Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 187

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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 187.
The Call of the Sealed Land (33)
“Yes. You’re right. There’s no other way to fix it.”
“Then how are we supposed to obtain it? Unless the monster appears again….”
In that moment, Daphnen fell silent. The monster had appeared before. Had he and Isolet not fought it in the Upper Village?
“Then, that time when….”
“You’re only now realizing? Yes. That monster was the same one, so it would have had the same heart. Isolet recovered back then, didn’t she? I treated her the same way with it. Both she and I were healed.”
“Wasn’t that said to be thanks to Morpheus?”
“Then should I tell everyone that the monster appeared again?”
I was left speechless. At the same time, conviction settled within me that Nauplion was not lying.
The moment I thought this, I found myself embracing Nauplion once more, overwhelmed with joy.
“You’re serious? Ah… this is wonderful. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Do you know how much I’ve worried?”
“You should have asked me immediately when you saw such a thing among the spirits, shouldn’t you?”
“But such words… aren’t something one can speak of so easily….”
Just as I thought one burden had been lifted, Nauplion changed his tone and spoke again.
“So stop worrying about me and leave this place. You and Isolet are still young—perhaps there will come a time, truly a time, when you meet again. It’s far better to think that way than to feel betrayed and turn away from each other. I… believe you will live well enough on the Continent. I raised you well, didn’t I?”
Nauplion did not wait for my answer and laughed again. Then, pointing to the bed, he spoke.
“I’ve given you all the advice I can offer. No bird can live forever in its mother’s nest. I wouldn’t mind waiting to hear your name echoed across the Continent, reaching even my ears. So sleep well tonight. Tomorrow you must make a difficult decision.”
Nauplion carelessly removed his shoes and sprawled across the bed as was his habit. I gazed at him in a daze before eventually making my way to my own bed and lying down.
Even though Nauplion spoke lightly on purpose, I knew it was a permanent farewell.
Sleep would not come. If I could wish for something in this moment, what would it be?
Nauplion soon fell asleep, and before long his breathing became soft and rhythmic. Watching his broad back as he lay turned away, I whispered softly.
“I… truly love you so much…. I wish I had remained ignorant and turned back as I was, that I had fallen asleep and never awakened. I wish nothing would happen tomorrow, that I wouldn’t need to make any decision, that time would simply stop here.”

Yet the dawn came without fail.
In the end, I could not make a different choice. Exile had been decided, and amid the turmoil of many, the ritual of cutting my hair and leaving it in a blue stone bowl had come to completion.
The boy I had thought would become the next Priest of the Sword, the boy who had brought Silverskull to the Island second only to Ilios, was now casting aside the countless privileges that would have been promised had I betrothed myself to Liriope, leaving the Island empty-handed just as I had arrived.
The Priesthood granted me a single day’s reprieve before my exile was carried out.
That morning, I climbed alone to the mountain ridge where Isolet and I had practiced the chant together. I ascended the secret stairs in sequence until I reached the place where the Sacred Spring lay.
It had been so long that I could not easily step on stones that no longer appeared as they once had, so I gathered a few small stones and cast them down one by one to use as markers.
Since I had deliberately not visited once after deciding to forget Isolet, I nearly stumbled when I forgot about the stone Ekion had removed.
The Sacred Spring remained unchanged.
Two white birds had been pecking at the water, but they retreated when I arrived. The white birds remembered me from when I sang the chant beside Isolet, so they did not flee.
I set down a cloth-wrapped book at that place. The book Zero had given me—*A History of the Migration to Ganapoli*.
The night before, unable to sleep, I had wanted to convey my feelings to Isolet in some way, but I could not think of any good method.
Though Nauplion had said so casually that he knew I liked her, I could not bring myself to mention that the two of them had not been betrothed before.
Like a young cuckoo that had forced its way into a nest, I hated myself for leaving without being able to do anything for the person who had cherished and protected me. So even after hearing such talk yesterday, I had no intention of showing my feelings for Isolet before Nauplion.
After much deliberation, this book was what I had conceived.
I had seen Isolet the last time appear to change her mind, standing in direct opposition to Liriope. I thought—what could I do, leaving without being able to protect her like that?
Then I thought: what if I gave her this book as a weapon to stand against the Regent, for she still did not know that Ganapoli and the Old Kingdom were the same place?
No, perhaps the book itself was meaningless. All I wanted was to convey something to Isolet—I did not even know what—but something, some mark, some sign of my existence.
Whether it was a book or a letter, or even just a single stone, I wanted to give it to her.
I hoped that when Isolet saw that something, she would remember me. At least that I had thought of her in the moment of my departure. And if not that, then perhaps when she saw the book, she might think of my heart even once.
No, even that might be a burden to the one left behind.
In the end, I did not know what I truly wanted, but the answer closest to the truth was simply that it was too sorrowful to leave like this, and I could not bear it without doing something.
I set down the book and, hesitating for a moment, left that place.

In the afternoon, Daphnen went to find Zero.
Zero still lived in that old house. But the moment he opened the door, he couldn’t help but start in surprise.
He clearly remembered the place being in complete disarray before, yet now the objects were neatly organized and arranged in their proper places.
There, Daphnen discovered a familiar face smiling at him with a hint of embarrassment.
“Ah….”
It was Oizis. As before, he held an armful of books. Zero, who sat beside him, asked.
“Who’s here?”
“It’s Daphnen.”
Oizis answered as if he were Zero’s eyes, then set down his books and came toward Daphnen.
Looking around the house, not only were the few books Daphnen had brought before there, but dozens of volumes had already been neatly stacked on a shelf that had appeared on one side.
“Are you really… going to leave?”
The eyes of Oizis looking up at me were more composed than before. For the first time since I’d known him, they held the gaze of someone a year older.
“I wish I didn’t have to go….”
Oizis had also been among those watching the purification ceremony, so he knew the full story of what had happened. He hesitated several times, uncertain what to say.
Daphnen spoke.
“You know, don’t you?”
“Yes….”
Oizis was no fool. Of all the children his age, he had been closest to Daphnen, so there was no way he could have failed to notice the bond between Isolet and Daphnen.
Oizis murmured again, his voice low.
“It’s really strange. You see, when I was sick before, I saw our ancestors in a dream. I don’t remember their faces, but I only remember their voices were so pleasant to hear. They told me… to hurry back, that there wouldn’t be much time left to see you.”
The moment he heard about the pleasant voice, the Regent King, Endimion’s Father, came to mind.
Because the Regent King had kept his promise, Oizis had regained his health like this. Did the Regent King already know then that such a day would come for Daphnen?
“I was worried that you might become dangerous again like before, but now that I think about it, I understand what it all meant. Isn’t that strange… If this were like before, I might have cried a lot wondering how I’d live without you, but today, even seeing you, no tears come.”
Only then did Daphnen move his lips slightly and show a smile.
“That’s proof you’ve grown, little one.”
A moment later, Oizis suddenly asked.
“But on the Continent, is there someone you’ll visit?”
Daphnen smiled and simply nodded. A little later, when Oizis had left the room, Zero said something surprising.
“Take Isolet with you.”
Daphnen didn’t know what expression to make and hesitated, but a moment later he remembered again that Zero could not see.
He hadn’t expected Zero to be so certain about his and Isolet’s affair. Realizing there was no point in denying it now, he spoke briefly.
“She’s not someone who would give her permission.”
“Won’t you even try?”
When Daphnen didn’t answer quickly, Zero turned his sightless eyes toward Daphnen’s eyes—or rather, somewhere between his brow and the bridge of his nose.
“When you make a decision, don’t expect everyone to bless it. Think of the best conclusion that will come in the future. The two of you would surely be happy on the Continent. No, it would be better there than here.”
I felt troubled again about not being able to fulfill Zero’s wish. If I had become Liriope’s betrothed, everything would have been possible. But Zero didn’t mention such things.
Eventually, Daphnen spoke.
“That would perhaps be more than the best. And precisely because of that, it feels even less like something meant for me. I know well that such fortune is not granted to me. I cannot tell Isolet to abandon the land where her father lived forever. I’ve only ended up like this trying not to betray the feelings I harbored of my own accord, and whether Isolet understands my heart is already beside the point. How could I wish for anything more? She too is one of the many people wounded by my actions.”
The last person Daphnen visited was Despoina.
She kept her gaze fixed elsewhere even as the attending child announced Daphnen’s visit and he entered to greet her.
Daphnen, thinking that Despoina’s heart had been deeply wounded, struggled to open his mouth, and only after a long silence did he speak thus.
“It seems the time has come for me to return the name you once gave me.”

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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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