"I have been meaning to ask this, but there doesn't seem to be anyone living in Muspelheim other than you?"

"They all live underground. Seriously, did you not tell your father anything?"

"We… had many other things to discuss."

"But the only thing we've been doing the past few days is eat. And aren't forest giants supposed to be vegetarian?"

A few days after their chance meeting with Charles, the three were currently spending their time in Charlotte's tavern, waiting for the Branch to once again begin to move. Gerald was reluctant to leave Xinyan for a long period of time first, but Vanya had requested the other forest giants to take care of her, bringing her body to their territory.

And with the help of their magic, they did not need Muspelheim's eternal fire to keep Xinyan's frozen confines from growing. Van was surprised at first that the forest giants had the power to summon fire, as he thought that the only thing they could do was manipulate the trees and roots around them-- similar to the skill he had gained from Artemis.

But then again, like Gerald, Van also had the notion that forest giants were supposed to be vegetarians; but seeing Vanya eat a whole roast, it would seem that was false.

"It's just a lifestyle choice," Vanya quickly shook her head as she once again took a bite of her steak, "And I also believe that is of no concern to you, human. Compare your size to ours, even if we are the smallest of the giants, our size is still almost double than yours; did you really think a body such as ours would only need the sustenance of plants to continue functioning well?"

"...I was just kidding," Gerald blinked a couple of times as Vanya gave her a short speech as an answer. She also said it wasn't his concern, and yet she continued to tell him a bunch of reasons. But after a few seconds of listening to her rambles, Gerald then turned his attention towards Van.

"You want to see where the Fire Giants are dwelling?"

"Is it far from the Branch?"

"With your speed, do you really have to worry about distance?" Gerald clicked his tongue as he let out a tiny scoff, "The Branch won't be moving any time soon, it just landed--"

"King Van!"

Before Gerald could finish his words, a loud sharp voice pierced the ears of everyone inside the tavern; a loud banging noise then followed as a frost giant suddenly barged inside the hall.

"...Isn't that the queen of the Frost giants?" Gerald once again blinked a couple of times in disbelief as he saw Queen Nori stomping her way towards them. Since Queen Nori looked somewhat similar to Artemis and Vanya, it wasn't that hard to recognize who she was; there was also the fact that Gerald had seen her once before, when Charles took him and his brother to check the leaders of all Realms.

But that begs the question, why exactly was she here?

"Is there really no way for me to go home back to my family? I've been here for more than a month!" The frustration in Queen Nori's voice could be heard by everyone in the tavern, but seeing as the only thing they did was a small glance, it would seem that most of them did not even recognize who she was.

"I am afraid not, child," Vanya was the one to give Queen Nori an answer, "You do not need to worry, you will be back to the arms of your family before a year soonest. Go and rejoice the time you have with your race in the meantime."

"But… I think a war is soon upon my kingdom soon. If I do not get back--"

"Then even better," Vanya said as she shook her head, "You will be far away from the danger when it happens."

"That's not what I want!"

And without even allowing Vanya to say anything more, Queen Nori rushed to leave the tavern, causing the smaller tables to jump and even roll. Van, who was the original recipient of queen Nori's question, could not help but let out a long and deep sigh as he watched Nori's silhouette disappear from the tavern's door.

"...Seriously? You dragged the queen of the Frost Giants here?" Gerald's breaths slowly became erratic as he tried his best not to let out a laugh, "Why?"

"The Branch moved earlier than expected," Van once again let out a sigh, "I actually almost forgot about her. Perhaps we should take her to the city? Might help to relieve some of her… stress."

"That's fine with me," Gerald then said as he quickly stood up, "I am actually also starting to get bored here; I'm tired of watching your daughter eat like a pig."

"Tha--"

"Let's go. I'll try chasing Queen Nori."

Before Vanya could even rebuke, Van quickly disappeared from his spot, leaving Gerald and Vanya at the table.

"..."

"..."

"You coming?"

"Of course, I will stay by my father's side."

***

"...Did you know this would happen?"

"Pft."

"You did, didn't you?"

Gerald's muffled laughter slowly slithered its way to Van's ears, overpowering his sighs.

"The fire giants hold a lot of discrimination against non-giants," Gerald muttered.

"You didn't know this, Queen Nori?"

"...No."

"Vanya?"

"I… I think a lot of things have changed since I last visited this place."

Queen Nori, who was dragged in the last minute to visit one of the cities of Muspelheim, could not help but close her eyes and let out a long and deep breath. At this point, she was starting to think that she might be the one bringing the bad luck.

"Fire Giants, we did not come here to cause chaos," Vanya then raised her voice; her eyes scanning the dozen fire giants currently surrounding her and the others. They have not even taken 3 steps inside the city's gates before they were instantly surrounded by what seemed to be the city's guards.

"Why did you bring High Humans in this place!?" The giant who seemed to be the leader of the guards stepped forward, his spear pointing back and forth between Gerald and Van, "They are not welcome here, especially with the relationship with the Aesir falling apart lately!"

"I will forgive you for pointing your weapon at my father because of your ignorance, but if you lay even a single finger on him, I will show you the wrath of the gods your people are so afraid of."

Even with them completely surrounded, Vanya's voice overpowered everything else.

"...Your father?" The Guard leader could not help but slightly let out a hum of confusion from Vanya's words.

"My name is Vanya, daughter of Artemis and Van, the progenitors of the Forest Giants," Vanya then stomped her foot on the ground, causing a massive onslaught of charred roots to emerge from the ground, "For all of your safety, I demand that you let all of us go, we are just here to see the sights, not to cause any trouble!"

"..." Van blinked a couple of times as he heard Vanya's words. If they weren't here to cause trouble, then why exactly did she just summon all of these ominous-looking vines?

"Vanya, daughter of... Artemis?"

However, it would seem Vanya's introduction had an effect, as the soldiers were slowly lowering their weapons as they looked at one another. But after a few seconds, the leader of the guards once again raised his weapon towards them.

"The progenitor of the forest giants could not possibly be here, she is dead!" The leader of the guards roared, "Men, prepare to attack the spies!"

Seeing the soldiers slowly making their way towards them, a burst of short laughter once again escaped from Gerald's mouth, "Finally, I told you the city would be fun!"

"Why are you always involving me in stuff like this, King Van!?" Queen Nori let out a scream of frustration as she grabbed the pair of daggers hidden around her waist, "I should be leisurely spending my time with my husband and daughter!"

"...Sorry about that," Van said as his eyes started to light up. Although he did not really want to fight, he wouldn't run away from it. With his level already becoming stagnant after absorbing Charlotte's soul, he hadn't really absorbed anything else-- and for some reason, his hands were starting to get itchy. This would also be a good way to test out how much stronger he had truly gotten, "Just kill those who are attacking--"

"Stop this at once, my lads!" But before Van could stretch his feet, a loud voice echoed through the air, almost releasing some sort of thunder at the same time. And as soon as the soldiers heard that, they all quickly lowered their weapons; even moving to the side to make way for whoever owned the somewhat lazy voice.

And as soon as Van saw who it was, his eyes could not help but widen; a small hum forcefully escaping from his mouth as he slightly stepped forward. The giant was taller than the rest of the soldiers; his face, however, seemed more human than the rest.

And there was no way that Van could mistake that face, as even though they didn't really spend that much time together, his charisma alone was enough to overwhelm anyone else that Van had met.

"Isn't this a surprise," the giant then said, "I thought you would never bask us again with your presence…

...King Vanny."