What exactly is this situation?
Looking at the wilderness before him, Rhode stretched out his arm blankly to scratch his head. After he agreed to the little queen’s request, she sent someone to escort him out of the city. Later, he didn’t even know what happened. He simply witnessed a flash in his vision and was transported to this deserted wilderness the next second. Everywhere was empty. The candy city from before was nowhere to be seen. But that didn’t surprise him much, since this was how it was in a mental world. And if one were to make sense of everything, perhaps it would be meaningless other than confusing one even more.
“Alright then, looks like I’ll need to defeat that giant next, huh?”
Reaching out to hold the sword hilt at his waist, Rhode forced a smile. Even though he brought the sword along with him just in case, the truth was that he never thought of using it. Because the mental world was a very sensitive place, where everything was a projection of its owner’s innermost mind. If one were hurt or killed, it would leave a profound impact on the owner’s mental world. His younger sister had also warned him solemnly that in the mental world, the amount of strength one had was useless.
The most important thing here was to rely on the mouth. Whoever could convince the other party would be the boss. Using brute force was the most unwise choice, so even if the little queen wanted Rhode to destroy that giant, he couldn’t just foolishly run up to her and swing his blade. Since the giant appeared in Celia’s appearance, it meant that the giant was also a part of Celia’s innermost mind. And if Rhode destroyed her, perhaps his task would fail completely. That was also why the guards around the little queen held weapons made of candy.
This was Celia’s mental world. If she set her heart on it, even steel and laser swords would surely be at her disposal. But that would cause damage, after all, so she subconsciously wouldn’t use them. It was like how one would resist instinctively even when one wielded a dagger and tried to stab oneself in the heart. But if one were to hold a plastic toy sword, one would be fine no matter where one hit. The same went for the candy weapons around the little queen.
But even so, Rhode nodded and agreed to the little queen’s request, before heading to have a negotiation with the giant version of Celia.
“Come to think of it, I don’t really understand them at all.”
Strolling on the wilderness and recalling the scene earlier, Rhode couldn’t help but mumble to himself. Up until that moment, he recalled that he indeed didn’t know much about the holy sword card spirits, not even Celia, who had followed him the longest. He didn’t know what their true identities were when they were still alive because whenever he talked about this topic, the card spirits hummed and hawed, which was why he didn’t pursue the question further. And now, it didn’t seem like it was just due to a lack of skill that he couldn’t work well with the holy sword card spirits.
Take Celia, for instance. All he knew about her was that she was a battle angel and that she used to be of high status. But as for what exactly she did, how high a status she possessed, exactly what kind of status she had, and what feats she had once performed, Rhode had no idea at all.
Celestina was also the same. He didn’t understand her as well as Celia. The only thing he knew was that Celestina was a great demon of hell and that was all. Of course, due to the ‘intimacy’ between them in the past, Rhode had a much better grasp of her psychological activities and personality than Celia. But other than that, he knew nothing about Celestina. For instance, although she was a great demon from hell, in his opinion, she didn’t actually have the tactfulness and composure of one. In that regard, she was a complete amateur. In that case, Rhode was certain that she didn’t grow up in hell. Or else with a character like hers, she would have been really lucky to not be sold out. Though on the surface, she seemed evil and loved death, killing, blood, and corpses, this was a demon’s nature, after all, and it was impossible to change. But apart from that, Rhode didn’t notice any areas that could be nurtured by the environment. In that case, it could only prove that Celestina wasn’t raised in hell, but grew up on the main plane instead.
As for Gracier and Madaras, his knowledge of them was only limited to their status. This time, Rhode didn’t embarrass himself any further. At the very least, he knew that they were once princesses of the elves. But unfortunately, that was all he knew. Their background was even trickier than the previous two. And for Celia and Celestina, he was still able to make inferences from the information both of them revealed inadvertently. But Gracier and Madaras never said a word, so it was hard getting any information out of them.
As for Shira with the crazy mind, ordinary people had no way of understanding her. For instance, if it weren’t for Celestina’s slip of the tongue, Rhode wouldn’t know that Shira, who looked like a sadist on the outside, was actually a complete masochist on the inside, which didn’t match her at all.
Rhode couldn’t understand these cards that he often used well enough, not to mention the likes of Little Five and Karin. Little Five and Karin were really just ordinary card spirits with a superior-subordinate relationship to him. And now, even in Celia’s mental world, he found himself getting caught unprepared. What would happen to him after he entered the mental worlds of the rest?
At this thought, he shook his head and threw his worries aside for later. At least for now, his most important goal was to take care of that giant in front of him. If there were no way to deal with that giant, he didn’t even need to consider the next. Moreover, he was aware of the heavy burden he was carrying. Celia was the one who had been with him the longest and saved his life more than once while he was in danger. If he couldn’t even get her acknowledgement, wouldn’t it be even more ruinous for Karin, Little Five, Eleanor, Dona, and Catherine, who he had basically nothing to do with?
According to the younger sister, she had used her power to connect the mental worlds of all 10 of them together. Although there was no way to communicate and view the situation in front of them through a spiritual connection like in his system, any fluctuations in one’s mental world would be noticed by the others. If Rhode were able to successfully gain Celia’s acknowledgement, the rest would also be at ease. But if he failed… How would the rest of them feel comfortable letting him into their mental world?
But the most important thing for him now was to focus on his current task before worrying and discussing other issues.
“Snore… Snore…”
Right after Rhode calmed his mind and stopped thinking about the troublesome matters, he focused his attention on the wilderness in front of him again. This time, he heard some snores from deep in the wilderness. As he walked toward the area where the sound was coming from, it wasn’t long before he saw the giant.
At that moment, the ten-meter-tall giant was lying in a clearing and snoring away. She wasn’t wearing any clothes and only white wings wrapped her huge body. It looked like this giant was more like a primitive person. She seemed to know absolutely nothing about shame and had no concept of enjoyment. Rhode, on the other hand, stood beside her, knitted his brows, and carefully examined her. Honestly, although she had wrapped her body with her wings, she was a giant over 10 meters tall, so she couldn’t cover her entire body. In that case, he was able to get a closer look at her ‘erotic side’. Come to think of it, Rhode had never teased Celia, though he had even gotten Celestina into bed with him. Maybe it was that this battle angel was too meek and honest, which made him feel a lack of sense of conquest?
Rhode admired Celia’s body curiously. He had seen quite a few naked women, and it wasn’t like they weren’t any better than Celia. That was why seeing her naked body didn’t make him blush or become excited. On the other hand, it did pique his curiosity. This was the first time he had seen a female body enlarged to this extent. But perhaps it was because Celia was an angel, so even though her body was magnified several times, it didn’t look all that scary, such as hairy arms or something…
“Hmm…?”
Even though Rhode didn’t say a word, the giant seemed to notice his gaze that was sizing her up. She woke up from her sleep, opened her eyes, and let out a confused grunt. After turning over and looking at him, she widened her eyes in shock, sat up, and stared at him.
“Who are you?”
Her voice was literally like a thunderclap echoing in his ears. But it also seemed like the giant didn’t have a particularly clear idea of him either. Rhode expected her to scream and jump up after seeing him just like any other women. After all, she wasn’t wearing any clothes. But to his amazement, she didn’t have any reaction to it, like a child who liked running around naked and was oblivious to the gaze of others. The giant supported herself with her hands on the ground as she sat up. The two huge lumps on her chest the size of a hill dangled in front of his eyes. She didn’t even seem to be aware that her private parts were exposed to him. She just stared at him curiously as if looking at some rare specimen that she had never seen before.
“Greetings, I’m Rhode. I am a traveler from the outside world.”
Facing the giant, Rhode introduced himself again. Upon hearing his introduction, the giant’s eyes glinted instantly.
“You came from the outside world? No wonder I don’t remember seeing you before… Is the outside world fun? What are you doing here? Did you come here for something interesting?”
At that moment, the giant was like a curious baby, asking question after question. And in the face of her questions, Rhode patiently answered one by one. Celia didn’t seem to care much about the situation in the outside world. Instead, she was curious about why Rhode showed up here. When she heard that he was here to participate in the candy feast, her eyes brightened up.
“Oh, you love sweet things too! I have some with me… Here you go!”
The giant said, turned over, and reached her hand into a cave to grab a bunch of candies and biscuits, before laying them out in front of Rhode one by one.
“This is really tasty… This isn’t too bad either… Yes, this is wonderful…”
As Rhode watched the giant presenting her candies and stacking them in front of him like she was offering treasures, he suddenly felt as if this scene was déjà vu all over again.
“Why did you wreck the Honey Queen’s ceremony?”
Looking at her exuberant appearance, Rhode pondered for a while and finally took the opportunity to ask. Of course, he didn’t intend to kill her right away. If it were said that he didn’t clarify things yet, now, after some interactions with her, he was convinced that there was no difference between the giant and little queen; they were both naive children. It seemed like there was no unbreakable hatred between them and that the little queen was just saying things out of spite when she said she wanted him to kill her. And now, Rhode was thinking about how to unravel the conflict between both sides. Disputes between children could be huge or small and if there was no particular or deep hatred, the conflict would resolve itself over time.
“Ugh…”
Upon hearing Rhode’s question, the giant, who had been in high spirits a moment ago, suddenly pouted and revealed a dissatisfied expression.
“I didn’t want to do it either. But… But… I was hungry… I eat everyday, but I don’t feel full at all… And there is also no food in other places… It wasn’t like this in the past…”
Although the giant’s narrative was somewhat incoherent, by Rhode’s analysis of the situation, he finally understood the whole story. It turned out that she was born in this wilderness and was a giant since birth. But the fruits of the wilderness couldn’t fill her belly at all, so she shifted her attention to the candy city. At first, she went to the candy city just to ask for some food. But perhaps due to her size, she scared the people, and the little queen and her guards also chased her away. After trying for a few times to no avail, she became a little discontent.
In her opinion, she just wanted some food. And if one didn’t want to give her food, there wasn’t a need to drive her away. That was why she became angry and ‘power grew from within’… Perhaps this phrase shouldn’t be used here, but, as a matter of fact, she returned to the candy city and robbed the city again, taking advantage of her huge size. Previously, she was just a cowardly person and didn’t dare to confront them. But now, she was angry, which was why she naturally retaliated against them. And in the face of her attacks, the guards wielding candy-weapons couldn’t stop her at all, thus letting her pillage a whole lot of candies and desserts with ease.
Thereafter, she, who had gotten a taste of sweetness, decided to start living this way. She spent her days in the wilderness eating candies and desserts that she had stored up. Once her supplies were emptied, she would head to the candy city to ‘replenish’ her stocks and bring them back as reserves. And up until that moment, she had pillaged the candy city for up to four times—no wonder the little queen was so annoyed. If one were in her shoes, one would surely be furious for having one’s city broken into and having things snatched away.
“I see…”
Upon hearing her words, Rhode nodded. After pondering for a moment, he asked.
“So, if the Honey Queen allows you to indulge in sweets in the candy city from now on, will you stop bothering them?”
Facing Rhode’s question, the giant nodded.
“Of course. I was just hungry…”
“Got it.”
Rhode replied and narrowed his eyes.
He had already come up with an idea to resolve this issue.
After bidding farewell to the giant, Rhode once again returned to the candy city. Just like before, he had no idea how he headed back. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he was once again transported to the entrance of the city. However, to his surprise, the little queen actually stood there with an anxious look on her face as if she were waiting for him. As soon as she saw Rhode, she scuttled toward him and held his hand worriedly.
“How was it, Ttaveler? Have you gotten rid of that annoying giant?”
Looking at the complicated gaze in the little queen’s eyes, Rhode seemed to detect something. He answered with a smile.
“That’s right, Your Majesty. I’ve followed your orders and slaughtered that giant.”
“What———!”
Upon hearing his reply, not only did the little queen not reveal a happy expression, but she also turned pale and showed a sorrowful look. She looked at Rhode and asked.
“Did you really kill her?!”
