Harald frequently left Elbaph and sailed overseas in order to establish diplomatic relations with human nations.
He hoped that Giants and humans could coexist peacefully.
At first, his diplomatic efforts had gone smoothly.
When Elbaph had suffered from natural disasters years ago, it was the human nations that had stepped forward to provide aid to the Giants.
But in recent years, Harald had encountered resistance.
Resistance from the World Government.
The World Government refused to allow Elbaph to become one of its member nations.
Because of this, Harald had traveled to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise several times and personally met with the Five Elders, but every negotiation ended without results.
The reasons given by the Five Elders sounded perfectly respectable.
Elbaph was a nation of warriors.
The Giant Warrior Pirates’ raids had inflicted terrible, lasting disasters upon many human nations.
Now Elbaph wanted to become a member nation?
That wasn’t something the World Government could approve with a single word.
Harald had no way to refute them.
He knew better than anyone what Elbaph had once been like.
After all, Harald himself had once been one of the pirate leaders who led raids and caused destruction.
After yet another failed attempt to secure membership, Harald returned to Elbaph in a foul mood.
The moment he arrived, he heard about what Loki had done.
Harald immediately flew into a rage.
“LOKI! YOU BASTARD SON! GET OUT HERE!!”
Fuming with anger, Harald stormed into Elbaph’s Underworld.
But Loki was nowhere to be found.
Thor, who had followed behind at a leisurely pace, finally spoke.
“Loki heard you were back, Dad. He rode Fenrir out to sea.”
“That bastard!”
Harald’s eyes bulged with fury as his beard bristled.
Fenrir was the strongest Mountain Lord in the Underworld, an enormous white wolf.
Thor had thought it looked so mighty and imposing that he named it Fenrir.
Fenrir was one of Loki’s underlings and obeyed him extremely well.
The moment Loki heard that Harald had returned, he immediately climbed onto Fenrir’s back and fled Elbaph to avoid his father’s wrath.
Thor wasn’t worried about Loki being out at sea.
He had asked Jörmungandr to escort him.
Loki was hiding on a small island not far from Elbaph.
Once Harald’s anger subsided, he could simply sneak back home.
“Thor, you’re no better. Can’t you keep your little brother under control?”
“How am I supposed to control him? You know perfectly well that Loki insists he’s the older brother and I’m the younger one.”
“Sigh…”
Harald could only sigh helplessly.
That was one of the problems with twins born at nearly the same time.
But the bigger problem was that practically no one in Elbaph could stop Loki.
Only Harald and Thor could subdue him by force.
And Thor had absolutely no intention of policing whatever Loki did.
Every time Harald left Elbaph, Loki immediately started causing trouble.
He had threatened the Giants of the Wine Village so badly that the entire village had left Elbaph and disappeared to parts unknown.
The thought alone gave Harald a headache.
“I can’t let that bastard keep carrying on like this.”
Harald made up his mind.
Leaving Loki in Elbaph was simply asking for disaster.
The next time Harald went to sea, he would take Loki with him.
Thor hadn’t even set sail yet, but Loki had somehow boarded his father’s ship first.
What an unexpected turn of events.
A few days later, Loki figured that his father had probably calmed down.
He secretly slipped back into Elbaph.
The moment he returned, Harald caught him red-handed.
“Dad!”
Loki nearly jumped out of his skin.
Harald had actually been waiting for him in the Underworld this time.
He was clearly serious.
Harald simply stared at Loki.
He didn’t hit him.
He didn’t angrily lecture him either.
He stared for a long time.
Loki, just like Thor, had already grown to twenty-five meters tall, towering over ordinary Giants with a large, powerful build.
At last, Harald sighed.
“Next time I go to sea, Loki, you’re coming with me. Understood?”
“Really?”
Loki froze.
Then his face exploded into ecstatic joy.
“WOOHOO! YES!”
Loki had long since grown sick of staying in Elbaph.
He had always dreamed of sailing out to sea and going on adventures.
Unfortunately, Giant children normally weren’t allowed to venture out to sea until adulthood.
And even if Loki wanted to sneak away on his own, he had no crew willing to accompany him, much less a ship large enough to carry a Giant across the sea.
“Sigh… Fine. That’s how it’ll be.”
Harald had made the decision out of sheer helplessness.
He simply couldn’t leave Loki behind in Elbaph to torment his fellow Giants anymore.
…
That evening, inside Ida’s tavern, Harald told her about his decision.
As Loki’s foster mother, Ida was naturally worried that he was still too young to go out to sea safely.
Even so, she ultimately agreed with Harald.
After all, if Loki remained in Elbaph and kept causing trouble, then the ones in danger would be everyone else.
But when Harald announced his decision, someone else reacted far more strongly.
“Dad! I want to go to sea with you too!”
Hajrudin slammed his hands on the table and shot to his feet.
He had always yearned to sail the seas.
He idolized the Giant heroes Jarul and Jorul and dreamed of rebuilding the Giant Warrior Pirates once he grew up.
“No. Hajrudin, you’re staying in Elbaph and keeping your mother company.”
Hajrudin was furious at being rejected.
Why was Loki allowed to go while he wasn’t?
“Obviously because you’re too weak, big bro.”
The tavern door opened.
Loki, who had been hiding outside and eavesdropping the entire time, swaggered inside.
Good.
Mom Ida had agreed.
If she had refused, Loki genuinely wouldn’t have known what to do.
“If you want to sail with Dad, you have to be one of Elbaph’s strongest warriors.”
As Loki spoke, he even struck a pose and flexed his muscles.
He was the second-strongest Giant in Elbaph, after all.
And who was number one?
Obviously that monster Thor, the “Nation-Holding Giant,” who could lift Sea Kings as training weights.
“Nation-Holding Giant” was the title the Giants of Elbaph had given Thor.
Thor himself didn’t particularly like it.
It made him sound like one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
But that did nothing to diminish the Giants’ admiration for him.
This was the future king of Elbaph.
And worshiping strength was a tradition in Elbaph with a history stretching back countless generations.
“Damn it!”
An indignant Hajrudin looked left and right.
His gaze immediately locked onto Thor, who was silently chewing on a chunk of elk meat.
“Thor! You tell them!”
Thor had been on Hajrudin’s side since they were little.
Surely he would speak up for him.
Hajrudin trusted him completely.
“Huh?”
Thor wiped the grease from the elk meat off his mouth.
Loki’s argument actually made perfect sense.
But he couldn’t exactly crush Hajrudin’s self-esteem.
Thor thought for three seconds.
Using his superhuman strength to drive his superhuman intelligence, he devised the perfect response for the situation.
“Big bro, if you go out to sea, other Giants might start pursuing Gerd. She is the prettiest girl in Elbaph, after all.”
“Huh?”
Hajrudin froze instantly.
Thor made an excellent point.
If he went out to sea, what if someone else won Gerd over?
For a moment, the two halves of Hajrudin’s brain went to war with each other.
His head practically started smoking.
“Hahahaha!”
Harald burst into hearty laughter.
Thor really did know how to handle things.
Still, Harald hadn’t expected Hajrudin to already have a girl he liked.
His son would have to work hard.