Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 168

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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 168.
The Call of the Sealed Land (14)

“Your Excellency, the young lady has arrived.”
Whenever visitors came to the Regent’s House, one could often spot a young woman sitting on a bench outside the door, trimming vegetables or cleaning fish.
Those seeking the Regent would offer her a light bow, whereupon she would wipe her hands, enter the house, and proceed to the innermost room to announce the visitor’s arrival.
Should the woman be absent, visitors would either sit on that bench and wait for her return, or they would have no choice but to come back another time.
With few rare exceptions, it was forbidden to seek out the Regent directly without going through the woman first.
Today’s visitor was one of those rare exceptions—the only person who never offered her a bow.
In fact, she preferred to arrive when the woman was absent, bursting directly into the Regent’s room without ceremony. Sometimes she would ignore the woman entirely and pass by without acknowledgment.
This, despite the woman being nominally her mother.
“Come in.”
The moment the Regent’s voice answered from within, Liriope—who had been waiting with her jaw clenched—pushed open the door and shut it quickly behind her. It was a silent expression of her disdain for her adoptive mother.
“If you dislike her so much, you could visit in the morning instead.”
The Regent knew full well that Liriope despised the woman. His tacit acceptance of this stemmed from his own indifference toward her.
An odd conviction dominated their thoughts: it was sufficient for the Island’s people to respect her, but they themselves had no such obligation.
“I have to go to Scoli in the morning. Ugh, how tedious. When will this ever end?”
“You have only one year left—what are you complaining about?”
“We’ll have the purification ceremony this spring too. I wish I could just graduate right after that….”
No matter how much Liriope was the Regent’s daughter, she could not arbitrarily break the Island’s ancient rules.
Like Hector, Liriope was born in January and had turned fifteen earlier this year. Therefore, just as Hector had done, she would undergo the purification ceremony first and graduate the following year.
Liriope’s longing for graduation stemmed from more than just a desire to be rid of tedious duties.
The moment both conditions were met—the purification ceremony and graduation from Scoli—she would become the legitimate heir to the Regent, wielding authority before all people.
She had grown weary of behaving like an ordinary girl, and now only the hope of becoming part of the privileged class like the Priesthood consumed her entirely.
“By the way, Father, about that fire at the Library the other day. Do you really think it was just an accident?”
The Regent opened his half-closed eyes and studied Liriope’s face.
“Accident or not, what difference would it make? There’s nothing to be gained by digging into such matters.”
“What do you think about the Library burning itself? Were the books kept there truly worthless?”
The Regent fell silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“I had long intended to lay hands on that place. As the saying goes, sometimes matters resolve themselves without intervention.”
Liriope did not know what lay within the Library, nor what had transpired between the Regent and Ilios Priest, and so she could not fathom why the Regent thought as he did.
However, since she had never been interested in the Library to begin with, such details mattered little to her.
“That may be true, but I’m curious about one thing—it seems someone beat that little brat, and if we think about who would do such a thing, it’s rather obvious, isn’t it? You’d know as well as I would. If those children were somehow connected to the fire, wouldn’t it be helpful for you to know that?”
Both Liriope and the Regent, much like Nauplion and Daphnen, suspected Ekion’s group based on similar reasoning.
However, while Daphnen had methodically traced suspicion from the starting point of believing everyone innocent, Liriope had simply pointed her finger at the suspects based on her preexisting prejudices, evidence be damned.
“Ekion is your cousin—there’s no need to create friction between your families over this. Liri, are you still displeased with Hector?”
Liriope’s lips twisted into a small pout before she closed her mouth. The Regent was right. She had been searching for any excuse to avoid becoming entangled with Hector.
As Liriope struggled to voice her discontent, the Regent unexpectedly spoke.
“Since both you and Hector belong to the Bronze Leopard Clan, a union between you would not violate traditional custom. If you truly dislike him, is there another you would prefer?”
“Dad!”
Liriope merely furrowed her delicate brows and said nothing more. A smile flickered across the Regent’s lips before fading away.
Surprisingly, words that Liriope had long yearned to hear spilled from his mouth.
“If what you wish to choose is a young boy destined to become a Priest of the Sword, then that would be acceptable as well.”
Liriope’s face flushed crimson for a moment before quickly cooling.
Though the Regent’s words appeared to retract his previous opposition, viewed differently, he was only granting permission under the premise that Daphnen would become a Priest of the Sword.
It remained uncertain. Yet Liriope opened her eyes slightly and replied a moment later.
“That’s not an incorrect statement. In any case, I have no desire for a loser. The one suited to me must be a victor, nothing less.”
Whether a loser of the duel, a loser to Silverskull, or a loser who failed to become a Priest of the Sword—her rejection remained the same.

Helpless days drifted past.
Two days had elapsed since Morpheus declared that it would be best to abandon hope for Oizis, that resurrection was impossible.
During that time, Daphnen had recalled one possibility several times. Yet each time, he dismissed the thought as futile.
When Scoli closed, his routine was to stop by Morpheus’s House before returning home.
That day, as he passed through Morpheus’s House and arrived home, he found Nauplion already there, despite the hour being early afternoon.
It appeared Nauplion had been waiting for Daphnen’s return.
“Come here and sit. I have some news.”
Since the first suspicion was raised, Nauplion had conducted a modest investigation using his authority.
First, he inquired into the whereabouts of children Daphnen’s age on the day of the fire.
Before the villagers rushed to the Library that day, someone remembered a pale-faced young boy standing at the Village Entrance with a peculiar demeanor.
When speaking with the Headmaster of Scoli, there were several children who had been fine the day before but suddenly claimed to be ill the day after the fire and didn’t come to Scoli.
Two of them didn’t appear the following day either. However, Ekion was not among them.
“But even if you and I suspect the culprit, without decisive evidence it’s useless. The only solution would be a miracle—if Oizis awakened and told us what happened, or if they confessed. It’s a frustrating situation.”
Nauplion interlaced his fingers, raised his hands behind his head, and sighed.
Daphnen’s heart grew heavy, wondering if Nauplion’s personal involvement in this investigation stemmed from guilt over Daphnen himself.
“If there were another way, it would be to subtly intimidate them. For example, if you claimed that when you entered the burnt Library, Oizis was actually somewhat conscious and left some message—something like that.”
“Um, Nauplion. When I was at the Belnor Estate before… do you remember Lanzumi, Langie’s younger sister?”
Nauplion immediately understood what Daphnen was trying to say.
“‘Communion,’ you mean. You’re asking if we could use that on Oizis? We could try, certainly, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s only safe with someone who has a certain amount of vitality.”
Nauplion also rubbed his hands together with regret.
“Unlike Lanzumi, Oizis’s physical condition has deteriorated to an extreme degree. If his soul were to collide directly with another’s, the shock could sever the faint breath barely clinging to him.”
Daphnen spoke abruptly.
“If only there were some transcendent being who witnessed everything that happened then, that would be ideal.”
“You mean the Moon Queen? But even if the Moon Queen saw everything, she typically wouldn’t say anything in such cases.”
He wasn’t referring to the Moon Queen. Daphnen hesitated before speaking again.
“Not the Moon Queen… for instance, if the spirit of a dead person remained and was wandering about…”
“What are you saying now?”
Nauplion’s eyes widened in confusion as he looked directly at Daphnen’s face.
“Are you suggesting that someone other than Oizis might have died in the Library that day?”
“No? That couldn’t be…”
“Well, that’s a relief. But wait—you don’t actually think you can communicate easily with them if such spirits are truly wandering around, do you?”
“That is….”
Daphnen found himself at a loss for words. He couldn’t easily convince himself that Nauplion would believe him, even if he tried to explain.
It would have been easier if Zero had been here beside me.
Yet surprisingly, Nauplion said this:
“So you’re saying you’ve actually experienced something like that? At least, you believe you have, yes? Am I right?”
“You think such a thing is possible?”
“Hey, listen. You just said so yourself a moment ago. I’m asking because you said it—not because I’m doubting you.”
“That is….”
Nauplion let out a soft chuckle.
“Have I ever blindly accused you of lying about your stories? And yet you think I wouldn’t believe what you’re saying? You’re truly a fellow who’s lost all sense of trust.”
“….”
I didn’t understand why I always expected the worst outcome. Embarrassed, my face flushed as I slowly began to speak.
“It’s actually something from a long time ago….”
Nauplion already knew about the hallucination I’d witnessed when I first arrived on the Island.
Back then, I’d heard the footsteps of invisible children, and now I suspected those were the ghost children, including Endymion, making those sounds.
I recounted the ghosts I’d encountered when I went missing during the experiments with Morpheus and the Winterer, and what happened when I fell from the Cliff.
When I finally explained the power of Endymion, who had possessed me during the battle with the monster in the Upper Village, Nauplion’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Then that child must truly possess tremendous power as a spirit, wouldn’t you say? Though he appears as a young boy, it’s hard to guess what he actually is. And it’s not just one spirit like that—you’re saying there are even older adult ghosts among them as well….”
Suddenly, Daphnen received a sharp flick to his forehead.
“You fool, why have you been hiding something so important all this time? You’re truly unbelievable.”
“I didn’t think you’d believe such a story.”
“Let me say it once more, you who have completely lost all capacity for trust.”

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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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