Two days later.
Leidale City.
This city, neighboring the Giant Kingdom, is enveloped by a massive invisible barrier that fends off giant incursions.
However, it would be a grave mistake to understand this city as simply struggling to survive under the threat of giants.
The city is famous for hunting giants.
"Although giant meat isn't tasty, there's a lot of it," Xi Mu looked at the giant corpse being dragged on a cart down the wide avenue.
He turned his head, explaining to Letixia.
"The corpse of a giant will be taken to a dedicated slaughterhouse, where it will be classified and priced according to different parts, and sold to various regions."
"..." Letixia pursed her lips. She had only known about the world of giant hunting through books and tales passed on by word of mouth, and now seeing the corpse of a giant, she felt a sense of disgust.
It wasn't the giants she found disgusting, but the thought of a being similar to humans being dismembered and sold as goods, consumed by people, that she found nauseating.
The similarity was too great, giving her the eerie illusion of cannibalism.
"Don't worry, most people won't get a chance to eat giant meat," Xi Mu reassured Letixia as he led her into a weapon shop.
"Are you folks from out of town?" asked the shop owner as he approached and sized up Xi Mu and Letixia. Shaking his head, he said,
"If you wish to become heroes who hunt giants, I'd advise you to give up the idea. It's very difficult to kill a giant without specialized training."
"Is hunting giants regarded as an act of heroism here?" Letixia inquired, prompting the shop owner to smile and walk over to a shelf nearby.
He caressed a spear on the shelf, nearly two meters in length.
"Don't think of us as bad people just because giants look too human. Just change the argument slightly, and the situation becomes completely different."
"To protect ordinary people from the threat of giants, we take the initiative to kill the giants near Leidale City before they can harm the majority of the populace."
"Giants also eat humans; we're just eating the giants first."
Letixia: "..."
She offered no objections. The palace tutors had long since explained that she should not view the mutual hunting between humans and giants as akin to cannibalization amongst kind, but rather, as a natural ecological relationship.
Just as naturally as wolves eat rabbits.
Due to territorial disputes and resource shortages, humans and giants had begun the practice of hunting each other tens of thousands of years ago.
However, since Letixia had always lived in the Iris Flower Kingdom, her impression of giants was limited to knowledge without personal contact.
That's why she felt... uncomfortable seeing the corpse of a giant for the first time.
"I want to buy a Giant Hunter's Spear," Xi Mu stated concisely, voicing his needs. He had no interest in discussing the relationship between humans and giants with the shop owner.
The game officials had devised this so-called brutal and deep world setting of giants and humans hunting each other to highlight the game's cruelty and depth, but to him, it was utterly... pointless. All he needed to know was that killing giants would yield experience points.
As for why humans and giants evolved into the current situation, that was entirely irrelevant.
Mass slaughter would suffice; there was no need to get hung up on game settings.
"Although I am in business?" the bearded shop owner asked seriously.
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Just to ensure safety," Xi Mu brazenly fibbed, purely for the sake of advancing the storyline and possibly hunting down a few giants along the way to gain some experience points, not really for his own safety.
Otherwise, his top priority would be to take a detour.
"Then you should hire a few guards," the shopkeeper suggested, but seeing that his customers were unmoved, he gave up on his altruistic instincts, choosing instead to respect the fate of others.
He caressed the Giant Hunter's Spears on the shelf.
"745 Gold Coins each, quality guaranteed. Don't complain about the price."
"Fine, I'll take two," Xi Mu nodded, without bargaining, even though he knew negotiating could save him five Gold Coins.
But he truly wasn't interested in haggling.
"Straightforward," the shop owner's face lit up with a smile as he took down two Giant Hunter's Spears from the shelf and handed them over to Xi Mu and Letixia.
Xi Mu checked the spear; its material was made from giant bones, with magic spells inscribed on the surface. As long as one charged it with enough Magic Power, it could shoot out like an arrow.
But that alone wouldn't be enough to kill a giant.
"You'll have to buy the poison yourself," the shopkeeper explained, only to see the two customers had already turned and walked away.
Why did he have the impression they were very adept?
...
...
Adventurers' Guild.
Xi Mu posted a job, requiring the hired adventuring party to have a fast-moving caravan and be familiar with the route to Sky City.
And the hiring price, he deliberately raised it a bit.
As expected, a group of seasoned teams immediately took on the job and sent someone to negotiate.
"..." Xi Mu appraised the girl standing before him, her skin the color of wheat, carrying a Giant Hunter's Spear, and nodded slightly.
"Let's go."
"Hey, aren't you going to ask more questions?" The girl was taken aback. This employer was too decisive, ready to set off right away.
Xi Mu turned and headed towards the nearby caravan, casually claiming, "No need, I'm an Astrologer, able to see through the trajectory of fate."
"Really, or are you kidding?" The girl's eyes widened in shock, glancing at Letixia, who looked just as surprised, feeling like she had been duped.