Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 174

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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 174.
The Call of the Sealed Land (20)
The spirits took turns rolling the dice. Including Daphnen, there were five participants in total.
Daphnen found it curious that those dice could be held equally well by both spirits and himself. Everything in this place was like that, but the dice being passed from hand to hand felt particularly strange.
The dice thrown by the others came up as 3, 6, 3, and 1 respectively. It seemed the one who rolled a 1 would go first.
When all five had settled into a wide circle, that spirit gathered all five dice, placed them in a leather cup, and shook it. The Old Woman Spirit beside him offered a rebuke.

“Still clinging to that cup, are you? A skilled player needs nothing more than the palm of their hand.”

“There’s a saying that fortune favors those who use a leather cup alone. Covet another’s luck, and the dice grow angry. Here.”

He opened the lid and spilled out the dice. The result was 2, 2, 3, 4, 6.
He grumbled a little, then set aside the dice showing 2, 3, and 4, rolling the rest again.
This time he got 2 and 5. After much deliberation, he rolled only the die showing 2 once more. It came up as 5.

“I’ve ruined it.”

He drew a luminous white stylus from inside his garment and wrote on the marble floor: [2, 3, 4, 5, 5]=10.
The next spirit gathered the dice and rolled. After three more rolls like the first, he obtained [1, 3, 3, 4, 4]=15. Now it was Daphnen’s turn.
Daphnen, who had never had the chance to gamble when he was on the Continent, watched the two before him but couldn’t understand by what criteria they kept certain dice or rolled again.
Yet it felt awkward to ask, so he simply closed his eyes tight and rolled the dice.
The result was 1, 1, 2, 4, 5. A spirit not participating in the game interjected from beside him.

“Those are rather poor numbers.”

As Daphnen hesitated, a familiar voice whispered from behind him.

“Roll just the one showing 1 again.”

Endymion had approached without notice and was now gazing at the dice Daphnen had thrown over his shoulder.
The elderly spirits playing the game saw Endymion and bowed their heads lightly. Endymion returned the gesture, then straightened.
Knowing that Endymion had arrived, Daphnen felt his anxiety ease somewhat. He rolled as instructed, and the 1 became a 3.
A spirit beside him exclaimed with an “Oh!”

“A Straight! They say the dice favor the hands of those ignorant of the rules, and it seems that’s true. Of course, you won’t roll a third time?”

Endymion pulled out a small stone stylus from beside him and wrote [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]=40 on the ground in front of where Daphnen sat.
Yet Daphnen still could not grasp the scoring system of this game.
The final results from the other two were [2, 3, 3, 3, 4]=9 and [1, 2, 2, 3, 3]=11 respectively. Thus Daphnen, having obtained 40 points, had won the first round.
While Daphnen remained bewildered, those who had cast the dice with him gazed at his face and spoke.

“Well then, you’ve won the first round. You may find it strange, but we trust the power of these dice most when deciding whether to accept another’s request. This ivory die is somewhat different from the ordinary dice you may have seen in the world.”
“So let us hear your question first. Before you ask, remember two things well. First, we possess the ability to answer any question you might pose. Second, winning as you have just done is not easy. Once you’ve heard one tale, we shall continue casting the dice.”

Now the game had truly begun. Daphnen nodded and organized the questions he needed to ask.
One question for each victory. The value of secrets he could learn from them was immeasurable, so Daphnen proceeded through the game in a state of tension.
Though merely a novice, Daphnen found himself blessed with peculiar fortune as the spirits had said, and after fourteen rounds including the first, he managed to win a total of four times.
What he asked immediately after the first round ended was, of course, the truth of the Library incident. As a result, he learned far more precise details of the entire affair than what Hector had told him—even the names of the children involved and their specific actions.
After all the rounds concluded, Daphnen asked a second question: how he might make them pay a fitting price for their deeds.
They answered simply: “The small child who is dying must be revived.”
“Then how can that child be saved? The physicians of the living have exhausted all methods. If you possess the power to save that child, I beg you—help him.”

“Reviving one who is dying is neither easy nor right.”

Daphnen remembered that Endymion had said it was possible, so he did not retreat easily. He had come this far prepared to face interrogation for his involvement with the Winterer.
“Is ‘not easy’ not different from ‘impossible’? That child has unjustly had his future sacrificed. If you truly are the ancestors of the islanders…”
He stopped mid-sentence, realizing he had spoken mere speculation aloud.
The spirits gazed at one another and smiled faintly. The one in the green outer robe spoke.

“What you’ve said cannot be deemed entirely wrong. Continue.”

“So what I mean is… that I am hoping for a miracle for an unfortunate boy whom no one else can help. That is neither impossible nor difficult for you, is it?”
He knew his words were too stiff and awkward, but there was nothing to be done about it.
The resolve he had made upon first coming here had faded like an old memory the moment he stepped into the Hall of Spirits. His eyes and ears seemed enchanted by dreams—sometimes confused, sometimes blurred, sometimes piercing through what should have been invisible.
Daphnen shook his head to regain his senses. Striving to revive his initial determination, he spoke sharply.
“I even believe that if we must take their lives and give them to Oizis, then that is what should be done.”
Those words were certainly sincere. The moment he spoke with such conviction, the spirits surrounding him seemed to grow momentarily more transparent.

“The weight of human life, seen through the eyes of the dead, differs little from one person to the next. Even the worst villain and the greatest hero are separated by scarcely a teaspoon’s worth of quality.”

“Yet surely not all human lives hold equal value in this world. A teaspoon is not so insignificant from the teacup’s perspective.”

“True. Your wish, exactly as you have expressed it, is what is called a ‘miracle’ in the world of the living. Though it may seem light from the perspective of the dead, it is something that will occur in the world of the living, so we must measure its weight by your world’s standards, must we not? Then how could such a great undertaking be accomplished lightly?”

He had trapped himself in his own logic. When Daphnen could not respond, the others fell silent as well.
Then Endymion, who had remained quiet until now, finally spoke.

“Do not deflect. You did not summon a living person all the way here merely to engage in wordplay, surely. Since all of you elders have won ten times combined, this time you should listen to what he has to say. Since our island has existed, no one has ever entered our world so easily. I do not know, but I believe you elders understand the true nature of that ‘sword’ he possesses.”

I recalled what Nikitis had told me before entering. I decided to follow Endymion’s lead. He must have had some intention.
The spirits seemed to acknowledge some authority that Endymion possessed. Soon they consented.

“Very well. As our sovereign says, let us proceed with ten questions. Who shall ask first?”

Upon hearing the title “sovereign,” Daphnen was momentarily taken aback, but before he could inquire about it, the first question came flying at him.

“First, how did you come to possess that sword?”

“I am originally from the Continent. There, my ancestors of the family clan obtained it after many struggles and passed it down through generations until it came to me.”
Then the spirit beside him spoke.

“Second, if you are from the Continent, why did you decide to come here and make your life on this island?”

“My family clan was destroyed by internal strife. I alone survived and was struggling to live when I met the Priest of the Sword who dwells on this island. I came to trust him, and I entered the island to live with him.”
The questioning continued to the next spirit.

“Third, you have been placed in danger many times because of that sword. Why do you not distance yourself from it?”

Daphnen smiled. On this matter alone, neither Nauplion nor the other priests of the island, nor even Isolet, had been able to break his resolve.
“This sword is the sword of my family clan, but… it is also the sword that my Elder Brother entrusted to me as his final request, he who chose death for my sake. At that time, I was young and had no skill to offer him anything. Because of this, I will never part with this sword—his final keepsake bearing his memory—no matter what happens.”

“Does it not concern you that such stubbornness puts your very life in danger? Your Elder Brother is merely one of the dead. Is it truly wise for you, a living person, to be bound by his shadow?”

This time, Daphnen answered with genuine conviction.
“Sometimes there are things heavier than life itself. Sometimes, there are those who do not die even in death.”

“Now comes the fifth question. Then do you know that the Elder Brother of whom you just spoke still wanders at the boundary between life and death? And that is because of the white armor you left behind for him?”

Daphnen’s eyes widened and wavered.
When he had spoken of “those who do not die even in death,” he had merely meant that Yefnen, though dead, had not died within his heart.
But the words that suddenly followed were far too unexpected.
“I… I do not understand. What are you saying? The boundary between life and death means… he did not die? Then my Elder Brother, where is he now? What state is he in?”

“Save your questions for later. I understand well enough that you didn’t know this fact, so I’ll proceed to my next question.”

Even as he spoke, they waited patiently for Daphnen to compose himself.
Daphnen kept his head bowed, shaking it repeatedly in confusion. But after some time had passed, he came to realize that spirits could never fully comprehend the anguish of the living.
When he lifted his gaze to meet theirs, their forms wavered once more, becoming even more transparent.

“I ask now for the sixth time: as one who comes from beyond, do you know the roots of those who dwell upon this Island?”

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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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