I realized as we walked out of the traveling guild that I knew very little about the Ost Republic. I knew that it had once been a part of the Demon Lord Aberis’s conquered domain, and had been part of the country Osteria. The Demon Lord Aberis’s invasion had come from the sea. He hadn’t gained enough strength to contend with the Imperial Cloud Meadow, so he focused on conquering the south. He was stopped by the wilderness to the west, never managing to mount an invasion on Dioshin.

The mountains to the southwest had similarly kept him from continuing. He was trying to invade Esmore when he was finally defeated. The country of Osteria had been composed of the large Osterians, a human-like species that ranged from six to eight feet tall, as well as Elves, the humans, and the Surface Dwarves.

The Dwarves fled the territories of the demon lord, as he had a policy of enslaving them. They bunkered down in Esmore alongside the Esmere, eventually taking up a permanent residence there. The Osterians joined the demon lord, feeling that the humans were often prejudiced, and using this as an opportunity to flip the tide, leaving the physically superior Osterians on top. It would ultimately be one of their princesses, the Princess Hero Xin, who teamed up with Maid Hero Elaya, and Hero King Edward to defeat the demon lord and reclaim the lands lost to them.

In time, the territory had split, with King Edward taking the northern half and calling himself and his country Aberis. His anti-Osterian and demon policies pushed them out of the country, where they fled to and created the Ost Republic. Meanwhile, the declining elves all but disappeared, leaving Aberis a country of humans with a somewhat xenophobic view of other races.

I had always believed that the demons had been eradicated during the war, or perhaps that the Demon Lord Aberis had brought no demon followers to begin his war. Taking one step onto the streets of the Ost Republic capital, I realized this was completely false. The city was filled with a rich variety of species one didn’t see in Aberis.

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Many Osterians were walking around, with their tall bodies, long fingers, and distinct brows making them stand out. However, there were also numerous demons. I had encountered many demons before while in the Twilight Dungeon. They didn’t look much different from humans, except that occasionally their skin had strange shades, and everyone had horns and a tail, which differed from demon to demon. It wasn’t impossible to see a red-skinned demon with long ram horns next to a light blue demon with little doe horns.

There were humans in equal number, and also Dwarves as well. Other than Garnet, I had only ever seen Dwarves in the memories delivered from blessings. Like her, they looked younger than their age suggested. How did I know they were Dwarves? It was the beards. Some stereotypes were stereotypes because they were true. Male Dwarves had beards.

This didn’t mean that all of the dwarves we youthful, but even the young dwarves who should be considered children were working hard. It was like their development was just slowly, so an adult looked like a teen. How old did that make the elderly dwarves?

It seemed like all the Dwarves in the city were working. Now that I noticed, the entire architecture of this place differed from Aberis. There was a lot more stone and a lot less wood. When I raised an eyebrow, it was Eliana who spoke up.

“While we humans build with our own hands, a lot of Ost Republic was built by the Dwarves. They commission Dwarf workers to come at regular intervals to build and perform maintenance. Regrettably, they get along with Esmore better than we do.

“I see…” It seemed like Aberis was an isolated country with enemies on every side. It was remarkable that we had kept things running for so long. I wanted to invite some more Dwarves to Chalm. Perhaps, I should look into it while I was here.