Elbaf — Sun World.
The western village harbor was also the final stop of the Rainbow Bridge.
This was the most prosperous town in all of Elbaf, home to a huge number of giants.
At that moment, the Oro Jackson slowly docked at the port.
Surprisingly, the place was incredibly lively, completely different from the Elbaf Valthior had remembered.
Maybe it was because Harald was still alive, and because he was currently cooperating with the World Government. Whatever the reason, there were many ships from outside nations gathered in the harbor.
"Right... before Harald died, Elbaf's trade became extremely prosperous. Merchants from all over the world gathered here, exporting the local timber and specialties to other seas..." Valthior suddenly recalled the situation and quietly thought to himself.
Originally, he had assumed sneaking in disguised would attract attention. After all, they weren't giants.
But now, Elbaf was crowded with people and races from all over the world. The Roger Pirates really didn't stand out much at all.
Honestly, disguises in this world were pretty ridiculous. As long as you put in a little effort, everyone else suddenly became blind and completely failed to recognize you.
After leaving the harbor, quite a few people even casually chatted with them along the way.
"Where are you folks from? Here to buy goods too? Cedar wood's selling like crazy lately. Supply can't keep up with demand. I've got connections around here. If you want stock, come find me. I'm staying at that inn over there..."
"Young man, you've got a solid build! Interested in working security on my ship? I can pay you two hundred thousand Berries a month!"
"For just a hundred thousand Berries, I can introduce you to giant fishermen suppliers as a middleman!"
Walking through the bustling trade market, Roger rubbed his head with a confused look.
"Where the hell did this bring me? Is this really the Land of Warriors?"
"It seems Harald's new policies achieved pretty good results," Rayleigh said with a sigh. "Elbaf is gradually shaking off its barbaric image. No wonder he chose to cooperate with the World Government..."
Seeing Elbaf's prosperity with his own eyes, Valthior quietly corrected some of his old impressions of Harald.
Before this, he had always thought Harald was naïve to the point of foolishness. The man had weakened Elbaf's military strength and stubbornly insisted on joining the World Government and opening relations with other countries, ultimately leading to tragedy.
But putting those prejudices aside, Harald truly deserved the title of a wise king.
His path itself wasn't wrong.
What he failed to see was the deep darkness hidden within the World Government.
And across this sea, how many people could truly see that darkness clearly?
That couldn't really be blamed on him.
Under Harald's leadership, Elbaf gradually abandoned its obsession with endless warfare and began moving toward a more normal society. Children born here no longer had only two possible futures—becoming warriors or becoming raiders.
"In the end... it was this chaotic era that ruined you, Harald..." Valthior muttered softly.
Meanwhile, Gaban was acting like a complete idiot, climbing all over the place and looking around excitedly. Every time he spotted a beautiful giant woman walking in the distance, he immediately tried rushing over to flirt with her.
Fortunately, Rayleigh stayed calm and forcefully restrained the shameless fool before he could embarrass himself further.
Just as Valthior was lost in thought, Spencer suddenly spoke in a low voice.
"Quit messing around. There are Marines over there."
"Marines!?"
Roger's expression instantly sharpened.
Blending into the noisy crowd, he followed Spencer's line of sight.
Sure enough, near a nearby street, several Marine soldiers were chatting and laughing while bargaining with a giant shop owner, seemingly trying to buy some local specialties.
"How are there Marines here!? Elbaf hasn't even joined the World Government yet, has it?" Roger asked in surprise.
"And we didn't see any Marine ships at the harbor either," Gaban added with a frown.
In truth, Harald had already returned to Elbaf a day earlier alongside Sengoku, Zephyr, and the others.
However, instead of immediately beginning construction of the pentagram array, Harald chose to host a grand banquet first. After all, it was Sengoku and the others' first time visiting Elbaf, so naturally he wanted to welcome them properly.
As king, Harald had his own private harbor and Rainbow Bridge, so their fleet never docked at the western village port.
"If Marines are here, then we need to stay even more low-key," Roger said after thinking for a moment. "Don't cause trouble. We'll split up and gather information separately, then meet back at that inn tonight."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Moving together as a group made them too noticeable, and it would also make gathering information more difficult.
Before long, they split up.
Valthior ended up paired with Gaban, mainly because someone needed to keep an eye on him and stop him from doing anything stupid.
Standing beneath a large signpost at a crossroads, Valthior tilted his head up, searching for directions.
Meanwhile, Gaban kept glancing around excitedly. Then suddenly, he froze completely.
His eyes locked onto a stall further down the street.
There, beside a stand selling beast meat and pelts, stood a beautiful giant woman with a curvy figure and very revealing clothes. She held a sharp butcher knife in one hand while skillfully skinning and carving apart a massive beast hanging before her stall.
At the same time, she loudly called out to passing customers.
"Step up, step up! Don't miss out! Freshly caught Tata-beast today! A specialty of our Elbaf, unbeatable for stews, absolutely delicious!"
"There's a tavern over there," Valthior said after spotting the sign. "If we're gathering information, we should probably start there."
But after waiting a while and getting no response, he turned around in confusion.
The moment he saw Gaban's expression, his face twitched.
That idiot was staring at the giant beauty butcher with drool practically pouring out of his mouth. He looked completely mesmerized, like he couldn't even move after seeing a pretty woman.
"Oi, pull yourself together, dumbass!" Valthior snapped, slapping Gaban on the shoulder.
"Ah—sorry, sorry," Gaban muttered as he wiped away his drool. Then, with a dazed expression, he said, "Valthior... you probably won't believe me, but I think I just met the love of my life..."
"The hell you did. That's just lust at first sight," Valthior shot back instinctively.
Still, he followed Gaban's gaze and took a closer look.
Then he froze.
Wait a second...
Was this actually true love!?
Earlier, he had only glanced briefly and hadn't paid much attention. But now that he looked carefully, he immediately recognized her.
Wasn't that future wife of Gaban's—Ripley!?
Watching her expertly skinning meat and breaking apart bones, Valthior suddenly understood something.
No wonder she could become a biology teacher in the future.
She already had professional experience!
Before Valthior could even recover from the shock, Gaban suddenly grabbed both of his hands tightly, his face full of desperate pleading.
"Please, Valthior! This is the most important request of my life! Let me go talk to her! I'm begging you!"
"We're supposed to be gathering information..." Valthior said hesitantly.
"How is this not gathering information!?" Gaban immediately argued. "She's obviously a local! We can get to know her, make friends, invite her drinking, and casually ask about the information we need. See? No delays at all!"
Gaban rarely begged anyone for anything.
Seeing him this serious, Valthior couldn't help softening a little.
And honestly... Gaban wasn't wrong.
In the end, they needed to talk to locals anyway.
So why couldn't that local be Ripley?
Under Gaban's burning gaze, Valthior finally nodded stiffly.
"Fine. But let me make this clear first—you are absolutely not allowed to do anything stupid."
"Don't worry!" Gaban immediately perked up with excitement. "I just want to introduce myself. Come on, let's go say hello!"
A short while later, the two of them arrived at Ripley's stall.
Ripley noticed the approaching humans right away. Wearing a bright smile, she stopped cutting meat and lowered her head to look at them.
"Welcome, customers. Looking to buy some meat? Mine's the best quali—"
"UM!"
Gaban suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
Valthior instinctively took two steps sideways, staring at him in disbelief.
Even Ripley looked stunned by the sudden outburst.
"Hm? What is it, customer?"
Then, in the very next second, Gaban bowed deeply and extended one hand toward her.
"PLEASE MARRY ME! THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REQUEST OF MY LIFE!!!"
Valthior: ???
You bastard!
Didn't you promise not to cause trouble!?
Ripley herself was completely stunned.
She stared at the tiny human who wasn't even as big as her foot, her mind in total chaos.
Who the hell are you!?
You walk up out of nowhere and immediately propose marriage!?
Can humans even marry giants!?
But after recovering from the initial shock, Ripley suddenly found the whole thing strangely amusing.
And honestly speaking...
This human proposing to her actually matched her tastes pretty well.
He was just... a little small.
Thinking that, a playful smile appeared on Ripley's face.
"Before that," she said leisurely, "you should at least buy me a drink first."
After all, in Elbaf, everyone was a drunkard.
Gaban's face instantly lit up with joy.
"No problem at all!" he declared without hesitation. "Do you know any good taverns around here?"
"Follow me!" Ripley laughed as she began packing up her stall.
Meanwhile, Valthior stood there in complete confusion, looking utterly lost.
He genuinely could not keep up with the thought process of these two lunatics.
What the hell?
They were already going drinking together!?
No wonder these two ended up becoming a couple!
Back then, he always thought Gaban marrying a giant was crazy.
But now that he thought about it carefully... wasn't Ripley just as insane for wanting to marry a human!?
...
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