"That's the strange thing, they were almost all Frost Giants, but none of them was the Clan Chief," Cain explained to the Hill Giant, giving a minor lie. There was a Frost Giant chief there, a powerful awakened one, but Cain killed him.
"Hmm, there are over twenty Clans of Frost Giants. I don't know which one it could have been, but I haven't seen any of them in a while. Big Boss Drakon is a Frost Giant, he might be able to tell us where they all went. But I can't bother him until I have more information." Schmidt explained.
"That makes sense. Nobody wants to bother their big boss with things he would want them to do themselves, especially if they don't have all the information he wants." Cain agreed.
"You're kind of short, but you seem to know about Giants. I like that." Schmidt smiled, making Cain laugh.
"I'm twenty meters tall in my normal form, but it is too large for most doors, so I shrunk it to this size while I was exploring the Southern Continent," Cain explained.
Schmidt was enthralled with the idea of being able to change his size. Of course, he would only go larger, even though he was the biggest of the Hill Giants already, but it was an incredible ability that any Giant would kill to have.
"You can be bigger and smaller? That is very impressive." Schmidt said, and Cain could see the plan forming in the Giant's eyes.
"How about this? If you can tell me who launched the attack on the Demons, and why the Northern Continent and the Dragons territories are being attacked, I will make you one whole meter taller." Cain offered, hoping that a bribe would be just the thing to get the Chief on his side.
"The Dragon territories? Oh, the ones on the shores of the North. We won't bother the dragons, but the Humans refuse to turn over the Gnomes." Schmidt offered.
"Why would they be hiding Gnomes?" Cain asked, confused.
"If I knew that, I would be the big boss. But they are all guilty of betraying the Chiefs at their silly science meeting, so they will all be punished." Schmidt shrugged, not realizing how much information he had just given away. It was common knowledge to every Giant, and Ancients were held in the same esteem as Dragons, nearly on par with other Giants, so the Chief didn't think to hide anything that every Giant should know.
"What punishment did they get for betrayal?" Cain asked.
"Enslavement of course. Death is too good for traitors, so they will work all their lives to make up for the betrayal by their Clan." Schmidt informed Cain with a solemn nod.
In the Giant's mind, Cain's question meant that the Ancient thought they might have gone soft with their leaders gone, so he was quick to assure Cain that the traditional punishment, the enslavement of the entire Gnome Clan, was followed.
"I have a list of places that have been attacked. Most of them are human settlements on the Northern Continent, but they didn't know why they were being attacked. Did anyone remember to send a messenger to announce the crime and demand that the criminals were turned over?" Cain asked.
"I don't know. We only just came to the coast when the big boss ordered it. The plans had already been made and the attacks had started." Schmidt dismissed the concern as not his problem.
"If you tell the big boss, I'll bet he will be happy. I know for sure that the Humans don't know why they are being attacked, and the Dragons think you're targeting them. Even the Wave Riders, the blue Elves, think the giants have gone crazy attacking everyone." Cain explained.
"Oh, the blue elves. I hear they taste really good, but I've never seen one." Schmidt sighed, then went silent as he thought through his options.
This process took him a whole fifteen minutes, but he did eventually come to a conclusion.
"I will tell the big boss, but I will tell him it is my idea, so I get all the credit." The Giant said in a tone that Cain interpreted as him thinking he was sneaky.
"Great idea Chief. I will let you meet with him, and I will meet you later. How long do you think it will take?"
Schmidt thought again for a few minutes. "If he hears me in three days, I can be back here in one week. I can meet you then."
"Perfect. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I will tell the Demon King that the Giants are looking for the traitors that would attack them, and you can tell the Big Boss that you convinced the Demon King's Emissary not to attack." Cain suggested.
"Oh, excellent. That will be a lot of merits. I might even become Chief of all the Hill Giants. I will see you soon Ancient Cain." Schmidt smiled, then waved at the door, dismissing Cain from his office.
Cain took to the air, flying back out of the city, and turning back towards the ships only when he was safely out of sight over the horizon.
[Tell the Council what I learned. I'm assuming you listened to everything?] Cain asked Nila.
[Of course. I've already informed the other Captains here, and they think we can wait a week while the Giants figure out what's going on. I will inform the Council now.] Nila responded in her all-business Captain's tone.
They were in a fairly decent spot to intercept additional attacks on the Northern Continent, and a single week of waiting while the Giants had a meeting about the attacks wasn't that big of a deal, even if they did miss an attack or two due to their position.
Sure, the Dragons asked them to look out for the Northern Continent, but they are long-lived creatures, they will understand that things take time.
An entire week of waiting at sea for the Giants to sort out who had been sending the attacks didn't sound like much fun to Cain, but with a lot of drinks and storytelling, courtesy of the Wave Riders the first three days passed quite quickly.
It was on the morning of the fourth day that they received unexpected visitors. A group of Giants was returning to the city, but their ships were light, the hulls riding high in the water would let everyone around them know that they didn't have full cargo holds, so, they were most likely a raiding party.
"Hail to the fleet. I am Ancient Cain, and I have a few questions for you." Cain called, flying over to the returning fleet.
"I am Gurp, leader of this expedition." An Ettin Mage informed him, stepping to the bow of the ship so no others were standing between them.
"I just have a few questions. The dragons have complained about Giants attacking their territory, where are you coming back from?" Cain asked.
"We came from the Dragon Territory, but we didn't attack anyone. The smart one found a new way, we just sailed up and asked for the Gnomes and they gave us some. So we're bringing them back to the Ettin forges to work." The leader declared.
"Excellent. Just one more thing, can I see the captives? There were reports that some of them were dying, and Clan Chieftain Schmidt was worried that it might not be an accident when he left to go talk to the big boss." Cain informed him.
"Grab the Gnomes." The Ettin ordered, and seconds later ten small figures were carried up to the deck.
"They are on quarter rations, once a day, but the big boss told us himself that it's good enough for them." The Ettin Mage told Cain, who flew over to check out the Gnomes.
They didn't look bruised, cut, or otherwise injured, just filthy in the way most of the desperately impoverished were. It seemed that the Giant's word was true, they were enslaving them for heavy work, but not mistreating them much.
"You, on the right. What was your profession before the Giants took you?" Cain asked.
"Well, you see, uh, we weren't the most noble of the noblest race. All ten of us were transferred from the prison when the Giants showed up. I was arrested for selling fake artifacts, Fazzba there was a prostitute and Felbin was a common thief." The Gnome explained.
"I'm not a thief, I was just hungry." The younger Gnome named Felbin complained.
"And you understand what situation you are in now?" Cain asked.
"We've been given life imprisonment and hard labor because the scientists killed a bunch of Giants, or at least I think that is what they meant. At least the food is better than it was in the Human prison. If I never have to eat one more bowl of watery gruel, or that rancid mash the humans pass off as a sausage I will die a happy Gnome." The first Gnome told him, and the others nodded in eager agreement.
Treatment of prisoners in other countries isn't really Cain's business, but it is valuable information that he can pass to the Dragon Riders and the Wave Riders, both of whom will be very interested in this development.
If the Northern Continent can keep the Giants happy by giving away their Gnomish prisoners a few at a time, they will likely do it. Knowing human nature, they might even help capture the remaining Gnomes to hold in preparation for the Giants coming looking for them.
