Giant Subjugation Quest #13
Giant Subjugation Quest #13
The old man swept his gaze over the adventurers, his eyes brimming with fighting spirit.
But no one answered his question.
Answering the question meant getting your skull crushed by that club right then and there.
"No answer, little ones."
The old man with the club.
The elderly giant Old Man Nickel had spoken of had appeared right here. He'd broken through the cave wall and burst out of a secret passage. The elderly giant let out a hearty laugh as he watched the terrified adventurers.
"It seems there is no brave warrior among you willing to test your strength against me! In that case, I shall come to you! I will show you the might of the Jotun—!"
The elderly giant let out a booming war cry and swung his club. Unlike the younger giants, the old man's cry carried a metallic ring that tore at the ears. The adventurers near the collapsed wall screamed and retreated.
"Luke! It's—it's the giant! The elderly giant the old man mentioned—!"
Why the hell was there a secret passage tunneled right next to the campsite?
If you're going to dig a damn passage, at least dig one that leads out of the cave! I gritted my teeth. Getting ambushed by a giant through sheer rotten luck—the guard duty I'd picked for its safety was now choking me to death!
"Don't approach carelessly. You're assigned to guard me."
I ducked behind Rebecca's tower shield and began weaving hand seals. I was planning to condense water droplets and form a Water Whip. But maybe the elderly giant's sudden appearance had rattled me. My hands kept tangling as I tried to form the seals. My trembling fingers made it impossible to steady myself.
"You goddamn giant bastard—!!"
"Don't you dare underestimate the people of the continent!"
Fortunately, I had enough time to finish the hand seals.
Even excluding me and Rebecca, six adventurers were still here.
Even taking Sister Kate out of the equation, there were five armed adventurers standing between me and the giant. They seemed to be pinning their hopes on me as the mage, swinging their weapons to draw the old man's attention.
I bit my lip hard, slowly forming a droplet of water. Just then, the shouts of the adventurers rang out from the front line.
"Hey! This elderly giant is definitely weaker than the young ones!"
"Y-yeah, if we can just dodge his club, I think we can manage him somehow."
The elderly giant is weak?
My fingers moved in a dazzling dance of seals as I stuck my head out from behind the tower shield to assess the situation ahead. The five adventurers surrounding the elderly giant were, contrary to my expectations, putting up a decent fight. Part of it was them fighting with everything they had in a desperate situation, but the elderly giant's attacks were also comparatively slow.
"The barbarian's right—this is an old man who's totally out of steam!"
The five adventurers held onto hope as they surrounded the elderly giant. Among them, a warrior wielding a two-handed hammer was diligently targeting the elderly giant's knees. Every time the hammer grazed his knee, the elderly giant's face twisted into a savage grimace.
"How dare you aim for a Jotun's knee."
In that instant, the elderly giant let out a battle cry and hoisted a boulder that had been lying on the cave floor high above his head.
For a fleeting moment, the elderly giant's movements halted.
If you aim for the knee while he's in that stance, it's a guaranteed hit!
But the adventurer holding the hammer merely retreated, his face pale as a sheet. The moment he struck the knee with his hammer, he would be crushed flat by the boulder. That adventurer clearly had no intention of dying.
"Hraaah!"
The elderly giant hurled the massive boulder overhead with a grunt of exertion. But the direction the elderly giant threw the boulder was oddly off.
The boulder tracing a parabolic arc completely missed the adventurers standing in front of it.
I followed the boulder's arc blankly, then realized the elderly giant's true intent.
The wounded!
The wounded lying in the corner of the cave, holding their breath!
The elderly giant had aimed the boulder at the wounded.
Fortunately, the elderly giant didn't seem to have the precision to land a boulder throw accurately. The boulder flew like a cannonball and smashed into the cave wall instead of the wounded. The injured, who had been lying prone, screamed and scattered in all directions, crawling to escape.
"Where are you looking? Kuhahahaha—!!"
But this was no time to feel relieved. The elderly giant had shifted his focus and closed in on one of the adventurers from behind.
It was the adventurer who had been holding the hammer.
The elderly giant swung his club at that adventurer, the one who had been targeting his knee, with pure fury.
Crunch! The adventurer with the hammer was sent flying into the air.
The adventurer, struck square in the chest, vomited blood and slammed into the wall. The moment the adventurers stared at their dying comrade with horrified expressions, the elderly giant nodded his head as if a thought had just occurred to him.
"So the wounded little ones were receiving treatment here. Among the little ones who fight us Jotun, there are always troublesome females mixed in. Strange females who wield a power called Divine Power. And it seems one of those strange females is mixed in among you as well."
That was the moment.
The elderly giant shoved the adventurers aside and charged like a wild boar. The direction of the elderly giant's charge was, unmistakably, toward Kate, who was trembling beside the campfire.
Kate, dressed in her nun's habit.
To anyone's eyes, she was unmistakably a member of the clergy.
"Kyaaaaaaah—!!"
Kate scrambled to her feet and tried to flee.
But the elderly giant's grasp was quicker.
The elderly giant had already seized Kate's waist with his thick arm.
"There you are. Leaving you be would only lead to troublesome matters."
"P-please, save me!!"
Kate struggled, pinned against the elderly giant's flank. I watched that scene just as I finally completed my hand seals. Behind Rebecca's tower shield, I gripped a thick Water Whip in my hand.
But I couldn't just swing the completed Water Whip recklessly.
Somehow, I knew it instinctively.
The moment I swung this Water Whip, I wouldn't survive this cave.
The elderly giant smiled a greasy smile and spoke.
"...A mage! Is there a mage among you as well? Mages are indeed more troublesome existences than these females. Small in stature, yet possessing the power to massacre us Jotun. A mage, above all, must not be left alive."
The elderly giant cast his bloodshot eyes around his surroundings.
Every time his murderous gaze landed on them, the adventurers trembled with fear.
The moment the elderly giant's gaze finally reached Rebecca's shield.
I made my decision.
Now was not the time to rashly draw his attention.
I released and dismissed the Water Whip and gripped a longsword.
It was the longsword I had obtained after dueling at the Adventurer's Guild.
Gripping it, I stepped out from beside the tower shield, adopting a stance as if I had actually trained in swordsmanship.
The elderly giant broke into a smile of sheer delight in that moment.
"There is no mage? That spares me the trouble!"
My stance must have been quite convincing, because the elderly giant was completely fooled.
Truth be told, with my rough and muscular build, no one would easily suspect I was a mage.
Holding a sword, I looked every bit the swordsman.
The elderly giant immediately lost interest in me.
And then he began swinging his club at the surrounding adventurers again.
The adventurers screamed desperately, stabbing their weapons at the elderly giant. But because of Kate, dangling from the elderly giant's flank, the adventurers hesitated in their attacks. A carelessly swung weapon might have cost Kate her life.
It would have been better if a regular adventurer had been taken hostage.
But the one captured by the elderly giant now was Sister Kate.
Because she was Kate, the precious healer, the adventurers couldn't help but hesitate in their strikes.
"Gwaaagh."
One by one, the adventurers were struck by the club and sent flying. Those who took a single blow failed to rise again. The number of adventurers, once five, was steadily dwindling.
"Luke... at this rate, we're all going to die."
Rebecca looked at me with a despairing expression.
I was simply clutching my head, lost in thought.
How the hell do we survive against this giant?
If I use magic, the elderly giant will focus solely on trying to kill me.
He'll pull every underhanded trick in the book, like an old man would, to crush my skull! If I, the sole mage, die now, the rear guard unit will truly be annihilated.
Is there no way for everyone to survive inside this cave?
I recalled what Old Man Nickel had said.
I tried to find a method within the advice Old Man Nickel had imparted.
End it with a fatal, decisive blow!
Old Man Nickel had definitely said that.
The moment I recalled those words, something immediately came to mind.
The stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling.
Countless stalactites embedded like sharp spikes.
Among them, there was one stalactite as massive as a pillar supporting a building.
'That one.'
What if I could drop that stalactite onto the elderly giant's head?
If I could land its sharp tip right on his crown, it would undoubtedly be a decisive blow. I could finish off the elderly giant in a single strike!
Just as I had devised the plan and was about to speak to Rebecca.
"Rebecca! I've thought of a plan."
I needed to quickly relay the plan to Rebecca.
But I couldn't.
Boom—!! The moment a thunderous roar echoed throughout the cave.
The adventurers surrounding the elderly giant were all simultaneously sent flying through the air.
The elderly giant had abruptly swung his club, spinning around like a top!
The adventurers caught by that single strike were instantly laid flat.
"Now, are those two the only ones left?"
The elderly giant chuckled cruelly, staring at me and Rebecca.
"Thank you for waiting quietly. I shall send you two off without pain, as a special favor. Wait just a moment."
No way—is the battle really going to end this pathetically?
Without me even getting to use magic?
I stared at the elderly giant with a horrified expression.
It was the moment I was about to weave hand seals and desperately attempt some kind of magic.
But I was forced to stop my hands, which had been diligently forming seals, once again. I had held back once; I decided I might as well hold back a second time. The greasily smiling elderly giant had, for some reason, started behaving strangely.
"That giant just pulled out something weird."
"It's a vine."
The elderly giant reached into his bosom and pulled out a long object. It was a thick vine with a greenish hue. Then he began binding Kate's body with the vine like a rope.
Why is he tying Kate up?
What is he planning to do with that blonde nun, all tied up?
But after thinking for a moment, I could roughly guess the reason.
"He's probably planning to use her as a hostage."
"A hostage...?"
"Using the nun as a shield worked surprisingly well for him. He intends to carry Kate around until he escapes the cave. That elderly giant might actually be aware that a pursuit team is chasing him."
He might have noticed the existence of the pursuit team while walking out through the secret passage. The pursuit team that includes Old Man Nickel, the subjugation squad's actual fighting power.
If so, it made sense why the elderly giant was tying up the nun. He intended to render her completely helpless and continue using her as a shield.
"Cowardly bastard."
"But thanks to that, we've bought some time. I have a plan I want to tell you."
I lowered my voice to a whisper and spoke to Rebecca.
The distance was considerable, and the elderly giant was preoccupied with binding the vine. If we fled toward the entrance right now, the elderly giant would likely try to kill us immediately. But whispering was possible.
"See that stalactite hanging near the entrance? The thickest stalactite around here."
"...I think I know what you're getting at."
"Rebecca. I need you to lure the elderly giant under that stalactite. When I see an opening, I'll use magic to sever the stalactite."
Even as I spoke, I couldn't help but study Rebecca's expression. Luring the elderly giant single-handedly was tantamount to throwing her life away. It was on a completely different level from stalling the kelpie at the lakeside.
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
I asked Rebecca, my voice weak.
"It really is a tough task, isn't it?"
No answer came.
Rebecca was simply staring at the elderly giant with a hesitant expression. The elderly giant, far larger than her own frame. The hand gripping her shield was trembling.
I couldn't bring myself to rush her.
This was undoubtedly an unreasonable request. It was not a task that should be entrusted to a rookie who had just become an adventurer. In this situation, Rebecca was the only one who could lure the elderly giant, but it was far too cruel a task for a newcomer.
"Sorry."
"...I'll do it."
Just as I hung my head.
Rebecca's voice rang out.
"Even if it's tough, there's no other choice, is there."
It was a voice filled with resolve.
"Because if we don't kill that elderly giant, it's the end for us."
"W-well, that's true. But will you be okay?"
"Of course I'm not okay, but I have to do it!"
As if she was simply doing what needed to be done, Rebecca gripped her shield tightly. The trembling in her hand was gradually subsiding.
The moment the trembling finally ceased completely.
Rebecca took a deep breath and drew her sword.
"Tell me, Luke. How do I lure the giant?"
She drew her sword, met my eyes, and spoke.
"A way to lure him?"
"That elderly giant has the nun hostage. Even if I draw his attention, he could just ignore me and attack the other adventurers. Just throwing myself at him might be pointless. I need a way to lure the giant."
I swallowed hard at her words.
It's not that there was absolutely no way to lure the giant.
If I recalled Old Man Nickel's actions, there was exactly one such method.
I remembered the magic words Old Man Nickel had used to stop the giants from throwing stones.
"Provoke the giant. Bring up the so-called honor of the Jotun and provoke him."
Insulting the honor of the Jotun.
Rebecca seemed to grasp what I meant.
She must have witnessed the younger giants flying into a rage as well.
I had no idea whether it would work.
The provocation might not affect the elderly giant.
But right now, this was the only method we could attempt.