Chapter 18

Children of Luo Beidra

The Uar that Ulrich had summoned was a strange giant.

The giant Uar arrived before Ulrich along with his group when the sun reached the center of the sky. He was neither larger nor smaller than the other giants, but his appearance was unique.

According to the scriptures, giants are creations of the evil god Takna—hairy beings who lost their wisdom after being abandoned by their creator. However, Uar had little body hair. Only his beard had grown long enough to be braided. He was bald, and from his neck to his shins, he only had slightly more hair than a human.

His attire was also different. While other giants roughly stitched together monster hides and draped them over themselves, he wore carefully cut and neatly sewn leather like armor. Ulrich also mentioned that he did not serve Takna, but the Heavenly King, Dieus.

"Ulrich! You called for me!"

Walking from afar, he spread his arms wide and shouted upon seeing Ulrich standing before the tower. His voice was so loud that the snow clinging to the stone walls fell off.

Leaving his followers behind, he strode forward alone. Being a giant, each of his steps covered several times the distance of a human's, and every time he stepped, the ground let out a heavy groan.

Ulrich also spread his arms to greet him. Because the difference in their physiques was so great, Uar had to bend his knees. At a glance, it looked less like an embrace and more like bones being crushed.

"How long has it been? About ten years?"

Uar—the strange giant—did not speak clumsily. Giants were usually slow and awkward in both speech and behavior due to their low intelligence, but Uar showed none of that.

"A little over twelve years."

"Not that long. Especially for you, it must feel very short."

"Well, not necessarily."

The two released their embrace. Knowing that if he stood up fully he would have to look far down, Uar kept his knees bent to match eye level and asked,

"I heard you've been quite busy."

Ulrich narrowed his eyes.

"For someone living in a place like this, your ears are sharp. Who told you?"

"Hmph, I have ears too. I know what I need to know."

Avoiding Ulrich's probing gaze, Uar looked behind him. The group, including Roberta, had stepped back a few paces. As Uar scanned them, his expression changed slightly when his gaze reached Roberta.

Meanwhile, Roberta had been quietly listening to their conversation, but when her eyes met the giant's, she flinched. The giant's face was covered with the skull of a magical beast, and his yellow eyes gleamed through the eye sockets.

"What about that one? Did you take a new woman?"

At the sudden question, she replied, "Pardon?"

"She's my disciple. Alonso raised her."

At the words "disciple" and "Alonso," his eyes gleamed more sharply as he slowly scanned her from head to toe like a snake.

"That sly bastard?"

Uar muttered.

Roberta was certain that the giant before her and the man who was like her father shared some kind of connection. When Alonso was appointed as chief priest, he must have set foot on the Ice Peninsula as well.

"So it's been passed down. Humans really do have short lives."

"Or perhaps our time is excessively long."

"Maybe so."

Uar chuckled and added jokingly,

"I thought you might've taken a woman, but I'm surprised."

"It's not that kind of relationship."

"True, I've heard you took in and raised someone else's child, but never that you took a woman. Planning to keep it that way?"

"As long as I remain Ulrich of Dithmarschen."

Uar scratched his bald head roughly.

"Still as stubborn as ever."

By human standards, his appearance was that of a middle-aged man. But since the lifespan of giants was not specified in the scriptures, and he resembled a human with gigantism, it was impossible to be certain.

"You called me because of Narbakayani, didn't you?"

Ulrich nodded.

"Yes. I need to meet that child. Guide me."

"What are you planning to do? If it's like last time, that'll be a problem for me too."

"This time will be different. It's not about me—it's about that child."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"That child has had offspring."

At the word "offspring," the hand scratching his head froze.

"That bastard has offspring?"

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Ulrich, then he glanced over the group listening behind him.

"Judging by the look of them, the partner must be human?"

Uar's gaze passed over Roberta and the duke's vassals one by one, stopping when it reached Duke Vailen. Unlike the others, Vailen met the giant's gaze head-on. Finding that amusing, Uar smirked and stood upright.

"A half-blood of human and dragon… Very, very rare. Isn't this the first since Luo Beidra, the progenitor of dragons, died?"

"Not the first. There were a few more in between."

"Is that so? But for him, it must be the first."

The giant strode past Ulrich with long steps and approached Duke Vailen. Though he showed no hostility, the duke's vassals instinctively placed their hands on their weapons. The duke dismissed them and stepped forward himself.

A massive, rugged hand grabbed Vailen's head. From Uar's perspective, it was more like lightly placing it, but his hand was so large that it looked like he was holding an egg.

"Narbakayani… to think that bastard made a child."

Muttering to himself, the giant examined Vailen thoroughly. As his hand shifted slightly, Vailen's neck jerked, and a cry escaped him.

"Ah, my apologies."

Though he said that, his hand did not stop.

"Is it because you're young? You don't even have scales. Are you really his child?"

"Y-yes. Narbakayani is my father."

"Well, if you say so, then it must be."

As the hand withdrew, Vailen staggered, clutching his neck. His face had turned red, and his breathing was rough. Uar apologized again, but Vailen only glared at him through a pained expression.

"Why are you looking for him?"

"Does a son need a reason to seek his father?"

"Considering that bastard's personality, I doubt he even saw you being born. And you risk your life to meet someone like that, calling him your father?"

"Of course—"

Uar cut him off.

"Do you think just because giants are stupid, I am too? I know exactly what you're thinking! And it's not a very good idea either."

Vailen bit his lip, unable to respond.

"If it's not for some other reason—if you just came because you're dissatisfied with your life—then instead of questioning a dragon, you'd be better off questioning that human."

"…What do you mean?"

Vailen asked, his voice still strained from pain.

"The reason you were born lies with that human."

A thick finger pointed at Ulrich.

"If he doesn't even take a mate among his own kind, why would he pair with a mere human? Because he had some reason to take interest in the human race."

"..."

"And as far as I know, the only human connected to Narbakayani is that man. Before he went by the name Ulrich, they traveled together. He must've been influenced back then."

Vailen was not surprised. He already knew of someone named Laurent. And the fact that Ulrich knew Narbakayani already implied a connection.

Still, perhaps it was unexpected to hear that he had "influenced" him to such an extent, as his eyebrows lifted slightly.

"We traveled together for a while. Quite a long time ago."

Ulrich said this while looking at Vailen.

"As for how much influence that had… I'm not sure. It wasn't my intention, and that child wasn't the type to express his thoughts."

"Hmph."

Uar snorted and scratched his chin.

"That's how dragons are. If they were the kind to show their emotions openly and change easily, they would've opened their own era instead of hiding away in places like this."

"That's true."

Ulrich nodded and untied his pack.

Standing before him, Uar fixed him with a questioning gaze, speaking in a voice far too loud to be mere muttering,

"How exactly did that stubborn dragon come to take an interest in humans?"

Instead of answering, Ulrich took out a bundle from his pack and tossed it.

"Will that be enough as payment? The forest spirits sent it."

When Uar received it and opened it, it contained tobacco leaves.

"It's enough. More than enough."

He brought it to his nose and inhaled the scent. Though it was barely a handful compared to his massive size, he broke into a wide grin. Then Uar gestured to the giants who had come with him.

The giants each picked up one member of Ulrich's group on their backs. Startled by the sudden reach of their hands, Roberta and the others hesitated, but they had no way to resist. Soon, they were carried by the giants toward the mountains.

There are times when one feels a sense of futility upon seeing others easily surpass what one has struggled to achieve—and Roberta felt that now.

Riding on a giant's back, buffeted by the cold wind, she looked at the mountain growing larger before her eyes. Their group, which had started with eight people, had been reduced to six, and it had taken fourteen days to reach the tower built by humans from before recorded history.

The straight-line distance between their starting point and destination might have been short, but they had to detour along safe paths.

The same was true for the distance and route from the tower to their destination. At a glance, it seemed like they could arrive in a day or two, but in reality, it would have taken twice that.

However, the giants were not human.

They simply ran straight ahead with full force. If humans had attempted the same, they would have been attacked by magical beasts or blocked by cliffs—but before giants, magical beasts fled, and cliffs were simply climbed.

"We'll wait here."

It had not even taken half a day to cross two peaks and arrive at their destination. Uar's giants set the humans down beneath an unnamed mountain in the Caldorekai Mountain Range.

"How long do you think it'll take? Will a day be enough?"

Uar asked.

"If it takes longer, I'll send word."

"Good! Let's do that."

He scanned the group, then gave Vailen's shoulder a few heavy pats with his massive hand. Vailen bent slightly and bit his lip. Seeing that, Roberta thought it was clear that dragon blood truly ran in him.

"Vailen, was it? I pray in the name of Lord Dieus that things go well for you."

"Th-thank you…"

"You'll probably be disappointed when you meet him. Just remember one thing—why you were born, and that nothing remains unchanged forever. That might help a little."

Just before turning to leave, Uar slightly bent his waist and handed something to Ulrich. Ulrich stared at it silently, then closed his eyes briefly as if in silent prayer before placing it in his chest.

"—"

The giant whispered something in a voice far too quiet for someone like him. Ulrich listened without a word and nodded.

Roberta looked at him with curiosity, but he shook his head as if to say, not now.

"Then, we'll meet again."

Those who had arrived shaking the earth left the same way.

In the heart of the Ice Peninsula, filled with disasters and magical beasts, the giants declared they would hunt and wait for days if necessary before disappearing into the snowstorm.

None of the humans worried about their carefree attitude. They had seen Uar crush fleeing magical beasts underfoot during the journey. If anything, it was their own situation—left alone at the mountain's entrance—that was more concerning.

"What should we do now?"

Roberta asked.

She assumed this was the destination Ulrich had spoken of. But all she could see was a towering snow-covered mountain and snow swirling in the wind.

When Ulrich climbed mountains, he would find caves in seemingly empty places and use them as shelters. And dragons lived in nests. Somewhere unseen, perhaps there was such a cave.

"Let's wait. He should have already noticed that we've arrived."

Noticed?

Roberta followed Ulrich's gaze. He was looking straight ahead, at what seemed like the base of a steep snowy mountain. But upon closer inspection—focusing her senses—the flow of mana shimmered like a heat haze.

On the Ice Peninsula, mana was dense and flowed chaotically everywhere, so such sights were common. But Roberta's instincts told her this was different.

—Enter.

At that moment, a voice echoed in her mind.

She and the others were startled and looked at each other, silently asking if they had heard it too. When they looked back at Ulrich, he was already stepping forward.

The space Roberta had been watching rippled like water. She hurried after him. As her body touched the ripple, she felt as though she were being pulled in, her eyes closing—and when she opened them again, she saw a place that was no longer a snowy mountain.

"Where is this…?"

It was a garden.

There was no biting wind or snow, only a gentle warmth like spring. It was not a snow-covered mountain, but a garden filled with deep jade-colored leaves, multicolored flowers, and the chirping of insects.

As the piercing cold vanished in an instant, her body temperature rose rapidly. Wearing multiple layers of cold-weather clothing, Roberta felt she would soon be too warm.

An illusion?

"It's not an illusion."

Ulrich stated firmly.

"It's nature, shaped through mana."

"But wasn't this the Ice Peninsula?"

"To be precise, what we saw earlier—the mountain entrance—that was the illusion. Part of the mountain was carved out and arranged like this, then hidden within the whole so it can't be seen from outside."

"That's impossible…"

One of the vassals muttered unconsciously.

"Dragons are also mages who carry fragments of myth. From the perspective of this age, which cannot distinguish between myth and illusion, it's only natural that it seems incomprehensible."

The group followed Ulrich. There was no hesitation in his steps. Like someone returning to a familiar place, he found the path and headed toward one side of the garden.

Their steps stopped before a man.

Within the garden, there was a round table and a prepared setting. Like a noble enjoying leisure while drinking tea, he sat there.

He wore thin white garments so sheer that his skin was almost visible. He was young—a beautiful man. Crossing his legs, he clasped his hands over his knee and smiled at Ulrich as he spoke.

"Last time, you came while I was asleep. What brings you here this time? Ulrich of Dithmarschen—or do you go by a different name now? At least it doesn't seem like theft."

Suddenly, Roberta recalled something Elder Brasse had said on her first day in Dithmarschen.

"So it was true."

He had said Ulrich met a sleeping dragon. He had also said he brought down a giant with a whip. Now, two of those stories had proven true. There were other tales as well, but she couldn't remember them.

"Unfortunately, not this time."

"This time?"

The young man—no, Narbakayani—tilted his head. His black eyes, like Ulrich's, shifted from Ulrich to the group.

A flicker of interest appeared on his otherwise emotionless face. He rose from his seat and walked toward Vailen. No one had introduced the duke, yet his father seemed to sense something instinctively.

"So there was one who thought the same as I did. Did you choose to appear as human? Or has the time simply not come yet?"

Soft white hands touched Vailen's face.

"Who are you? Whose child are you?"

Vailen was about to say his mother's name, but hesitated.

"Who else, besides me, would have a child with a human? Is it 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."

Vailen raised his hand, gently holding his father's hand as he answered.

"Penelope."

The dragon stopped blinking and repeated the name.

"Do you not remember?"

"That's impossible. I am a dragon. Unlike that human over there, time does not bring me forgetfulness. Penelope—Penelope of Carbonihar. A human. A woman. There's no way I would forget."

"Then—"

"Why have you come?"

"I bring her final words and belongings."

"That human woman told you to seek me out?"

The dragon asked again.

"Why?"

Vailen tried to answer, but stopped.

The dragon, disguised as a human, was looking at him. The smile he had shown Ulrich, the flicker of interest, the blinking—all those embellishments were gone. With only a pure, beautiful face remaining, he asked:

"You didn't come to become a dragon?"

It was a pure question. He genuinely could not think of any other reason. He truly did not understand his son's motive.

Dragons do not form groups. They are too arrogant to even tolerate their own progenitor.

Roberta recalled Ulrich's words.