Waltrautesan no Konkatsu Jijou - Chapter 3 - Part 13

“Surtr, do you know about the magic sword Dáinsleif?”

Surtr finally turned toward the boy with a puzzled look. Then he wrinkled his brow grimly. A great ruler like him saw through it immediately. A slight remnant of a curse clung to the boy’s right hand.

(That abominable sword? But he did not draw it from its scabbard. That is only what leaked through the scabbard. If he had actually drawn it, this boy’s fate would already be sealed.)

Surtr snapped his fingers lightly.

Sparks flew from the boy’s palm similar to when a hot piece of iron was struck. The trace of the curse disappeared.

“…Do you possess the magic sword?”

Surtr thought for a second, but he quickly realized that could not be the case.

Dáinsleif’s curse was so powerful not even he could oppose it if he were to draw the sword from its scabbard.

“No, the scabbard is not enough to completely seal away Dáinsleif’s curse. If you carried it with you constantly, you would need some kind of countermeasure built into your flesh. However, I can sense no such trick in you. …You held it for the first time recently, didn’t you?”

Loki frowned slightly as he watched from a distance.

(He touched the hilt, but he never actually drew it. When that boy whose role should have been over reached for Dáinsleif himself, I thought some great change might be coming. I guess I was wrong.)

He traced his fingers along the sinister sword of red and black he held.

(I did not think he would change his mind at the last second. Was he afraid of the curse or of Surtr? That was just one of many options, but if the result of Ragnarök is not changed in a large way, over 99% of the humans in Midgard will perish.)

“Who has it? Was Loki the one behind this?”

“That doesn’t matter.” The boy shook his head. “Y’see, I heard the final battle of Ragnarök would begin once those ships are finished. Is that true?”

“Yes. We have been preparing for this for a very long time.”

“Why?”

“Because,” said Surtr in a low voice. “Originally, we were equal. There was no distinction between gods and giants. But the process they used to create the nine worlds left most of us dead while most of them survived. And instead of trying to save us, they named themselves gods and insulted us by naming us giants!! And it was all because of a plan they came up with and carried out on their own! They rose up to the heavens while driving us to the outer edges of the worlds!!”

“Uuh…uuh…” The boy let out a groan because he could not come up with a way of expressing the thoughts in his head. But then, “But a bunch of giants will die during Ragnarök, right?”

“That does not matter. This hatred was inputted into us from the moment these worlds were created. All giants were born in order to carry out our revenge by destroying the nine worlds during Ragnarök!!”

“But, but! The Vanir were originally giants, right? It makes no sense to say you need revenge because you’re giants or that you’re okay with dying because you’re giants.”

“They were taken in by the Æsir! They forgot what they must do and worked to earn the favor of those so-called gods!! They are not true giants. We will never cast aside our pride!!”

Even as he shouted, Surtr felt like something did not quite add up.

Their pride as giants?

Their pride in the bigoted and derogatory designation that had been used to drive them to the outer edges of the worlds?

“This is my first time in Muspelheim, but it doesn’t seem like the giants here are doing bad things.”

“Of course not!! We have justice on our side! It is those so-called gods who…who…!!”

“Then it’s wrong to die just to get revenge against them. I think the giants should be able to work to protect things, make things, and leave something behind. It’s wrong to throw away all those feelings just because you are giants or to give up your life for the sake of revenge. That’s…”

The boy trailed off, but Surtr knew what the boy was trying to say.

Yes.

From the moment the nine worlds had been created and from the moment they had been classified as being either holy gods or evil giants, they had been doing nothing different from the classification “those more powerful” had unilaterally forced upon them.

“…Boy. What would you have us do? What goal do you see beyond those words of yours!?”

“Put down your weapons,” said the boy decisively. “The note of the Gjallarhorn being blown may one day ring throughout the nine worlds. The sun and moon may one day be swallowed up. The chains binding the great wolf Fenrir may one day be broken. …But that day is not today.”

“…”

“We will convince our gods. We will have them lay down their weapons. So you lay down your own weapons. If you do that, this world that had begun to end can contain a few smiles once more.”

“Hah,” laughed Surtr. “Can that happen? Can that really happen!? We do not trust them. And they do not trust us. If we ask each other to put down our weapons so we can talk this out, it can only lead to deception!! When they created the nine worlds, they tried to wipe us out. Can you really put down the only weapon you have to protect yourself before an opponent that has tried to kill you before!?”

“I can,” he replied immediately.

This was not just a nice thought or an idealistic statement.

It was backed by a certain strength.

The boy spread his empty hands and spoke.

“I made sure to put down my own weapon.”

Surtr froze completely in place at those words.

He recalled the magic sword Dáinsleif.

Even if a direct attack would have been hopeless, the boy could have used that sword to kill Surtr if he used some kind of trickery. That piece would have let him greatly change the outcome of Ragnarök. He might have been able to lessen the damage to the human world of Midgard in exchange for the utter destruction of the fire world of Muspelheim.

Even setting aside whether he could have actually killed Surtr or not, he would have been able to at least fight back.

But the boy had let go of that weapon without hesitation.

Not to run away once he knew his opponent was the ruler of evil but to speak with that ruler of evil.

Did cutting down such a boy coincide with the justice Surtr and the giants claimed to have on their side?

This was not an enemy displaying clear malice.

Should the proper ruler of Muspelheim turn hatred in the direction of someone who held no hostility and even laid down his weapon out of respect?

(He said this was a journey to grow stronger.)

Surtr gritted his teeth.

Despite being the ruler of the fire world of Muspelheim and despite his overwhelming size, Surtr was jealous of this puny human.

(So is this the type of power and strength you seek!?)

“I cannot accept it.”

Surtr drew the giant sword from the scabbard on his back.

It was over three meters long. It was made entirely out of a silver that was almost black. Orange sparks flew from the blade of that ominous sword. A single swing of that sword could send a great rain of fire pouring down from the sky. If it was stabbed into the trunk of the world tree Yggdrasil, I was said it would burn away the nine worlds. It was perhaps the greatest of all magic swords. And he pulled it out when faced with a single boy.

“I cannot accept that strength!! I will give you some time. Go and retrieve Dáinsleif! Return and fight me!!”

“No.”

“Are you afraid of that magic sword’s curse? If you fear for your life, call for help from the Valkyrie just beyond our defensive lines!! Send that divine punishment to fight me!!”

“Never,” declared the boy decisively. “I came to your world to gain a strength that would not spill any blood. I still believe I can gain that strength if I train here. That is why I will never rely on this type of fighting.”

With those words, the boy was treating Surtr as something other than the ruler of evil.

He was treating him as someone with great power.

He was treating him as someone who could grant his wish.

He was treating him as someone who had been treated equally in the age before gods and giants.

He said he believed.

That is what that boy said to that existence that held such great power.

“…”

Surtr gritted his teeth as he thought about that clumsy courtesy.

But he could not put his sword away.

As the ruler of Muspelheim and the leader of the many Muspell giants, Surtr let out a roar and swung down his flame sword.

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

And…