Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 256

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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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Episode 26.
Not Every Child Is an Angel (26)
“….”
In the end, Joshua was practically shoved into the chicken coop. Maximian’s eye for detail was precise—Joshua barely squeezed through the opening. But it soon became apparent that Maximian’s plan had failed to account for one crucial factor: the opinions of the chickens themselves.
Flap flap flap! Cluck cluck cluck!
The moment one chicken stirred awake, the others followed suit in a cacophony of alarm, leaving Joshua no opportunity to reason with them. From beyond the fence came the sound of a cat, stones being hurled, and an angry cat’s cry—all nearly simultaneous. Then came the sound of multiple stones striking something with a sickening crunch, followed by a yelp of pain.
Joshua realized he was in dire straits.
There was little hope that Maximian and Ilma were still waiting beyond the fence. If he bolted out alone now, he’d be caught red-handed by the family rushing toward the commotion—like a rat in a trap. If captured, he wouldn’t merely face humiliation; he’d bring shame upon his Grandfather and his parents as well.
In that moment, Joshua’s mind—dormant since arriving in the countryside—suddenly awakened. He immediately unlatched the coop door and threw it wide open. Seizing a wooden rod from inside, he drove the chickens out into the backyard with frantic sweeps.
Cluck cluck! Flap flap!
Dozens of chickens, startled or still half-asleep, began stampeding into the backyard. It was a full-scale escape. As the birds poured through the fence that Maximian had left open, the family descended into chaos, scrambling to catch them.
Seizing the opportunity, Joshua squeezed through a gap in the opposite fence and slipped away. His small frame proved invaluable.
When Joshua arrived empty-handed at the agreed meeting place, his jaw dropped in disbelief.
“Oh, you made it?”
Behind a rocky outcrop on the mountainside, shrouded in darkness, Maximian, Ilma, and three other younger siblings were huddled together. Among them, a single chicken sat trapped and fluttering helplessly.
Anton, the fifth child, was digging furiously with a small shovel, apparently intent on building a fire in the ground. His digging was clumsy, but Maximian, knowing his younger brother’s stubbornness, watched with patient amusement.
Joshua glanced sideways at the chicken and asked.
“Where did you catch that?”
“Well, one of the chickens you chased out earlier agreed to negotiate with me. You were herding them pretty well.”
Maximian replied casually and gestured Joshua over. Joshua approached with a slight pout.
“You all ran off without me. That’s cowardly.”
“Ah, well, we did run. But I wasn’t worried about you from the start. The plan fell apart, sure, but I was confident you’d escape on your own. If that old man really is your Grandfather, you must be pretty clever too, right?”
Maximian had never once revealed what he thought of Joshua, nor had he ever praised the Grandfather. But what shook Joshua most was the possibility that his Grandfather might be a similar sort of person. He’d never understood why he was sent to this place so abruptly—but what if that was the reason?
Joshua asked, trembling slightly inside.
“Is my Grandfather intelligent?”
“I’m not sure. But it seems like it. Do you also do that thing—multiply any numbers in your head instantly, add, divide? You read something once and remember it automatically, right?”
As Maximian spoke so casually, he glanced sideways to see if Anton had finished digging. When it looked ready, he reached for the chicken’s neck, then changed his mind and looked at Joshua instead.
“Want to try?”
“Try what?”
“Catching the chicken.”
Joshua shook his head in alarm.
“N-no, I don’t like that.”
“Come on, just try once. You’ve come all the way to the countryside—you should at least catch a chicken.”
Ilma laughed beside him.
“When have you ever caught a chicken? You can’t even wring the neck of a sparrow caught in a trap. Here, let me do it.”
The chicken coop incident didn’t end that day. The next morning, four boys arrived at Maximian’s home. They were the sons of the farmer who raised chickens and his cousins—around Maximian’s age or slightly older, with sturdy builds.
They’d immediately assumed the culprits must be Maximian’s family, the poorest in the village, living as they did with only children. All four were furious. In the chaos, several chickens had gone missing besides the one Maximian had taken, and the entire family had been mobilized searching through the night, losing sleep until dawn.
Their assumption was correct, but they had no proof. Maximian happened to be away at Joshua’s house, and Ilma, whose tongue was as sharp as her brother’s and whose temper was no less formidable, stepped forward to face them.
“Where’s Maximian?”
“My brother’s out.”
“Did he run away? He must have known we were coming.”
Ilma laughed softly.
“I don’t even know why you all came here, so how would my brother know something like that?”
“Don’t play dumb! You stole five chickens from our farm yesterday, didn’t you?”
“What? Five chickens? Are you joking right now? Search our house! Where would five chickens come from?”
“Of course they won’t show up! You must have eaten them all last night!”
“So you’re saying we each ate one chicken? That scrawny, weak Anton over there? Richard, who pats his belly after eating just one plate of boiled beans? Stop spouting nonsense, kid.”
“That… that doesn’t matter! Either way, you must have taken them! There’s no one else who would do something like this!”
“Stop insisting and show me proof! If even a single feather turns up in our house, I’ll go to yours and beg on my knees! Got it? Search right now, hurry!”
With that, Ilma suddenly went into the kitchen, came back with a poker, and drove them all inside the house.
Richard and Anton quickly understood their roles. They sprawled lazily in the corners of the rooms, playing the part of the frail children Ilma had described—ones who couldn’t possibly eat an entire chicken.
The children who had burst in grew increasingly agitated, their faces reddening. Driven by Ilma’s insistence, they halfheartedly searched the house, but soon realized it was impossible to find any evidence. They shuffled back outside, huddled together muttering, and then the eldest son of the chicken-raising family stepped forward.
“Of course there’s no evidence—you two must have hidden it all long ago. You and Maximian are both clever and cunning, after all. But you definitely stole our chickens! Our mother said so. She was certain.”
Ilma scoffed at their weak logic.
“Is your mother a judge? An abbess? Why does everything your mother says become absolute truth? That’s really quite fascinating.”
“Shut up! Anyway, you deserve to be punished. Ilma Rifk, since you’re a girl, tell Maximian we want to fight him. At the Windmill House up on the hill, after dinner tonight. Got it? I’ll be the one fighting Maximian!”
Ilma snickered as if amused.
“Tell Maximian that if he’s scared, he should bring the chicken feathers from yesterday and apologize!”
They quickly grew excited, slapping each other’s palms in celebration before running off. Ilma shrugged and spoke to her younger brothers.
“Like my brother would go fight those idiots?”
“Sister! But can we get up now?”
Ilma giggled and gestured to her brothers, who were still crawling on the floor.
“Yeah. Stop crawling around. You should have outgrown that before you turned one.”
At that moment, Maximian sat by the riverbank with Joshua. There were many fish today. Sitting on the bank and looking down, I could see the scales of fish glinting in the sunlight. We counted the glimmers. One suddenly splashed and leaped out, then vanished. Joshua murmured.
“Where do they go?”
“Who knows. The sea?”
Maximian tossed one of the pebbles he’d been collecting into the river. He’d gathered thirty, and now seventeen remained.
Summer was peaceful. Time flowed lazily, like the sound of bees humming from the distant forest. Drowsiness washed over me naturally.
“Have you ever been to the sea?”
“Hey, I’ve never even left this village before.”
Joshua tossed another pebble in as he spoke.
“I only lived in Keltika before I came here.”
“Keltika’s a big city, so it must be more interesting. This place is just boring countryside.”
“I find it more fun here. Though I’m pretty hungry.”
“Pretty hungry? I’m very hungry.”
“I wish I’d seen the sea.”
“That cloud drifting by looks like a boiled potato.”
“The sea must be very far away, right?”
They exchanged disconnected questions and answers, but neither minded. Shortly after, Maximian stretched out flat on his back, using his arm as a pillow.
“The sea is so far away—why would we go there? I’m pretty sure no one in this village has ever seen it. Forget about that and focus on something more practical. My stomach’s starting to growl—do you think there’s anything to eat if we go to little Mas’s house down there?”
“Maximian, why don’t we go to the Sea together sometime?”
There were limits to answering a question with something completely unrelated. Maximian frowned and replied.
“Enough. I’m too busy just trying to survive. How could I possibly go anywhere?”
“If you weren’t busy surviving, could you go then?”
Maximian sat up again. Joshua tossed another pebble into the River.
“Why do you want to go to the Sea anyway?”
“My sister lives there.”
This was the first time Maximian had heard that Joshua had a sister. But his reaction was lukewarm.
“If your sister lives there, you go see her. Why do I have to come along?”
“I’m bored. Wouldn’t it be nice if you came with me?”
“You said your sister is there, didn’t you?”
“My sister has a husband. The two of them get along so well that there’s no room for someone like me.”
“Then why go see your sister at all? If I were you, I wouldn’t bother.”
Joshua threw three pebbles in at once. Maximian thought he hadn’t even managed to count how many ripples spread across the surface.
“Still, I want to see her. Just once from a distance, and then I’ll run away before she recognizes me and go somewhere else. I just want to see her once. If I go in disguise, she won’t recognize me.”
“Is your sister an idiot? As if a disguise would keep her from recognizing you.”
Joshua was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“She won’t recognize me. My sister is an idiot.”
The two fell silent for a while. Splash, splash—the sound of pebbles cutting through the water’s surface echoed five times in succession.
Suddenly, Maximian sprang to his feet.
“Let’s go!”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Moon Books
The rights to this book belong to the author and 14 Moon Books.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, written consent from both parties is required.

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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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