The Baroness (3)
Wayne's green eyes flashed! His heart pounded like a runaway locomotive engine, pumping blood fiercely through his veins as Odd surged wildly around his body.
Viiiing!Kukukung! His Gigant tore through the air, charging straight at the leader boar.
"Gruaaah!"
The boar monster snorted furiously in defiance, stamping its front hooves before barreling toward Wayne's Gigant.
A deafening roar and tremors shook the ground. The moment of collision approached.
But Wayne's Gigant suddenly veered sideways, dodging a head-on clash—or so it seemed.
Shaaack!
"Kueeek!"
A agonized screech echoed as red blood sprayed from the monster's flank. Wayne's Gigant had risen and slashed its blade across the beast's side.
"What? A Gigant moving like that?"
"It's like a person!"
The soldiers and Gigant pilots of the Lorenne Outpost stared in shock.
Wayne's Gigant charged straight at the staggering, bleeding monster. The wounded beast, refusing to die quietly, snorted even more angrily and lowered its tusks.
Clang! The Gigant seized the tusks, twisted its body sideways, and thrust its sword into the boar's neck.
Puk!
"Kwek!"
Thud!
The monster, its windpipe pierced by the meter-long blade, couldn't even scream properly before collapsing on the spot.
'So this is what it feels like to fight monsters from inside a Gigant!'
Adrenaline swirled through his body alongside the Odd, a rush unlike anything else. The thrill and exhilaration of slaying a Great Forest monster that no human could face barehanded was worlds apart from killing orcs or goblins.
The leader boar was dead, but the others didn't retreat. If anything, they grew more frenzied and charged.
'Perfect! Come at me—it's easier that way.'
Pop! Chaeng! Blades ejected from the Gigant's left arm as well.
Wayne met the oncoming monsters with dual swords. The Gigant's blades slashed and stabbed at his will without hesitation, splattering blood and flesh everywhere with each strike.
"My god! He's insane!"
"Which territory's Gigant is that? The performance is unreal!"
"No idea. First time I've seen one like it!"
The Gigant's superior specs played a part, but it was Wayne's skill that enabled such maneuvers. And he hadn't even drawn Curtis's 2nd-class weapon, the Crimson Flame.
In just over five minutes since the battle began, all the monsters lay slaughtered.
The onlookers whispered in awe at his prowess, but Wayne smacked his lips in disappointment.
'Tch. My body still can't keep up with my mental experience...'
It was his first monster battle in a Gigant, but Wayne already carried the lifetime combat experience of the Karian King. What irked him was that his insufficient Odd and the Gigant's middling performance kept him from unleashing his full potential.
'Eh, it'll get smoother with practice. But this outpost's forces are weaker than I expected.'
Wayne furrowed his brow slightly at the state of the Lorenne Outpost. The only usable Gigant was the one Jamie had assembled—a custom job. The rest were workhorses unfit for combat. It was a mystery how they'd held this place with such meager troops.
At least they had plenty of soldiers—that was one consolation.
The soldiers busied themselves clearing monster corpses and repairing the outpost.
[Alicia's Office]
Alicia rose from her seat as Wayne and the burly man entered.
"Thank you for saving our outpost and the 1,300 lives here."
She bowed formally to Wayne. Whatever her conscience, her attitude toward him was markedly respectful.
"And about leaving without a word that day..."
"Let's skip the old stories. I just need proper compensation."
"It may sound like an excuse, but I wanted to explain anyway."
She'd rushed to the outpost because the grand territory's forces had pulled back to the Estel front. Lorenne bordered the barren lands and was perilously close to the Great Forest, so any troop withdrawal was obvious.
The problem was that the outpost's main force had only recently left for a hunt inside the forest. With defenses thin and no time to waste, she'd pushed hard across the wastes, collapsed from exhaustion, and been ambushed by goblins. Then...
"Ah! I get the picture. So, shall we talk compensation now?"
He understood, but that didn't mean they were square.
Alicia spoke up.
"All the Perox corpses from today are yours."
"That's a given, isn't it? Without me, this outpost would've been wiped out today—or most of you dead. Including you, Baroness."
Alicia nodded silently.
"And to the promised gold, I'll add more gold coins."
'Three Gigants, huh...'
Neville, the outpost's second-in-command, eyed the Gigants outside the window with gleaming eyes. Before Alicia's arrival, he'd been the acting head—a 10-year veteran Gigant pilot.
Knock knock!
"Were you looking for me?"
"Come in and sit, Sir Thompson."
Thompson commanded the outpost infantry.
"Whew! This is bad! We beat the monsters, but now our outpost's done for—they'll take it."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Thompson couldn't follow.
"Think about it. Why drag Gigants here? No ties, no history—did they come just to hunt monsters for us?"
"...?"
"And three 3rd-class Gigants. Enough to seize this place outright. Plus, heaps of repair parts. Still not get it?"
"Honestly, no. No other outposts nearby—who'd target this deathtrap?"
"Hit-and-run. They'll pretend to help, rack up loot from monsters, then grab it all and bail. Look—no other troops, just Gigants."
Thompson realized they had no soldiers for cleanup or defense. Saved or not, their purpose here was murky.
Neville glanced around and whispered.
"And Alicia plans to hold out till our forest hunters return."
"I know."
"Think we can?"
"......"
"What if we had their Gigants?"
"Eh?"
"At least half a month—maybe a full one?"
"You mean steal their Gigants?"
Thompson's eyes widened.
"No—save our outpost from them. They're here to prey on us. Taking their Gigants is preemptive defense, not plunder."
"But how? We'd get crushed."
"Who said attack the Gigants? Their leader's in Alicia's office."
Thompson finally got it, mouth agape.
"Pick 20 nimble soldiers. Arm them fully—but don't make a fuss."
"Will Alicia approve?"
"She'll oppose. Too soft-hearted. But once we start, no choice. We need those Gigants to hold."
Thompson nodded hesitantly.
"The men won't understand."
"No! Say they're targeting us—they'll cheer."
"But they haven't yet..."
"Too late then! Time's short—hurry."
Thompson gritted his teeth.
"Yes, sir!"
This was all for the territory, Alicia, and the outpost—or so it seemed.
"I'd give more, but the outpost isn't stable yet—this is all we can spare."
"This'll do."
2,000 extra gold on top of the original promise—not bad at all, generous given their straits.
"Now, let's talk real business."
"Business?"
"You see..."
Bam!
"Surround them! Fetch Baroness Alicia!"
Twenty soldiers with swords and axes burst in. Neville and Thompson followed, slamming the door.
"What is this, Sir Neville?"
"Sorry. We need your Gigants."
"What?"
"Hand them over quietly, and you live."
Wayne chuckled. He'd spread red Odd across the outpost, tracking their every move. But seeing it play out highlighted human folly and greed.
Like saving a drowning man, only for him to demand your bundle—not just the one that floated away, but yours too.
"Heh! Not scared of the Gigants outside?"
"You're the leader. Hostage you, they surrender."
"With this force?"
Blaster loomed behind, awaiting orders. They didn't know him—the man who punched orcs and cleaved monsters with a greatsword. Even knights might struggle; 20 soldiers? Laughable.
Blaster wasn't even needed. Wayne alone could handle them, with the Karian King's swordsmanship and 1st-stage Odd breathing sharpening his body.
"Sir Neville! What are you doing? Insolence! Dismiss these men now!"
Alicia fumed, but Neville stood firm.
"Baroness, why are they here?"
"I explained—they're here for what I owe them."
"Excuses. Drag three Gigants for gold? They're here to rob us. I struck first."
"Last warning—back off!"
Neville shook his head.
"Sir Thompson, escort the Baroness out."
"Yes!"
No more talk would work. As Wayne backed to the wall, Blaster stepped forward, drawing his massive sword.
"Men! Kill this one, capture the one behind—"
Puk!
"Guhk!"
Neville looked down at the hot, alien sensation. A sharp blade protruded from his gut.
He turned slowly to the wielder.
"A-Alicia? Why...? This was... for the territory..."
Alicia bit her lip at his bewildered expression. She'd just stabbed one of Lorenne's precious nine Gigant pilots—with her own hand.
She yanked the sword free. Neville spewed blood and crumpled.
With Neville dead, the soldiers froze.
"Drop your swords! Now!"
Clang! Clink!
Under her furious command, Thompson and the men obeyed.
Alicia flung open the door and called the outside guards.
"Drag these traitors out!"
Soldiers clearing corpses rushed in, bewildered, and hauled them away.
"Gasp! Sir Neville's dead?"
"What the hell happened?"
The murmurs spread.
"These men defied my orders and tried to kill our saviors. Behead them all!"
"What?"
Thompson realized the gravity too late. He begged mercy for the innocent soldiers, but it was over.
Thompson and the twenty were decapitated on the spot.
Alicia's lips were cracked and bloodied from biting them as she watched the executions.
Watching her, Wayne nodded.
'That kind of resolve makes her worth dealing with.'