Giant Subjugation Quest #11
Giant Subjugation Quest #11
When it was time to move again, Rebecca was back on her feet without trouble. The sticky webs that had clung to the soles of her boots had melted away without a trace.
"See? Wasn't learning fire magic worth it?"
"Yeah... I guess magic really does have a use for everything."
The other adventurers besides Rebecca were all pressing forward without issue too. Kate was among them, and thinking back to when I'd torched her shoes earlier was deeply satisfying.
Every time I brought the flame close, she shrieked and jolted in panic. Probably worried the fire would spread and burn her feet right off.
- P-please be gentle!! Mongma-nim!!
- My hand slipped.
- Hyaaaaaaaaah! Sister needs saving!
Kate flopping around on the cave floor, thrashing like an earthworm.
That humiliating image was still burned into my memory. Seeing a nun — the aristocracy of the adventuring trade — reduced to such a wretched state was a rare opportunity, not the kind of thing you get to witness every day.
"Heh heh heh heh."
"Hey—!! Would you stop laughing?!"
The moment I laughed out loud, Kate, who was nearby, snapped at me. Her expression contorted with shame was quite a sight to behold. If I could, I'd have taken a picture and kept it for posterity.
"I'm not allowed to laugh?"
"Y-you... you were just imagining me rolling around earlier, weren't you?"
"How would you know what I'm thinking? You pick up mind-reading or something?"
"It's obvious just from looking at your eyes, you know?"
Kate reached out her hand, about to grab me by the scruff of the neck.
Right at that moment, Rebecca, who was beside us, quietly opened her mouth.
"Wait, quiet down for a second. Sister, you quit chattering too."
"Huh...?"
"Look ahead. Looks like they're starting to show themselves."
Rebecca raised a gloved finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, then jerked her chin forward. I turned my head to follow her gaze and saw firelight flickering in the distance.
A campfire.
A blaze several times larger than the subjugation squad's own campfire was throwing off light deep inside the cave. Around that intense glow, three silhouettes revealed themselves.
"G-giants."
"There you are, you shitty bastards."
The adventurers marching forward muttered among themselves in hushed voices.
The moment I saw the silhouettes wreathed in firelight, I couldn't help but doubt my own eyes, wondering if an optical illusion had taken hold. Even from a considerable distance, their bulk seemed no smaller than the people right in front of me.
But it was no illusion.
The closer we got, the more the giants swelled in size. By the time we were close enough to make them out clearly, the giants had ballooned to the size of houses. It was an overwhelming magnitude that defied all sense of perspective.
"Haaah—!"
The adventurers looked up at the giants and let out fear-laden moans. The three giants were seated around the campfire, tearing into spiders and eating them. Spiders the size of wild dogs, roasted over the flames, gripped in both hands and savagely ripped apart with their teeth.
The instant those groans rang out, the three giants turned their heads toward the adventurers.
Human voices spilled from the giants' mouths.
Deep voices that echoed loudly enough to fill the entire cave.
"Puny little humans, I see."
"Do you mean to challenge us Jotuns?"
"Perfect timing — we were getting bored! They'll make excellent toys to play with!"
The three giants chuckled as they rose to their feet. They snatched up the clubs they'd laid beside them and stared us down. Clubs made of oak — the kind that'd shatter bone on impact.
"Charge!"
The subjugation captain, who'd taken the vanguard, hoisted his sword and sprinted forward. Old Man Nickel gripped his axe and ran right alongside him.
Galvanized by the captain's battle cry, the adventurers regained their fighting spirit and chased after the two men.
And just as the captain was about to crash into the three giants—
"Bwahaha! The runty little things are rushing in."
"Let 'em have a taste of stone."
The giants widened their strides and pulled well back, then grabbed boulders lying on the cave floor and hurled them without ceremony.
I was aghast at the rocks flying at us as if launched from a catapult.
"Just how strong are these things?!"
"L-Luke! The trajectory's weird — they're not aiming at us!"
"What?"
The giants weren't targeting the adventurers with those rocks. The boulders they threw smashed into the cave ceiling, skidded across it, and crashed down in spots where no adventurers were standing.
BOOM—! The ground shook, and a deafening roar filled the air. But we couldn't afford even a shred of relief just because the rocks missed. The giants had aimed at the ceiling for a reason.
"S-stalactites are falling—!"
"Run!!"
Countless stalactites had been embedded thickly across the high ceiling.
The collision snapped the massive stalactites loose.
The enormous stalactites began plummeting toward the cave floor.
Straight toward the heads of the adventurers, no less.
"Shit!"
Rebecca threw herself nimbly and deflected a stalactite that was falling right over my head. She raised her oversized tower shield upward to cover us. Hiding beneath that shield, I could do nothing but sigh.
"You saved my life."
"Don't just stand there — help me hold this shield!"
I pressed my hands against the back of the tower shield and threw my strength into it. The shield was broad enough for two people to take cover, so even amidst the raining stalactites, I managed to avoid injury.
Unfortunately, the other adventurers were not so lucky.
"Gahk—"
"My arm, my arm."
A few of the adventurers without shields had been struck by stalactites. The falling shards weren't especially fast, but they poured down in massive quantities. Bad luck meant taking at least one hit. An adventurer whose arm had been pierced by a jagged stalactite screamed out in agony.
"Gahahahaha! See, you should've watched your heads."
"Got fooled, didn't you? You sure got fooled, adventurer scum."
The three giants looked our way and roared with laughter. Watching them, I realized these bastards were an entirely different order of enemy from any monster we'd faced until now. I don't just mean their brute strength. They knew how to use tools. They knew how to use the terrain. They were unmistakably a sentient race like the people of the continent.
"Now we'll show you some real stone-throwing."
The giants began seizing whatever came to hand and flinging it at us. Big rocks and spider corpses alike. The unrelenting hail of projectiles — just as I instinctively tried to duck—
"━You play too rough, young giants."
A weighty voice resonated through the cave.
In that instant, the old barbarian gripping his axe leaped into the air.
Snow-white beard streaming, the old barbarian crossed the axes in both hands.
It was Old Man Nickel, radiating killing intent from every inch of his body.
"HYAAAP—!!"
With a thunderous kiai, Old Man Nickel swung his massive axes.
In that moment, a violent gust exploded from Nickel's axes. As if struck by a gale, the incoming projectiles lost all direction and were swatted away. Even I, standing behind him, had to squeeze my eyes shut against the buffeting wind.
"Wind pressure! He swung his axes and stirred up a gale from the wind pressure alone."
"What kind of insane brute strength is that?!"
THUD—!
Landing on the ground, Old Man Nickel fixed the three giants with a steady, measured gaze.
"Blocked it."
"Barbarian—!"
The three giants glared at Old Man Nickel with eyes full of shock.
Old Man Nickel addressed them with a composed expression.
"What will you do now, young giants? Will you cowardly try to stone this old man to death? Or will you face me squarely and test your strength? Choose an honorable fight, as befits the warriors of Jotunheim."
"Do not speak lightly of the honor of the Jotuns!"
Had Old Man Nickel's words wounded the giants' pride?
They clenched their clubs hard enough to crack them and began charging straight at Old Man Nickel.
"Cover the barbarian!"
At the captain's command, I joined the other adventurers and began attacking the giants. Facing three at once was indeed overwhelming, and Old Man Nickel focused solely on parrying their clubs.
No, the very fact that he could block those enormous clubs with his axes was already miraculous. Protecting Old Man Nickel was the path to victory in this subjugation.
"Die, you giant bastards!"
I lashed out with my Water Whip, striking the nearest giant across the body. But even after taking the whip hit, the giant's momentum didn't flag for a second. Instead, it let out a frenzied roar and swung its club with reckless fury.
"GRAAAHHH!"
"Gurk—!"
A club swing with enough force behind it to plaster an adventurer straight into the wall!
Taking a hit like that head-on would definitely pulverize bone. I shouted toward Rebecca, who was moving her feet with dazzling footwork ahead.
"Don't even think about blocking with your shield — dodge!"
"R-right!!"
I took a deep breath and coolly surveyed the battlefield.
What I was watching was none other than Old Man Nickel's fight. His movements as he traded blows head-on with a giant were unique.
Old Man Nickel raised his axe and aimed exclusively at one spot.
The giant's knee!
'The knee? Why is he aiming for the knee?'
While observing Old Man Nickel's fight, I recalled something from the past.
It was back when we hunted the giantified goblins in Morris Forest.
- A living creature doesn't automatically get stronger just because giantification occurs. The muscles in its limbs can't support its body weight, so its movements inevitably become slow and awkward.
Lili's advice, given after we brought down the giant goblin.
Could that same advice apply to these giants as well?
Their own mass would necessarily place constant strain on their bodies. It's not just muscle that bears body weight. The skeletal structure wrapped in that muscle must be carrying the load too.
If so—
"The kneecap!"
The knee was exactly the giant's weak point!
The body part that shoulders the entire mass of a hulking giant.
The knee, by its very nature, could not help but be the giant's vulnerability.
"Liquid."
I gripped the Water Whip tightly in my hand. Then, holding my breath, I lashed the whip from the giant's blind spot at its flank.
The instant the tip of the whip struck the giant's knee, I was certain.
The realization I'd reached was the correct answer.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!"
The giant reeled, body lurching as it let out a hellish shriek.
Clutching its knee with both palms, it kept howling over and over. The adventurers gathered nearby were thrown into confusion by the eardrum-tearing scream.
"Much obliged, blond young man. The damn thing kept zigging and zagging — was hard to land a clean hit. Hoohahaha."
Amid the bewildered adventurers, Old Man Nickel let out a hearty laugh.
I yelled at him with an expression of utter incomprehension.
"Why didn't you tell us we needed to aim for the knee, old man?!"
"Hm? Was this your first giant hunt?"
"Yes! My first."
"Didn't realize the subjugation squad had a first-timer in it, to be honest. Anyway, you handled yourself well for a beginner. The other adventurers were just hanging back, watching for someone else to make a move."
Just hanging back and watching?
Wait, was I the only one who didn't know?
That you're supposed to aim for a giant's knee.
Still, the way things played out, me being a first-timer actually ended up doing the big work. The other adventurers hadn't even thought about attacking the giants — they'd been too busy just scrambling to dodge.
"Hyap!"
In that moment, Old Man Nickel leaped high above one giant's head.
As his axe scattered a flash of blinding light, blood gushed from the crown of the giant's skull. A fissure formed where the axe had cleaved through, and the giant's head split clean in two.
CRUNCH! Head split open — giant or not, there's no coming back from that.
Looking at the dead giant, the adventurers erupted in battle-lust-filled cheers.
"The giant's dead!"
"It's 'cause the horned mage went for the knee for us. That's a move that'd get you royally fucked by a giant if you tried it half-cocked."
Listening to those cheers, I was dumbfounded.
So not aiming for the knee was just because they were too scared?
Were they all just watching each other, waiting for someone else to land the first hit?
How perfectly on-brand for adventurers steeped in selfishness!
Even so, killing one giant carried enormous significance.
Because the remaining two giants began trembling, gripped by terror. The giants who'd treated this fight with the adventurers as nothing more than a game until now were finally starting to feel the fear of death.
"A brother is dead—!!"
"AAAAAGH!! I don't wanna die—!! That barbarian is a monster!!"
The two giants panicked completely, turned their backs, and fled. They'd utterly lost their fighting spirit. If we pursued them, we might be able to finish them off easily.
"Stop right there, you bastards!"
The subjugation captain roared and made to chase the giants.
Right at that moment, Old Man Nickel stopped him.
"Hold. Before we pursue the giants, there's something I need to tell the adventurers."
"What? This is an urgent situation—!"
"Even so, let them catch their breath for a moment. There's an important issue we absolutely must address."
Old Man Nickel seized the captain's shoulder with a hand full of force. Despite the captain's considerable build, he couldn't shake off Old Man Nickel's grip. This was the barbarian who had split a giant's head in two, after all. Anyone would've been too intimidated to refuse.
"A-alright. Keep it brief, please."
"Much obliged."
Old Man Nickel swept his gaze over the adventurers and spoke.
"There's something you lot need to understand. The giants hiding in this cave—three of them is not the end of it."
"What?! The Guild clearly stated there were three!"
"Look closely at where the giants' bedding is laid out."
Old Man Nickel raised his finger and pointed toward the campfire.
Gigantic bedrolls were spread out around the campfire.
"Huh?"
The moment I checked the bedrolls, I couldn't help but be shocked.
There were four bedrolls in total.
One more than the number of giants we had just encountered.
Old Man Nickel drew a deep breath, then spoke, a grim smile crossing his face.
"I can tell by the scent. There's an old one hiding in this cave. A very cunning old giant who knows how to scheme."