Chapter 769: The Skald
Eisen stood in front of the gates of the Cloud Giant Chieftain's castle. He didn't have to say a single word for the large wooden doors to open in front of him. Or rather, nobody wanted him to say anything. They were already filled with enough hatred and anger just from having to see him walk through the city, but having to hear him speak? That would be seen as insult to injury. So, they made sure that he didn't have a chance or reason to speak up. Obviously, Eisen knew that.
And so, he took a few steps forward, turned his head to lock eyes with the guard that spit at him, and lightly smiled, "Watch out, even though there's nothing but sunshine above us, it seems as if I've been hit by a few raindrops just now."
The guard ground his teeth and scowled at the old man, who simply continued walking through the castle, pleasantly greeting anyone he came across, whether it was through vocal greetings, a slight wave, or just nothing but a quick nod after locking eyes with them. Nothing that could be seen as actively aggressive, and more importantly, none of these giants would complain to the Chieftain by saying, "He smiled, then greeted me." That would simply make them look ridiculous, even if the Chieftain was likely of the same mindset as them at the end of the day. But nonetheless, this was enough to annoy everyone that Eisen came across. That was enough for him, for now.
It didn't take long until Eisen made his way across the castle's interior. He had practically been funneled straight toward the throne-room by the guards that had been placed nearly everywhere he could even think of looking. The large doors leading to the throne room soon towered over the old man. Even though he was at the largest size he could manage with his transformations, these gates were incredibly huge. It was most likely the largest size any giant could reach. These huge doors were slowly pushed open by the cloud giants, even though the weight of the doors was too much even for them do to their sheer massiveness.
Rolling his eyes, the old man waited for the doors to finally be fully opened, and the guards let him through into the throne room. Eisen walked inside, noticing the intricate decorations placed all around this space. It was truly extravagant. Just the raw material worth for the decoration placed around only this room was higher than the cost of not only constructing every building in 'Prototype', but the treasures kept in the kingdom's royal treasury.
Eisen stepped through the space, every one of his steps echoing throughout it, before he stood in front of the cloud giant chieftain. It was a surprisingly young giant. Of course, it still meant that he was around a hundred years old at the very least, but most other Chieftains received this title when they were three hundred at the youngest. The Chieftain's skin was pale white, to the extent where it nearly blended into the colorless throne that he sat on. It rivaled Sal's skin, and Sal was an Albino Spider, making his skin as white as snow. It was something he only would have expected from a corpse, or a statue placed in front of him as a prank. But the deep, penetrating glare from within the Chieftain's eyes proved just how alive he was.
Eisen stepped in front of the throne, clearly noticing what it was that was expected from him right here, right now. Before the chieftain would speak, Eisen was expected to kneel and show his inferiority to him. However, Eisen wasn't going to do that. The man in front of him was a chieftain, which was a powerful position, sure, but at the end of the day, he was nothing but a lord with his own territory. He wasn't a king, but a noble. And right here, in front of him, stood a king, who was the son of one of the giants that had erected this country from the grounds up, even before countries had been officially acknowledged by the system through country cores.
But Eisen was the one that was expected to kneel? Sure, he didn't place the greatest amount of pride into his title as king, but the little emotional connection he had to it didn't allow him to simply do something like that.
"What, you won't even greet me?" Eisen asked with a scoff, locking eyes with the man sitting on the elevated throne.
"Says the man who doesn't even know his place." The chieftain replied, his voice having a nearly melodic aspect to it.
"I don't know my place? If that's what you think, then I guess I can take my leave." While keeping up eye-contact and a deep glare, Eisen turned around and started to walk back toward the entrance, fully intending to leave if the chieftain stayed silent. However, as he was doing so, the guards that had initially opened the doors closed them again. And surprisingly, they all left, completely leaving Eisen alone with
the chieftain. With how hateful they were as he was approaching this space, Eisen would have thought that he would never be left alone, so he waited until the doors closed, curious about what was going to happen once the doors had been shut completely.
With a loud slam, the entrance was practically sealed shut. And soon after, before the sound from just now even settled down in this huge room, footsteps drowned it out. Eisen turned around, watching the Cloud Giant Chieftain approach him. But the way he was carrying himself wasn't threatening in the slightest. Rather, the sharp air around the chieftain had settled down all of a sudden. And before the old man knew it, the chieftain of the clan with the greatest pride amongst all the giants suddenly dropped to one knee in front of him. He closed his eyes and placed a hand onto his heart, "I apologize for my rude behaviour, oh great one."
"...What?" Eisen replied with a confused expression, the light shining from the crystals on his body flickering for a few moments due to his surprise.
"I am a great admirer of you and your past. As soon as I heard that you had come back to this country, I told my people to set out to meet you before we lost your location." The chieftain explained immediately, "Of course, my people's pride is too great to see the honor in you walking on our streets, breathing the same air as us."
Eisen didn't doubt these words for a single moment. There was no way that a cloud giant would kneel down to someone else, that wasn't a cloud giant of higher standing, just for a lie, trick or joke. He was simply lucky that this one seemed to be a fan of him, if he understood him directly, "I see. And because of the feelings of your people toward me, you had to play along while they were still listening?"
"Otherwise, I never would have spoken to you in such a manner," the chieftain explained, continuing to hold his head low, speaking in a humble tone. Eisen let out a sigh and waved his hand. The room was filled with his mana, and a second throne, facing the chieftain's, was created for him.
"Let's just take a seat." Eisen suggested, walking over to the throne of rock and blazing crystals. Having the chieftain kneel in front of him the whole time would be nothing but uncomfortable. But soon enough, the two of them were seated across from each other, looking at each other silently. But soon enough, that silence was broken by Eisen.
"So, I have a few questions, now," the old man explained, and the chieftain practically flinched as he heard Eisen's voice, as if he was just too nervous not to, "How did you find out that I'm here? And, connected to that, how did you know that I was truly who I claimed to be?"
The chieftain slowly closed his eyes as he let out a long breath, "I have people stationed in all the other territories, of course. Every major city, every district. I want, no, need to know what is going on in this country. Of course, that is not only the case here, but everywhere else that I am able to reach. Truthfully, I had even attempted to have one of them infiltrate the islands of your country."
Eisen listened to the chieftain's words, surprised at the amount of imformation that he was given. He expected something like this, it was completely normal in situations like these to have informants everywhere they were useful, but that was something not easily said. Especically, you would usually never even think of telling the king of a country that you were trying to infiltrate his kingdom. But Eisen didn't really care, rather, he was quite happy, since the chieftain answered him truthfully and without hesitation.
"And my second question?" Eisen inquired again, before the cloud giant chieftain tried to find the right words for his explanation, "There were... multiple things that led me to believe in your claimed identity. Of course, the tournament held by that fool the Grandour to prove otherwise was a great way to prove your prowess. Not only I, the Skald of the Cloud Giants, but the chiefs of the other clans must know about how everything unfolded. The others may still have some doubts when you go to visit them, but I was able to quickly get rid of those doubts."
"How so?"
"As you may know, we Cloud Giants are intimately connected to the truths of this world. After I heard the report saying that someone claiming to be you was encountered in the Grandour's territory, I was able to confirm whether it was truth through clairvoyance and by reading the world."
"Reading the world?"
"Yes, we access the words of this world, known to many as the 'System', and can learn certain truths in that manner. For thos
e lower beings, it would be possible to read near everything that there was to know. But for you, it was impossible. The only thing that I could tell was that it would be impossible for me to ever see the truth behind your being. And that alone served as all the proof I needed that you are who you claimed to be."
Eisen smiled curiously. So they were able to inspect other beings similarly to how Eisen could with his Dragon's eye? That was interesting. And at the same time, he was glad to see that they weren't able to see everything. But now, Eisen wondered about the most important thing, and the reason why he was here in the first place.
"Now tell me, why did you come looking for me?"
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