The Ouar that Ulrich called was a bizarre giant.
The giant Ouar arrived before Ulrich with his group as the sun reached the middle of the sky. He was neither larger nor smaller than other giants, but his appearance was unique.
According to the scriptures, giants are creatures of the evil god Takna and are shaggy beings who have been abandoned by their creator and lost their wisdom. However, Ouar had fewer hairs. Only his beard had grown long enough to braid. He was bald, and from his neck to his shins, he had only slightly more hair than a human.
His attire was also different; while other giants roughly sewed together the skins of monsters and wore them, he wore neatly cut and carefully sewn leather like armor. Furthermore, Ulrich mentioned that he served Dieus, the King of Heaven, not Takna.
"Ulrich! Did you call for me!"
Walking from afar, he saw Ulrich standing in front of the tower and shouted, spreading his arms wide. It was a high-pitched voice that made the snow clinging to the stone walls fall.
He stopped the group following him and walked alone with large strides. Because he was a giant, he took steps several times the size of a human's in one go, and each time, the ground groaned heavily.
Ulrich also spread his arms wide to greet him. The difference in their physiques was too great, so Ouar had to bend his knees. At first glance, it looked like he was crushing bones rather than embracing.
"How long has it been? About 10 years?"
Ouar, this bizarre giant, did not speak awkwardly either. Giants are of low intelligence, so awkwardness is revealed in their speech and actions, but Ouar did not have such an appearance.
"It's been a little over 12 years."
"It hasn't been long. Especially for you, it must be very short."
"Well, not necessarily."
The two released their embrace. Ouar knew that he would have to look down a lot if he stood up, so he did not straighten his knees and asked, matching his eye level.
"I heard you've had a lot of things happen in the meantime."
Ulrich narrowed his eyes.
"Living in a place like this, your ears are sharp. Who did you hear the story from?"
"Hmph, I have ears too. I know what I need to know."
Averting his pursuing gaze, Ouar looked behind Ulrich. The group, including Roberta, had retreated a few steps, and Ouar's eyes took on a different light when he reached Roberta.
On the other hand, Roberta quietly listened to the conversation between the two, and when her eyes met the giant's, she flinched. The giant was covering his face with the skull of a monster, so his bright yellow eyes flickered between the eye sockets.
"Who's that? Did you get a new woman?"
At the sudden question, she asked back, "Pardon me?"
"She is my Priest. Alonso raised her."
At the words Priest and Alonso, his gaze shone even more fiercely, scanning her entire body like a snake.
"That sly bastard?"
Ouar muttered.
Roberta was certain that there was some kind of connection between the giant in front of her and the person who was like her father. He must have set foot on the Ice Peninsula when Alonso was appointed as Head Priest.
"Is it a generational thing? Certainly, human time is short."
"It could also be said that our time is excessively long."
While answering, "Maybe," Ouar threw a joke.
"I wondered if you had gotten a new woman, but this is unexpected."
"It's not the kind of relationship you're thinking of."
"Well, I heard that you took in and raised someone else's child, but I never heard that you got a woman. Are you going to keep doing that in the future?"
"As long as I remain Ulrich of Ditmarsken."
Ouar scratched his bald head vigorously.
"Your stubbornness is still the same."
His appearance was middle-aged in human terms. However, the lifespan of giants was not specified in the scriptures, and he looked like a human with giant disease, so it was impossible to be certain.
"The reason you called me must be because of Narvakayani, right?"
Ulrich nodded.
"Yes, I need to meet that child. Guide me."
"What are you going to do there? If it's like last time, I'll be in trouble too."
"This time will be different. It's not my problem, but that child's problem."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"That child has had offspring."
The hand scratching his head stopped at the word "offspring."
"That guy has offspring?"
Soon, he looked at Ulrich with wide eyes as if surprised, then scanned the group listening to the story behind him.
"Looking at these guys, it seems like the partner is human?"
Ouar's gaze passed Roberta and scanned each of the Duke's vassals, stopping at Duke Bailen. Unlike the vassals, Bailen met the giant's gaze head-on. As if finding it amusing, Ouar chuckled and stood up.
"A hybrid of human and dragon... a very, very rare occurrence. Ruobheidra, isn't it the first time since the progenitor of dragons died?"
"It's not the first time. There have been a few more in between."
"Is that so? But it must be the first time for that guy, right?"
The giant passed Ulrich with wide strides and approached Duke Bailen. Although he knew there was no hostility, the Duke's vassals instinctively felt threatened and placed their hands on their waists. Then, the Duke pushed them away and stepped forward.
A burly and sturdy hand grabbed Bailen's head. From Ouar's point of view, it was more like gently placing it, but his hand was so large that it was like holding an egg.
"Narvakayani, that guy is going to make children."
The giant looked around Bailen while muttering to himself. When he moved the hand on his head slightly, Bailen's neck turned sharply, and he let out a groan.
"Ah, sorry."
Even while saying that, his hand did not rest.
"Is it because he's young? He doesn't even have scales. Is he really that guy's child?"
"Y-yes. Narvakayani is my father."
"Well, if that's the case, then that's how it is."
When the hand fell, Bailen staggered, clutching his neck. His face turned red, and his breathing was heavy. At the sight of that, Ouar apologized again, but Bailen only glared with a face contorted in pain.
"Why are you looking for that guy?"
"Does a child need a reason to look for his father?"
"Considering that guy's personality, I doubt he's ever seen you being born. You're risking your life to come and meet such a guy as your father?"
"Of course—"
Ouar interrupted Bailen's words.
"Just because a giant is stupid doesn't mean I'm stupid too, right? I know exactly what you're thinking! It's not a good idea either."
Bailen couldn't say anything and bit his lip.
"If it's not for any other reason, and you've just come because you're dissatisfied with your life, you should complain to that human rather than the dragon."
"...What do you mean?"
Bailen asked in a voice that had not yet recovered from the pain.
"The reason you were born must be with that human."
A thick index finger pointed at Ulrich.
"Why would a guy who doesn't even mate with his own kind mate with a human? It's because he had something to be interested in the human race."
"..."
"And as far as I know, the only human involved with Narvakayani is that human. He was wandering around together before he used the name Ulrich, so he must have been influenced at that time."
Bailen was not surprised. Because he knew of the existence of Laurent. Also, the fact that he knew Narvakayani also meant that there was a connection.
However, his eyebrows were slightly raised because the relationship was unexpected to the extent that he said, 'influenced,' as Ouar said.
"I accompanied him for a while. Quite a long time ago."
Ulrich said, looking at Bailen.
"If you ask how much that influenced him, well, I don't know either. It's not what I intended, and that child doesn't have a personality that reveals his thoughts."
Ouar snorted and scratched his chin.
"That's how the dragon race is. If those guys had personalities that expressed their emotions well and changed easily, they would have opened their own era, so why would they be hiding in a place like this?"
"That's right."
Ulrich nodded and unpacked his backpack.
In front of him, Ouar looked at him with a pursuing gaze, saying in a voice that was too loud to be a monologue, 'How did a stubborn dragon become interested in humans?' Instead of explaining, he took out a bundle from his backpack and threw it.
"That should be enough for the price, right? The forest fairies sent it."
When Ouar received it and unfolded it, there were tobacco leaves inside.
"Enough. More than enough."
He put it to his nose and smelled it. It was only a handful compared to his size, but he smiled broadly. And Ouar gestured to the giants who came with him.
The giants each carried one of Ulrich's group on their backs. The group, including Roberta, were embarrassed by the sudden outstretched hands, but soon, they could not avoid the giant's touch, so they were carried by the giants towards the mountain.
#
There are often times when you feel a sense of futility when you see someone else easily overtake the results you have achieved with difficulty, and Roberta thought that was the case now.
She was carried on the back of a giant, facing the cold wind, and watched the mountain growing in front of her. It took ten days and four more days for the group of eight to become six and reach the tower built by humans before history.
The straight-line distance between the starting point and the destination was short, but they had to go back and find a safe path to walk.
The distance and path from the tower to the destination were similar. Judging by eye, it seemed like they would arrive in a day or two, but in reality, it would take twice as long.
However, the giants were not those humans.
The giants were just running straight ahead with all their might. If humans had done the same, they would have been attacked by monsters or blocked by cliffs, but in front of the giants, the monsters ran away, and the cliffs were just climbed.
"We'll wait here."
It didn't even take half a day to cross two peaks and reach the destination. Ouar's giants put the humans down below an unnamed mountain in the Kaldorekai Mountains.
"How long do you think it will take? Will a day be enough?"
Ouar asked.
"If it gets longer, I'll send word."
"Good! Let's do that."
He looked at the group and patted Bailen's shoulder with his burly hand. Bailen bent his waist and bit his lip. Seeing this, Roberta thought that the dragon's blood was definitely flowing.
"Bailen, was it? I pray in the name of Lord Dieus that things will be resolved well."
"T-thank you..."
"You'll be disappointed when you meet him. Just keep one thing in mind. The reason you were born, and that nothing is forever. Then it will get a little better."
And just before turning around and leaving, Ouar bent his waist slightly to Ulrich and handed him something. Ulrich stared at it quietly, then closed his eyes briefly as if in silent prayer, opened them, and put it in his arms.
"——."
The giant whispered in a voice that was too small for his size. Ulrich listened silently and nodded. Roberta sent a questioning gaze, but he looked at her and shook his head as if to say not now.
"Then, see you later."
The ones who appeared with the earth roaring left with the earth roaring.
In the middle of the Ice Peninsula, full of disasters and monsters, the giants said they would hunt and wait for a few days, then disappeared into the blizzard.
None of the humans worried about their carefree appearance. Because they saw Ouar chasing and trampling on the fleeing monsters while being carried on his back. Rather, it was the plight of the humans left alone at the entrance of the mountain that should be worried about.
"What should we do now?"
Roberta asked.
Perhaps this is the destination that Ulrich spoke of, she thought. However, all that was visible was a high snow mountain and snow flying in the wind.
Ulrich found a cave in a place where there seemed to be nothing when climbing the mountain and used it as a refuge. And dragons build nests and live in them. Where could the cave she didn't see be hidden?
"Wait. He must have noticed that we've arrived."
Noticed?
Roberta followed Ulrich's gaze. He was looking straight ahead, and it seemed like the entrance to a steep snow mountain at first glance. But if you look closely, raising your senses, the flow of mana was flickering like a haze.
The mana concentration was high and the flow was erratic everywhere in the Ice Peninsula, so this sight was common. But Roberta's intuition felt that something was different.
- Come in.
At that time, words rang in her mind.
She and her group were startled and looked at each other. They asked with their expressions if they had heard it too. Following Ulrich, he was already taking a step.
The space that Roberta had been watching just a moment ago rippled like a wave. She quickly chased after him. When her body touched the wave, her eyes closed with a feeling of being pulled in, and when she opened her eyes again, a place that was not a snow mountain was in her eyes.
"Where is this...?"
It was a garden.
There was no such fierce wind or snow, and it was a garden with a spring-like warmth. It was not a mountain covered in pure white snow, but a garden with leaves ripened in deep jade color, multicolored flowers, and chirping insects.
As the piercing cold disappeared in an instant, her body temperature rose rapidly. Roberta, who was wearing several layers of winter clothes, thought she would soon feel hot.
Is it an illusion?
"It's not an illusion."
Ulrich asserted.
"He created nature, using mana."
"But wasn't this the Ice Peninsula?"
"To be precise, the entrance to the mountain we saw a little while ago is an illusion. He carves out a part of the mountain and decorates it like this, hiding that part in the whole so that it cannot be seen from the outside."
Someone among the vassals muttered unintentionally that it was impossible.
"Dragons are also magicians who possess fragments of mythology. From the perspective of this era, which cannot distinguish between mythology and illusion, it is natural that you cannot understand it."
The group 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.
His steps stopped in front of a man. A round table and a table were set in the garden. He was sitting as if a nobleman was enjoying tea with elegance.
He wore clothes made of fabric so thin that his skin could be seen through, and the color was pure white. He was also young and a beautiful young man. He crossed his legs, placed his hands clasped on top of them, and said to Ulrich with a smile.
"Last time you came when I was sleeping, what's the matter this time? Ulrich of Ditmarsken, or is it a different name this time? At least it doesn't seem like stealing."
Suddenly, Roberta recalled what Elder Brasse had said on the first day she was assigned to Ditmarsken.
'That story was true.'
He said he met a sleeping dragon. He also said he knocked down a giant with a whip. With this, two things have been revealed to be true. There were a few other stories, but she couldn't remember them.
"Unfortunately, not this time."
"This time?"
The young man, no, Narvakayani, tilted his head to the side. His black eyes, like Ulrich's, fell from Ulrich and looked at the group.
A different light emanated from his emotionless face. He got up from his seat and headed to Bailen. Even though no one introduced the Duke, his father seemed to feel something unknown.
"There was a guy who had the same thoughts as me. Is this appearance choosing a human? Or has the time not come yet?"
White and soft hands touched Bailen's face.
"Who is it? Whose child is it?"
Bailen hesitated, about to say his mother's name.
"Who else made children with humans besides me? Father or mother?"
"He is your son, Kayani."
At Ulrich's words, the dragon in human form blinked.
"Whose son?"
"It's Penelope."
Bailen raised his hand, stopped his father's hand, and answered.
"Penelope."
The dragon stopped blinking and repeated the name.
"Don't you remember?"
"How could I not? I am a dragon. Unlike the humans over there, time does not call for oblivion. Penelope, Penelope of Carbonihar, human, female, there is no way I would forget."
"Then—"
"Why did you come?"
"My mother left a will and belongings."
"That human woman told you to find me?"
The dragon asked again.
"Why?"
Bailen stopped, about to answer.
The dragon disguised as a human was looking at him. He erased the smiles he gave to Ulrich, the different light he showed to Bailen, the blinking, and such embellishments, and asked with a face that was simply beautiful.
"You didn't come to become a dragon?"
It was a pure question. It was an act of asking because he really couldn't think of any other reason, and he really didn't understand his son's reason. Dragons do not form groups, they are too arrogant to tolerate even their progenitor, Roberta recalled Ulrich's words.