Banares was born a prince of the Carbonihar Kingdom, and in the year he turned ten, his father was murdered. The assassin seized the throne and sought to cut off the seeds of revenge by killing the young prince.
Count Belido spoke about this, combining his own thoughts with the facts that had been passed down.
"Would a usurper who struck down a king care about killing a mere ten-year-old prince? The prince's death was a foregone conclusion. However, a knight who was staying as a guest of the royal family saved him and fled to a neighboring country."
It is said that the knight was extremely skilled in combat, taking on six knights alone and evading pursuit for forty-eight days. And after entrusting the prince to the queen of the neighboring country, he left as a guest to another country.
"Afterward, the prince spent eight years there. And when he came of age, he borrowed the queen's army to dream of revenge, but... the neighboring country was destroyed, so the revenge could not even begin."
Knowing that Banares would seek revenge, the usurper launched a surprise attack on the neighboring country and destroyed it. Banares was captured after fighting to the end and was put on a cart to be escorted to the usurper.
This was the second crisis.
And this time, another guest saved him.
The escorting army stopped in a certain city, and there was a hunter there. The hunter, who had stopped by the city to sell goods, saw the prince imprisoned in the cart and rescued him in the middle of the night and fled.
The two crossed a forest inhabited by a mad witch and headed to another country. Naturally, a pursuit party followed, and their numbers were said to be greater than the trees in the forest.
However, their great number incurred the wrath of the witch, so the prince safely reached another country, while not a single member of the pursuit party left the forest alive.
The count added.
"In the play, it is interpreted that the hunter controlled the witch, not that the witch was angered. I don't know exactly. Because all the stories were passed down orally from him."
The clear fact is that the hunter also left after saving the prince.
"The third and fourth times were the same. When he was about to be executed after being falsely accused of trying to stage a coup, and when he fell into a state of suspended animation for several years after eating poison, there were guests who obtained evidence of innocence and antidotes, respectively."
The knight, the hunter, the Priest, and the Alchemist, the four guests all appeared under different names and different occupations to save Banares, and when the work was done, they left without taking any reward.
In the year Banares turned thirty-eight, twenty-eight years after his father was murdered, he gathered his forces and achieved revenge against the usurper. Afterward, he ruled Carbonihar until he reached the age of ninety.
During his reign, the kingdom's territory increased several times. He married the princess of a neighboring country, and the two countries became completely one, and he punished and subjugated the country that had framed him.
Although the name of the country only resounded on the continent hundreds of years later, historians say that Carbonihar's national power was even greater during Banares' reign.
Roberta asked after the story ended.
"What happened to those guests?"
"Immediately after the Great King regained the throne, he searched for the guests. He posted notices all over the country to repay their grace. But they never came," he said.
"······."
"Also, strangely... the notices did not mention their names or features. It was like a letter, writing gratitude, blessings, and finally hope to them."
Based on this, Count Belido commented that Banares knew that the four guests would not seek him out again, and perhaps he posted the notices simply to convey his feelings.
"Priest, you asked about the relationship between Great King Banares and Duke Ditmarsken. What if, just what if, the four guests were one person? What if that person was Duke Ulrich of Ditmarsken?"
"Do you also think that those four people are one person, Count?"
"I don't know. Frankly, it doesn't feel real."
That would be the case, Roberta nodded.
Banares is no different from the founder of the Carbonihar Kingdom. Hasn't it been 20 years since the throne was usurped? It is enough time to consider that one country has been destroyed and a new dynasty has been established. Therefore, the moment he regained the throne was also the moment when the kingdom faced its second founding.
The founder went through four crises in his life, and each time a different person helped him, and that story has been told by word of mouth to this day.
The reasons would be various. The special talents shown by each of the guests, the way they appeared in times of crisis to help and then suddenly disappeared, or the ending where they never met again even though they wanted to see each other again for the rest of their lives, are enough to be stories.
But, what if they were one person?
Also, what if that person is still alive?
"When the Great King was alive, all sorts of liars appeared. They even appeared on the day before his death, hoping for a reward. Without knowing their names or appearances."
The count added that they met a terrible end.
"Only the royal family knows the details about the four guests. Today, only Duke Bailen, my lord, is the person who heard the story directly from the Great King, and the reason I believe it is because my lord believes it."
Roberta thought.
If what Duke Bailen believes is true, then Lord Ulrich of Ditmarsken has lived more than twice as long as recorded.
Even before, he had hinted that he had lived for 1,400 years or more, but that was just a claim he made alone.
On the other hand, what about now?
The four names, including the name Laurent, were guaranteed by Duke Bailen to be Ulrich's old names. There was no reason for Bailen to lie. Then has Ulrich lived for more than 600 years?
Ulrich claimed to be a pure human. A pure human with no race other than human mixed in his ancestry.
That in itself is an absurd claim, but even if you accept it, the question about his long lifespan is not resolved.
'Ulrich, Laurent, and there must be many other names.'
However, the question she had right now was not about lifespan.
She had too many questions about her lifespan, and after concluding that she couldn't know the answer, she grabbed a new question rather than clinging to a problem she couldn't prove.
What kind of life did he live under a different name?
He said, 'I changed my name every time I moved.' What names did he use each time, and what traces did he leave behind under each name?
She was curious about that. Haven't his names, which have been revealed so far, left huge traces in history without anyone knowing?
600 years ago, he was Laurent de Villeneuve.
Since 300 years ago, he has been Ulrich of Ditmarsken.
He was the one who helped the two human kingdoms of Carbonihar and Osnover rise again. Did such a person spend the 300 years in between quietly?
Roberta was sure that this would never be the case.
#
The next day, the group descended the snowy mountains as Ulrich had said.
The descent was steep, but they were excited. After staying in the snowy mountains for several days, they hated the sight of the mountains. The blood-freezing blizzards, the monsters gliding on the blizzards, and the rough terrain made it impossible to like them.
The plains below the mountain were covered in snow and were pure white, but unlike the mountains, the blizzard had stopped and no monsters were visible. On the surface, it was so quiet that the derogatory term Demon Realm was out of place.
However, they soon missed the snowy mountains.
When they actually walked on the plains, they realized that the mountain's grumbling was just a tantrum. An environment that is comfortable for humans cannot be uncomfortable for other animals and plants. Evidence that Ulrich's monster compendium was not a fiction came one after another.
"Uh, uh?"
Someone made a sound while walking through the snow.
Roberta, realizing that the emotion contained in that sound was bewilderment, turned around and saw the ground collapsing.
The area where she was standing only echoed under her feet, but it was different for the two people at the rear of the group.
The snow-covered ground collapsed, creating a cone-shaped pit. At the same time, Count Belido and one of his vassals slipped into it.
And the moment the vassal sat down in the middle of the pit, a pincer jaw suddenly popped out, bit his waist, and dragged him down.
"What the fuck!"
Count Belido shouted.
The monsters were not alone.
Another monster appeared with its pincer jaws wide open and bit Belido. Unlike his vassal, he quickly rolled his body, so his waist was not bitten, but instead his left thigh was bitten.
That was the only resistance. Belido lost his balance and fell, and there was nothing to grab onto. As the monster pulled him, he was helplessly dragged away.
"Belido!"
Duke Bailen took a step as if he was about to jump in.
However, Ulrich jumped into the pit before him.
Ulrich landed next to Belido and swung the sword in his right hand, cutting off the monster's head. The monster's head had a hard exoskeleton like that of a crustacean, but the sword cut through it as if cutting through the air.
And he opened the pincer jaws, removed them from Belido's thigh, and threw him out of the pit.
"Get out quickly!"
Bailen bent his knees and urgently reached out his hand. Ulrich shook his head and scanned his surroundings with his back turned to him. The vassal who was first caught by the pincers was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't come inside, and stay far back."
The pit shook.
Below the pit, which was mixed with white snow and black sand, an unknown number of monsters began to move. They must have realized that Ulrich was an unusual prey and were wary.
Whack, the sand scattered.
The monsters fiercely sprayed snow-mixed sand to prevent the prey from climbing the slope or to obstruct the prey's vision. And the pincer jaws of five monsters bit Ulrich.
From his feet and thighs to his waist and chest, they attacked and bit him all at once without giving the prey a chance to react. Ulrich cut off the one that bit his chest, but the other four dragged him to the bottom of the pit.
"Lord!"
Roberta screamed.
Ulrich did not open his mouth. Even though he had been dragged down to his waist in just a few seconds, he held the sword in reverse grip and stabbed down with a calm expression as always.
The sand inside shook, and his body also shook. The monster must be twisting its jaws in pain and anger. Then he raised his arm even higher and stabbed again.
"—! ——!"
A bizarre scream that tore the eardrums leaked out of the pit. And as the vibration of the pit became more intense, it completely pulled Ulrich under it.
Roberta, Bailen, Belido, and the vassals could do nothing but stare blankly down. They could only experience the sight of blood rising red on the surface of the pit, the sound of bones crushing, and the vibrations under their feet through their senses.
"······."
How much time had passed?
The blood began to flow below the surface of the pit.
As if returning to its owner, the blood that could not fall because it was mixed with snow and soil drained away. The snow turned white, the soil turned black, regaining its original color, and the pit only left traces of the commotion that had once occurred.
Soon, the center of the pit rose and Ulrich stood up. He was holding a sword in his right hand and a vassal with only his upper body remaining in his left hand. His lightly worn clothes were tattered like rags.
But, there were no wounds. The circumstances tell of the bloody battle he had, but strangely, his skin was white and clean without a single wound.