Among the many things the giant's two heads kept arguing about, one remark stood out that Davey couldn't ignore. They mentioned something about a goddess’s fairy.
They didn't seem particularly intelligent, but they were clearly sentient. Perhaps they actually knew something valuable.
Smack!!
Without warning, the two heads that had been yelling at each other started wildly swinging their arms and punching one another in the face. Since they had two heads, it seemed each head controlled one side of the body.
“Ugh!”
“Guaaagh!!”
The way they screamed and rolled around on the ground made the whole scene look like a ridiculous comedy act.
“They’re fascinating. Does each head control each arm independently?” Perserque wondered aloud.
Normally, a twin head ogre was controlled primarily by one head, with the other acting more like an extra. Yet, the giant before them seemed different. Both heads appeared to be actively controlling the body.
If that was the case, Davey wondered if half of the body stopped moving whenever one of the heads stopped. His curiosity as a researcher briefly flared up, but honestly, it wasn't important.
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Fwoooosh!!!
Rain suddenly poured from the sky in a torrential downpour, so heavy it was almost unbelievable.
“I really do feel like we’ve transformed into lovely little Lilliputians[1].”
“Ummmm. Is it really okay to just sit here watching them like this?”
The cave they were in sat halfway up a distant cliff. It was so high up that they could see most of the forest spread out below them. In the distance, they could see the giant rolling around on the ground, punching itself and continuing its fight.
“That thing is annoying, but it doesn’t seem hostile,” Perserque answered in a calm voice.
“Let's just leave it alone.”
Finding a cave suitable for a temporary base had been pure luck.
After starting a small campfire, Davey roasted some food and handed it to Kouna. She carefully accepted it and quietly munched away, looking like a squirrel nibbling on an acorn.
“That thing keeps going even with the dramatic deluge outside,” Perserque marveled.
“Looks that way.”
Even with the downpour continuing, they could still hear the giant babbling as it fought itself beside the corpse of the reptile.
“Your fault! Because you, we lost fairy!!”
“The fairy was pretty! Your fault!”
Boom!! Boom boom!!
Watching the giant enthusiastically fight itself was more entertaining than most shows. Eventually, after fighting for quite a while, it finally seemed exhausted. It panted heavily and slowly stopped throwing punches.
“Huff. Huff! Tired! Eat first, fight again later!”
“Tasty parts mine!”
Despite still sounding furious, it ripped apart the corpse next to it with its bare hands and suddenly started eating.
“That part tastes good! Me eat!” one head declared.
“No, me eat good first!!” the other argued.
Before long, they were fighting once again, this time over the food.
“You keep getting on nerves!! Lost the fairy because you too! I’ll smash you!”
Smack! Smack!!
After another lengthy round of fighting, the giant suddenly flopped onto its back and fell asleep. Apparently, the pouring rain didn’t bother it in the slightest.
Watching it all go down, Perserque shared her assessment. “For a sentient being, it’s remarkably stupid...”
Surely there couldn’t be many idiots who fought with their own body.
Even so, she seemed fascinated by its biology. She pulled out pen and paper and began vigorously sketching it.
Rain poured outside and a colossal giant wreaked havoc in the distance, yet the cave felt so cozy that it seemed disconnected from the rest of the world.
Davey turned to Kouna and asked, “You still can’t sense it?”
“I’m sorry,” she replied with her head lowered. “I honestly have no idea what I’m even supposed to be sensing.”
While it was beginning to seem there was nothing to find, they figured Solomonia probably hadn’t lied.
Perserque reasonably suggested, “Perhaps there’ll be changes if you see the necrotic area for yourself. Or maybe that giant knows something.”
“Well, I tried something similar before and ended up clashing with Vesta,” Davey added, exasperated. “And it’s not like we can just go around looking for it by shouting and pulling out magnifying glasses.”
“Hmmm. This has become quite the conundrum.”
The bubble world was simply too vast to search on foot. Unlike Vesta's dimension, this one didn't seem to have a strict time limit. However, they didn't have any leads at all, let alone enough to even start searching.
At that moment, Kouna pushed a skewer of meat into Davey’s mouth and asked, “By the way, isn’t this dimension supposed to have problems too?”
Perserque eyes narrowed seeing her sudden intimate action, but she then acted as if nothing had happened.
“Then that means something must be wrong with this place too....”
“We’ll figure that out as we go.”
Kouna nodded as if satisfied with the answer. It wasn’t really an answer at all, but she seemed unconcerned.
“I’m gonna go look around for a bit. Keep the Lasting Ember close by.” Davey wrapped himself in a barrier of mana and jumped out of the cave, then over the cliff outside.
After he left, only Perserque and Kouna remained. For a while, they sat in silence, watching the distant giant beat itself up.
Perserque finally broke the silence with a sigh. “Haaah. To say your affection is as obvious as a giraffe among horses would be an understatement. You're too much.”
Kouna lowered her head. “I’m sorry....”
“You still can’t let go?”
“It’s not easy... I want to sort through my feelings and move on too, but...”
Lies.
“How am I supposed to stop when I fall for him even more every time he takes care of me and treats me kindly?” Kouna lamented.
Quite a few women had fallen for Davey.
There was Princess Myurin, or Nacha, from the outer dimension; the saintess who lived within the World Tree’s domain; and Tsuna Murgent, who had once served as the chancellor of the Alberta Kingdom. There was also the Celestial Maiden from the Ming Kingdom.
Of course, Princess Myurin had already experienced heartbreak, and the saintess’s feelings had never grown particularly deep.
Tsuna had her memories erased and let go of her attachment to Davey. The Celestial Maiden wasn’t much different from the saintess, either.
However, Kouna hadn’t had her memories erased. She hadn’t suffered heartbreak because of dimensional barriers, either.
Most importantly, she saw Davey regularly, unlike the others.
There were others who gave off similar vibes, like Reina, yet if one counted carefully, that was about all of them.
“I’m sure you don’t like me...” Kouna quietly said.
“Yes,” Perserque immediately confirmed. “I don’t. Who would like a sly fox trying to seduce their husband?”
Kouna didn't know how to respond.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t understand you....” Perserque sighed. “The truth is, I don't have the right to ask Davey not to care about more people.”
That was because she hadn’t trusted her body and hadn’t fully trusted Davey, which was precisely why she had accepted both Aeria and Illyna. If she had known she’d eventually be able to have children, she might never have agreed to accept the others.
“I’m possessive, and I get terribly jealous. I hide it well, but my personality isn’t actually all that magnanimous and amiable.”
“Oh.”
Perserque stared into the softly crackling campfire, voicing the thoughts on her mind without directing them at anyone in particular. “And yet, even in a situation like this, I can't bring myself to hate you. If anything, I care about you even more. What can I even do about it? The one who falls in love first is the one who loses.”
Davey had been the one to show interest first, but Perserque had been the one who ultimately fell for his unwavering devotion.
“Ummm.” At that moment, Kouna hesitantly asked, “Am I... really not allowed?”
No response.
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I can just get over it. It’s not some childish crush. It’s not like a little girl saying she wants to marry her dad, either.”
She buried her face between her knees. “I just... like him so much that I can’t stand it. What am I supposed to do when he even shows up in my dreams...”
Perserque sighed, then bitterly muttered, “Maybe I should’ve tied you up and locked you inside...”
Kouna was once again speechless.
Perserque went on to say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you permission. You know that as well as I do. And... I’ve decided to be greedy now, too. I no longer have any intention of letting my husband drift elsewhere.”
It wasn’t simply a matter of personal desire.
Kouna also understood how many problems it’d create if Davey accepted her. In the end, she quietly cried, but Perserque didn’t comfort her.
The fact that she wasn’t visibly angry already meant she had endured and conceded far more than most people ever could.
The heavy rain gradually began to stop, and Kouna continued to cry.
Only after letting out her bottled-up emotions did she carefully speak up again. “Perserque...”
Boom!!!
Yet, she never got to finish.
A massive pterosaur suddenly swooped in through the cave’s opening, letting out a shrill screech as it lunged toward them inside.
Its wings beat so powerfully that the campfire went out instantly, and a fierce gust filled the cave.
Sling!!
Kouna reflexively drew her sword and launched herself forward, kicking off the ground and shooting out from the depths of the cave.
Unlike the giant from earlier, this pterosaur clearly viewed them as prey.
Just as she was about to slice through one of its wings, a massive hand grabbed the creature. Then, without giving it any chance to resist, it slammed it into the ground.
“Fairies are not food!”
“Bad meat that bothers fairies get punished!!”
It was the same giant who’d been beating itself until it was swollen all over. It somehow looked perfectly fine, apparently having entirely recovered in that short time.
The giant effortlessly pinned the pterosaur down, then looked at Kouna, who stared back in surprise.
The two heads then looked at each other.
“See?! We were right!”
“Right! A fairy!”
When the giant slowly extended a hand, Kouna, still supported by Perserque’s flight spell, gently landed on its palm.
“Fairy pretty!”
“Fairy tiny!”
The giant grinned widely before plopping its butt down onto the ground with a tremendous boom.
“Fairy! Fairy! First time seeing fairy!”
Flustered, Kouna answered cautiously, “U-Uh. Yeah. First time for me too...”
The giant laughed heartily, delighted by her response.
“Hey! Put the fairy on my hand now!”
“No! Fairy likes me better!”
The moment it started arguing again, Kouna quickly shouted, “Don’t fight!”
“Uh...”
“Fairy say no fight.”
The two immediately stopped.
Despite its awkward way of speaking, it didn't seem like a bad creature judging by how obediently it listened.
“So... Do you live here alone?” She wanted information she could bring back to Davey.
“We not alone!”
“We together!”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. Do you have family? Friends?”
“Friends? Family? What that?”
They kept talking about fairies and goddesses, yet they didn’t even know what family or friends were, puzzling Kouna.
At that moment, Perserque slowly flew over and landed beside her.
“Another tiny fairy came!”
“This one goes on my hand!”
Perserque spoke up. “May I ask something?”
“Fairy asks question!”
“I smart! I answer anything!”
“Where is the one who gave birth to you?”
The giant thought about it for a moment, then tilted their heads.
“We born from rock! Nobody make us!”
“We strong! We rulers of world! But only us two!”
They didn’t appear to be lying.
The two women quietly whispered to each other so the giant wouldn’t hear.
“Perserque, I think these two might be the only intelligent beings here,” Kouna suggested.
“It certainly seems that way.”
“At least they don’t seem hostile.”
“That much is fortunate. Let’s ask them something else.”
Perserque slowly floated upward until she was level with their eyes. “Have you ever seen anything strange and black that seems dead?”
“Strange black dead thing? Too hard! I smart, but not know!”
“Fairy words too difficult!”
Perserque tried describing the necrotic part based on the corrupted, contaminated things they’d seen before, but the giants clearly didn’t understand.
“To put it simply, something that makes this world sick.”
“Sick thing...? Ah! We know one!”
“Right! Cry cry! We do hear it cry cry!”
Perserque and Kouna looked at each other, their expressions brightening immediately.
The giant had lived there for a long time, so it likely knew quite a bit. With that in mind, Perserque left behind a letter with a spell so that Davey could find them and rejoin when he returned.
Then, while standing on its palm, she said, “Could you show us? I’ll reward you for it.”
“But the ground hurts!”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking. We might be able to heal it.”
The two heads looked at each other before smiling brightly.
“Fairy granting wish!”
“We kind! We smart!”
‘It’d be nice if they dropped the part about being smart...’
“Oh! Right! It might be dangerous! Fairies must not leave our hands!”
“I’m capable of protecting myself,” Perserque assured it.
“No! Bad guy moved in recently!”
‘A bad guy?’
Perserque looked up at the giant with a puzzled expression.
One of its heads suddenly flinched and whipped around.
Boom!!!
At the same time, a massive explosion erupted on its body.
“Ow! Hurts! Hurts! Hurts!”
The giant had a powerful constitution, but the blast had carried tremendous power.
“KRAAAH!!!” A savage roar echoed through the air, so fierce that it made everyone's ears ache.
Both Perserque and Kouna were shocked by what they saw.
“Is that a dragon?”
“Good heavens... It’s enormous!”
“There! Bad guy!”
“Bad guy attack hurt bad!”
The giant set the two down and snapped a nearby tree in half before turning the halves into clubs. It righteously shouted, “Fairies! I go punish bad guy!”
“Bad guy wants eat fairies! I protect!”
With that, the giant charged forward courageously, each step shaking the ground.
Wham!!
However, unlike the other creatures the giant had fought, the dragon looked exceptionally powerful. It didn’t seem weaker than the giant in terms of strength at all.
In fact, although it was slightly smaller, it appeared physically stronger.
“KRAAAH!!!”
The dragon swatted the giant’s blow to the side and immediately sank its jaws into the giant’s shoulder.
The giant screamed and started hopping around wildly.
“Ow! Hurts!”
“Hurts much!”
Even so, it continued swinging its massive clubs recklessly. It was the sort of crude battle tactic that relied entirely on physical strength.
Watching the dragon and giant descend into complete chaos, Kouna quietly suggested, “We should help, right?”
“I think so. We’ll have a problem if the dragon kills it.”
They’d lose their only useful lead, as well as the only native creatures capable of holding a conversation.
“Kouna, cover me.”
“Yes.”
At the same time, a massive magic circle rapidly expanded beneath Perserque’s feet.
Fortunately, the dragon was completely focused on the giant and failed to notice her.
A moment later, she unleashed a tremendous surge of mana.
[Lesser Meteor]
Crack!!
The sky split apart. Burning boulders tore through the opening and plummeted toward the dragon at terrifying speed.
“KRAAAH!!!” The dragon, distracted by the giant, took the spell head-on and shrieked in pain.
Even if it wasn’t a true meteor, surviving a lesser meteor packed with that much physical force was impressive.
Her powerful attack made the dragon hesitate, and that hesitation gave the giant an opportunity.
“I smash you!!!”
The giant clenched both clubs and swung with all its might.
Crack!!
Wood exploded in every direction as the enormous clubs slammed into the dragon’s neck. It flew away like a baseball hit by a bat.
“I finish you!!”
Wild creatures usually fled from a fight once they lost momentum. The giant had inflicted serious damage, and the dragon quickly took to the air to flee.
The giant stomped around angrily for a moment before finally returning to the two women.
“Fairy strong! Fairy amazing! Fairy beat Forest Wing King!”
“Fairy incredible!”
The giant’s four sparkling eyes and enthusiastic praise left Perserque more embarrassed than pleased. “U-ummm...”
“I guide now! Fairies helped us!”
The giant carefully lifted them back onto its palms and took off running enthusiastically.
Eventually, they arrived at a place that looked utterly shocking. They had reached a swamp-like region filled with black and white energy.
That alone was enough to make their skin crawl. However, the most unsettling thing was the black-haired beastfolk boy standing in the middle of the darkened area. He was facing the opposite direction, so they couldn’t see his face.
‘It said nobody lived here. Then who’s that?’
Something about the boy felt strangely familiar.
Perserque flinched. “What in the world....”
But Kouna didn’t seem to notice the boy at all.
“Kouna. You can see that child, can’t you?” Perserque asked in confusion.
Kouna’s head tilted. “A child?”
“Yeah, right over there.” Perserque turned to point, but the long-eared beastfolk boy had vanished. “Huh?”
Maybe she had imagined it, though that seemed unlikely. The ears had looked far too familiar. From what she could recall, they’d resembled the desert fox ears Aeria had.
Yet, no matter how closely she looked, not a trace remained.
She was certain she hadn’t imagined it, growing uneasy. “I think we need to discuss this.”
Meanwhile, Kouna slowly climbed down from the giant’s hand and approached the corrupted earth that radiated darkness.
The giants heads shouted in alarm.
“Fairy! Black thing hurt a lot!!”
“Must stay away! Meat touched before and melted!”
However, Kouna continued walking forward as if in a trance.
Then something astonishing happened.
The corrupted land around her began changing. A truly wondrous power flowed from within her body, and her eyes, lost in a trance, shone with a brilliant sky-blue light.
1. Originally translates to “I’ve wandered into the land of the little people,” but I figured we’d punch it up to be more interesting. This term is from Gulliver’s Travels, a novel by Jonathan Swift. Gulliver stumbles upon the land of Lilliput that is filled with little Lilliputians who are about one-twelfth the size of normal humans, making them about six inches tall. Another way to put it here would be like they're Jack and climbed a beanstalk into giants’ territory, but I like the alliteration of “lovely little Lilliputians” way more. ☜
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