Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 394

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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 164.
In the Name of Loyalty and Vengeance (6)
“He is one who pursues the Duke. That is his handiwork.”
The words referred to the Salaryman. Both Maximian and Riche’s eyes widened in confusion. The Salaryman had only broken Riche’s arm. It was absolutely impossible for a broken arm to render someone mute.
“I don’t quite understand. He broke her arm. Her arm.”
“But initially, he attempted to break her neck. His hands sought to break it, yet the young lady is the first whose neck refused to snap. His hands are fundamentally designed to break necks. They were made for that purpose. They are not ordinary hands.”
Silence fell. Everyone recalled the same thing. The three who had been pursued for so long, as well as Milestone, had glimpsed the Salaryman’s hands from a distance. His hands were so massive they could scarcely be called human. He had claimed he merely trained them, but could training alone produce such size?
None of them had ever contemplated this deeply before.
“If they’re not ordinary, then what is he?”
“I do not know. However…”
The Ghost seemed to hesitate, lost in thought. Joshua did not press him this time.
“As I have said, it was not only the People of Promise who possessed the Duke that day at the harbor. Even if all of us had entered him, it would have been impossible to dominate him so thoroughly that he could not remember. Therefore, far more Spirits must have clung to him—of that I am certain. Yet we do not know the identities of those others. Their numbers were too great. Perhaps they had been wandering that harbor since ancient times, or they were Spirits who followed the Duke from somewhere. Spirits adore the Duke greatly, after all. Among them were those with great power, those with magic, those with knowledge. When the Duke fell into the water and his life was endangered, they all rushed forward without hesitation. It would have been too great a waste to let such a powerful medium perish.”
Though Maximian and Riche heard this for the first time, Joshua seemed already to know these facts. Joshua, who had only just awakened on the ship, had been unaware of what transpired at the harbor. Yet Joshua could have summoned a Spirit to converse with at any time afterward, just as he did now.
Maximian asked finally.
“Joshua, you said there was no Spirit you couldn’t handle?”
Joshua laughed unexpectedly.
“Well, it seems I exceeded my capacity.”
Yet there was no trace of fear in him. To Maximian, it appeared to be an inexplicable confidence, but that was indeed what it was.
“At that time, one of those Spirits spoke through the Duke’s mouth. To him, the one with the enormous hands. He said that those hands… were created in Ganapoli.”
“Ganapoli? Is that not the great Magic Kingdom that once existed in the Land of Mortals?”
It was Milestone’s voice. He seemed to be growing interested in this tale, leaning forward intently.
“Then, are you saying his hands were crafted with power from Ganapoli, and Riche’s voice was stolen by Ganapoli’s power as well? Is all of this magic?”
Milestone had seen the Salaryman only once. Yet the three who had encountered him multiple times and even conversed face to face could not accept it as readily as Milestone did. That the Salaryman’s grotesque hands were connected to the ruined Magic Kingdom—how could that possibly be? Was the Salaryman not human?
After a moment, Joshua spoke in a subdued voice.
“Regardless of the truth of that claim, what I most wish to know is whether there is any way to restore Riche’s voice to its original state.”
“There may be. If he were to… he might know.”
“Who are you speaking of?”
“Korned.”
Though others might have forgotten that name, Joshua remembered it. Joshua spoke.
“Korned—the Mage whose ghost Kelsniti warned us to be cautious of, was he not? Yes, if this matter is connected to the power that came from Ganapoli, it would be faster to ask the Mage. Is Korned also a Mage? But is this truly a problem that can be solved simply by summoning a Mage?”
“Korned is no ordinary Mage. His magic is very close to that of Ganapoli. All magic originated from Ganapoli, but it has been corrupted and weakened over the ages. However, Korned, who survived when Anomarad was founded, is closer to Ganapoli than any living Mage. If the Duke wishes to borrow the power of a Mage from that era, Korned would be the only alternative.”
“And if we meet him?”
“Korned would surely know whether the traces left by his hands can be cleansed or not. Summon him, my Duke. Like me, he will have no choice but to obey you.”
“That is my decision to make. Enough. Go now.”
The other three did not know when the Ghost vanished. Soon Joshua turned and smiled, though it was somehow a smile that chilled the blood.
Maximian was the first to speak.
“Can you really treat Spirits that way? Since when have you been doing this? When Kelsniti warned us last time, you didn’t precisely understand Spirits at all.”
“I still don’t understand everything now.”
“If you don’t understand everything, won’t you incur their resentment by treating them like servants? Have you forgotten Kelce’s warning?”
“Resentment is something I’ve already earned.”
Joshua pressed his forehead and lowered his head. It was only a brief respite. Then he lifted his gaze and spoke.
“First, I should clarify that those I treat that way are only some of the People of Promise. They asked me to do so. They told me not to be kind, but to hate them instead. They said they don’t want to harbor even the slightest affection for me. That’s why they find it unbearable when I treat them well. They asked me to be even crueler, but I… I couldn’t do any better than this.”
“So you do as they ask? It’s obvious those aren’t good intentions! You…”
“But no matter how I treat them now, nothing will change. Who I am as an individual means nothing to them. I’m merely the descendant of the traitor Icabon. Whether I’m kind to them or beg on my knees, centuries of accumulated resentment won’t disappear. They see only the shadow of the first Duke in me. To them, I am nothing but a shadow. That’s all.”
Maximian swallowed the words he was about to speak and stared at Joshua. Then he slowly steadied his breathing and lowered his voice.
“I see. That spirit earlier called you Duke. Why? You’re not a Duke yet.”
Joshua’s voice had also grown quiet.
“I told them my father is not a Duke—at least not a Duke who rules over them. To them, only Demonic is Duke Arnim. Because… only Demonic can command such ancient and persistent souls.”
“Command them?”
Maximian’s voice carried more than just suspicion. He was trying to infer the truth behind this situation. His premonition was not good.
“Command. To summon them, send them away, demand answers, and punish them. That kind of command.”
“How could you possibly do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. It seems to be part of my mediumship abilities, but I’ve never seen anyone like me before. In any case, at some point I realized that if I so wished, I could bind them back to Jade Ring Castle just as they once were.”
Everyone fell silent. It was something they had never even imagined.
“They would never want that. How could they give up freedom they took so long to obtain? That alone is reason enough for them to kneel before me. In such a situation, what can I do? Play the role of a young descendant begging forgiveness for ancestral sins? Approach with a smile as a new ally, trying to befriend them from now on? No. I can’t. They’re so filled with hatred that there’s no room for anything new to enter, so ultimately only command remains. I am their Duke, and I command them. That was the only thing possible between them and me.”
“That means Joshua, you… when did this happen?”
Since Kelsniti had warned Joshua before, he had never brought up the People of Promise in front of them. Though they didn’t know why the spirits had stopped appearing and remained quiet, they could never have imagined that Joshua had been continuously communicating with them and had even come to command them. This was not something that could happen in a day or two.
When exactly had it happened?
As he thought this, the answer came to him immediately. Kalayso.
When Joshua was preparing the performance in Kalayso, he had been incredibly busy. His hand had to touch nearly every problem. Even after delegating work to specialists, all sorts of people waited for his review and approval regardless of whether it was 10 PM or 8 AM.
An ordinary person would have given up halfway through, but Joshua had not. He listened to every request one by one, refined them, and corrected them, ultimately delivering a perfect performance. Around that time, some people had noticed his extraordinary memory and attention to detail—he never got confused about even small issues no matter how exhausted he was. Of course, to manage this, he had to split even five or six hours of sleep a day.
No one knew he had done all this while maintaining such a schedule. After the promissory note incident, even Maximian hadn’t had any significant conversations with Joshua. Except for that night when the Salaryman had sent the white-clad figure.
“It’s been a while. Since around when I started preparing the performance in Kalayso.”
“Didn’t you think you shouldn’t be doing such things?”
“Well… perhaps at that time I wasn’t entirely in my right mind either, struggling to do so much in such a short time… No, that’s not it. Let me be honest. It wasn’t because it was hard, but the truth is—I’m not sure how this will sound—the situation was unavoidable, so I was drawing out and using everything I had indiscriminately. To a degree where I wondered if it was even okay. I didn’t have the luxury to restrain myself or worry about what others thought. I thought I’d soon grow tired and hit bottom, but that didn’t happen. Whatever I did, it just kept coming.”
As Joshua said this, there was no hesitation or reservation in his tone. He spoke as if reading from an instruction manual. Like an instruction manual for himself, so to speak.
Those listening couldn’t find words to interject and wore strange expressions. It wasn’t self-aggrandizing nonsense, and it was obvious that all of it was true. Joshua had no pretense in his character. There was no need for it in the first place.
“So naturally I became curious about how far this goes. It can’t possibly be infinite. To know the end, I have to use everything I can see. And among my abilities, the mediumship part… is actually quite substantial. When I dug deeper, I naturally reached it. It was covered only by a very thin lid… and it was hard not to open it.”
Joshua glanced at Maximian’s expression. Then he smiled slightly.
“It seemed possible. Tremendous things. It actually happened. Like at the docks, but I actually tried it several times during the performance preparations too. It was quite helpful in managing the schedule.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 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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