What the Hell Are You Doing
Yohan followed the fortune teller’s directions toward what was presumed to be the little giant’s house. With Zeno’s help, he traced the path the fortune teller had described and, after walking for quite some time, finally arrived near the house in question.
[Yohan. Stop. It appears to be that house.]
“How far away is it?”
[Roughly thirty paces.]
Thirty paces, huh.
When added to the distance he had already walked to reach this spot, it seemed this was one of the most secluded corners of Edelbein.
“…So that’s why I couldn’t find it.”
It was quite far from the street stalls as well. Since he had begun his search with the houses surrounding those stalls, this place had naturally escaped his notice.
…Tsk.
Yohan clicked his tongue and asked Zeno,
“Could you describe the surrounding scenery for me?”
He might have to come back here again someday. While Zeno would surely remember, it was better to know for himself in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Zeno slowly recited the landscape around them.
[There are no other houses nearby. A flower hangs on the door, just as the fortune teller described. It is a white flower, though it has withered by now.]
Yohan nodded.
It seemed the house had been left unattended. Of course it had. After all, they had killed the little giant.
If only that giant had lived there, it made perfect sense.
“Is there anything else?”
[A forest stretches behind the house. It is not as dense as the area around the cabin, but there may be something there as well. I see no signs of farmland.]
Then the forest would need to be searched too. If there were no visible fields, it was highly likely that the grains sold at the stall had been gathered from the woods. The scope of the investigation had just grown much wider.
…Sigh.
Yohan let out a long breath.
“If there is no one around, I will head straight for the house.”
[There is no one. You may proceed.]
Yohan nodded and walked toward the house. And behind him, Aria followed silently.
Yohan arrived in front of the house. He calmly raised a hand and touched the flower hanging on the door. Rough petals brushed against his fingers.
“It looks like no one has taken care of it since the giant died.”
[It would seem so. The flower has completely dried up.]
It appeared no one ever came to visit. …So the giant hadn’t mingled much with humans after all. For Yohan, that was fortunate.
The thought made a small chuckle slip from his lips.
“Now that I think about it, the idea of them pretending to be human is pretty funny.”
They were the ones who looked down on humans as nothing more than livestock. And yet those same beings had disguised themselves as humans for reconnaissance. Anyone who knew the true nature of giants would surely be shocked.
[Will you go inside? The fortune teller did not speak of the situation within.]
He was right. The fortune teller had only told them the location of the house and said nothing about what lay beyond.
“…I don’t know why.”
Perhaps the fortune teller had judged that too many variables could arise, or perhaps they simply did not know. Either way, these people were not easy to predict.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Regardless, since they had come this far, it was best to go inside. First, Yohan carefully reached out and knocked on the door.
[I hear nothing.]
…Of course there was no response. It had only been a precaution.
“I’ll check if the door is locked.”
He couldn’t very well break a window. If someone noticed, it could cause problems. Of course, there was no way the door would actually open…
Click.
“…It opened?”
What the hell?
[Go inside.]
At Zeno’s calm words, Yohan regained his composure. He opened the door fully and stepped inside.
Aria followed behind him using magic.
Tap, tap. Once inside the house, Yohan knocked on the wall his hand had touched. Although he couldn’t hear the sound, the texture beneath his fingers and Zeno’s descriptions allowed him to roughly grasp the layout. He turned toward Zeno.
“How does it look, Sir Zeno?”
[Nothing unusual yet. There is a door on the right. Shall we open it?]
“Yes, understood.”
Yohan nodded and opened the door, but Zeno stopped him.
[Yohan. Do not move. Wait a moment.]
A short while later, a foul stench crept into Yohan’s nose. His face twisted automatically. The smell of blood mixed with something rotting. It was nauseating.
…Was this the person who originally lived here? It was unlikely a giant would have built such a house alone, so the thought was reasonable…
[It is a room filled with animal carcasses. They have rotted beyond recognition.]
Not a person, then.
Still… animals? He didn’t remember seeing any animals among the goods sold at the stall. Yohan tilted his head.
“Are there any other notable details?”
[For carcasses, there does not seem to be much blood. The internal organs appear to be missing as well.]
…Had they used the blood and organs for something? What for?
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He could not easily guess the purpose behind the act.
[It would be best not to enter the room. Cleaning up afterward would be difficult.]
If blood got on his clothes, there was no telling what kind of trouble he might run into on the way back. It was clearly wiser to follow Zeno’s advice.
“Understood.”
Yohan calmly stepped back.
“I’ll check the other rooms as well.”
He moved on, opening the doors to the other rooms as Zeno instructed.
There were no significant findings.
Aside from the first room filled with animal carcasses, nothing else was discovered.
What is this?
Yohan tilted his head. This was definitely the house where the little giant had lived. …Then what was all this?
It was undeniably strange.
[This is odd.]
The fact that even Zeno would openly call it strange only confirmed it.
…Haah.
Yohan ran a hand through his hair. For some reason, his heart had been racing since earlier. He placed a hand over his chest and took several deep breaths.
[Are you all right?]
“Yes, I’m fine now.”
…Why did it feel like something was watching him?
Yohan turned his head slightly and asked Zeno,
“Sir Zeno, is there a painting or something that seems to be staring at us? I’ve been feeling a gaze since earlier.”
[There is not.]
…Then why did he feel this way?
Yohan tilted his head again. He didn’t know the reason, but ever since they arrived, it felt as if his heart was being squeezed.
…The most likely cause was mana.
…Sigh.
“You said there was a forest behind the house, right?”
[Yes, there is.]
“Then let’s take one last look there before we leave.”
Yohan headed for the forest.
Yohan wandered through the forest for a long time. And at the end of it, just as the moon began to set, he found something strange.
[It appears this is a passage.]
In a small cave on one side of the forest was what looked like a ‘passage’ the little giant had used to descend into the human realm.
“Is it unusable right now?”
[It seems so. It looks like it takes time to open from the other side as well.]
“Then my earlier judgment was correct. A little giant came down to the human realm first for reconnaissance.”
Based on the circumstances, it seemed a small giant had acted as a scout to gather information about the human world before the giants’ invasion. After that scout returned, the giants had launched their assault on the human realm.
…Sigh.
Yohan frowned, a hollow feeling settling in his chest. He felt as if he had been toyed with. The fact that he had failed to notice this truth for such a long time left him utterly drained.
[Calm yourself. There are still things left to figure out, are there not?]
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Yohan pulled himself together at Zeno’s words. This was no time to lose focus.
[If things continue like this, the little giant will not return in time. The invasion may unfold differently as well.]
…It was a reasonable point. And if that was the case…
“Then we may not have five months left after all.”
The time remaining until the first giant’s appearance could change. …Because the little giant had died. If the scout did not return, there was a good chance the giants would make a different decision.
[That possibility is quite high.]
…Haah.
Yohan let out a deep sigh. Originally, if calculated precisely, there had been about four months and fifteen days remaining. Whether that time would shorten or lengthen was now impossible to know.
…Should he not have killed it?
No. No, that wasn’t right. If he hadn’t killed it, he wouldn’t have learned any of this.
[If you had not killed it, you would have died anyway. Is that not so?]
“Since time would loop anyway, it wouldn’t have mattered…”
[You.]
Yohan laughed, trying to brush it off. After laughing for a moment, he stopped and asked Zeno,
“But Sir Zeno. Doesn’t this change our original goal quite a bit?”
[It does. Why do you ask?]
Their original goal had been to observe events without intervening. Finding the little giant, killing it, locating its hiding place and the ‘passage’ had all gone according to plan. But now they could no longer simply watch a timeline free of interference, and even the timing of the giants’ arrival could change.
…Then was this really the right thing to do?
Yohan’s head naturally tilted to the side. Silence fell. Yohan remained quiet with a serious expression, and Zeno waited for his answer.
After a while, he slowly spoke.
“Would it be a good thing if the timing of the giants’ arrival changed?”
…That was the biggest question of all.
[It cannot be denied.]
Those were Zeno’s first words. Yohan nodded.
In truth, no matter when the giants appeared, humanity’s response would never be adequate. And the reason was simple.
“Because they’re all basically idiots.”
That was it. …They could never unite. Those who put their own authority first and always wanted only themselves to shine.
“…Because that’s how all the higher-ups in every country are.”
There was no way things would go well from below either. Because of them, he had wasted so much time. Even when he first opened his eyes in the academy dormitory, he had said there was no time for the very same reason.
And what Yohan had realized through all of that was this:
“I must make full use of everything I know.”
Yohan was neither a great mage, nor a hero, nor a saint. Therefore, there was no chance they would listen to him. Naturally, he needed a way to persuade them. He had to use every piece of knowledge he possessed to catch their eye.
…So if the timing of the giants’ arrival changed, nearly all the information Yohan knew would become useless.
…Well, he could still use this ‘passage’ itself as information, but it was obvious what people who felt no real threat would do.
“The only things I can use are the method to kill giants and their traits, I suppose?”
He would no longer be able to devise traps based on the exact timing of their arrival.
[The method you used most often was causing a disturbance at the location where the passage would appear.]
…That had been the most effective. Using the confusion or their attempts to respond as an opening for a surprise attack, along with the information gathered from it. …Of course, even that had never been enough to defeat them.
Still, it had been the best option at the time. Therefore, if the timing of the giants’ arrival changed, or if the locations and order of the passages began to shift, all the information he had accumulated so far would lose its meaning.
“In that case, I might have to start gathering information from scratch again…”
…Ugh, I really don’t want to do that.
Haah.
“Should I do something more in this timeline?”
Or perhaps it would be better to return to another time and investigate this matter in greater detail. …Of course, there was no guarantee which timeline he would reach, but since he could loop as many times as needed, he would eventually learn when the passage had been created.
[I will add no further words. The one who acts is you, so I believe this is a worthwhile concern.]
Yohan made his decision.
[You no longer feel anything when you die.]
Haha.
Yohan smiled. It couldn’t be helped.
“When you consider everything I’ve been through so far, it’s only natural, isn’t it?”
…He had spent far too much time. Death no longer stirred any particular emotion in him.
Yohan took out a dagger from his pocket. The decision he had reached was to turn back time. And there was only one reason.
Yohan wanted the timing of the giants’ arrival to remain unchanged. He would rather loop time, avoid killing the little giant, and find a way to deliver the information instead. It might be a narrow-minded thought, but given the state of this body, the chances of escaping when the giants appeared were slim.
“If I get caught when the giants appear, I won’t be able to run anyway. I want to turn back time.”
No matter how far away the cabin was, he couldn’t use magic. In the end, he would die and time would loop. He wouldn’t even get to see everything. Even if it meant experiencing multiple failures and repeating this timeline again, it would be better to do so when his body was in slightly better condition.
That was what Yohan thought.
[I understand.]
After finishing the conversation, Yohan brought the dagger to his throat. And just as he was about to press down with force, someone grabbed his arm.
Of course, Yohan could not hear it.