Chapter 4: The Lamb's House - A Battle of Acting Skills!
"Alright!" Linlin happily grabbed the straps of her backpack, nodding her head. Then, she lowered her gaze to Roy. "Let's go~!"
With that, Linlin reached out her hand to grab Roy's.
Roy glanced up at the little giant-like Linlin. She looked cute, but in his eyes, her hand—big, fat, and reaching out like a claw—looked like it could crush his bones.
Would she break my bones if she grabbed me?!
It must be possible!
Remembering Linlin's massive strength that she couldn't fully control, Roy couldn't help but shiver.
"Linlin, let's go~" Roy quickly dashed forward, cleverly dodging Linlin's reaching "claws."
It wasn't because he was put off by her future appearance changing or anything, though~
"Let's see who gets there first~" Roy turned around, smiling at Linlin and joking, cleverly dodging her grasp without hurting her pride.
After all, intimacy points are a form of affection, and Roy had relied on Linlin to make his first big profit.
And that first big profit was pretty hefty~
"Hahaha, let's see who gets there first~" Charlotte Linlin began running with her little short legs, hands clutching her backpack straps, her footsteps pounding rapidly as she raced toward the Lamb's House.
Though Linlin was only five years old, don't be fooled by her current cute, rosy appearance. Her body was already as large as a young giant, and her strength was terrifying.
The ground trembled slightly with each of her steps. After just a short run, she surpassed Roy, leaving behind a trail of dust that slowly floated into the air.
"Kids these days really have a lot of energy, haha... eh?" Redin, with a giant sword hanging from his waist, took a sip of wine and watched Linlin run off. He had just commented on the energy of the young ones when he saw a human boy, running for a bit, then slowing down to walk leisurely behind her.
Redin let out a hiccup, surprised. "Aren't you going to run?"
"Can I outrun her?" Roy waved his hand helplessly, pointing to the dust ahead.
Every step Linlin took was like many steps for him.
And following behind her felt like a small car overtaking a large truck on the highway—under the shadow of her speed, it felt like a death wish.
"Hahaha~" Redin laughed heartily. After all, this child was still a normal human, so there was no way he could compare with that little girl.
Other little lolis ran with light steps, but Linlin, the big loli, stomped along with each step, thud-thud-thud~
She joyfully sprinted ahead, while Roy and the giant swordsman Redin walked leisurely behind.
When Linlin turned around to look for Roy, she heard his voice calling from behind:
"Huff, huff~ I'm really tired, Linlin. If you win, I'll make you some snacks~"
"Really?!" Linlin asked excitedly.
"Really!" Roy's voice called back.
"Alright! Watch me go!" Linlin happily pushed herself to run even faster, thudding through the forest, her pink tongue sticking out and waving in the wind as she dashed, the giant loli crashing through the forest, startling the birds to fly up into the sky.
"Ahh~!"
A pack of wild wolves, frightened by Linlin's running, scrambled out of the forest, tails between their legs, fleeing in panic.
Linlin continued running, no longer waiting for Roy, all for the sake of those snacks! Charge!
As for Roy, he pretended to run for a while but slowed down again, hands in his pockets, walking leisurely behind.
"Clever little guy, pfft~" Redin, holding back laughter, almost choked on his drink.
Roy looked up at the giant swordsman Redin, who was at least ten meters tall, his massive weapon hanging by his waist.
"Kid, don't even think about using giant weapons. This here is a giant's weapon, you know~!" Redin, sipping his drink and exhaling a puff of alcohol, lowered his gaze to the curious boy beside him, grinning proudly.
"Will he use Baku-koku (Destruction of the Kingdom)?" Roy asked, looking up at the giant swordsman in curiosity.
Baku-koku was a special technique of the giant race, known as the strongest spear of the giants!
It was an incredibly powerful move with immense destructive force!
Many years later, Big Mom's Wēi Guó (Might of the Kingdom) was said to be similar to Baku-koku, probably based on the giant race's technique.
"Uncle must be really strong, huh?" Roy walked alongside him, patting Redin's giant shoulder.
What a pity, his system was designed for character collection and upgrades, so he could only view the abilities of girls' character cards.
Sadly, he couldn't look at men's abilities.
Sigh… when will men rise up?
Cough, cough~
"Of course! I'm one of the top swordsmen of Elbaf. In the future, I'll teach the greatest giant swordsman ever!" Redin clenched his fist in excitement, boasting. Then he laughed awkwardly, realizing he was telling a child this.
He looked up and took another gulp of wine.
Roy put on an expression of admiration and respect but was actually thinking, if he could copy Linlin's terrifying defense talent, and then maybe also her monstrous strength,
could he try learning the giant's swordsmanship? Maybe he could pull off Baku-koku?
If not, then Wēi Guó would be good too~!
Galmelo, the nun who appeared to be exceptionally kind-hearted, was actually the Soul-Soul Fruit user from the animation before Big Mom's time.
Many years ago, she had appeared at a public execution site where the Navy was executing members of the Giant Pirate Crew, and saved those giants.
She had appeared as a compassionate nun, saving the giants, earning their friendship.
Not far from Elbaf Village, she had established an organization called "The Lamb's House," which took in orphaned children, regardless of race or origin.
However, in reality, she was a child trafficker, kidnapping orphans and selling them.
She would secretly send them away, after coordinating with the Navy to exchange children.
She was a deceitful fraudster!
But that wasn't a big deal!
Roy was just 5 points away from unlocking Linlin's full talent card, and once he did, he would become a powerful little monster himself.
He believed the nun wouldn't manage to send him away early.
After all, the better the talent, the higher the price, right?
That's why Linlin had been delayed so long, until that terrifying incident occurred, and the nun ended up "vanishing."
Roy believed he could continue to freeload at the Lamb's House, raising his intimacy with Linlin and copying her talent card before the nun was taken out by Linlin's uncontrollable power!
In the forest, a few orphans quickly ran out and reached the entrance of the Lamb's House, each grabbing the hand of the kindly-looking nun.
The nun wore a dark blue habit, with a slightly square face and wrinkles, her white curly hair blowing gently in the breeze.
She held a cigarette in her mouth, smoke rising as she smiled, looking at the girl running toward her.
"This... this Linlin is so... so scary!" A boy with a red crown and a black cloak, pockmarked face, tightly clutched the nun's clothes, nervously watching Linlin from a distance.
"She just scared away a wolf pack!" The boy mumbled.
The nun gently patted his head and smiled kindly at him. "It's okay now~"
Before she could finish, a figure appeared in the forest— towering over the trees.
Redin, the giant swordsman, walked forward.
Behind him, Roy appeared from the woods, having ridden on Redin's shoulder for part of the way.
When they were a bit away from the Lamb's House, Roy hopped down, pretending he had been running all along.
"Welcome, you and your friend, to live here in peace with everyone," the nun said with a charitable smile, greeting Roy and Linlin.
If Roy hadn't seen the animation, he might have believed in the nun's kind and loving smile.
"Mm~ thank you, nun!" Roy reached Linlin and smiled back, his grin innocent and "pure."
He might have been fooling the nun, but his acting skills were on point. His smile was so "pure" and "genuine."
The nun, satisfied, stroked the children's soft hair, thinking to herself that these were such adorable, well-behaved, and valuable children.
[•———•——•———•]
𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧
✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.