Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 311

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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 81.
Finding the Cat in the Furnace (30)
“I’ve spent my entire life burdening that child and her mother, so somewhere along the way I became branded as someone from whom nothing could be expected. But honestly, I agree with that assessment. Even I think I’m a person without any consistent sense of responsibility. Truth be told, this wasn’t the original plan from the start.”
“Then what was your original plan?”
“Perhaps I would have simply provided travel expenses and left it at that. Oh wait, I didn’t even have money to give for travel. I forgot about that. Anyway, I’ve never been a person with plans. In the end, it all came down to a momentary impulse…”
“A momentary impulse? What triggered it?”
“My daughter wore that dress for me.”
“…”
I was thinking what kind of person acts this way when Riche approached, and Caesar quickly closed his mouth.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
It seemed Riche wasn’t directing the question solely at Maximian—her gaze also turned toward Caesar.
“About ‘that man.’ I understand the situation well enough to follow along like this, but honestly, I haven’t felt any concrete fear yet. It’s probably because I haven’t seen him directly. So what I’m saying is…”
Riche glanced back at Joshua once before continuing.
“I’d like you three to explain the feeling you share about ‘that man.'”
When the two didn’t answer immediately, Riche spoke again with emphasis.
“The fear that makes you walk through the night until you end up like this…”
“What good would understanding do? It’s better to just keep going as long as you accept the forced march.”
Maximian spoke unilaterally and tried to leave, but Riche blocked his path and raised her rosy eyebrows.
“Why? Are you worried I’ll collapse in terror and refuse to go?”
“Riche, stop.”
Caesar spoke, but his words held little sway over Riche anyway.
“It wasn’t by choice, but it’s already been six days since I boarded this ship with you. What have you told me in all that time? When you snuck into Joshua’s villa, when you went to Sir Baiyer’s manor—what explanation did you give me? The only way I came to understand the situation at all was by listening to what you said when you met Joshua. Before that, everything you told me was just danger this, death that, nothing else. Do you think you’re protecting me from mortal peril? Did you think I’d be grateful for your care?”
Despite the content of her words, her tone wasn’t as sharp as before. It was closer to disappointment.
“I know why you’re like that. It’s not something that’s happened once or twice. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. Especially when we’re both caught in the same unavoidable fate like this—it makes me sad rather than angry. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought this up at all.”
Only then did Maximian speak.
“What do you think the reason is?”
“Because you don’t see the girl as a person.”
“…”
Watching Maximian in silence, biting his lower lip, Riche’s expression held no hope. It was clear she expected him not to admit it.
“There’s no way to explain that your words are a misunderstanding. If that’s what you want, then I’ll explain about ‘that man’—the Salaryman.”
Caesar, standing nearby, made no further interjection and prepared to leave. Around the time he mounted Joshua on a horse, Maximian held the reins and spoke briefly.
“The woman named Mutia is dead.”
Riche froze as if she’d forgotten who Mutia was. Maximian continued.
“It’s what he did.”
“Dead…? How?”
Maximian’s face remained composed.
“Didn’t you take my words seriously? On the day the Theater caught fire, I clearly warned that woman. If she left, I couldn’t guarantee her life.”
They set out immediately. There was silence for a while, but then Maximian began speaking quietly again.
“At first, he was sharing conversations with Joshua about poetry and music. In a very ordinary voice. What would you call it—like a librarian’s voice.”
Riche listened without responding.
“In that kind of voice, he spoke as if he were the strongest on the Continent and a judge for the guilty. The sort of voice one might use to ask, ‘Would you like me to find a book for you?'”
“Why do you only mention his voice?”
“I was eavesdropping from outside at first.”
I could sense Caesar ahead of me listening intently.
“Besides, he talked endlessly. He answered every topic I deliberately brought up to stall for time, added his own opinions, and seemed intent on explaining until I understood. The kind of person who could ramble for ten hours straight if someone just hummed along from the sidelines. And yet….”
“From what you’re saying, he doesn’t sound savage at all?”
Maximian walked in silence for a long time without speaking. As the silence stretched on, even Riche, who had been confused, began to understand the reason. And she guessed he would probably change the subject.
Her guess was wrong.
“And yet… I was somewhat afraid.”
For a man to say another man frightens him is one of the things men most dislike saying in front of a woman who is neither their mother, sister, nor wife. That was when Riche’s expression grew serious.
“He had no weapon. Or perhaps he was hiding one, but in any case, he didn’t draw it to intimidate me. He didn’t seem to have brought any accomplices, and he didn’t make particularly threatening remarks. He wore a mask, so I couldn’t tell if his face looked frightening. But why was I afraid of him? I understood the reason when Joshua began talking to him about the ways to kill me.”
“Ways to kill you?”
I felt exhaustion wash over me at Maximian’s words.
“Literally—he was giving advice on how he should kill me, how to dispose of the body afterward. Breaking my neck, hanging the corpse, how to make me bleed profusely…. Could that be a joke to make in front of an assassin who came to kill you?”
Riche gazed at the back of Joshua’s head as he lay sprawled asleep on the horse’s back. Right now he was just a sleeping boy. Yet as I watched him, I felt a chill—or rather, something like a fever.
“The two of them understood each other perfectly. They grasped each other’s worlds so naturally. That’s when I realized my mind was far too grounded in reality to comprehend the existence of such madmen. The most terrifying thing in the world is something incomprehensible. I believe any vicious and cruel human, no matter how depraved, is better than facing a monster that cannot be reasoned with. With something unreasonable, you don’t know why it’s killing you until the moment of death. You can’t explain why you shouldn’t die. You can’t even beg for your life. Damn it, I never want to fall into the hands of such creatures. I’d rather die caught in a villain’s conspiracy. And among those capable of conversation….”
Caesar ahead stopped walking. We stopped as well, but the emotion in Maximian’s words only intensified.
“The existence of those with incomprehensible minds is what I fear most. If they were monsters, they should stay in their lairs and never emerge—why do such monsters exist among humans!”
Then something unexpected happened. Joshua, who had been lying there as if dead, slowly raised himself up.
“Ah….”
Riche glanced at Maximian in alarm. Maximian had rushed all the way here from distant Anomarad for Joshua’s sake, so they were no ordinary friends—yet the words he’d just spoken seemed like something that should never reach a friend’s ears. Maximian’s expression had hardened. But whether that was because of Joshua or the lingering weight of his own words remained unclear.
Yet a faint smile appeared on Joshua’s face.
“Well observed. You truly have an excellent eye for people, Maximian.”
“….”
Maximian did not answer. Caesar’s voice came from beside us.
“I cannot possibly continue without catching my breath. I believe you’ll agree, so we should prepare to camp.”
It was a unilateral declaration, but no one objected. They too were already half out of their minds.
When I awoke, it was the middle of the night.
As I stirred beneath the blanket, I heard voices nearby and gradually came to my senses. Opening my eyes halfway, I saw a campfire burning—I couldn’t tell when it had been lit—and beside it, Joshua wrapped snugly in a blanket and Maximian sitting with his knees drawn up, his chin resting on his hands.
“…Do you think the same as I do?”
I heard Maximian’s voice, and shortly after, Joshua’s voice came.
“He’s not driven by anger or passion. As he himself said, he sees himself as a ‘salaried man.’ Simply a ‘salaried man’ who pursues artistic perfection in his work. It’s as if the rationality of a royal tax official has been combined with a mad artist.”
“As I said before, you understand him very well.”
Joshua spoke after a pause.
“Only someone like me could possibly understand the thoughts of such a madman.”
“What do you mean, someone like you?”
“Mad. The same way.”
Silence fell again for a time. Riche slowly raised herself up. Since she was sitting with her back to them, the boys seemed not to notice.
“You… when you were saying that….”
As if finally releasing something he’d been holding back, Maximian trailed off, then turned his face away from the campfire to face Joshua directly.
“Did you truly imagine yourself as a corpse, torn apart by crows, before speaking those words?”
Joshua’s voice was so low it was nearly incomprehensible.
“It appeared so vividly real to my eyes that I spoke of it that way. Honestly… yes, when I said those things, I didn’t feel like the subject was myself. I tried to view myself as an object. From their perspective. Since that person treats their work like art, I attempted to stand in their position and find the greatest harmony possible.”
“Do you truly believe that’s something a sane person could do? Think about it yourself. Consider the state you’re in right now. I knew you as a child. Are you saying you were like this back then?”
When Riche rose and approached the campfire, Joshua’s answer came.
“Sometimes I wonder if I was born with the potential to become a murderer.”
Children of the Runes – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Books
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months 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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