Volume 7 - Chapter 18 – Gigantes (2/2)

“Well then, was the Core of Gigantes in the room you were in, Ann?”

“I do not know. That’s because I wasn’t given any more information about it.”

That was all the information, and Reinhardt put it all together into a guess.

“Anyway, somewhere in the ancient ruins was the Core of Gigantes, and because of some vital reason it activated and came alive. Then it crushed the nearby cabin of Rucall underfoot.”

That seemed to be the gist of things. The important thing right now was not to determine the root cause but the locations of Gigantes. They were also worried about Rucall.

Although it was too late now, they regretted they had foolishly left the ruins wide open. However there was nothing to do about their negligence any more.

“Hmm, you said it was faulty and didn’t listen to what its manufacturers said? How did it turn out?”

Reinhardt asked hoping that the answer was just it didn’t do as it was told, but that wish didn’t come true.

“Yes, it turned out that once activated, it didn’t made no distinction between friend and foe and attacked.”

The worst case. Cold sweat trickled down Reinhardt’s back.

“And because of that, its only way of use was throwing the Core right in the middle of enemies. ”

It stands to reason that it was somewhat usable in situations where it had no allies around it.

“Are there any principles or anything like that behind how it moves, or rampages, or maybe attacks?”

Suddenly a question like that came to Jin’s mind and he tried asking.

“Yes, for some reason it goes towards high places.”

For some reason Jin remembered the saying ‘Only idiots, smoke, and goats rise to high places’. As Gigantes wasn’t smoke or a goat, then it must be…

“So that means that after crushing Rucall’s cabin, it climbed up the mountain.”

Reinhardt crossed his arms and thought.

“The question is what are we going to do. Will we leave it be, or try to do something by ourselves? Or tell the proper authorities?”

“We’re responsible for letting it out. If there’s anything we can do, I want to do it.”

Jin’s opinion was to exterminate it themselves. Well, with Reiko it probably wouldn’t be a big problem, and Reinhardt also agreed.

“If we waste time then the damage may increase, so.”

Then they began the talk about who would participate in chasing down Gigantes, and Elsa said she also wanted to come.

“I want to go too because you didn’t take me with you into the ruins.”

“No, it’s not a leisure trip, it’ll be dangerous.”

Reinhardt tried persuading her but still she didn’t listen.

“Elsa, neither me or Reinhardt want to expose you to danger. So please just stay here. I beg you.”

Jin clapped his hands together in front of his face and bowed like he was praying. The gesture was unknown to Elsa but she could still understand Jin’s feelings.

“…Okay. Today is Jin-kun’s birthday, so I’ll listen to him.”

“Thanks, Elsa.”

Finally Elsa agreed. Besides, currently Elsa was wearing a skirt. It wasn’t suited for mountain climbing.

Jin and Reinhardt put their preparations in order. Although the preparations were only walking sticks for mountain climbing, rope, and water.

They made the sticks from wood. That kind of handiwork was their strongest point.

“Now then, we’ll be going.”

“Take care. You both.”

“Reinhardt-sama, Jin-dono, be careful. You mustn’t overdo it.”

The butler Claude saw them off along with Elsa, then Jin and Reinhardt headed towards the mountain. Accompanying them was Reiko. This time she was holding ‘Peach Blossom’.

Ann was house-sitting with Elsa and Claude. It seemed like if Ann was about to do something like mountain climbing right now, she’d fall into pieces.

With Reiko in the lead, Jin’s group continued while looking for the paths that seemed easy to walk.

“*Gasp*…*Pant*”

“*Wheeze* *Wheeze*”

Jin and Reinhardt were both bad at mountain climbing. Reiko jumped from rock to rock up the mountain as if it was the most natural thing, then came back down, advising them like,

“Father, the path leading right seems to be the easiest to ascend”

Or,

“The rock there is brittle, so please be careful.”

After roughly 30 minutes of climbing there was a relatively flat terrace, and they decided to take a breather. They both drank the water they brought and breathed in deep.

“Ahh, I knew it but this really is intense.”

“Yeah, in my home country I climbed a few mountains too, but this is my first time on a rocky mountain like this.”

They had a conversation like that, but they couldn’t stay resting forever and the two again began the climb.

When they encountered a crag that seemed impossible to climb, Reiko cut the rock to pieces with the Peach Blossom in her hand, making footholds. Thanks to that in an hour the summit was in sight.

“Ooh, there’s the summit.”

At that moment, Reiko who had climbed up near the summit gave a signal.

“Father, there is a large footprint here. The target maybe nearby.”