Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 119

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 119.
Two Swords, Four Names (3)
Among the seventeen monks, nine were hermits who had built shelters scattered across the mountains of The Island, observing the changes between heaven and earth in seclusion.
One of them, who served as their representative, spoke up.
“There is no need to reiterate that a thorough search of the entire Island is impossible. Surely the Priest of the Staff could see into every corner of The Island through magic—why have you not done so?”
Despoina nodded frankly.
“Of course I attempted it. However, some unknown force or substance blocks my vision, preventing me from seeing through it.”
“An unknown force that even the Priest of the Staff cannot penetrate exists on The Island? This is entirely new to me.”
At that moment, a voice interjected.
“Why wouldn’t there be? That child brought a strange black sword when entering The Island, and it seemed to possess a different kind of power.”
The words came from one of the monks. Despoina observed him, his mouth curved in something like a forced smile as he waited for her response, and she spoke.
“Monk Pelloross, where did you hear such a story?”
Pelloross rose slowly. He was an exceptionally tall man with long red hair identical to his eldest son’s.
In stark contrast to his elder brother, who was slowly withering away from lower-body paralysis, his frame was robust and imposing. His name meant “giant.”
“That child and my son fought several times. My boy said he couldn’t win because that child’s sword possessed a strange power.”
Nauplion, who had been sitting with his upper body bent forward, suddenly lifted his head and turned his gaze toward the man.
The incident between Hector and Daphnen had already been agreed upon to remain confidential last summer. Pelloross, Hector’s father, had naturally been present at that meeting.
Moreover, Daphnen had never once used Winterer on The Island. Now that circumstances had turned disadvantageous for Daphnen, was Pelloross breaking his promise and gathering opinion to do something about it?
That would not do.
“As the Priest, I have not even heard such rumors. Monk Pelloross, do you truly believe a story children made up in the heat of a quarrel?”
Despoina’s voice was as smooth and cold as marble, and several present knew that she commonly used such a tone to mock her interlocutors.
As expected, Pelloross’s voice rose.
“Ha! What nonsense! Though he is my son, Hector is not the sort to fabricate excuses to hide his mistakes. As everyone here knows, he is a child of unusual maturity. From what I gathered, that sword emanates a chill that floods its surroundings and turns them to winter. Moreover, the sword supposedly changes its shape of its own accord?”
Despoina smiled, moving only her lips.
“Monk, you seem to hear many unusual stories from your son. I was under the impression that Hector’s talent lay solely with the sword.”
The gathered monks exchanged bewildered glances and murmured softly. Since all that had transpired had been kept secret, to them Pelloross’s account sounded as though it had been lifted from dreams his son might have had.
“Hmph, so you don’t believe me? Then how do you explain what has happened now? The child Daphnen took a sword and vanished, and you said the magic cast by the Priest of the Staff could not capture him. He reached the Dock without being seen by those who guard the Forest, and despite never having learned to operate a vessel, he fled The Island?”
Pelloross paused mid-sentence, then continued.
“Or perhaps, like last time, he went to the Northern Sea with nothing but cliffs and fell into the water?”
The last remark was clearly a jab meant to implicate Isolet. Yet Isolet did not so much as raise an eyebrow.
Only Pelloross’s booming voice continued to echo.
“So I ask you in turn: why does the Priest of the Staff, who must see and hear all that occurs on The Island, not know of matters that have reached even my ears? Has your advanced age caused you to neglect your duties as Priest? Or have you been blinded by personal sentiment….”
“Mind your rash words!”
From one side, Petra, the Priest of the Sleeve, raised her left hand sharply.
From the wide bracelet wound around her wrist, a large silver ornament flashed with light.
“Do you not know the gravity of insulting a Priest? Do not cloud the heart of this matter with worthless words. We have lost a child of the Pilgrims. If that child bears guilt, it is a matter to be pursued only after she returns alive.”
The Priest of the Sleeve oversaw all aspects of the Pilgrims’ lives on The Island—their eating, sleeping, labor, and leisure. She also presided over life rituals such as childbirth, marriage, and funerals.
Therefore, even if she had little personal connection to Daphnen, she could not help but be sensitive to the misfortune that had befallen him.
“Ha, and if he does not return? In truth, I find it difficult to believe that the child has simply vanished. Perhaps he discovered some strange power in his sword and hid somewhere, intending to bring harm to The Island. He deliberately concealed his location with that bizarre ability!”
Petra blinked her eyes several times in disbelief, then cried out.
“Making assertions without evidence is not the teaching of the Moon Queen! Moreover, why would that young boy do such a thing? What benefit would he gain from harming the Island? What is your reason for suddenly raising such suspicions?”
“That man came from the Continent! Only the Priest of the Sword knows anything about his past, and we Pilgrims know nothing of it, do we? If there is no basis to suspect him, then what basis is there to trust him?”
As Pelloross spoke with such confidence and turned his head, Nauplion rose from his seat, and the movement entered his field of vision.
“It is simple. Whether you trust me or not.”
Though his words were brief, in that moment the “Rune of Thunder”—the symbol of the Priest of the Sword’s authority—struck against his leg with a dull sound.
Though it was not an intentional act, the sound somehow reached the ears of everyone seated in the Town Hall with perfect clarity.
“Ahem, well, um, Priest of the Sword…. Just because you brought the young boy called Daphnen does not mean you need to defend him so desperately. It seems you are trying far too hard to prove that your eyes, which chose that child, were not mistaken. Even you, Priest, can sometimes misjudge people, and I have no intention of dragging you into this matter as well….”
“No, that is not so.”
Nauplion’s eyes pierced toward his opponent.
“I know Daphnen well. Pelloross, if by your standards that child is evil, then by that same fence, I myself would not escape inclusion. Shall we turn that statement around?”
Nauplion stopped appropriately at that point. The omitted words were something anyone could anticipate.
Before Pelloross could offer any rebuttal, Despoina opened her mouth.
“Let us cease this fruitless debate. The Moon Queen does not tolerate discussions that circle around conclusions without reaching them. Shall I state my opinion first to narrow our focus?”
She released her hand from the staff she had been holding. The staff stood upright at the center of the seven circles.
“The reason we have wandered through many mountain ranges seeking Daphnen is that when Daphnen first went missing, Isolet, who had long been teaching him the Sacred Chant Tradition, suddenly experienced a moment of synchronization and felt the sensation of falling from a distant cliff.”
The eyes of those gathered momentarily turned toward Isolet.
“It is not uncommon for a sharing of senses to occur between master and disciple in the process of teaching the Sacred Chant Tradition, so we have no more reliable information than this. However, we found no trace of him at the base of any nearby mountain. He was not detected even by magic. Where could he have gone?”
Despoina paused and looked around once before speaking.
“I wish to direct attention to the sword he possessed as the key to this problem.”
Nauplion, who had been standing, suddenly turned his head to look at Despoina.
Pelloross the Monastic wore an expression of “I knew it,” and the others stirred. Even Morpheus, who sat beside Nauplion, showed a look of bewilderment on his face.
“That sword was already his before Daphnen came to the Island. From the beginning, I sensed that an unfamiliar power lay dormant within it. I did not know the nature of that power, but it was certain that it was watching for an opportunity to emerge. Yet, remarkably, Daphnen carried such a sword for quite some time without any particular trouble.”
“Regarding his sword, I know better than anyone. It is merely a family heirloom passed down through generations in the house where that child was born!”
Despoina lowered her eyes without answering. Nauplion, the one who had cried out, felt his throat burning as he sent an earnest gaze toward Despoina.
The story of the Winterer and Snowguard—that is, the Winterbottom Kit—was not well known on the Island. Even the fragmentary accounts Nauplion had heard during his years on the Continent were incomplete.
Yet the Winterer he had seen directly was by no means a simple sword. It was a threatening presence, difficult to grasp in its true nature from appearance alone.
As the Priest of the Sword, he felt a dangerous power emanating from it—how could the Priest of the Staff, who dealt in magic and prophecy, not have known this?
Yet despite this, Despoina had not made it an issue until now. She had even kept it well hidden.
But perhaps that could no longer continue.
“What the Priest of the Sword has said is also correct. In any case, it is an ancient thing from the Continent and an unknown entity to us Pilgrims. However, there is one thing—I have discovered that the sword possesses the power to open and enter an Alternate Space. Let us speak based on that alone. Did the child enter the Alternate Space?”
No one answered. There was no one who could know this better than the Priest of the Staff.
Despoina continued.
“If he had merely done so, there would be no reason my power could not have found him. I should even have been able to call out to him trapped within the Alternate Space. Yet his presence was not detected even within it. What comes next? An Alternate World.”
Those gathered here also understood the difference between an Alternate Space and an Alternate World. Yet whether one or the other, there was no one who had been there, nor anyone who knew what existed in such places.
As the murmuring subsided, Genesis from Scoli opened his mouth.
“An Alternate World is… like the world beyond the well spoken of in the Ancient Kingdom…? Are you saying such a passage has appeared again?”
Despoina answered.
“It is one possibility. Let me make this clear in this gathering. Unlike the Priest of the Sword, I am certain that a dangerous power lies dormant in the sword Daphnen possesses. However, it is also that boy’s power that has been effectively suppressing it. How could such a thing be? For a long time, wondering about this, I have been examining whether that child possesses some special ability.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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