Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

Chapter 163 Giant Garden
Floating island in the clouds, inside the giant's castle, in the miniature garden, in front of Jesus' tomb.

"Although I am a giant, during this long period of time, I have been thinking and remembering. As my animal nature, wildness, and murderous intent gradually faded with time, I began to yearn to become human."

The giant in the clouds made a sound like thunder.

At this moment, the Giant King's voice no longer had that kind of superior divinity, and he sounded like a human sage who had lived for a long time.

"None of my compatriots has one-tenth of my intelligence. Although I can rule them, their ignorance will not be reduced by my control and admonition.

I envy you humans very much. Each of you has countless equal compatriots with whom you can communicate.

Lately, I've often thought that maybe I'm more like humans."

“Is this why you and Jesus… became friends?”

Lake looked at the dark shadow in the clouds. This was the only intelligent giant in the world. His wisdom was much higher than most people guessed.

"No, my relationship with that old friend stems from..."

The Giant King was silent for a moment, then turned his massive head to look at the surrounding vegetation, as if recalling something. "It all came from this garden."

Then, the Giant King raised a finger and pointed at Lake's waist. Even now, Lake's hand had not left the Star-Killing Sword at his waist.

"what happened?"

Lake asked warily.

"Don't be afraid. I know the sword on your waist is the Star-Slaying Sword, right? I saw it in my dream when we first met.

The last time I saw it in real life, it pointed at me and forced me into the clouds—a distant memory.”

"So, you hate the Star-Slaying Sword? After all, its owner forced you here and killed your giant people."

Lake held her breath and asked a question.

But then, the Giant King responded calmly, just like before:

"Hatred? Maybe it was like that at first, but now, I'm grateful for it all."

As the Giant King spoke, he raised one hand, and the clouds around him swirled and were grasped in his hand like a white silk thread. The clouds around the entire castle seemed like a curtain, being easily manipulated by the Giant King.

"Here, I have it all: the gift of being close to the clouds, what you humans call magic, and this garden on the clouds."

The Giant King looked at Lake and Poro, chuckled, and continued:

"Would you like to hear the story of this garden?"

"Appreciate further details."

Lake and Poro did not refuse. They could not completely let go of their hostility towards the Giant King at the moment, and from some of his words, it was easier to see some truth about the Giant King.

“At first, I was driven to the top of the clouds. My magic made my empty castle reach the top of the clouds as well, preventing it from falling.

I used my newfound magic to mold the clouds into soil. At that time, the island I was on was very small, only a few dozen meters in size. I couldn't even lie on it...

I planted a mortal seed above the clouds—

Found it in the cracks of my castle.

At first, they grew well, but under the influence of my magic, they became very large, but for some unknown reason, they would wither quickly after blooming.

I didn't know how to take care of them, and could only watch helplessly as my flower fields turned into a pile of dead branches and fallen leaves.

Until one day, one of my magic-infused vine seeds fell to the surface.

It brought out something in me that I never imagined..."

……

Heavy footsteps shook the Cloud Garden.

The dead branches of the surrounding plants appeared extremely haggard and withered under the cover of clouds and mist.

The tall shadow stopped in the corner of the garden, its star-like pupils looking at the ground. It saw something, something that the Giant King had never expected.

A small patch, perhaps several dozen meters in size, among the once gloomy, dead plants that should have withered long ago, now appeared a new green, as if resurrected from the dead, and colorful magical flower disks trembled and grew.

"Is it finally a success? My plants can finally survive? But - why? My magic didn't make any difference."

The Giant King muttered to himself, but at this moment.

The mist under his feet sent a hint of unusual smell into the Giant King's perception.

"No, what else? A beast? An animal?"

The Giant King stared at the newly grown flower under his feet, and the flower suddenly trembled.

There's something down there!
"Who!? Who dares to touch my flowers!?"

The Giant King bent down, suppressed his anger and turned over the flower disk. Below, a child was huddled in a ball, looking at him and trembling.

"A...human child?!"

The Giant King looked around with his star-like eyes. Under the cover of other plants, he discovered many children one after another, but no adults.

They were all terrified, watching themselves scatter and hide among the growing plants.

"But my garden is in the clouds. Why would a child come here?!"

The Giant King's gaze followed the perception of the clouds and looked further away. It was next to the floating island. A green vine penetrated the clouds from a thousand meters deep on the ground and reached the Giant's Garden!
And at the top of the green vines, there is a house that is almost in ruins.

Smells like a child.

It was the magical vines that drifted down to the ground with the wind, carrying the house where many children lived high into the sky.

……

"It was an orphanage, and the manager happened to be away that day, so there were only these twelve children there."

The Giant King told Lake and Poro.

"Those kids? How are they...?"

Lake couldn't help but ask.

"At that time, I wanted to kill those children, just like I had always done to humans, but for some reason, I didn't do it...

Is it loneliness? Or is it something else that makes me different? I don’t know.”

The Giant King extended his enormous hand through the clouds, caressing the ground, where a patch of flowers was so small it was not even as big as the gap between his fingers. "But it was also that one thought that allowed me to save my garden."

……

"Giant, won't you kill us?"

A slightly older child walked tremblingly to the Giant King. When they were young, they had also heard stories about brutal giants.

"Oh, if you dare touch my plants again, I'll eat you—one by one!"

The Giant King spoke viciously.

The children ran to an open space in fear, but after that, the Giant King found that the flowers that had just bloomed were withering one by one!
"No, no, no, my flower—my flower, why—"

The Giant King looked at the children. Clouds swirled above the dead flowers, but it was in vain. They could not retain even a trace of green!
But at this moment, he saw a hint of fresh green from the corner of his eye——

At the feet of the children who were afraid to leave.

Amidst the withered branches and leaves, some tender buds are growing...

"Wait a minute, you... kids."

The Giant King keenly sensed something, something about the life of the garden, something to speculate about.

The clouds gently wrapped around the footsteps of the children who wanted to leave:
"Well, I've changed my mind, and you can be thankful - I'll allow you to stay here with my plants.

You can live in my garden and I won't eat you for it."

(End of this chapter)