Thor and Loki’s biological mother, Queen Estrid, died with astonishing speed.
She passed away from illness the day before Harald returned.
Throughout the year Elbaph had suffered from natural disasters, Harald had been traveling from place to place seeking aid.
He went to nations that maintained relations with Elbaph and asked for help.
In many cases, the moment those countries heard what had happened, they immediately loaded vast quantities of food onto ships and sent them to Elbaph without hesitation.
A single nation could never provide enough to satisfy the appetites of Giants, but several countries working together brought enough food to fill their stomachs.
At that moment, Harald truly realized that there was no fundamental difference between Giants and humans.
Humans might have small bodies, but at that moment, they seemed greater than any Giant.
“So these are my sons, Thor and Loki.”
After a year away, Harald finally returned to Elbaph and met his children.
It was also the first time in a year that Thor had seen his biological brother, Loki.
Loki clearly hadn’t been doing well.
His body was covered in injuries, and bandages were wrapped around his eyes.
Because of Queen Estrid’s words, all the Giants had come to believe that Elbaph’s disasters were caused by Thor and Loki’s curse.
Even Queen Estrid’s death from illness was blamed on them.
Thor, who lived in the Sun World, had fared somewhat better because Ida was his foster mother.
But Loki, who had remained in the Heaven World, had suffered nothing but abuse over the past year.
The fact that he had survived at all was already remarkable.
After returning to Elbaph, Harald quickly learned from the other Giants what had happened immediately after Thor and Loki were born.
Harald might not have been particularly sharp, but even he understood that letting the people in the royal city continue taking care of Loki was clearly out of the question.
“Ida, could you look after Loki for me? Just like Thor. Let him become your son too.”
“Of course, dear.”
Ida gently agreed to her lover’s request.
She might not have been beautiful, but in Harald’s heart, Ida was the best woman in the entire world.
“Hmph!”
The only person unhappy about this was Hajrudin.
Now there was yet another little brother competing for his mother’s affection.
He didn’t like that one bit.
After leaving Loki at Ida’s tavern, Harald immediately hurried back to the Heaven World.
Elbaph’s harsh winter had only just begun, and the kingdom needed its king to lead everyone through the crisis.
Thor and Loki were left behind in the Sun World.
Loki neither spoke nor moved.
He was like a lifeless doll that had simply given up on thinking.
Ida removed the bandages wrapped around Loki’s eyes, carefully bathed him, cleaned his wounds, and applied medicinal herbs to his injuries.
For the first time since his birth, Loki experienced a mother’s love through Ida.
“Come on, Thor. Let’s go play with Gerd and the others.”
At Hajrudin’s call, Thor immediately started crawling after him.
“Come back early, okay?”
Ida reminded Hajrudin.
This was hardly the first time the older brother had taken his little brother outside, and as their mother, Ida was certainly easygoing about it.
“Got it, Mom!”
Hajrudin waved.
Thor, who was twice Hajrudin’s size, crawled along behind him.
Despite being only one year old, Thor and Loki had already grown to around ten meters tall, nearly matching the height of some ordinary Giants.
However, perhaps because Giants lived far longer than ordinary humans, they also developed much more slowly.
Human children could generally stand and walk at around a year old.
Thor, on the other hand, couldn’t keep his balance no matter how hard he tried.
Even when he did manage to stand, walking was slower than crawling.
So for now, he could only wriggle around on the ground like a grub.
After leaving home, Hajrudin took Thor to the House of Lambs.
Gerd was a young Giant girl who lived there and was one of Linlin’s playmates.
Of course, there was an ulterior motive behind Hajrudin—who normally found his little brother annoying—specifically bringing Thor along to the House of Lambs.
“Wow! Thor’s here!”
They were still a long way from the House of Lambs when a group of children came running out to greet them.
The children enthusiastically crowded around Thor.
After all, a ten-meter-tall one-year-old baby was simply too popular.
But before they had much time to play with him, heavy thuds began shaking the ground.
“Run! Linlin’s coming!!”
“Thor!”
‘Holy shit.’
Thor watched as Linlin charged toward him like a heavy tank.
He cursed inwardly, but it was already too late to escape.
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath them.
Thor, a ten-meter-tall baby, barely managed to catch and stop the five-meter-tall Linlin.
What did a true natural-born monster look like?
This.
Even as a child, the extraordinarily gifted Linlin possessed strength beyond what ordinary Giants could contend with.
Even Thor, a Giant carrying Ancient Giant blood, could only barely match Linlin’s monstrous strength.
“Thor’s playing with me! I’m so happy!”
Even in Elbaph, Linlin struggled to find anyone who could actually play with her.
A casual handshake from her could break a Giant child’s hand.
Most of the children were frightened of Linlin, and only a few of the braver ones were still willing to play with her.
“I’m counting on you, little brother.”
Hajrudin thumped a fist against his chest in solemn salute to Thor, showing him the kind of respect one might give before offering up one’s heart.
If Thor couldn’t keep Linlin occupied, Hajrudin would never get the chance to play with Gerd.
While Linlin’s attention was firmly fixed on Thor, Hajrudin quickly called Gerd and the other children over and ran off with them to play somewhere else.
‘Seduced by beauty.
Absolutely damn shameful.’
Thor looked down on his older brother Hajrudin with contempt.
He was different.
In Thor’s eyes, which mattered more—the big head or the little head?
Neither.
The rabbit head mattered most.
Meta slaves never went out of style.
Just look at Linlin.
Sure, right now she was nothing more than a big, silly girl, but she was ridiculously strong.
If Thor wanted to dominate the world, being invincible himself wouldn’t be enough.
He would also need powerful subordinates.
And in Thor’s opinion, Linlin was the perfect person to become one of them.
The future Emperor Big Mom.
No effort whatsoever.
Pure talent and absurd stats.
Unfortunately, Elbaph’s Winter Solstice Festival was approaching.
For Linlin, going without food for twelve days would be a deadly serious problem.
Once Linlin’s hunger pangs kicked in, she truly wouldn’t recognize friend or family.