“ Miranda, I want your entire squadron ready for deployment soon. Not quite immediately, but start the preparation for it.” Ana voiced. Boasting with a charming character. This was her work voice, not her personal tone. 

“Your majesty, by when is this needed exactly?” A strong but confused voice responded. Miranda, the envoy who first picked up Leon from Vascar, was present in the throne room, kneeling and showing her respect to her queen. Who was seated on the magnificent throne of the queendom. Her legs were crossed, her arm saddled on the arm rest with her head slightly bent. She appeared to be deep In thought. 

“I’d say, have yourself ready in 4 weeks, heavy equipment and all, and the rest by 5 weeks. We have some planning to do for our next expedition as well in 2 weeks.” 

“Where are we heading?” Miranda respectfully asked. A glint of interest lit up in her eyes. 

“Excited are we? Don’t be. We won’t be fighting any humans if all goes well.” 

Miranda’s facial expression didn’t change, but a glow from her eyes disappeared in disappointment. Only people who knew her well or worked with her for a long time like Ana would pick up on such a thing. She replied.

 “Of course, your majesty.” 

“We’ll be going to Vascar.” Ana mentioned. 

“Vascar? In two weeks?” Miranda said, surprised. 

“Yes, it’s quite soon isn’t it. But I think we’re in a safe position to do so.” 

“The risk from before was that directing our forces to either Marvialasia or Vascar would make us vulnerable to the other side.” Miranda explained.  “Has that changed?” 

“By quite a bit actually. Remember I’ve sent over my husband to Marvialasia. He should be back in around 4 to 5 weeks. With either intel or a plan of action against them.”  Ana mentioned. Not quite answering the worries Miranda had. 

“Perhaps this is blasphemy for me to say, but you’ve placed a lot of faith on a mere human.” Miranda offered her scepticism.

“I knew someone like you wouldn’t be happy to hear such an optimistic plan. On the other hand it appears our former Marvialasian captives that we’ve been fostering for a few years can be used as our last line of defence to the west. It doesn’t matter if we take out a few of our soldiers to the east with me, as the western side will be covered.” Ana explained. “I’ve been planning this for quite some time now.”  

“Your majesty, you are still too trusting…” Miranda voiced her concerns. 

“Not to worry, I have my own trusty squadron of giantesses watching over those humans. You’re familiar with the tier system terminology we use in the facility right?” 

“Of course.” Miranda replied. 

“Some of the highest tier humans have been collected, they’ve willingly offered to work with our mana engineers to develop long range weaponry. Elysia has told me as of recently it’s going well. It also appears they understand that the sooner this war is over, the sooner the suffering of Marvialasians will end.” Ana explained, proudly. “Offering them employment, places to feel welcome and important to our queendom is just as important as converting them to our side.” 

“When  Marvialasia learns of this… they’ll surely use it as ammo for their propaganda.” Miranda voiced her concerns.  

“That’s why it’ll be a quick and simple plan. It’s time we end this war. It’s a hindrance not only to us in the present right now, but a painful reminder of my country’s bloodstained history. Still, if we fail our mission to the east, and if Leon doesn’t come back… We may be in quite the predicament.”

“All right, I will do as you command… I just have one final question, not as a soldier but as a person.” 

“Speak it.” Ana allowed. “We’ve known each other for quite some time now, so I’ll see if it’s something I can answer.” 

“What will you do with the Marvialasian Prince? What will be his fate?” Miranda asked, not bitterly or even gently. It was pure curiosity. She knew Ana as the type to be merciful and gentle to humans… But what would she do to the scummy man, who kept on propagating the war and refused to accept any form of peace? It was a worthwhile question. Ana was not a careless person, kind as she was, that caring nature of hers would quickly be exhausted against someone that proved themselves to be a danger.

“…” 

Silence was the loudest noise in the room. Ana pondered for a moment. Even if she was speaking to Miranda, she still chose her words carefully. Her lips partly opened just as she finished her internal thought process. Ready to answer when just-

**Creak** 

The door to the throne room opened. Footsteps right after were heard. 

“Ana, I‘ve arrived.” A hoarse voice spoke. A hint of sweetness present, but corrupted slightly, as if bitter. This was Rheas. Both Miranda and Ana stared in surprise. 

“-You’re early, Rheas.” Ana first spoke. Miranda still was in silence. 

“Ah, it appears I’m disrupting something. Carry on now, I’ll come back later.” Rheas answered. “You are-“ 

“Greetings councilwoman, I’m Miranda Lerontzi, first in line of Ana’s command.” Miranda introduced herself, respectfully. 

“I’ve heard of you, especially recently. You’ve become quite popular.” Rheas answered back with her own respectful tone. The two individuals had nothing to do with one another, if anything, Miranda was closer to Elysia, the head of military affairs. Who stood as a moderate in the political scheme of Ranate’s council. So the weariness and unease between the two was unavoidable. Though it wasn’t as if Rheas herself was too problematic, unlike Lisa who would’ve already chastised Miranda’s position. 

Miranda had seen Rheas many times before too, however neither herself or Rheas bothered to introduce one another to the other. It was a rather awkward dynamic. 

“It’s alright Rheas. You may join in too, I’m thinking of arranging another small meeting in the coming days to discuss this anyway.” Ana announced. She had the power and authority to make the political decision of announcing war on her own. It was one thing she didn’t need permission from the council for. If anything, the current council would wholly be in support of it anyway,  so there would be no need. Just a small meeting to inform the others was all she wanted to do. “You and Lisa assigned my lovely husband to gain intel in Marvialasia, it just so happens we’ve gotten enough man power of our own to begin the fight back. A perfect opportunity has arisen.” 

“How?” Rheas voiced, Miranda listened in too. “We haven’t done any large scale plans against them since Jade’s reign.” 

“Jade’s methods were… Far too flawed to say the least.” Ana commented. Gaining a slight nod from Miranda.  “I’ll let you know of the details of what we’ll be doing in the upcoming meeting.”

“Her former majesty went off the deep end, I don’t condone her actions at all. However, it would be difficult to say she hasn’t at least benefited us giantesses during her reign.” Miranda added on. 

“She’s also responsible for crashing our fishing ports economy which has just barely started to recover. As well as many other horrid things. She’s done more harm than good.” Ana replied back. “Extremism was never the answer for our country. We may have flourished as warlords under her reign, but we regressed as people.”

“…” Rheas was silent. Seemingly unsure what to say, she seemed hesitant to answer here. Cautious was the best descriptor. She didn’t know where this conversation was heading. 

“You know, recently it feels like you’ve been in line with her beliefs too.” Ana said. Slightly condescendingly. 

“Who me? Your majesty, with all due respect, I wouldn’t ever. My own late mother wouldn’t forgive me if I did.” Rheas replied, somewhat offended. Her own face twitched in response to the mere thought of which. 

“Well, perhaps not like Jade. But you’ve definitely changed. I remember when you were only a little closer to Elysia in your beliefs. What caused it? Was it Lisa? It must have been.” Ana analysed. Provocative tone employed and all. 

“… I don’t know what you're saying. I’ve simply decided to act on behalf of what this queendom actually needs.” Rheas denied Ana’s thoughts. Rejecting the very principles of what she was asking of her. Miranda was still kneeling, watching the conversation flow. 

“I’ve thought about it since I’ve taken the throne, but I’ve never said it out loud. But what is Lisa’s role in the council now exactly?” Ana asked. Bringing forth a sharper tone. “She was bestowed her position for her heroism during the war during Jade’s rule. When she utilised the dwarven forces for our favour. Jade’s council in response to her accomplishment gave her a seat in acknowledgement. But what since then? Is she merely going to keep her seat till the day she passes? I think that’s such a waste.” 

Both Miranda and Rheas were shocked to hear such blatant mockery from Ana. Miranda knew things were never sweet between the two of them in particular but she never imagined it was this hostile. Whereas Rheas merely seemed conflicted. Her brows slightly burrowed. 

“What are you suggesting, Ana?! She was a hero to our land, more of a hero than Miranda here. Why would we revoke her position.” Rheas lashed out. Defensive of her friend. However she struggled to defend her friend’s policies. 

“A hero of war, she stands on a pile of corpses in an era of bloodshed. Sure her achievements were great back then. For the time period they happened I can agree with that. But, let’s say that we found suspicions of illegal activity from someone like that, what then?” Ana accused, which in response had Rheas freezing her facial expression. She wasn’t expecting such a thing. 

“W-what are you saying?” Rheas voiced back, concern was gradually building up on her tone. 

“Nothing at all. I’ve just heard some unsavoury things. Things unbefitting of a councilwoman, a hero of today's time. No proof though.” Ana stated casually. Returning to a polite but scrutinising tone. 

“Just because she, and to a lesser extent I, bring a voice to the more extreme side of the community, doesn’t mean you can just throw around accusations like that.” Rheas replied. 

“She doesn’t represent the heroism of our people anymore, she houses the beliefs of an ever smaller community of people in our political climate. She can do that if she’d like, but the rule to keep her in the council every new queen was a mistake. One of many from Jade’s time. “ 

“Every time a giantess becomes queen, she herself joins the council. And as of recent years, a member of Rhes' family joins too due to their wealth, the rest are just appointed positions.” Miranda pointed out. “Jade’s council appointed Lisa as a permanent position due to her feats.” 

“What a nonsensical pact. It defies the logic of how council selection works at all. I suppose it didn’t take into account how long a warrior like her was going to last in this sort of setting.” Ana clicked her tongue, not in agitation but to highlight the absurdity of how lucky Lisa had gotten. “Rheas, would you know anything about these ‘suspicions’ on Lisa?” 

She paused for a moment, remembering back when she started to talk with Lisa more than 5 years ago. Rheas herself had been pretty busy, but even then the two of them still meet up every now and then. More often so in recent years too. 

Her mouth was open ready to speak, but it shut again right after. Remembering back to what Lisa said about humans. About the torment they’d put giantesses on the battlefront through, about the hell the first couple invasions were like. She didn’t exactly like the sheer extent of hell that Lisa treated some humans, especially those from Ranate. But, to those outside, like Leon or the Marvialasians, she had trouble finding herself liking them. They caused outrage, they were the enemy. Yet they looked and acted just like humans from Ranate. There was no difference. She found herself puzzled and conflicted before deciding on an answer. One she herself didn’t exactly expect to say. 

“I haven’t seen anything off about her… But if I do consider something to be off, I’ll let you know .” The last part she specifically felt like she actually might consider. Lisa’s personal antics were most certainly illegal. Leaving aside Rhea's own emotional distress about the topic, it would ruin her family name if she brought forth such disgrace in being caught with her. It was an unnecessary risk, especially now with how the queendom was turning out. There was hope for humans in the land of giants, a way for society to reform and develop into multiculturalism. Rheas was coerced into a position where she needed to consider Ana’s words, in fact, she was forced to for her own family name. This was a threat, Ana’s only card against the two of them.

‘You were awfully hostile towards Leon during our last meeting. It caught me slightly off guard. I always knew that Lisa was influencing you, but to that degree? Nonsense. Someone’s pulling your strings… That someone’s got to be Lisa.’ Ana explored the options in her mind for what to do, for the two council women who seemed to always stand in her way.

“Well enough about Lisa for now. I’ll briefly disclose now why I think the time is now for our fight back against Vascar and Marvialasia.” A moment of silence was present in the room. It was the tension breaker, a room to breathe in the conversation for everyone. A tonal restart if you would. “We’ve spotted spies from their borders imposing on our lands. Tiny as they may be, our eyes are trained to spot little humans. They can’t hide from a distance.” Ana watched Rheas and Miranda try to grasp the information. While it wasn’t anything particularly shocking, both had anticipated such actions eventually, it still added a new layer of detail. “In doing so, they’ve made a major blunder on their borders.” 

“A blunder?” Miranda voiced. 

“Information is the key to success in any war. Brute force can only take you so far... Ladies, I’ll be holding a large meeting with not just the council, but with broader military executives. We have a chance to strike back against them. A chance that Vascar themselves created due to their foolishness.” Ana responded. Not quite answering the question once more. Something Miranda had gotten used by now. However, that wasn’t the point. Vascar had created an opening, and Ranate was in a position where not only was there a defence against Marvialasia and Vascar set up, but a probable offence with Leon. Depending on the success of his mission. The empire up north wasn’t acting either. It was prime time to strike back. 

While blindly charging into Marvialasia was foolish, an attack on Vascar was much easier to do so. Especially now. So, the warrior giantess nodded. So did Rheas. However, the councilwoman seemed slightly nervous. Slightly worried About the the outcomes of invading Vascar sure, but more so the outcomes of what Ranate society would be like after the war. About what would happen to people like Lisa. 

— — — 

“Soldier, hurry it up. We don’t got all day here!” A grown, annoyed voice commanded. Authority brimmed and full of power. This was directed at a group of young impressionable men, the group I was in. Specifically it was directed at me. I could guess the reason why. 

“Won’t happen again sir.” I loftily replied, from the floor. 

“Pssh, you know. Number 32, you used to be so much more diligent. What happened? Ever since a few days ago, you’ve been off.” The man asked. Patting me on the shoulder. He wasn’t gentle.

“Just an off week for me, sir. It happens sometimes, as I stood myself back up from falling. “ I replied. Trying to appear a little bit more confident. However the nerves I had from his sudden question left me slightly worried. I tugged at my invisibility cloak, hoping it would keep my appearance muddled up with this ‘soldier number 32’ of sorts. 

It wasn’t the best of plans. Obviously I knew that. But, I didn’t really have a better option. At least not one that my dumbass could think of. I could only hope my invisibility cloak could do as Ana said it would, to make others mistake my identity. It was obviously a form of magecraft, a tool that utilised magic to achieve a certain function. This one in particular aimed to do things like camouflage my identity with whatever the environment deemed as normal. Making it quite a useful tool for hunters and marksmen. It also made people mistake my identity with just a random passer-by, someone not important. ‘I guess that’s why I’m suddenly number 32. Whoever that was’. He didn’t last long when I took him out in secret and took his place using this invisibility cloak. ‘Which really should be called a concealment cloak, or something else. Like I’m not really invisible am I?’ I debated needlessly in my head. 

It was carved off the skin of charmelizards. Huge terrifying creatures that could camouflage their skin to suit their surroundings, it was also full of a distinctive odour that seeped into the environment to confuse their prey, making them see and think things that aren’t actually there. These beasts are around 9 feet long in length. Taller than the tallest of human men. Fighting them took an incredible amount of skill, practice and dedication. Things most amateur hunters lacked. Even I struggled with hunting these things. Though that being said, I had a shoddy piece of their skin at my home in Vascar. Usually you would take the corpse of the hunted charmelizard to a tailor, who would remove the necessary parts and turn it into a cloak by embedding it with other fabrics. However, I was dirt poor. I just took its skin whole as a makeshift trophy. Nothing to brag about, but it was definitely something I took a bit of pride in.

Anyway, these beasts fell into the category of ‘monsters’ that roamed around in this world. Which contained a vast catalogue of creatures that specifically hunted sentient beings. By their definition, monsters lacked sentient thought and had a mysterious resentment for non-monster kind fauna. Other than them, slimes, werefolk, orc, ogres and much more roamed around in the dormant corners of any land. The usual ones of slimes and goblins were especially non-existent in the eastern continent. ‘Which made sense; considering we have titanic giantesses and the like here…’ I thought. 

The thought of these charmelizards who could move faster than any normal human, and long enough to be mistaken for a crocodile…  being easily thrown around by giantesses with ease made me feel a certain way. I wasn’t sure what, it was probably some derivative of fear. While Vascar and presumably most human lands tried to exterminate these charmelizards, Ranate had a little habitat for them. Like livestock. They could easily grip the monsters into their palm and clench their fists to utterly crush them with ease. The tailor friend of Ana’s demonstrated this  in front of my eyes a few days ago. She couldn’t stand skinning the delicate skin of these lizard creatures whilst they were alive. So she crushed their heads and vital organs, making sure to keep their skin intact as well as a painless death. Still a disgusting sight to be sure.’ In reality, many of the monsters that we humans were afraid of were nothing more than a snack, toy or treat in Ranate society. Scary thought to have it be so normalised.’ . She also explained that she would imbue the skin with many other layers of fabric, elixirs as well as enriching it with ethereal energy to create the invisibility cloak. Making it quite special in comparison to just wearing the skin of a charmelizard. 

It utilised the normal mechanisms of the charmelizards, but also utilised magic to prompt the odour mechanics of these beasts, the one that confused people into seeing and hearing things that weren’t actually there. Hence why I’m suddenly thought to be ‘number 32’ by this man, and probably everyone else around. My role had just been filled in as a random passer-by, all I needed to do was to steal someone’s place to fit in. Which I did. As long as I remained heavily covered, with this cloak and didn’t act out of line. No one would suspect a thing. Camouflage was the specialty of this object; and I blended right in… ‘Well as best I could at least.’ Truth be told, I wasn’t really sure of the specifics of how this all worked. I was far from being an expert on the topic. All I could do was to trust in Ana’s connections.

Anyway, In addition to that, there were also rumours of a dragon coming from the shogunate nation from the far north. As well as the giant serpent from the far east. So it wasn’t as if monsters were something that much more common on the western continent. ‘Still, their existence is just weird. Why do they come out? Why do they hunt us? What is their purpose?’ These were all common questions. Ideas that existed for millennia, long before I or even the eldest members of my family were born.  None of which have been answered. Every land has been busy dealing with their own political affairs or their own land’s problems to deal with these things. Only the scholars and mage folk really try, and they’ve only made so much progress to-

“Daydreaming again soldier 32?!” The man yelled, interrupting my internal thought process. “You know what? As punishment you can take over number 15’s duty to watch guard over the cells later today.” 

“Yes, Sir.” I replied dejectedly. While I honestly didn’t care for this man, getting yelled at still hurt. And now being put in charge of more work unnecessary to my original task at hand was just annoying. 

The man growled at me in response, muttering quietly away. I didn’t even bother trying to listen. He was just a grumpy dude, and I didn’t want to deal with that. I just simply continued training in the Marvialasian training grounds. A large facility in the southwestern side of their capital city. It was a large, open field. Full of tents, training dummies and a plethora of soldiers. Today was our turn at practice, the lowest division. We were basically grunts that held little to no importance. Making it an ideal position for someone like me to enter. I wouldn’t be busy, and I wouldn’t really be suspecting of doing anything. ‘I mean who cares about soldier number 32? I’m literally just a number to these people.’ I reasoned, slightly exasperated. 

I was training with the spear, a long wooden stick with a sharp metal end. Sparring with some other soldier. I think they were number 12 or something. I wasn’t really paying attention. Point is that everyone thinks I’m a part of their group now, and no one thinks otherwise. That was really the most important thing. I couldn’t get found out, that would be the worst possible outcome. And while I hadn’t been here for long, I did see that higher up members of the military here got access to some scary looking weaponry. Most certainly high end magecraft type tools. They were probably the same people that would be deployed out soon to fight against Ranate. Probably to be squashed underfoot by their titanic adversaries. Especially now that Ranate was bouncing back with their own magic. 

‘Still though I can’t believe it… Everyone takes training so seriously.’ I examined, shocked slightly at the sight of a training ground actually being used. Back at Vascar, no such thing would occur. Sure, most recruits needed employment and wanted to arise in the ranks, but even then a full group of soldiers was a rare sight for training. Especially out In the chilling temperatures of Marvialasia. People had the cold, but they didn’t care. They still weightlifted, sparred and pushed their bodies to the limit. It was an unusual sight for me at least. 

Which also meant that I had to try to fit into this crazed training regime. There was no excuse for missing training, no excuse for not meeting the minimum criteria for each test and examination, no excuse for defying orders from above. Only we, the downtrodden group of novices were given the slightest bit of leeway.  

One thing that I found weird, or at least different, was the architecture of the buildings; it wasn’t the style Ranate or Vascar really used. It was less lavished, more simplistic. A mix of grand but reserved. There were designs of lions and tigers, collared by human statues. There were murals on historical buildings of elves, dwarves, giants, monsterkin and all the like bowing down to what I would presume was the depiction of a human. Who was basking in orangish light. 

Which appeared to be the national colour of Marvialasia. People wore clothes donned with the stuff everywhere. It was a part of their hats, their shirts, their talismans, their very culture itself. As for why? It was thought to be the colour of human ingenuity, something that welcomed providence like the orangish light of the rising sun. It was a status symbol of victory itself. It was spread through, at least through the capital like a bad case of an epidemic. Meaning it was everywhere. You couldn’t escape the colour. Even in the training ground, there were orangish flags with a mural of a human in overalls, hands up welcoming the heavens above. The sheer scale of this almost weirded me out. Though perhaps I was looking at it all through a jaded lens. I did open up to the colour red of Ranate quite quickly after all. 

Another thing to note was that blonde hair was quite common here, followed by brown. There were hardly any dark haired individuals around. Once again it was probably due to this being a different land, with different people being in it… Now I had dark brown hair, which made me stick out slightly. Making my disguise as a typical soldier here a bit weaker. To compromise I got a guards uniform, which contained a head piece that extended from the neck to lower  mouth, with a gap to show my face, until my forehead was reached. Basically covering everything but my face. Hair included. My invisibility cloak was underneath it. 

 ‘Fuck, my neck is itching really bad… I need to take a shower.’ I silently complained.  I was thrown into the luxury of clothing material availability in Ranate. Which was run under a famous family business . Their clothing was simply top notch. Basically never had me itching or complaining. Marvialasia on the other hand had none of that. Sure, magically endowed clothing was easily available, but the comfort of my usual wear was gone. Instead it was replaced by a cheap uniform I didn’t particularly care for. ‘Ah well.’ I solemnly accepted. 

Underneath the guards uniform and invisibility cloak, was the personal uniform of former guard number 32. Personal uniform was the outfit guards were expected to wear underneath their guards uniform. 

As for how I obtained this, well the little group was on a training expedition outside the capital city. Where I was stuck outside for a day or two before as I needed to find a way in, the bandits from before helped greatly to find the general direction to the capital. I even gave them a silver coin as thanks as I waved them goodbye. I wasn’t a complete tyrant. A bit of thanks was just basic courtesy. Besides they seemed a bit off, as if struck by some form of extreme poverty by their empire. Would explain their situation as bandits. Whatever that situation was. 

Anyway, while I was waiting outside the capital, a few kilometres out, I had finally gotten a lucky break. The training expedition full of soldiers were taking a long rest on their way back home. I crept up to their little base they’d set up, as I was nearby,  and watched them closely. Waiting patiently, like a predator spying on their prey. Each time, every 5 or so minutes a pair of soldiers would disappear into the woods nearby to take a piss. All of them except number 32, who went alone, he was the last one. The training instructor went with soldier number 1, which created an odd amount in total. Hence, number 32 opted to go alone into the dark abyss of the forest.  ‘Where I would knock him out and he’d never be seen again.’  I shot a blunt ended arrow straight into the back of his neck with near perfect aim from behind on a tree. He didn’t even have time to react, or make any sort of sound in retaliation. He simply fell, entering a state of unconsciousness. 

I undressed him out of his uniform; took his spear and donned my invisibility cloak over it. The cloak itself had a hood too, which was nice. When I was done, I picked up my bow once again and took out a sharp arrow this time. Pointing right to the back of his neck. 

**Fling** 

The bow string was unleashed, and the arrow pierced through the skin, the bones and innards of this unfortunate soldier. I made sure to use the blunt arrow first to avoid getting blood on this uniform, it would seem odd if I did when I returned to the rest of the group otherwise. 

‘I’m so sorry… You were at the wrong place at the wrong time.’ I tried to persuade myself. While this wasn’t my first time taking a life, it still didn’t make it easy. I wasn’t a psychopath. The bare minimum amount of respect for my enemies still existed. 

I gathered a hoard of sticks and stones, leaves too and buried the corpse underneath them. ‘The smell of fresh blood would attract animals, or maybe even some monsters.’ I wasn’t fully knowledgeable about the kinds of monsters that roamed around Marvialasia, but they probably weren’t too bad. They’d still hound on to the first smell of human blood though. ‘I better head back quickly.’ I decided. Hoping they would make quick work of this carcass. And with that, I jogged back to the rest of the soldiers in the training regime. Masquerading as one of them. 

 That was how I ended up here today, at Marvialasia’s capital city, Degionatu, as a couple days had passed since then. Honestly I was quite shocked to see the differences present in Marvialasia compared to Ranate, if that wasn’t already obvious. The capital aside, the temperature here was colder. The terrain was more mountainous, and the wildlife once again different. The very air here felt off. Unwelcoming even. 

 Though that aside, it did let me see the ocean again, a sight that was rather uncommon for me. It was a deep beautiful blue, like the enchanting allure of a sapphire. The ocean housed a rather disgusting and peculiar smell to it. Sailors would often mention it as the smell of the sea. Something they felt homely about. For me personally, it was a foul odour that otherwise surrounded a beautiful part of nature.

I took in the sight of the sea while I could. It wasn’t as if giantesses back home were that fond of it either. I doubt Ana would ever willingly choose to get close to the ocean too. It was a rather obscure fact that I hadn’t heard from anyone else, but most giantesses can’t swim very well. Which would make sense considering the size of their bodies. It’s a big reason why our fishing port isn’t doing so well. That is Ranate’s city, Lelorum. Known widely as ‘the failed fishing port city.’

“Everyone swap partners now and begin the next part of our training exercise. Get ready, you have exactly 1 minute for a break. Starting now.” The training instructor yelled, snapping me out of my thought pattern. I simply did as I was told, mundanely looking for an opportunity to escape away from this hellish training. I had a mission to do after all. An actual goal to work towards. Not that I would be lucky enough to get such an opportunity to rest, as the instructor walked on over towards me. “As for you, soldier 32. You have guard duty for the cells for the evening. So make sure you show up, or else…” 

“Aye sir, aye.” I responded. Cutting him off. I just wanted this all over with, as the faster training was done, the longer I had free time to explore around for the afternoon. Allegedly there was some form of show happening at around 1pm. I think it was titled ‘The tyrant and her queendom.’ Which I could guess was some form of propaganda against Ranate. Maybe. It definitely sounded like it. Hell it even seemed like it. 

I sighed at the thought of attending such a play, such a blatant attempt of brainwashing people into thinking something, of believing something. ‘But ah well, I have to see it. It could be intel. You never know.’ I thought. Well anyway from what I’ve seen, plays, acts and dances were common in Marvialasia. A part of their culture even. It was just a shame that many of them had shoehorned in such a hostile message. 

— — — 

“Ladies and gentlemen, gather around. Stay seated, this is a safety requirement. We have a ravenous beast with us today, we can’t take any risks.” The announcer yelled. From the centre stage outward to the crowd who were seated around. The actual location we were in was a massive colosseum of sorts. Housing an almost pure white colour. There were Marvialasian flags hoisted all over the place, along with numerous supporting beams. The crowd, who I was a part of, sat far from the centre. The announcer, who was in charge of this play spoke with an unmatchable vigour, excitement pouring out of his soul. His voice was shouting out in all directions. Everyone could hear him. He was that loud. He must have been quite experienced in this. “We all come here today once more. It’s routine at this point. I’m sure some of us have started wagging these little history sessions, which is a shame. But routine exists for a reason, we replay our little show every month to make sure our history isn’t ever forgotten. So I applaud everyone and anyone who attends with the honour of our little principality to attend these things.” 

A boastful approach. Congratulating everyone who was seated within this colosseum today was quite interesting. It suggested to me that people here had to willingly go to attend these sessions. These ‘shows’ of sorts. 

“I, Fidelo Lopezal, brother of our great prince, ask you for silence as we showcase the cruelty of this world, and the cruelty of those who align themselves against us.” Fidel announced loud and clear. Sneakily isolating those who aren’t Marvialasian in his little message.  I’d see similar things all the time back home; where people of power would utilise their superior education and upbringing to rally up the masses. Even I was none the wiser against how these tactics were employed, along with why they worked or didn’t work. Only after receiving the understanding I needed from my wife, Ana, did I appreciate the intricacies of how ‘positioning’ worked. Which was the act of placing a group of people into boxes, and assigning them labels of how they act or don’t act. 

The idea stemmed much more complex than I ever could really understand, but still the basic ideas of techniques such as ‘inclusive/exclusive language’ were still taught to me. The way this worked was to include the majority portion of a mob of people along with the speaker, or to isolate those against them by pinning the audience on them. This was an attempt to gather rapport with one’s own crowd. Something Fidelo here was abusing to his core. 

‘Cruelty of those who align themselves against us.’ A phrase Fidelo had just said, was classic exclusive/inclusive language manipulation. The aim was simple. Was it to isolate those against Marvialasia? No, it extended furthermore to all sentient non-human species out there. Fidelo was trying to bring that idea to his audience at the start of his little ‘show’ to implant it firmly. 

‘Truth be told, it’s obvious to see this in play once you actively look out for it. But if you’re an average crowd member looking for a show? I don’t think I’d ever notice. Especially if I was a peasant with little to no education.’ I analyzed in my head. While tilting it to the side to look around to my fellow crowd members. Which to no surprise were all enthralled by the speech. Which I had been zoning out of so I decided to start paying attention once more. 

“-You all remember Jade the truel, the evil, the tyrant! Her rampage, her rage, her roars. Her twisted personality, her logic denying personality, her narcissistic ideology. She was the reason why our land was plunged into dystopia!” Fidelo shouted. The audience listened in silence. 

I simply also decided to properly pay attention. While I’d heard of this individual, ‘Jade the tyrant’, I didn’t know much about her, or at least I think I'd heard of her? I’d guess it was somewhat self explanatory who this was though.

“She lied to our land, she captured our men and women. She expunged our history and soaked it in blood, with fury towards our land. She was behind the ‘Stomping season massacre’ or the ‘unification of the dwarven alliance’, as well as the horrors of ‘Hina’s feast’...” The announcer revealed. Chipping in details of events that probably were quite impactful of this land. I had little to no idea of what they were, but it didn’t take a genius to guess. “Back before our bloodshed. Our wise prince, my brother, made a declaration that all non-human species were a threat to our humanity. That was a declaration many, many years ago. Yet, look at what’s happened in the coming years. Look at the hell we’ve had to endure. Our people back then lacked the unification we have now, they still fought back against his decision, which was our only mistake. Our sole error that we’d make. While Ranate tried their hardest to catch up to our magical might, we’d be trying to silence the evildoers in our own community that fought against my brother’s wishes. Countless assassins, numerous protests, horrific attempts of silencing happened to my brother. All for naught. All because of their hearts lying to them, trying to sell these sentient creatures as human-like. Their lies are why we are still fighting today.” 

Fidelo paused. Allowing his audience to breathe for a moment. 

“Our greatest enemy has never been the giantesses, the dwarves or any who ally with them. It has always been ourselves. We were the strongest, because it was our right as humans. We were the most ingenious because no one else could be. We were the ones destined to succeed. It was the lack of faith in our absolute authority that led to our falling. Those who questioned us on our authority were the enemies of our land.” He said loudly. Ostracising and criticising anyone who’d dare challenge his speech. It was only for a moment, and something purely coincidental, but our eyes met. He and I stood far away from one another, and he was looking at the crowd as a whole as opposed to me who was staring right at him. But it really felt like we locked eyes for a moment,  as I gave him a facial expression that offered the sole protest to his delusion. I didn’t buy his bullshit at all. Perhaps I conveyed that too strongly on my end.

‘Well, it isn’t like he can see what face I’m making right now anyway. We’re too damn far away.’  Fidelo proposed that the true enemies of Marvialasia were the subjects that refused to look away from the horrid acts of violence they’d been committing. ‘ Sure, it’s understandable to criticise Ranate for these horrid acts too. It definitely doesn’t sweep what our land did to yours under the rug. However, you guys aren’t completely in the clear either. These international affairs are never black and white. Your twisted humanity first ideology started this hellscape.’ I refuted in my head. Not daring to voice my own thoughts. 

‘At the end of the day, we live in a cruel, unfair, wrongful and horrid world. War is commonplace, the power hungry starve whilst the powerful feast. They call it a dog eat dog world. That's what you’ve described. But I somewhat disagree.’

I think back to my own time with Ana, to the powerless, weak hopeless situation I found myself in a while back. Exiled, hungry and with nothing. Yet in a turn of magnificent luck I found myself married to an incredible woman. Someone who not only had the power to guide change, but the empathy to create it too. So why hadn’t anyone else? Why was it so much easier to abuse power than to use it effectively?.

I honestly didn’t know. I really didn’t. But, I knew that if I was to come across an answer, it would be by following the queen of Ranate. Ana Darlington-Bliss.

“-Bring forth Lamsa!” Fidelo shouted. Catching me by surprise. This coliseum was designed to house a huge number of people. Without a doubt it most certainly was. The centre area was big enough to fit 2 giantesses in, even if they’d lie down one one top of the other.  

Suddenly a giantess crawled into the centre of the stadium. Covered in bruises. Her eyes were teary. The brunette, behemoth sized woman squirmed as she crawled into the centre. Her face didn’t convey anger, but a sense of failure. As if she’d given up on escape. Or even given up on fighting against the humans of Marvialasia. I could only infer why, but the collar against her neck, and the cuffs on her arms and legs implied something more nefarious than usual was at play. Normally giantesses could easily break free from such restraints so why hadn’t this one? 

‘Not to mention, giantesses are a kill on sight thing here in Marvialasia… Aren’t they?’ I wondered. Curiosity and angst swelling within my veins.

“Lamsa, named after the giant sea creature that swarmed our shores from so long ago. It was akin to a natural disaster that killed thousands. Truly an unfortunate time.” The announcer spoke, as if to the giantess. “However, a natural disaster as it may be. Humans still triumphed. We shot it down with a vast array of magic, grilled it to pieces and feasted on its body for days. It was a tough battle. But it didn’t matter. We won. Humanity won. We showed nature that day, that humans are superior. That we are untouchable. Since then, that day has been known as ‘Humanity’s day’ in our culture. A day that marks our superiority over everyone else… And you, Lamsa, the giantess who is taking that name, are a mere obstacle of nature we’re using. An object to further show the world that humans are the one and only sentient race! Your capture only proves our greatness” He howled. Laying down a verbal beatdown that I can’t even imagine how many times this ‘Lamsa’ would have had to hear before. 

*Gulp* 

She gulped audibly. Probably well aware of whatever was going to happen to her.  She didn’t dare to speak, I honestly couldn’t guess why. A simple lunge forward while crawling could crush the old geezer called Fidelo. Yet she stayed docile. 

“Good woman, this marks the 18th year you’ve been in our custody. Ranate really has forgotten all about the great human slayer, Martha Liolze. The former savage hunter of our people, the giantess that roamed and patrolled the border daily. What was your favourite pastime again?” Fidelo asked. 

“...” Silence was her answer. 

“What was your little pastime again? What did you do to us humans?” Fidelo repeated once more, his tone becoming even more anxious. His voice reverberated through the hard crystalline floor of the colosseum. I’ll add as a little side note that the entire sound design of this place was superb. Nothing like it in Ranate or Vascar. But that's not important right now.

“...” Silence once more. Fidelo didn’t say anything, however, he kept looking at the woman who began to hold her head down in shame. 

**GROWL!** 

A loud grumble, a rumble even was heard. Reverberating through the colosseum. Everyone began quivering in the audience, as if they were looking at a foreign monster sharpening its claws. As for me, I knew that this was the sound of hunger. Well to be honest, I think everyone knew that. Our reactions however were completely different. For myself, it was a simple, normalised part of life to hear the grumbling of giants. To these humans near me however, it marked a dangerous tune. 

“That’s right everyone! She’s hungry! The beast is salivating, she’s hung her head down because she thought that no one would notice. How sad, how pitiful, how depressing for Martha. For our Lamsa… Not to worry, I’ll prepare your meal.” The announcer shouted, not just to everyone but to Martha herself. He called her Lamsa too. A title given as a sign of objectification. A denial of her real identity. But to forever instil her as nothing more than a fantasy myth, a foreign concept. A tool to breed contempt for the giantesses of this world.

The bald man, Fidelo began chuckling as he pointed to his assistant, standing at the edge of the colosseum. An exchange of words was had, something akin to “Let them in” Probably was said. I was too far to understand really what was going on specifically, but I could take a guess.

“...”

For a few moments there was nothing but an uncomfortable silence. A sense of premonition for something horrible to come. I feared the worst, which was for my guess from earlier to come true. 

A horde of men and women, forming a single file line appeared entering the colosseum. All wearing tunics and trousers, sewn poorly. Cheap inexpensive clothing was a common thing in Marvialasia, something easy to forget for me as I was used to the luxury of Ranate fashion. They kept trodding on forward, as if in a figurative trance. One of despair. 

“Ladies, gents. I present to you all the fugitives from last month's capture. Everyone who dared to act against our royal highness, the prince of Marvialasia is here standing with us today. All 38 of them. We have intel that this group is only the smaller herd of a larger faction who are still in hiding, so look forward to seeing justice brought forward to them in the upcoming months… Regardless, I wish to show you all who our real enemies are.” Fidelo announced. Eyeing the audience to gauge their mood. He knew that an excited, and quite frankly a brainwashed audience would want him to act in a righteous manner that took pleasure in these people’s demise. Whereas a nervous, emotional audience would require him to constantly pepper in the idea that these people were scum to the cause, to try to invoke a sense of nationalistic pride in them. He assessed carefully what today’s audience was like.

‘I want to call him a conniving fellow… But honestly some of his acts could use some work. Though I’m the last person to offer any piece of input there.’  I accepted. From being a part of the audience themselves, I knew that the quiet, nervous attitude put them into the latter camp. So I awaited a calmer, more judicious response.

“This may be tough on some of us today. But I will take the role in offering these people judgement for their crimes. They acted against the interest of us all. They conspired against our own people. Against humanity as a whole. What crime could compare? It is our duty as the people of Marvialasia, to offer them their just desserts.” 

‘I fucking called it.’ I silently applauded myself. Happy that I could guess the type of response Fidelo would go with in his show. Though I quickly collected myself as I soon realised what was soon to be in store. 

Moments passed as Fidelo began the punishment. “Lamsa, down!” He commanded. Prompting Martha who was still crawling to lie down completely. She turned around and had her face up to the sky. In essence her form was simply lying down in a position where she could gaze up to the sky above. Where her freedom rested, so far away out of reach. Like a bird in a cage.

A smirk appeared on Fidelo’s face. He knew what was going to happen. 

“All you traitors start climbing. No one try to escape, or else you all already know what’ll happen to your families. To your friends, to your associates.” I could imagine him saying. Obviously such a blatantly hostile message was something he didn’t shout out to the crowd. But in my own imagination it was what I envisioned him saying, as the tunic covered traitors began climbing up on Martha’s body, up to her face. In a mere 3 minutes, they were all on her face, shoulders and upper body. 

“Watch carefully everyone, this was how our people were devoured so many years ago! Remember the hate you feel today, and enlist to the cause. To fight against their tyranny.” Fidelo asked and expressed. Before also adding on “‘Chomper’, first command.” 

Martha upon hearing of this had visible tears flowing down. But still did as she was told. 

“A-Aahhh.” She opened her mouth. Her rosy lips departing and opening up a  chasm to the world within her, to the muscular folds of her mouth. To her tongue. Assaulting everyone present there with her horrendous breath. 

“You there, first one in. Go.” Fidelo demanded, once again I’m not sure exactly what he said as this wasn’t directed to the audience. Regardless, the man looked down to the mouth of the giantess and froze momentarily. I’d assume he was essentially held to do this. Someone these people knew would have been threatened with a similar fate. That's the only way I can imagine this compliance.

“I’ve changed my mind Lamsa, I think ‘sucker’ is the best one for this fool.” He shouted, loud enough for the audience to hear. In response to this request, Martha brought her lips together, creating a sucking motion, only the tiniest gap present between her lips. “Get in!” Fidelo shouted at the man who was frozen. He began walking forward.

He climbed down her nose, as that's where he was positioned before. Martha’s hot breath would have been assaulting him quite violently at this point too. He sat down on her rose pink coloured lip, and dipped his feet into the gap between Martha’s lips. Like taking an innocent dip at a lake to gauge the temperature, that's all it was… However the sucking motion proved too strong, and the act of even getting that close proved fatal. The man was sucked, no slurped into between her lips, his lower body completely within the entrance of her mouth and his upper body on the outside world. He began screaming. Loud enough even for me to hear. 

“Help me! Someone! Please! No, no! I didn’t want this! Everyone! Our country's wrong about-"

**SLURP!** 

The man disappeared from this world, from our, the audience’s sight. And was plunged somewhere else. A foreign world probably to him, somewhere he’d never seen before. Martha’s lips closed. His voice was completely silenced. All anyone could see was a circular bite sized thing within Martha’s cheek. Swirling around in utter helplessness. 

He moved around, I assumed to be flailing and fighting against the tough muscular folds of the giantess’ cheek. Helplessness was an understatement, he was like a worm out in a chicken coop. Anyone could guess the poor creature’s fate. 

**Gulp!** 

That was that. The first man was thrown into the gut of the beast named Martha. Her titanic belly would be his final resting place, soon to be filled up with more victims. The acidic environment would make quick work of him too. I knew that first hand. Tears continued to run down Martha’s face. Probably wasn’t easy for her either. ‘Though I’m somewhat hesitant to view her as completely scot free of this either. Surely there must be a reason why she isn’t acting against the announcer's instruction… Unless these chains and cuffs are strong enough to restrain a giantess?! If they are, then I need to relay that information fast back home.’

“Ladies and gents, that’s a closed case. Sorry our show was on the short side today, we couldn’t explore much of our history with Jade due to the sheer number of prisoners we’ve caught. The rest of the show will be on the execution of these traitors.” The announcer concluded. I clicked my tongue, annoyed that the information I’d get would be a mere droplet of what there was. It appeared that they didn’t wish to indulge in the lore of who Jade was, and what she really meant to these people. What I did at least understand was that she was the figurehead of where the Marvialasian hate was directed at. ‘Probably for good reason. She sounded insane.’

I couldn’t help but pity these people. Trapped into the society they’re in, they all just wanted to free themselves from this place. From the crazed land of Marvialasia. They just couldn’t, and are now being punished for it. ‘Punished for what exactly you may say? Nothing. It is a mere consequence of the system that holds Marvialasia together in today's time. Public examples and executions hold this country together, its own crazed political beliefs and extremism create a sense of chivalry with those lost in their own power.’ 

If I can gather major intel about this place in the coming days. I can change it. I can help in saving these people. I just need a lead to latch on to. The answer was liberation through Ranate's peace. 'We just need a way to interact with the Marvialasian prince.'

I took a deep breath. Having realized this whole display, this whole show wasn't a waste of my time after all. I could actually formulate my thoughts and come up with a plan. Maybe if I'd come to possess a few more key strings of information. Something big, something that could make this whole trip worthwhile.

‘But before that, let me get out of here. I only attended today to hear more about details relevant to me, along with the history of Ranate. I don’t wanna see more people be eaten…’

– – – 

“I see you attended the show today. I guess you were a diligent soldier after all.” 

“Sir, I’m ashamed that you even doubted me.” I replied to my training instructor. Some hours had passed, and the show was finished. I obviously didn’t stay for the final hour, which looked more like a disgusting torture fest than anything else. Such sights sent shivers down my spines, more so than anyone else there considering I had experienced the feeling of being eaten before. “Although I did leave early, after the main content was done.” 

“Too much for you?  Diligent you may be, it proves nothing if you can’t handle that shit. What are you gonna be able to do on the battlefield after all?” He belittled me. I didn’t care to be honest. “You know, you sure do like wearing that cloak of yours, guess it makes sense with how cold it's getting recently. Never knew you owned such fine fabric.”

‘Phew… I thought he was on to me or something.’ I tugged on my invisibility cloak. Slightly nervous, my hands were shaking a bit.

“Haha, yeah… The temperature is changing. Wouldn’t be great if I caught a cold after all. Would be a hindrance for guard duty.” 

“... Lackey, a cold is no excuse to miss work. Unless you’re on death's doorstep, I don’t wanna hear it. All Marvialasian soldiers should be well aware of that.”

“Right.” I paused, hoping I wasn’t acting too suspicious. “But it still feels horrible to be sneezing all the time. So you know, the cloak helps me feel warm.” 

“Okay whatever. Follow me down the dungeon. Should’ve known the cloak was just you trying to buy an excuse to miss some work later.” The training instructor quickly changed subjects. Probably not caring for my input whatsoever. So I merely did as I was told. Following the bearded instructor down the staircase underground. There were strange crystals that seemed to give off a similar light to what fire would give. They acted in the place of torches.  Making the entire descent down a dimly lit experience. 

Truth be told, If I was captured and forced to stay in such a place, It may be too much for me now. After spending so much time in luxury with Ana, my entire perspective on living had changed drastically. What I perceived to be privileged had changed to become the standard. It was a thought that slightly horrified me.  What terrified me more than that, was what would happen if my identity was revealed? 

“There, that room there.” The instructor pointed down the corridor, at the bottom of the staircase we were just descending down on. “You’re in charge of the prisoner in there. Make sure they’re fed when it's their feeding time. Can’t have our capture of the year dying out on us now. No other guards really roam around the bottom floor, you’d have to scream loudly for anyone to hear you too. So don’t let anyone out! An escapee from here could get anywhere. Under no circumstance, you hear?” 

“Yes, sir.” I replied, forcing myself into a stance.

“What you’re dealing with is a dwarf. If we can get some information out of it, we can raid them and loot their riches. With dwarven technology on our hands, we may be able to fight against the Ranate queendom. At the very least, we can’t leak this creature’s existence to them.” 

“A dwarf?!” I shouted immediately. 

“What? Why so surprised? Weren’t you paying attention to last week's weekly report?” 

“Haha, I must have been snoozing on the job.” 

“... Perhaps someone else should do this guard duty, I’m having some serious doubts about you. How can I be sure that you even have the magic capabilities to fend off these prisoners if something did go wrong?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve always got the job done haven’t I?” I bluffed. I vaguely remember the instructor mentioning in training practice that the person I’m impersonating was a diligent soldier, so I’d just bet on that.

“I suppose that's true. But soldier, you can’t keep up this attitude. Chin up and man up already. The country needs competency, not laziness.”  The instructor said as he began walking away. I did my best to hold my demeanour together from hearing the phrase ‘man up’ which always acted as a soft trigger to me. Don’t know why it did, but it always was an irritating phrase,  but especially now in recent times. ‘Perhaps spending time with the giantesses has changed something in me.’

I continued walking as I saluted goodbye to the instructor. Towards the steel bars of the jail cell, of the place where this dwarf was trapped. Each footstep I took made a solid sounding thump on the ground. It was relatively quiet in this prison, you could hear the quietest of sounds.

As I approached the bars though, breathing was all I could largely hear. Heavy breathing of another creature. ‘Must be the dwarf’s.’ 

“Hey… Can anyone hear me?” I whispered. Nothing in response was given.

“I’m a soldier of Marvialasia, your guard for today.” I voiced, comparably louder. It was almost a shout. Still barely any reaction. However, I could hear footsteps of the dwarf, from behind the dark confines of the jail cell walking closer. He was getting closer to the dimly bright light, to where I was. However he could never reach that shine, he was behind bars. Trapped.

**Creak** 

I could hear the door closing from the entrance to this underground area. It was the door to the stairs that led down here. It must have been the instructor who had shut it as he was leaving. Meaning it was most likely just me down here. At worst, perhaps a few more guards in the upper regions. As there were multiple floors to this underground prison.

Regardless, as I noticed that I probably wouldn’t be overheard, I took the chance to speak. 

“I’ll cut the bullshit. I’m not actually a Marvialasian soldier.” 

“-What?” I heard a hoarse, rough voice speak out. Finally I was getting a reaction. “You’re not a Marvialasian soldier? I don’t believe you.” He walked into my vision, I could actually see the little fellow now. He was about half the height of me, which I suppose was fair for a dwarf. He had a long beard, a large nose and some scruffy looking hands. His stature was one of a man who was beaten up, tortured even. ‘Sorta reminds me of myself, back when I was captured.’ His clothes were torn slightly, and his left eye bruised. 

“You don’t believe me? Suppose that's fair.” I replied.

“I’m going back to bed, I’ve had enough of you Marvialasians trying to get your grubby hands on me, I’ve already told you I didn’t over hear squat on your last meeting. My lips are sealed, that is final.” 

‘Over hearing information? Was this dwarf also sent as a spy? I need to investigate further.’ I thought.' If he's saying it so casually, the guards must have been informed about this event too.'

“I’ll prove it to you. Didn’t think this would come in handy, but I’ve got it regardless.” I mentioned as I reached into my invisibility cloak, into an internal pocket which contained- 

“The royal insignia of Ranate!” The dwarf shouted behind the bars, albeit a little quietly as he began to grasp the situation. He inspected the insignia which was a mere finger long, shield shaped design. It had a ruby inserted into the centre, marking its value and authenticity. In the middle it housed a tall, blindfolded woman holding up a fiery torch. It represented the nation's unending fiery nature, along with their might means right ideology of justice. Conveyed through the blindfolded woman. Though that aspect was slightly dated “Only those who belong in the royal family of Ranate have these. But you-you’re just a wee human.”

“A wee human is right.” I took a deep breath in as I realised I was finally getting somewhere. “I’m Leon vi Bastor. Nice to meet you, we’ve got a lot of talking to do, because I think we can finally end this war of sorts. That is, with help from you, and the dwarven alliance from long ago.” 

'Also side note...Who're you calling a wee human, Dwarf?'

The dwarf looked at me with confusion, curiosity, and bewilderment. Naturally I wouldn’t reveal myself to just about anybody. However, the dwarves and the giantesses had teamed up against Marvialasia at one point in the past. I didn’t recall Ana ever mentioning that their relationship ever deteriorated, but rather it was that the dwarven people simply went missing. Obviously, this guy would have to have known about our land’s shared history. 

“To think Ranate would have humans on their side. We really have missed out a lot on this world.” He muttered quietly. “Young man, If you can get me out of here, I’ll tell you everything I know, all the information I’ve gathered from spying around and eavesdropping into conversations with people here. Including something about a possible benefactor.”

“A benefactor?” I questioned. He had successfully piqued my interest.

“I’ll tell you more if you get me out of here, and not just out of this cell but to somewhere safe. I’m afraid my home city isn’t quite an easy place to access right now either. So decide quickly. The dwarven people don’t like hesitant attitudes.” He demanded. His last little statement was slightly irritating. However I’d guess he was trying to pressure me into helping him.

“Well, there’s only one place we can go. The land of giants, Ranate. Back to my home.”