Taking a gulp of alcohol, Valthior realized this was an extremely important breakthrough.
His expression immediately turned serious as he said in a deep voice, "To be honest, I'm a scholar, and I'm very interested in what happened back then. If it's convenient, could you tell me more about the stories your great-grandmother told you when you were little?"
"I was too young at the time, so I don't remember everything clearly," Ripley replied after thinking for a moment. "But from what I remember, it was something about the sea trying to swallow the world. That was supposedly the effect caused by the Ancient Weapons. I heard the original world was destroyed during that great war or something like that..."
Seeing that she didn't seem to remember much more, Valthior continued asking, "Then does Elbaf have any historical records related to those events?"
"We used to," Ripley answered regretfully. "At least, during my great-grandmother's era, those records still existed. But later on, I heard Elbaf was threatened by something, so they had no choice but to destroy those records. Even the written language was changed, and everyone started using the current common language system instead. By my generation, even though it's only been around eight hundred years, those old records can no longer be passed down properly."
"Threatened ?" Valthior frowned slightly as if he had suddenly realized something.
Ripley nodded.
"Yeah. I think it had something to do with the Galleila... though I don't really know what that was exactly. I only heard my great-grandmother mention it occasionally. It was probably the Giant Warrior Pirates of Elbaf during that era?"
The Galleila!
That was it.
Back then, Valthior had already found it strange that those captured giants had still been able to send letters back to Elbaf.
At the time, he couldn't understand how they were still allowed to communicate with Elbaf after being imprisoned.
But now it made sense.
The World Government had most likely done it intentionally, using the Galleila as leverage to force Elbaf into destroying records related to that era.
Because of that, the younger generation of giants today barely knew what major events had happened during their great-grandparents' time.
As these thoughts ran through his mind, Valthior suddenly recalled the "Heaven World" Gaban had mentioned earlier.
Perhaps that forbidden region—the place ordinary giants weren't allowed to enter—still preserved something from the past.
Valthior even suspected ancient giants might still be living up there.
Clearly, Ancient Giants held a very high status in Elbaf; the royal family had to inherit that bloodline. Yet, Ancient Giants were almost never seen on the sea, and the Heavenly World was closed off.
Valthior had good reason to suspect the Ancient Giants hadn't gone extinct at all. Maybe their bloodline simply required rare ancestral awakening traits to appear.
And if that was the case...
Then there was a very real possibility that the Heaven World truly still housed Ancient Giants .
While Valthior was lost in thought, Gaban had already returned to discussing the Poneglyphs with Ripley.
"I honestly haven't heard about the Poneglyphs you mentioned," Ripley admitted with a smile. "But it's fine. After I go home, I can ask my family and friends about it. My grandfather might know something, since he used to be a member of the Giant Warrior Pirates too!"
The Giant Warrior Pirates she referred to were obviously not the current crew once led by Dorry and Brogy, who had long since disappeared from the seas.
She was talking about the Giant Warrior Pirates from the era of Jarul—the three-hundred-year-old giant elder.
"Then we'll be counting on you, Ripley!" Gaban said gratefully.
"No need to be so polite. We're friends, aren't we?" Ripley laughed carelessly and waved her hand. "Besides, you bought me drinks."
Honestly speaking, even though this whole relationship had started in an unbelievably ridiculous way, Gaban and Ripley's meeting had truly helped the Roger Pirates obtain some very valuable information.
Valthior was already thinking ahead.
Once their relationship with Ripley became a bit closer in a few days, he planned to ask whether they could visit her home and meet her grandfather.
As a former member of the Giant Warrior Pirates who had once sailed the seas alongside Jarul—the strongest man of that era—her grandfather definitely knew some ancient secrets.
...
After that, they stopped discussing history-related matters.
Instead, Gaban and Ripley happily shared stories about themselves, trying to leave deeper impressions on each other.
At one point, Gaban even started repeatedly signaling Valthior with his eyes.
The meaning couldn't have been more obvious.
Get lost already and don't ruin my chances!
Valthior was so irritated by Gaban's shamelessness that he almost laughed.
Still, he had no intention of ruining things for him, so he deliberately pretended to be getting drunk and took the initiative to excuse himself before leaving the tavern alone.
By the time he returned to the inn where they had agreed to regroup, Roger, Rayleigh, and most of the others had already come back as well.
The moment Roger saw Valthior returning by himself, he asked in surprise, "Why are you alone? Where's Gaban? Wasn't he with you?"
"You have no idea how ridiculous this whole thing is!" Valthior immediately began complaining as he walked over. "Not long after we split up, that bastard straight-up confessed to a giant beauty in the middle of the street and proposed marriage on the spot..."
Roger, Rayleigh, and the others were instantly hooked by the story and quickly gathered around to listen to Valthior vent.
Half an hour later, Valthior finally picked up a cup of tea from the table to wet his throat before continuing:
"And then that bastard got scared I'd ruin his chances, so he chased me away. He's probably getting all lovey-dovey with Ripley right now."
"To be honest," Rayleigh said with a helpless expression, "sometimes I really do have to admire him."
"From your description," Roger said hesitantly, "Ripley's huge, even among giants. Gaban isn't even as big as her foot... can those two actually... make it work?"
"That depends on whether that bastard has some special hidden skills..." Valthior rolled his eyes.
"Alright, enough about that," Spencer interrupted from the side, dragging the topic back on track. "At the very least, we've discovered an important blind spot. What feels like ancient history to us is only around three generations ago for giants. In a few days, after we check whether there's any information about the Poneglyphs, we should visit some of the older giants and gather more intelligence."
"And there's something else we need to pay attention to," Rayleigh added thoughtfully. "Why exactly did Sengoku and Zephyr come to Elbaf with Harald? Could their arrival bring some major change to Elbaf? And if so... will it affect our plans?"
Before, they hadn't known Harald had already returned.
But now that they did, combined with the presence of the Marines and Harald's status as a trainee member of the Holy Knights...
A bad feeling began rising in Valthior's heart.
Could it be that because of some unexpected change, Imu was planning to take control of Elbaf already?
And if that was the case...
What if Harald hadn't signed a Shallows Covenant at all?
What if he already possessed immortality, and his consciousness had been deeply corrupted?
If that happened, who could possibly stop Harald?
Damn it... Loki probably wasn't even an adult yet, right?
For giants, adulthood was around forty years old, wasn't it?
...
Meanwhile, in the sea not too far from Elbaf—
Within the clouds drifting high above the ocean, a majestic warship moved silently through the sea of clouds, occasionally casting enormous shadows below.
The ship was none other than Shiki's flagship, the Flying Lion.
Night had already grown deep, and the Flying Lion now hovered quietly among the clouds without advancing any further.
Shiki sat alone atop the mast, letting the sea breeze blow against him as he stared at the star-filled sky, seemingly lost in thought.
"Oi," Silver Axe called out as he walked out from the cabin and stood beneath the mast without even looking up, "are you sure it's okay for us to head straight to Elbaf without even sending Harald a message first? Won't he misunderstand our intentions?"
Hearing the question, Shiki let out a low chuckle.
"Even if I warned him in advance, Harald still wouldn't welcome me," he said coldly. "That bastard's practically wearing the same pants as the World Government now."
"So what, then?" Silver Axe raised an eyebrow. "You're planning to start a war in Elbaf?"
"That depends on Roger's attitude," Shiki replied after a moment of thought. "Hopefully that bastard knows what's good for him."
"You already know he'll never join us," Silver Axe said without hesitation.
"Then we kill them," Shiki answered, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes. "If we keep letting Roger run free, that bastard will eventually become a serious threat to us."
"I don't really see it that way," Silver Axe replied while shaking his head. "From the very beginning, I never thought Roger had the same ambition you do."
"People change, Kyo-chan," Shiki said calmly, his gaze drifting into the distance. "Back then, did you ever imagine the two of us would end up working together like this? What Roger thinks right now doesn't matter. What matters is that he already has the power to threaten us."
"Fine, you've got a point," Silver Axe admitted. "But are you really that confident we can win? Roger and his crew aren't exactly easy opponents."
"Jihahahahaha!" Shiki burst into loud laughter. "I'll make Harald stand on my side!"
It was obvious from his expression that the man was already cooking up some kind of scheme.
...
Read Advanced Chapters on : www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin
~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]