Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 130

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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 130.
Two Blades, Four Names (14)
Isolet murmured to herself, then felt along the rocky outcrop behind her before carefully leaning her back against it.
Traveling together revealed that Isolet possessed a far more cautious nature than I had initially perceived. Despite her age, she carried knowledge that was difficult to fathom, yet she rarely spoke unless the moment demanded it.
Though she had read and heard much about the Continent, she was acutely aware of her lack of experience, so even when troublesome problems arose, she refrained from asserting her opinions first.
When I explained situations and asked for her thoughts, she would pause before speaking, and in most cases, her words cut straight to the heart of the matter with remarkable precision.
Yet she never diminished herself carelessly. Isolet was the daughter of the person she respected most. There was a difference between maintaining courtesy and abandoning pride.
Travel, as was natural, revealed many facets of each other that we had not known before.
I found joy in being able to offer Isolet counsel and assistance with whatever she needed. Even Isolet, who had always been my teacher on The Island, did not resent this. When she encountered something unfamiliar, she immediately adopted a posture of learning.
Being together made me understand how she had managed to absorb so much knowledge at such a young age.
“Arriving too early could be problematic. If we encounter those who came before us, what would we say?”
“Even if we time it carefully, we’ll run into them anyway. I don’t think there’s a problem we can’t explain.”
Though I spoke thus, Isolet—who had discovered traces of magic at the Cliff—already knew everything Ekion had done. She had simply agreed with Nauplion to let the matter rest without further inquiry.
No one could know how deeply Hector was involved. If we met him, it would certainly be awkward. That incident was undoubtedly something I had orchestrated to prevent myself from entering Silverskull.
“I’m not sure I’ll manage well even if we go. I mustn’t disappoint you or Isildor San, who came all this way with me.”
After leaving The Island, even when there were no strangers nearby, I had to use the name employed on the Continent instead of the name Nauplion.
“Don’t burden yourself with worry. It was never going to be easy anyway. My only concern is whether we’ll do our best—everything else is beside the point.”
Knowing how Isolet spoke, I simply smiled and replied.
“Your father must have been truly remarkable. Sometimes I think I want to win for his sake. Wouldn’t that bring you joy as well?”
“….”
Isolet did not answer immediately. The conversation I had shared with her on that winter night came back to her.
That day, she had clearly refused. And yet, she had not left my side.
She could not fully understand her own heart. Though she had thought about it countless times, she could neither accept nor depart.
After a moment, I spoke again.
“Don’t carry the burden. That fellow wanting to become the Priest of the Sword and striving to rely on your father’s reputation in every way must be truly distasteful to you. I’m satisfied simply being able to prevent such things. Of course, I’ll have to work hard….”
As my words trailed off, Isolet suddenly spoke.
“Boris, if you truly think that way, will you grant me one request?”
We faced each other. Beneath the protruding rocky outcrop, a young boy and girl sat sheltering from the rain, looking at one another. Our breath formed white clouds that dissipated into the air.
“I hope it’s something I can fulfill. Truly.”
Isolet smiled briefly.
“My father used an alias when he entered Silverskull. Could you use that name in the tournament—or at least the surname?”
“Ah….”
I fell into thought. Nauplion came to mind. When he came to the Continent, he deliberately used the surname “San” because he wanted to believe he was continuing his legacy.
However, if I used the surname “San,” anyone would assume I was from Lemme, which presented its own problem.
I needed to use a name of ambiguous nationality to avoid drawing suspicion from people of the same country.
“What name did he use?”
“Kamin Mistrie.”
It was certainly a name of ambiguous nationality. The given name sounded like someone from northern Anomarad, the surname like someone from Orlanne, and if stretched, it could pass as someone from Lemme.
“But if I don’t achieve good results, I might only tarnish that name instead. It’s old history, but if someone happened to remember….”
“They say that at Lugran Castle, where Silverskull began, the champions’ names are engraved on bronze plaques in the central hall. But this tournament is being held in Anomarad. My father’s victory was long ago.”
Silverskull opens every year. It would not be easy for all the champions’ names to be remembered.
“And I believe you will do your best for all those names. Whether it was my father’s name, your master’s name, or your own name. Victory is not what matters.”
“But victory does matter. No, at least I have to reach the finals. If I’m unlucky… I might never meet that bastard even once until then. If I borrow the name Mysteria, then I absolutely must defeat that bastard. That’s how I repay the debt of borrowing the name.”
The rain gradually ceased. Drip, drip—each raindrop fell with crystalline clarity.
“A name is not something you can borrow on a whim. Is there any better way to prove that he cannot borrow that name?”
Isolet rose barefoot and walked out into the forest where the rain had stopped. Watching her departing figure, Boris spoke.
“Boris, let’s use the name Mysteria.”
And the victory befitting that name would be claimed by Nauplion’s blade.
“….”
Though Boris seemed to hear the words, Isolet sensed something else and brought both hands behind her back. She gripped the hilt of her sword.
Boris, knowing Isolet’s keen senses, sprang to his feet as well.
“Who are you! This is Lord Dicam’s Territory!”
A figure emerged from the undergrowth, and soon a dozen soldiers poured out, drawing their blades in a flurry. Boris waited a moment before drawing his own sword to meet them.

“A fine tree indeed. Shall I wait up here?”
Yurichi Fredan, one of the Khan Commander’s Four Wings, hummed cheerfully, grasped a branch, and hoisted himself up into the tree. In an instant, he climbed to a height twice his own and settled comfortably on a thick bough.
“Elder Brother should be around here somewhere?”
Ryusno Den looked up at the tree, waved his hand, and leaned his back against the trunk. There was no need to wait long, and even less need to set an ambush.
He intended to wait with patience.
The Barbarian man who had been traveling with them had vanished. Yurichi, as if remembering that matter, hummed a short tune.
“I’ve never felt so relieved.”
It had been a truly long time. From Sansruria to the Nim Peninsula—a painful and tedious journey.
After visiting Kamzak Settlement, Izak’s hometown, and obtaining the final information, they had at last parted ways with Izak.
The information was worth the hardship: there was an inhabited island beyond the North Sea.
However, the Barbarians said that island was very distant, and it was impossible to approach without knowing the sea routes—knowledge only those from there possessed.
To miss it like this was frustrating, but shortly after, they reconsidered. What’s done is done, and surely he wouldn’t stay on that island forever, would he?
It was a thought befitting a Trabaches native, who rarely left his homeland. Of course, it was also a thought born from knowing nothing about the island’s scale.
The real reason was entirely different, but in any case, their assumption proved correct.
Of course, it was not without effort. Ryusno and Yurichi had spent the time purchasing spies throughout Elbe Island and the entire Crystal Archipelago, maintaining a network of contacts.
They had also traveled through coastal settlements, requesting immediate notification if a strange boy around fifteen years old arrived by ship from across the sea, and scattered considerable gold coins as incentive.
After that, they waited persistently. Whether they had scattered too much money or not, aside from the occasional nuisance who brought unrelated information, time passed smoothly enough.
No, actually it had not. Unlike Ryusno, whose patience seemed to be a built-in trait, Yurichi’s irritation grew with each passing day.
At least Ryusno, who took morning walks along the beach daily, had deployed his first-rate observational skills to pointless ends and brought back three artifacts, which prompted Yurichi to venture into the auction world to sell them at a premium. In this way, Yurichi’s time barely crept forward.
And then the information arrived.
A ship carried two adults and three boys, all strangers. It was a large number to handle alone, but Yurichi was confident. Such ordinary people were nothing.
Izak had volunteered to help without understanding the situation, but Yurichi politely declined. Going alone, Yurichi subdued the adults as expected and captured the boys.
But then, Izak, who had followed of his own accord, appeared and exchanged a few words, and then had the audacity to lecture Yurichi, saying that an adult should know how to forgive children?
“Ah, the back of my neck….”
Even now, irritation surged. But he had to endure it. Yurichi, trained in ambush-focused combat, had no chance of defeating Izak in a direct confrontation.
When he had accompanied Izak to the Kamzak Tribe settlement before, he had learned a name far more famous than Izak itself, and he had seen enough of the Kamzak Tribe’s fearsome power to sicken him. They were formidable enemies that civilized humans could not contend with.
So Yurichi, wearing the forced smile he’d grown accustomed to during his travels with Izak, asked them if they knew a young boy named Boris. And….
He had no choice but to send them away empty-handed.
Now, before the next lead came in, it had become urgent to part ways with Izak for good. He couldn’t kill him, so he’d have to send him back to Sansruria, or to the Kamzak Tribe settlement, or perhaps let him travel alone….
But after all the blood, sweat, and tears he’d invested, Izak had become firmly convinced that the two of them were ‘weaklings who needed protection,’ and no matter what was said, he refused to listen sincerely.
When Yurichi reached the point of being unable to sit still, on the verge of exploding, Ryusno solved the problem for him. The solution was so elegant that the moment he heard it, he felt as though he’d been revived from the brink of death.
When new information arrived, they left the Inn they’d been using as their base and made this request to Izak.
“We’ve had to step away for a very urgent matter, and we’re worried we might miss the information that keeps coming in, you see? So would you, being such a kind person, wait here and receive the reports in our stead for a little while? We’ll be back soon, so please don’t leave your post until then. Understood?”
Izak readily agreed to take on the task for the two gentlemen who had shown him such kindness. All the while wearing that characteristic innocent smile of his.
“I wonder if he’s still holed up in that Inn.”
“If you can’t leave your companion behind, then you must leave yourself.”
Ryusno replied quietly, but Yurichi didn’t hear him.
As long as he didn’t appear before his eyes again, it didn’t matter. More than two weeks had passed since they’d abandoned Izak there—by now he’d surely given up and left for somewhere else.
“Yo-ho!”
Yurichi, perched in the tree, spotted the prey first and gave the signal.
Two young boys and one adult were approaching from a distance. They were the ones who had been on the ship that arrived at Elbe Island the second time.
Ryusno, who had been leaning against the tree with his head bowed, slowly straightened his back. He drew his sword halfway from its sheath and fixed his gaze on the approaching figures with those characteristically melancholic eyes.

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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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