Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1478, The Grand Line, The New World.
Elbaph Island, Kingdom of Warland.
"Elbaph… the legendary Island of Giants. Every time I come here, I continue to be amazed by this incredible place," exclaimed the young man, who appeared to be about twenty years old, with evident fascination and admiration.
Even from a distance, it was impossible not to notice the colossal legendary tree that dominated the island, overshadowing everything around it. Its top extended beyond the clouds, while branches so wide and sturdy formed true layers of habitable land.
At the base of the tree, at sea level, stretched a region of steep mountains covered with snow and dense forests. Under the constant shadow of the central tree, the climate there was cold, frequently beset by intense snowstorms.
On the middle branches lay most of the giants' villages. At this height, the climate was more stable and sunny, making the region more conducive to daily life.
At the top of the tree, shrouded in thick clouds, was a mysterious and difficult-to-access area, where the kingdom's elite resided or the most sacred aspects of Elbaph were preserved.
It all seemed straight out of a fable. A scenario too grand to be real, and yet, there it was.
Everything was too incredible for the young man, even having already visited that location a few days before.
The grandeur of Elbaph never seemed to diminish; on the contrary, each new visit only reinforced the sensation of being before something almost mythical.
He took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the colossal landscape before him, and a sincere smile appeared on his face.
"This world is simply… truly fantastic."
Docking the ship—which could barely be called a ship, given the lack of maintenance and care—the vessel resembled a ghost ship much more than anything else.
The young man, or rather, Kaiser Sora, climbed onto the ship's railing and, without hesitation, jumped onto the sand below. The sun still shone high in the sky, bathing Elbaph's coast with its golden light.
Observing the surroundings, Sora shook his head in disappointment, realizing that he would have to wait once again in that place until the person he was looking for appeared.
With a contained sigh, he manipulated the shadow beneath his feet. It darkened until it became absolute pitch black and expanded for meters, undulating and twisting like a living organism.
From within that darkness, being spit out like something unwanted by the ground, emerged a luxurious chair in red and gold tones, large enough to resemble a throne.
Positioning the chair in a refreshing shadow, he sat down and crossed his arms, thinking about how to kill time.
As time advanced, clouds and sun slid across the sky, removing old shadows and creating new ones over the landscape. In the distance, in Sora's line of sight, a small dot began to form on the maritime horizon.
Grabbing his binoculars, he could see it was an ordinary merchant ship, with barely ten crew members scattered across the deck. Among them was a humble-looking couple, clearly lower-middle-class peasants.
Looking more carefully around the couple, he finally saw it.
"Found them!" shouted Sora, excited. "But wasn't it supposed to be just one girl… why are there two?" he murmured, seized by curiosity.
What made Sora feel so excited was the sight of a girl about five meters tall, but with the body and face of a child. Without a doubt, she was the largest entity on that ship.
Though, unexpectedly, there was another girl beside her, similar to the giant child, but much thinner, smaller and, without a doubt, cuter.
It wasn't long before the ship transporting the couple and their children docked on the island. Sora quickly stood up, stored everything in the shadows, and ran toward the ship.
Even from a distance, it was possible to see and hear everything, thanks to his incredible vision and hearing.
"Welcome!" said the woman, smiling, the same one from the couple seen earlier, after disembarking from the ship.
She had pink hair and freckles on her face, nothing very special. She wasn't ugly or too beautiful, just ordinary. Beside her was her husband, a man with a large nose and long brown hair, wearing a hat, equally ordinary.
In response, a giant girl, full of anticipation, and a small cute girl with an innocent look appeared on the deck, making the ship rock with the weight. The giant was practically the size of the ship itself, while the smaller one barely reached her heel.
"Papa! What's the name of this place?" asked the giant girl, looking around curiously, as if searching for something.
Hearing this, the mother responded: "I'll tell you later. Come down, Linlin. You too, Lulu."
Nodding, the girls jumped from the ship. The impact made the ground tremble and a cloud of dust rise, knocking down the couple, who fell sitting in the sand.
Linlin, the giant, swung her legs while sitting on the ground, looking down toward her parents.
"Where am I? Where are you going?" she said, while Lulu remained quiet, as if she didn't care about any of it, just observing the surroundings with curiosity.
"Papa needs to work nearby. Linlin and Lulu, be good girls and wait for us, okay?" The mother gestured to the man beside her and tried to speak in the calmest and most consoling way she could.
"What!? I want to go with you..." complained Linlin, showing reluctance. Unlike her, Lulu just nodded calmly.
"If you behave, you'll be able to eat as many sweets as you want." The father intervened, speaking calmly and encouragingly, though he was visibly sweating and anxious.
"That's right!" supported the mother, seeming quite desperate and afraid, despite trying to maintain a maternal smile.
"What?!" Linlin seemed pleasantly surprised. "As many sweets as I want?! Then I'll wait, I'll wait!" she continued, excited, with heart-shaped eyes and drool running down her mouth.
At that moment, the couple noticed something running toward them with a strange smile, moving at inhuman speed and raising clouds of dust behind it.
Their hearts nearly leaped out of their throats. It wasn't a giant, the island's natives, nor did it seem like an animal. It was too small to justify that absurd speed, and too fast to be something ordinary.
Before either of them could react, the figure was already dangerously close. The smile was too wide to be comforting. In a few moments, the distance between them was swallowed as if it had never existed, the air vibrating slightly with the impact of footsteps on the ground.
"Pleasure to meet you, little couple," said the figure, now clearly a young man, with a polite tone and a slight gentleman's accent, something that completely contrasted with his appearance and the abrupt way he had appeared. "You can call me Sora. I was just passing by when I saw you, so I decided to stop to say hello."
Without giving time for a response, he delicately held the woman's hand and kissed the back with exaggerated elegance, almost theatrical.
The gesture made the couple freeze in place.
"So, may I speak with you in private?" said Sora, completely ignoring the couple's reaction while making a casual gesture for them to follow him.
But no one in their right mind would agree to go to a private place with such a… strange young man, to say the least. The couple, clearly endowed with common sense, immediately hesitated.
Noticing this, Sora sighed lightly, like someone who already expected that response.
"Don't worry. It's about your daughters," he added indifferently, carefully observing the tense expressions before him. "I imagine you intended to leave them on this island, so the giants would take care of them, right? That's what I thought."
The words fell like a direct blow.
The couple paled almost instantly, their bodies becoming rigid. The mother brought her hand to her mouth, while the father looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. That stranger had not only perceived the situation... but had exposed it without the slightest care.
Behind them, Linlin blinked, confused, while Lulu continued in silence, observing Sora attentively.
The couple turned almost mechanically toward their daughters, sweating so much that it seemed possible to form small puddles of water at their feet.
Linlin looked first at Sora, then at her parents, noticing the desperation stamped on their faces, unable to understand the true weight of the word "leave."
"Leave us here?" she asked, her voice laden with confusion. "But papa said we came to have a giant picnic! Why are you saying strange things?"
She turned to her mother, increasingly restless. "Mama… why are you so pale? Do you have a stomachache?"
Seeing the panic in her parents' eyes, Linlin's body began to tremble. Her emotions overflowed without control and, along with them, her strength. The ground beneath her feet began to crack slightly, emitting dry snaps.
"Papa…" her voice faltered. "Why won't you look at me?"
She swallowed hard, her eyes welling up. "The man is lying, isn't he? You weren't going to leave without Linlin and Lulu… right?"
The girl took a deep breath, desperate, trying to cling to any promise.
"We haven't even eaten the sweets from this place yet! I promise I'll be a good girl! I won't break anything, I swear!"
Beside her, Lulu remained silent. There was no fear, confusion, or sadness on her face, just a vague curiosity, as if she were watching something distant.
Lulu simply observed everything calmly, completely oblivious to the despair that gripped the others.
'What a strange girl,' thought Sora, observing Lulu attentively for a brief moment, before returning his gaze to Linlin and the panicking couple.
The contrast was almost disturbing. While one giant child trembled on the verge of losing control, crushed by the fear of being abandoned, the other seemed completely disconnected from the situation, as if it were nothing more than a curious event on an ordinary day.
For someone like Sora, who lived in search of excitement and intensity, that genuine indifference was… intriguing.
The air became heavy, charged with an almost palpable tension, while Sora observed the scene with an indecipherable gleam in his eyes.
While the couple trembled with fear and despair, not knowing what to do to calm that walking natural disaster, Sora took a step forward, holding a small sweet in his hand.
"Don't worry, Linlin," he said, placing the sweet in the palm of her hand. "Your parents couldn't handle you, but I can. You'll have all the unimaginable sweets at your disposal. Your parents don't deserve you, but if you come with me and are obedient, I promise to be by your side, feed you, protect you and—"
"All the sweets at my disposal?!" Linlin's eyes shone intensely. "I want it, I want it, I want it!!!"
As if nothing but sweets really mattered, she stopped crying instantly, the trembling ceasing abruptly. The cracks in the ground stabilized, and the heavy air seemed to lighten suddenly.
Sora fell silent for a brief moment.
"..."
He stared at the giant girl, then looked at the parents beside her, and finally sighed lightly.
That was easier than he expected.
Shifting his gaze to Lulu, Sora extended his hand with another sweet, the silent gesture sounding like an invitation. He hesitated for a moment, bothered by the fact that he didn't remember her in the original story.
Lulu stared at him for a few seconds too long for a child. Her gaze was direct and deep, as if piercing through the surface and trying to reach something beyond, evaluating whether Sora's intention was good or bad.
Then, without saying a word, she accepted the sweet. Her expression remained impassive, neutral.
Sora slightly arched an eyebrow, surprised, and then smiled.
He gently patted Lulu's head.
"You look like a doll," he said, in an affectionate and almost amused tone.
Lulu didn't react. She just held the sweet with both hands, observing it in silence, while Linlin was already celebrating beside her, completely oblivious to everything that didn't involve sugar.
Sora was satisfied. When he reincarnated in that world and learned to write, he made a list of things to do as soon as he discovered what year it was. Adopting those girls occupied the last place on the list.
Still, there he was.
Now, all that remained was to return to his base and train. He still hadn't mastered all the abilities he currently possessed; some required time, discipline, and experience, while others were simply impossible to use at that moment.
The road ahead would be long. Dangerous. Chaotic.
But, looking at Linlin clutching the sweets with a silly smile and at Lulu walking silently beside him, Sora felt something close to genuine satisfaction.
Perhaps that decision, made almost on impulse, would end up being more important than he imagined.
"Oh, right," he stopped suddenly, as if he had just remembered something important, and then turned to the couple, who had remained silent until that moment.
"My boat is in terrible condition. Could you give me a ride?" he asked with a mischievous smile, tilting his head slightly.
The couple paled even more, cold sweat running down their faces and backs. The father swallowed hard, his eyes trembling as he faced that young man who, in a few minutes, had taken their daughters. The mother squeezed her hands so tightly that her fingers turned white, unable to form any words.
It didn't seem like a request.
It seemed like a sentence disguised as kindness.