***
A few days later, Roberta was in the Lord’s manor.
She returned to the city of Freize with Ulrih and went straight to the reception room of the Lord’s manor. A large rectangular table was placed in the center, and she sat to Ulrih’s left.
A servant entered and placed a teacup filled with Songhwacha in front of Ulrih. She was asked, “Would the priest like some as well?” but she waved her hands vigorously, saying, “Ah, no. It’s fine.”
It was a scent she could not get used to at all. While the Lord was drinking it beside her, her expression frowned involuntarily just from the smell. She stole a glance at him.
He sipped the Songhwacha indifferently. She trembled in amazement at his reactionless appearance, to the point she wondered if his nose was blocked and his tongue paralyzed.
“You are drinking it with relish.”
“Does it look that way?”
Was it not?
She examined his expression again, wondering if it actually tasted bad but he was holding it in and drinking, but there was no change. He drank it as calmly and peacefully as if he were truly drinking plain water.
‘He really is a person I cannot understand.’
While she was quietly observing him, the guests soon entered.
There were six guests. Five men, one woman. All six had light brown skin, and either their pupils or their hair was red.
Their attire was almost the same as when they first arrived in the city. Except they had taken off their breastplates. Their thickly quilted clothes and the swords at their waists were still there.
It is a custom for guests to disarm when meeting a host, but Ulrih did not mind. When someone sought him out, he had them come exactly as they were at the time of their visit.
“Um?”
One of the guests made a sound.
He was a middle-aged man named Ballido, the Count of Motrilda. Having a fair amount of white hair among his crimson hair, he looked to be over fifty.
Roberta whispered the Count’s name to Ulrih. For a moment, his gaze stopped among them and flickered before subsiding.
The Count looked back and forth between Ulrih and Roberta, tilting his head. The other companions were the same. They must have come after hearing the news that the Lord was waiting in the reception room, but the people they actually saw were two young people.
‘Did I have that kind of expression too?’
Roberta suppressed a bitter smile.
She clearly read the confusion on the Count’s face. They must have heard that the Lord of Dithmarschen was a very old person. They must have estimated him to be a half-blood who had lived for 300 years.
Yet, look at Ulrih’s appearance.
Could even a trace of time be felt from him?
Since the six people had seen Roberta briefly on the day they arrived in Freize, they knew that she was not the Lord. Furthermore, she was wearing a priest’s robe.
If the Lord was in the room, it could only be him given the circumstances.
“Is it you?”
The Count asked.
“Are you the Duke of Dithmarschen?”
“That is right. You have found the right person.”
“You are very different from what I heard.”
He looked at Ulrih with a reluctant expression.
“I heard the Duke of Dithmarschen was an old man who had lived for over 300 years.”
“The period I have stayed as the Lord is about that long. Though I am not an old man.”
“They also said you have pointed ears because elven blood is mixed in.”
“It is a false rumor.”
Ulrih dismissed it while drinking his tea.
“...Are you really the Duke of Dithmarschen?”
The doubt-filled gaze remained.
“Please sit.”
Ulrih ignored it and gestured to the chairs, but the Count merely stood and stared in silence. With deep wrinkles between his brows, he seemed to be in a state of strong suspicion.
Watching this, Roberta stood up.
“Count, I will guarantee that this person is Lord Ulrih, the master of Dithmarschen. I am one who serves Lord Ganimea, and this will add truth to my words.”
As she opened her right hand and gathered mana in the center, a blue pattern soon emerged on her bare palm. It was the seal proving she was a formal priest of the Pantheon, and seeing this, the Count groaned and took a step forward.
“I am... Count Ballido of Motrilda.”
Afterward, he placed his right hand on his chest and pondered for a moment, then lowered his head to Ulrih very lightly, just enough to give the feeling of a bow.
Since a priest had guaranteed him, he could not openly doubt him, but it would be uncomfortable to acknowledge that the young opponent was an old man who had lived for several hundred years.
“I am a noble of the Cabonihar Kingdom, and those behind me are my vassals and the escorts of the journey. I apologize for doubting. As you know, looking at your appearance, I could not possibly... guess your age.”
It was a tone that did not lower the opponent but did not particularly raise him either. Considering Ulrih’s age and title, and the Count’s position as a guest, it was an ambiguous attitude.
Roberta noticed this and looked at Ulrih.
“It happens often.”
He raised the corners of his mouth slightly. And he placed his right elbow on the armrest of the chair, rested his chin on his fist, and gestured for them to sit with his other hand.
The Count sat directly across from the Lord, and his vassals sat on either side.
“So, what is the reason you specifically sought me out? I heard it on the way, but I want to hear it directly from you. As far as I know, Cabonihar is a far southern country; is it to the point of coming to such a polar region?”
“Would I have come through such hardship if it weren't?”
The Count gave a bitter smile.
“I am looking for a dragon. A dragon by the name of Narbakayani.”
“Narbakayani, I see.”
“Have you perhaps heard anything about him?”
Instead of answering, Ulrih tilted his chin, subtly requesting him to continue the story. At that, the Count raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“He is a dragon with pure white and translucent scales. His height is larger than the inner keep here, he possesses six wings, and the tip of his tail is sharp like a bundle of thorns. I obtained information that he has nested in the Ice Peninsula. That is why I have come. To enter the Ice Peninsula.”
“I see.”
“As the Duke of Dithmarschen... must also know.”
He cleared his throat and continued speaking.
“That place is a magical realm, is it not? A land filled with magical beasts made by evil gods. A no-man’s-land that even Emperor Tywin could not conquer. I am not so reckless as to gallantly enter such a place with only six people.”
“Would it be different if you had a guide?”
“We wouldn't lose our way.”
Ulrih let out a smirk and removed his chin from his fist.
“You have indeed found the right person. It is as you say. Narbakayani is in the peninsula. I do not know who you heard it from, but they have very sharp ears.”
The Count chimed in, saying, “They are a person with very sharp ears.” It was the reaction of a person who already held a conviction and was confirmed once again.
On the other hand, Roberta watched the conversation and narrowed her eyes. There was someone who told him?
Doubt arose, but she was not the one exchanging the conversation, and Ulrih did not ask. He merely nodded once and continued speaking immediately.
“However, that is a place where guides do not go.”
“They do not go? Why?”
“Because it is dangerous.”
The Count asked while furrowing his brows.
“I am fully aware of the danger! I intend to give a thick reward corresponding to the danger. If possible, I also intend to attach several people in addition to a guide.”
“No, my words were a bit unclear.”
Ulrih shook his head and spoke.
“It is correct to say it is a place one cannot go even if they want to. No matter how many people you lead, the place where Narbakayani is is a place you cannot reach. Just like Tywin.”
The Count was about to say something in a huff but shut his mouth. He scratched the back of his neck with a crumpled expression and looked at his vassals. After exchanging silent glances, he looked at Ulrih again.
“The reason? Is it that dangerous?”
Ulrih tilted his teacup and took a sip.
Just then, a servant entered and placed Songhwacha in front of the guests. They picked up the teacups but put them back down with a groan at the intense scent that wafted up.
“You must know the reason why the name Ice Peninsula was given.”
“Is it not because the dwarves and elves fought very grandly?”
An indifferent gaze pierced Ulrih.
“A region that became a battlefield because they wielded mana recklessly—is it not said that the flow of mana is tangled in places like the Ice Peninsula? It is content clearly written in the scriptures. There is no need to even mention it since I have heard it to the point of boredom.”
“Then, have you considered the result of that tangling?”
“Well—”
Ulrih cut off the Count’s words and answered himself.
“Mana is one of the elements that make up the world. The fact that the flow of mana is irregular means it causes changes beyond imagination. The constant heavy snowfall in Dithmarschen would be an example.”
“……”
“However, life is marvelous. Even in an environment that we humans cannot dare to endure, there are races that occasionally survive through adaptation.”
Ulrih called a servant and placed a large tome on the table. It was a book so large that the servant struggled to carry it in both arms, with a width from fingertips to elbow and a height slightly less than that.
As he spread the map in that tome, dust splattered in all directions with a thud on the table. After wiping the dust thoroughly, the servant handed glasses to his master. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
‘Glasses?’ Roberta tilted her head.
She hadn't heard that his eyesight was bad.
Ulrih held the glasses and paused for a moment. That appearance was that of a person lost in a thought that had suddenly occurred. The simple-looking glasses were stimulating something in him.
However, that was only for a moment. It was a faint rising of emotion that only Roberta, who observed him, could know. To the guests seeing him for the first time, they would only think his actions were sluggish.
After hanging the glasses on the tip of his nose, he opened the book.
From the first page, a grotesque drawing was revealed.
“This is...?”
The Count asked while looking at the drawing.
“A magical beast.”
“No, I am not asking that. Where did you obtain such a thing?”
“I did not obtain it. I made it personally.”
He authored it personally?
Roberta looked back and forth between the giant book and Ulrih. The book was old and its color had faded, but the drawings were quite detailed, and it was clear at a glance that a tremendous amount of care had gone into it.
“As you can see, I have introduced the outline of the magical beasts here.”
He pushed up the glasses hanging on the tip of his nose with his index finger and turned the pages one by one, slowly.
“Know that the ones I point to occasionally are those that reside in the peninsula.”
And he added:
“Since I have written the descriptions at the bottom of the drawings, just read them appropriately for reference. Anyway, you won't have a sense of it unless you experience it.”
After turning a few pages, Ulrih’s hand stopped.
A flower was drawn.
With a head as round as an iron ball, it resembled a poppy. At a glance, it looked like something one would laugh off, thinking, ‘This is a magical beast?’ However, a person was drawn at the bottom right.
A person of average height was placed beside it to give an estimate of the magical beast’s size, and the person was smaller than one-tenth of the flower.
That was not all. In small letters at the bottom of the drawing, it was written: ‘...Ejects pollen that causes hallucinations. If a target approaches, it binds them with its stems and puts them into its mouth, which looks like a fruit. Since the inside of the mouth is filled with acidic solution, it melts and absorbs the prey when it enters.’
“……”
No one opened their mouths.
Then, Ulrih turned two more pages.
A drawing of a spider smaller than a human palm appeared.
The form of that spider was just a larger version of a common house spider seen in daily life. However, Roberta, who read the content below, furrowed her brows.
‘...Pierces the target’s skin with its reproductive organ at the rear to eject eggs. If they are not removed immediately, it releases hundreds of eggs into the body, and within a few hours, the eggs hatch and kill the target by gnawing from the inside out.’
The subsequent content was also filled with similar magical beasts.
Roberta thought. No, everyone in this place must have thought. How did he know about these magical beasts that they were encountering for the first time in their lives?
“You must have understood to some extent.”
Ulrih closed the book and took off his glasses.
“The Ice Peninsula is such a place. The flow of mana became strange due to the influence of old events, and animals and plants influenced by this live there. It is not called a magical realm for nothing.”
“……”
“The places guides can go are only those where such dangers are relatively very, very low. And Count, the Narbakayani you are looking for is beyond that.”
Ulrih asked while looking at the Count.
“Do you still intend to go?”
The Count could not answer. At a glance, he looked like he was pondering while furrowing his brows with a groan. However, Roberta saw. That he was surreptitiously looking at someone.
His gaze was toward one of the vassals.
“Stop borrowing someone else’s mouth.”
Could he possibly not know what she had realized?
Ulrih spoke while looking at the man sitting beside the Count.
“Descendant of Banares.”
He did not immediately understand the meaning in the words. So he sat still, pretending not to hear, then suddenly his eyes went wide and he jumped up from his chair.
“Wh-What do you mean?”