Chapter 125: The Little Lion and the Country of Small People (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: The Little Lion and the Country of Small People (2)
Adelaide was flustered.
How could she not be, when the king of a nation suddenly thrust his sword at her and demanded a fight?
Seriously, what kind of high-and-mighty person challenges a prisoner to a duel?
…Wait, on second thought, there might be more of them than I think.
Images flashed through Adelaide’s mind: the lord of Tik-Tok, who had heartily slurped down a witch’s soup; the guild branch manager, who seemed mad for adventure; the duchess, who was obsessed with framing a portrait of the Lennart Mask.
There were plenty of madmen among the powerful, so maybe a duel request was surprisingly normal.
It was the other small people around her who came to Adelaide’s aid as she stood there in confusion.
“Y-Your Majesty! I beseech you, reconsider! You must maintain your dignity as the foundation of our nation!”
“Indeed, Your Majesty! What would we do if any harm were to befall your royal person?!”
“She may be restrained now, but giants are inherently violent creatures! If we release her carelessly, it will take great effort to capture her again!”
Ah, so I’m not the strange one here, Adelaide thought, relieved. Just then, the king of the small people replied nonchalantly.
“It’s fine. I won’t die.”
The retainers’ faces soured in an instant. Their expressions screamed that he was missing the point entirely.
Sensing the mood, the king shrugged as if in resignation and sheathed his sword.
“It’s a joke, a joke. Well, not really, but if I don’t say it’s a joke right now, these fellows look like they’ll grab the back of their necks and collapse, so I suppose I have to call it a joke. But then, what are we to do with this giant young lady?”
At the king’s question, nobles dressed impeccably in well-tailored clothes stepped forward to speak.
“Let the law take its course. She can be sentenced to one year of physical labor or be made into a giant soldier and sent to the border.”
“The official is correct. After that, she must also be duly punished for the damage to the garden.”
“Furthermore, it is said the giant did not comply with the inspection and engaged in combat. This, too, must be punished according to the law.”
“Hmm.”
The king wore a thoughtful expression, and Adelaide realized the atmosphere was turning sour. It seemed the nobles were under the impression that she was completely powerless.
Just then, the small general who had brought her here raised his hand.
“Your Majesty! This is your humble servant, Redresal! I request permission to speak!”
“Hmm, speak.”
“This giant girl did not invade our country with malicious intent, and she herself stated that she does not know how she arrived here! Moreover, the initial battle was a result of mutual misunderstanding in an unfamiliar situation, and even during that process, she showed no active aggression toward us! I ask for your leniency!”
A murmur spread through the small people at the general’s words. Most of the reactions, however, were negative.
“Your Majesty, General Redresal’s statement is of questionable veracity and is overly emotional.”
“Indeed. How can it be that she set foot on this island but does not know how she came to be here?”
The king, who had been listening silently to his retainers, turned his gaze to Adelaide.
He opened his mouth to speak.
“Giant. Even if it was not your intention, you have broken the laws of this kingdom, and as its king, I must mete out a just punishment. However, if I am to believe the general’s words, it does not seem right to impose an unconditionally harsh sentence upon you. Therefore, I ask you this.”
The king paused for dramatic effect before continuing.
“Our nation is currently in a long-standing dispute with the neighboring country of Blefuscu. Their ever-growing fleet and army, and the giant soldiers they command, are a great cause for concern. According to reports, you possess extremely agile movements. Will you not use that ability to help our country? If you plunder Blefuscu’s fleet and bring it to our nation, or if you can determine the location of the enemy’s main forces, I shall grant you a great reward.”
Adelaide answered the king’s question clearly.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I cannot accept that.”
“…Hmm, not a moment’s hesitation. What is your reason?”
“Because as an outsider, I cannot interfere in a war I know nothing about and harm others.”
The murmuring grew louder once more. The general sentiment was that she was being rude, but the king, on the contrary, seemed intrigued.
“What I ask of you would not be difficult with your abilities. There is little risk, and the reward is certain. Besides, it should be of no concern to you whether an enemy nation suffers damage or not. And yet you refuse?”
“I am still immature, so I don’t know much about what is right or wrong. But if I were to do what you ask, I’m sure it would leave a bad taste in my mouth later. That is why I cannot accept.”
Adelaide replied in a tone slightly more rigid and formal than usual, but with an unwavering gaze.
“It might not be a fair trade, but I am confident in my physical abilities. Whether it’s felling trees or moving rocks, as long as it doesn’t harm others, please give me any task.”
“It is difficult to compare military achievements with simple physical labor. A mediocre effort will not be enough to satisfy me.”
“I will do my best!”
Adelaide declared, clenching her fists. The king laughed, looking amused.
*
First mission.
Felling the trees in the forest west of the royal capital.
Adelaide angled the blade of her greatsword and brought it down close to the ground. The trees were only as high as her shins, or at most her knees, so this was a trick to prevent the stumps from being too large.
Holding that position, she pushed the sword, now coated in sword energy, forward. The trees were cut down like whiskers before a razor, with a series of sharp cracks.
Watching a forest larger than the entire royal capital get cleared in just five minutes, the small supervisors all stood with their mouths agape, looking utterly dumbfounded.
Second mission.
Connecting the two rivers flowing northwest and northeast of the capital.
First, Adelaide drew a line on the ground connecting the two rivers. The start and end points of the line were about a handspan away from the riverbanks.
She plunged her greatsword deep into the end of the line. However, the blade was positioned perpendicular to the line, not parallel.
Once she judged the blade was deep enough, she dragged the sword along the pre-drawn line. Normally, a sword wouldn’t move in such a state, but her immense strength allowed her to treat the hard ground like mud.
A furrow like one in a field formed in the sword’s wake. After repeating the process a few more times, the furrow’s depth and width expanded.
Finally, Adelaide was about to destroy the handspan-wide wall separating the channel from the river, but the supervisors who had been watching her work frantically stopped her. They explained that they needed to finish the ground and edges before letting the water flow.
Adelaide, who had thought simply digging a path for the water was enough, blushed in embarrassment. Seeing this, a few of the small people suffered from a sudden arrhythmia.
Third mission.
Moving a mountain.
Upon hearing that a task that would take ordinary small people years, or even weeks with giant soldiers, had been completed in under an hour, the king went to see the results for himself. After confirming it with his own eyes, he half-jokingly commanded Adelaide, “That mountain spoils the view. Be a dear and get rid of it.”
And so, the king learned a valuable lesson.
One should not speak carelessly.
Crack! Crunch! Thwack!
KABOOOOM!
Each time Adelaide swung the greatsword in her hands, the rock mountain, which was about as tall as she was, screamed in agony.
Her greatsword, which had been used more as a tool than a weapon today, let out creaking groans, but as a high-quality item bought with a hefty sum, it didn’t break easily.
After an hour of being steadily chipped away, the rock mountain finally shattered into countless fragments. Drenched in sweat, Adelaide reported the completion of her mission.
Watching this, the king of the small people quietly addressed his retainers.
“Ahem, thank you for stopping me earlier. You saved my life.”
“…We are sorry, Your Majesty.”
“General Redresal. Your counsel played a great role.”
“I was only doing my duty, Your Majesty.”
“Right, so. I intend to give the giant young lady the ship and route she requested. Does anyone have any objections?”
They remained silent.
The king nodded and uttered another word.
“Yes, that’s what you should do if you want to live. Indeed.”
The retainers did not open their mouths.
He was absolutely right.
*
Watching the small people bustling about to build a ship for her as promised, Adelaide thought to herself.
See, not everything has to be handled so violently. Some things can be resolved through calm conversation!
She had failed to consider how her own actions might have appeared from the small people’s perspective.
Ignorance was, at times, the ultimate threat.
“Hey! Hold that part steady!”
“Bring more wooden nails!”
The construction of the ship went smoothly.
Adelaide had secretly worried whether the small people could build a ship large enough for her to ride, but after seeing how skillfully the small pieces of wood were fitted together to form the shape of a massive vessel, she knew her concerns had been unfounded.
General Redresal, who had at some point become something of a personal guide for Adelaide, answered her unspoken question.
“The mathematics, surveying, and engineering skills of our Lilliput Kingdom are exceptional. Besides, this isn’t the first time we’ve built something exclusively for giants. You saw the cart you arrived in, didn’t you?”
“If you have such advanced technology for making these things, does that mean there are many people who wander in here like me? Many giants?”
“Natural arrivals happen about once a decade. However, as I mentioned before, our kingdom has ties with Lady Elphaba. We gather materials she desires, like giant gems, gold dust, or the morning dew that forms on special plants, and in return, she gives us various gifts. That’s how we learned to use mana, and among those gifts are giants like you. They are very useful as a labor force.”
“Though, I’ve never seen a giant who works as well as you,” the general added.
Adelaide felt a flicker of doubt and asked again.
“But I haven’t seen any other giants here.”
“That’s because of the food supply. Giants eat an enormous amount. If we kept them all in one place, the granaries would be empty in no time. We only permit three or fewer giants to reside in the country, and even they are scattered far apart, so it’s not strange that you haven’t seen them.”
The general’s face was strangely stiff as he spoke. He seemed to want to end the topic quickly.
Even though she noticed this, Adelaide didn’t press for details. Prying into things others wished to hide was not in her nature, and besides, she had more important things to do.
Rejoining her comrades and ending the battle was more important than satisfying minor curiosities.
Heave-ho! Heave-ho!
Whether it was due to the sheer number of workers or their superior skill, the ship was being built at an incredible speed.
Just a little longer, Adelaide thought, recovering the stamina and mana she had expended during her earlier labor.
Just then, something strange caught her eye.
At first glance, it looked like a bizarre sculpture.
It had two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, but its body was clad not in clothing, but in countless metal plates and restraints. It looked as if a metal cage had been forcibly reshaped into a suit of armor.
And for some reason, these bizarre objects were charging toward Adelaide’s position with terrifying speed.
The general cried out in alarm.
“Giant soldiers! Those Blefuscu bastards, to invade at a time like this!”
Thump! Thump! At the sound of the ground shaking, the workers who had been building the ship began to panic, their faces filled with fear.
Adelaide blinked for a moment, but then she silently gripped her sword and rose to her feet.
She was surprised, but not confused.
As her master, the Tin Knight, used to say:
“…The moment you think it’s all over is the best time to get stabbed in the back.”
To meet the blade aimed at her back, she charged forward.