Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 323

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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 93.
Ninety-Eight Souls (6)
“You misspoke, yes. But what I’m about to tell you is something entirely different. Riche, I’m going to be blunt with you—the idea that you alone must endure hardship and feed your incompetent family is nothing but your own delusion. Your family has more than enough ability to feed themselves.”
“What did you just say?”
Riche shot to her feet. She seemed to have forgotten all about her hunger.
“What gives you the right to speak so carelessly? Just because I don’t force my mother and brother out to work doesn’t mean you have any business interfering! Have you ever even set foot in our home? Do you know how my mother’s health is, how young and helpless my brother is? Don’t you dare speak as if you understand when you know nothing!”
“Ah, of course I haven’t seen it.”
Maximian shrugged and looked up at the standing Riche.
“But you see, some situations are obvious even without witnessing them. Do you think I’ve only seen your family’s circumstances once or twice? The world is full of irresponsible parents, and children forced to earn money are everywhere. Those struggling just to feed themselves—well, that’s one thing. But children who willingly play the martyr to feed able-bodied family members? I sometimes want to give them a good smack. I’m certain your mother’s moaning in the corner is because she doesn’t exercise, and your brother, despite being nine years old, knows nothing because you’ve kept him locked away like a pet dog.”
Riche’s eyes trembled with fury.
“Take that back. If you don’t, I won’t stop until I’ve torn every hair from your head.”
But Maximian remained unmoved.
“I’m telling you this for your sake. Think about it carefully. You’ve already left home. You might not return for months. Without your daily wages, how will your family survive now? Will they just collapse in the corner waiting for maggots to come? If you really believed that, would you be wasting time arguing with me here right now? Not days—months. If your family truly depended on your earnings to survive, it would be strange that they’re still alive during all this time. Wouldn’t it? So shall we make a wager on whether your mother and brother starve to death during those months? The outcome is obvious, though.”
“….”
Strangely, Riche said nothing more. Joshua could see she was holding back with all her might, but tears were about to spill from her eyes. Before he knew it, he stood and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she finally broke down crying. Seeing Joshua gesture for him to stop from over Riche’s shoulder, Maximian’s tone softened somewhat.
“I didn’t say this to make you cry. You didn’t choose to come this far with us, and as you can see, the conditions of this journey are terrible. But if you’re strangling yourself with worry about your family, how can you endure? Still, I didn’t speak carelessly. As I said before, I have six younger siblings. While I’m here dragging along a friend who can’t even take care of himself, what do you think is happening to them? Do I seem like a heartless older brother who abandoned them without caring whether they starve or not?”
Riche soaked Joshua’s collar like a handkerchief and buried her face in his shoulder, crying in earnest. Seeing Joshua flustered at the kindness he’d inadvertently offered, Maximian suppressed his laughter and continued.
“I believe that once you’re old enough to walk and speak properly, you should be able to go out and find your own food. Unless you’re so sick you can’t move—that would be an exception. Nine years old is older than my youngest sibling. But you’re telling me he knows nothing of the world? My brother knows exactly who in our neighborhood will give him dinner, which houses have leftover bread that will come to his hands, and when to visit them. Not just him, but my older siblings too, and I was the same when I was young. That’s not something anyone teaches you. If you sit around doing nothing and go hungry for a couple of days in a row, you learn it naturally. If you can’t do that, you have no right to be born poor. Or do you think anyone gets the privilege of being born poor?”
“Then… are you saying people who can’t do that should starve to death? That they shouldn’t be cared for even if they have family?”
Riche barely managed to speak through her tears, and Maximian replied.
“Yes, about that family—as a child, you do have some responsibility to care for your mother. But are you going to do that until you die? People who are vaguely ill don’t die quickly. They linger and drain the family’s finances for life. When you grow up and start your own household, you’ll need twice, three times the money. And if you have children, there’s no need to speak further. What if you fall suddenly ill from overworking in your youth? Then your child will simply repeat what you did, and is that satisfying?”
Riche lifted her tear-stained eyes and glared at Maximian.
“Are you cursing me now?”
“No, I’m telling you to look at the generation before yours. I’m sure your mother did the same thing to her parents that you’re doing now. And what was the result? How long will you repeat this vicious cycle? That’s what you call… the tragedy of a family line. You need to break that chain. Honestly, do you think just anyone your age has the talent to earn that kind of money? I certainly don’t. So you should think about living off it for a long, long time. Talent isn’t eternal either.”
“What kind of talk is that? You’re saying I should live well for a long time while my family starves and I don’t care?”
“If your mother’s health is truly serious, I’ll take back what I said. I’ll apologize to you, of course. But if that were the case, you wouldn’t be able to stay with us so calmly. I’d wager eight out of ten that your mother is a hypochondriac who simply has no intention of looking for work because she can live off the money you bring home. Why would she rush? As for your brother, he’s young, so we’ll chalk it up to poor upbringing.”
“….”
When Riche didn’t answer, Maximian stretched and suddenly asked.
“Do you know why I’m making such specific guesses about your mother?”
Riche, her tears finally dried, shook her head.
“No. Why?”
“Because of that good-natured Miss Montplayne. If your mother felt even a shred of pity watching her daughter struggle alone between life and death, she would have rushed to squeeze out even a single coin from her estranged husband for living expenses. But that man is keeping his distance and has forgotten about your family’s affairs, living comfortably on his own. Though it seems he’s not particularly good at earning money either.”
Riche shook her head as if the idea were impossible.
“Mother hates even seeing Miss Montplayne’s face.”
“There you have it. All for pride, she happily eats bread bought with money from a daughter not even twenty years old. Mark my words—people like that are sick in life itself. Don’t let yourself be dragged into that and ruin your own life.”
By the end, it had somehow become mature advice. Joshua spoke quietly.
“Maximian, you distrust adults too much. Especially parents.”
Maximian merely shrugged.
“If I’m going to ruin my own life, I might as well get something out of it by advising others.”
As a day passed and night turned to morning in the Attic, the three began to suspect they had become forgotten prisoners in the Underground Dungeon. Above all, as if the rule were “don’t work, don’t eat,” after not getting a single meal all the previous day, the prisoners’ discontent reached its peak by the next morning.
Hunger has a way of subsiding once a meal is missed, only to return twofold the next time. For this reason, the three of them gathered once more in that single room found themselves in a state where neither Riche, who had exhausted herself crying uselessly the day before, nor the other two could think of anything beyond staring up at the ceiling.
“Maximian, I remember when we first met.”
Joshua muttered listlessly, and after a long pause, a response finally came.
“It’s not like we’re dying—why dredge up the past now?”
“Besides that… I was starving back then too.”
Even setting aside a Demonic’s memory, hunger would be a rare and precious memory for Joshua, but for Maximian it was so commonplace that the eras had become indistinguishable. Instead of answering, Maximian used his arm as a pillow and muttered.
“I’m hungry—might as well sleep.”
All three had gathered in Joshua’s room, but for some reason Maximian had claimed the bed, while the other two sat on the floor, their legs stretched out carefully to avoid bumping into each other. Yet Maximian failed to fall asleep despite his hunger, and a moment later he kicked the wall and cried out.
“Why don’t you just have me peel potatoes instead!”
Joshua turned around.
“Are you serious?”
Riche, who had been leaning against the table across from them, muttered.
“Could we eat raw potatoes?”
This time Joshua answered again.
“How would you eat raw potatoes?”
“I think if we really had to, we might be able to. Ah, if only I could eat just one raw potato.”
Upon hearing those words, Joshua suddenly stood and left for the corridor. Under normal circumstances they would have wondered what was going on, but now they simply couldn’t be bothered to follow. The two of them merely muttered to themselves.
“That guy’s so thin he probably needs less food anyway.”
“I’ve never once seen him eat anything with enthusiasm.”
“We starved him and he’s the most level-headed of us all. Victory goes to the one who didn’t eat in the first place.”
But shortly after, the sound of something shattering loudly rang out, forcing both of them to jump to their feet. “What is that bastard doing?”
When they rushed into the corridor, they saw Joshua standing at the far end, and the window there lay in pieces. He had wrapped cloth around his hand and smashed the glass. Riche cried out in alarm.
“What are you doing? If you break the Mage’s House and incur his displeasure, what then?”
“And yesterday, that noise was you too.”
Joshua’s eyes were serious.
“We’re at the point where we’d eat raw potatoes—what can’t we do?”
Children of Ron – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The rights to this book belong to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
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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