Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 331

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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 101.
Ninety-Eight Souls (14)
Maximian had always been the type to avoid pointless and tedious deliberation, but Riche, who possessed a talent for sketching the blueprints of structures, furrowed her brow in serious contemplation, determined to retrace their path and deduce the shape of the Home. Joshua, observing from beside her, spoke with careful attention to ensure his words didn’t sound like mere advice.
“I tried too, but it didn’t work. It’s not a logical space.”
Maximian gestured toward Joshua with a tilt of his chin.
“With problems like this, it’s easier to just trust that fellow’s judgment.”
The Grand Hall’s ceiling soared beyond the height of ten men, and the opposite wall seemed to stretch more than a hundred paces away. Yet it was enclosed only by plain brick and utterly empty. There were no facilities of any kind whatsoever.
“There’s nothing here at all?”
At Maximian’s words, Joshua shook his head.
“No. Look at the floor—there are wooden supports or something like that.”
Indeed, they were there. Though at first glance, they appeared utterly useless—unless something was meant to rest upon them.
“Why did we come here?”
Juspian, who had been staring toward the center of the Grand Hall with his back turned, finally responded after a long pause.
“You said you’d eliminate the doll. To do that, you need to go to Periwinkle.”
Maximian glanced sideways at the back of Juspian’s head and the wooden supports, then muttered under his breath.
“I doubt those wooden scraps are going to transport us to Periwinkle or wherever….”
With that eccentric Mage’s unpredictable nature, it was premature to rejoice at the prospect of being sent to Periwinkle. Something reeked of danger.
“Couldn’t you tell us what you’re trying to do beforehand?”
Riche tried asking, but Juspian offered no further response, nor did he show any indication of what he intended. Riche turned to the other two and spoke.
“Perhaps he needs such a vast space because he’s about to cast an extraordinarily difficult spell, like teleportation?”
Joshua tilted his head uncertainly.
“That doesn’t seem to be it.”
“Understand that I was merely expressing a hope.”
Yet immediately after speaking those words, Riche, who had glanced around the Grand Hall, suddenly fell silent. A moment later, she simply said:
“Oh.”
The wooden supports were no longer visible. More precisely, they were obscured by something else. The appearance of this ‘something else’ was so utterly unexpected, so absurd, so incongruous with the setting that describing the situation as “the wooden supports are no longer visible” would hardly be appropriate.
“That’s… a ship, isn’t it?”
The three exchanged glances. The thoughts that simultaneously formed in each of their minds tumbled out as words.
“So The Island really means we’re supposed to take a ship?”
“Is he suggesting we trade that ship for the violin?”
“Wow, a ship just appeared out of nowhere.”
The ship was a flawless sight—with a tall central mast and a shorter triangular sail, a sturdy keel and sleek hull. Moreover, it bore a golden figurehead carved in the likeness of a mermaid, and its pale yellow sides were densely inscribed with the shapes of shells, snails, and starfish, while waves were painted across the hull. As for whether it was exceedingly beautiful….
“For a toy, it’s quite large.”
Such was Riche’s observation, shading her eyes as she gazed upward. It appeared to be a cute little ship of the sort one might display in a glass case in a living room, magnified roughly a hundredfold.
“Be quiet.”
Surprisingly, it was Maximian, who seemed most likely to complain, who issued the soft warning. Fortunately, Juspian was too entranced to hear Riche’s remark.
“You’re probably wondering why it suddenly appeared, aren’t you? Of course, something this precious was hidden away in a double barrier to prevent any damage. What do you think this is? Can you guess? This is the one and only ship that recreates the magic of Ganapoli! Oh, isn’t it absolutely beautiful? This is the pinnacle of beauty, the embodiment of legend, a work of art so elegant it puts all other ships to shame—one feels ashamed to call it merely a ship! That golden hue, that exquisite detail, every time I gaze upon it, I’m filled with reverence!”
He waxed eloquent about matters that were embarrassing merely to hear, yet he didn’t pester his companions for agreement. By nature, he was someone who could scarcely envision a scenario where others disagreed with his opinions.
Maximian spoke.
“Of course. But where’s the water?”
It was the very question everyone had wanted to ask. Juspian, having received the inquiry he desired, turned to Maximian with undisguised satisfaction.
“Water isn’t necessary.”
“Ah, how fortunate. I wasn’t particularly eager to learn something as tedious as navigation anyway. That ship must be purely metaphorical space, yes? After all, why bother with troublesome details when we can skip straight to instantaneous travel? It suits my preferences and saves time besides….”
“That ship will fly.”
Regardless of what Maximian said, he showed no sign of being swayed by it—but fly? Did he say fly?
“That ship will… fly, you say? Well, it doesn’t look roasted, at least.”
“Maximian, get a grip.”
Rather than let Maximian continue his bewildered rambling, Joshua stepped forward.
“You’re saying that ship will sail through the sky?”
“That’s right.”
“Forgive me for asking, but… it doesn’t appear to possess such capabilities from what I can see.”
“And do I look like a Grand Mage to you?”
“I beg your pardon?”
As Joshua found himself trapped by a question he could neither affirm nor deny, Riche finally stepped in.
“I’m tired of asking the same questions. Let’s just try flying it. Then we’ll believe you.”
Juspian snorted derisively.
“Do you think that’s a kite? Something you just toss and it flies away?”
Riche snorted right back at him.
“Then shouldn’t you be explaining this in a way that makes common sense? How does that possibly look like it can fly? If you’d at least attached something resembling wings and claimed it could fly, we might laugh it off as absurd, but your assertion goes beyond ridiculous—it makes me question your sanity.”
“Why wouldn’t it have wings? They’re right there.”
Following where Juspian pointed, they saw what appeared to be feather-like drawings etched onto the stern of the ship.
“This isn’t even a joke….”
Then Joshua smiled softly and spoke.
“When a fish grows wings, it becomes a flying fish. When a mouse grows wings, it becomes a bat. So when a ship grows wings, what do we call it?”
“An airship.”
“Ah.”
Maximian made a gesture as if to punch him, saying:
“Don’t accept that.”
But Joshua paid no mind and, reverting to his earnest student demeanor after so long, asked again.
“How does an airship fly? Unfortunately, those wings don’t appear to move.”
“That’s magic, of course. I don’t explain magic to non-mages.”
Despite the exasperating answer, Joshua showed no disappointment.
“Is the magic embedded in the ship itself? Or must a mage accompany us?”
“A mage doesn’t need to come. If that were the case, I’d have to board it myself.”
“That’s a relief. Then how do we control direction and speed? If it flies off in any direction, wouldn’t that be disastrous?”
At that, Juspian chuckled.
“That’s something you’ll have to learn. But it’s not simple, so I’m not sure when you’ll be ready to depart.”
Juspian went to the wall on the left side of the entrance and slid it smoothly. The wall rotated halfway, revealing a bookcase mounted on its reverse side. From there, he retrieved a book roughly the thickness of a hand’s span and handed it to Joshua. The cover bore the title “The Fundamentals of Airship Piloting.”
“There’s only one copy of this book, so I can’t give it to you to take with you. You’ll need to memorize the piloting techniques from it. Ten days should suffice.”
As Joshua casually opened the book to a random page, Riche protested from beside him.
“You clearly said you’d send us to Periwinkle Island! At this rate, I have no idea when we’ll even depart….”
“Look, that’s your problem. I’ve done my best. This ship is my life’s masterwork, and I’m even lending it to you without any guarantees. But isn’t it your fault for not learning how to operate it quickly?”
“Ten days is nothing. Just reading that manual takes ten days! Memorizing it takes ten years, doesn’t it? It would be faster to hand-copy the book!”
Regardless of their quarrel, Maximian glanced at Joshua. Joshua had skimmed through the book and was now grinning, holding up three fingers. Juspian raised one eyebrow.
“Four days?”
“Three hours.”
“What?”
Maximian replied in a flat tone.
“You said you’d met Demonic Hispanie before, but it seems you didn’t know much about what kind of person that old man is. He’s being modest right now—three hours is actually nothing to him.”
Juspian furrowed his brow and asked.
“Then how long does it actually take him to memorize a single book?”
“Roughly faster than the speed at which ordinary people read it. Honestly, I’m not sure—I just assume it’s because he’s a Demonic being, or rather, a genius.”
But Juspian’s feelings were hurt by that remark.
“What? Listen, genius isn’t a title you earn just by memorizing a few books. Do you think those brilliant research achievements in my laboratory happen overnight? It requires long effort, brilliant inspiration, meticulous organization, creative thinking, and even a clever daughter to assist—do you understand that? You need at least that much to be called a true genius.”
Joshua decided he needed to smooth things over and quickly chimed in.
“You’re absolutely right. True genius requires those kinds of abilities. In that sense, you’re far more of a brilliant genius.”
“Of course I am!”
“Absolutely.”
“Memorization isn’t everything!”
“Well said.”
“Besides, you don’t even have a daughter, do you?”
“Ah… Well, of course….”
As Joshua hesitated, Juspian added as if it were obvious.
“A mage without a daughter isn’t a true mage.”
“….”
Of course, Joshua wasn’t a mage either. Unable to bear it any longer, Maximian spoke up.
“Anyway, let’s move past that issue. Don’t you have something else to explain to us? Waiting for you to tell us is making me unbearably anxious.”
Only then did Juspian cross his arms and look at everyone, especially Maximian.
“I, Juspian, understand that you cannot leave Demonic Joshua right now. It’s the burden of being a principled mage like myself—I cannot overlook the problem of corrupted magic. That’s why I’m lending you my airship so you can go to Periwinkle Island. If you catch the wind well, you should reach the South Sea in roughly two weeks, and it shouldn’t take much longer to resolve matters and return.”
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 this book’s content, 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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