Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 288

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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 58.
Finding the Cat in the Hearth (7)
During those two days of circling the Theater, Maximian noticed something peculiar. There were others besides himself prowling around the Theater, especially at night. Two or three people, sometimes just one, took turns lingering near the Theater. Though different individuals appeared at different times, their methods of operation were strangely similar. The reason he recognized the pattern was because Maximian himself was engaged in nearly identical behavior.
When he realized their presence, Maximian’s heart quickened. Someone was after something. And whenever two people pursue the same quarry, there are always those who think it necessary to eliminate one to make it singular….
Yet despite having memorized their faces, they did not appear today.
The doors had opened to patrons a short while ago. As expected, order held initially, but as people began cutting in line, it quickly devolved into a chaotic mass of pushing and shoving. While Maximian was grateful not to be caught in that maelstrom, two figures approaching the back entrance where he stood caught his eye. A young girl and a young man. The girl had a bag slung over one shoulder and carried what appeared to be stage costume—a white blouse—draped over her arm… Ah yes, there they were. The ones he’d been waiting for.
“Aren’t you arriving rather early?”
“You can wait in the Dressing Room.”
“What would I wait for? I just need to drop off the costume and leave.”
The man laughed while scratching his head.
“Ah, haha… Since you’re here, perhaps you could touch up some of the other costumes, and check that nothing is missing….”
Riche’s answer, having not yet received her “generous compensation,” was merciless.
“There are limits to imposing on people. You shouldn’t be renting out someone’s holiday on a deferred payment basis—have some shame. Don’t you pay the costume attendants a daily wage? You should be assigning work to those who’ve already been paid.”
“Ah, well, you see, I was just so impressed by the sewing skill you demonstrated a moment ago….”
Though “deferred payment” was particularly emphasized, the man pretended not to understand. Just then, someone beside him tapped the man’s shoulder. Turning around, a boy with disheveled brown hair and a worn coat unsuited to the season grinned widely at him.
“Say, is this Panyanna’s house? Wow, the place is absolutely, absolutely, absolutely huge. Does your family have about a hundred people?”
The man raised one eyebrow skeptically.
“House? What house are you talking about? This is clearly a Theater, as you can see. Don’t you know what a Theater is? Did you come from the Countryside?”
Maximian stared at the man with a vacant expression, tilted his head, and spoke.
“So then, you mean Panyanna doesn’t live here?”
“Wait, Panyanna? That man is the owner of this Theater. Do you know Panyanna?”
“I’m saying he’s my uncle. Trivia told me clearly that I should come here.”
“Trivia? Who is that?”
“Well, Trivia is the younger sister of Silabria. Silabria is the younger sister of Armerida, and Armerida is the wife of Consomme, and Consomme is my great-uncle….”
The man tried to organize this.
“Wait, so if Consomme is your great-uncle, then isn’t Armerida your great-aunt? Then Sil… what was it again?”
“Silabria.”
“Yes, that’s right. Wouldn’t Silabria also be your great-aunt?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then the one before that… what was it?”
“Trivia.”
“Isn’t Trivia also your great-aunt?”
“She is.”
“Then you could have just said your great-aunt sent you. Why did you have to mention Ar… whatever that aunt’s name was….”
“Armerida.”
“In any case, why did all these people come pouring out?”
“Because Armerida, Silabria, and Trivia all raised me, right? But then Armerida’s dairy cow got old and died, so Armerida couldn’t drink milk anymore, right? But Silabria has two cows, so we were going to get milk from Silabria’s place, right? But Silabria’s husband, Appetizer, didn’t want to give us milk, because Appetizer was selling the extra milk to Dessert, who’s a friend in the Neighboring Village, right? Dessert makes butter from the milk and sells it to the Neighboring Village, and he’s raising five daughters, and their names are Chiamina, Sabromina, Delamina….”
“Wait, hold on!”
“What?”
The man’s face flushed red as he shouted.
“What does it matter who those people are! You came to meet Panyanna, didn’t you? Then just go in and meet him already! Those daughters of his….”
“The daughters are Chiami and Sabromi….”
“That… tell Panyanna about those people! Now go in!”
But Riche, who had been standing beside them with wide eyes listening to their conversation, interjected.
“You said he had five daughters, so what are the names of the other two?”
The man turned to Riche with a vacant expression.
“Seamstress, you should hurry to the dressing room!”
“But the conversation isn’t finished yet. The other two daughters….”
Before Riche could say more, the man unlocked the back door and quickly pushed Maximian inside. Riche followed, but the two of them were already hurrying toward Panyanna’s office.
Riche giggled and craned her neck in that direction, calling out.
“Tell me what the other two daughters’ names are before you go!”
Theater owner Panyanna treated Maximian with a markedly different attitude than before. In other words, he treated him like a bothersome nuisance. It seemed he had concluded from investigating Maximian’s background that he had not been sent by House of Arnim.
But Maximian’s attitude was no less confrontational. Previously, he had at least pretended to be a legitimate envoy, but now he carried himself like a debt collector who had forced his way into an office.
“So, my claim that you avoided me was entirely a misunderstanding, you searched diligently for the young master of House of Arnim but found nothing, and in the process, the identity I revealed seems suspicious—roughly speaking, that’s it, yes?”
“No! Never mind all that! The problem is that you deceived my errand boy with such nonsense to get in here!”
“I don’t see the need to argue over something that isn’t even the main point. I doubt I’ll gain anything from talking further with you, so if you could just tell me where the performance hall is, I’d appreciate it. I’ll handle matters directly.”
“The performance hall?”
“Max Cardi’s performance, isn’t there?”
Panyanna shook his head and spoke arrogantly.
“How much does that performance cost, and you’re trying to get in for free? Ticket sales have already ended, so I’m afraid I cannot let you in.”
Maximian pulled out two tickets from his pocket and waved them.
“There must be an entrance from inside the theater as well, of course?”
Only then did Panyanna show signs of being slightly flustered.
“If you wanted to enter, you should have gone through the front entrance. Why come in this way and cause trouble? Besides, we can’t let people in during the performance….”
“Ah, is that so? Well then, there’s no rush. I can just wait until the end of the first act and we can talk then.”
“No, listen here! I’m telling you we cannot meet!”
Maximian tucked the tickets back into his pocket and narrowed his eyes.
“Cannot meet? Do you know who I’m going to meet that you’re prophesying we cannot?”
Panyanna was left speechless, of course. Maximian shrugged as if to say “I’ll just find the performance hall entrance myself” and left the office. And at that moment, he saw someone passing in front of him.
It was the man who had been loitering in front of the theater.
Riche waited tediously until the first act ended. There was no one guarding the dressing room, and the errand boy who had brought her had disappeared with a strange young man and showed no sign of returning.
The hastily made costume was laid on the table, but she felt uneasy about leaving it behind. It was a garment that had gone missing once before. If it disappeared again, where would she collect the “generous reward”?
The thought that the costume might disappear again was strange, but it wasn’t without reason. Someone might have deliberately planned to sabotage the performance and stolen one of the costumes. Popular people always have those who dislike them.
Moreover, there should be someone here—a makeup artist, an errand boy, anyone—but they had all vanished, which meant they must have gone to watch the performance. Looking at it that way, there was no guarantee this wouldn’t happen every day. But she couldn’t wander around the dark theater carrying the costume on her arm looking for people. If she failed to hand over the costume by the start of the second act, that too would certainly cost her the “generous reward.”
After waiting for so long, the first act finally seemed to end. Riche knew nothing about music, but she understood that the applause from the audience meant it was over. So people would come this way—could the actors be coming?
Suddenly nervous, Riche jumped up from her chair and, without intending to hide, moved to a slightly more secluded spot. At the same moment, the door opened slightly and a person entered.
Riche started to open her mouth but closed it without realizing. He was a mysterious man, and while everyone here was unfamiliar to her, it was clear at a glance that he was not a staff member.
He looked around this unusually ornate room with the same unfamiliar expression and movements as Riche had moments before. At least Riche worked in the costume room, but the other man seemed to have lived a colorless life, and his confusion was evident as he took in the glittering decorations and costumes.
Moreover, he did not see Riche. She stood in the shadowed corner of the room beyond the wardrobe, and the piles of brilliant stage costumes scattered throughout and the mirrors embedded everywhere that amplified them several times over captured his attention.
And Riche watched as he set three bottles of what appeared to be fine liquor on the table.
Children of Runes – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Published by: Books of the Fourteenth Month
The copyright of this book belongs to the author and Books of the Fourteenth Month.
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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