chapter23: The Journey(3)
The word monster originally referred to the creations of evil gods. In the age of gods, when the three deities Kunkhan, Takna, and Galpa wielded their power in the Heavens, their descendants sown upon the world were the ones called monsters.
However, as time passed, the meaning of monster changed. This was because the creations of the evil gods either no longer served their creators or had died out, greatly reducing the number of beings to which the term applied.
The word became a general term for any creature that committed evil acts, even if it wasn't a creation of an evil god. The monsters that attacked Luman's village were one such example.
About 80 years ago, a horde of monsters reached the County of Goeten.
No one knew where this species had originated or how they had come to be there. What was certain was that it was not the Ice Peninsula. For Dithmarschen stood guard over the peninsula. A single creature might slip through, but a horde could not.
They had heads like pigs, walked on two legs like humans, and were slightly taller than Dwarves. Their intelligence was lower than that of a Giant, and they could not speak a language. However, they reproduced faster than any other monster. By the time their existence was first discovered, their numbers had already swelled into the hundreds.
Even so, it should not have been a major problem. It was a County, after all. This was also long before the Osnover Kingdom was embroiled in civil war. Could the Count of Goeten not handle a mere horde of monsters?
The problem was a lapse in vigilance.
In Dithmarschen of the North, a man who had married into the ruling family had been governing for over 200 years. As he culled the monsters of the Ice Peninsula, the people of the south let their guard down completely.
'Surely, no monsters will come, right?'
'Even if some happen to cross over by chance, they'll be a weak species.'
The soldiers who should have been guarding against monsters were spent trying to gain a sliver of territory, and the monsters safely grew into a legion. The Count of Goeten must have realized his own foolishness the moment he faced the monsters in his nightclothes.
It was then that Ulrich of Dithmarschen made his move. Upon hearing the news, he led his monster hunters and hunted the monsters that had become a legion.
The monsters, which had been capturing humans to swell their numbers, fled, and the last place they reached was Luman's village. The boy, Luman, was one of the children who survived that day.
Summer sunlight streamed through the room's wide-open window.
Chief Luman stood before Ulrich, supporting his gaunt, withered body on two emaciated legs. He was also holding Ulrich's hand with his own two bony hands.
Ulrich, unconcerned by the old man's actions, closed his eyes as if lost in thought. Reflected in Luman's cloudy eyes, he was young. So young, he looked younger than Luman's own grandson. But the reality was different. He was a man older than Luman.
So young, he looked younger than Luman's own grandson. But the reality was different. He was a man older than Luman.
Some said he had come to the frozen lands of the North more than three hundred years ago. Luman had no way of knowing whether this claim was true or false. Nor did he have any intention of finding out.
Only one thing was important. The fact that the man before him was the same person he had met the year he was nine, the person he had met only that one time.
Now I remember.
Ulrich said, opening his eyes.
"There was a boy who fled carrying his sister on his back."
"Yes. You remember."
A deep smile spread across Luman's wrinkled face. Luman, too, remembered the day Ulrich spoke of. Even now, eighty years later, whenever he tried to recall that day, it came back to him with uncanny clarity.
Time tends to fade even memories one vows never to forget, painting over them with the name of nostalgia, but the memory of that day was an exception.
It was an afternoon when the world was stained red, whether by the sunset or by flames. Monsters appeared and killed the adults. The children were captured, and the boy's sister was wounded.
After felling one monster with his father's sword, Luman fled into the open plains with his sister on his back, with nowhere to hide. To his sister, who told him without emotion to leave her behind, the boy replied in a tear-filled voice that he wouldn't.
The siblings had nowhere to run. Even the children who had become captives couldn't escape because they were too slow; how could a boy carrying his sister possibly get away?
He felt his sister's blood soaking his back, and he heard the footsteps of the pursuing monsters growing louder. Finally, the boy stumbled and fell, and a monster snatched at the siblings.
That was when Ulrich arrived with his party.
"When I fell, Ulrich nim, you were the one who helped me up.
"And your sister? Her wounds must have been deep.
"Fortunately, a Priestess healed her. She was left with no disabilities and was healthy. And she passed away 20 years ago. I am the last one still alive because I was the youngest of the children you saved."
Thirteen villagers survived that day.
All were boys and girls who had not yet had their coming-of-age ceremony, so they could not maintain the village. Only after Ulrich brought adults from other settlements that had suffered similar damage to settle here did the village barely take shape.
Afterward, he appointed a new Lord to the vacant seat of the Count of Biten. She was someone from the Hilderson clan. The new Countess of Goeten aided in the recovery by exempting the damaged areas, including Luman's village, from taxes for several years.
There is a saying that the ground hardens after the rain. Luman felt his life had been like that. He had been swept up in a storm, but once the storm passed, his life had only improved. Of course, the wounds from the storm left scars that tormented him his whole life, but he overcame them and stood up again.
"We sent tributes·• Do you know of them?"
•I have no memory of that. You sent tributes?"
"Yes. We thought it was the only way we could repay you...••••."
Ulrich shook his head.
"You were mistaken. Did you think such things held any meaning for me:
It was just as he said. After finding stability, Luman and the other survivors had sent him many tributes, but they were returned every time. Sometimes they were even returned with more than what was sent, and seeing this, they lost the nerve to send any more.
"…Adnan must have done that.
Ulrich said he was the vassal who served him at the time.
"He was the one with blue hair, wasn't he?"
"So you know him. Have you met?"
"He greeted us when we went to visit."
"He was the one with blue hair, wasn't he?"
"He greeted us when we went to visit."
At the time, Luman had thought. That if Ulrich wouldn't accept tributes, he should express his gratitude in person. So he and his sister went to Dithmarschen, but the Lord happened to be in a deep sleep. Instead, an old knight named Adnan greeted the Luman siblings.
Adnan had said, 'The Elder does not wish for such things. How many lives do you think he has saved? If every single one of you does this, it will only become a burden to him."
And he sternly told them never to visit again.
That's right. Adnan was that kind of person.
Ulrich chuckled lightly and nodded.
"He always said he served me, but in reality, it was more like he was protecting me. He had a knack for acting before I did, for keeping things from reaching me. He was like a nanny."
"To us, he was just a frightening person."
"I can see why you'd feel that way."
Luman gave a bitter smile.
"Back then, I thought I was truly unlucky.
"It was when I was asleep, so the timing was not good."
"Yes, that's right. But·•• in the end, we meet like this.
Fate is a strange thing, Luman said as he studied Ulrich's appearance. He didn't just look young. He looked exactly as he had on that day, when he appeared before the nine-year-old boy Luman.
The boy had become an old man and lived long enough that his end could come at any moment, yet the other had not changed in the slightest. It was as if the past had been placed unaltered into the present.
He felt no doubt. Who would concoct a lie just to tease an old man in such a remote place? And who could remember his past appearance and impersonate him so perfectly?
Luman sometimes thought his life was too long. Not that each day was painful, but he felt they passed tediously. But in this moment, he felt he understood why it had been so long.
Ulrich stayed in Luman's village for only one day.
Even though crossing the Snow Forest had given them some leeway in their schedule, he seemed to have no intention of taking his time before reaching Eisleburg. Luman subtly asked him to stay a few more days, but he shook his head.
However, their departure time the next day was pushed back to the afternoon. This was because there were several infants in the village who had not received the Infant Sacrament, as well as people with minor illnesses. For some reason, the Priestesses of Goeten had not been visiting Luman's village.
No matter how incompetent or corrupt a Priestess might be, she would not dare postpone the Infant Sacrament. Hadn't Roberta herself performed this year's Sacrament before setting out on her journey? And yet, such an absurd situation was unfolding before her eyes.
Finding it strange, she expressed her wish to Ulrich to perform the Sacrament and healings in place of the Priestesses of Goeten. That was the reason they ended up leaving the village after noon.
"Ulrich nim:
As the party led their horses out of the village, Luman and the villagers came out to see them off. The people's gazes gathered on Ulrich. It seemed they had heard something from Luman.
"Do you see them? This is what has become of the children you saved.
Luman approached Ulrich and said. Gunter tried to support him, but Luman refused and stood on his own two emaciated legs. Then he stretched out his arm and pointed to the villagers.
It seemed they had heard something from Luman.
The nine-year-old boy Luman grew up and had six children. Those six also grew up and had children of their own, and the twelve others who survived with the boy walked the same path.
A few other refugees in similar circumstances joined them. Before long, time had passed, and the number of people making up the village had reached twenty times the original thirteen.
"I have taught the children about you. I will continue to do so. Even if I die soon, I will make sure my descendants remember your name and pass on the story of what you did..."
"Do not."
Ulrich shook his head.
"I merely caught you so you would not fall from the precipice. You were the one who climbed back up. I did not lift you. For it is useless to be given everything if one lacks the will to act."
"Ulrich-nim-"
"In time, gratitude only turns to faith. You need not be bound to me. You have proven your own life."
"...From your perspective, does it seem my life was a good one?"
"Yes. More than I could have hoped for."
The boy who had become an old man smiled without a word.
Seeing that smile, Ulrich mounted his horse. He gave a slight nod, then turned his back and rode on. Roberta and Fritz followed.
The village stood in the middle of a wide, flat field. Even after they had ridden for some time, when they looked back, they could still see the people of Luman watching the three of them.
As Fritz kept glancing back, wondering when the people would go back inside, Ulrich spoke.
"Roberta, do you remember the ruins we saw on the Ice Peninsula."
The ruins on the Ice Peninsula... how could I ever forget.
"You mean the civilization from before human history?"
To meet the dragon named Narvakayani, they had entered the Ice Peninsula, and with one day left of their fortnight there, they took shelter from a blizzard in a tower.
On the wall of that tower was an inscription carved by an ancient people. In an ancient script, it meant, 'We die here,' Ulrich had said. She had found it ominous, feeling it was like the death cry of a bygone destiny.
"Actually, there was more to it."
"Is that so?"
"It said that in the end, even in death, they would not be defeated."
She gazed blankly at his back, a few steps ahead of her.
"I like those words."
A back has no expression, yet she felt as if she had glimpsed a smile.
"It resonated with me because it meant that even though their own destiny was destroyed, humanity would fulfill its purpose. That humanity was not created for defeat, and so would rise again, even in the face of death."
Was this the reason he sought out the village of Luman?
He had said it was to shorten their journey, but Roberta thought that in truth, he might have chosen this path to retrace his old memories.
For him, the village of Luman must have been a way to confirm that a human who had once fallen in his memory had risen again.
And so, too, would be the journey ahead. For a single human who had lived through many names—Ulrich, Lorang, Oscar—and long ages, the path forward would be a journey through memory.
"Truly... those are good words."
Roberta smiled softly and rode her horse up to Ulrich's left. Fritz followed, taking his place on Ulrich's right.
The three of them crossed the horizon. The sun was already high in the middle of the sky, yet they descended below the boundary where earth and sky met. Luman watched until the very moment their backs sank from view.
"Truly... those are good words."
Roberta smiled softly and rode her horse up to Ulrich's left. Fritz followed, taking his place on Ulrich's right.
The three of them crossed the horizon. The sun was already high in the middle of the sky, yet they descended below the boundary where earth and sky met. Luman
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