Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 365

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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 135.
May Your Final Performance
Be Your Greatest (10)
“Same here. If you keep acting like that, there’s no money to give you, I’m telling you.”
Ah, it was about money again. Joshua had been dragged to this place reeking of fish on an empty stomach, and his mood wasn’t great, but he thought he should take his friend’s concerns seriously. The sailor responded with a shrug.
“Yeah, yeah, I asked the guild master yesterday what to do in a situation like this. He said that in principle, we should calculate the mooring fees for these past few days, but if things keep going this way, he wouldn’t stop us from taking the ship out to sea right now.”
Riche shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I came up with at least that much, but we’re not in a position to accept it. But you already knew this would happen, didn’t you? It doesn’t seem like you wouldn’t know that we’re not in a position to leave right now.”
At that point, Joshua felt he should say something too.
“What exactly is the issue? So you’re saying we need to pay dock usage fees or something like that? If it’s something like that…”
Riche cut off Joshua’s words and exclaimed.
“You’re right! But they’re demanding we pay double the usage fee because our ship isn’t registered in Kalayso!”
Joshua looked at Riche’s flushed face and burst out laughing despite himself. Riche was naturally offended.
“You find this situation funny?”
Joshua stopped laughing but still had an amused expression on his face.
“Double would certainly be frustrating. But I’m curious—what’s the basis for this double rate?”
“Of course it’s ships registered in Kalayso!”
“Really? Then actually, aren’t they just giving ships registered in Kalayso a fifty percent discount?”
“What?”
Riche stood there with a dumbfounded expression while the sailor began to chuckle.
“That’s brilliant! Miss, that’s exactly it. Your ship is paying the normal rate, and Kalayso ships get a fifty percent reduction! Hehehehe!”
Riche, furious, kicked at Joshua’s heel.
“Did you come to help me or to get in my way?”
Joshua suppressed his laughter as he spoke.
“I didn’t even know why I came.”
“I thought you’d come up with some clever solution, but all you do is… Sir, this won’t work. His reasoning is completely different from what I was thinking. Fifty Elsono silver coins a day is outright fraud, fraud! Back in my homeland, we don’t even pay half that!”
“Is your homeland perhaps a rural harbor where fishermen just dock their small boats?”
Riche bristled immediately.
“What are you talking about! The place where I was born is in Hyacan, where only the wealthiest people gather…”
When she got that far, Joshua suddenly nudged Riche to the side and stepped forward in front of the sailor, speaking briefly.
“How much?”
The sailor, thinking Joshua was about to pay, pushed over the ledger to show him the relevant page.
“If we add what you’ve paid so far and today’s fee… the guild master said to just take two Elso gold coins. That would be four in Goblun. And if you’re going to keep paying going forward, advance payment is fine too.”
Joshua scanned the ledger with his eyes, then pulled out an envelope from inside his pocket and spoke.
“This envelope contains a promissory note issued by a most noble nobleman. Before I show this, you must first promise me that you will not disclose this nobleman’s name or the existence of this promissory note anywhere.”
The sailor, knowing they were retainers of Hyacan nobility, spoke with some confusion.
“Wait, a most noble nobleman? That’s not something for me to discuss—talk to the guild master about that. Wait a moment.”
He stood up abruptly and knocked on the door behind him. Before an answer came, he opened the door and shouted a few words, then gestured for the two to enter. Joshua went in first, and Riche followed, her eyes fixed with suspicion on the envelope in Joshua’s hand.
The sailor didn’t need to explain anything further. Joshua strode forward to the guild master, placed the envelope on the desk, and pressed it lightly with his fingertip before speaking.
“This is a promissory note given to me by a most noble nobleman of Anomarad who maintains deep relations with my master. He is a great nobleman with a castle in Keltika, and an amount like this is mere pocket change to him. If you present the promissory note to him on the specified payment date, he will certainly honor it. I intend to settle the long-term mooring fees with this. Of course, there will be money left over, but since I’m not sure how many days we’ll be moored, you can settle the remaining amount when we set sail.”
When the guild master frowned at this sudden proposal, Joshua turned his gaze toward the sailor and spoke.
“As you’ve likely gathered from my friend’s conversations over these past few days, we currently possess not a single coin to pay. So unless you accept this promissory note, our only alternative would be to drill a hole in our ship’s hull and let it sink into the sea.”
The flustered sailor glanced about nervously before slipping outside, while the guild master fixed both of them with an unwavering stare. Given that such establishments naturally became gathering places for harbor gossip, he already knew roughly that Joshua and Riche served as attendants to Hyacan nobility and were currently staying at Captain Callaimon’s residence, and that they intended to undertake some venture related to the theater in which Callaimon held a half share.
The guild master was neither ruthless nor narrow-minded, and more importantly, he had no desire to incur the displeasure of anyone connected to Captain Callaimon—a man whom every sailor in Kalayso feared and avoided. Besides, it would be awkward to dismiss their “master” in Hyacan, even if he was not as close as Callaimon’s own fist.
Yet accepting a promissory note outright and treating it as payment in gold coins placed him in an equally uncomfortable position. Everyone naturally preferred actual gold coins to promissory notes. Just as he was considering what additional incentive might be needed to accept such a proposal, Joshua spoke again.
“Of course, since payment would be delayed, I intend to offer it at a discount below face value, so you won’t suffer any loss. Hmm… would half the amount be acceptable?”
At the mention of half, the guild master started in surprise and replied.
“Wouldn’t that be a considerable loss for you?”
“Not at all. I need only return and present the claim to my master. Since encountering pirates was beyond our control, if I explain that I liquidated my promissory note to protect my master’s ship, he will compensate me for the loss. I have no concerns whatsoever.”
“Just how much is this promissory note worth?”
“Fifteen hundred Elso. Payable in Elso gold coins.”
“Hmm.”
The guild master fell into thought. Durnensa was a nation where commerce flourished, and the merchant houses affiliated with the guild were scattered across the entire Continent. Their cooperation networks were well-established, allowing bills of exchange, drafts, and even instruments approaching letters of credit to circulate among them without difficulty. There were plenty of guild members conducting business in Anomarad and Keltika. By routing it through them, converting a promissory note from an Anomarad nobleman into currency would be straightforward. Half the amount seemed like child’s play—easy money—and he felt his mouth water slightly, but he feigned indifference and asked.
“Then whose promissory note is this exactly?”
“About that…”
Joshua bent forward slightly, looking down at the guild master, and spoke with deliberate care.
“For that person’s honor, I must ask you to make one promise before I show you this note.”
“What promise?”
“As you know, I am merely an attendant. If it becomes known that someone as noble as my master issued a promissory note to someone of my station, would it not damage his honor? No one would understand the unavoidable circumstances of the time. So if you intend to pass this note on to another merchant, please do not reveal that the person whose name is written here is actually an attendant. Unless you make me this promise, I cannot show you this note.”
“That’s hardly difficult. I promise. Come now, show it to me at once.”
Joshua slid his supporting hand away, picked up the envelope, and withdrew the paper inside, unfolding it. The paper was of the finest quality, the sort nobles used for credentials and such, bearing a key-shaped crest at the top, and inscribed with the following words:
I hereby promise to pay fifteen hundred Elso in Elso gold coins to the bearer of this document, “Joe Hispanie,” or to his designated representative, in exchange for this document. The date of payment is to be determined separately.
March 19th, Year 990
Duke Jasper Franz von Arnim.
Upon reading the name inscribed on the promissory note, Riche had to exert tremendous effort to suppress a sudden cough. Joshua turned to the guild master and asked.
“What is your name?”
“Baemon Elwards.”
Joshua picked up the pen from the desk and wrote the following beneath:
Please pay the amount written above to the endorser below, “Baemon Elwards,” or to his designated representative.
June 5th, Year 990
Joe Hispanie.
“Sign here, if you would.”
Once the guild master signed below, everything was complete. Joshua stepped outside and returned with the ledger.
“Then please record in the ledger that seven hundred fifty Elso—half of the fifteen hundred—has been paid as docking fees for extended mooring.”
As “Advance Payment: 750 Elso” was inscribed in the guild ledger, Joshua exchanged a light handshake with the guild master, handed over the promissory note, and turned to leave with Riche. Riche, her expression quite curious, rather arrogantly thrust the ledger toward the sailor who had been waiting outside to show him.
“There. All settled?”
The sailor looked back and forth between the two of them as though witnessing something miraculous, then tucked away the ledger and withdrew the roster for long-term moored vessels, unfolding it. Joshua glanced at Riche and nudged her with his elbow.
“You write it.”
Riche blinked in confusion, wondering why he was suddenly deferring to her when he had been handling everything so smoothly just moments before.
“Why me?”
“You’re the one responsible for feeding both of us, after all.”
“….”
It was true that I had been going back and forth through the guild, trying to resolve problems, precisely because I had called myself the responsible one in front of Captain Kalaimon. Did Joshua realize that too?
In the end, Riche picked up the pen. After writing down the alias we had decided to use here—’Millar Jusitant’ (Riche had also joined the ranks of name recycling)—I noticed the adjacent column was labeled ‘Ship Name’.
“A name?”
Having drunk the christening wine, the ship didn’t so much lack a name as I simply hadn’t bothered thinking about one. I couldn’t call it an airship like Juspian did. This time, Riche nudged Joshua.
“It needs a name.”
“Huh?”
The sailor was looking at them with a strange expression. A ship’s nameplate might fall off during a voyage, but a ship without a name could never set sail. Yet when I tried to think of a name, all that came to mind was Juspian’s embarrassing praise.
“Ah… well, the Pinnacle of Beauty.”
The sailor’s expression was remarkably similar to the one the three of us had worn when we heard Juspian’s praise firsthand. And so, in the ship’s name column, there was written the awkward-sounding name ‘the Pinnacle of Beauty’.
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Published by: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to 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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