***
“Am I wrong?”
Duke Bailen did not answer.
He stood with a complex expression and faced the young man before his eyes. It was the appearance of a young and beautiful human male. The skin was white, and the eyes and hair were as black as a night without moonlight.
The young man was his father. Duke Bailen had lived for over 600 years. Thus, his appearance was now entering middle age, yet his father’s appearance did not even reach half of his son’s.
Since there was not a single resemblance in the color of the skin, eyes, or hair, let alone the features, no one would suspect them of being blood-related. Nevertheless, the two were father and son.
Because the young man was not human. Because he was a dragon by the name of Narbakayani, and his current appearance was merely a mask the dragon had carved.
“Bailen, you have come to receive a reward from me, haven't you? To receive the price for me leaving your mother, the human female Penelope.”
There was no warmth in the father’s face as he looked at his son. Nor was it cold. To Narbakayani, Bailen seemed to be no different from an object placed before his eyes.
“I am—”
“Bailen came to meet you, Kayani.”
Ulrih answered, cutting off Bailen’s words.
“And the reason is because you are his father.”
“Is it not that he sought me out to help with molting?”
“Yes. Though I cannot say it’s not that at all.”
“Is that really the reason?”
Narbakayani tilted his head. It was not a sarcastic tone. It was a tone of asking purely how that could be a reason.
“You are the same as always. You haven't changed.”
“It seems so. I believed in my own way that I understood humans, but looking at it now, I was wrong. No matter how well one acts, acting was just acting, it seems.”
“Acting?”
Bailen asked in a tone of it being absurd.
“Are you saying that your actions toward my mother were acting?”
Narbakayani answered “Yes” without a bit of hesitation.
“To be precise, I should say I ‘mimicked.’ Because I spent a long time with Ulrih and observed him dealing with other humans, and merely followed that.”
“Wh-what...”
“In the first place, I didn't plan to stay long with that human female, Penelope. Did he not tell you? Dragons do not form groups.”
Narbakayani added that family and offspring are concepts that humans value, but are nothing to them as dragons. Unless it is an unavoidable situation, dragons do not form groups.
“In that case... in that case, what on earth was the plan? Why did you choose my mother, and why was I born? If your actions were acting and a plan, there must be a reason, right?”
“I wanted to understand humans.”
Narbakayani, with his back turned, sat on a chair placed in front of the round table. And he gestured for the humans to sit. None of them followed the suggestion, but he tilted the teapot toward an empty teacup.
The scent of the tea contained in the teacup reached the humans on the gentle wind. Roberta involuntarily frowned slightly. It was Songhwacha.
Because she hadn't expected to smell that intense scent in this place at this moment, she was at a loss for words, then suddenly looked at Ulrih. Her intuition whispered that the actions of the dragon wearing a human mask resembled someone.
“Ulrih, Ulrih of Dithmarschen.”
Narbakayani spoke while looking at him.
“You are using a name quite long this time. I think it’s about time you got tired of it; what name will you use next?”
Ulrih did not answer. Narbakayani also seemed not to expect an answer and continued speaking while gently stirring the teacup.
“When that man who neither ages nor dies used the name Oscar, he took me out of the nest and made me his page to travel the world. I felt the need to understand humans then.”
It was said that when the dragon wearing a human mask first traveled the world, the era was already that of humans. In the era of humans, dragons were merely fierce beasts, so even if a dragon showed its true form, humans were only briefly surprised and soon made them prey.
How could humans, with their tiny bodies crawling on the ground, catch a dragon that roamed the sky? How did dwarves and elves lose to humans and have their era taken away?
“Meeting Penelope, that bold human female, was a coincidence.”
He took a sip of tea and continued speaking.
“I tried to understand humans through her. Although it was only a moment compared to the years Oscar or I possess, and eventually failed... it was a fairly good experience.”
The reason he left offspring was his own price. He judged that there was nothing more to be gained by staying by Penelope’s side, and just before leaving, he decided to grant her one wish.
At the word wish, Bailen’s shoulders trembled. Because his existence revealed his mother’s choice. Also, the choice she gave up by choosing him.
“In my memory, there is no reason for Penelope to look for me. If she had feelings enough to leave words to look for me, she would have chosen me instead of you in the first place. Telling me to stay. So when you said you came looking for me, I thought the last will was a pretext and molting was the real reason.”
Dragons can change their appearance into other races. What happens if they create offspring in the appearance of another race? Usually, they are born with the appearance of the changed race and have no change until death.
However, some lose their previous appearance. Because this process is like shedding a shell, it is called molting. A mixed-blood that has undergone molting takes on a form close to a dragon.
Narbakayani asked back if that was what he wanted.
“Bailen, is there really no other reason?”
“...It would be a blatant lie to say there isn't. Why would there not be.”
Bailen gave a low, silly laugh. Honorifics disappeared from his words.
“However... it is also true that I sought you out because you are my father and to convey my mother’s last will. To the point that it’s hard to answer which reason came first.”
He took out a letter wrapped in silk from his bosom. It would be the letter his mother left. Narbakayani briefly directed his gaze when he took out the letter, but that was all.
“I see. But the order doesn't matter. Looking at the result, have you not achieved all your purposes the moment you arrived before me? You met your father, you can convey your mother’s last will, and I just have to fulfill the molting.”
With a deep sigh, Bailen tilted his head back. The sky was visible. The blizzard in the Ice Peninsula was so fierce, yet the sky in the garden the dragon had decorated was clear without a single cloud.
The journey was now approaching its end. Meeting his father, seeing his mother, achieving molting—all could be achieved with just a word or two right now.
“So this was a dragon.”
However, what came out of his mouth was a long breath close to a lament.
A void without a hint of achievement dwelled in him.
“Laurant, I want to ask one thing.”
“Speak.”
“What happens if I undergo molting?”
It was not because he really didn't know the facts about molting.
“It varies by individual. If you are lucky, you become a complete dragon.”
“...You mean I become an existence like my father?”
“The possibility is high.”
“What happens if I am not lucky?”
That also varies by individual, Ulrih answered.
“You just don't become a dragon, but the half-baked problems placed between human and dragon are resolved. There are elements you expect, right? You can consider most of them achieved. However, the problem is the same.”
He tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Eventually, your words were right, Laurant. I hoped all my problems would be resolved by coming to this place, but not a single thing is completely resolved. I see why you stopped this journey.”
“Your disappointment seems great.”
“How could it not be?”
After silence continued, Ulrih spoke.
“It is not necessarily so. Perhaps you might be wrong.”
Bailen asked with his gaze what he meant.
“Did I not say? That it is a matter of possibility. After molting, you might become a dragon. Also, unlike Kayani, you might still understand us. It is the same even if you don't become a dragon.”
It was not as if there were no precedents, Ulrih added.
He was referring to traveling the world with a dragon under the name Oscar. Bailen recalled that and showed a strange light in his eyes, but soon denied it.
“What would change by doing so?”
“What is the result of my actions?”
“……”
“I didn't accompany Kayani to change him. I just had to take him as a page against my will. As a result, you came to exist in the world. If I hadn't been with him, would you be here?”
Ulrih approached Bailen and placed his hand on his head.
“Nothing is eternal. There is nothing in this world that does not change.”
It was not as if all dragons did not form groups. The progenitor of dragons, Ruobeideura, and a few dragons knew how to understand people.
Because their numbers were too small, they could not change the fate of the species, but would it not be possible to change one dragon? Ulrih said.
“But... what if I become unable to understand you?”
“You are only on your first time. Banares was on his fourth.”
Bailen’s body trembled.
“If not that, it would be fine to give up molting and cling to him. Fortunately, the time given to you will be quite a lot. Wouldn't it be worth a try? Rather than being swept away by impulse because you cannot endure the boredom of the years, you are making an endless challenge. It would be fine to teach him until you get tired or until the given time wears away.”
Laurant gave a smile while stroking Bailen’s head as if recalling the child he had looked after. The outward appearances of the two seemed to have their roles reversed, but none of the humans standing in this place perceived that.
“If that child comes to understand you, if it really becomes so, I think our journey will truly become valuable.”
Ulrih spoke quietly in a soft voice.
“And when that time comes, let me know too. Since I possess a longer time than both of you, I will be waiting forever. Descendant of Banares.”
Bailen’s eyes turned red, and tears soon flowed down.
“Yes, I will do so. Laurant.”
#
Duke Bailen, the grandson of Great King Banares, decided to awaken his father’s blood.
He informed Ulrih and Roberta that he would travel the world with Narbakayani once he finished molting. The remaining vassals also decided to follow him.
Narbakayani welcomed the intent of his half-son. He expected that he might be able to learn from his half-son the emotions he didn't understand as a pure human.
‘Can he really succeed?’
Roberta had a doubt.
She hoped Bailen would achieve his intent, but hoping and being possible were different. Did Ulrih not tell her? That even the progenitor of dragons could not save his race. Of course, Bailen was changing one dragon, not the species.
Furthermore, it was unknown whether he could finish the molting safely. He might not become a complete dragon, or he might lose his humanity.
‘No. He can do it. I must believe so.’
She shook her head, scolding herself not to have foolish thoughts. Bailen was a strong person. He would be able to overcome trials even if they came.
However, she would not see the result. Because she was a human with no other blood mixed in, she would have turned to soil by the time Bailen achieved his intent.
It was a human life where she couldn't even wait. The only thing she could do was pray in the name of Ganimea. She offered prayers every day to those she had formed bonds with in her short life, and now Duke Bailen and his vassals were added.
Though not devout, she offered prayers to Ganimea, who had left the heavens, with a sincere heart. Also, she hoped to Hestio that he would return and lead humans again.
‘Mother Ganimea, look down upon the humans your son has cultivated.’
Roberta rose after finishing her prayer.
It was dawn, with signs of the sun just beginning to rise.
Eight humans had left, and after fifteen days, two returned riding a giant. Roberta returned to the city of Freize with Ulrih with the help of the giant.
The journey to the Ice Peninsula with the visitors from the Cabonihar Kingdom ended like that.