Chapter 807: Why?
Eisen sat there, unsure what to think. He closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to figure out what the best thing to do next would be. The woman said that they had proof, and at the very least, she truly and wholly believed this fact. It was the truth, and Eisen didn't know what to do with that information. It was one thing to believe something blindly, and another to believe in complete proof.
Though of course, it wasn't as though proof was necessarily 'objective'. If one was already biased, then anything could act as proof. Though in the end, it did make things harder for Eisen to just dismiss this whole thing as nonsense. However, there was another question that came to mind.
"Alright, then let me ask you something else," he finally asked, as the woman across from him kept smiling smugly, feeling as though she was finally gaining the upper hand. But she wasn't prepared for Eisen's next question, "Why?"
The woman looked at him a bit perplexed, "What do you mean? How do we have that proof?"
"No, I didn't say 'how', I said 'why'. Why do you all try so hard to prove that you're right?" the old man inquired, and the woman stuttered as she answered, "Th-The people deserve to know the truth."
"Of course they do. Everyone deserves to know the truth. But at the end of the day, what will it really change? The statue is already something surreal, whether it's a statue or not. If it's a giant? Then it's just going to become an unbelievable wonder of this world in a completely different way.
Frankly, I don't think the people that have lived their all their lives will particularly care all that much," Eisen pointed out, "It's going to be big news for a few days, or even some weeks, but after that... what then? What will you all do after being proven right?"
Her confused expression slowly turning into a frown, the woman leaned forward in her seat, "What are you trying to say? That we don't deserve to be vindicated? That we don't deserve to spread the truth?"
"Again, I believe that everyone deserves to know the truth. But... What you're doing isn't that. Frankly, from my perspective, it doesn't really seem like you want others to know the truth... you just want to prove them wrong and yourselves right."
The woman practically jumped off the seat, "How dare you-"
"Imagine this," Eisen interrupted her, letting his influence and charisma add pressure into the room. It was strong enough to stop the unprepared people from this cult in their track, even if just for a few moments, "I waltz into your base with my friends here. We blow up a building in the corner, then smash a giant hole into the ground, and then disappear."
"Are you threatening us?" one of the woman's companions asked, placing his hand onto the sheath of his sword, but Eisen just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "No, but that's what it sounds like, right? The context and exactly why I did it... that doesn't matter at all, now does it? You're just going to see me as an enemy, even if the reason I did it was to help you out somehow.
That's exactly what you're all doing, right? You're terrorizing the citizens of the capital, trying to force a worldview that none of them had been able to come to terms with. All you're doing is aggressively forcing your view on them, and it doesn't even matter if you're right or wrong.
The only thing they'll see is some crazy maniacs, and who the hell would want to agree with that kind of crazy maniac? You're just driving people further away from believing your point."
The woman scoffed and crossed her arms, "Hah, no I know that you're just a sham. We've tried to appeal to the Irngrad to investigate the statue, but he just brushed us off. So instead, we had to turn to some more extreme measures."
"...You kids know that this country is at the verge of a war, right?" the old man pointed out with a wry smile, and the woman in front of him frowned lightly, "What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"The relations with the central continent are horrible right now, and everything is leading into a war. Why do you think an emergency council meeting has been called? All the clan chiefs are gathering to discuss this and try to make sure it stops.
Do you think the King has the time to worry about whether or not a statue that has existed for tens of thousands of years used to be alive or not?" Eisen asked, standing up from his seat himself, "What sort of naive children are you? I came here because I hoped to find out the truth of the statue myself since it's been bothering me since I came here, but you lot are just playing around.
And here I thought you were even halfway competent."
The old man sighed and turned toward the kids and Kiron, "Get up, we're leaving tonight after all."
As the four of them slowly got up, stretching and yawning to get rid of the drowziness the cabin's atmosphere created, the woman and her two companions seemed more than just confused, "You think you can just leave like that? After nearly killing our men?"
"Nearly- What are you even talking about? Those kids were no threat to me, why would I kill someone like that. I happen to not particularly enjoy taking lives, you see?" the old man sighed, walking toward the coat hanger to grab the kids', as well as his own, coats. However, as he approached the door, the two men slowly unsheathed their weapons, "Don't you understand?
I said you can't simply leave as you wish anymore."
Eisen glanced at the swords, trying to stop himself from scoffing at their flimsy quality. He just had to lock eyes with Kiron for a moment, before the half-dragon quickly pulled his sword from his own sheath. As the only thing that was hanging out of that spatial storage was the handle, it seemed rather inconspicuous, until that absolutely massive Greatsword appeared out of nowhere.
Kiron's sword cut through the air at a speed those three weren't even able to follow, as he broke through the swordsmen's blades in an instant, before stopping his own from even scratching the ground. A gust of air spread through the room, making the fireplace flicker as the broken swords fell to the wooden floor.
"And as I said, I don't particularly enjoy taking lives, but I won't hesitate when I need to either," Eisen told her, his pressure once more stunning the three people from that ridiculous childrens' club. Eisen and the monster kids quickly put on their coats, as Eisen placed his key into the door's keyhole from inside. He twisted it around, and the log cabin started to shake.
The walls quickly unfolded, swallowing the furniture. Sal and Caria slowly hopped, as Kiron and Eisen, who was carrying Melissa in his arms, simply stepped onto the ground as the floor moved away, while those three, who were still stunned, fell into the snow below them.
And then, Eisen simply approached the barrier in front of him. He was hesitant to do this at first, since he didn't want to poke a hornet's nest, but after seeing that woman's attitude, the old man realized that there was nothing for him to worry about whatsoever.
He took out his own sword out of his soul storage, and with a quick vertical slash used the Mountainbreaker technique that he had remembered rather soon upon returning to this country.
The barrier didn't even stand a chance; an attack like that, infused with Eisen's magic, simply fell apart like thin glass. The hidden space within the barrier was revealed; a tall wall, which now had a deep cut within it as Eisen's attack seemed to have cut deep into the camp, surrounded what was the equivalent of a quaint mountain village.
There were some watchtowers erected along the walls, but they weren't anything serious, and the people on there clearly weren't particularly good at their jobs either. They shot arrows at Eisen, but Sal was able to catch those with his threads and spells, leaving them all to just walk into the camp without another worry.
Of course, they were quickly surrounded, but Eisen didn't feel like playing around anymore. His skin soon turned to stone, with its deep cracks being filled with golden gemstone that lit him up for everyone in the surrounding to see.
Wings sprouted on Eisen's back as he shot up in size, soon reaching the largest height that he had been able to reach, which was much taller than the standard height of most giants.
He looked down at the crowd, his flaming sword in hand pointed toward the ground, the energy he exuded filling the minds of the people in this camp. The scout that Eisen had fought against earlier was standing in the back of the crowd, falling to his knees as he realized that he never even stood a chance.
A few of the giants that were part of this organization also increased their size as a sort of defensive instinct, but even then, Eisen towered over them.
To them all, the situation seemed hopeless, and before Eisen could even tell them to bring out the leaders of their group, it seemed like they had come of their own free will. Three people, seemingly the three strongest in this whole camp, stepped out of one of the buildings, staring up at Eisen, as the old man stared back.