chapter18: The Children of Luobeidra(5)
The Uar whom Ulrich had summoned was a peculiar Giant.
As the sun reached its zenith, the Giant Uar and his group arrived before Ulrich. He was neither larger nor smaller than the other Giants, but his appearance was unique.
According to the scriptures, Giants are the creations of the god Takna, hairy beasts who lost their wisdom after being abandoned by their creator. Uar, however, had little body hair. Only his beard was long enough to touch the ground. He was bald, and from his neck to his shins, he was only slightly hairier than a human.
His attire was also different; while other Giants wore crudely stitched monster hides, he wore leather that was neatly cut and meticulously sewn, like armor. Furthermore, Ulrich had mentioned that he served not Takna, but Dieus, the King of the Heavens.
"Ulrich! You were looking for me!
Walking from a distance, he spotted Ulrich and shouted, spreading his arms wide. His roar was loud enough to shake the snow from the stone walls.
Leaving his group behind, he strode forward alone. Being a Giant, each of his steps covered several times the distance of a human's, and the ground groaned heavily with each one.
Ulrich also spread his arms to greet him. The difference in their physiques was so great that Uar had to bend his knees. At a glance, it looked less like an embrace and more like he was about to crush his bones.
How long has it been? About ten years?"
Uar, this peculiar Giant, did not speak with a slur. Giants have low intelligence, which is evident in their slurred speech and clumsy actions, but Uar showed no such traits.
A little over twelve years.
"Not long at all, then. Especially for you, it must feel very short."
"Well, not necessarily."
The two men released their embrace. Knowing he would have to look far down even if he stood up, Uar kept his knees bent to meet his eyes and asked.
I heard you've been through a lot.
Ulrich narrowed his eyes.
"You have sharp ears for someone living in a place like this. Who did you hear it from?"
"A dragon. I have ears, too. I know what I know."
Averting the questioning gaze, Uar looked behind Ulrich. Roberta and the rest of the party had taken a few steps back. Uar looked them over, his eyes showing a peculiar interest when they landed on Roberta.
Roberta, on the other hand, had been listening quietly to the two men's conversation and flinched when her eyes met the Giant's. The Giant's face was covered by the skull of a monster. His bright yellow eyes glinted through the eye sockets.
"Who's that over there? Taken a new woman?"
At the sudden question, she asked back, "Pardon?"
Roberta, on the other hand, had been listening quietly to the two men's conversation and flinched when her eyes met the Giant's. The Giant's face was covered by the skull of a monster. His bright yellow eyes glinted through the eye sockets.
At the sudden question, she asked back, "Pardon?"
"She is my Priestess. Alonso raised her."
At the words Priestess and Alonso, his eyes glinted even more fiercely as he scanned her from head to toe. "That crafty old man?" Uar muttered.
Roberta was certain there was some kind of connection between the Giant before her and the man who was like a father to her. After all, when Alonso was appointed head priest, he too would have set foot on the Ice Peninsula.
"Passing on the mantle, is he? A human's time is certainly fleeting."
"You could also say our time runs too deep."
"Perhaps," Uar replied, then threw a jest.
"I thought you might have taken a new woman, but this is unexpected."
"It's not the kind of relationship you're thinking of."
"True, I'd heard you took in and raised another's child, but I never heard anything about you taking a woman. Do you plan to keep it that way?"
"As long as I remain Ulrich of Dithmarschen."
Uar scratched his bald head.
"Still as stubborn as ever."
In human terms, his appearance was that of a middle-aged man. But the lifespan of a Giant was not specified in the scriptures, and since he looked like a human with gigantism, it was impossible to be certain.
"The reason you called me must be Narvakayani, right?"
Ulrich nodded.
Yes, I need to meet him. Guide me.
"What are you going to do there? If it's like last time, it'll be a problem for me too."
"This time will be different. It's not my problem, but his."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"He's had a child."
At the word "child," the hand scratching his head froze.
"A dragon, a child?"
Soon, his eyes widened in surprise. He looked at Ulrich, then scanned the party listening behind him.
"Judging by the looks of this lot, the partner must have been human?"
Uar's gaze swept past Roberta, over each of the Duke's vassals, and stopped on Duke Bailen. Unlike his vassals, Bailen met the Giant's stare. As if finding this amusing, Uar let out a snort of laughter and stood up.
"A half-breed of human and dragon... A very, very rare thing. Isn't this the first since Luobeidra, the progenitor of dragons, died?"
"Not the first. There have been a few others in between."
"Is that so? But it must be a first for him, right?"
With wide strides, the Giant passed Ulrich and approached Duke Bailen. Though they knew he meant no harm, the Duke's vassals instinctively sensed danger and placed their hands on their waists. The Duke, however, waved them back and stepped forward.
A large, strong hand seized Bailen's head. From Uar's perspective, it was more of a light touch than a grab, but his hand was so large it looked like he was holding an egg.
"Narvakayani... to think he'd make a child."
The Giant muttered to himself as he examined Bailen all over. When he moved the hand on his head slightly, Bailen's neck twisted sharply, and a cry of "Ugh!" escaped him.
"Ah. My apologies."
Even as he said it, his hand did not stop.
escaped him.
"Ah. My apologies."
Even as he said it, his hand did not stop.
"Is it because you're young? You don't even have scales. Are you sure you're a dragon's child?"
"I-It's true. Narvakayani is my father."
"Whoa, if you say so."
When the hand was removed, Bailen staggered, clutching his neck. His face had turned beet red, and his breathing was ragged. At the sight, Uar apologized again, but Bailen could only glare back, his face contorted in pain.
"Why are you looking for him?"
"Does a son need a reason to seek his father?"
"Considering his personality, I doubt he even saw you being born. And you're telling me you've risked your life to meet a father like that?"
"Of course—" Uar cut Bailen off.
"Do you think I'm as stupid as other Giants? I know exactly what you came here for! And it's not a very good reason, either."
Bailen couldn't say anything and bit his lip.
"If you didn't come for some other reason, but simply because you're dissatisfied with your life, you'd be better off complaining to that human over there than to the dragon."
"...What do you mean?"
Bailen asked, his voice still laced with pain.
Because the reason you were born lies with that human.
A thick index finger pointed at Ulrich.
"Why would a creature who doesn't even mate with his own kind take a mere human as a partner? It must be because something made him take an interest in the human race."
......:
"And as far as I know, that human is the only one connected to Narvakayani. They traveled together before he started using the name Ulrich. He must have been influenced back then."
Bailen was not surprised. He already knew of the existence of Lorang. Besides, the very fact that he knew Narvakayani implied a connection. However, his eyebrows raised slightly, surprised that their relationship was significant enough to be described as an 'influence,' as Uar had put it.
"We traveled together for a while. A long time ago."
Ulrich said, looking at Bailen.
"If you ask how much of an influence it was, well, I don't know. It wasn't my intention, and he isn't one to reveal his thoughts."
Uar snorted, "Hmph," and scratched his neck.
"That's how dragons are. If they were the type to show their emotions and change easily, they would have ushered in their own age, not be hiding in a place like this."
"A fair point."
Ulrich nodded and took off his backpack.
Before him, Uar shot him a questioning look, muttering in a voice too loud for a soliloquy, 'How did a stubborn dragon come to take an interest in a human?' Instead of an explanation, he took a bundle from his backpack and tossed it over.
"This should be enough for payment, right? It's from the Sho Elves."
Uar caught it and unwrapped it, revealing tobacco leaves.
• More than enough.
He held it to his nose and sniffed the aroma. It was a mere handful compared to his size, but he broke into a wide grin. Then, Uar gestured to the Giants who had come with him.
The Giants each lifted one of Ulrich's party members onto their backs. Roberta and the others were startled by the sudden hands reaching for them, but they soon realized they couldn't escape the Giants' grasp and were carried on their backs toward the mountain.
One often feels a sense of futility when seeing others effortlessly achieve what one has struggled so hard for, and Roberta thought this was one of those times.
Carried on the Giant's back, she felt the cold wind as she watched the mountain grow larger before her. Their party, which had started with eight, was now six. It had taken them fourteen days to reach the tower built by humans from before recorded history.
The straight-line distance between their starting point and destination was short, if you could call it that, but they had to take detours to find safe paths.
The distance and path from the tower to their final destination were similar. By eye, it seemed they could arrive in a day or two, but the actual journey would take twice as long.
But the Giants were not human.
The Giants simply ran straight ahead with all their might. If a human had tried the same, they would have been attacked by monsters or blocked by cliffs, but before the Giants, monsters fled, and cliffs were simply things to be climbed!
"We will wait here."
It took less than half a day to cross two peaks and reach their destination. The Giants of Uar set the humans down at the foot of an unnamed mountain in the Kaldorikai mountain range.
"How long do you think it will take? Will a day be enough?"
Uar asked.
"If it takes longer, I'll send word."
'Alright! Let's do that.'
He looked over the party, then slapped Bailen's shoulder a few times with a massive hand. Bailen bent at the waist and bit his lip. Seeing this, Roberta thought that the blood of a dragon certainly seemed to flow through him.
"Bailen, was it? I pray that things are settled well. In the name of Dieus nim."
'Th-th, thank you...'
"You'll be disappointed when you meet him, though. Just remember one thing: the reason you were born, and that nothing lasts forever. That should make it a little better."
Then, just before turning to leave, Uar bowed slightly to Ulrich and handed him something. Ulrich stared at it for a moment, then closed his eyes briefly as if in silent prayer before opening them and putting it in his coat.
The Giant whispered in a voice too small for his frame. Ulrich listened without a word and clenched his fist. Roberta sent him a questioning look, but he looked at her and shook his head as if to say, 'Not now.'
"'Well then, see you later.'"
Those who had appeared with the ringing of the earth left with the ringing of the earth.
In the heart of the Ice Peninsula, rife with disasters and monsters, the Giants said they would wait for days, hunting, and then disappeared into the blizzard.
None of the humans worried about their carefree attitude. On the way here, carried on their backs, they had seen Uar chase down and trample a fleeing monster.
If anything, it was the humans' situation, left all alone at the mountain's entrance, that was cause for concern.
"What do we do now?"
Roberta asked.
This must be the destination Ulrich spoke of, she thought. But all she could see was a towering, snow-covered mountain and snow whipping in the wind.
When Ulrich had climbed the mountain, he had found a cave in a place that seemed to have nothing and used it as a shelter. And dragons live in lairs. Where could a cave be hidden that she couldn't see?
"Wait. He'll have noticed we're here."
Where could a cave be hidden?
"Wait. He'll have noticed we're here."
Noticed?
Roberta followed Ulrich's gaze. He was looking straight ahead, at what at first glance seemed to be the steep entrance to the snowy mountain. But if one looked closely, heightening one's senses, the flow of Mana was shimmering like a heat haze.
On the Ice Peninsula, the concentration of Mana was dense and its flow erratic everywhere, so such sights were common. But Roberta's intuition told her something was different.
- Come in.
Just then, words echoed in her mind.
She and the others started in shock and looked at each other. *Did you hear that too?* their expressions asked. When they looked back at Ulrich, he was already stepping forward.
The space Roberta had just been watching rippled like water. She quickly followed him. As her body touched the ripple, she felt a pulling sensation and her eyes closed. When she opened them again, a place that was not the snowy mountain filled her vision.
"Where...?"
It was a garden.
A garden with none of that fierce wind or snow, but filled with a warmth like a spring day. Not a mountain covered in pure white snow, but a garden of leaves ripened to a deep jade, multicolored flowers, and the chirping of insects.
As the biting cold vanished in an instant, her body temperature rose sharply. Roberta, wearing several layers of cold-weather clothing, thought she would soon start to feel hot.
An illusion?
"It's not an illusion."
Ulrich stated firmly.
"He created nature itself, by wielding Mana."
"But isn't this the Ice Peninsula?"
"To be precise, the mountain entrance we saw just now is the illusion. He carved out a part of the mountain, decorated it like this, and hid that part within the whole so it can't be seen from the outside:"
"Impossible," one of the vassals muttered unconsciously.
"A dragon is also a sorcerer who harbors the dregs of myth. It's incomprehensible from the perspective of this era, which can't distinguish between myth and illusion."
The party followed Ulrich. There was no hesitation in his steps. Like someone who had come to a familiar place, he found his way and headed to one side of the garden.
He stopped in front of a man. A round table and a tea set were arranged in the garden. The man was seated as if he were a nobleman enjoying the elegant pastime of drinking tea.
He wore clothes of a fabric so thin his skin showed through, and their color was pure white. He was also young, a beautiful young man. He sat with his legs crossed, hands clasped on top of them, and spoke to Ulrich with a smile.
"Last time you came while I was sleeping. What is it this time? Ulrich of Dithmarschen, or is it a different name this time? At least it doesn't seem to be for thievery:"
Suddenly, Roberta recalled what the elder Brase had said on her first day of appointment in Dithmarschen.
'It was true.'
He said he'd met a sleeping dragon. He also said he'd felled a Giant with a whip. With this, two of those stories were proven true. There were a few other tales, but she couldn't remember them.
"Unfortunately, not this time."
"This time?"
The young man—no, Narvakayani—tilted his head. His black eyes, the same as Ulrich's, left Ulrich and surveyed the party.
"Unfortunately, not this time."
"This time?"
The young man—no, Narvakayani—tilted his head. His black eyes, the same as Ulrich's, left Ulrich and surveyed the party.
A peculiar light shone in his emotionless face. He rose from his seat and approached Bailen. Though no one had introduced the Duke, his father seemed to have sensed something unknown to others.
"So there was another who had the same idea as me. This form... did you choose to be human? Or has the time not yet come?"
Two white, soft hands touched Bailen's face.
"Who is this? Whose child are you?"
Bailen hesitated, about to say his mother's name.
"Who besides me made a child with a human? The father or the mother?"
"He is your son, Kayani."
"My son?"
At Ulrich's words, the dragon in human form blinked.
"Whose son?"
"'Penelope's."
Bailen raised his hands, took hold of his father's, and answered.
"Penelope:"
The dragon stopped blinking and mulled over the name.
"You don't remember."
"Impossible."
"Then—"
"Why did you come?"
"My mother left a will and a keepsake."
"That human female told you to find me?"
"Impossible. I am a dragon. Unlike that human over there, time does not bring me forgetfulness. Penelope, Penelope of Carbonihar, human, female, for me to forget"
The dragon asked again.
"Why?"
Bailen started to answer, but stopped.
The human the dragon had become was looking at him. Wiping away the smile he had shown Ulrich, the peculiar light he had shown Bailen, the blinking—all such pretense—he asked with a face that was simply beautiful.
"You didn't come here to become a dragon?"
It was a pure question. An act of asking because he truly could not think of another reason, because he truly did not understand his son's purpose. *Dragons do not form packs. They are too arrogant to tolerate even a progenitor.* Roberta recalled Ulrich's words.
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