Greston Village was like a dot on this large continent. It was within the southeastern part of the continent yet closer to the central area. The distance to the nearest neighboring village was less than ten thousand kilometers to the east.
The Kingdom of Maribora, to the north, was nearly five hundred kilometers away. There was no known friendly site to the south because of the settlement of the giants and other species of monsters.
The West Gate, however, was nearer to one nearby village and two cities, but the gap was tens of kilometers. Regardless, Greston managed to form ties with those neighboring villages and cities, which type of civilization was similar to the village but the cities had larger territories.
The village was a landlocked territory. But a flowing body of inland water, the villagers called Buhi River, with a width of almost one kilometer, flowed through the western section of the village. Hence, the farming areas were situated at the part.
"This village is just one among the thousands if not millions of villages, towns, cities, and kingdoms within that barrier of the primeval forest. And we are in competition with more powerful beings including the giants, other demi-humans, and monsters such as orcs, ogres, goblins, and the likes." The older brother continued.
"In a nutshell, we are always in survival mode while the Liberty city-states bask in peace and advancement of their civilizations. That also explains our civilization being a backwater compared to those city-states and even those higher-ranked kingdoms and cities outside of this barrier." By then, Langford faced his brother with a serious expression.
"So what does it have to do with Sig and his sons?" Bryan's younger face seemed to appear confused. Momentarily, he understood what his brother had in mind but then, he still asked anyway, "Do you think the Chuas can help us with this barrier aside from this village?"
"I am not sure how powerful they are. If they had gone through that barrier, then we might be more surprised to know their levels of power. Even higher mages from outside of the barrier can't get through the intense deadly effect of that barrier. What I have learned is that even immortals seem to have difficulty passing through that protective formation but they can still survive compared with the higher-ranked mages."
Bryan's bewilderment did not cease. "How did you know about these things? Have you obtained it from the neighboring kingdom?"
"The Village Chief imparted what he learned to me. He got this property after he received gains from the treasures he managed to obtain after surviving the conquest to loot a powerful clan, commissioned to him by a monarch in one of the kingdoms within the primeval forest. Those gains included information about this continent."
"Our grandfather was with the Chief when they migrated here. But he did not mention that to us." Bryan commented as he wore a more somber look.
"That's a privilege of being a chief of this village. This kind of information can't be passed around to anyone." Langford opened a bottle of ale, which he immediately sipped.
Discussing these matters had made him thirsty. And so he downed more than half of the bottle's content.
"Haaahhh…"The guild master expressed his satisfaction after slaking his thirst.
"This is really good. I wonder if Sig would want to mass-produce this. We can introduce this in our trade with the three towns and one city. This will be a hit in the kingdom, I believe." Langford held the bottle as he was thinking of the possibility of a trade partnership with the Chua company.
"You're always thinking of profits," Bryan smirked. "That's understandable as you are good at it, inheriting that personality from our father."
Langford ignored his brother's comments as he was toying with an almost empty bottle.
"When the Chuas arrived here, I have been visualizing many things, mostly profit-driven. Of course, we need to raise the wealth of our clan." Langford chuckled as he put down the bottle after pausing to drink all its content. "Seriously, their presence can be a threat or opportunity to this village. But to me, I see them as potential allies considering they start their footing here as merchants within my realm of profession."
"Don't you see them as competition?" Bryan carefully asked, noting that his question seemed sensitive, or at least, what he believed to be.
Langford, however, mainly chortled as he paused to respond. "They still need me to build their connections here. They also need to obtain rights in paper to trade with other towns and cities. I can offer those to Sigmund."
"Well... that's your line of expertise," Bryan simpered as he picked a bottle of that ale to drink.
After downing all its content, his expression suddenly turned serious. "By the way, I would like to inform you about another danger coming to this village."
Bryan watched his brother for any reaction. The other's stare indicated him to continue with his report.
"When we were inside the primeval forest, we managed to wander the area at the south, after checking a directional device. We had passed through the lair of the giants. But what is surprising is that their lair has wider territory. It is not just a cave. They also have settlements atop three floating islands. One large tree connected to the two floating islands while a large vine linked with a much bigger island."
The mage adventurer's posture with his wide shoulder and build, seemed to become alert as he remembered seeing his companion and nephew, Ian Slav's version of eyewitness crystal. As he remembered it being in his possession, he drew it out from his storage ring to present to his brother.
By then, the recording began when the eyewitness covered the floating islands with a large population of giants. Another portion of the record showed the lair of the giants, whose appearances were more unsightly compared to the giants living on the floating islands.
"My theory is that the giants in the lair were directed to attack villages to help with the looting. But it is also possible that the more civilized giants wanted to get rid of their rogue brethren when they reach a certain number of population. I was surprised to see those giants whose appearances resemble humans but with very tall stature. They are also more civilized and have developed cultures as I assume after seeing that crystal recorder." Bryan briefly stopped to gauge his brother's reaction.
When he believed he could continue without any interruption, he proceeded, "Those rogue giants are already in high number. Perhaps, this year, we can expect the giant horde to occur, much earlier than predicted."
This time, Langford interrupted. "That is…"
Instantly the guild master rose from his seat as he faced again the map, "That's not good. Can you draw here the possible location of the giant's realm?"
