Chapter 123

“You, back then, that turtle from the Siland River, right?”

Toruga slowly approached Teodoras.

“Seems like it… but it’s grown so much bigger since then…”

Teodoras just stared at Toruga with a stiff face.

Tears were streaming endlessly from Teodoras’ wide-open eyes.

After a moment, Teodoras opened its mouth.

“Y-yes, I came to meet you…”

“I knew it!”

Toruga immediately rushed in and hugged Teodoras.

“I knew it was you!”

Tears also began to flow from Toruga’s eyes.

“Damn, you have no idea how much I missed you! Back then, I had no choice but to leave you behind, but I thought about you every day!”

Then, Teodoras’ body trembled slightly, and it began to sob.

“I-I also missed you every day… not a single day went by without thinking of you…!”

“Sniff…! So that’s why you came here? To meet me, even crossing into another world…!”

Toruga gently stroked Teodoras’ shell with his large hand.

Teodoras cried out.

“I missed you so much…!”

“Me too!”

Seeing the two embracing like that, Roo also sniffled and wiped her eyes.

“Well, that’s good…”

“Yeah.”

Ariel smiled softly.

A heartwarming reunion after a thousand years.

True friendship is something so powerful that it transcends time and dimensions.

“Big sis…”

Roo suddenly hugged Ariel’s neck tightly.

“Big sis, you must never leave me behind… If something like that happens, I’ll wait not just a thousand years, but ten thousand years…!”

“……”

For a moment, Ariel wondered how long a fairy’s lifespan was.

She wasn’t sure, but it definitely wasn’t ten thousand years.

Of course, she didn’t voice that thought.

Ariel quietly reached out and stroked Roo’s body.

*

As the night deepened, they decided to sleep in Toruga’s cabin and visit the Giant Race village in the morning.

Toruga and Teodoras talked late into the night.

They shared stories about how they had been all this time.

Then, Toruga learned that time in Azgrad was different from the original world and burst into tears again.

“T-then, you waited for me for a thousand years…?”

Toruga hugged Teodoras tightly.

“I’m really sorry, I was out of my mind back then. The oxygen was getting thinner, and the gravity was crushing my body, so I thought I had to get to Azgrad as quickly as possible. Besides, I didn’t know what Azgrad was like back then, so I couldn’t just bring you along. I’m really sorry for making you wait so long.”

“It’s okay. We’ve met now.”

Teodoras’ tail wagged happily from side to side.

Now it seemed that Teodoras was quite affectionate.

It kept its eyes half-moon shaped and clung tightly to Toruga, refusing to let go.

Seeing this, Ariel felt a little envious of Toruga, but there was nothing she could do.

If Teodoras hugged Ariel like that, Ariel would be crushed under its weight.

Maybe I should find a turtle doll of the right size…

Ariel thought this as she hugged the dragon doll Sparki and fell asleep.

And the next morning.

After a simple meal at Toruga’s cabin, they headed to the Giant Race village.

Walking along the forest path bathed in warm sunlight, Toruga and Teodoras played a riddle game, while Ariel walked a little behind with Roo, slowly looking around.

Everything was in the world of the giant race.

At night, it felt a bit scary and mysterious, but in the morning, it felt awe-inspiring.

Trees so tall they seemed endless.

Leaves so large they could cover Ariel’s body.

The flowers by the path and the butterflies flying around were all gigantic.

“…We always drink this to survive. It’s invisible but everywhere. Without it, many life forms can’t survive. They suffocate.”

From ahead, Teodoras’ voice could be heard giving Toruga a riddle.

Listening to the question, it was the same one Ariel had given Teodoras.

Toruga immediately guessed the answer.

“Hmm, is the answer air?”

“…Wrong.”

But Teodoras’ competitive spirit was still strong.

“The answer is… water.”

“What? How does that work?”

Teodoras slowly explained.

“We always drink water to survive… and the part about it being invisible is a metaphor… water is transparent and doesn’t have a fixed form… so even though it seems like you can see it, you can’t really say you see it…”

“Ah, then what do you mean by suffocating without water? Isn’t it usually the opposite? If you fall into water, you can’t breathe.”

“That’s…”

Teodoras rolled its eyes as if squeezing its brain.

“W-without water, nothing can exist… so, in the end, you suffocate…”

“Ah!”

Toruga nodded as if he had learned something.

“Indeed, living for a thousand years has made you so smart. I can’t keep up anymore. Amazing, Teodoras.”

“…No need to flatter.”

Teodoras raised its head high and smiled proudly.

“I’ve been training hard all this time.”

“It really seems so. I never would have thought of water.”

Watching them, Roo quietly clicked her tongue.

“…Is Toruga serious? Does he really believe Teodoras’ sneaky tricks?”

“……”

Ariel shrugged.

The answer to the riddle Teodoras just gave was clearly air.

Ariel had given the same riddle before and said the answer was air.

“He’s probably just playing along.”

Ariel answered softly.

If Toruga really believed Teodoras’ words, then the intelligence of the Giant Race might need to be questioned.

“Haha, you’re so smart, Teodoras!”

“…No need to flatter.”

Anyway, the two continued their riddle game, and the result was a complete victory for Teodoras.

*

Toruga’s cabin wasn’t far from the Giant Race village.

The Giant Race had only been in Azgrad for about ten years, and their population was only about a hundred, so they needed to live close and help each other.

However, the village was divided into two.

Split into the Eastern Village and the Western Village, separated by a massive cliff.

According to Toruga, the leaders of each village were Grok and Brom, who were brothers.

“Grok, the older brother, rules the Eastern Village, and Brom, the younger brother, rules the Western Village. For the first few years, they got along very well. There was a lot of interaction between the villages, and they even held festivals together. But as time passed, conflicts began to arise.”

The cause of the conflict was suspicion.

The Eastern Village suspected the Western Village of monopolizing the better hunting grounds and not sharing, while the Western Village suspected the Eastern Village of hiding the locations of medicinal herbs.

Each village began to suspect the other of only looking out for their own interests.

The conflict grew, and now they no longer share hunting grounds or herbs, nor do they hold festivals together.

“Well, I still think they need to help each other to survive. Besides, the two leaders are brothers. Before coming to Azgrad, they were very close, but now they’re worse than strangers.”

Toruga’s voice was filled with regret.

“Honestly, I can understand. They each have their own factions to lead, and they’re responsible for their safety in this new world, so it’s not unreasonable for them to be sensitive. But I wish they could trust and help each other a bit more.”

Soon, the two Giant Race villages came into view.

“Whoa, that’s…”

Roo fluttered her wings and flew up.

The distant Giant Race village looked like a scene from a mystical landscape painting.

A massive cliff towering high into the sky, with the two villages nestled on either side, proving the grandeur of nature.

Sparse trees and vines grew at the top of the cliff, and water trickled from the crevices, forming small waterfalls.

“Which village should we visit first?”

At Toruga’s question, Ariel pondered.

Since they were visiting Azgrad, meeting the leaders of the Giant Race villages was a natural step.

Yesterday, ‘Watcher Gurak’ had also mentioned this.

He said that since visitors had come to Azgrad, he needed to report it, and once reported, they would find out anyway, so it would be better to meet the leaders directly.

But after hearing Toruga’s story, there was a bit of a dilemma.

The Eastern Village and the Western Village.

Visiting one first might make the other side unhappy.

If it was just a matter of being unhappy, that would be fine, but it could even lead to conflict.

Why are you monopolizing the visitors first?

When Ariel mentioned this, Toruga also agreed.

“Now that you mention it, visiting either one first could cause problems…”

Outwardly, the two villages looked very similar.

Houses made of massive logs were neatly lined up, with a wide open space in the center of each village.

In the open space, there was a large bonfire pit, likely used during festivals.

“Hmm?”

Then, some movement was seen in the Western Village.

One by one, the giants gathered in the village square, armed themselves, and began to move with a menacing air.

“What’s this, are they going hunting in the morning…?”

Toruga muttered, but it didn’t seem like they were going hunting.

The Western Village giants, armed with weapons, were heading towards none other than the Eastern Village.