a human overpower giants was residing within Enkrid now.
That was why he had the leisure to watch and think.
Watching from behind, Leona knew that no matter what the giant said, the right to choose here was not hers, and Dunbakel had no particular thoughts.
The rest of the caravan people, Juol included, were startled by the giant's sudden appearance and became spectators.
"Giants kneel too?"
"They usually settle things with force if they can. He's a strange one."
"What's with asking to be spared?"
Rem let the crowd's useless chatter pass by and looked ahead. He had noticed that Enkrid intended to listen. Considering what had happened in the West lately, there was no way Rem would feel warmly toward giants. Still, that didn't mean every giant in sight had to be killed.
Back when he wandered the continent, he had seen plenty of good giants. Dividing them by race and killing every last one was slaughter.
Not just slaughter, a massacre.
Even the Empire, which had unified the world's currency and language through war, had never done something like wiping out an entire race.
"I came from the South."
Then the giant named Iritum began speaking. He was the leader of his people, and by chance had entrusted himself to the South.
There was no reason for his story to be long. That was because his goal was simple, and his actions were simple too.
"We needed a place to live."
The racial trait of enjoying battle turned most giants into warriors. Iritum used that and served in the South. That was how the giant unit came to be.
It wasn't a force the southern High Pontiff had actually raised. The giant unit was born because an outstanding talent named Iritum had gathered the giant race together.
"As the great nation started losing, our position became difficult. We couldn't demand land, but if we stayed, several idiots kept causing trouble and our reputation with those around us dropped to the very bottom."
Meaning if things were left alone, the entire race would simply end up sacrificed as fodder to hold back the Demon lands.
In the middle of that, several idiots who wouldn't listen showed up, and those were the giant bandits Enkrid had met.
"I didn't send them. Those bastards had been a mess since the South. I barely kept them alive, and all they ever did was cause trouble. I tried to kill them with my own hands, and they ran off in the middle of the night."
Iritum didn't speak in flowing or ornate language. But he was direct, and the meaning was clear.
"Can we be given a place to live?"
Iritum did not speak of a deal. He begged, saying spare us. Leona would have stepped in if it had been a negotiation, but since it was nothing of the kind, she kept watching.
The giant wanted to live while preserving his people. His dream was grand in one way, and simple in another.
"We can work the land and live too."
Most giants were warriors, living together by clan, yet they split apart all the time too. Iritum dreamed of a settled giant village. He was a giant who believed in the strength of the group.
You could say he dreamed of stability.
Just as there are Frogs who make ornaments with slippery hands that can barely grip things properly, there are also giants, red-blooded beasts, who do not want such a life either.
It was like the boy whose dream was to be a herbalist.
And like the dream of the girl born with divinity who still continues a Highlander's life in the mountains.
There was no lie in Iritum's words. Enkrid pulled a horn-bugle dagger from his chest. A weapon that, if thrown, would punch a hole clean through a giant's skull.
The giant's eyes sank. He brought forward the hand he had been hiding behind his back. Since he knew who stood before him, he knew resistance was meaningless, so his hand was empty. He did not grip the axe. He clenched his fist and placed it on the ground. It was the attitude of asking mercy from the person before him.
And it was not an easy thing for a giant to do.
***
"Every time he comes to the West, he stirs up a storm and cuts away nothing but the bad."
Ayul said it to her father, and her father, the Great Narae chieftain, opened his eyes after having them closed and answered.
"Yes, he truly is an extraordinary man."
"And so is Rem."
"Yes. We're sending them off again, so aren't you disappointed?"
"If I said I wasn't, that would be a lie, but if he said he wasn't leaving and would just settle down here, I'd break something on him."
Give back what you received. Repay grace. Answer with your heart.
That was the spirit of the West.
Enkrid helped the West and helped Rem. In return, Rem had to do the same. Westfolk repay what they receive twice over.
That goes for grudges, and for grace too.
And then there was Maji. Act when the time is right. A man who carries on the spirit of the West straight and true—that was Ayul's partner.
"Our land has to be protected with our own strength."
The chieftain said it. The West protects the West. That was the proper way.
Of course, several people would die right away. There were still many monsters everywhere. The hands to fight them were still badly lacking.
Even so, that was fine. This was not a fight over scarce resources, but a fight for the bright tomorrow that did not yet exist.
"When the armistice they want comes someday and they return. We'll welcome them then, right?"
The chieftain asked. He left out the subject, but naturally he meant Rem.
"I pray for a day like that every day. It'd be even better if it comes before Kioda reaches adulthood."
"Yes, that's how it should be."
Surviving until then was another task for the West. The warm breeze blowing through was soft and warm.
And then, two days later, guests came to the West. It was a group of giants. More exactly, one giant approached first with both hands raised to show he was unarmed and shouted,
"Receive a guest!"
He repeatedly showed that he had no Will to fight and shouted again.
"Treat me as a guest. Here's the token!"
He took out the horn-bugle dagger, set it down quietly on the ground, then retreated a long way back.
It was a weapon not often seen, and a dagger the savior of the West always carried. More than a few people recognized it.
Black Wing flew out on a bellopter, retrieved the horn-bugle dagger and the note tied to it, then came back.
The giant even breathed quietly. After hearing the giant inhale with a long ssssss-, Black Wing glanced at him and returned.
"Wait."
At that single word, the giant nodded. The note tied to the dagger was a letter from Enkrid.
[You may show mercy.]
Until now, the land of the West had held many things. That included the many minor tribes, and before Rem left, even a cannibal tribe had been among them. Their relations soured and they fought, but before natural disaster, they still helped each other.
If they weren't cannibals, having one more giant race take root in this land would not be such a bad thing.
That was more or less the meaning.
Below that, Rem had also added that if anything happened, they were free to kill every last one of them.
Since it wasn't his decision to make, Black Wing handed the note to Ayul.
Ayul was the next leader of Elder Bear and the next chieftain set to inherit the Great Narae tribe.
She looked at the note and sank into thought. Even if it was just a simple request, if Enkrid made it, she couldn't refuse.
These were the words of the savior, the Demon lands destroyer, the one who ended Silence. There was no way not to heed them.
'He's not telling me to accept no matter what.'
Thinking that, Ayul glanced at the giant. Iritum waited for an answer, fidgeting his fingers.
She read the letter one more time.
It didn't mean to simply prepare a place beside the city and let them live there immediately. Enkrid's proposal was clear.
He was leaving the complicated problems for the West to handle and only setting the direction.
"We do not want precious land. Land beside the Demon land is fine. We just want to live."
The giant suddenly said. It was concern for the other side's worries. Iritum was clever in a way unlike a giant. He knew that living beside the half-destroyed Demon land Enkrid had finished off was far safer than living beside the active Demon lands of the South.
As before, the giants' weapon was force, so he would use that force as a weapon and win a life once again.
You can't achieve what you want without sacrifice. That was the world Iritum knew. He had realized a small truth and never stopped advancing. That was how he became the man who united several clans and became the head of a people numbering over two hundred, children included.
"Enkrid sent him."
Only after Black Wing said it again did Ayul step forward.
"Talk."
The letter gave no detailed circumstances. At Ayul's words, Iritum spoke in his original, blunt way.
What he wanted, and how he had come all the way here.
Ayul needed more time to build strength in raising West warriors. At the same time, she still had to fight the Demon land.
From that perspective, the group of giants that had come to the West was welcome.
'As long as we don't end up fighting each other.'
And that was how it would probably go.
Still, the land of the West was broad. Once Silence disappeared, it would become even broader.
Meaning there was plenty of unused land. There was no problem accepting one giant race. So long as they didn't betray them or do something strange.
Besides, listening to what Iritum had to say, that giant's purpose wasn't fighting. Then would they end up handling the giants that occasionally wandered the West too?
It seemed likely.
More than that, what about the practical problem right in front of them?
'How long would it take to erase everything where Silence used to be?'
Five years. At least five years.
Ayul was quicker at calculating than anyone else. The number of warriors being raised, the number that would die, the time to endure, the equipment to prepare in the meantime, the food and resources that would be consumed.
That was the conclusion she reached after calculating for many nights on end.
First lead the warriors and kill all the monsters and beasts, then build dozens of fortresses around the place where Silence had been to stop the invasion of other monsters and beasts.
'After that, dig out the rotten trees and tear up the ground.'
Even thanks to Rem, Enkrid, and Dunbakel clearing away the troublesome monster packs, this was still how hard it would be.
'If a giant group joins us here?'
They could devote even more effort to training warriors, and invest more time. Above all, if those giants made their home near the Demon land, the resources spent on various problems would go down.
The conclusion was that they would not have to sacrifice West warriors right away.
'It's the same as hiring mercenaries.'
Ayul came to her conclusion.
If it became a problem, they would have to fight the giants too.
'When that happens, Rem will come.'
Her husband was a warrior who killed Silence. The title Demon lands destroyer did not belong to Enkrid alone.
Besides, those giants had come with Rem's approval. If they were immediate threats, Rem would never have let them go.
So it would be fine to think of them as an unexpected gift.
More than anything, no matter how strong the giant group was, once time passed, West warriors alone would be enough to handle them.
What Ayul needed was time.
Time to persuade the surrounding minor tribes to become one, and time until the seeds Enkrid had scattered grew and came to light.
The joining of the giant group would buy that time.
"Good."
Ayul gave permission. Iritum had thought of proving his worth several times over, so when permission came at once, he was thrown off.
"Huh? It's allowed?"
"Yes. We'll give you a place to live, and food too. In return, fight."
"I will."
There was no reason to refuse such an offer. Once again, the giant reminded himself that kneeling before the captain of the Mad Order of Knights had been the right judgment.
There had been twists and turns, but that was how the giant race settled in the West.
***
When Enkrid returned to Border Guard, several letters had arrived from Crang.
The seal was from the royal line itself. They were not letters to be opened carelessly and were different from the ordinary letters of goodwill he usually sent.
"It was something even Kraiss couldn't open carelessly."
The letter was handed over by Edin Molsen, who had joined the city earlier. He continued,
"If there is ever work that requires a low-ranking administrator in the city, call for me whenever you wish."
"I heard you handle a lot for a low-ranking administrator."
"Kraiss is not the kind of person who cuts anyone slack."
"So you're dissatisfied?"
"I meant that I'm satisfied beyond measure."
Edin had grown up in a noble house. He was well-versed in etiquette and knew their kind inside and out. Maybe because of that, he still treated Enkrid with utmost respect even now.
No matter what others said, he never forgot his position and role.
If Kraiss drew the overall picture, and Abnaier specialized in military matters—
'Edin is the one who looks after the inside.'
Kraiss repeatedly expressed how pleased he was that Edin Molsen had come.
"I really do want that fellow. It almost makes me think I should take him along later when I open a salon."
When Kraiss says he wants to take someone, that's high praise. Of course, it was something Edin Molsen had no desire for at all.
Everyone's dream is different, after all.
Enkrid unfolded the letter. It really was like Crang.
He had written the purpose clearly in the first line.
[The Empire is inviting you.]
Then it added that the matter would be discussed in the capital, so Enkrid should come when the time came.