Chapter 11:The Inner Pavilion of the Carbonihar Kingdom
•Luobeidra?
Roberta repeated the name to herself.
She had never heard the name before in her life. As a Priestess, she was more educated than most nobles, yet most of what the Lord before her said was unfamiliar.
A lizard with four legs and two wings was born before the Dwarves and Elves? And that the first being gifted with intelligence was a dragon, and it was named Luobeidra?
It was a story not found in any scripture she had read and memorized countless times, nor in any other text.
'This can't be a joke.'
She narrowed her eyes and looked at him.
His expression was calm and composed as always, too vigorous to speak of the passage of time. But whenever he opened his mouth, a story that could not be ignored would unfold.
Looking back, he had said something similar on the day they first met. He had explained the origin of a rite she didn't know, implying that the one taught by the Church was wrong.
Still, that rite had produced results. He had succeeded in the Infant Sacrament without observing the proper rite. How could she call it wrong when she had seen the result with her own eyes?
The story of Luobeidra and its kind, on the other hand, was more than just something she didn't know; it was an ancient tale that perhaps even the Pantheon and the Pope were unaware of. It was a claim impossible to prove or disprove.
"You asked me about dragons, so I have no choice but to mention their progenitor. It is the best example to explain what kind of beings dragons are."
Whether he knew of her turmoil or not, Ulrich, the Lord of Dithmarschen, continued speaking as he leaned against the headboard of the bed set up on one side of the Ger.
"As you know, long ago when the world was covered in fire, the gods brought water from another world to extinguish the flames and make the land fertile. But when life did not arise on its own, they decided to intervene in creation."
"They conceived life upon the land." He quoted a passage from the scriptures. It was from Genesis, the first book of the scriptures established by the Pantheon. Content Roberta had heard and memorized to the point of tedium.
The gods, having made the world a hospitable place for life, created all sorts of flora and fauna, and it was then that the Dwarves and Elves were born. The same was true for dragons.
"Luobeidra was the dragon conceived then. In Genesis, it is written as if dragons were created along with the Dwarves and Elves, but the reality is different. Just as humans had not yet been conceived when those two races were born, those two races had not been conceived when the dragons were born."
Therefore, Ulrich added, Luobeidra was a being born even before the Dwarves and Elves, and it possessed intelligence.
"Roberta, you serve Ganimea-nim, do you not?:"
She answered that she did.
"You must know that Ganimea-nim had an adopted son, that he was human, and that he was given the name Hestio."
Roberta, you serve Ganimea-nim, do you not
"You must know that Ganimea-nim had an adopted son, that he was human, and that he was given the name Hestio."
"That's common knowledge, even for those who aren't Priestesses."
Ulrich chuckled lightly. "I see."
"Today, he is regarded almost as a god of humanity. Why do you think that is? As I said before, Hestio was not a god but a human, merely one who was taken in as Ganiea's adopted son and lived in the Heavens. So why?"
"You're not asking because you truly don't know, are you?"
Roberta said, narrowing her eyes.
Think of his achievements.
Hestio, Ganimea's adopted son, imparted the knowledge of the Heavens to humans when they were still primitive, and when the gods of the Heavens departed, he remained by the side of the humans on earth.
He was the only one who could have followed the gods to the world the Pantheon calls paradise, but refused for the sake of the East and descended to the earth.
And he led humanity until the age of Dwarves and Elves ended and the age of humans dawned, before vanishing alone.
"The Heavens created countless forms of life. It is said that right after the gods left, there were civilizations as powerful as those of the Dwarves and Elves. But today, not even their names are passed down. Because the races themselves died out. It is only told that mighty races once built their strength."
In that era, humans were treated as no different from monkeys, the scriptures say. Roberta mentioned this and asked, "And what of humans today?"
"The humans who were scorned as monkeys, the humans who were the last to build a civilization, have become the race that leads an era longer than any that came before. Because we had a shepherd to guide us correctly through the turbulent waves."
"That was Hestio-nim, and though he eventually left our side... our very existence is his achievement. That is why we praise his great work and yearn for his return."
According to the scriptures, records of Hestio cease at the end of the age of the Elves. The Pantheon explains this by saying that he had completed all his tasks and thus followed the gods of the Heavens.
But Roberta, along with a few other Priestesses and theologians, interpreted it differently.
Could it be that even as a god's adopted son, he was still human and thus could not attain eternal life?
Of course, this was an interpretation they dared not voice aloud. For the Pantheon has chosen to believe that Hestio's departure is temporary, and that he will one day return to lead humanity again.
'Yearning...'
Ulrich muttered, as if savoring the word.
"Why did you ask about him?"
"Because Luobeidra was the same as him. Though you wouldn't know it."
The same?
Roberta tilted her head, not grasping his meaning.
"He, too, was taken into the Heavens and then descended to earth for the sake of his people. And on the day the gods departed, he was invited to leave with them, but he refused. Just as Hestio left Ganiea's embrace to remain with his own kind, so did he."
What?
Her eyes widened.
"It's a detail missing from the scriptures compiled by the Church. Not intentionally omitted, it seems to have been lost somewhere in the oral tradition. And why not? Who would be interested in the history of another race?"
She was at a loss for words, her lips moving silently. It was only natural. Wasn't the most common phrase used to refer to Hestio 'the only one who remained'? And yet, he was saying that Hestio hadn't remained alone.
Should she cry blasphemy?
Her pupils trembled violently, tangled with hesitation.
And yet, he was saying that Hestio hadn't remained alone.
Her pupils trembled violently, tangled with hesitation.
Seeing this, Ulrich let out a short sigh.
"Does it matter how many remained?"
"Of course—"
"Does what he did change in value because of something so trivial?"
Roberta closed her mouth.
"Rather, think about this, Roberta. If what I say is true, why is it not known? Why was he forgotten when he lived a life just like Hestio's?"
She hesitated for a moment before asking why.
"Because he failed."
Ulrich stated flatly.
"They knew an age of chaos would come when the gods left, and they knew their own races might not survive. So the two of them held the same ambition and sought to save their people, but the outcomes were different."
......
"That is the only reason they did not even leave their names behind. Though records were lost through several dark ages, humanity prospered and thus remembers Hestio. But they did not."
He emptied his teacup and set it down.
"Why did he fail?"
"I don't know all the details myself."
"However," he added, continuing.
"What is clear is that dragons do not form herds. To put it nicely, they have strong pride; to put it badly, they are an arrogant species. They do not tolerate anyone standing above them, not even the progenitor of their race."
Is that why the age of dragons never came?
"If there is a reason for the failure, that would be it."
Roberta thought about Luobeidra.
He had lived a life like Hestio's, but unlike him, he had failed. The humans Hestio sought to lead had followed willingly, but Luobeidra's people had not.
As a result, the race of dragons became a mysterious existence, like creatures from a fairy tale. Their progenitor, who should have been their shepherd, was also forgotten by history, passed down only through the words of this one man.
"Lord, how do you know of him?"
"Would you believe me if I said I met him?"
"Well... frankly, that's hard to believe."
Roberta smiled, thinking he was joking.
"For a dragon born at the dawn of time to still be alive, it would need to have an incredibly long lifespan. An age so long that even several generations of Elves wouldn't be enough."
"It would be better to call it immortality... or say he was an eternal being, wouldn't it?"
He did not answer. Instead, he simply smiled back at her.
At this, she felt a sharp pang in her chest.
"Are you trying to say... he is still alive?"
"No. He died. Around the time the empire changed."
His lifespan ran out, he added.
"As you said, he had a very, very long life. He said he never knew he would live that long himself. He did not possess eternal life, so he eventually had to face death, but he is the only dragon to have lived out his natural lifespan."
"No. He died. Around the time the empire changed."
The time the empire changed refers to the period when a new dynasty was established.
For example, the second empire was that of the Isturia dynasty, and after it collapsed due to misrule, it went through a period of division before being re-established by the Yorcuster dynasty.
The divided empire was never fully unified, but the Yorcuster dynasty's claim to the imperial throne was recognized with the consent of the feudal lords, marking the beginning of the third empire.
That was over 1,600 years ago.
Roberta's eyes trembled.
He had mentioned his age before.
While talking about the Little Ice Age, he had said he was from before the establishment of the third empire. He had also called himself a pure human born at the dawn of time, subtly revealing who he was.
At the time, she had dismissed it as a bluff. How could a human, neither a Dwarf nor an Elf, live for over a thousand years? And while maintaining his youth, no less.
It was absurd.
But as time passed, and the more she met with the Lord, the more that conclusion wavered.
"How much of it could be true?"
Was any of it true to begin with?
She couldn't know. There was no proof.
Luobeidra was a being unrecorded in any text. Ulrich had no records from before he came to Dithmarschen. Even if someone Roberta trusted were to appear and say, 'It's true,' it was not a claim she could easily believe.
And yet, the assertion shook her to the core.
'If it were true••••••"
What if everything he said was the truth?
The consequences of that single assumption were far too great.
She quickly tried to shake the thought from her head. It was a conjecture that went beyond absurdity; it was blasphemous and dangerous. Her common sense screamed that it was impossible.
"Now you understand," Ulrich said.
Roberta snapped her head up. While she had been lost in thought, he had risen from his seat and was now standing before the entrance. Through the open door of the round tent, the Ger, the morning sun streamed in, carrying a warm breeze.
"The dragons are a fallen race. They're not completely gone, but they're destined to be soon. From the moment Luobeidra failed, their fate was sealed."
......
"How many people would take an interest in such a race, a people whose very progenitor has been forgotten? And who would believe they are still alive today?"
Her expression hardened, and she touched her lips.
Though she had seen all manner of races during her time at the Nua Grand Temple, she had neither seen nor heard of a dragon. She only believed in their existence because they remained in ancient texts.
If asked whether dragons still lived, she would have likely trailed off, saying, 'Perhaps somewhere.' If she, a Priestess, felt this way, it would be even harder for others to believe in their existence.
"And yet, our guests have come looking for a dragon."
Roberta recalled the day she had greeted the guests.
They had arrived around dusk. Just as the domain's residents, settled below the hills, were lighting fires to prepare dinner, six outsiders arrived in the city of Freiche.
It was a rare event for outsiders to visit Freiche, or Dithmarschen for that matter. What reason would anyone have to seek out this harsh, polar land? At most, it was a place where criminals with nowhere else to go ended up after a final, desperate struggle.
Since Lord Ulrich was in a deep sleep with the Bard tribe, the steward Bernhardt greeted them as the Lord's proxy. He asked their business
They had arrived around dusk. Just as the domain's residents, settled below the hills, were lighting fires to prepare dinner, six outsiders
it was a place where criminals with nowhere else to go ended up after a final, desperate struggle.
Since Lord Ulrich was in a deep sleep with the Bard tribe, the steward Bernhardt greeted them as the Lord's proxy. He asked their business
and they replied, 'We have come seeking a dragon. We need a guide.'
Bernhardt hesitated for a moment before asking Roberta to wake the Lord and relay the situation, saying he would provide an answer one way or another, whether the Lord came or not.
"What should I do? Shall I deliver a separate message for you?"
"No."
Ulrich shook his head.
"Didn't they say they need a guide?"
As they stepped out of the Ger, the tribe chief Kurt brought a horse over.
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