Elbaph’s Winter Solstice Festival had arrived.
To welcome the coming of the Sun God, the Giants were required to fast for twelve days.
Everyone had to observe the tradition, even outsiders.
Mountains of semla, shaped like cream-filled buns, had been prepared.
This was the food the Giants ate to stave off hunger.
Although they had to fast for twelve days, as long as they ate enough semla beforehand, even children could easily make it through.
“Come on, children. Eat as much as you like.”
Inside Ida’s tavern, Thor stared thoughtfully at the small mountain of semla before him.
Even babies had to fast?
Wasn’t Elbaph’s Winter Solstice Festival tradition a little too brutal?
Then again, this was the world of One Piece.
The legendary masters of starvation, Sanji and Zeff, had managed to survive eighty-five days with only five days’ worth of food between them.
Compared to that, fasting for twelve days suddenly didn’t seem quite so outrageous.
Thor and Loki were both exceptionally large Giant babies.
Despite having only just turned one, they were already ten meters tall.
To make sure both children were full, Ida had prepared an enormous amount of semla.
“Hajrudin, come eat too.”
“I want to wait for Dad to come back so we can eat semla together.”
“What a good boy. Then we’ll wait for your father and eat together as a family.”
While Ida turned around to speak with Hajrudin, Thor immediately moved his hands and feet at lightning speed, grabbing a large pile of semla and hiding it.
Loki, sitting beside him, stared at his brother strangely.
What was he doing?
When Ida turned back around, a huge portion of the mountain of semla had disappeared.
Their foster mother merely smiled.
“You two really have big appetites. I’ll make some more semla.”
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Thor found a large piece of cloth and wrapped up the semla he had hidden.
He looked at the amount and decided it still wasn’t enough, so he took some more from the pile.
“Thor, what are you doing?”
Thor might have been able to hide his little scheme from Ida, but he couldn’t escape the eyes of his older half-brother Hajrudin.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
Unable to speak, Thor could only wave his arms around and perform a series of strange gestures.
Hajrudin stared at Thor’s bizarre pantomime for a moment.
Then inspiration struck.
He understood!
“Thor, you’re a genius! Gerd is going to be so happy!”
The Winter Solstice Festival might be a tradition that every adult in Elbaph had to observe, but surely it wasn’t too serious if children secretly ate something during the fast.
Looking at the large stash of semla Thor had hidden, Hajrudin decided it still wasn’t enough.
He joined in and helped pack even more.
By the time Ida returned carrying another tray of freshly baked semla, the original mountain had almost completely vanished.
“You three little guys sure can eat. Mom will make some more for you.”
Ida didn’t find the speed at which the semla disappeared suspicious at all.
She simply thought her three sons had enormous appetites.
At this rate, they would definitely grow up big and strong—perhaps even more powerfully built than Harald.
“Ahh—”
Loki apparently disapproved of his two brothers secretly hoarding food.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Thor stuffed a piece of semla straight into it.
‘Keep your mouth shut!
Your brother is doing something important here!’
“Nice one!”
Hajrudin gave Thor a thumbs-up.
This little brother of his really was smart.
He was definitely going to become an incredible Giant someday.
“Wife! Sons! I’m home!”
Harald returned to the tavern through the raging snowstorm.
Although he was the king of Elbaph, Harald didn’t live in the royal city.
Every day, after finishing his duties as king, he returned to Ida’s tavern.
Quite a few Giants had objections to their king behaving this way.
However, Harald had not actually violated any of Elbaph’s traditions, so they only dared complain behind his back.
No one had the courage to say it openly in front of King Harald.
“The semla just came out of the oven. Hajrudin, come eat with your father.”
“Coming!”
Hajrudin shot Thor a meaningful look.
Thor immediately understood.
He picked up the huge bundle and secretly carried it into Hajrudin’s room.
If they hid it in the room he shared with Loki, Ida would definitely find it.
“Strange. Where did Thor go?”
“Haha! He must be full and crawled back to his room to sleep.”
Hajrudin covered for Thor, and Ida suspected nothing.
Meanwhile, Loki sat on the floor and angrily stuffed semla into his mouth.
He was going to eat every last piece.
That idiot Thor could starve.
“All right, children! The Winter Solstice Festival is here! Let us welcome the arrival of the Sun God Nika!”
Harald picked up a piece of semla and began eating.
This was how a family should be.
How wonderful!
Elbaph’s Winter Solstice Festival had begun.
The enormous snowflakes drifting from the sky were half a meter to even a full meter across.
Everything in Elbaph was enormous.
Even the snow was many times larger than anything in the outside world.
Going outside during this period was unwise.
During the Winter Solstice Festival fast, even the strongest adult Giants were better off staying quietly at home, sitting beside the fire and conserving their strength and body heat.
“Mom, Thor and I are going outside to play.”
“Wait, Hajrudin. Shouldn’t you stay inside during the Winter Solstice Festival?”
“It’s fine! We’ll be back soon!”
After hurriedly calling out to his mother, Hajrudin left the tavern with Thor, who was carrying an enormous bundle on his back.
Ida saw them leave and merely shook her head without saying anything.
Ida herself was a Giant born in the South Blue.
Elbaph’s traditions didn’t matter much to her.
As long as her children didn’t go hungry, that was enough.
“Come here, Loki. Mom secretly saved some semla for you.”
Like mother, like sons.
Not a single member of this family was willing to play by the rules.
The snowfall outside was tremendous.
Even little Hajrudin was nearly buried beneath the snowdrifts covering the roads.
Thor simply crawled at the front and cleared a path, allowing Hajrudin to follow behind him.
His larger body finally had an advantage.
“Good job, Thor! As expected of my little brother!”
This roadside-fodder older brother actually sounded proud of himself?
Thor couldn’t be bothered with him.
He increased his crawling speed.
Before long, they reached the House of Lambs.
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Someone was actually visiting during the Winter Solstice Festival?
Mother Carmel found it strange.
Before she could react, Linlin had already rushed over to open the door.
“Wow! It’s Thor!”
The moment she opened the door and saw Thor’s enormous figure, Linlin lit up with joy.
Thor had come to play with her again!
After Linlin had accidentally flung Thor away last time, Mother Carmel had given her a stern lecture.
Hajrudin hadn’t brought Thor back to play with her for quite some time.
“Linlin, stop blocking the doorway.”
Hajrudin squeezed around Thor and made his way inside.
Thor slowly stood up and removed the huge bundle tied to his back.
Linlin’s extraordinarily sensitive nose immediately picked up the scent of food.
“That smells like semla!”
“Shh! Keep your voice down.”
Hajrudin’s warning was completely useless.
With Linlin’s booming voice, every child in the House of Lambs immediately came running.
Thor barely managed to squeeze himself inside.
The House of Lambs was large enough for five-meter-tall Giant children, but accommodating a ten-meter-tall Giant baby was rather difficult.
Thor put the bundle on the floor and untied it.
The moment the cloth fell open, a small mountain of semla appeared before Linlin.
“Wow! It really is semla!!”
With nothing but food in her eyes, Linlin immediately reached for one.
Slap!
Thor smacked her hand away.
“Thor, what are you doing?”
Linlin looked at him pitifully.
Why wouldn’t Thor let her eat the semla?
Since he couldn’t speak, Thor once again began making strange gestures.
None of the children in the House of Lambs understood what he was trying to say.
But Hajrudin, being the excellent older brother that he was, immediately understood again.
“Thor means that the Winter Solstice Festival requires us to fast for twelve days. If Linlin eats all the semla at once, she’ll get hungry later.”
“Huh? I don’t want to be hungry!”
Linlin’s newly awakened appetite immediately vanished at Hajrudin’s words.
Food really was most delicious when you were hungry, after all.
“You children do realize that what you’re doing violates Elbaph’s traditions, don’t you?”
Mother Carmel walked over.
She was only an outsider herself, so whether she followed Elbaph’s traditions didn’t particularly matter.
However, she didn’t want to anger the Giants of Elbaph over something like this.
“It’s fine. My little brother Thor is definitely going to become the king of Elbaph someday. Then whatever he says goes.”
Hajrudin spoke with complete confidence.
He didn’t possess Ancient Giant blood.
According to Elbaph’s traditions, that meant he could never inherit the throne.
The future king of Elbaph would inevitably be chosen between Thor and Loki.
As far as Hajrudin was concerned, his clever little brother Thor was definitely going to become king.
“Sigh… Children shouldn’t have to go hungry.”
Between angering the Giants of Elbaph and offending a prince of Elbaph, Mother Carmel decisively chose the former.
Besides, as long as no one told anyone, the Giants would never find out.
“Children, you have to keep this secret. You mustn’t tell anyone that you secretly ate during the fast.”
“Okay, Sister!”
The children of the House of Lambs answered in unison.
As usual, Hajrudin immediately ran off to play with Gerd.
Everyone in the House of Lambs could see exactly what that brat had in mind.
‘This is all I can do.’
Thor had brought Linlin this much semla.
If her hunger pangs still erupted despite this, then there was truly nothing else he could do.
It would simply be fate.
Thor and Hajrudin stayed at the House of Lambs for a while longer.
When it started getting late, Hajrudin realized they would probably get scolded by their mother if they returned any later.
He reluctantly said goodbye to Gerd.
“Thor and I will come play with you again next time.”
“Bye, Hajrudin! Bye, Thor!”
After saying goodbye to everyone at the House of Lambs, Thor and Hajrudin headed home.
…
On the tenth day of the Winter Solstice Festival, with only two days left in the twelve-day fast, a raging fire suddenly erupted in the Warrior Village.
Children screamed.
Adults shouted angrily.
Inside the tavern, Ida heard the commotion and hurriedly opened a window to look outside.
“What happened?”
“Wait—Thor?! Come back!”
Ida hadn’t even figured out what was happening before she saw an enormous baby crawling toward the Warrior Village at astonishing speed.
It was Thor!
Ida immediately rushed downstairs after him.
Hajrudin heard the commotion and followed her outside.
“Mom, what happened?”
“I don’t know. Hurry and bring your little brother Thor back.”
Mother and son ran after Thor.
Neither of them noticed another figure crawling out of the house and following behind them.
Loki.
‘So Linlin’s hunger pangs still erupted after all.’
Thor felt helpless.
Secretly bringing Linlin semla hadn’t prevented her hunger pangs from occurring.
It had only delayed them.
In the original One Piece timeline, Linlin’s hunger pangs had erupted on the seventh day of the fast.
Now they had already reached the tenth day.
Thor had thought they were in the clear.
He hadn’t expected her hunger pangs to erupt anyway.
The Warrior Village was engulfed in flames.
Linlin, driven completely insane by her hunger pangs, had gone berserk and was destroying everything around her.
Any Giant who tried to stop her was knocked down with a single punch.
When the Giant warriors proved incapable of stopping the rampaging Linlin, Elder Jorul stepped forward personally.
Jorul wielded his massive sword and tried to stop her.
But even this legendary hero of the Giants had never imagined that Linlin would shatter his enormous blade with a single punch.
Then Linlin grabbed hold of Jorul’s waterfall-like beard.
She was just about to throw him over her shoulder and kill the 344-year-old Giant hero—
When a cannonball came flying in.
Linlin was smashed away.
It was Thor!
‘Thank goodness I made it.’
Jorul wasn’t merely a hero of the Giants.
He was also one of the people who had saved Thor’s life.
Thor could never allow Elder Jorul to be killed by Linlin.
“Thor?”
Elder Jorul had just taken a trip to the gates of the afterlife and back.
He truly hadn’t expected himself to be overpowered by a little girl like Linlin.
Even less had he expected Thor to suddenly appear and save his life.
“Isn’t that King Harald’s son?”
“Wasn’t he supposed to be a cursed child?”
Because of Queen Estrid’s final words, there were still plenty of Giants who were prejudiced against Thor and Loki.
The surrounding Giants began whispering among themselves.
Thor couldn’t care less.
There was a powerful enemy right in front of him.
Linlin radiated a terrifying aura.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and drool poured from her mouth.
She had completely lost her reason.
Like a monster, she charged straight at Thor.
Then Linlin threw a punch.
A punch powerful enough to knock down an adult Giant warrior in one blow.
A punch that had shattered the sword of the Giant hero Jorul.
BAM!
He blocked it!
Thor barely managed to block it!
Crossing his arms into a shield, he took Linlin’s punch head-on.
It hurt like hell.
Thor felt as though the bones in his arms were about to snap.
Linlin’s natural talent was absolutely terrifying.
Which one of them was supposed to be the Giant here?
“Semla…”
Drooling heavily, Linlin had eyes only for semla.
Anyone who stood between her and her food was going to be sent flying.
She clenched both hands into fists and unleashed a relentless ORA ORA barrage against Thor.
This time, Thor really couldn’t hold on.
Linlin was already much stronger than usual while rampaging under the effects of her hunger pangs.
Faced with such a vicious assault, what was Thor supposed to do?
He was only a one-year-old baby!
“Thor?!”
“Little brother! I’m coming to help!”
Ida and Hajrudin had arrived.
Seeing his little brother getting pummeled by Linlin, the excellent older brother Hajrudin didn’t hesitate.
He grabbed the enormous sword he had conveniently brought with him, leaped into the air, and brought it down toward Linlin’s back.
Snap!
Hajrudin’s sword broke.
Linlin’s reputation as an “Iron Balloon” was no joke.
Fortunately, Hajrudin’s attack succeeded in drawing her attention.
Linlin stopped pounding Thor and turned toward Hajrudin instead.
Hajrudin nearly pissed himself in terror.
He already thought Linlin was terrifying normally.
Now she was downright monstrous.
“Waaah!”
Ignoring the severe pain in his arms, Thor wrapped both hands tightly around Linlin.
His body was twice her size.
But when it came to raw strength, Linlin was somehow many times stronger than he was.
“SEMLA!”
Her craving for food erupted.
Linlin suddenly unleashed a tremendous burst of strength and instantly tore herself free of Thor’s grip.
The next moment, she seized Thor by the arm.
Just as she was about to send him flying with one monstrous shoulder throw—
“Waaah!”
Another cannonball came hurtling in.
Imitating his brother Thor, Loki had launched his own body like a projectile.
His head slammed directly into Linlin and sent her flying.
“Nice one, Loki!”
Hajrudin was delighted.
He hadn’t expected Loki to follow them here.
Unfortunately, something like that wasn’t enough to defeat Linlin.
Watching Linlin stand back up after being knocked away, her aura somehow even more terrifying than before, Thor lost his nerve.
He really might die at the hands of a woman today.
Wait…
Why the hell were they trying to fight Linlin head-on?
Had Thor spent so long in the world of One Piece that even his brain had started adapting to its logic?
Thor suddenly began waving his arms and making frantic gestures.
Hajrudin stared at his little brother for a moment.
Then his eyes lit up.
Once again, he understood!
“Semla! Does anyone have semla at home?! Hurry up and bring it here!”
“Got it!”
At a time like this, who cared about Elbaph’s traditions?
The Giants who had secretly hidden semla in their homes immediately rushed back and brought it out.
The moment Linlin caught the scent of semla, she threw herself at the food and began devouring it.
Her hunger pangs were finally satisfied.
Just as the Giants breathed sighs of relief, Elder Jarul approached while supporting his brother, Elder Jorul.
“An evil god! That girl is an evil god! She is the one who brought disaster upon Elbaph!”
“What? Weren’t Elbaph’s disasters caused by the princes’ curse?!”
The Giants immediately began discussing it among themselves.
The two elders exchanged a glance.
They felt sorry for the little girl.
But after the destruction she had caused among the Giants, it was impossible for her to continue living in Elbaph.
They might as well take advantage of the situation.
“Prince Thor and Prince Loki saved Jorul and stopped the evil god from destroying the village. How could they possibly be the ones who brought a curse upon Elbaph?”
“All of Elbaph’s disasters were brought by this girl. As long as she is driven out of Elbaph, the disasters will end.”
Jarul and Jorul were the oldest living Giants in Elbaph.
As the former captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates, the two highly respected elders were revered by every Giant in the kingdom.
Their words carried enormous weight.
Combined with Linlin’s utterly terrifying strength, the Giants quickly began to believe that the girl truly was an evil god—and that all of Elbaph’s disasters had been brought by her.