Chapter 855: A New Home
At least in the giants' country, he could always stay in places that had a lot of other giants. But that obviously wasn't the case elsewhere. With the tensions between the countries right now, there were barely any giants in the central continent, and even the ones that were there were hiding away without revealing their true form.
Not to mention how hard it would be for Khan to find a place to stay during his travels; Eisen was already working on a large tent that he could place down, as there was luckily enough open wilderness for him to camp out in, but for now that luckily wasn't an issue anyway.
Khan decided to stay in prototype for a little while, and so, the home that Eisen had built for him would hopefully end up being lived in properly.
"Khan," Eisen said, notifying the elderly giant of his presence. Though, that was probably unnecessary; a swordsman at Khan's level would have known that he was nearby long ago.
"Feel like joining me? The breeze is quite nice today," Khan replied with a light smile on his face. The corner of his mouth pressed up against some of the petrified patches of his skin on the back of his cheek.
"Actually, I was wondering if you would want to come with me for a moment. I've got something to show you."
Khan slowly sighed, pushing himself off the ground. Of course, Eisen quickly came and helped him up. With an awkward scoff, Khan waved him away, "You're ten times my age, how embarrassing would it be if I let you help me out?"
"I'm older than nearly every single god in this world, Khan. That doesn't mean much," Eisen pointed out, and Khan simply let out a laugh.
"Fair enough, then. So, what is it you want to show me?" the swordsman asked, as Eisen started guiding him forward. The island was large, of course, but them both being giants definitely helped in how fast they were able to traverse this place until they reached prototype's outskirts.
"You'll see. But until then, I wanted to ask you a few things," the old man explained. He didn't want to give away the surprise too much. Though, the only reason it was anything of a surprise was because Khan stayed out here for so long. Otherwise, the construction of a massive wooden building wasn't the kind of thing that you could hide all too easily.
Eisen continued, "You've lived most of your life amongst other giants, right?"
"...That I have, yes. Before the curse made travelling too hard, I returned to my home. It is much easier for a giant to live there than elsewhere, for obvious reasons," Khan explained.
"Though the reason is more than regretful, it does kind of help a little in this situation. I don't remember all too many things from before, and the things that I do remember are important events. The mundane, everyday life as a giant hasn't quite come back to me yet," Eisen told the elderly man next to him, who raised his brow in response.
"So that is why you are asking me? Because I am a giant that lived such a mundane, everyday life?"
Eisen scoffed and shook his head, "No, I don't think you could really say that. I'm sure that you've had those times as well, but more importantly, you must have seen people just... living their lives. You understand giant culture much more than I do. I got barely a glimpse at it during my time there. That's why it would be great if you could help me out a little.
Especially because you lived abroad for quite some time, I'm sure you've got the perfect perspective."
"...Go on."
"Well, what sort of things do giants need every day? Are there any special habits in giant culture that I could somehow support through my craftsmanship? Any problems I could solve that giants have that non-giants don't need to deal with?" Eisen questioned, and Khan slowly started to think about it. Though, it didn't take him long to come up with an answer.
"Truthfully, the way giants live doesn't truly differ to much from the way non-giants do. We just had to adapt to things differently. As you know, our buildings are more in tune with nature, cause that makes construction easier, cheaper, and safer. That is just an example, of course.
But well, we have less amenities that we can enjoy at a giants' scale, cause it is much cheaper and faster to simply construct it at a smaller size and use it then," Khan explained, "Baths would be a great example for that. Or this thing called 'showers', they're not really a thing for us.
There are some towns built by waterfalls or lakes where the area has been repurposed a bit, but that is very rare, as you know."
"Hm... I see..." Eisen replied. Truthfully, an architectural revolution in the giants' country might not be a bad idea, but Eisen had to figure out a good way to introduce methods that were worth using. If it was far too expensive in either money or time, then there would be no reason to give it a try no matter the actual outcome.
It was definitely worth looking into if it was the first thing Khan thought of.
"Though, I guess you were thinking moer of things in the direction of items? Things that you can more tangibly introduce on your own?" Khan asked with a smile, though he already knew the answer, "If that is so, then... transporting goods is quite hard. There aren't many beasts well-suited to draw a giant's carriage, not to mention that our carts break down far too easily.
It is much cheaper to simply higher men to carry the materials on their own, but that is quite hard due to the sheer size of our country. Having a way to move materials and items more easily like non-giants would be incredible."
The moment Khan said this, an idea popped into his mind. A train. A train network that reached all across the giants' country. And not only that, introducing trains into the central continent would solve a lot of the issues that Eisen was hoping to solve. Connecting different people better, creating a better exchange of goods and ideas...
items would be easier to transport, so they would be cheaper, meaning that people could afford more things, not only making their lives better, but also boosting the economy further by creating more jobs to distribute those goods.
Not to mention, if he was able to make transporting goods and materials easier in the giants' country, it would be easier to introduce a change to architectural habits as well.
"I see..." Eisen muttered, a broad grin forming on his face. He would need to talk to Xenia as soon as he could. But before then, Eisen had something else to do. Him and Khan arrived at protoype's outskirts, and a wooden building that wasn't here the last time Khan was stood in front of them.
"Eisen, is this what you want to show me?" Khan asked. He could obviously recognize what it was. There was no way he wouldn't. The elderly giant stepped up to the door, pushing it open. He entered into a space that surprised him more than he could express. The intricacies and the types of furniture in front of him.
The quality of it all.
"Are you serious?" the elderly giant looked at Eisen, who just nodded his head.
"Of course. Here, let me show you the place properly," he replied, happily watching Khan step into his new home.