chapter 15: The Children of Luobeidra(2)
In the year Banares was born a prince of the Carbonihar Kingdom and turned ten, his father was assassinated. The assassin usurped the throne and sought to cut out the seeds of vengeance by killing the young prince.
Count Bellido said of this, 'Was it any great matter for a usurper who beat his king to death to kill a mere ten-year-old prince? The prince's death was a foregone conclusion. However, it is said that a knight, who was staying as a guest of the royal family, rescued him and fled to a neighboring country.
It is said that the knight's valor was so great that he faced six knights alone and shook off his pursuers for forty-eight days. And after entrusting the prince to the queen of the neighboring country, he departed to become a guest in yet another land.
"Afterward, the prince spent eight years there. And when he came of age, he dreamed of revenge by borrowing the queen's soldiers, but... because the neighboring country was destroyed, his revenge could not even begin."
Knowing Banares would seek revenge, the usurper launched a surprise attack and destroyed the neighboring country. Banares was captured after resisting and was transported before the usurper in a cart.
This was the second crisis.
And this time, too, a certain guest saved him.
The escort party stopped in a certain city, and there was a hunter there. The hunter, who had stopped by briefly to sell his wares in the city, saw the prince trapped in the cart and rescued him in the middle of the night, then fled.
The two crossed a forest where a mad witch lived and headed for another country. Naturally, a pursuit party followed them, and their numbers were said to be greater than the trees of Sho.
However, their great numbers incurred the witch's wrath, so while the prince reached another country safely, not a single member of the pursuit party left Sho alive.
The Count added, 'Among neighboring countries, some interpret it not as the witch becoming angry, but that the hunter commanded the witch. We don't know for certain, as all these stories were passed down by word of mouth from him."
The clear fact is that the hunter also left after saving the prince.
"The third and fourth times were the same. Just before he was to be executed after being framed for attempting a coup, and when he fell into a comatose state for years after being poisoned, there were guests who brought him proof of his innocence and the antidote, respectively."
The knight, the hunter, the Priestess, the Alchemist—these four guests all appeared with different names and different professions to save Banares, and when their work was done, they left without taking any reward.
In the year he turned thirty-eight, twenty-eight years after his father was murdered, Banares gathered his forces and achieved his revenge against the usurper.
Afterward, he ruled Carbonihar until he reached the age of ninety.
During his reign, the kingdom's territory grew severalfold. He married the princess of a neighboring country, and the two nations became one. He also punished the country that had framed him and made it submit.
Although it was hundreds of years later that the country's name became known across the continent, historians assess that Carbonihar's national power was actually greater during Banares's reign.
When the story was over, Roberta asked.
"What happened to those guests?"
"Right after the Great King reclaimed his throne, he searched for the guests. To repay their kindness, he sent out notices to every corner of the country. But it is said they never came."
........
Also, strangely... the notices did not describe their names or features. Like a letter, they were written with thanks, blessings, and finally, hope for them."
Based on this, the Count commented that Banares might have known the four guests would not seek him out again, and perhaps sent the notices merely to convey his feelings.
"Priestess-nim, you asked about the relationship between Great King Banares and the Duke of Dithmarschen. What if, I say, the four guests were one person? And what if that person was Duke Ulrich of Dithmarschen?"
Do you also think those four were one person, Count-nim?
"I do not know. Frankly, it doesn't feel real."
That would be so, Roberta thought, nodding.
Banares was as good as the founder of the Carbonihar Kingdom. Hadn't it been 20 years since the throne was usurped? It was enough time for a nation to be destroyed and a new dynasty to be established. Therefore, the moment he reclaimed the throne was also the moment the kingdom faced its second founding.
"Do you also think those four were one person, Count-nim?"
"I do not know. Frankly, it doesn't feel real."
That would be so, Roberta thought, nodding.
It was enough time for a nation to be destroyed and a new dynasty to be established. Therefore, the moment he reclaimed the throne was also the moment the kingdom faced its second founding.
That founder faced four crises in his lifetime, was helped by a different person each time, and that story has been told among the people ever since.
The reasons would be varied. The special talents shown by each guest. The way they appeared in times of crisis to help, then vanished like smoke. The ending where he wished to see them again his whole life but never could—all were sufficient to make a good story.
But what if they were one person?
Furthermore, what if that person were still alive today?
"They say all sorts of liars appeared while the Great King was alive. They even showed up on the day he was on his deathbed, seeking a reward. Even though they knew neither the names nor the faces, you see."
They met a terrible end, the Count added.
"The only ones who know the details about the four guests are the members of the royal family. Today, Duke Bailen, my lord, is the only one who heard the story directly from the Great King, and the reason I believe it is because my lord believes it so."
Roberta thought.
If what Duke Bailen believed was true, then Ulrich, the Lord of Dithmarschen, was a person who had lived more than twice as long as the records showed.
He had hinted before that he had lived for 1,600 years or more, but that was merely his own claim.
But now?
Duke Bailen had vouched that four names, including the name Lorang, were Ulrich's former names. Bailen had no reason to lie.
In that case, was Ulrich a person who had lived for more than 600 years?
Ulrich claimed to be a pure human. A pure human with no other races mixed in his ancestry.
That in itself was a preposterous claim, but even accepting it did not solve the mystery of his long lifespan.
'Ulrich, Lorang, and there must be other names besides.'
However, the question she had at that moment was not about his lifespan.
She had heard too much about his lifespan and had already concluded that the answer was unknowable. Rather than clinging to an unprovable problem, she seized upon a new question.
The question was: what kind of life did he live under his other names? He had said, 'I changed my name every time I moved my residence.' What names did he use each time, and what mark did he leave with each of those names?
She was curious about that. Hadn't the names of his that had been revealed so far left huge, unknown footprints in history?
600 years ago, he was Lorang.
For the last 300 years, he has been Ulrich of Dithmarschen.
He was the person who had allowed two human kingdoms, Carbonihar and Osnover, to rise again. Could such a figure have spent the 300 years in between quietly?
Roberta was certain that was absolutely not the case.
.
The next day, the party descended the snowy mountain as Ulrich had said.
The descent was steep, but their spirits were high. After staying on the snowy mountain for several days, they were sick of the sight of it. The blood-freezing blizzards, the monsters gliding on the blizzard winds, the rugged mountain terrain—there was nothing to like.
[MISSING]
The next day, the party descended the snowy mountain as Ulrich had said.
The plains below the mountain were a white land covered in snow, but unlike the mountain, the blizzard had stopped, and no villages were in sight. On the surface, it was so quiet as to make its moniker of Magyeong seem meaningless.
But they soon found themselves missing the snowy mountain.
Once they started walking on the plains, they realized the mountain's tantrums had been mere child's play. After all, an environment comfortable for humans would hardly be uncomfortable for other plants and animals, would it? Evidence that Ulrich's warning about the monsters was not fiction soon began to appear.
"Uh, uhh?"
Crunch, crunch. Someone made a sound while walking on the snowy path.
Realizing the emotion in that sound was bewilderment, Roberta turned around to see the ground caving in. Where she stood, the ground only rumbled beneath her feet. But it was different for the two people at the rear of the party.
The snow-covered ground collapsed, forming a conical hole. Simultaneously, Count Bellido and one of his vassals slid into it.
And the moment the vassal fell to the bottom of the pit, a pincer shot out, bit his waist, and dragged him down.
'Damn it!' Count Bellido shouted.
The monster was not alone.
Another monster appeared with its pincers wide open and bit Bellido. Unlike the vassal, he had rolled away quickly, so his waist was not bitten, but his left thigh was caught instead.
That was the extent of his resistance. Bellido lost his balance and fell, as there was nothing to grab onto. When the monster pulled him, he was dragged helplessly.
"Bellido!"
Duke Bailen took a step forward, ready to jump in.
But before he could, Ulrich leaped into the hole.
Ulrich landed next to Bellido and, with a swing of the sword in his right hand, cut off the monster's head. The monster's head had a hard exoskeleton like that of a crustacean, yet the sword cut through it with a clean slice, as if cutting through air.
Then he pried open the pincers, freeing Bellido's thigh, and threw him out of the hole.
"Get out of there, quickly!"
Bailen bent his knees and urgently reached out his hand. Ulrich shook his head, turned his back to him, and scanned the surroundings. The vassal who had been caught by the pincers first was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't come in. Stay far back."
The pit shook.
Below, in the hole of mixed white snow and black sand, an unknown number of monsters began to move. They must have realized Ulrich was no ordinary prey and were now wary.
*Whoosh*, sand flew into the air.
To stop their prey from climbing the slope, or perhaps to obstruct its vision, the monsters violently sprayed the snow-mixed sand. And the pincers of five monsters bit into Ulrich.
From his feet and thighs to his waist and chest, they attacked and bit all at once, giving their prey no time to react. Ulrich cut down the one that bit his chest, but the remaining four dragged him to the bottom of the pit.
"Lord!"
Roberta let out a cry that was close to a scream.
Ulrich did not open his mouth. Even though he had been dragged down to his waist in mere seconds, he calmly gripped his sword with a practiced hand and stabbed downward.
The inside of the sand shook, and his body shook with it. The monster must be twisting its body in pain and rage. At that, he raised his arm higher and again
"Lord!
Roberta let out a cry that was close to a scream.
Ulrich did not open his mouth. Even though he had been dragged down to his waist in mere seconds, he calmly gripped his sword with a practiced hand and stabbed downward.
The inside of the sand shook, and so did his body. The monster must be twisting its jaws in pain and rage. At that, he raised his arm higher and stabbed again.
___
An eardrum-splitting, bizarre scream leaked out of the hole. And as the vibrations in the hole grew more violent, they pulled Ulrich completely under.
Roberta, Bailen, Bellido, and the vassals could do nothing but stare down blankly. They could only sense the blood welling up crimson on the pit's surface, the sound of crushing bones, and the vibrations beneath their feet.
How much time had passed?
The blood began to recede below the surface of the pit.
As if returning to its master, the blood that had mixed inseparably with the snow and earth drained away. The snow turned white, the earth black, returning to their original colors, and the hole was left with only the trace of a past commotion.
Before long, the center of the pit rose up, and Ulrich stood. He held his sword in his right hand, and in his left, the vassal, of whom only the upper body remained. His already light clothing was tattered like rags.
But, there were no wounds. The circumstances spoke of the bloody battle he had endured, but bizarrely, his skin was white and clean, without a single scratch.
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