Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Visitors from the Kingdom of Carbonihar
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‘Luoveidra?’
Roberta repeated the name to herself.
She had never heard it before in her life. As a priestess, her education surpassed that of most nobles, yet nearly everything the lord before her said was unfamiliar.
A lizard with four legs and two wings was born before dwarves and elves? And the first being gifted with intelligence was a dragon named Luoveidra?
It was a story found in no text she had ever read, not even in the scriptures she had studied and memorized countless times.
‘This isn’t a joke, is it?’
She narrowed her eyes, watching him.
His expression was as placid and calm as ever, and he looked far too young to speak of such ages past. Yet, whenever he spoke, a story that could not be ignored would unfold.
Looking back, he had said something similar the first day they met. He had explained the origins of a rite she didn't know, implying that the one taught by the Ecumenical Church was flawed.
But that rite had produced results. He had successfully performed the Infant Sacrament without observing the proper rite. How could she call it wrong when she had seen the outcome with her own eyes?
The tale of Luoveidra and its kind, however, was more than just something she didn't know; it was an ancient story that perhaps even the Pantheon and the Pope were unaware of. It was a claim that could not be proven true or false.
“You asked me about dragons, so I have no choice but to mention their progenitor. It is the best example to explain what kind of race the dragons are.”
Whether he knew of her turmoil or not, Ulrich, the lord of Dithmarschen, continued speaking, leaning back against the headboard of the bed set up in a corner of the ger.
“As you know, long ago, when the world was covered in fire, the gods brought water from another world to extinguish the flames and make the land fertile. But when life failed to rise on its own, they decided to intervene in creation.”
He quoted a passage from the scriptures.
‘They conceived life in the earth.’
It was from the Book of Genesis, the first book of the scriptures established by the Pantheon. A passage Roberta had heard and memorized to the point of tedium.
The gods, having shaped the world into a habitable place for life, created all sorts of flora and fauna, and it was then that the dwarves and elves were born. Dragons were no different.
“Luoveidra was a dragon conceived at that time. Genesis makes it seem as though dragons were created alongside the dwarves and elves, but the truth is different. Just as humanity had not yet been conceived when those two races were born, neither had they been conceived when the dragons were born.”
Ulrich added that Luoveidra was, therefore, a being born with intelligence even before the dwarves and elves.
“Roberta, you serve Lady Ganymea.”
She answered that she did.
“You must know that Lady Ganymea had an adopted son, that he was human, and that he was given the name Hestio.”
“That’s common knowledge, even for those who aren’t priests.”
“I see,” Ulrich said with a light laugh.
“Today, he is regarded almost as a god of humanity. Why do you think that is? As I said before, Hestio was not a god but a human, merely one who was adopted by Ganymea and lived in the heavens. So why?”
“You’re not asking because you truly don’t know, are you?”
Roberta said, her eyes narrowing.
“Consider his achievements.”
When humanity lived in a primitive state, Hestio, Ganymea’s adopted son, brought them knowledge from the heavens. And when the celestial gods departed, he remained on earth with humankind.
He could have followed the gods to the world the Pantheon calls heaven, yet he was the only one who refused for the sake of his people and descended to the earth.
He guided humanity until the age of dwarves and elves ended and the age of man began, and then he vanished without a trace.
“The heavens created countless forms of life. It is said that right after the gods left, there were civilizations as mighty as those of the dwarves and elves. But today, not even their names are remembered. Their entire race died out. All that remains is the tale of a once-powerful race that built a great power.”
In that age, the scriptures say, humans were treated no better than apes. Roberta mentioned this and asked, “And what of humanity today?”
“The humans who were scorned as apes, the ones who were last to build a civilization, have become the race that leads an era longer than any that came before. That is because we had a shepherd to guide us correctly through the turbulent tides.”
“...”
“He was Lord Hestio, and though he eventually left us… our very existence is his achievement. That is why we praise his work and yearn for his return.”
According to the scriptures, records of Hestio cease at the end of the elven age. The Pantheon explains this by saying he followed the celestial gods after completing all his tasks.
But Roberta and a few other priests and theologians interpreted it differently. Even as a god’s adopted son, was he not still human, and thus unable to attain eternal life?
Of course, it was an interpretation they dared not speak aloud. The Pantheon had chosen to believe that Hestio’s departure was temporary and that he would one day return to lead humanity again.
“Yearn, you say…”
Ulrich murmured, as if tasting the word.
“Why did you ask about him?”
“Because Luoveidra was the same. Though you wouldn't know it.”
The same?
Roberta tilted her head, not grasping his meaning.
“He, too, was taken to the heavens and later descended for his kin on earth. And on the day the gods departed, he was invited to leave with them, but he refused. Just as Hestio chose to leave Ganymea’s side to remain with his people, so did he.”
“What?”
Her eyes went wide.
“It’s a detail omitted from the scriptures compiled by the Ecumenical Church. Not intentionally, I think, but likely lost somewhere in the oral tradition. After all, who pays attention to another race’s history?”
She was speechless, her lips twitching. She couldn’t help it. Wasn’t the most common phrase used to describe Hestio ‘the Only One Who Remained’? And yet, he hadn't remained alone.
Should she cry blasphemy?
Indecision flickered in her eyes, making them tremble violently.
Seeing this, Ulrich let out a short sigh.
“Does it matter how many remained?”
“Of course it—”
“Does something so trivial change the value of what he did?”
Roberta fell silent.
“Think about it, Roberta. If what I say is true, why isn't it known? Why would someone who lived a life like Hestio’s be forgotten?”
She hesitated for a moment before asking why.
“Because he failed.”
Ulrich stated it as a fact.
“He knew a time of chaos would come when the gods departed, and he knew his race would not survive. So the two of them, with the same goal in mind, sought to save their people, but their results were different.”
“...”
“That is the only reason their names did not survive. Humanity remembers Hestio because they prospered, even as records were lost through several dark ages. But the dragons did not.”
He emptied his teacup and set it down.
“Why did he fail?”
“I don’t know all the details myself.”
“However,” he added, continuing.
“What is clear is that dragons do not form flocks. To put it kindly, they are a proud race; to put it bluntly, they are arrogant. They do not tolerate anyone standing above them. Not even the progenitor of their race.”
So that was why there was no age of dragons?
“If there is a reason for the failure, that would be it.”
Roberta thought about Luoveidra.
He had lived a life like Hestio’s, but unlike him, he had failed. Humanity had willingly followed Hestio’s lead, but Luoveidra’s kin had not.
As a result, the race of dragons became a mythical creature, like something out of a fairytale. Their would-be shepherd, their progenitor, was forgotten by history, his story passed down only through the words of this one man.
“My lord, how do you know of him?”
“Would you believe me if I said I met him myself?”
“Well… I honestly find that hard to believe.”
Roberta smiled sweetly, thinking he was joking.
“A dragon born at the dawn of time would need an incredibly long lifespan to still be alive today. A span of time so long that even several generations of elves wouldn’t be enough. It would be better to call it undying… or immortal. Wouldn’t it?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he simply returned her smile.
At this, she felt a sharp pang in her chest.
“...Are you trying to say he’s still alive?”
“No. He died. Around the time the empire changed.”
His lifespan had run its course, he added.
“As you said, he had a very, very long life. He told me he never expected to live that long himself. He wasn’t immortal, so he eventually had to face death, but he is the only dragon to have ever lived out his natural lifespan.”
The time the empire changed referred to the period when a new dynasty was established.
For example, the second empire was that of the Isturia Dynasty. After it collapsed due to misrule, it went through a period of division before being re-established by the Yocaster Dynasty.
The divided empire was never fully unified, but the Yocaster Dynasty’s ascension, approved by the feudal lords, marked the beginning of the third empire. That was over 1,400 years ago.
“...”
Roberta’s eyes trembled.
He had mentioned his age before. When talking about the Little Ice Age, he had revealed himself bit by bit, saying he was from before the third empire’s founding, that he was born at the dawn of time, all while claiming to be purely human.
At the time, she had dismissed it as a bluff. How could someone who was neither a dwarf nor an elf have a lifespan of over a thousand years? Let alone while maintaining his youth.
But as time passed, as her encounters with the lord continued, that conclusion began to waver.
‘How much of it is true?’
Is any of it true at all?
She couldn’t know. There was no proof.
Luoveidra was a being unrecorded in any text. Ulrich had no records from before he came to Dithmarschen. It was not a claim she could easily believe, even if someone she trusted appeared and said, ‘It’s true.’
And yet, the assertion shook her to the core.
‘If it’s true…’
What if everything he said was the truth?
The implications of that single assumption were too vast.
She quickly tried to shake the thought from her head. It was a conjecture that was not just absurd, but blasphemous and dangerous. Her common sense screamed that it was impossible.
“Now you understand.”
Ulrich said.
Roberta snapped her head up. While she was lost in thought, he had risen from his seat and was standing at the entrance. Morning sunlight streamed through the open door of the round tent, the ger, and a warm breeze blew in.
“Dragons are a fallen race. They are not extinct, but they are destined to be soon. From the moment Luoveidra failed, their fate was sealed.”
“...”
“How many people would take an interest in such a race, a race that has forgotten even its own progenitor? And how many would believe they are still alive today?”
Her expression hardened as she touched her lips.
She had seen all manner of races during her time at the Great Temple of Nua, but she had never once heard of or seen a dragon. She only believed they existed because they were mentioned in ancient texts.
If asked whether dragons still lived, she would have trailed off, saying, ‘Perhaps somewhere?’ If even she, a priestess, felt this way, others would find it even harder to believe in their existence.
“And yet, our guests have come looking for a dragon.”
Roberta recalled the day the guests arrived.
They had arrived around sunset. As the villagers settled below the hills were lighting fires to prepare their evening meals, six strangers arrived in the town of Freiche.
It was a rare occurrence for outsiders to visit Freiche, let alone Dithmarschen. Who would have a reason to seek out this harsh, polar land? At best, it was a last resort for criminals with nowhere else to go.
Since Lord Ulrich was in a deep sleep among the Bard Tribe, the steward, Bernhard, greeted them as his representative. He asked their business. And they replied.
“We have come seeking a dragon. We need a guide.”
Bernhard thought for a moment, then asked Roberta to wake the lord and inform him of the situation. He said he would give them an answer one way or another, whether the lord came or not.
“What should we do? Shall I deliver a message for you?”
“No.”
Ulrich shook his head.
“They said they need a guide, didn’t they?”
As he stepped out of the ger, the tribal chief, Kurt, led a horse over.