Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 181

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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 181.
The Call of the Sealed Land (27)

A trial was held.
For the past several years, there had been no one guilty of grave crimes, so the proceedings had been limited to summary trials and mediation. A formal trial like today’s was a rare occurrence.
Trials were always spectacles, and many gathered at the courthouse out of curiosity.
The trial was initiated by Nauplion, a Priest of the Sword, who required no second to support his case.
Nauplion brought Oizis to the assembly where all the priests gathered, had him testify to the charges against the accused, and took on the role of prosecutor himself. The matter was grave enough that the courthouse was prepared in a single day.
It fell to Phaisma, a Priest of the Circle, to serve as judge and render the verdict. In matters of trial, his authority surpassed not only the other priests but even the Regent.
Five young boys stood accused. They were the same children who had beaten Oizis and chased him into the Library. However, Ekion, who had instigated the beating, was conspicuously absent.
There was little need for rigorous interrogation. The moment the boys were dragged before the court, they realized their guilt had been exposed and trembled, unable to muster even a single excuse.
The family they had believed would save them—Hector’s household—had thoroughly disowned them, leaving no way to escape the revealed crimes.
Daphnen observed the trial from among the spectators. Nauplion, standing in the prosecutor’s place, positioned Oizis beside him and methodically relayed his words, forcing the boys to confess their sins.
“You caught Oizis as he fled, but why did you follow him into the Library?”
The boys fumbled each time, uncertain who should answer. Unprepared with lies, their responses lacked all coherence.
“We just… wanted to play a prank…”
“Because Oizis hid in the Library…”
“Oizis emerged from the Library of his own accord, yet you dragged him back inside. Wasn’t that because you wanted to mock Oizis’s reverence for the Library?”
“We were just fighting and rolling around, and we ended up going inside…”
“Actually, we’d never been inside the Library before, so we were curious…”
Nauplion knew the facts already, so he had no need to verify each lie individually.
“Zero has never once barred children like you from entering the Library. You simply hadn’t gone because you had no interest in it until now. But the moment you saw Oizis enter, you suddenly wanted to go in too? Your contradictory excuses amount to nothing more than an admission that you deliberately entered the Library to torment Oizis. Next: you beat Oizis inside the Library. Did all five of you participate?”
Suddenly, Gale cried out.
“No, no! It was Pikus who hit Oizis! He did it alone!”
Pikus’s face went pale, but he shouted back without hesitation.
“We all beat him the same before we even went inside! I just threw in a few more punches in the Library!”
“That’s a lie! After we hit him, he still had the strength to run into the Library! But after you hit him, he couldn’t even get up!”
Pikus, cornered and seething with hatred, shot back at Gale with venom in his glare.
“If you’re going to say that, then it was you, Gale, who suggested we go inside.”
Gale refused to bear the blame alone.
“Y-yes, I suggested we go in, but there was nothing on the first floor! It was Likos who saw the ladder and suggested we climb up, not me!”
Likos’s eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously before shouting.
“When did I ever say that?”
“You did! You said we should go up and look!”
“No! I didn’t discover the ladder!”
“Whoever found it, you’re the one who suggested we climb!”
“So did I climb alone? Everyone went up, so why are you blaming only me!”
Nauplion deliberately refrained from stopping the boys’ quarrel and let it continue. Priest Phaisma also seemed to be grasping the situation as he listened to their words.
In the end, they accused one another, revealing every last detail of their crimes.
“So? You didn’t take out that book?”
“I only burned a single page!”
“I clearly told you the Tower is made of wood, so it catches fire easily!”
“Who was the one climbing those unstable stairs with a lamp? Wasn’t that you, Portia? You went up there on your own to show off your acrobatics!”
“But you kicked the stairs! That’s why my hand slipped! If you hadn’t done that, why would I have dropped the lamp in the first place!”
At that point, Nauplion silenced the boys’ bickering and pointed to one of them. “Portia, since you dropped the lamp, you are undoubtedly the one who started the fire. However, even if you had started it, had you quickly returned to the Unnamed Village and called for adults, this catastrophe would never have occurred. But someone must have suggested hiding this incident. That person bears the worst guilt. Who was it?”
Portia cried out as if he had been waiting for this moment. “It was Gale! Gale said that we would definitely be severely punished if we returned, so running away was the best course of action!”
Nauplion gazed down at Oizis with a sneer, then asked again. “Oizis remembers all of your conversations. Now, tell me—which one of you first suggested abandoning Oizis in the Library and fleeing?”
This time, three children cried out in unison. “It was Pikus!”
Pikus protested. “The moment I suggested it, everyone agreed! And it was Paidi who said that he had to die so there would be no evidence!”
That was enough. The onlookers turned their heads away and clicked their tongues in regret.
In truth, the original accusation Nauplion had submitted contained no mention of these children deliberately abandoning Oizis and fleeing.
Moreover, among the opinions expressed by the Priesthood in the meeting where the trial was decided, there had been a gentler interpretation—that these innocent children had accidentally started the fire and, frightened, had run away.
Some had even suggested that Oizis’s severe injuries had resulted from a brawl in which everyone had fought together. If that were the case, the other children should have been injured as well, but enough time had passed for most wounds to have healed completely, so there was no evidence of one-sided beating.
However, as the boys shifted blame onto one another, they revealed all the crucial details. Being still children, they fell far too easily into Nauplion’s simple leading questions.
Nauplion calmed the boys and asked his next question. “Then, as a final matter, I ask you this: what was your reason for beginning to beat Oizis in the first place? If someone had ordered you to do so, your guilt would be considerably lighter.”
One boy tried to speak, but another boy kicked his leg sharply, silencing him. At that, all five boys clamped their mouths shut as if bound by an oath.
Though Nauplion repeated the question several times, they ultimately maintained that it had simply happened between them, and that no one had ordered them to do it.
The interrogation was over. The boys did not yet know it, but the adults watching had already divined the verdict, and their expressions were bitter.
The Priest Phaisma rose to his feet. As a Priest of the Orbit who upheld customary law, he was a man who stubbornly adhered to his own sense of justice.
“The charges applicable to these five are as follows. First charge: multiple persons joining forces to beat a single boy without particular cause. This is a matter that commonly occurs among children of similar age and would not normally warrant a trial.”
Such was the perspective of The Island’s people, which explained why Oizis had suffered countless instances of torment without anyone stepping in to stop it.
Moreover, because of the prevailing attitude that the weak should be despised, there was a strong belief that failure to protect one’s own body was one’s own fault.
“Second charge: setting fire to the Library, which has preserved the ancient records of The Island. Though not intentional, the impure motivation behind the act makes this a grave crime. Countless books and invaluable records of magic have been consumed by flames, inflicting tremendous loss upon The Island, and responsibility cannot be evaded for Zero’s blindness, which resulted indirectly from this act.”
Now only the accused boys remained ignorant of the situation. They stared back and forth between the Priest Phaisma and their parents and siblings with terrified expressions.
“Third charge: you beat a person who had committed no particular crime, rendering him incapable of movement, and then left him to perish in the flames. This is, without question, an attempt at murder.”
The moment the word “murder” fell from his lips, the boys froze.
The families of the boys dared not open their mouths, but their faces turned the same ashen color.
The Priest Phaisma spoke one final time, looking directly at the boys. “Final charge: the third crime was not a momentary accident but an intentional act committed to conceal the crimes you had committed. Considering all these offenses and examining the ancient traditions of The Island, I hereby render judgment: Likos, Pikus, Gale, Portia, and Paidi—all five of you shall receive the sentence of death by drowning. Moon Queen, we beseech you to look favorably upon our decision.”
Chaos erupted. On The Island, it was traditional that people could appeal for mercy immediately after a verdict was rendered, so the boys’ parents and siblings rushed forward simultaneously and prostrated themselves before the Priest Phaisma.
The boys who had received the drowning sentence remained huddled together, trembling, unable to escape their shock.
They were witnessing, for the first time in their lives, someone receiving a death sentence in The Island’s trial. And that someone was themselves.
Around that time, Daphnen slipped away from the crowd. For some reason, his heart felt unsettled.
The Young Boys’ families didn’t dare open their mouths, but their faces turned the same ashen color as theirs.
Phaisma of the Priesthood spoke directly to the young boys one last time.
“The final sin, the third sin, was not a momentary mistake but an intentional act committed to conceal the crimes they had committed. Considering all these sins and examining The Island’s ancient traditions, I render this final judgment: Likos, Pikus, Gale, Portia, and Paidi—these five shall be sentenced to death by drowning. Moon Queen, we humbly ask for your approval of our decision.”
A commotion broke out. On The Island, it was traditional for people to appeal for mercy immediately after a verdict was handed down, so the Young Boys’ parents and Elder Brothers rushed out all at once and prostrated themselves before Phaisma the Priest.
The young boys who had been sentenced to death by drowning huddled together in shock, trembling as one.
They witnessed for the first time in their lives a death sentence being handed down in The Island’s court. Moreover, the condemned was none other than themselves.
Around that time, Daphnen slipped away from the crowd. For some reason, his mind felt unsettled.

The Island’s verdicts and executions were remarkably simple and swift.
Whether this was a tradition inherited from Ganapoli, I could not say, but the Island possessed no prison. Sentences were carried out on the very afternoon they were pronounced.
Even Daphnen found this cruel.
The moment the families’ pleas were rejected, the Moon Queen’s Army—composed of young men who walked the Path of the Sword under the Priest of the Sword—emerged.
They surrounded the boys to prevent their escape, bound their hands, and forbade them from conversing with anyone nearby.
There was no time to compose oneself, no moment granted for farewells to parents and siblings. They were not even given a final meal.
The place where the drowning sentence was to be carried out was a cliff on the Southern Coast—somewhere Daphnen had never ventured before.
The bound boys were pushed forward by the young men of the Path of the Sword toward that desolate place. Spectators trailed behind them in a procession.
Daphnen walked among the spectators as well, yet his heart remained unsettled. He could not understand why.
Had he not been the one who desired their punishment above all others? Had he not been the one who ensured it came to pass?
Upon arriving at the cliff, his chest constricted entirely.
A cape jutted out lengthwise toward the sea. The condemned were forced to walk that narrow path one by one and hurl themselves into the abyss.
Below the cape lay a cliff perhaps fifty fathoms deep, with jagged rocks and treacherous waters. Since all those born on the Island were skilled swimmers, the purpose of this execution was surely to kill them upon impact.
The sea churned and roared. It seemed like a ravenous beast awaiting its prey, or a gaping maw lined with jagged teeth.
Before such a sea, five “condemned” were lined up in a row. Daphnen glimpsed Nauplion’s face, standing slightly apart from them.
His expression had hardened into stone. Yet he soon issued a command to the Moon Queen’s Army.
“Blindfold them and silence them.”

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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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