Cheers! xN
Before the Winter Solstice Festival arrived, the giants of Elbaf ate large amounts of highly nutritious food to endure the twelve days of fasting. Not even the children were exempt.
Fortunately, people in this world were generally quite sturdy. Otherwise, going so many days without food and drinking only water would have left them seriously ill afterward, even if they did not starve to death.
Without question, the one enjoying the feast the most was Charlotte Linlin.
"So sweet—"
"So delicious!"
The giants gathered around an enormous table for their final dinner before the Winter Solstice Festival, but Linlin alone had already swept away most of the food on it.
"Linlin, wait! You're eating too fast! There won't be anything left for everyone else."
Giants on both sides reached out to stop her, but afraid of hurting Linlin, they had no way to prevent her from eating.
In fact, scenes like this had appeared from time to time over the past six months.
Whenever she encountered something delicious, Charlotte Linlin seemed to lose her mind, with eating becoming the only thing left in her head.
Not even the Mother she respected most, Carmel, could stop her.
Magnus could not possibly turn a blind eye to this.
"Linlin!"
A calm voice rang out by the dining table. Almost the instant she heard it, Charlotte Linlin stopped the motion of stuffing food into her mouth.
It was not only Charlotte Linlin who stopped. Cold sweat also trickled down the foreheads of the two giants closest to her.
Conqueror's Haki!
After half a year of effort, Magnus had learned to concentrate his Conqueror's Haki within a certain range and target only a small number of people.
At that moment, in Charlotte Linlin's eyes, Magnus was like a stern father.
She unconsciously stopped what she was doing.
"Linlin, don't eat so fast. As a girl, you should behave a little more gracefully."
"Ehh... okay."
Linlin did not know what "graceful" meant, but she knew Magnus was telling her to eat slower. Having snapped out of her binge, she reluctantly put down the dessert despite how delicious it was.
The joy of good food came from sharing it with everyone. Linlin, eating all the food by yourself is wrong."
While Charlotte Linlin was still young, Magnus felt that he had to instill proper values in her, rather than letting her become the future villain who burned, killed, robbed, and committed every evil imaginable.
Of course, that was in her capacity as a pirate.
He had to tell Charlotte Linlin what she could do and what she could not.
After being scolded by Magnus, Charlotte Linlin almost instinctively looked toward Carmel. When she saw Carmel nod in agreement with Magnus, she immediately lowered her head dejectedly.
"I understand~"
Many times, when Charlotte Linlin did something wrong, Carmel chose to indulge her because she was still a child.
But Magnus would not do that.
Right was right. Wrong was wrong.
If Charlotte Linlin had only been an ordinary little girl, then at most, her mistakes would affect herself and the people around her.
But Charlotte Linlin was not.
As one of the future Four Emperors, Charlotte Linlin had possessed countless talents people could only dream of from the day she was born. Compared to her gifts, even Rocks's talent seemed not worth mentioning.
After the final dinner, Magnus summoned Rocks and Ripley.
"During the twelve days before the Winter Solstice Festival, the giants are at their weakest. To prevent threats from outside, they strengthen their patrols."
"I'll be helping the giants with those patrols as well."
Although Magnus was a transmigrator, that did not mean he could predict the future.
The story Magnus knew of this world took place a full sixty years later. If this were a manga, then their story would be the prequel to the prequel.
So Magnus had no idea whether anything major would happen in the world at this point in time.
Not to mention that Magnus's arrival had already thrown this world into chaos.
A butterfly flapping its wings could trigger a storm thousands of miles away.
Magnus's reckless actions might even completely alter the course of the future.
The simplest example was this.
If Magnus had killed Rocks the moment they met simply because he disliked the sight of him, then there would be no future overlord of the seas named Rocks.
So although he remembered that in the original story, nothing major had happened during this Winter Solstice Festival of the Giant race aside from Linlin's Gluttony Disorder rampage.
Magnus still chose to patrol alongside the giants.
Likewise, this was a test for Rocks and Ripley.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll invite Linlin to become the fourth member of our crew when we leave. Your task now is to take care of Linlin during these twelve days."
In the original story, Charlotte Linlin went berserk because of her Gluttony Disorder, destroying more than half the giants' village and accidentally killing Yoruru, the old giant who had always disliked Magnus.
Thus, in order to protect Charlotte Linlin, Carmel had no choice but to give up the giants' protection and establish the Orphanage of Lambs somewhere else.
Magnus wanted to avoid that outcome.
"Charlotte Linlin? You mean you want that little chubby girl to join us?"
Rocks frowned deeply and spoke with displeasure.
"Captain, I know that little chubby girl has some talent, but she's only five years old. If she joins our pirate crew, won't we have to look after her every day?"
Seeing Rocks's expression, Magnus chuckled without explaining.
Though Rocks's progress over the past six months was undeniable, Magnus would wager that if Rocks fought Charlotte Linlin one-on-one, Charlotte Linlin would definitely win.
That was right. Rocks, who had turned twenty-one this year, could not defeat five-year-old Charlotte Linlin in a duel.
Forget whether he could beat her.
He could not even break her defense!
Although Charlotte Linlin's unusual Iron Balloon physique had not yet been fully developed due to her age, not only Rocks, but even Magnus might not be able to break through Charlotte Linlin's defenses unless he got serious.
Looking at Charlotte Linlin's countless battles in the future, as far as Magnus knew, aside from the one time she caused her own abilities to fail.
No one had ever broken through her defenses.
Therefore, Magnus did not expect Rocks to stop Linlin if she went berserk.
"Ripley, I'm counting on you!"
"Mm, leave it to me!"
Ripley nodded with a cheerful smile. She did not understand why Magnus valued a little girl so much, but that did not stop her from noticing that as time passed, Magnus had become more and more energetic.
Now, he had completely returned to how he looked when they first met ten years ago.
This was the pirate captain she had always admired!
However, perhaps Magnus had worried for nothing. Seven days passed without anything happening, and even Linlin, who should have gone berserk during this period, seemed to have suppressed her hunger.
Until the eighth day arrived.
Before you continue