Trash Prince and Ice Queen 10th Re - Life-Chapter 143: The City of The Giants
"Wow."
When they entered the city, the eyes of Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Adeline, Mirea, Claudia, Pyria, Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, and Irina widened significantly. They were struck with awe as they looked at the massive residential buildings, constructed from stacked stone with high ceilings, boxy shapes, and pillars in front of the doors, alongside wide streets. The giant folk wore clothing similar to the inhabitants of ancient Egypt; the men were bare-chested while the women were draped only in white cloth forming gowns. Everyone stared at Ard, Eva, and the others with sparkling eyes because they had never seen humans, elves, or demons before.
Just as Kresus had said, the giants gave them a warm welcome. As the carriage passed through the streets, the residents, who had been going about their usual business, began to follow the carriage out of a desire to see the humans, elves, and demons. The residents followed them all the way to a square that featured a massive obelisk monument in the center, as the carriage was only permitted to go as far as the city square.
Ard, Eva, and the others climbed down from the carriage. The giants immediately approached them. A little girl, who stood nearly two meters tall, stood in front of Ard, Eva, and the rest. She observed Ard, Eva, and the others as if she were looking at dolls.
Her face looked cheerful, and just as her hand reached out to pick up Ard—who was nearly the same height as she was—her mother, who had four arms, immediately scooped her up. Ard, Eva, and the others felt a bit intimidated being surrounded by giants with expressions that seemed to say they wanted to talk or were looking at them with wonder, as they were a strange sight they had never seen before. Kresus and Lesnar immediately asked the residents to leave and return to their usual activities, and shortly after, the crowd dispersed. The height of the residents was around 3 to 3.5 meters, but there were also those over 3.5 meters tall, standing slightly taller than Kresus and Lesnar.
Naturally, no one paid much attention to Thorena and Hardim because they recognized them as dwarves. They weren’t hostile toward them; they simply seemed used to seeing dwarves. Once the square grew quiet again and Ard and Eva looked at the obelisk in the center, which truly looked like an ancient Egyptian relic from Earth, Kresus spoke.
"Let’s go to my house. We’ll stay there for the time being and discuss our next move. We have to be careful because Idor is quite influential in this city. You come along too, Lesnar. You can head home for a moment to see your wife and child, but after that, you must come to my place. If necessary, bring your family with you," Kresus said.
"Understood, Lord Kresus," Lesnar replied.
Lesnar excused himself and headed down the street to the right toward the residential area. After that, Ard, Eva, Thorena, Hardim, and the others followed Kresus toward the palace to reach the district where the nobles lived, as his home was located there.
"Lord Kresus, do you have a bathroom in your house?" Beatrice blurted out.
Immediately, Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Claudia, Pyria, Mirea, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin turned to look at Beatrice in shock. Rosalind looked like she desperately wanted to restrain Beatrice even though she didn’t say a word, while Adeline and Irina just nodded along, waiting for an answer from Kresus, who now looked down at Beatrice.
Thorena and Hardim remained quiet, seemingly relaxed and unaffected. Then, Kresus turned to look at Ard, Eva, and the others, who had now taken off their jackets and were only wearing tank tops due to the humidity and heat of the city. Their bodies were covered in sweat, and it was clear they were all a bit dehydrated.
"Ah, that’s right. Don’t worry, there is a large bathhouse at my home, and I will provide water for all of you," Kresus said, understanding that his guests were not used to the conditions of his city.
"Sweet! Thank you, Lord Kresus," Beatrice said happily.
"Princess... one of these days, I am definitely going to... sew your mouth shut," Rosalind muttered under her breath, her face twisted in pure anger.
Adeline and Irina looked delighted upon hearing that, while Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Claudia, Pyria, Mirea, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin breathed a sigh of relief because Kresus wasn’t offended—in fact, he seemed rather amused by Beatrice’s blunt, filterless question.
After walking down a fairly quiet street lined with houses that looked like temples—being twice the size of the commoners’ homes and adorned with numerous pillars, surrounded by coconut and palm trees—they finally arrived at a massive, open-concept house. It featured countless pillars stretching deep inside and a wide yard filled with neatly kept greenery that looked like lush grass.
"Welcome to my home, please, come in," Kresus invited with a smile.
Kresus stepped inside, followed by Ard, Eva, and the others. Upon entering, two beautiful female servants with large builds and bronze skin immediately bowed to welcome Kresus. They proceeded to remove Kresus’s armor, leaving him bare-chested, before he led the group deeper into the villa. Kresus then turned to a servant and ordered fresh drinks to be brought out while preparing the baths in the right wing of the villa. The servants set to work immediately; Ard, Eva, and the others noticed that they didn’t seem stressed at all while serving Kresus. In fact, they looked happy to assist him, and they were all women.
Once they reached a space that looked like a living room—complete with a coffee table, sofas, and other furniture made of cool stone like granite or marble—Ard, Eva, and the others sat down. They felt a wave of relief and relaxation; though the seats were hard, the stone helped cool their bodies down. Shortly after, the servants brought drinks in glasses so large that Ard, Eva, and the others had to use both hands and a bit of strength just to hold them. After everyone had a drink and felt refreshed, Kresus spoke.
"Please, make yourselves at home. I live here only with my wives," Kresus said.
Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Claudia, Pyria, Mirea, Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, Adeline, Beatrice, and Rosalind looked shocked. Even Thorena and Hardim gaped. They had seen about ten women, and indeed, they didn’t look like typical servants; they looked more like wives because they were all beautiful and adorned with jewelry. It hit them all at once that the people serving them weren’t staff, but Kresus’s wives.
"Wow... all of them are your wives?" Ard asked in surprise.
"Well, that’s how it is. We giants don’t place limits on who we associate with; whether man or woman, one is allowed to have more than one wife or husband," Kresus answered.
"Hmm... that makes sense. We dwarves follow the same principle, but we cap it at three for the sake of comfort and peace, because more than three just leads to constant noise," Hardim countered.
"Our races are nearing extinction, so it’s only natural, especially since giants and dwarves have been at war for the last 500 years," Kresus added.
"Do you have any children, Lord Kresus?" Eva asked.
"Unfortunately, not yet. Even though I have more than ten wives, not one has produced a child for me yet. But I don’t mind; besides, I’m rarely intimate with them since I’m usually on the battlefield," Kresus answered casually, holding a massive glass in one hand.
"Hmm, so that’s how it is," Ard muttered.
Suddenly, Geoffrey elbowed Ard, and naturally, Ard turned to look at him. Geoffrey winked and smiled while gesturing toward the side, toward the girls. Then Ard turned to see Eva, Alicia, Milia, Pyria, Beatrice, Rosalind, Mirea, and Claudia all staring at him with wide grins.
"Huh... why are you all looking at me like that?" Ard asked, confused.
"Having more than one or even three wives is normal, right?" Eva asked with a smile.
"Exactly. It’s so nice to get some validation," Alicia added with a wide grin while twisting her braid.
"Now I don’t have to worry about breaking any social norms," Milia added with a sigh of relief.
"I’m already imagining what our life together will be like," Pyria added, smiling broadly.
"It sounds so lovely... all of us living in one house and being together... ah... I can hardly wait," Beatrice said, clearly picturing something in her mind.
"For once, I agree with you, Princess," Rosalind added, nodding and grinning.
"Finally... we can all breathe easy. It turns out what we’re doing is normal. I’m actually feeling pretty excited now," Claudia said.
"It seems we have a lot to learn from Lord Kresus’s wives. While we’re here, I’ll try to ask them a few things," Mirea added, lost in thought.
"He... hey, what are you all talking about?" Ard asked, forcing a smile while glancing at Kresus, who was smiling and nodding, and then at Hardim, who was nodding while stroking his beard. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
"Oh, that’s right! All of you sisters are my big brother’s future wives, I almost forgot," Adeline blurted out.
Now Kresus, Hardim, and Thorena all turned to look at Ard with wide grins, joined by Ainsley, Irwin, and Irina, who were also smiling at him.
"Oi... shouldn’t we be talking about our next move?" Ard asked awkwardly, trying to steer the conversation toward another topic.
