But I’d been expecting this attack. Holding my shield at a tilted angle, I deflected his blow to my left. The feel of the strike being forced in a different direction when all his previous attacks had just been stopped by the shield took the giant by surprise, and his posture faltered. I’d been waiting for that moment.
Twisting my body as I took a big step forward, I grabbed hold of the giant’s thick arm, and I pulled it in towards me hard and spun my whole body in the style of a sacrifice throw. The giant’s center of gravity tilted forward. He was unable to fight it. I felt the interesting sensation of a massive weight floating into the air, and the next instant, a tremendous rumble shook the earth.
“H-He threw the giant?” Al said, stunned.
“Yes, he did.”
I couldn’t afford to pay attention to them. I ignored them, held the giant down, and immediately prayed to the god of the flame. The prayer I was using was Sanity, a so-called resuscitation miracle that caused the target to recover from confusion. I felt the power of my god being channeled through me, and then the deranged forest giant made some drowsy, confused noises and the light of sanity returned to his eyes.
“As usual, your actions leave me speechless.”
“What did you expect me to do?”
Unless you performed the prayer while directly touching the target, Sanity only had a mild effect, so a plan was needed if I wanted to cast it on a giant who had lost his mind. Power was needed to carry that plan out, and I happened to have it. That was all.
Get ripped, and you can solve pretty much everything by force. And if you have techniques and magic as well, that’s even better.
As a rule, Blood’s teachings were correct.
“I really did something sorry.”
“It’s no trouble. Can you get back without help?”
“I think it is get back somehow.”
“Oh, uh, ‘Giant-language, slightly, understand.’”
“Ohh! ‘What a surprise! That helps a lot!’”
It was an incredibly jumbled conversation.
“Umm… the dragon… ‘Dragon, howl, dangerous, is’…”
“Yes, it is derrible, I know. ‘I must return to my tribe. After that, I think I willmove somewhere a little safer.’”
“Oh, in that case, please mention the name of William the paladin. ‘If, people,collide, my-name, William.’”
“William. Paladin, William, god it. ‘All right. You have my gratitude, SirWilliam.’”
After I threw the forest giant, touched him with my hand, and performed the miracle of Sanity, he regained his self-control.
However, a serious problem arose when we tried to communicate: neither of us was very proficient in the other’s language. Although most of the languages in daily use in this world were distantly related, all being derived from the original Words of Creation, the language of giants was a little too esoteric. Even Gus, who had taught it to me, had been working from a very patchy memory of it. That was why we were having this halting attempt at communication using both of our languages.
“‘I am Gangr of the race of Jotunn,’ I, Gangr of Yotun, William. ‘William,champion of men.’” Gangr placed a big, rugged palm against one of mine. It was a giant greeting. We looked like an adult and a child comparing palm sizes. “‘Iwill not forget this debt. If you have any troubles in the forest, call for me.’”
“How can I call you?”
“‘Shout out: “Gangr of the Jotunn, William is here.” The trees will pass onthe message.’”
The title of “forest giant” was apparently deserved. He seemed to be on friendly terms with the fae and the fairies.
After that, Gangr bowed many times to us and headed off back into the forest once more.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a giant.”
“Me, too. He really took me by surprise.”
“Even though you can speak their language?!”
“My magic teacher was a walking encyclopedia.”
As Al and I talked, the Herald-raven came down from the sky. He tried to nonchalantly land on my arm, so I dodged him, and he tutted shrewdly as he landed on the ground instead.
“You saw that. That is the influence of an ancient dragon feared even by Hell’s demons.”
The god of undeath’s red-eyed Herald spoke. He was continuing the conversation we were having just before the roar from Calamity’s Sickle.
“There is no hero in this age or region greater than you. If he awakens and seeks war once again, there will be no other way to defeat him than you.
But even you are not sufficient.”
“And because of that you’re telling me to accept that there’ll be some victims? Uh, we may be enemies, but that doesn’t sound like you.”
The Herald-raven made a disgusted expression.
“As vexing as it is, a thousand lives cannot replace ten thousand. Since more lives can be saved by you remaining alive, I am forced to recommend that. If it were possible, I would gladly set down an Echo and slay him myself. But unfortunately, thanks to a certain someone, I have been rendered impotent. Thanks to a certain someone.”
He made no attempt to hide his bitterness.
“D-Don’t any of the other gods look like they’ll make a move?”
“They have their own plans, on a far greater and all-encompassing scale.
Gods like Gracefeel and myself, who rejoice and weep over the joys and sorrows of the little people, are if anything eccentrics.”
I said nothing.
“This plan does not please me, either. But I believe it to be the best plan in the current situation. Think on it very, very carefully, flamebearer, knight of faraway lands.”
With a loud flap, the Herald-raven spread his wings.
“Farewell. We shall meet again before long.”
He flew off into the mist. Al and I watched him go in silence, my expression bitter and Al’s a little disconcerted.
“He’s looking after you,” Al said.
“No, he’s got his eye on me.” I hadn’t forgotten about the death threat he gave me when I destroyed his Echo before, even if he had now apologized for it.
“They say that the gods desire heroes, people who will spread their divine message and carry out their will on earth.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re a hero who represents the god of the flame, so…”
“The god of undeath wants to put me in his debt, I bet.”
Rather than being hostile to me, he was trying to become someone beneficial to me. By doing so, he was intending to slowly mollify my hostility towards him and exploit those past favors to gradually, very gradually, break me down. For an instant, I pictured myself reduced to an undead knight. I shook my head to rid myself of that sinister image. Stagnate was very well versed in subtle manipulation.
“What do you plan to do from here?” Al asked, concerned. “The god of undeath said that even you… um… couldn’t beat the dragon.”
“Good question,” I said. “I wonder what I’m meant to do.”
I had no good answer for him.
The creatures of the forest had been driven to panic by the dragon’s howling.
I got back in a hurry and was immediately swamped with requests to take care of the damage they were causing. Reports had been coming in from all over. I dispatched adventurers and priests to many different places and busily exchanged letters with Whitesails.