I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 107

“Dad! I said I’m~ home?!”

“…….”

“Mom! Is~ Daddeaf?!”

Completely unaware of his parents' complicated feelings, their son, Grondar, continued to wave his hand with a bright and playful voice.

Of course, Barut and his wife Haera were also very happy that their son had returned safely.

They had been worried because their son had said he was going far outside the village for the first time.

But Barut couldn't help but be interested in the three humans his son had brought, especially the smallest and weakest-looking one.

Barut examined the blond young human more carefully. The blond young human somehow resembled the woman, the elf, who had made Barut's heart race in his youth.

‘Is this young human the king our divination spoke of……?’

But no matter how much the divination said ‘king,’ he couldn't immediately serve him as king.

Because, as Barut had just thought, the concept of a king didn't exist for Giants.

Giants had a nominal elder, but they were all equals and had a relationship based only on friendship.

Like Barut, his wife Haera also stared at Leonardo. She had understood the meaning of the divination that had been hard to comprehend until just a moment ago.

“I said I'm home!”

The son and the three humans, who had been quite far away, soon passed through the village and reached the front of the elder's tent.

The Giants were curious about the humans they were seeing for the first time, but they kept a moderate distance. They weren't wary of the humans. They just didn't want to burden the humans their elder's son had described as ‘friends.’

Before long, Grondar and the three humans—Leonardo, Jereuth, and Philip—arrived in front of Barut's tent.

The first one to speak to Barut was Jereuth.

“……Barut.”

“……Jereuth.”

The two friends met for the first time in over a decade after parting ways due to a conflict of opinion in the Minotaur's dungeon.

It was the reunion of two heroes of their respective races.

Barut scratched the bridge of his nose and continued.

“Ahem, it’s been a while. Have you been well? How did you meet my son?”

“I'm old and haven't died, so I've been well. As for your son―.”

“That’s it! Brother Leo saved me!”

Grondar interrupted the serious atmosphere.

Haera, who was listening quietly from behind, covered her face at her son's thoughtlessness, and Barut coughed again and looked at his son.

“‘Brother Leo’? Who is that? What do you mean he saved you?”

“This brother!”

Grondar lifted Leonardo up and placed him in front of Barut. Leonardo was flustered by Grondar's sudden action but managed to maintain his composure.

“He's the son of the human king! And the son of an elf? too!”

“The son of a king and the son of an elf……. I see.”

‘So that's why he looks so similar. Is this boy Victoria's son?’

The over-four-meter-tall Barut looked down at Leonardo.

“How did this boy save you?”

“Well! That…… a really big snake appeared, you see?”

“A really big snake?”

“Yes! It was a really big snake, like 100 meters long! And he chased it away by having a staring contest with it! Brother Leo did!”

Winning a staring contest with a snake over 100 meters long.

Grondar's words were clearly exaggerated, but the surrounding Giants who heard them were stirred.

―A giant snake, you mean Anakros?

―It's a monster that doesn't come out of the ground…… It was roaming outside?

―Don't you think Grondar might have stirred up its nest?

―Nah, no matter how foolish Grondar is, he wouldn't do something like that. Invading an Anakros's nest is a choice for a difficult death. Could Grondar even find an Anakros's nest in the first place?

―But a 100-meter Anakros? I've never even heard of an Anakros that big.

―He's probably exaggerating a bit. But no matter how much he exaggerated, if it was that big…… hmm.

Swish―.

Barut raised his hand slightly to quiet the surrounding Giants. Then he asked Leonardo.

“Thank you for saving my son. What is your name?”

“It is Leonardo. I am the Crown Prince of the Plank Kingdom and the son of King Philip, who is over there.”

“Philip.”

Barut glanced at King Philip and asked.

“Is this boy Victoria's son?”

Cough…….

“……He is.”

“Are you not feeling well?”

“No. I'm just tired from coming such a long way after a long time. I've also eaten a lot of dust. I'll be better after some rest.”

Philip said he would be fine, but Barut could tell his physical condition was not good.

“For now, you go in and rest. It seems I can discuss the reason you've come to our village with your son.”

“……Thank you.”

King Philip spoke in a tired voice and then passed by Leonardo, patting his shoulder.

“Then, Leonardo. I'll see you at dinner.”

“Father―.”

Before Leonardo could say anything, Philip went inside the tent with the help of Barut's wife.

After confirming that, Barut asked Leonardo again.

“Leonardo, son of Philip and Victoria, and friend of my son. What is the reason for your visit to our village? I doubt you came just because Grondar invited you for no reason.”

***

Things progressed quickly after coming to the Giant village.

It wasn't a bad development for me. In any case, I was able to have a conversation with the Giant Elder Barut in a calm atmosphere.

Barut asking why I had come to this village.

At that question, I took a deep breath and recalled the contents of the <Future Diary>.

‘Giants don't like beating around the bush; you have to get straight to the point with sincerity. You have to ask for a simple and pure friendship, not a deal where you offer something in return for help.’

“No. I came here because I want to be friends with the Giants.”

“You came because you want to be friends……. First, let me ask, do you know what a ‘friend’ means to a Giant?”

I don't know for sure.

But I know it's much more important than the meaning of 'friend' that humans think of. Fresh chapters posted on novel•fire.net

I decided to be honest about this as well. Because there was a line in the <Future Diary> that said, ‘I should have been honest.’

“To be honest, I do not know what a ‘friend’ means to a Giant.”

“You don't even know that and you're asking to be friends? Grondar, you made friends with a human like this?”

―W-well! Brother Leo is really brave and―!

I cut Grondar off and continued my words.

“But to me, a friend is someone who helps in a crisis. Someone you can share drinks and food with without reservation, and someone you can greet as if nothing happened even after a big fight.”

“…….”

“Not a calculated relationship where you discuss what to give and take, but a relationship where it's okay to suffer a loss to help a ‘friend.’ That's what I think a friend is.”

“Hmm…… A friend to a human is not such a concept, is it? Humans are a greedy race. More so than the dwarves who dig up all sorts of minerals from deep within the earth. Aren't you asking to be friends because you want something from us?”

A sharp question.

But this time too, I decided to be direct and not beat around the bush.

“That is correct. I intend to conquer the Minotaur's dungeon. So I was coming here because I needed the Giants' help. To that end, I sought to form a friendship with the Giants.”

“……You are very honest. Usually, people beat around the bush with such questions.”

Barut's eyes gleamed as he nodded his head.

“I like that honesty. And from what Grondar said earlier, you stood your ground even when facing an Anakros, so you seem to have guts.”

―Kyah! It was no joke, I tell you?! He had a staring contest with that snake, and the snake was like this close, but when Brother Leo glared at it, the snake―!

“……Be quiet. Don't ruin the atmosphere.”

“Kek!”

Barut pressed his son, Grondar's, face and continued.

“I don't particularly like the reason that you came here because you need our help to conquer the Minotaur's dungeon. But I like your guts, honesty, and concept of a ‘friend.’ And most of all, I like that you seem to be able to take that archenemy of mine far away.”

“…….”

“First, I will allow you to stay in the Giant village. But becoming friends with a Giant is another story.”

“Does that mean…… you will not help me conquer the Minotaur's dungeon?”

“That's not it. Grondar is your friend, so he will help you. I am Philip and Jereuth's friend, so I will help them. And I trust you, the son of Philip and Victoria, and the friend of my son. So we will be able to enter the Minotaur's dungeon.”

“Ah……!”

It was the answer I had been hoping for.

The <Future Diary> said I would succeed in conquering the Minotaur's dungeon, and the Giants really said they would help.

‘I did it. I've crossed the biggest hurdle!’

“……Thank you!”

“There are no thanks or apologies between friends. If you want to be a friend of a Giant, you'd do well to realize that first.”

Barut gave me something like advice and then turned and went into the tent. The tent the King had entered.

As if that was the signal, the Giants who were watching us began to disperse. But a few of them approached Grondar and asked various things.

―Grondar! Tell us more about that giant snake!

―What's outside the village? Are there really as many trees as the adults say?

―Human! Have you met a human woman? Do they really like Giants as much as in the stories?!

―I want to fight that human, can't you tell him for me? A human who defeated such a giant snake must be really strong! ……Though he looks really weak.

I vaguely heard my story, but I decided to pretend I didn't. I wish they would consider the weight class difference if they wanted to fight me.

‘……I'm tired.’

I had managed to talk to Barut with confidence, but because I was so nervous, my mind was exhausted.

‘I want to be alone in a quiet place. Since Barut said he would help me conquer the Minotaur's dungeon, I need to check the <Future Diary> again, and I also have the deal I made with Anakros—Risilbak, so I need to check that too.’

I was looking around for a place to sit when I heard Grondar's voice.

“Wait a minute! I'll just take Brother Leo to his room and come back!”

Saying that, Grondar broke away from his friends who were surrounding him, quickly ran up to me, and said.

It might sound a bit strange to say it like this…… but Grondar was kind of like a big dog.

“Brother! I'll take you to my room! Since I invited you, you can stay in my room!”

“Oh? Ah, uh. Thank―.”

I was about to say ‘thank you’ but stopped.

Because I remembered what Barut had said earlier.

‘He said Giants don't say thank you or sorry between friends.’

“Alright, let's go.”

“Okay!”

Led by Grondar's hand, I entered the tent. It was a relatively small tent next to the one Barut and the King had entered earlier, and it seemed to be Grondar's room.

Jereuth was about to follow me, but he just greeted me with his eyes and went into Barut's tent. The three friends who had reunited after a long time were probably going to catch up.

I also needed some time alone, so I didn't particularly call out to Jereuth.

Drrrk―!

Grondar brought a chair—or rather, a box-like thing—in front of me and said.

“Brother, can you rest here for a moment? I'll just go say hi to the other Giants and come back?”

“Uh, sure.”

As soon as he heard my answer, Grondar dashed out of the tent. As I always feel, he's a guy full of energy.

That aside.

‘Let's check the diary right away. I don't have much time to be alone like this.’

Honestly, I wanted to lie down and rest right away. But now was not the time to rest.

I had to check the <Future Diary>.

I opened my backpack and took out the <Future Diary> that I had carefully hidden. Even though I had sandwiched it between the clothes in my backpack, there was a little dust on the diary.

‘Let's check the future closest to the present first.’

Phew―!

I blew the dust off with my mouth and opened the diary.

The future closest to the present.

…….

A week after arriving at the Giant village.

Me, Jereuth, Grondar, Barut, and King Philip.

The five of us headed straight for the Minotaur's dungeon.

The reason we only rested for a week at the Giant village was because the Minotaur's dungeon was quite far from the Giant village. The Minotaur's dungeon was at the northeastern end of the Monster Mountains, so in terms of distance, it was as far as the distance I had traveled from the royal capital to the Giant village.

There were no particular happenings on the way from the Giant village to the Minotaur's dungeon.

We just walked every day, and walked again.

As we got closer to the Minotaur's dungeon, we encountered a few monsters. But their numbers were small, and Barut and Jereuth dealt with them too easily.

At that time, I could see the strength of the ‘Giant’ race. That race was a weapon from head to toe.

‘It seems there are no problems on the way to the Minotaur's dungeon. I encountered monsters, but it says Barut dealt with them easily.’

I immediately turned to the next page.

But…… the next page had an ominous content from the very first line.

…….

We succeeded in conquering the Minotaur's dungeon.

The first sentence. It doesn't say how we conquered the dungeon. It just says ‘we succeeded.’

…….

After defeating all the monsters in the dungeon.

We entered the last space of the dungeon.

As the five of us entered that space, a voice was heard from somewhere. It was a grand, frightening, and fear-inducing voice, as if it was echoing from a giant pit rising from hell to the surface.

「Precious comrades who trust each other deeply have come. Offer one of you as a sacrifice. Then the Minotaur will be satisfied for the next 1,000 years and remain here, in hell.」

‘……Offer one of us as a sacrifice?’

I was flustered. I simply expressed it as ‘flustered,’ but there was no other way to express it.

No other modifier could describe my feelings better than the word ‘flustered.’

As I stood there blankly.

Thump―.

Something blunt touched my back. I turned around to see what it was, and it was the King who had touched me.

The King was untying the cloth covering his face with one hand.

With the other hand, he was handing me a thick book and the health necklace I had lent him.

That's right. The blunt thing that had poked my back was a thick book.

On the book, it was largely written <Past Diary, Philip>.

The King untied the cloth covering his face.

And what I saw was…… the face of the King I had first seen. A gaunt, dying, mummy with only skin and bones…… the face of such an old man.

“……Father?”

This too was ‘flustering.’ Because the King was dying.

But why?

The King's expression was very bright.

I've achieved everything, I have no more regrets, I can now lay down my responsibilities.

That's the kind of expression he had.

And―.

‘……He believes in me.’

That's the kind of expression he had.

“Leonardo, do you remember what kind of king I said I wanted to be remembered as?”

Of course, I remembered.

The King had said, ‘I want to be remembered not as a failed king, but as a king who tried and never gave up until the end.’

“I wanted to be remembered not as a failed king, but as a king who tried and never gave up until the end. I wanted to be remembered as one who fixed something, not one who broke it. Or at least as a king who tried hard to fix it.”

“…….”

“As a final choice, I intend to become the Minotaur's sacrifice. Before that, I want to ask. How does my end look to you―.”

…….

While I was engrossed in the <Future Diary> and reading it frantically.

Someone spoke from behind. I hadn't even noticed him entering the tent.

“Leonardo. What is written in your diary?”

“……!”

“If my ending is written in it, may I ask if it's the same as what I saw? The ending in my <Future Diary> ended with ‘I smiled happily.’”

I was flustered, as if caught reading a forbidden book that I shouldn't have.

But since I knew the identity of the voice speaking to me, I slowly turned around.

“…….”

The King was there, as expected.

The King whose face was covered with a cloth, but whose eyes were clearly smiling.