Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 485

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

Episode 255.
Playing Oneself (31)
“Well, that’s because the one who should be responsible can’t even understand what I’m saying!”
Maximian regarded Juspian with a suspicious expression.
“You… do you know what happened to Joshua?”
“Is there anything in this world I don’t know?”
He answered curtly, then crossed his arms.
“Three debtors, that’s what I have. I don’t even enjoy going out normally, yet you’ve dragged me from my humble, comfortable, and inspiring dwelling all the way to this distant place. That alone is already unbearable. Now let’s settle the matter of the ship. Where is my ship? Do you have any idea how many months have passed since the date we agreed upon? I sent you off with enough money to return, saying you’d only go as far as Periwinkle, but instead you went all the way to Keltika without bringing it back, didn’t report what happened to it, and thought you could just play innocent and get away with it?”
Juspian looked at Riche, and Maximian too stared at Riche as if he bore absolutely no responsibility. Riche bristled for multiple reasons.
“That’s exactly why… you knew you’d be like this, so we were too scared to even contact you!”
“Does that sound like an excuse to you? I won’t forgive you until you produce my ship right before my eyes!”
“See? Whether you went to make excuses or stayed here doing this, the result is the same!”
“That statement means you can’t produce my ship!”
“Of course…”
Riche trailed off, at a loss for words. Juspian’s gaze shifted to Maximian.
“You, tell me about my ship.”
“Ah, the sparks are flying.”
Riche nudged Maximian. If someone had to answer anyway, it was better that Maximian do it. It had always been that way. For instance, like when they had to explain why they were drifting in the waters before Calaisso Harbor.
“A ship must be sturdy above all else, but your ship had problems from the start. Do you know how many times we repaired it? It would fall out of the sky without warning, it wouldn’t fly when it should, it became unseaworthy in the middle of the ocean…”
Maximian’s examples were, in order, ‘we forgot to add more gold’, ‘the ship fell apart everywhere because of poor sailing skills’, and ‘the bottom was punctured by a Galley’s attack’—but the reasons naturally went unmentioned. Juspian waved his hand dismissively to cut him off.
“So what happened to it!”
“It sank, what else.”
The words tumbled out with shameless bluntness, and even Riche’s expression became dumbfounded. Juspian nearly leaped from his seat but barely restrained himself, then shouted.
“You dared to drop my ship into the sea? And you thought you’d survive that? My ship—the crystallization of my blood, sweat, and tears, the one and only airship that recreates the magic of Ganapoli, with an exterior so beautiful it could be called the pinnacle of beauty, built with only the finest materials so it had to be sturdy! And!”
Juspian extended his finger, pointing at Maximian.
“You!”
“Ah, why me again…”
“Where is the gold crucible? Don’t tell me it sank along with the ship.”
Caught at the crux of the matter, Maximian tried to cough and gloss over the situation, but Juspian saw through it.
“Gold of that amount means little to me, but I’m asking you to produce it as proof that the ship really did sink. Seeing that you’re all alive and well means someone rescued you, and when you were rescued, surely you wouldn’t have abandoned the gold, would you?”
Riche’s expression suddenly showed she remembered something.
“Now that you mention it, what happened to the gold?”
“You didn’t take it out either?”
“I have no idea.”
“You wretches!”
At this point, Hispanie, who had been listening quietly, spoke up with composure.
“Juspian. Are you referring to the Beauty’s Pinnacle as the ship you’re looking for?”
Juspian glanced sideways at Maximian, then asked in a measured tone.
“Did you name it that?”
“It couldn’t have been me!”
“Then it’s Caesar’s Daughter?”
“Absolutely not!”
Juspian tilted his head with a thoughtful hum.
“Well, it seems that ship is indeed the right one. Hispania, do you know the whereabouts of my vessel?”
“I have it in my possession.”
Just as Juspian was about to explode with indignation—”Those thieving scoundrels, the same whether it was the violin days or now”—Hispania continued.
“The ship is somewhat damaged, but it will be perfectly serviceable once repaired. Gold, that is—my crew mentioned gold. So I ordered them to leave it untouched and store it carefully. They are not the sort to disobey my commands, so they would never have laid hands on the gold.”
As only good news continued to pour forth, Juspian’s expression darkened.
“Suspicious. You must have ulterior motives. Since your days as a petty thief, those Demonic types have never been trustworthy.”
“You see clearly.”
Hispania smiled knowingly. In moments like this, his face bore a resemblance to Joshua’s.
“Speak quickly!”
“Rather, shouldn’t you speak first? About your true purpose in coming all this way?”
“True purpose? What——”
“I cannot deny that a flying ship is rare, but you are not one who cannot create another after making one once, and I find it hard to believe you would undertake such a difficult journey merely to reclaim a ship. Am I wrong in my assessment?”
Rather than deny it, Juspian simply changed his expression.
“So you’re attempting another negotiation. You want to see my cards, but show yours first.”
“I have already shown mine.”
“Surely you’re not referring to my ship?”
“Precisely correct. Did you not hear what Maximian said just now? That ship sank into the sea. I am merely someone who happened to find it.”
Juspian shot to his feet. Beside him, Riche was trembling with tension. This Manor was quite large and sturdy, so perhaps it would be difficult to blow the roof off, but——
“You cunning little thief!”
He shouted thus, and everyone braced for whatever he might do next, yet nothing happened. Juspian remained standing with his arms crossed, a strange smile playing at one corner of his mouth.
“Quick-witted. Whether as a child or now in old age. I should have made you my assistant after all. Very well. I prefer clarity. I understand there is currently a doll here—a replica of Joshua von Arnim.”
Riche spoke.
“That doll has been asleep for a long time. It won’t wake.”
“That is not the important matter. What I desire is——”
Juspian concluded his words in a tone closer to command than persuasion.
“Give me the doll.”
“That is impossible.”
Maximian’s answer came immediately. Rather than grow angry, Juspian simply asked.
“Then explain your reasoning.”
“Because the person who can make that decision is not here.”
Maximian glanced toward Joshua’s chamber.
“The one who created the doll has vanished, and the one who commissioned it is dead. Then who else could have rights over the doll except Joshua himself, the one being replicated? Is that not so? Unless Joshua awakens and voices his opinion on this matter, we cannot simply hand the doll over to you of our own accord.”
Riche spoke.
“Moreover, the Duchess has said she regards the doll as another of her children. She would never surrender it easily.”
Maximian spoke again.
“And if we were to place it in the hands of the Mage, we cannot know what might become of it. Surely you do not intend to——”
At that moment, Juspian struck the back of Maximian’s head with such speed that Maximian only realized he had been hit after the blow landed.
“What am I to you, a distinguished and principled mage, that you would speak to me this way? Look, as you know, I’ve taken considerable interest in recreating Ganapoli Magic. But I made my position clear even then—cloning the living is something no mage with their wits about them should ever attempt. Therefore, I will never create such a thing with my own hands. Moreover, who do you think explained to you that the puppet exists within the same order as Joshua? Do I look like a lunatic to you, someone whose magic devours even the living?”
Maximian nodded slowly.
“Now that you mention it, I can’t quite recall who told us that.”
“It’s not something you’d associate with his usual demeanor.”
Juspian remained unmoved by their exchange.
“I simply wish to observe.”
Riche asked.
“Observe for what purpose?”
“To discover whether the cloned puppet remains human until the very end.”
That alone could not be deemed a malicious intent. If by some chance both Joshua and the puppet awakened, it was difficult to imagine them living together in the same castle. Destroying the puppet no longer felt as straightforward as it once had. Perhaps sending the puppet elsewhere could serve as an alternative. Assuming Juspian was indeed a principled mage, and considering his long-standing desire to employ a Demonic assistant…
Maximian’s expression suddenly hardened as his thoughts reached this point.
“You wouldn’t be…”
Juspian turned to look at Maximian.
“Wouldn’t be what?”
“Attempting to find a way to make the puppet live independently, without a source body?”
“…”
When no answer came, Riche too regarded Juspian with an astonished expression. Maximian’s observation had struck at the heart of the matter. The playfulness vanished from Juspian’s face.
“If I pretended not to understand such a challenge, I wouldn’t deserve to be called a mage.”
“That’s unacceptable!”
Maximian rose abruptly. Juspian’s lips curved into a cold smile.
“Why are you angry? You said you had no authority in this matter.”
“No one would ever permit it! Who was it that explained the nature of order and causality to you? Are you planning to let two identical Joshuas exist in this world indefinitely?”
“Then you’re hoping the puppet never awakens at all? Were you planning to kill it if it did?”
“That’s not what I…”
Maximian’s words trailed off. It was indeed contradictory, yet he could not bring himself to answer “yes.”
“The puppet already exists. I cannot claim to know the Young Duke well, but of this one thing I am certain from our last encounter: he would never choose to kill the puppet. So, are you all trembling in the hope that it never awakens? Isn’t it natural to consider what comes after it does?”
“…”
Maximian could only glare at Juspian, finding no words to counter him. It was rare to see Maximian in such a state.
Maximian was not unaware that Juspian’s observation was grounded in reality. When he and Joshua had searched for the puppet’s source body, destroying it would have meant the puppet’s destruction, so there was no need to consider what came after. Or rather, he should have considered it even then—the question of whether destroying a being so little different from human constituted murder. Yet he had deliberately avoided such thoughts, and now they eluded him.
At that time, the puppet had been the usurper of Joshua’s place. It was a being that had to be destroyed so Joshua could reclaim his lost uniqueness. That justification had sufficed for everything. Naturally, they had proceeded with the puppet’s death as a given premise. And so they had come this far.
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 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
—————