Roderic, who had been riding nearby, gave the answer this time. "Yeah, the one in the northeast. The outpost is technically located within this barony, but we don't man it. That's the Rangers' task."

  Alden raised his eyebrows. "The Rangers?"

  The guard captain nodded. "The best of the best fighters in the world. Swordsmen, archers, spearmen and pikemen form the bulk of the Rangers' force—each squad led by a knight. All human kingdoms contribute to them in some way, whether by giving their best fighters or by providing supplies and gold. That's how the Rangers keep us safe and prevent the monsters from coming south through the mountain passes throughout the year. Well, it's not really possible in this region, but they do their best. It would be much, much worse without them."

  Roderic shrugged. "In fact, I also used to work as a ranger at Fort Raltra when I was younger, but that life wasn't for me, so I returned here after serving the required three years. Kirol had also passed their test a few years ago, but he never joined 'em for some reason."

  Vusato grinned. "And Sarnok is better for it. You two are our best fighters, by far."

  So that was why the original Alden had never been able to defeat either of them in a swordfight—since they were good enough to become rangers—the very best of humanity. He tried to remember more about the Rangers from his newfound memories, but there wasn't much. Unlike his younger brother, the original Alden hadn't been very interested in reading or learning more about the world. All he could recall was that the Rangers were a parallel authority to the kings and the church in this world, formed centuries ago to keep the monsters at bay—where it was feasible, that is.

  "Do you miss working as a ranger?" Alden probed the brawny captain.

  "Nah... It's long in the past now," Roderic said. "Anyway, 'bout your earlier question, the road exiting from the eastern gate of the village, which goes to Laridan, also branches northeast towards the outpost there, from where the Rangers keep an eye on the monsters in the north—at least in the warmer months. They kill the monsters which come in the summer whenever possible, although some still escape and attack the villages down south. Then some time in late autumn, when the rangers spot enough monsters migrating to the south—that is, when it's beyond their capabilities to handle—they abandon the outpost for the winter and come to the village to alert the baron, before they leave for Fort Raltra. That's our cue to vacate the village for Garitus every autumn."

  "How big is that outpost?" Alden asked.

  Roderic exhaled loudly. "Not nearly as big as we need it to be... Usually only a single company of around a hundred rangers stays there. Once it's abandoned every autumn, the outpost is run over within a couple of weeks after the first snowfall, and has to be rebuilt every spring. Usually it's our village's carpenters who do that work, even though it never lasts a year. So it's only built as a temporary walled encampment, with a strong palisade boundary and a tall watchtower. Not at all like Fort Raltra, which is built of stone and has many thousands of rangers living there."

  Alden tried to picture the map—the outpost in the northeast, the Pinotian mountain range in the north, and the river Lokir in the west which led to the fortress city of Garitus. He could imagine—only a little—the long, hard season when doors were barred shut and the empty houses cold. What would life have been like if monsters never came to the south every winter...?

  He looked at the captain. "Why wasn't a fort built in the northeast then? If we had a fortress like Fort Raltra up there, the monsters wouldn't have been able to come south even in the winters."

  Roderic snorted. "Because it's simply not possible. Fort Raltra was built to block a mountain pass in the Pinotian range. Same for the other forts and outposts located along the mountain range in the west. But the land is far too wide in our northeast to build a fort there. It's just not feasible."

  The majordomo sighed. "It's a pity that a human kingdom has to suffer just because we are so close to the north-eastern gap. The God of Light really doesn't listen to our prayers anymore..."

  Alden suddenly realized that the captain had also said something similar earlier. "Wait, did you just say human kingdom? Does that mean there are non-human kingdoms too?"

  Vusato shook his head. "You really weren't listening when I used to teach you in the past..."

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  Alden tried to search for any mentions of non-human kingdoms in his memory, but hardly found anything of note. "Let's leave that in the past... I'm willing to learn now, aren't I?"

  The majordomo smiled. "That you are... Anyway, there certainly are non-human kingdoms out there in the continent. The kingdom of Sigostra in which we live is one of the two major human kingdoms, along with the neighbouring Tuzalko Kingdom. But beyond the human kingdoms in the west lies an independent duchy which is ruled by orcs, and that's where nearly all the orcs live. Why it's called a duchy and not a kingdom is a complicated topic, so let's leave that for some other time. There is also a fairly large queendom ruled by elves in the south, as well as a dominion ruled by lizardmen—who live in the arid wastelands in the southwest. Dwarfs don't have a separate country of their own, so they live in tunnels and caves within the hilly ranges all over the continent, while fishmen live in the various sized islands in the ocean. There are some other races too, but their people are few in number and are rarely seen."

  Alden heard the explanation with wonder. This world didn't just have magic, it also had elves and dwarfs and so many other races! Amazing...

  "Tell me about them!" he said excitedly. "What are they like? Why don't we see any of them here?"

  Vusato looked at the captain. "You've traveled far more than me. You explain."

  Roderic gave a nod and began, "Orcs are the best fighters by a big margin, even if they don't like to use swords or bows—just spears. I consider myself a good fighter, but when I met one of them during my time as a ranger, I could hardly touch him in a practice bout, and he wasn't even the best amongst their group. That was a humiliating defeat for me, but I was still praised for lasting that long against an orc. They are that good at fighting."

  He continued, "Unlike the orcs, who independently defend the passes in the western section of the Pinotian range which lies in their duchy and make an important part of the Rangers' force, it's rare to see elves here in the north. They live in the warmer south in their queendom and don't like the cold of the north. They make the best archers of any race, so the Rangers often employ them as bowmen, even though the elves can't tolerate the cold very well. But apart from serving in the rangers, the elves are rarely seen outside their queendom in the south, which is where they do a lot of farming—far away from the monsters which come from the north, and where the weather allows two crops every year—and export grain to other countries."

  "Have you met an elf?" Alden asked, noticing that a few villagers had stopped nearby, listening to their conversation with curiosity.

  The guard captain nodded. "A few times. While they usually keep a hidden dagger or two, they like to fight from a distance and are confident enough in their archery skills that hardly any of them use a proper sword, so I never got a chance to clash against one of 'em." He looked at the majordomo. "Didn't the ranger company at the outpost get a few elves this year?"

  Vusato scratched his short white beard. "I think so... We last saw the full company way back in spring when they passed Sarnok while coming from Fort Raltra, and only humans have come here to take supplies from the village after that, so I don't remember for sure... I do think that there was a young female elf. I remember her because of her unique turquoise hair. Anyway, we'll find out more after they abandon the outpost and pass us near the end of autumn when returning to Raltra."

  Alden grinned, being excited about meeting an elf for the first time. "What about the other races?"

  Roderic pulled the rein of his horse, which had started moving towards a stack of hay kept nearby. "As for the dwarfs, I've never met one. All I know is that they live in small encampments in the hills and the smaller mountain ranges in the continent, although not in the Pinotian range. It's far too cold and simply not safe enough to raise families there. I've heard dwarfs have excellent night vision, which allows them to live in dark tunnels and caves in the hills with barely any light, instead of them creating big fires for light and risk suffocating."

  The captain paused for a while. "I don't know much about lizardmen though. Just that they never come out of those arid wastelands. I have never sailed on the oceans, so I've never seen a fishman either. There might be some of them who visit Laridan to sell their latest catch from the oceans, but free-living non-humans aren't welcome any further, so you won't see them here or in Garitus." He seemed to be thinking for a moment. "Can't recall meeting members of any other races right now..."

  "What about magic?" Alden asked with curiosity. "Can any of them use magic?"

  The captain shrugged. "Magic is very rare in the world. Even amongst humans, there is usually a single magic user born in a generation in a village our size—if that. Even the huge cities like Garitus likely don't have more than a few dozen of them in total. I don't know for certain, but I think it must be similar for other races. I do know that elves make the best healers, but that's all I've heard about that topic."

  Alden nodded. So magic was indeed present in this world and in every race, but you couldn't just train hard to start throwing fireballs. You had to be born with the talent, as rare as it was. "Well, you didn't answer my other question. Why don't we see any non-humans here?"

  Roderic scowled at the majordomo. "We never had a problem with the other races in the Rangers but you are a church fanatic, aren't you? You answer it!"

  Alden looked at the older man for an answer.

  Vusato sighed. "It's... a difficult topic. You know that humans are the most populous race on the continent. I think we probably outnumber all the other races combined. What do you think happens in such a situation?"