Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 456

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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 226.
Playing Oneself (2)
Joshua started at the sound of Anarose’s reply as he lifted his head.
“Yes. I have awakened. Since I entered this tomb, there has never been a time I remained conscious for this long.”
Joshua immediately grasped the meaning of her words. The ancient storm had returned to Sunset Island. The magical tempest was evidence of mana. And Sunset Island’s mana relied upon none other than the sealed one—the “Evil Artifact.” Was it not Anarose’s role to seal that power? Then why had she awakened?
“The seal?”
Anarose spoke without even a hint of mockery.
“Do you think you could resolve that?”
Of course not. Maximian even laughed softly instead.
“We don’t even know the method, but we’re just the same as what we appear to be on the surface. We have no special power.”
Anarose showed no sign of disappointment.
“Then there’s no need to know.”
“Ah, is that so? Since you’re not asking for help, it seems it’s not particularly dangerous? Our island certainly won’t split in two and sink, right? How about it?”
The “our island” that Maximian deliberately mentioned was not Periwinkle but Sunset Island. He spoke with the assumption that the island meaningful to Anarose would be Sunset Island, and also that she would not know Sunset Island had become an uninhabited island.
Anarose did not answer.
“Is it because it’s none of your concern? Even if the island sinks, you alone have a refuge as convincing as this place, so you’re safe? No, I don’t believe you would think that way. I’ve heard you entered here of your own volition. And those people living outside, ignorant and discourteous, they too have the right to know what misfortune will befall them. Even if you can’t prevent it. Not because they’ve done anything particularly noble, but simply because they’re alive—they have the right to know why they die.”
Maximian finished his speech as though he were a native of Sunset Island himself, then concluded with his characteristic gesture of spreading both palms open.
“Even if I concede a hundred times that those living outside need not know anything, surely you don’t wish for the work you’ve devoted centuries to come to nothing.”
Anarose merely gazed at Maximian in silence, showing no sign that his words moved her heart. Even if there had been some movement, Joshua thought, they might not have perceived it. Yet when her answer came, his expectation proved wrong.
“Your words are meaningless.”
Anarose had simply been listening carefully to understand Maximian’s words. Realizing the situation, Maximian muttered under his breath that he’d met a formidable opponent and shrank his shoulders.
Joshua spoke.
“You may disagree with our opinion, but those were not meaningless words. At least they are words that require an answer. Unless you regard the work you’ve poured so many ages into as nothing more than meaningless confinement for a single person.”
“I am doing my Mother’s work.”
As meaning, it was a sufficient answer. Yet what followed was startling.
“But I have already failed.”
…
While Joshua and Maximian stood bewildered, unsure how to receive those words, the same tone continued.
“So it is meaningless.”
If one were to be strict about it, Anarose’s words were correct. Maximian had spoken of the people of Sunset Island’s right to live, but she had essentially said that was already finished. Perhaps it was true. It was over. There was already no one on Sunset Island.
Had Anarose spoken knowing this fact?
“Then… what are you doing here? I mean, if that’s truly the case, shouldn’t you just leave now?”
Anarose raised one arm, her gaze fixed on empty space. Nothing new occurred. Her hand merely descended, caressing the pillar that rose behind her. It was like the slow beat of a bird’s wing.
“I am keeping watch.”
Joshua’s gaze turned toward the pillars. One low enough to sit upon, another taller, one that could not be easily climbed, and a sculpture. The sculpture stood at a height far too low when considering the heights of the other pillars. At first glance, it appeared to be lying scattered in a grassland.
Looking more carefully, it was an anchor.
A stone anchor. It could have actually been affixed to a sailing vessel. Joshua rose from his seat. He passed Anarose and went before the anchor. He reached out and touched its surface.
What had appeared at first glance to be a protrusion was a pattern. Beneath it were inscriptions carved in three languages. Of the three, Joshua recognized only the third.
Saving the great island Periwinkle that dominates the South Sea
He who made himself king
The Left Heart of King Anomarad
Duke of Jade Ring Manor
Icabon von Arnim.
O spirit that guards the seafarers, we commend our sovereign to the Coral Palace beneath the waves
and beseech you to protect him until the South Sea becomes white salt.
The emblem was a key—the sigil of Arnim.
“Ah….”
Joshua grasped the anchor with both hands, then moments later began clawing frantically at the earth around it with his bare hands. There was no need to dig long. Soon a stone slab emerged from beneath the soil, and large leaf patterns carved in relief became distinct. The anchor was merely a decorative stone affixed to the slab.
As he felt along the ground and found the corners, the stone slab proved to be massive—its head edge spanning two paces. How deep it extended underground was impossible to gauge. Both Joshua and Anarose had been sitting atop this very slab. Yet in the next moment, Joshua sprang to his feet and stepped back several paces.
Maximian approached and read the same inscription Joshua had deciphered. His expression shifted.
“Surely this stone doesn’t contain….”
It was rare for Maximian to pose such an obvious question. Looking back, Joshua was forcing himself to swallow, steadying his mind. His eyes met Anarose’s.
“Is this the coffin of the First Duke of Arnim?”
“Yes.”
“You said you were guarding it?”
“Yes.”
“He died long ago, and there wouldn’t even be a corpse in the coffin. There would be no need for anyone to guard it. If left alone, it’s merely a rock. What are you guarding?”
“I guard my memory.”
Even Joshua did not immediately understand. Anarose continued.
“Before I lose myself. Each time I awaken from sleep and return, I see his coffin and remember who I am. The dreams I have are not the rest that others enjoy. They are only the worst madness and torture that has never existed in this world before. Do you think I could remember who I am after waking from such dreams once every few decades? What would happen if I could not remember?”
It was difficult to imagine. Without experiencing it, it was impossible to know the suffering Anarose described.
“Then I—the one who is not myself—would never wish to sleep here again.”
Anarose spoke slowly, as if admonishing herself, one word at a time.
“The one who is not myself would not endure that madness and torture for even a moment, and would flee this place.”
A long silence followed. At last, Joshua spoke.
“I too know something of the madness in one’s mind. There is a black well within me—a moment of lost focus and I fear I cannot return to myself. Long ago I discovered that well and peered into it. Afterward, I wished I had never known. Because now I live in constant fear of stumbling and falling into it.”
Anarose stared at Joshua intently, then spoke.
“I’ve heard those words before somewhere.”
“It would have been from Icabon, wouldn’t it?”
“….”
Her expressionless gaze remained fixed upon Joshua. She was not deliberately scrutinizing him—merely looking.
“You cannot be the same as Icabon.”
“No. But the name Demonic has been inherited by thirteen others over the centuries since then.”
Anarose had likely never seen another Demonic besides Icabon. Joshua realized this even as he spoke. It was only natural that she would not know the name was hereditary.
“Demonic…. Those who call you by that name—do they see in you the same singularity that Icabon possessed?”
Joshua nodded, meeting her gaze without evasion.
Anarose fell silent for a long time. Once again, her face revealed nothing of her thoughts. There was no way to anticipate what might happen, no way to prepare oneself. Would Anarose welcome the existence of another Demonic, or would she despise it?
Joshua’s lips parted again.
“Because of what I just heard, I wish to ask one thing. Do your words mean that Icabon is being used here as a tool for your sense of self?”
Anarose’s gaze lingered upon the stone coffin Joshua had excavated. Instead of an answer, these words came forth.
“You don’t understand me.”
If she claimed to understand, it would be nothing but pretense. There was no way for those who had lived merely a dozen years to truly grasp the weight of Anarose’s long centuries.
“His memories are the last fragment of humanity remaining within me. My mind has been desolate all this time, and I’ve forgotten most things gentle and soft. What remains for me is only one thing—him alone. I’ve always slept upon his coffin. Now I know he is no longer inside it. Instead, my dead self will lie there. I cling desperately to his memory. That is how I find myself within it. He is my memory itself.”
Anarose was not deliberately concealing her emotions as she spoke. Her feelings had withered away almost entirely.
“I cannot accept your existence.”
When those words came—neither kind nor cold—Joshua thought things had unfolded as he’d anticipated. What would the outcome be? At this point, he found himself oddly curious. Joshua looked directly at Anarose’s face.
What followed was unexpected.
“Yet for The Island and the Sea and the world, your existence is fortunate. You listen to my story and understand. Icabon has not vanished. The world can enjoy him anew.”
Joshua felt a subtle discomfort in those words. Though they were both Demonic, every Demonic possessed different abilities and interests. Their temperaments varied as well. And despite similar powers, they were each distinct individuals. Joshua was not Icabon’s incarnation.
Of course, in Anarose’s world, only one Demonic—Icabon—would ever exist. He could have tried to understand her perspective. Her world had been sealed away for so long. Joshua suddenly thought of another version of himself at Jade Ring Castle. That ‘self’ would not know he had been duplicated. If he were told the truth, how would he feel?
Now Joshua understood. In this moment, he had been treated as Icabon’s ‘puppet’.
Joshua was not given the chance to voice such thoughts. Anarose looked at him again, but her eyes now held a distinctly different light than before.
“All this time, I have drawn the monster trying to break through the seal into my dreams and fought it. I did so to endure as long as possible while consuming only the minimum of my strength. Once my power runs dry, I can no longer maintain the seal. But now there is no need for that anymore.”
“You said you had failed. That means….”
“The seal has broken.”
Joshua went rigid.
“If it’s broken, then the power of the evil artifact that once destroyed Ganapoli has been set free again?”
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 this book’s contents, 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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