Chapter 115: The King of Elbaf
"The palace is just ahead," Ayla's deep, resonant voice rumbled. She gently set Ren down on the massive cobblestone path, her hand dwarfing him. "I can only take you this far."
Ren looked up, shielding his eyes to see her face high above. "Thank you, Ayla-san. If I had walked by myself from the gates, it might have taken several hours to arrive."
Ayla had walked for maybe half an hour, but for Ren, her single stride was ten of his. That didn't even count the time he would have wasted hiding from giant patrols or citizens who might accidentally step on him.
Ayla smiled, a gesture that seemed to light up the sky. "You're welcome, little Mage. I'm happy to talk to a human and learn about the outside world. We'll be going now."
"Goodbye, Big Brother Ren!" Buli, her son, waved his massive hand, creating a small gust of wind that rustled Ren's hair.
Ren smiled and waved back. This was a small, pleasant interlude in his life. Perhaps he would never see these people again, but the experience was a good one.
After watching the two towering figures walk away, Ren turned and faced the seat of power in Elbaf: the Giant King's Palace. He suddenly felt incredibly small as he approached the main entrance, a doorway so vast it looked like the mouth of a mountain, carved directly into the stone.
"HALT!"
"WHO ARE YOU, LITTLE ONE?"
Two royal guards, clad in impossibly thick, full-plate armor and wielding axes that were larger than fishing boats, slammed the butts of their weapons onto the stone, shaking the ground. They loomed over him, their shadows swallowing him whole.
Humans were rare in the Kingdom of Elbaf, but not entirely nonexistent; a few small human villages existed in the giants' territory. Still, one walking up to the palace was an anomaly.
Ren didn't flinch. He stood tall and projected his voice, infusing it with a bit of magic to be heard. "I am a Mage from the Fairy Tail guild. I am here for a quest issued by His Majesty the King."
The guards looked at each other, their helmeted expressions unreadable.
"A quest?" one rumbled, his voice skeptical.
"Wait," the other said, leaning down slightly, his voice dropping to a (still deafening) whisper. "A human Mage... from Fairy Tail... You don't think it's... that quest, do you?"
The first guard's posture changed instantly. "That quest?!"
Their kingdom could usually solve all its own problems. As far as they knew, only one quest had been issued to outsiders recently, a desperate and secret matter.
"Please, come in!" The two giant guards immediately stepped aside, their suspicion replaced with a sudden, almost fearful, reverence.
Ren blinked. "Uh... don't you need to check me? Or my belongings?" It was a royal palace, after all. He had been prepared for a thorough inspection.
One guard let out a short, booming chuckle. "Haha... no need, little Mage. His Majesty is waiting. Besides," he glanced at Ren's small backpack, "inspecting human things is somewhat... difficult for us."
Ren looked at his backpack, then at the guard's hand. The guard's armored gauntlet was larger than Ren's entire torso. Indeed, inspecting his bag would be like trying to perform surgery with a wrecking ball.
The other guard said, "Come on, I'll take you to see His Majesty the King."
The guard took large strides into the palace, and Ren had to break into a full sprint to follow. "Quickly now!" the giant called back, not even realizing the human was running.
Fortunately, Ren's physical condition was excellent now, thanks to his constant Sun Breathing training. He was able to easily keep up with the guard's walking pace.
The sheer scale of the palace interior was breathtaking. Ren truly felt like a small mouse scurrying through a human's house. The ceilings were lost in shadow, hundreds of meters above. The tapestries hanging on the walls depicted epic battles between giants and massive sea kings, each tapestry the size of a dozen houses in Magnolia. Suits of armor stood in alcoves, each one a silent, 50-meter-tall sentinel.
A short while later, Ren arrived outside the main hall of the palace. The doors themselves were titans of wood and iron.
The guard didn't even knock. "Your Majesty! The Mage from Fairy Tail has arrived!"
Soon, a booming, cheerful voice came from within. "Oh? The Mage from Fairy Tail has arrived? Please, come in quickly!"
"Mage, please come in," the guard said, pulling the massive door open just enough for a human to slip through.
"Thank you!" Ren nodded to the guard, then leaped with all his strength, clearing the two-meter-high threshold.
He realized he was like a field mouse; it was truly inconvenient to be here. But he didn't know until he saw it—the Kingdom of Elbaf was truly amazing. He had seen giants in the Fairy Tail anime, but that was just a small, forgotten village. This was a true Giant Kingdom.
If scaled down, this kingdom was perhaps only twice the size of Magnolia. A country twice the size of Magnolia—what a seemingly small country. But when its inhabitants were all giants, it was, without a doubt, one of the strongest nations in this world.
These completely different experiences were one of the reasons Ren loved taking S-Class Quests. He now somewhat understood why Gildarts loved to travel so much.
The path to the audience chamber, which wasn't far for a giant, took Ren several minutes even at an accelerated pace. The main hall of this palace was almost as long as an airport runway, its floor a polished stone mosaic, its windows letting in beams of light that seemed as wide as rivers.
At the far end, upon a throne carved from the heart of a mountain, sat the King of Elbaf.
Ren also met the King. Unlike the elderly, bearded kings he had seen in other kingdoms, the King of Elbaf appeared remarkably young, looking to be in his thirties. He was massive, of course, but his features were sharp, his hair black, and his energy was that of a warrior in his prime, not a cloistered ruler.
Ren walked to the center of the hall, stopped a respectful distance away (which was still dozens of meters from the throne), and bowed. "Greetings, Your Majesty, the Giant King! I am Ren, a Mage from Fairy Tail. I have come here to accept the quest you issued."
The King smiled, a massive, booming laugh echoing in the hall as he looked at the tiny speck on his floor. "A human... and so small. Tell me, little Mage... how is that short-tempered boy Makarov doing?"
Ren was startled, looking up from his bow. "Your Majesty... you know our Guild Master?"
"Oh? That little boy is the Guild Master now?" The King laughed again, a sound like rolling thunder. "Well, that makes sense. Humans have such short lifespans, so he should have been Guild Master for a while."
The King leaned forward, his chin resting on a fist the size of a carriage. "Makarov and I are old friends. I knew him when I was still just the Prince of Elbaf. He was about your age then, maybe a bit older. Now, more than sixty years have passed. He must be a proper old man, hahahaha!"
Upon hearing this, Ren immediately understood why Makarov was so surprised when he received the quest. It turned out the old man and the King of Elbaf were friends.
"Those times were truly nostalgic!" the King boomed, lost in memory. "I bet that little brat Makarov never told you about our adventures, did he? I threw him dozens of times! Kicked his butt clean across the valley more than once!"
The King's laughter shook the hall. "That guy... he wasn't big, but he had a big heart! And big eyes, too! He actually had designs on Lina. Can you believe it? In the end, Lina still married me, hahahaha!"
Ren's mouth twitched, and he inwardly complained. He tried to picture a young, fist-sized Makarov getting thrown by a giant. Being thrown and kicked in the butt was one thing... but such a short old man, with such a big lustful heart, daring to have designs on a female giant? Did he think he was Jabba the Hutt?
'Uh... actually,' Ren mused, 'it might not be impossible. After all, the old man's magic is Giant Magic. So having designs on female giants... doesn't seem like too big of a problem, logistically.'
But still! They were female giants!
"What's so funny, my King? Are you telling embarrassing stories about our youth again?"
Just then, a gentle, melodic voice—though still as loud as a normal human's shout—came from behind the throne. A beautiful female giant walked out. This must be the Queen, Lina.
The Giant King pointed at Ren and laughed, "Haha, Lina, you've come at a good time! This little fellow is a member of that brat Makarov's guild!"
The female giant named Lina gasped, her eyes widening. Only then did she seem to notice Ren, such a tiny person, standing in the middle of the hall.
"Oh?!" she exclaimed, her face immediately showing a joyful, nostalgic expression. She hurried over and squatted down, her face now much closer to Ren's level, though still stories above him. "You're a member of Little Brother Makarov's guild? How is Little Brother Makarov doing now? Is he well?"
"The Guild Master is doing very well," Ren replied respectfully. "He's just getting on in years, so his health has declined a bit. But overall, he's quite good, enjoying himself with food, drink, and his 'children' every day."
"Is that so! He sounds happy," Lina said, her smile soft. "That puts my mind at ease."
"Your Majesty," Ren said, turning back to the King, "let's discuss the quest."
"Hmm... yes, let's talk about it." The King's expression turned serious. "Young man, what do you think of the strength of our Kingdom of Elbaf?"
Ren replied with a serious expression, "Very strong. Extremely strong. Even looking across the entire Ishgar continent, it is the strongest nation."
This wasn't flattery. Any giant here, if taken to another world, would be a terrifying force. This nation had at least ten thousand giant inhabitants. Even he, with all his Take Overs, would be exhausted and forced to flee after defeating just dozens of them in a head-on fight. If such a nation isn't strong, what nation is?
"Haha! You flatter us," the King said, though he looked pleased. "But I know the truth. The dominant power on this continent is still humanity, especially with weapons like the Anima of the Magic Council. One strike from that could almost destroy my nation."
Ren shook his head. "That is the ultimate weapon of the Magic Council. It won't be used lightly."
The Giant King shook his head grimly. "Not used lightly doesn't mean not used at all."
"But I'm not talking about that," the King said, his voice lowering. "What I am saying is... our strength is not unique. Next to us, there's another nation of similar strength: the Troll Kingdom."
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