Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 119

“I want to eat this.”

“Ah, yes! Cute customer, how much would you like?”

“How much can I eat with this?”

It was Loki’s first transaction, having never spent money before.

But what Loki pulled out was gold, and the tavern owner’s eyes widened.

A serving of wild boar barbecue was only 3 silver.

Even though 3 silver was already a huge rip-off, the 1 gold Loki pulled out was equivalent to 100 silver when converted.

It was an amount that a child shouldn’t be able to produce, so the tavern owner wondered if it was a prank and bit down hard on the gold with his molars.

However, the clear imprint of his teeth proved that it was real gold.

The tavern owner was flustered.

He didn’t have enough cash on hand to make change for such a large sum.

But the tavern owner decided to feed him first and responded to Loki proactively.

“W-Well, with this amount, you can have all the wild boar meat in our shop today. Enjoy yourself, customer.”

“Really? Then give me wild boar and alcohol!”

Loki, who had first tasted alcohol during a vacation with everyone, wondered why people drank something so bitter and unpleasant.

But strangely enough, he sometimes found himself craving that taste, which was quite puzzling.

So, today, Loki decided to seriously try that alcohol again.

“Alcohol, you say? What kind of alcohol would you like?”

“The strongest one.”

Back then, Kang Chan and Jikyeon had looked for the strongest one, so Loki also looked for the strongest one along with them.

“Ah, then I recommend Kartas from Blatania.”

Of course, it was the most expensive alcohol.

“Give me that.”

“Excellent choice. Just a moment…”

He took out a bottle from a rather luxurious box and placed it on the table where Loki was sitting, along with glasses.

Kartas wasn’t that expensive in big cities, but in these war zones, it was a top-class alcohol that could fetch any price.

“I’ll slice the meat right away. Just a moment.”

The tavern owner took out a roasted wild boar, skewered and grilled whole over charcoal.

The tavern owner skillfully sliced the flesh with a large butcher knife and placed it on a plate, overflowing, in front of Loki.

“Here! Enjoy it to your heart’s content, customer!”

“Okay, I’ll enjoy it.”

As he took a bite of the wild boar, he tasted the unique gamey flavor, which reminded him of the forest where he used to live.

It was a place where he felt so lonely and wanted to leave without hesitation, but now that he was in a foreign land, it was a place he missed so much.

As Loki chewed on the wild boar barbecue, lost in memories, the tavern owner asked.

“Is it to your liking?”

Loki nodded vigorously.

The tavern owner, seeing Loki’s happy expression with oil all over his mouth, thought to himself.

‘Ah, if only I had a daughter like that…’

He had been a bachelor for 45 years.

He had traveled all over the continent, making a living, but he was still a bachelor.

When he was young, he left home to become a merchant and learned the trade in big cities, but the world was not so easy, and it brought him several setbacks and despair.

Eventually, he scraped together some money and bought this mobile tavern.

He had been selling alcohol on the streets like this for 10 years.

For him, family was something he longed for so much.

Looking at Loki, he wished he had a daughter like him.

“Eat a lot, customer.”

“Okay, I will.”

While Loki was enjoying the barbecue with alcohol, there was a group watching him, soldiers from Terbia.

They were out on a company furlough [authorized absence] today, drowning their sorrows with cheap alcohol and cheap snacks.

The allowance given to lower-ranking soldiers was meager.

“Hey! Look over there!”

“What?”

“A super beauty has appeared at 12 o’clock!”

The soldiers’ gazes instantly focused on 12 o’clock.

“Wow! She’s really stunning!”

“How could such a beauty be in a place like this!”

They couldn’t close their mouths at the sight of a beauty they might only see in big cities, sitting alone and drinking.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no women here, but a beauty as young and fresh as Loki was very rare.

“What kind of woman is she?”

“Judging by her clothes and appearance, she doesn’t seem to be working in the military?”

Most of the women here were either women working in the same military system or prostitutes.

But if she was a woman in the same military system, her attire would be different, so they thought of Loki as a prostitute.

“Hey! Look at the alcohol that woman is drinking! It’s Kartas!”

“What, Kartas?”

The soldiers watched Loki sipping Kartas, which cost more than 30 silver here, with envy and jealousy.

And they looked at the cheap cinnamon they were drinking.

Cinnamon, a diluted alcohol mixed with water, was the lowest-grade alcohol, containing the sorrows of the poor and impoverished workers.

It was said to be alcohol drunk for the buzz rather than the taste.

“Ah, damn it! I’m jealous! She must be a pretty good pot, huh?”

“Yeah, drinking Kartas alone in a place like this.”

“Damn it! It’s disgusting! Some people risk their lives to fight and drink cinnamon, and some people sell their bodies to drink Kartas! Disgusting, disgusting! Ptui!”

The soldiers grumbled and drank their cinnamon more nervously, and the bottles began to pile up.

Meanwhile, a giant with an enormous physique, who was drinking alone in another shop, was also looking at Loki.

The giant, whose sitting height alone was taller than ordinary people standing, was surprisingly a woman.

The beer glass in her hand was 3,000cc [approximately 101 fluid ounces] in size, but it looked like a teacup to her.

The expression on her face as she looked at Loki was full of envy.

‘Ah, I wish I was that small and delicate…’

She was so envious of Loki’s small and slender figure.

As she sighed and looked at Loki, the men around her whispered, looking at her.

“Hey! It’s Giant Mama!”

“Huh! Where? It’s really Giant Mama.”

“Wow! Is that a real person? It’s no joke.”

She knew very well that their whispers were about her, but she silently drank her beer.

It was always the same, so it had become chronic.

She had contracted a rare disease as a child that stopped her growth, and her height was nearly 3 meters [approximately 9 feet 10 inches].

Her appearance was more beautiful and slender than ordinary women, but because of her huge size that overwhelmed all men, she had to live as everyone’s laughingstock.

Her nickname was Giant Mama.

It was the mother of the giant tribe, which was said to have been destroyed by dragons in ancient times.

She was the owner of tremendous strength befitting her giant height, and her athletic ability was also exceptional, so she was able to receive knight training with the full support of the country.

Even though she was a woman, her 3-meter-tall stature could give the enemies a tremendous sense of intimidation.

Having received knight training as a strategic weapon, her current martial prowess was at the entry level of Sword Expert.

It was a stage where she was slightly lacking in emitting aura swords.

However, with her size that overwhelmed ordinary people, she could easily handle a mid-level Sword Expert.

Her name was Britina. A knight from the Silverline Republic and a member of the Silverline Guard.

“Hey? Why is that monster drinking alcohol here?”

“How would I know?”

That was true. There was no need for her, a member of the Guard, to use such a street tavern.

A tavern for the Guard knights was prepared separately. Those who used it could enjoy high-end alcohol to their heart’s content without having to pay.

However, she, who was from a farming family, missed beer and came here.

And since it was the same as being in a zoo here or there, it was much more comfortable to drink among the soldiers who couldn’t openly make fun of her as a knight.

The soldiers who were watching her whispered.

“Could it be? Is she sitting there trying to hunt us?”

“Nah, no way? Still, her face is really beautiful, it’s a shame. Should I try to hit on her?”

“Leave it alone, do you want to sleep one night and have a funeral?”

“I was just kidding. Where would the size even fit?”

“She probably wouldn’t even know it was in there? Hehehe!”

“Hehehe!”

Britina endured the soldiers’ low-grade taunts and silently drank her favorite beer.

In the meantime, she felt the street becoming noisy and looked there.

“Why do they keep doing that when she says she doesn’t want to?”

“Hey, hey, miss… why don’t you have a drink with us… hic!”

“Don’t be shy, we know you came here knowing what’s up. Where do you work, huh?”

“Just go away when I’m saying it nicely.”

“Oh? Look at this? She’s got a temper?”

The soldiers from Terbia, who had been looking at Loki earlier, were drunk and surrounded him, harassing him.

“Hey, hey! You guys! What’s going on? Doesn’t she say she doesn’t want to?”

“Old man, stay out of it! Are we doing anything harmful? Hic! We’re just saying let’s join and have a drink together.”

“Don’t do this and just keep drinking. I’ll give you service.”

The poor Terbia soldiers got angry at the word service.

“What the hell! Do you think we’re beggars? Huh?”

“No, you know I didn’t mean it that way, right?”

“Shut up!”

The rough soldier kicked the table next to him.

It seemed like he was a very dirty drunk.

“You guys, please don’t do this.”

Loki, who had been holding back, got up from his seat to step in.

“I told you to go away when I was saying it nicely.”

The soldiers whistled and sneered at Loki’s bold behavior.

“Whee! Yeah! That feisty look is cute, isn’t it? Is that why customers line up for that feisty look?”

Loki gave a final warning. If Loki saw blood, there was no chance they would survive.

No matter what anyone said, he was a blood-loving ogre.

“I’m warning…”

However, Loki couldn’t continue his final warning.

A giant hand that appeared from somewhere grabbed the soldier’s neck and lifted him up.

“Keuk! Keuk! S-Save me!”

Suddenly, as he disappeared into the sky, his comrades screamed, looking at the woman who lifted him up.

“Gasp! It’s Giant Mama!”

The blood disappeared from the soldiers’ faces in an instant. Of course, the drunkenness also disappeared.

“Uwaaa! Save me!”

The soldiers abandoned their comrade and ran away without looking back.

Her huge size was fear itself.

Britina threw the soldier she was holding towards them.

“Uwaaaawaaak!”

Thud!

The soldier who was slammed into the floor couldn’t get up easily, and after coughing for a while, he struggled to crawl away.

Britina, who watched him, dusted off her palms and said.

“Tsk! Pathetic guys.”

“…”

Loki looked up at her with sparkling eyes.

And he thought.

‘Is this how humans see me?’

Loki’s expression, looking up at someone for the first time with a sore neck, was full of surprise.

That’s how huge Britina’s size was in front of Loki.

Britina said to Loki, who was looking up at her with sparkling eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Loki nodded vigorously.