If Sengoku doesn't pull back his net soon, I'll become the Pirate King!

Chapter 56 [Loki, the Cursed Prince]

The room fell into a deathly silence.

The joy of the two giant captains' return had long since vanished.

Harald rubbed his temples.

As the king of the giants, he could not act willfully.

If Harald had known that the first skill a king had to learn was compromise, he would have sworn he would never have become king.

"Loki...Prince."

Finally, Brogy, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up:

"Actually, there's no need to be so extreme. Perhaps we could ask the two leaders of the Beasts Pirates to come to Elbaf."

"Make your decision after you've seen their character and strength."

"You don't want to go out to sea with some weird people, right?"

Loki looked at Brogy with some surprise, knowing that the other giants all called him --

Loki, the Cursed Prince!

Even at the worst--

Titles like "The Monster Prince" and "The Monster Who Cursed His Mother" are likely references to the genre.

Giants like Brogy who directly addressed him as Prince Loki could be counted on one hand.

Loki silently put on the white cloth, covering his terrifying eyes.

"I will absolutely not acknowledge the path you are on now, Father."

He turned and left.

"Broki, Dorry, I'll be waiting for you in the underworld, provided you have the guts to come in."

Don't let me down.

The glass door leading to the balcony was slammed shut.

"I'm sorry, that child's personality has become somewhat twisted, and it's all my fault."

Harald sighed again, still rubbing his temples with both hands.

By chance, Broki noticed the strange tattoo on Harald's left arm through the wide sleeves of his clothes.

That logo...

"That tattoo, Harald, did you join a pirate crew founded by someone else?"

"A pirate crew?"

Harald looked down and said, "Ah, you mean this tattoo?"

"This is the symbol of the World Government. I have been trying to get the Kingdom of Woland into the World Government's trade system, and they say this tattoo is the symbol of joining them."

"Many human kings on the high seas have this tattoo, but mine is just a little special."

"Is that so? But that's really difficult, babbling~"

Brogy didn't pay much attention to it.

"If it were me, I would die from headaches caused by this kind of thing."

Donley and Brogy huddled together and lifted the barrel.

"That's why we're not fit to be king, Brogy, hehehe~~"

"You two bastards!"

Harald took out a third barrel and clashed it forcefully with the barrels his two brothers were holding.

"Let's drink to your return, hahaha~"

-----------------

Several days later, the giants' grand banquet came to an end.

After a full day of rest, Dorry and Brogy set off together on their journey to the Underworld.

The bottom layer of the World Tree

Endless ice and snow shrouded the first layer of the Kingdom of Voland.

The torrential rain and fierce winds were like longtime best friends; they lingered here, showing no sign of leaving.

On the coastline of the underworld, the Rainbow Bridge descends from the middle layer of the mortal realm.

A mist boat sailed down the rainbow road.

Ding-dong~

"Oh my, it's Captains Dorry and Brogy, what rare guests you are."

Inside a port tavern on the edge of the underworld, Madoh, who was wiping wine glasses, looked up.

She has short, golden hair that falls to her shoulders, with the ends curling slightly upwards.

Her fair face was dotted with a few freckles, but these "flaws" did not diminish the giant girl's charm.

Instead, it added a touch of sunshine and playfulness to it.

"Liprish, the giant captain is back! Bring out the good wine~~"

"Okay, okay~ Honestly, I just came to see how you were doing, I'm not a tavern waiter, Mado!"

"Haha, sorry, sorry, but you're my good friend!"

Mado laughed and apologized to the bar's inner room, then looked at Dongli.

"Sorry, this is a public bar founded by Lord Date, so it might be a bit noisy. After all, in addition to giants, there are also human pirates from the surrounding area who come here."

Dorry glanced at the human pirates sitting in the hall bragging and scoffed disdainfully:

"A bunch of trash. Compared to those two men from the Beasts Pirates, calling them trash is an insult to trash."

"Hey, giant, what nonsense are you spouting?!"

A surge of Conqueror's Haki, quite different from that of Bazel and Kaido, burst forth.

"I am the man who has awakened the qualities of a king, the Pirate King Adams Beren, destined to conquer this sea..."

"Uh, I got it. Please shut up. Don't embarrass yourself with your lack of backbone."

Dongli picked at his ear, looking disdainful.

"The Haki I felt from Kaido and Bazel was hundreds of times stronger than yours!"

The pirates smashed their wine glasses and stood up.

"Hey, you giant bastard, what are you talking about? Don't think we won't attack just because this is Elbaf!"

"That's right! We're free pirates!!"

"Are you Elbaf planning to declare war on us humans?!"

Dongli frowned slightly, gripped the hilt of his greatsword with his right hand, and was about to make a move when Mado pulled him back.

"We can't make a move here, Captain Dongli."

Mador bowed to the humans in apology and said he would serve them fine wine later.

Upon hearing that there was even better wine, the human pirates plopped down on their seats.

"...Mado, it's been so many years. When did Elbaf become such a weak place?"

Broki's face was as gloomy as the sky of the underworld.

"It's because the two of you haven't been back for too long."

Lipley brought over a large barrel of wine, first pouring a glass of wine for the humans that was larger than their own height, before sitting down next to the two.

"King Harald intends to integrate Elbaf into the World Government's trade system, and a key aspect of this is to change the current character of the Titans."

"You all know the Titans' personalities from the past, but Harald didn't like them."

He believed that reasonable force was indeed necessary, but unprovoked violence was something that the future giant nation should eliminate.

A letter was tossed on the table, and Liprit leaned back in her bar chair.

"A few days ago I received a letter from the king. He wanted to establish a school specifically for educating giant children, but the plan had to be put on hold for the time being because of a lack of teachers and books."

"However, someone has already been chosen as the teacher."

"Besides me, several other giants with good character also received this letter."

Dongli picked up the letter and read it, his brows furrowing more and more as he read.

"How could Harald make such a foolish policy? Elbaf was the birthplace of the war. Even if things are to be changed, it shouldn't be to turn the descendants of the giants into humans."

After handing the letter to Brogy, Dorry didn't drink and turned to look at Lipley.

"You guys aren't really planning to teach those kids how to hold a pen at school, are you?"

Lipriy shrugged. "What else can we do? Disobey the king's orders?"

Dongli was speechless.

Brogy handed the letter back to Lipley and got up to pick up the barrel of wine that had just been taken out.

"Let's talk about this later. Now that we're leaving Dorry, it's time to go find Prince Loki."

"Mado, we'll gladly accept this barrel of fine wine!"

"etc!"

Mado's expression changed slightly: "You just said you were going to find Loki... that cursed prince?!"

"That's right, we don't intend to follow those outdated traditions."

Before leaving, Dongli turned to Mado and laughed loudly:

"We will be the new generation of giants. Don't worry, Miss Mador, Harald knows what Brogy and I are planning to do."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we will take Loki with us, which will be a good thing for both Elbaf and him."

"Leave? Where do you plan to go?" Lipley asked curiously.

"Set sail, join the Beasts Pirates, and become a pirate!"

……

Hours later, Dorry and Brogy, carrying their prey and wine, found Loki dozing against the trunk of the World Tree.

"You've finally arrived! I've been waiting impatiently."

Loki opened his eyes; he didn't usually cover his eyes when he was sound asleep.

"Wolf, Eagle, you two go play somewhere else. We have something very important to discuss."

Bang~~

The plucked and bled prey was thrown onto the snow. Donley skillfully built a campfire, and Broki began to tend to the fire after setting down the barrel.

Loki, without any hesitation, lifted the lid of the large barrel and scooped up a mouthful to drink.

"It's been a long time since I've had this drink. It's from the port bar, right?"

That bar was founded by my brother's mother when she was still alive; she said it was the giants' window to the outside world.

"Well then, my two captains..."

Wiping the wine from the corner of his mouth, Loki looked at the two guests who rarely visited.

"Could you tell me the story of those two men?"

"Especially that one you mentioned..."

"A man who bears a striking resemblance to my idol!"