Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 322

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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 80.
Ninety-Eight Souls (5)
Caesar knew well that as a swordsman, he could not outrun multiple mounted opponents. In such circumstances, attempting clumsy resistance would only invite greater calamity. He chose instead to stammer out a defense.
“Why are you doing this? I’ve done nothing discourteous, truly nothing at all! I merely offered a few words out of concern—if you don’t believe me, ask her directly!”
One of the men asked with an incredulous expression.
“Ask her? Ask whom?”
“The young lady, of course…”
“The young lady?”
Caesar and the mounted men turned simultaneously in the same direction. Caesar’s eyes widened.
“Wait… she’s gone?”
One man let out a scornful laugh.
“Is this fool toying with us? There’s been no one here but you and us since earlier—what nonsense about some young lady!”
“The young lady… no, she was definitely there just a moment ago! Didn’t you see her? You truly didn’t see her?”
“No, I didn’t see her, you idiot. Did she hide in the grass or something?”
One man rode his horse in that direction, circled around, and returned. As he came back, he struck Caesar’s head with his gloved fist.
“What senseless drivel are you spouting!”
Caesar, struck though he was, felt no pain—his gaze remained fixed on where the woman had been.
“How is this possible? She couldn’t have simply vanished like that…”
The dress she wore was far too elaborate to flee in haste, and the surroundings offered nowhere to hide—nothing but an empty meadow. The nearest tree stood a hundred paces away. Moreover, how could men seated upon tall horses have failed to see her? A woman in such a striking dress?
“Forget your hallucinations and stop your babbling! Tell us about those you claim to have seen! Yes—two boys of perhaps fourteen years, one girl, and one man. You said you knew what we were searching for, so you must have seen them. Where did they go!”
Yet Caesar spoke again in that bewildered manner, infuriating them further.
“Wasn’t the person you were searching for a young lady?”
One man, unable to contain himself, drew his blade and shouted.
“This wretch, still babbling about his young lady!”
He seemed ready to strike at once, but fortunately the other men restrained him.
“What’s the use dealing with such an addled fool? It’s a waste of time.”
“Let’s go. This one seems to be some mad vagrant wandering the meadow. Your blade deserves better use.”
The man who had drawn his sword struck Caesar’s back with the flat of his blade as if venting his frustration, then rode off again.
Caesar shrugged and flexed the muscles of his back, as if to say such blows were nothing. Yet he could not abandon his curiosity, turning repeatedly to search for where the young lady had gone.
“Well, that was certainly strange.”
It had been too vivid to call a phantom, and with daylight all around, he felt no fear. Then he suddenly tilted his head.
“Two boys and one girl? And one man? Wait… that’s a familiar combination, isn’t it?”
Caesar craned his neck to look again, but the mounted men had already vanished from sight.
Recalling once more the young lady who had mysteriously disappeared, Caesar furrowed his brow in thought.
“Was something appearing to help me?”
3. The Ill-Fated Adventure in the Attic
You can never call my name. I won’t teach it to you. And only I know my name. Try to guess if you wish! Then perhaps I’ll follow you.
It was hardly pleasant to enter someone else’s home only to peel potatoes or scrub floors, but a situation where the master didn’t appear either—rather than assign work—was scarcely preferable.
“Was yesterday so busy that today I’m meant to rest?”
The three attics assigned to each of them were connected in a row by a single corridor, and the doors were unlocked, so gathering together again posed no difficulty. But the advantages ended there. At both ends of the corridor were spaces resembling landings and a single window each, with no passage leading out. I clearly remember ascending the stairs last night with a broom-wielding lantern, yet despite searching for half an hour, I found no trace of stairs or anything resembling them.
With nothing else to do, the three of them explored their respective attics and found them remarkably identical in structure—even lacking any hidden passages. The only difference was an extra chair in Maximian’s room.
They peered earnestly out the windows at both ends of the corridor, but saw only landscapes where time and season bent to their own whims. To make matters worse, Kelsniti hadn’t shown his face since morning, leaving them completely trapped.
Around midday, the three of them divided a single hard loaf from Riche’s bag into three equal portions. Joshua, halfway through his bread, coughed dryly and spoke.
“My throat is killing me. Riche, do you have any water?”
“I do, but I would’ve given it to you by now if I had any.”
Though she answered curtly, Riche glanced at Joshua again, who looked miserable, and offered advice in a knowing tone.
“Try swallowing your saliva hard.”
“….”
Absurd as it was, the advice worked. After swallowing deliberately for about three minutes, he felt considerably better. Watching this from beside him, Maximian rested his chin on his knee and sighed.
“Why must we always endure such miserable travels?”
Seeing Joshua brush breadcrumbs from his clothes only deepened his sigh.
“If we’re traveling with a wealthy fellow like that, we should have two or three carriages, several servants, and leisurely tour local delicacies at every stop. That would be nice.”
Joshua considered what excuse to offer, but could only manage this:
“Then let’s travel that way next time.”
“After this disaster, you think I’d travel with you again?”
Riche, who had been frantically searching her bag for hidden food, finally threw it down and muttered listlessly.
“People who travel always looked so appealing, but now I’m sick of it. I never thought I’d miss the Costume Workshop. When I was handling customer inquiries at the entrance, clients looking for their clothes gave me cupcakes and pastries so often. Bonbon candies and strawberry tarts and chocolate mousse and cream puffs and….”
“Could you please be quiet?”
Maximian lifted his head and shot the words at her. Meanwhile, Joshua, crouched in the corner, turned to Riche and asked.
“Did you work at the Costume Workshop for a long time?”
“Terribly long. Unbearably long.”
“How many years is that?”
“About six months.”
Joshua laughed in disbelief, and Riche continued.
“You try accomplishing two years’ worth of work in six months. Wouldn’t that six months feel unbearably long?”
His thoughtful silence seemed genuine, so Riche lowered her head before beginning to giggle.
“What is it. Taking someone else’s daily life so seriously. When you’re busy enough with your own problems.”
“But by your account, Mirangette was working you hard. When you work that much, does she pay you more?”
“Of course not. You have to know how to talk to people. Mirangette cuts my wages by half just for taking a half-day rest. As if she’d…. Well, what would Max Cardi know about such matters? The most difficult garments I’ve ever made were all your commissions.”
Joshua’s face flushed, and he looked up at the low ceiling.
“I’m sorry. I naturally assumed complex costumes required many workers, so I paid premium prices. Mirangette must have pocketed the difference. I was thoughtless.”
“Never mind. How could you possibly know? I didn’t bring it up to hear an apology. Besides, you won’t be ordering clothes anymore. To be honest, I never imagined I’d be venting to Max Cardi like this. What would those people who were dying to see your face say if they saw you here unable to even wash? Would they still say it’s worth it?”
Joshua rubbed his cheeks and laughed softly.
“Probably not.”
“Who knows. We had a sister at the Costume Workshop who sketched your face inside masks about twenty times. But since I’m hungry, to be honest, the real thing wins. That sister might work like me her whole life just to spend one day with you like this. Of course, I’d trade it immediately for tonight’s dinner. I’m not the type whose hunger disappears from seeing a pretty face.”
“…You’re probably right that dinner is better?”
The two looked at each other briefly before both burst into helpless giggles. They never imagined this day would come, not even when they’d encountered each other in the Dining Hall—him with a fake beard, her as a server. Remembering the Dining Hall, Joshua suddenly asked.
“By the way, Riche, if you were so busy at the Costume Workshop, how were you also working at the Dining Hall in the evenings? What were you saving all that money for?”
Maximian, who had crawled onto the bed and was sprawled out, opened his eyes slightly and looked down at them.
He heard the answer he’d expected.
“Where do you think all that money goes? Do you have any idea how little of what I earn actually ends up in my hands? Tsk, I shouldn’t have brought this up. How could a noble young master possibly understand what it’s like to have a mother and a younger sibling who will starve to death if I don’t earn money right now?”
Maximian sat up.
“Hey, Riche. What’s wrong with your mother?”
Riche’s eyes flickered, but she answered relatively readily.
“She’s frail and can’t work. Whenever she tries to move, the medicine costs more than what she could earn.”
“How old is your younger sibling?”
“Nine years old. There’s no workplace that would hire a child that young.”
“Ah, so you’re the one earning money to feed two people who can’t support themselves? What a tearfully moving story that is. The title would be something like ‘The Sad Tale of a Young Breadwinner’?”
As he said this, Maximian lowered his legs from the bed. Seeing Riche’s face turn red, Joshua spoke up.
“Maximian, what are you trying to say? It was my mistake in how I spoke.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright of this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, you must obtain written consent from both parties.

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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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