chapter19: The Children of Luobeidra(6)
"Did you hear me?"
Duke Bailen did not answer.
He stood with a complex expression, facing the young man before him. It was the form of a handsome human male. His skin was pale, and his eyes and hair were as black as a moonless room.
The young man was his father. Duke Bailen had lived for over 600 years, his appearance now settling into that of a middle-aged man, yet his father looked less than half his son's age.
With no resemblance in the color of their skin, eyes, or hair, nor even in their features, no one would ever suspect they were related by blood. And yet, they were father and son.
For the young man was not human. He was a dragon named Narvakayani, and his current form was nothing more than a mask he had carved for himself.
"Bailen, you came to be compensated by me, did you not? To demand a price for my leaving your mother, the human woman, Penelope."
There was no warmth in the father's face as he looked at his son. Nor was it cold. To Narvakayani, Bailen seemed no different from any other object before his eyes.
"I—"
"Bailen came to see you, Kayani."
Ulrich interjected, cutting Bailen off.
"The reason is that you are his father."
"Not to ask for help with his molting?"
*True. I can't say that's not part of it at all.*
"Is that truly the reason?"
Narvakayani tilted his head. It was not a sarcastic tone. It was a tone of pure inquiry, as if asking how that could possibly be a reason.
"You haven't changed. Not one bit."
"It seems so. I believed I had come to understand humans, but I see now I was wrong. It seems acting, no matter how well done, is still just acting."
"Acting?"
Bailen asked, his tone incredulous.
"Are you saying what you did to my mother was an act?"
Narvakayani answered without a hint of hesitation, "Yes."
"To be precise, I should say I was 'imitating.' I spent a long time with Ulrich, observed how he treated other humans, and merely copied what I saw."
"Wh-what..."
"From the beginning, I never planned to stay long with that human woman, Penelope. Did he not tell you? Dragons do not form packs."
Family and descendants are concepts valued by humans, but to them, to dragons, they mean nothing, Narvakayani added. Unless circumstances made it unavoidable, dragons do not form groups.
"To be precise, I should say I was 'imitating.' I spent a long time with Ulrich, observed how he treated other humans, and merely copied what I saw."
"Wh-what..."
Family and descendants are concepts valued by humans, but to them, to dragons, they mean nothing, Narvakayani added. Unless circumstances made it unavoidable, dragons do not form groups.
"Then... then, what was your plan? Why did you choose my mother, and why was I born? If your actions were an act, a plan, there must have been a reason, mustn't there?"
"I wanted to understand humans."
Narvakayani turned his back and sat in a chair placed before a round table. He then gestured for the humans to sit. Though no one accepted his offer, he tilted a teapot over an empty teacup.
The aroma of the tea in the cup rode a gentle breeze and reached the humans. Roberta unconsciously frowned slightly. It was Songhwacha.
Never expecting to smell that intense aroma in this place, at this moment, she felt a sense of absurdity before suddenly looking at Ulrich. Her intuition whispered that the actions of the dragon in a human mask resembled someone's.
"Ulrich, Ulrich of Dithmarschen."
Narvakayani said, looking at him.
"You're using that name for quite a long time. I thought you'd be tired of it by now. What name will you use next?"
Ulrich did not answer. As if he hadn't expected one, Narvakayani continued speaking as he gently stirred his teacup.
"When that man who neither ages nor dies used the name Oscar, he brought me out from my lair, made me his squire, and we roamed the world. It was then that I felt the need to understand humans."
When the dragon in a human mask first wandered the world, the era, he said, already belonged to humans. In the age of humans, a dragon was no more than a ferocious beast, so even if a dragon revealed its true form, humans would be surprised only for a moment before treating it as prey.
How could humans, with their tiny bodies crawling on the ground, capture a dragon that frolicked in the sky? How had the Dwarves and Elves been defeated by humans and had their era stolen away?
Narvakayani wanted to know, and so he sought to understand humans. He decided to experience their lives as a human himself.
"Penelope, meeting that spirited human woman was a coincidence."
He took a sip of tea and continued.
"I sought to understand humans through her. It was but a fleeting moment compared to the ages Oscar and I have held, and though it ultimately failed... it was a decent experience."
The reason he left a descendant was his own form of payment. He had judged there was nothing more to be gained by staying with Penelope, and so, just before leaving, he decided to grant one of her wishes.
*A wish.* At that word, Bailen's shoulders trembled. His existence revealed his mother's choice. And also, the choice she had given up by having him.
"As I recall, Penelope has no reason to look for me. If she had enough sentiment to leave word for you to find me, she would have chosen me over you in the first place. By asking me to stay. That's why when you said you came, I thought her last words were an excuse, and that your molting was the real reason."
A dragon can change its form into that of another race. What happens if it produces offspring in the form of another race? Usually, the child is born with the appearance of that changed race and remains so until death.
However, some lose their previous form. This process is like shedding skin, so it is called molting. A half-blood who undergoes molting becomes a sibling closer to a dragon.
Narvakayani asked again if that wasn't what he wanted.
"Bailen, is there truly no other reason?"
"It would be an obvious lie to say there isn't. Of course there is."
Bailen let out a hollow, low laugh. The formality in his speech vanished.
"But it's also true that I came because you are my father, and to deliver my mother's last words. So much so that it's hard to say which reason came first."
He took out a letter wrapped in silk from his coat. It must be the letter his mother left. Narvakayani glanced at it for a moment as he took it out, but that was all.
He took out a letter wrapped in silk from his coat. It must be the letter his mother left. Narvakayani glanced at it for a moment as he took it out, but that was all.
"I see. But the order doesn't matter. In the end, the moment you arrived before me, you've achieved all your goals, haven't you? You've met your father, you can deliver your mother's last words, and I can make your molting happen."
Bailen tilted his head back with a deep sigh. He could see the sky. The blizzard on the Ice Peninsula had been so fierce, yet the sky in the garden crafted by the dragon was clear, without a single cloud.
The journey was now nearing its end. Meeting his father, seeing his mother, achieving his molting—all could be accomplished with just a word or two.
"So this is a dragon."
But what came out of his mouth was a long breath, almost a lament.
A void, devoid of any sense of accomplishment, settled upon him.
"Lorang, I'd like to ask you something."
"Speak."
"What happens when one molts?"
He wasn't asking because he truly didn't know the facts about molting.
"It differs for each individual. If you're lucky, you become a complete dragon."
"...Does that mean I become a being like my father?"
"There's a high probability of that."
"What happens if I'm not lucky?"
That, too, differs for each individual, Ulrich replied.
"You just don't become a dragon, but the ambiguous state of being between human and dragon is resolved. You have certain expectations, don't you? You can assume most of them will be fulfilled. However, the problems are the same."
*Tap, tap,* he tapped his temple with his index finger.
Bailen nodded as if he had expected as much.
"In the end, you were right, Lorang. I had hoped that by coming here all my problems would be solved, but not a single one is being resolved completely. I understand now why you told me of this journey."
"You seem greatly disappointed."
"How could I not be?"
Silence followed, then Ulrich spoke.
"Not necessarily. I could be wrong."
*What do you mean?* Bailen's gaze asked.
"Did I not say? It's a matter of possibility. After molting, you could become a dragon. And, unlike Kayani, you might still be able to understand us. It's the same even if you don't become a dragon."
It's not without precedent, Ulrich added.
"If you become such a being, how about you try doing what I did?"
He was talking about when he roamed the world with the dragon under the name Oscar. Bailen recalled this and his eyes showed a flicker of interest, but he soon dismissed it.
"What would change by doing that?"
"What was the result of my actions?"
"......"
"I didn't accompany Kayani to change him. I was merely forced to take him as a squire against my will. As a result, you came to exist in this world. If I hadn't been with him, would you be here?"
Ulrich approached Bailen and placed a hand on his head.
"Nothing is eternal. In this world, there is nothing that does not change."
"I didn't accompany Kayani to change him. I was merely forced to take him as a squire against my will. As a result, you came to exist in this world. If
If I hadn't been with him, would you even exist?"
Ulrich approached Bailen and placed a hand on his head.
"Nothing is eternal. In this world, there is nothing that does not change."
Not all dragons formed broods. The progenitor of dragons, Luobeidra, and a few other dragons knew how to understand humans.
Their numbers were too few to change the fate of their race, Ulrich said, but wasn't it possible to change a single dragon?
"But••• what if I become unable to understand you?"
"For you, this is only the first time. For Banares, it was four."
Bailen trembled.
"If not that, you could always give up on molting and just persevere. Fortunately, you'll have plenty of time, so isn't it worth a try? Rather than succumbing to the tedium of the ages and being swept away by impulse, take on an endless challenge. I wouldn't mind teaching you until you grow weary of it, or until your time runs out."
Lorang smiled, stroking Bailen's head as if recalling a child he had cared for. The appearances of the two made it seem as if their roles were reversed, but none of the humans present perceived it.
"If that child comes to understand you, if that truly happens, then our journey will have been truly worthwhile."
Ulrich said quietly, in a gentle voice.
"And when that time comes, let me know. For I have more time than all of you. I will wait for as long as it takes. Descendant of Banares."
Bailen's eyes reddened, and soon, tears streamed down his face.
Yes, I will do so, Lorang.
Bailen, Duke and grandson of the Great King Banares, decided to awaken his father's blood.
He told Ulrich and Roberta that once he finished molting, he would travel the world with Narvakayani. The remaining vassals also decided to follow him.
Narvakayani welcomed his half-blood son's decision. He hoped that he might learn from his half-blood son the feelings he could not understand in pure humans.
Could he really succeed?
Roberta wondered.
She hoped Bailen would achieve his goal, but hoping for something and it being possible were two different things. Hadn't Ulrich told her that even the progenitor of dragons couldn't save his own race? Of course, Bailen wasn't trying to change a race, just a single dragon.
On top of that, it was uncertain whether he could even complete the molting safely. He might not become a full dragon, or he might lose his humanity.
No. He can do it. I have to believe that!
She shook her head, chiding herself to stop thinking such foolish thoughts. Bailen was a strong person. He would be able to overcome any trial that came his way.
But she would not be there to see the result. Because she was a human, with no other blood mixed in, by the time Bailen achieved his goal, she would have returned to dust.
Such was the life of a human, unable even to wait. The only thing she could do was pray in the name of Ganimea. Every day, she prayed for those she had formed bonds with in her short life, and now, Duke Bailen and his vassals were added to that list.
Though not devout, with a sincere heart she prayed to Ganimea, who had left the Heavens. She also prayed for Hestio to return and lead humanity once more.
'Mother Ganiea, please watch over the humans your son has cultivated.
Though not devout, with a sincere heart she prayed to Ganiea, who had left the Heavens. She also prayed for Hestio to return and lead humanity once more.
'Mother Ganiea, please watch over the humans your son has cultivated:
Roberta finished her prayer and stood up.
It was the dawn, with the sun just beginning to show signs of rising.
A fortnight after the eight humans departed, two returned, riding a Giant. With the Giant's help, Roberta and Ulrich returned to the city of Freiche.
And so, the journey on the Ice Peninsula with the visitors from the Carbonihar Kingdom came to an end.
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