235. Gulliver's Travels (4)
235. Gulliver's Travels (4)
"W-we have arrived. O, O great king······."
Guided by her ministers, Im Ga-eul was able to meet the giant.
"······."
Im Ga-eul's head slowly tilted upward.
She'd been hearing "giant, giant" so often that she'd pictured something roughly the size of the Fire Dragon they'd encountered before—a size Im Ga-eul, for her part, had never even imagined.
······No, the word "size" couldn't even express this.
It was a mountain.
A colossal mountain, seated cross-legged with its eyes closed.
Its whole body was trussed up with thin ropes and pinned to the ground by stakes,
yet it seemed as though, if it wished, it could snap these flimsy ropes in an instant and rise to its feet without the slightest difficulty.
'It's this huge, so of course it's devouring half the kingdom's food······!!'
Each time the giant breathed, the ropes were drawn taut, then slackened.
At the same time, a deafening roar pounded her ears as if an earthquake were shaking the land.
Drrrrr— KUUUUUU—!
It was the sound of the sleeping giant's snoring.
"······W-we shall take our leave now, so that you may have a, a comfortable audience with the, the giant!!"
The ministers who, just moments ago, had been raising their voices demanding the giant's execution now tucked tail, their faces filled with fear the moment they actually faced it.
They fled as if their heels were on fire, without even waiting for permission.
'Hey!! Where do you think you're—!!!'
Im Ga-eul turned her head, flabbergasted, but by then every last minister had already bolted.
In the end, she had no choice but to face this giant all alone.
Fortunately, the giant was asleep, so she had a little time to collect her thoughts.
'······Is killing this thing even possible?'
Im Ga-eul looked up at the giant with a dumbfounded expression.
'How would I even kill it? Even if I used a sword, it'd feel like stabbing it with a toothpick······?'
Poison?
Perhaps if she fed it food laced with poison, she might be able to land a fatal blow.
But what about the provisions needed for that?
Hadn't they said it had already consumed half the food supply?
'If not that······. Drown it?'
That was also a bit iffy.
The giant might be a strong swimmer, and who would even manage to shove it into the water?
'Seriously, if they were going to insist on executing it, they should've at least thought of a method to go along with that!!'
Im Ga-eul inwardly spat complaints at the ministers who'd irresponsibly run away.
If this giant really was the monster Chairwoman Rina had sealed,
then killing it here would probably be the ideal choice.
Then the mission would be complete right away······.
"No, wait."
At that moment, a voice flickered through her mind.
— Hmm·····. I won't say anything else. Just please remember that there's a reason I chose the two of you.
"Right. My hoobae said there was a reason he chose me."
What could that reason be?
Did Jin Yu-ha know I would become the king?
"Probably, right······?"
Since her hoobae had always displayed uncannily accurate predictions, the likelihood was high.
"Then, did he choose me because he wanted me—the king—to kill this giant······?"
At that thought, Im Ga-eul slowly shook her head.
"No. My hoobae is a thorough person."
Im Ga-eul didn't think in terms of benevolence or mercy; she centered her thoughts on Jin Yu-ha.
Based solely on the personality of the hoobae she liked and cherished, she traced back his intentions.
'Of course, killing the giant might indeed be the right answer in the end. But that's not the answer right now.'
Right.
If she were supposed to kill it right now, and if she could kill it right now,
there would've been no need for Jin Yu-ha to come in with her in the first place.
Especially not with Ichika hoobae in tow.
"First, finding Yu-ha hoobae and Ichika hoobae comes first."
The moment she reached that conclusion and turned to leave—
"······My king."
A voice resonated, slow and ponderous.
Blink. Blink—
The giant opened its two closed eyes.
"······Uh, uh!?"
"I am······. hungry······."
The giant spoke in a slow, sluggish voice.
"H-hungry, are you!"
Im Ga-eul, thinking the giant wouldn't hear her if she spoke normally, raised her voice.
"Yes······. Last time, the food was far too little······."
"But I cannot provide any more meals! Feeding you thus far has already consumed half of our kingdom's provisions!!!"
Shouting in a way she normally didn't made her throat sting and ache.
"Is that so······. Then, could you untie these ropes."
Im Ga-eul's expression hardened in an instant.
'Untie the ropes? If I untie them, won't you just eat the kingdom's people······?'
"······Denied!!!"
"Then I have no choice but to starve to death······."
A somewhat dejected voice.
As she conversed with the giant, Im Ga-eul got a strange feeling.
'Huh?'
As she'd noted before, the ropes were restraining its body, but they already looked at their limit.
If it seriously exerted its strength, it should be able to break free of such restraints in a heartbeat.
'But why does it seem so docile······?'
The fact that it wasn't struggling to undo the ropes, and the fact that it said it had no choice but to starve—both of those were telling.
Im Ga-eul felt the need to verify something properly.
"W-what if! If I, I don't untie your ropes, wh-what do you intend to do!?"
She tried her utmost to summon her inner Squinting Mastermind, but she couldn't help stammering.
This was an unmistakable provocation, after all.
"Then, I suppose I will have no choice but to starve and die."
"Why······?"
Im Ga-eul's persona slipped for a moment, and she asked back in a stupid voice.
At that, the giant bared its huge white teeth in a grin.
"How could I······. ever refuse a friend's words······. If that is your will, then there must truly be no other way. I shall accept it willingly."
At the giant's answer, Im Ga-eul's pupils quaked.
'Friend? This giant and I are friends······?'
* * *
A flustered Im Ga-eul pressed the giant for details,
and the giant willingly recounted the story of the past.
"······Heh heh heh, my king. You are no Long-lived Species, yet your memory is remarkably poor."
"S-sorry······! I was so busy attending to state affairs that I briefly forgot!"
"It is of no consequence. We giants can cover a friend's shortcomings as much as needed."
The giant spoke with a benevolent smile.
'W-what is this······!'
She was nodding along mechanically at its words, but Im Ga-eul couldn't help but be bewildered.
'What on earth does it mean that me and this giant are comrades-in-arms who fought together on the battlefield!'
Apparently, this had all happened before she entered this story.
To summarize, the king, ousted long ago by a power struggle, had wandered the world, and while adrift had encountered the giant.
And that chance meeting bloomed into friendship, and together they had traversed battlefields and performed great deeds.
'How on earth?'
She couldn't believe that this king had actually fought alongside this giant.
She'd be lucky if all she'd done was ride on its shoulder and get carried around.
Anyway.
'But this time, the giant was the one adrift. And the place it happened to end up was, of all places, the kingdom where I am!?'
Only then could Im Ga-eul understand why, before she had entered, the king had defied all her ministers' opposition and sheltered the giant to the very end.
Tying up the giant with ropes had also been something she'd been coerced into by her vassals' relentless pressure.
And the giant had willingly accepted even that, calling it a friend's request.
'Then killing the giant would be totally wrong!'
On top of that, this giant showed her such boundless trust.
It was a fool who would simply starve to death on its own if left as is.
'······No.'
She'd now even learned how to kill the giant.
But Im Ga-eul shook her head.
No matter how much she currently wore the mask of a cold-hearted king,
Im Ga-eul was not, by nature, someone who could act cruelly toward a target who showed her this kind of goodwill.
Even if that goodwill was directed at the previous king.
'I want to find a way somehow.'
Im Ga-eul pondered for a moment, then shouted toward the giant.
"Giant! How long can you hold out right now?"
"Umm······. Approximately, about one week seems possible······."
Ruuumble—!
The moment it finished speaking, the giant's stomach let out a thunderous roar.
One week.
'I have to secure food within one week? Where on earth could I find provisions plentiful enough to feed a giant······.'
It was then.
"Hmm······. Speaking of the old days like this makes me remember the horse meat we ate together, all of a sudden······."
As if recalling the taste, drool dripped from the giant's mouth.
'······Horse meat?'
Im Ga-eul's eyes widened.
'Now that I think about it, aren't horses used a lot during wartime?'
And hadn't the ministers said?
That the neighboring Raitel Kingdom was watching their country with greedy eyes.
'······What if I procure horse meat from there and feed it to the giant?'
"Giant!!!"
Im Ga-eul lifted her head, her face suddenly bright, and called to him.
"Hmm······? What is it······. Friend?"
"The horse meat! I think I can let you eat your fill!!!!"
At that, the giant's eyes trembled as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I-is that······. Is that really true······!?"
"Yeah, just trust me! Let's go to the battlefield together!!!"
Im Ga-eul smiled brightly and made a confident promise to the giant.
* * *
"Y-your Majesty, what do you mean by that!!! W-war with the Raitel Kingdom! Th-there's no way we could be a match for them!!!"
After meeting the giant and returning, Im Ga-eul seated herself on the throne once more, donning the dignified guise of the king.
"I will not reverse this decision."
"B-but! Raitel Kingdom is a great power! Our ch-chances of victory are—!!"
At the bolt from the blue, the ministers were appalled.
"Ha! Chances of victory? You fret over such a thing?"
Im Ga-eul let out a light laugh.
"Very well. Those chances of victory. I shall grant them to you. Now, allow me to introduce!"
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble—
"Hyii, hyiiiiiiik—!"
The ministers lost their balance at the sudden earthquake and collapsed to the floor.
Swish—
Im Ga-eul rose from her seat, her mantle billowing, and pointed her hand toward the window.
"Now, allow me to introduce! My chance of victory, my friend, and my comrade-in-arms!"
At that, the giant, who had been pressing his face to the window and rolling his eyes, let out a booming laugh.
"Kuahahahahaha!!! Friend! Truly, that side of you hasn't changed at all since the old days!"