Chapter 1005 Getting Scammed
Semohr, Giant Kingdom.
Inside a tavern.
"Hoh-hohoho-hoh!"
"Baldur, tell again! Tell again!"
"Hohoho... I'll tell you... hoho... agai—hohoho!"
"Baah! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life! Bohohohoh!"
"Yeaaaah!"
Cheerful laughter mixed with alcohol and warm aroma of meat permeated the air. A joyous and hearty atmosphere brightened up every visitor's mood inside the tavern illuminated by flickering oil lamps.
The loud atmosphere did not fascinate Lith, but the same couldn't be said for Mayzin. Her face was flushed and she was taking small bites of a comically large meat inlaid with a bone.
Each bite resulted in the succulent juices leaking out from the corner of her mouth. At the moments, despite trying her best, she didn't seem like an Empress but an adventurer who returned from an exhaustive quest.
"Dey ver not... mhm... lying..."
With her mouth full of tender meat, Mayzin spoke to Lith. He didn't have any trouble understanding her because there was a certain someone in his group who did similar things.
Lith wouldn't name who it was, but Dennis sure did stupid things sometimes.
"...izz good..."
"Aunt, you should finish your food before speaking."
Lith took a sip of water and politely reprimanded her.
"Baah!" Mayzin slammed the meat and leaned close to Lith. With her eyes hazy and breath reeking of alcohol, she whispered, "Tis an act. An act! Okay?"
'It is anything but an act...' Lith wanted to say but refrained from doing so.
Leaning closer and changing the topic, he said softly, "So... is this the place I can get information?"
"Yes. I'm only... hic... going to... protecc... yu..."
After saying so, Mayzin went back to drowning herself in cheap liquor and taking large bites of the meat.
As she had mentioned, she was only here for protection. Rest everything depended on him and she wouldn't divulge any information. He had to figure out everything himself.
It was challenging, but at least there was a hint that this tavern was the place to get information.
Currently, Lith and Mayzin were in the capital city's outskirts. It has many dungeons nearby so adventurers outnumbered the Giants.
All the continents were enveloped in the flames of war, but isolated places such as this was a safe haven. The number of adventurers had therefore increased in the past few years.
Lith looked around and searched for some odd individuals, trying to find the guy who could give him intel. Meanwhile, Mayzin finished a big bottle of cheap whiskey and that big piece of meat, then lay down on the table, snoring.
Had she not been in a disguise that made her look ugly, people would've taken advantage of her. They both were supposed to be disguised and Lith was currently the adventurer Frey Woods.
A few minutes of searching finally bore fruit as Lith saw a cloaked figure in a corner, exchanging a card with a scroll.
Lith's King Rank vision let him see the fine details even from ten tables apart. The card was a debit card and from the looks of it, seemed sort of expensive.
He couldn't properly guess the latter part as he never mingled with commoners and had always been using an exclusive card made for his clan that had unlimited money.
In any case, he found the guy.
"Aunt, I'll be back in a minute."
The information he provided was simply general knowledge. Lith could get it for free if he struck a conversation with anyone here in the tavern.
What an idiot! The guy couldn't help but tremble as he laughed internally.
Lith intently read everything in the scroll.
As per that, the Giants, specifically the Earth Giants, were a race that worshiped Mother Helvia. Her blessings brought great harvest and tranquility, not letting a single Giant be hungry.
For ages, everyone worshiped her, but lately, many seemed to have changed their faith and were worshiping Mother Seia, a goddess whose blessing gave people power.
The reason for this was that food wasn't an issue like it was in the ancient times. Immortals did not need to eat and even for mortals, food was cheap.
The world had enough land. So much so that even if all the people were to shift to one continent, there would still be a small uninhabited portion left.
People hence craved something else, which was now power. They wanted to be strong, to the point where they could be considered a major race.
Ideologies and faith were the driving factor, making the Giants clash and have infighting.
The current chief was in seclusion for many years, trying to break through his bottleneck. He was a devout worshiper of Mother Helvia but had been stuck in the King Rank for ages.
After having all hopes lost, he thought that it wouldn't hurt to worship some other deity as Mother Helvia was benevolent. Thus, he began conducting rituals and worshiping Mother Seia.
All his bottlenecks were gone and he swiftly ascended to Emperor Rank due to her blessings. He then challenged the then chief and after defeating him, became the current chief.
The Giant society was in turmoil, but from that day onwards, worshipers of Mother Seia only grew exponentially.
As of now, sixty percent of the population believed in Mother Seia while the forty percent were conservative and continued to worship Mother Helvia.
The elders around the chief were worshipers of Mother Helvia and the only reason the chief had not removed them was because he was preaching love, kindness, acceptance, and benevolence.
Mother Seia was benevolent and she accepted everyone in her loving embrace. Stating that, the chief let the elders be and continued his rule.
The old gen's faith was wavering while the new gen was easy to accept the changes. The Giants lived for a really long time and didn't reproduce as much, thus the old gen was still dominant in their society.
The clashes were not only between two religions but also between generations. Kids were rebelling against their families, wanting to worship Mother Seia while the older generations were helpless and trying their best to get the situation in control.
This was quite the information Lith got from the guy. Nodding his head in satisfaction, he asked, "Can you give me a more detailed description of everything? Who's against who and so on?"
Not a long time had passed. It was roughly a few minutes as Lith's reading and comprehension speed was inhuman.
The cloaked figure nodded his head. He showed Lith five fingers, and nodding his head, Lith naturally gave him five amethyst coins.
The guy however, did not accept it.
"Five low grade magic stones." He said firmly.
"Okay." Lith said and gave it to him without thinking much.
'What?! This fool accepted this!?' The guy was taken aback.
The information Lith asked him was somewhat priced, but not as much as five low grade magic stones. The guy was once again trying to scam him, but he knew his limits and thus had thoughts for negotiations.
His plan was to get Lith to cough up at least ten amethyst coins, which was still a big number compared to one amethyst at which the information was normally priced at.
But to have him accept so easily...
'Is he really an idiot? Did God take a break after sculpting his body and forgot to give him a brain?'
The guy was speechless. Now he was feeling bad for scamming Lith for such an atrocious price.
Still, a profit was a profit.
He handed Lith the relevant information and waited until he finished reading.
'Let's see how dumb you are...'