Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 172

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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 172.
The Call of the Sealed Land (18)
The rain had nearly ceased. The wet clothes clinging to my body felt colder now than they had while being drenched, yet heat radiated from my face.
“Very well, let me ask precisely. Did Ekion and his associates set fire to the Library, and then flee while leaving Oizis trapped inside?”
Hector walked slowly into the water. As it grew deeper, he began to swim, drawing closer.
Near the rocky outcrop where Daphnen stood, there was another submerged rock. Standing atop it, the water reached only to one’s knees.
Hector reached that spot as expected and stood, his gaze fixed intently upon Daphnen’s face.
As if searching for something.
“…So it is as I thought.”
Seeing Hector in detail for the first time in ages, he appeared closer to a young man than a boy. His face and body had shed all traces of youth entirely.
Perhaps because of this, the light in his eyes seemed to have transformed from the arrogance of the past into something closer to pride.
“What do you mean by that?”
“No, I’ll speak honestly. My younger brother Ekion is involved in this matter. However, he did not directly set the fire, nor did he deliberately trap Oizis inside as you might think.”
“So you intend to shift all blame onto the others?”
Hector laughed.
“Why would I lie here? Only you and I are hearing this conversation.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Yet Daphnen soon grasped Hector’s intention. Hector would speak truthfully, but once they returned to the village, he would deny that any such conversation had ever taken place.
In a sense, it was mockery. If two boys told contradictory stories, there was no particular reason for people to trust Daphnen more.
Rather, they would believe Hector, who was older and came from a prominent family on The Island.
“You’re as cunning as ever. What do you gain from mocking me?”
“Don’t misunderstand. Put yourself in my position. Even if I knew the truth, would I be in a position to tell you? Rather, you should be grateful that I’m telling you the truth through such means. Don’t you understand this is a form of kindness?”
With those words, Hector fell silent. Daphnen saw his sharply defined lips pressed firmly together and knew he had spoken sincerely.
Though it would be denied the moment he turned away, knowing the truth was better than remaining ignorant. Above all, hadn’t he been yearning to know all this time?
“Ekion was not present when the fire broke out. He merely instructed the children to beat Oizis to provoke your anger. But for some reason, those children beat him far too severely, and they even set the Library ablaze in the process.”
Hector furrowed his brow.
“It certainly wasn’t intentional arson. In such a situation, what could they do but hide what they had done? They had no choice but to confine Oizis, the only witness, inside and flee.”
Daphnen felt something hot rise in his throat as he asked.
“Is everything you just told me confirmed? Not mere speculation?”
“Well, unless those bastards lied to me. If the full truth were revealed, their punishment would not end simply, and if that happened, Ekion, who ordered them in the first place, would not escape being dragged into it either.”
Both of them squinted their eyes, glaring at each other. Daphnen’s was pure rage, but Hector’s gaze also held anger in part.
“Therefore, Ekion and those boys have sworn to keep each other’s secrets, and even if rumors spread somewhat, my father and other influential figures will suppress public opinion. To receive that protection, they revealed everything to my father and me.”
Rage surged so intensely that my ears buzzed. Above all, I trembled with fury at the shamelessness of those who committed such acts yet thought only of their own survival.
They had even tried to kill Oizis to cover up the evidence! How could boys of that age be so selfish and wicked?
“You intend to hide such facts to the very end? Are you no different—just another worthless human? Such crimes, even if no one knows of them, will haunt you for life… The Moon Queen herself will surely not forget!”
I was too consumed with rage even to be startled at invoking the Moon Queen without thinking.
Hector stood expressionless for a moment, then lowered his head slightly. Then he shook his head and raised his eyes to meet Daphnen’s.
“There’s no helping it. The moment I leave this place, I will deny everything I just said. That’s all I can do. Don’t resent me for it.”
Daphnen didn’t know what else to say. A desire surged within him to kill those shameless bastards with his own hands.
Those who had destroyed one boy’s future, burned a society’s past, and shattered one man’s hope—yet they alone sought to survive unscathed!
“You’re just as filthy. The truth changes nothing. You were always part of their circle from the beginning. If you were a true Warrior, wouldn’t it be natural for you to want to punish them with your own hands?”
Hector regarded Daphnen with melancholic, yet still unshaken eyes.
A quiet voice answered.
“I know my own limits better than anyone. Ekion may already deserve death for the wrongs he’s committed. But I cannot do it. No, I must not. He’s my brother. Even if my younger brother is flawed, there’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is protect him. That’s what being an Elder Brother means.”
“….”
“If you had a younger sibling, you would understand my position.”
Suddenly, Daphnen found himself at a loss for words. A moment later, he slowly and firmly shook his head.
It wasn’t that he was denying Hector’s words. The shadow of Yefnen, who had never left his side through the long years, lingered in Hector’s statement, and I was trying to reject that shadow.
No. Yefnen was not that kind of person.
But… if I had committed an irreversible wrong, and if Yefnen had been alive, would he have pushed me to pay the price?
Would he have valued the rights and grievances of others more than his own brother?
It was painful, but Daphnen could not find an answer.
Yefnen, who was so affectionate, had fed infested food to an enemy to protect his brother and pierced an adversary’s hand with a blade. Had such circumstances arisen, he would not have hesitated to commit even crueler acts.
Though Yefnen’s enemies were contemptible, did loving and protecting one person mean becoming unscrupulous in one’s actions toward others?
Daphnen himself would never forgive anyone who threatened Isolet or Nauplion.
Yet he… even when his own life and Isolet’s hung in the balance, he had not severed the Young Marquis Luisan von Kangfir’s right hand at Silverskull.
Separate from loving Yefnen as I did, some wrongs could not be forgiven. Yet the fact remained that I could not answer Hector’s words.
Then Hector spoke quietly.
“Ekion and I are not full brothers.”
“What?”
It was entirely unexpected. Suspicion flickered across Daphnen’s brow.
I recalled that Priest Peloros and Hector bore a striking resemblance. So Ekion must be an adopted child, I thought. But then came an answer contrary to my assumption.
“You’re hearing this for the first time, I imagine. To be precise, he and I are cousins. My parents are now Ekion’s biological parents, and to me they are my maternal uncle and aunt. My biological mother, who studied magic, was the youngest daughter of the previous Regent. She and my father died in an accident during her magical research.”
Since it was long ago, there was no sadness in Hector’s eyes.
“Left alone, I was adopted by my maternal uncle Priest Peloros, who had no children at that time. He cherished me even more than Ekion, his own son. Neither my mother nor Ekion ever treated me as if I were not their true family. Feelings of isolation existed only in my imagination.”
Hector tightened his lips slightly and spoke.
“So protecting them is nothing less than my natural duty.”
Having finished speaking, Hector threw himself into the water and swam quickly toward the shore.
Daphnen understood that he had deliberately come close and was now leaving, wary that someone might overhear.
Reaching the shallows, Hector stood and spoke.
“Every time I see you, I’m reminded of a story my father told me about Ilios Priest.”
Many people compared Daphnen and Ilios Priest because of his status as Silverskull’s champion. But Hector’s perspective was different.
“Not because of what you’ve done so far, but because of what might come to pass. Certainly, he was exceptional. And now you too possess a kind of excellence, though different from his. But who do you have? When Nauplion Priest and a few other priests grow old, won’t you be left with only Isolet to stand by your side?”
Hector swept the water from his hair and fixed Daphnen with a piercing gaze.
“Ilios Priest was extraordinary, but because he was alone, he could not endure here. He had a nature that created enemies, yes, but more fundamentally, he trusted himself too much and never thought to cultivate allies. That’s how it is—our Island casts out and abandons even those as exceptional as he was, if they stand isolated. It pushes them away.”
“….”
Hector took several steps back. Raindrops began to fall.
“If you don’t always watch your back, you’ll meet the same fate.”
The rain poured down. Hector’s figure, turning to leave, was soon erased by the downpour.
What had Hector meant by such words?
A candle flickered to life in the damp night. My hair still hadn’t fully dried from the weather.
I waited for Nauplion, who had not yet returned even at this late hour, my eyes fixed on the wavering flame.
I did not trust Hector’s kindness. Once I had decided not to trust someone, I sealed my heart against them completely.
Whether Hector showed a change in attitude or not, human nature does not easily transform.
Today he had revealed everything he knew, as if concerned for me, as if telling me to learn the truth freely if I wished.
And I understood—though I would not admit it—that his denial of those words in another place, as an elder brother to a younger sibling, was perhaps an inevitable choice.
Now that I knew the truth, the pain cut deeper. I even began to wonder if Hector had told me precisely to inflict this suffering upon me.
What could I do? Should I seize Ekion and the other suspects, coerce them, extract confessions through intimidation?
That was no answer. My thoughts turned to Endymion. He had promised we would meet soon.
If only Endymion could show me the way to save Oizis, then Oizis himself could verify all the facts.
Then learning the full scope of the incident from Hector had served a purpose. Even if Oizis were threatened otherwise, he could not speak falsehoods.
It was then.
Tap, tap-tap.
Perhaps it had been sounding for some time before I noticed. But only now did my ears perceive it—someone tapping against the window.

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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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