As I tried to decide what I could drop to fit in this meeting, Fahn, the new leader of the werewolf squad, walked in.
“Elder Veight!”
“What now?”
“A few teenage giants got drunk and started fighting in the new residential district! You have to stop them!”
Is this really something a Demon Lord’s Vice-Commander needs to handle? I thought.
“Don’t give me that look; there are a dozen of them, okay?” she added. “We can’t take them all by ourselves! They’re waving huge sticks of lumber around too—three of my werewolves have already been injured trying to intervene!”
“What?!”
One of the ironclad rules of demon society was that if you got hit, you hit back. I’d recently managed to convince most demons not to use violence as a first resort, but if someone else started the fight, the gloves came off. Demons instinctively deferred to those stronger than them, so if they thought you were weak, it would be hard to get them to listen afterwards. In other words, the reputation of the entire werewolf squad was at stake now.
I closed my planner and got to my feet.
“Lead the way.”
It was time to teach these drunkards a lesson.
As I reached the new residential district, I saw just how bad the situation was.
“Graaaaah!”
“You bastaaaaaard!”
Just as Fahn had said, a group of young, drunk giants was fighting. From the looks of it, they weren’t part of the Demon Army. A few werewolves were there, trying to stop the commotion, but they were unfortunately outmatched.
“Hey, stop! I said, stop! Calm down, you idiots!” one of the werewolves shouted, but a giant just kicked him away.
After transforming, werewolves became quite strong, but they still couldn’t match three-meter-tall giants. It was like a child trying to fight an adult.
“See, what did I tell you?” Fahn said with a sigh.
“No, this is good,” I replied with a nod. “Our werewolves are actually trying to de-escalate the situation without immediately resorting to violence. It’s not good to get rough with our own citizens, even if they are giants. You’ve done a good job teaching them, Fahn.”
“You really think so?” Fahn said, blushing and scratching her head. But a few seconds later, her expression turned grim. “But if we’re not supposed to fight, how are we going to stop them?! We can’t use Blast Rifles on them, right?!”
“Of course not. From what I’ve observed, it’s just a drunken brawl. Don’t worry, I’ll stop them.”
“Oh okay. Good luck. I’ll be waiting here, far out of your way.”
Looking immensely relieved, Fahn retreated to a safe distance. I could handle this alone, so her getting out of the way was helpful.
I strode up to the two brawling giants and firmly said, “That’s quite enough.”
The giant closest to me turned around and glared, his eyes mildly glazed over.
“Da hell didya say, ya old fart?! You wanna die, huh?!”
Excuse me? Did you just call me old?! I mentally quipped. I mean, my age is getting up there, but still.
The giant turned back around, completely losing interest in me. He picked up a massive barrel of ale and took a big swig. I thought he would swing at me immediately, but he showed surprising restraint. Not enough restraint, since he still called me old, but what can you do? At the very least, I’d decided not to settle this with violence. It was important not to be too rough with your citizens, even if they did call you old.
First things first, I needed to get that alcohol away from him. I swung my hand down, unleashing a blade of pure mana at the barrel, slicing it in two.
“Bwuh?!” Ale poured down onto the giant’s head, and he turned to glare at me.
“Da hell wuzzat for?!”
“Drinking in public isn’t allowed in this district. Leave now, or...”
“Or wuh?!”
“Or this.” I picked up the giant with one hand and lifted him high above my head.
“Whaaa?! What da hell?!”
“I used magic to simultaneously increase my arm strength and lessen gravity’s hold on you. As you can see, I can lift you like an infant. So, I highly recommend you sober up.”
I took a few steps and dunked him into one of the water tanks every street had for fire emergencies. There was a huge splash, and he began sputtering incoherently as he tried to climb out. It was a bit excessive for shock therapy, but demons needed to see the difference in power before they’d listen. I also kept his gravity light when throwing him, so there was no worry of him drowning.
Upon hearing the splash, the other giants turned around.
“Wuzzoin’ on?!”
“Where’d Gwaza go?!”
I pointed over my shoulder to where the giant known as Gwaza was still splashing around ineffectively.
“Your friend Gwaza is taking a sober bath. As will all of you in a few seconds.”
“Yer gonna pay fer dat!” One of the giants hefted a piece of timber big enough to be a support pillar in a house.
Hey, wait! Those things are expensive; don’t use them as weapons.
“Take this!” As he swung the log down, I brought up one hand to stop it.
I used strengthening magic to harden my hand as much as possible, causing the timber to split in two upon impact. Despite this, though, the impact still hurt my hand a little. Maybe I’m getting too old for this.
“Wh-What da?!”
“You’re going to have to pay for that piece of timber now, you know?” I said. There was no way I would let the Demon Army cover it.
The giant then swung a fist down at me, but I simply strengthened my legs and dodged to the side. I touched his fist as it came down and increased its weight tenfold.
“Nrrrgh?!” The giant pitched forward as his fist slammed into the ground with a ground-shattering force. He probably wouldn’t be able to lift it back up.
“Hnnnrgh! Nnnnngh!” Red-faced, the giant struggled to raise his fist again, but after a few attempts, he gave in, and a hint of fear crept into his expression.
Giants relied solely on their strength, so being placed in a situation where their strength was useless was a deeply terrifying experience. Giants were too big to run or hide, so their only means of survival was overpowering threats. Rendering this one powerless seemed to have taught him a lesson. But doing this for every one of them would take too long.