Day 451-460/Day 451

Day 451
When I had a drink with the【Giant King】, I also asked him about the top races in the【Mysterious and Abundant Dark Continent】to gather information.
There are several dominant races:
* Demon race, which includes Mistress Crace and the head of the Chamber of Commerce
* Earth Dragon race, which controls the underground city ≪Grandbaglas≫ - which is my next destination
* Giant race
Well, that's only natural. That was my honest impression when I heard the story. The giant tribe's unique giant physique is made up of a skeleton that is much sturdier than poorly made magical metal, and rigid muscles that are strong and supple, exhibiting extraordinary physical strength. While the outside is covered with thick, hard-to-cut body hair and skin, the inside is filled with an overflowing amount of magic and life force.
In addition, the giants, who have intelligence on par with or better than humans, and have developed their own culture and technology, cannot be weak. They are known as one of the strongest species, along with Dragon species. The giants could be considered the superior counterpart of humans. There are some giants that only have heads as big as those of beasts, but that's beside the point.
In addition to their overall high level of ability, the sphere of control of the Giant race, which is united by the【Giant King】, is quite vast. Even when compared to other influential tribes, it's quite large, roughly speaking, the controlled area includes more than a fifth of the surface of the【Mysterious and Abundant Dark Continent】- not including the underground and the sky.
Well, the size of the【Mysterious and Abundant Dark Continent】is still unclear, so it's hard to imagine it being more than a fifth.
Besides, even if it's called a dominant zone, it's said to be full of untouched land, so only a very small part of it is actually utilized.
At any rate, I can only imagine how large it is. Although the giants control such a large area of land, they are still small in comparison to their overall ability and potential. If they're serious about it, it shouldn't be impossible for them to expand their sphere of influence. In fact, I'm well aware of the strength of the Giants over the course of our relationship. But over the years, things have settled down to the status quo. I'm not sure why.
I've been wondering why, and I've come to the conclusion that it's probably because they don't want to fight with other powerful races, or because they're in short supply, or because they have the food supply to feed their race. It could be that they are trying to avoid conflict. They are not perfect, and if they are not careful, they can get caught off guard.
The other influential races that I have yet to meet may be stronger than I imagined, and they may not be willing to do anything to avoid needless wear and tear. So what if there aren't enough of them to rule? I haven't counted them, but based on the number of signs I've sensed, I'd say there are several hundred thousand of the Giant race.
Although it's not too many, compared to the Dragons, the fertility of the Giant race seems to be reasonably high. With this many of them, the range of things they can do is quite wide. Even if there aren't many giants in the race, you can probably control their numbers by controlling other races.
Lastly, for the food situation, the Giants are all huge. Even if they're small, they're several times larger than the average human, and if they're a large species like Royalty, they can boast a huge body like a castle or even a mountain. When they are that big, they need huge amounts of food to maintain their huge stature, like a mountain of food. It would be hard to imagine how much food would be needed to feed the entire population. They would surely consume more food in less than a day than a human country consumes in a year.
For this reason, the Giant race mainly feeds on the meat of the giant beast dungeon monsters that are at least as big as they are.
Since they are dungeon monsters, they never run out of meat, and since they are not only beast-based but also insects, they have a wide variety of flavors. Insect cooking is not as bad as you might think once you get used to it, and in fact, it's delicious and nutritious.
If there are no giant beast-type dungeon monsters, it would be difficult to maintain the current scale of the race. I asked【Giant King】about that before, but unfortunately, the answer was much simpler. The reason why the Giant race's sphere of control was settled in its current state was due to a topographical problem that even the Giant Race, who could remake the terrain with civil engineering work, couldn't do anything about.
The Giants control the entire area where the giant beast dungeon monsters that serve as their main food source pop up, but that area is surrounded by a huge mountain range called the【Heaven's Punishment Mountain Range】, which is difficult for even the giants to traverse, as if it were isolated from the rest of the world.【Heaven's Punishment Mountain Range】is made up of mountains that were well over 10,000 meters above sea level, and the mountains were said to be as sharp and rugged as swords.
Even the Giant race is said to be unable to surpass the【Heaven's Punishment Mountain Range】, which is covered in permanent ice and seems to reach the heavens through the clouds, by simple means. Even a flying race would be swallowed by the swirling storms and crash to death, or die flying in the thin air. It is said that it is a magical world where it is difficult to even survive without a great deal of skill and luck. Hearing that, I thought to myself, I'd love to see the【Heaven's Punishment Mountain Range】.
Since I've come all this way, why not have a nice meal and see a landscape I've never seen before? That's why I left as soon as I could, but even this evening we are still camped out without even getting through the forest. Apparently, the Giant race's sphere of influence can be divided into 3 different environments, but since it's so large, it's going to take longer than I thought.
Even if I had put all of my efforts into collecting food along the way in addition to moving around, it was still a ridiculously large area. For today, I ate the giant beast meat we encountered along the way for dinner. The red meat was roasted over the campfire, its tight, lean flesh changing color. The dripping juices emitted a fragrant smell, and I couldn't help but gulp down a mouthful of the simple but roasted giant beast meat seasoned with golden salt, which was like a mass of flavorful ingredients.
When it's done, I have it with the bounty of the forest, including mushrooms, fruits and wild vegetables, and then I quench my thirst with a huge, local labyrinthine wine that seems to be for Giants, which was dropped when you killed the giant beast. Kaa, it's delicious.
【World Psalm [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon] Nicola has been promoted to【18 Demon Warlords】.】
【The title【Alchemy Princess】will be awarded.】
【World Psalm [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon] Opushii has been promoted to【18 Demon Warlords】.】
【Due to clearing Condition “1”【Rank Up】, Opushii will be awarded the title【Treasure Beast Princess】.】
----
RAWS
四百五十一日目
【巨人王】と酒を飲んだ時の話になるが、情報収集も兼ね、【神秘豊潤なる暗黒大陸】における有力種族について聞いてみた事がある。
有力種族はクレイス嬢や商会長などが含まれる悪魔族や、次の目的地とした地下都市≪グランバグラス≫を支配する地龍族など幾つかあり、巨人族はその一つとして認知されているらしい。
まあ、それも当然だろう。
それが話を聞いた時の素直な感想である。
巨人族特有の見上げる程の巨躯を構成するのは、下手な魔法金属よりも遥かに頑丈な骨格であり、強靭でしなやかな桁外れの膂力を発揮する剛筋だ。
そして外側は分厚く切りにくい体毛や皮膚で覆われ、内側は溢れんばかりの魔力と生命力で満ちている。
それに加えてヒトと同等かそれ以上の知能と知性を併せ持ち、独自の文化や技術を発展させている巨人族が弱い筈がない。
【知恵ある蛇／竜・龍】種と並ぶ最強種として知られるのは伊達ではない訳だ。
巨人族はヒトの上位互換とも言うべき存在だろう。
ただ獣と同じ程度の頭しか無い巨人種も存在するが、それはさて置き。
総合的な能力の高さに加え、【巨人王】によって一つに纏まっている巨人族の支配圏はかなり広大だ。
他の有力種族と比べても広く、大雑把に言うと【神秘豊潤なる暗黒大陸】の地表――地下及び天空は含まない――の約五分の一以上は支配圏に含まれるそうだ。
まあ、【神秘豊潤なる暗黒大陸】の大きさが今一つ分からないので約五分の一以上と言われても想像し難いところである。
それに支配圏といっても手付かずの土地が溢れているらしいので、実際に活用されるのは極々一部でしかない。
しかしとにかく広いのだろう、という想像だけは出来る。
そしてそれほど広大な土地を支配する巨人族だが、しかしその全体的な能力や潜在能力の高さにしては小さく纏まっているとも言えるのではないだろうか。
本気になれば、もっと支配圏を広げる事も不可能では無い筈だ。実際、これまでの付き合いで巨人族の強さはよく理解している。
しかし長年現状のままで落ち着いている。
それは何故だろうか。
そう疑問に思った俺は、他の有力種族との争いを回避するためか、あるいは数が足りないからか、もしくは巨人族を養う食糧事情などが大きな理由なのだろうと考えた。
争いを回避するため、というのは理由として十分あり得るだろう。
巨人族とて完全無欠ではなく、油断すれば足をすくわれる事もある。
まだ出会った事の無い他の有力種族が想像以上に強く、無駄な損耗を回避する為に手を出さないのかもしれない。
では支配するだけの数が足らないのはどうか。
数えたわけでは無いが、感じた気配の数から巨人族は数十万ほどは居ると思われる。
多すぎるほどでは無いが、比較対象になる竜／龍と比べれば、巨人族の繁殖力はそれなりに高いらしい。
これだけ居ればやれる事の幅はかなり広い。それに巨人族の数が少なくても、他の種族を支配すれば数はどうにでもなるだろう。
そして最後の食糧事情だが、巨人族は全員巨大だ。
小さくても平均的なヒトの数倍はあるし、王族のような大型種になれば城のような、あるいは山のような巨躯を誇る。
そしてそれだけ大きいと、巨躯を維持するのに山のように大量の食料が必要になる。
そんな巨人の国民全員を養うとなれば、必要な食糧が膨大になるのは簡単に想像できるだろう。
きっと、ヒトの国が一年で消費する量を一日未満で消費するに違いない。
その為、巨人族は自分達と互角以上の体格がある系ダンジョンモンスターの肉を主な糧としている。
巨獣はダンジョンモンスターなので枯渇する事が無いし、獣系だけでなく蟲系まで含まれるので味のバリエーションは豊富だ。
蟲料理は慣れれば案外悪くなく、それどころか美味いし栄養的にも良かったりする。
もし巨獣系ダンジョンモンスターがいないとなると、現在のような規模を維持するのは困難ではないだろうか。
その辺りを以前【巨人王】に聞いてみたが、残念ながら答えはもっと単純だった。
巨人族の支配圏が現状で落ち着いているのは、地形を土木工事で作り替えられる巨人族でもどうしようもない地形的な問題だった。
巨人族の支配圏は主食になる巨獣系ダンジョンモンスターがするエリア全土になるのだが、そこは≪リベリ・ドラスト天罰山脈≫と呼ばれる巨人族でも踏破困難な巨大山脈によって隔離されるように取り囲まれている土地だった。
≪リベリ・ドラスト天罰山脈≫は標高一万メートルを軽く超える山々で構築され、山々は剣のように鋭くそそり立っているらしい。
巨人族でも万年氷で覆われ、雲を突き抜けて天まで届くかのような天罰山脈は生半可な事では超えられないという。
空を飛ぶ種族すら渦巻く暴風に飲まれて墜落死、あるいは希薄な大気の中で飛びながら死ぬ。
余程の実力と運が無ければ生還する事すら困難な魔境だそうだ。
そんな話を聞いて、ぜひ天罰山脈を見てみたい、と俺は思った。
せっかくこんな場所に来たのだから、美味い飯を喰い、見た事も無い風景を見るのもいいだろう。
そんな理由もあってさっさと出発したのだが、しかし今日の夜になっても森すら抜けれずに野営している。
巨人族の支配圏は三つの環境に分類できるらしいが、広いだけに思った以上に時間がかかりそうだ。
移動に加えて道中の食品回収に力を割いていたとしても、とんでもない広さだった。
取りあえず今日は、道中遭遇する巨獣肉を夜食にした。
焚き火に焼かれ、引き締まった赤身の肉は色を変えていく。滴る肉汁は香ばしい匂いを放ち、旨味成分の塊のような黄金塩で味付けしたシンプルながらも豪快な巨獣肉の丸焼きを前に思わず唾を飲み込んだ。
出来上がるとキノコや果実や山菜など森の恵みと共に頂き、巨獣を仕留めた際にドロップした巨人用らしき巨大な地産の迷宮酒で喉を潤す。
かぁー、美味し。
［世界詩篇[黒蝕鬼物語]【鬼乱十八戦将】である二コラが覚醒しました］
［称号【】が贈られます］
［世界詩篇[黒蝕鬼物語]【鬼乱十八戦将】であるオプシーがしました］
［条件“１”【存在進化】クリアに伴い、称号【】が贈られます］
----
Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster ~ The Dark Continent ~ Vol. 2