Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 450

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 220.
The Face of an Angel and
the Blood Flowing Through a Demon’s Heart (29)
By the time the sun had descended halfway toward the horizon, we’d eaten our fill from the provisions loaded aboard the ship and gathered our belongings to depart. Now we were ascending an incline. While it wasn’t wide enough for a large carriage, it was well-packed and sufficient for two people to traverse. Broad-leafed deciduous trees with unusually large foliage crowded both sides of the path. It appeared the road had been carved through what was originally forest. It was remarkable that on this uninhabited island, the path hadn’t reverted to woodland. Since it was The Mage’s Island, I could only imagine what measures had been taken when the road was first laid.
Our salt-water-soaked clothes still hadn’t dried. The damp fabric of my trousers clung to my legs, and the linen shirt had grown heavy—hardly ideal conditions for walking, as expected. The muscle soreness persisted as well. Yet somehow, after our swim, both of us brimmed with renewed vitality. The path itself was quite pleasant. Shaded from the sun and not overly warm, quiet enough that birdsong occasionally drifted through, I could even hear the water sloshing in our waterskins. The small branches and dried leaves crushed beneath our feet produced a satisfying sound. The air, tinged with the scent of tree resin, was refreshing.
“It’s a pleasant island. I wonder why they left at all.”
As we reached the crest of the gentle slope, Joshua murmured. Maximian replied.
“Good air doesn’t make a place livable. You need food.”
“It doesn’t seem like there’d be nothing to eat. Look at that forest.”
“Many people wouldn’t be satisfied with just tree fruits and mushrooms. If someone insists on having black tea and chocolate cake after every meal, well, you can’t beat that out of them.”
From here on, the path descended. As Joshua looked down ahead, he spoke.
“What if these people had never possessed magic from the beginning?”
“You’ve got it backwards. If magic hadn’t been an issue, they wouldn’t have abandoned a pleasant place like Periwinkle to come to this rocky island in the first place.”
“That’s true, but…”
The heat shimmer rising from the earth made distant views unclear, yet the path’s continuation was unmistakable. Strangely, however, no village came into sight. We’d expected to see one once we crested this hill.
“I suppose when you’re skilled in magic, you don’t need to live clustered together. They’d draw water from wells using magic, and if they held an evening gathering, everything would appear instantly by magic.”
“Even so, living apart must get lonely. Surely they didn’t conduct conversations by magic too?”
Maximian shrugged as if to say how would I know. As we resumed walking, Joshua continued muttering.
“They didn’t need to solve every daily task with magic.”
In any case, what we sought wasn’t a village. There’d be no one left in a village to ask directions, and we only needed to find a suitable graveyard on the outskirts. Icabon being a foreigner, there was a possibility he’d been buried separately, but that was a matter to determine after we first checked the graveyard.
“Where’s Kelce? Come out and show us the way.”
“He used to come right away when called, but these days he doesn’t. It seems he only responds when he feels like it.”
“Tch, the slippery one.”
True to a place that hadn’t welcomed outsiders, there were no markers anywhere. This was land meant only for those who’d grown up here from childhood, for whom everything was familiar. Soon a small square-like area appeared. Beside it stood a building with only foundation stones and broken columns remaining.
The structure apparently hadn’t originally been enclosed by walls on all sides. Thick columns stood at wide intervals, surrounding the building’s perimeter. No ceiling remained, but it must have been extraordinarily high. Judging by the fallen columns, I suspected it had been more than ten times the height of a person.
The building’s form was unfamiliar as well. The columns extended all the way to the building’s exterior. In other words, where the columns had stood, two rows of round stone bases remained. Could it have been an entrance passage?
Trees that had grown around the building were now encroaching inward past the columns. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before the building and forest became one.
“If it had remained intact, it would have been quite impressive.”
Standing here in our salt-pickled, shabby state, the ruins felt all the more oppressive. Maximian planted one leg at an angle and began gesticulating wildly as he spoke.
“We’ve come begging, sir. Some warm bathwater, clean clothes to change into, a soft bed, and an evening meal so lavish the table legs might break—if you’d be so kind.”
Joshua chuckled and followed suit.
“A glass of Belcruze vintage wine from twenty-seven years past would complement it nicely, and for dessert, perhaps Kermes black tea with a pie of walnuts and almonds.”
“This one here refuses to wear anything but silk, so please take note.”
“And that one gets angry if you wake him within twenty hours, so remember that too.”
「Very well, I shall attend to your every need. Shall I prepare the bathwater first?」
Both of them turned their heads without changing their posture. Maximian spoke first.
“A ghost appearing while we wander through ruins—nothing could be more fitting.”
“We’re speaking with some resentment here, but Kelce, isn’t it customary that when you encounter a ghost in a place like this, you should grant them three wishes as a matter of courtesy?”
The sound of Kelsniti’s laughter echoed.
「That’s half a threat, young medium. A ghost’s spine is getting chills. So what are these wishes of yours?」
“For now, it’s bathwater.”
Joshua opened his mouth, and Maximian caught the thread.
“Next, show us where the Graveyard is.”
「That makes two. So what’s the last one?」
Without so much as a glance between them, they shouted in near-perfect unison.
“Let us leave without rowing the oars!”
2. The Tomb
My season harbors secrets.
On a day when the cold was unbearable,
I carved spring into pieces and swallowed it whole,
and in the blink of an eye, it all fell away,
leaving only summer, autumn, and winter behind.
Trying to mend the broken chain,
I cut autumn in half and placed it where spring should be.
So my spring became a season of falling leaves and withering,
so share your spring with me, even just a piece,
I forgot that after autumn comes only winter.
The sun hung low on the western sky. The sunset had passed, but the day’s heat had completely faded.
The Graveyard lay on the Coastline—the western shore, not where they had moored their ship. On a gentle slope overlooking the sea, gravestones of every kind stood in orderly rows or lay scattered in disarray.
There was no fence or barrier marking the Graveyard’s boundary. The two stood before the northernmost gravestone. It was a simple rectangle with only the upper edges slightly rounded. Carved into its center were a name and dates of birth and death—or so they assumed, for in truth, they could not read the characters.
“Could it be the script of Ganapoli?”
There was no one to confirm it. They exchanged puzzled glances and methodically examined the other gravestones. Fortunately, after some distance, they found stones bearing legible inscriptions. Despite the passage of many years, the gravestones showed little sign of damage. In fact, much of this Island was the same—like the path they had followed.
Kamoren, Hole, Knibal, Robel, Tenashup, Bwolf, Coknibaldt, Roen, Mataram, Peniel, Tribis…. As Maximian read aloud, Joshua spoke.
“These seem to be arranged chronologically.”
“But the dates carved here surely aren’t in the Anomarad calendar.”
“True enough. If we could just find a name we recognize, we might be able to roughly match the era.”
Eventually, Joshua stopped before one gravestone. In the center of a rounded stone was carved the name “Zenobia of Almond Blossoms.” Joshua gazed at that name for a long time. Maximian waited for an explanation, then looked at Joshua’s face.
“Who is this person? It sounds vaguely familiar.”
For the first time since entering the Island, Joshua’s expression clouded. His answer came only after a long pause.
“She’s Icabon’s Granddaughter.”
Maximian spoke as if it were nothing of consequence.
“Then Icabon’s tomb ought to be nearby. Even if he was a long-lived elder like our Old Man, it would be hard for him to outlive his Granddaughter.”
The two wandered among the nearby gravestones, reading countless names. Yet they found no tomb bearing Icabon’s name. There was no gravestone of unclear ownership, and above all, no grave bearing signs of being disturbed. After a time, they returned to the tomb of “Zenobia of Almond Blossoms” and stared silently at that name. Crouching, Maximian spoke.
“Don’t get sentimental about it.”
Joshua traced the name carved into the stone with his fingertip, then spoke abruptly.
“This name is quite beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Now that you mention it, it does seem so.”
“That girl was an idiot, apparently.”
Maximian’s lips twitched, but he said nothing. Joshua continued.
“Aurelia told me that from that bloodline, instead of someone like me, only idiots and madmen are born. I found that strange. How could only one bloodline be that way? Is it also the influence of the magic of Sunset Island? Because of that artifact?”
“That could be true.”
“No. I’m starting to think that might not be the only explanation.”
The conversation could have continued indefinitely, but Maximian deliberately pushed himself up.
“Stop dwelling on that old woman who became a grandmother and died long ago. We need to solve the problem at hand. If Icabon’s grave isn’t here, why isn’t it? Did someone deliberately hide it?”
“That doesn’t seem necessary.”
“Or did your brother-in-law dig them all up? But there are no signs of that. Look at how fine the soil is in this area.”
Joshua’s expression grew serious.
“Mak, like I said before, I still don’t think I know for certain who did it.”
“That’s your freedom. And it’s my freedom to be certain.”
It was a topic neither wanted to discuss further. Joshua stood and leaned against the gravestone, surveying the surroundings.
“Maybe it’s not here. Maybe it’s somewhere else. Icabon is…”
“I know. Icabon wasn’t from This Island, so he could have been buried elsewhere. But then why isn’t Anarose’s grave here?”
Even if Anarose had abandoned her Homeland and left, only to return, it was strange that she wasn’t buried here either. Could it be that only these two were deliberately buried elsewhere? Maximian turned his head in no particular direction as he asked.
“Kelce, what do you think? Are there other graveyards besides this one?”
「Not an island large enough for that. However…」
Kelsniti seemed lost in thought. When he spoke again, his voice was measured.
「According to what Joshua heard from the grandmother who said he was a descendant of Sunset Island, Anarose returned here and took on the role of guarding a sealed relic. If she died there, there’s a possibility she was buried in that very spot. It was a time when the belief that the spirits of the dead continue the will of the living was widespread.」
Joshua spoke.
“Grandmother Weatheren called the place where Anarose went a ‘tomb.’ That name might have been given because those who guarded the relic were buried there generation after generation.”
“Then we need to go to that place where the relic was sealed. Can you guide us there?”
「I can guide you that far.」
“It’s not a dangerous place, is it?”
「We likely lack the ability to cause any danger.」
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, written consent from both parties is required.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————