The Successor from the Mountain Pass
"They said it was melted down, didn't they?"
In Roberta's memory, Ulrich had said this:
"I melted the imperial crown that the Pantheon gave me and forged it into Osnover's crown."
Pretending to wipe the rain from her eyes, Roberta studied Ulrich's expression. He raised his brows slightly and parted his lips. At a glance, he looked surprised.
An act, she was certain. Others might be fooled, but he was not someone who revealed his emotions so plainly. Since he was going under the name Armin, he was merely pretending to be surprised.
"You said there was a problem with the crown?"
As if supporting her certainty, Ulrich's tone remained calm.
"I heard it from a man who attended the coronation. He described the crown to me. But… it was very different from the one I made."
Of course it would be, the words rose to her throat, but Roberta forced herself to swallow them.
"That crown is quite special. If it were anything else, I wouldn't concern myself this much—but that is not something that can be allowed to have flaws."
He explained that was why he had come—to learn the reason.
"So I ask a favor. You're heading to Iselburg as well, aren't you?"
Ulrich nodded.
"We're going the same way. There's no reason not to travel together."
"Much obliged. I'll repay the favor."
"There's no need," Ulrich replied, urging his horse forward. The dwarf walked alongside them on the left. Though short and with a smaller stride, his pace was swift enough that he didn't fall behind.
Three humans and one dwarf soon entered a building. A little distance from the river, the land rose into a small hill, and atop it stood a shrine. It was a house dedicated to Nenus, the god of the sea.
Though it resembled a house, no one lived there. It had been built by individuals or the local community to pray that the river would not flood. There was only a single small room containing a statue of Nenus—just enough space for the four of them to take shelter from the rain.
By the time they reached the shrine, the rain was pouring down in sheets. It would be the fifth day tomorrow, yet instead of weakening, the rain seemed to grow harsher with every step they took. The wind had begun to blow as well, striking them head-on so fiercely they could barely lift their faces.
The horses kept turning their bodies, unwilling to push against the wind. Thunder occasionally crashed, adding to the chaos. So when they spotted the shrine atop the hill, no one said a word—they simply climbed toward it.
"At this rate… the river won't overflow, will it?"
Fritz asked as he tied the horses at the entrance of the shrine.
"Hard to say. It might. We'll have to stay alert tonight."
Toruhel muttered as he stood at the entrance, looking out over the river. The hill they were on wasn't particularly high. If the river overflowed, there was a real risk it could reach them.
The four stood in silence for quite some time. Listening to the relentless sound of rain pouring down, no one spoke. Only Roberta moved.
After watching the storm with the others, she stepped toward the statue of Nenus at the center of the room and clasped her hands in prayer. Since they were sheltering within Nenus's domain, she offered a brief ritual of apology and gratitude.
When she returned, Toruhel muttered,
"This is dull. Why not pass the time with some conversation?"
Fritz glanced between Roberta and Ulrich.
"Uh, then…"
"Yes, yes, go on—ask something."
"Sir Toruhel, you said you're from a place called the Feira Mountain Pass, right?"
"I did."
"Where exactly is Feira?"
The dwarf, who had been yawning as if bored to death, paused.
"Feira? Didn't expect that question."
"Ah… was that inappropriate?"
"No, not at all," Toruhel said, shaking his head.
"I just assumed that since this young human called Armin knows, you all would as well."
He scratched his neck.
"Well, it's only natural you don't know. You humans aren't particularly interested in us, are you?"
Toruhel sat before the statue of Nenus and took out a pipe from his bag, lighting it. After a few long exhales through his nose and mouth, the inside of the shrine grew hazy with smoke.
"Feira is a mountain pass far to the southeast of here. How far, you ask? Even at my pace, it would take a full year of walking to reach."
"A whole year? You've come from incredibly far away."
"Not quite the very edge of the world—but close enough."
Muttering "the edge of the world," Fritz's eyes sparkled. As if his sense of adventure had been stirred, the boy sat down in front of the dwarf.
"What kind of place is it?"
"No matter how you put it, a place where people live is much the same anywhere. Around the Feira Mountain Pass, it's nothing but mountains. Countless mountains—and among them, just one of many passes. That entire range is called the Esta-Mauneto."
He added that it was a name used to collectively refer to the Esta Mountain Range and the Mauneto Mountain Range. Listening beside him, Roberta silently nodded a couple of times.
As Toruhel had said, Esta-Mauneto was a mountain range located near the edge of the world. If the Ice Peninsula marked the northern end, then this place could, with some exaggeration, be called the southern end.
It was not a demonic realm, but it was a land where humans did not live. Being so close to the heavens, even humans who possessed mana would find themselves clutching their chests there.
"It's not a place fit for living. Harsh not only for you humans, but for us dwarves as well. Though compared to the Ice Peninsula just above Dithmarschen, it's practically a paradise."
"Is there really a place worse than that?"
"None, I'd say."
Toruhel smirked as he puffed continuously on his pipe.
"Your next question is probably why we live in a place like that, isn't it?"
Fritz gave an awkward smile.
"There are many reasons. First, because it's such a place, humans don't come. Second, the mineral veins there are incredibly rich. And third… Selim guided us there."
Selim?
At the sudden mention of the name, Roberta blinked.
That was Ulrich's former name. He had once told her that he had bought a group of enslaved fairies and relocated them to a distant desert in the east.
Now that same name had come from the dwarf's mouth. And just like with the fairies, Toruhel said Selim had led them to a distant mountain range in the south. She turned her head to look at Ulrich.
Ulrich stood at the shrine's entrance beside her. But unlike her, he was looking outside rather than inside. He must have heard the name Selim and noticed her gaze—yet he showed no reaction.
"Selim, you say…"
"Judging by your reaction, you've heard the name before."
The boy nodded, his expression slightly surprised—just like hers.
After all, it was Count Wilhelm who had first mentioned that name to her. And Fritz, being Wilhelm's fourth son, must have also heard the stories involving the fairy Yudebora and the Kuiania forest.
"Yes, I've heard of him. That he relocated the fairies to Kuiania."
For a brief moment, his eyes trembled. It looked as if he was trying to suppress the urge to glance at Ulrich. Roberta noticed it, but Toruhel did not, and continued speaking.
"We dwarves were also among those he saved."
"You mean… he saved other races as well?"
"Not enough to call it entire races. Just portions. Groups that had become slaves."
The dwarf explained. During the era of the Second Human Empire—the Isturia Dynasty—there had been a time of great social upheaval, and it was then that a man named Selim had purchased them.
"You humans say you have passed through three ages, do you not? In the second of those, non-human races were heavily persecuted. It should be recorded even in the scriptures of your Church."
When Toruhel's gaze turned to her, Roberta nodded.
It was the event referred to in the scriptures as the Hunting of Other Races.
Unlike the First Empire, which had unified different races without discrimination, the Second Empire had been plagued by discord until its collapse.
It was the result of failing to bridge the gap between humans, who lived less than a hundred years, and other races, whose lifespans ranged from centuries to millennia. The scriptures called it a "hunt," but what followed was essentially a civil war. At that time, there had been no external forces beyond the Empire.
"According to the records, Selim lived during that era."
It was a time when the non-human races had been defeated, and only those who had pledged submission before the civil war remained. All others had become slaves, and the markets were flooded with them—so much so that even selling ten slaves wouldn't fetch the price of a single horse.
"He's a strange man. No matter how much you dig, there's no record of him prior to his appearance in the slave markets. Some even claim the story is fabricated because of that."
He added that it was as if the man had simply fallen from the sky.
One day, a man named Selim appeared at a slave market held in a great city. He was, of course, human—and said to be an extremely wealthy merchant.
"He declared he would buy the slaves in the auction. When the merchant asked how many he intended to purchase, he answered: all of them. The records say he bought every single slave in that city that day."
Slavery still existed even now, but back then it had been far more widespread, and the number of slaves had been immense. Yet as Selim continued purchasing them, slave supplies across various regions began to run dry.
"He didn't discriminate by race, age, or gender. He bought dwarves, fairies, races treated as monsters, and even humans. He bought the elderly, the disabled—those on the verge of being discarded. Every being labeled a slave, he took in. It's said that wherever he went, it was as if a decree of emancipation had been issued—only nobles and freemen remained."
Roberta and Fritz remained silent.
Then Selim acquired carriages to transport the slaves and secured food for them, leading them away. He headed for lands beyond the reach of the Isturia Empire—lands abandoned by humans. Those places were what are now known as the Kuiania Forest and the Esta-Mauneto Mountain Range.
"It was the same for us dwarves settling in those mountains, and those long-eared ones settling in the forest. When he freed us, he said this: as long as we protected that land, we would never become slaves again."
True to his words, they never left those lands. Though harsh and barren, they endured and protected their home.
As a result, from the actions of a single human—
the dwarves he freed in the south developed the mountain range and built cities,
the fairies he freed in the east cultivated the desert into a forest,
and the unnamed races and humans who followed settled between the two and formed nations.
"It's a story from a very distant past. Nearly two thousand years ago. Considering that human lifespans don't even reach half of ours, Selim's promise has long since expired. It's something to regard as history."
Turning the word history over in her mind, Roberta asked,
"To you, Sir Toruhel, does that mean Selim is merely a figure of the past?"
"Why wouldn't he be? In my childhood, there were even clans that revered him more than the goddess Keme. But after they were cut off, most think as I do. We simply accept the records as they are and honor a man who once showed great mercy."
Toruhel took a deep draw from his pipe.
"As for those long-eared ones, they live far longer, so perhaps that era feels closer to them."
As he finished speaking, the sound of rain outside the shrine seemed to grow louder. It wasn't that the rain had intensified—but Fritz and Roberta felt the silence left behind by the dwarf all the more deeply.
Naturally, both of their gazes turned toward Ulrich.
He still stood with his back to the three of them, looking out into the rain.
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