Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 490

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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 260.
Beneath the Almond Tree (3)
Joshua blinked several times, his expression one of disbelief.
“When I first saw him, I thought the connection to his original body had been severed. That’s why I held onto a sliver of hope. What is an original body? I’ve told you before, haven’t I? When creating a replica doppelgänger, the original body isn’t strictly necessary. You can create one without any original at all. But if you don’t create an original and establish a connection, the moment you breathe life into the doppelgänger, it dies immediately. Under the eye of Order, two completely identical things cannot coexist for even a single moment.”
Joshua nodded. He was not the sort to forget something he’d heard once.
“But if he lost his original body and yet didn’t die—only fell into a comatose state—then I thought he must have already become a separate existence from you. So I theorized that Order might have come to tolerate you both separately. That’s the perspective I discussed with others while you were sleeping. That’s how I was able to conceive of a plan to somehow revive him.”
“But that’s not the case?”
“No. It’s not. He never lost his connection to his original body.”
Juspian’s expression was far from pleased. This was the conclusion of half a year’s research—a failure.
“The perfection of a doppelgänger depends on the puppeteer. What a doppelgänger can accomplish is determined by how powerful the puppeteer is. If the puppeteer is incompetent, the doppelgänger can only draw water, scrub floors, till fields—menial tasks. The puppeteer who created your doppelgänger chose replication to sidestep the issue of perfection entirely. But that puppeteer took the original body and vanished far away, which is why he fell into this comatose state. I don’t know how far he went, but the limits of that puppeteer’s power are clear. He’s not particularly impressive. Whether a doppelgänger functions properly when its original is distant depends entirely on the puppeteer’s strength.”
“Maximian said something similar. If destroying the original or taking it far away produces the same result, why didn’t he hide the original somewhere in this castle instead of directly causing a situation where the doppelgänger might die?”
“Exactly. Maximian was right. His deduction was accurate!”
Juspian suddenly shouted and leaped from his seat.
“The connection between doppelgänger and original cannot be severed unless one of them is destroyed. To overlook this simple fact and presume to judge the strict eye of Order by my own whims—it’s nothing short of shameful. And worse, Maximian anticipated my half year of fruitless labor! It’s infuriating!”
As Juspian’s foot struck the ground, the soil around the pond crumbled and scattered into the water like something made of biscuit. In any case, Juspian was remarkably candid about such matters, even when angry.
“Yes, well, in any case, because the connection was never severed, your doppelgänger’s life is gradually fading. Without the original to sustain him, his vitality is being exhausted. He may appear to be sleeping peacefully, but he’s slowly deteriorating. Even if the original were brought back, there would be damage in places that couldn’t be repaired.”
Joshua’s cheek trembled slightly.
“Is that truly the case?”
“It’s the conclusion I’ve reached after half a year. There’s no way to separate him from his original. The only options are to destroy the original or let the doppelgänger die. Perhaps, having seen you, he became aware of the original—that foreign other dwelling within him—and is choosing to die by refusing its power.”
Joshua’s face appeared expressionless. But when he opened his mouth, a tremor crossed his lips.
“Then I have nothing to deliberate over? I should simply leave him be? I didn’t need to answer how we might live together or how we might die together? Then why did you ask me such things?”
Juspian didn’t answer immediately. Joshua didn’t wait for one.
“He’s not my younger brother or my son. It’s me. Not someone I love—it’s myself. I didn’t love myself much even before he existed. I’m not particularly lovable, yet here we are, two of me. I could have felt revulsion the moment I saw him, and yet…”
“And yet?”
“The moment I sensed his scent—that bodily odor no one else could ever bear, his scent—I understood in reverse how I’ve been regarding myself. I realized I’ve never once rejected myself. Not my hands, not my kisses, not sharing my bed with myself. In my world, only I run alongside myself. Everyone else moves slowly, as though their legs were broken. And at the same time, I’ve despised myself for living in such a narrow, childish world. When all other children learn from others and step out into the world, I had no one to reflect my future. I never took a single step beyond my own world.”
As he spoke, sweat beaded on his forehead, matting his hair. His eyes glistened with moisture.
“Because of such feelings, I couldn’t bear it. That ‘me’—him—had stolen that precious me from me and hung it high where I couldn’t reach. I wanted to rush at him, seize myself back, and beat that ‘me’ into submission.”
Silence fell. When Juspian closed his mouth, not even a leaf rustled. A slow sigh emerged before the stillness broke.
“Sigh…”
The heat dissipated. Joshua placed one hand against his cheek.
“You thought I might not understand this absurd story.”
“I understand, which is why I sighed.”
Juspian added as he sat down.
“Besides you and me, there’s no one else mad enough to comprehend such a conversation. Perhaps Hispania might qualify. But based on your answer to my question just now, you’ve already taken a step back from that, haven’t you?”
Joshua lowered his gaze.
“Perhaps.”
“Then shall I pose a final examination question? There is, in fact, exactly one way to save your doppelgänger. Do you want to know what it is?”
Joshua’s expression hardened at once.
“You just said there was no such method.”
“That’s right. I’ll stipulate that even I don’t yet know it. But if there were a method—if it were possible to sever the connection between original and doppelgänger—”
Juspian extended his second finger as he spoke.
“The moment that connection severs, one of you—either you or the Puppet—will die.”
Joshua understood what he meant. The world’s order could not tolerate two identical beings. That was why the concept of an “original” existed. Therefore, if the Puppet severed its connection to the original and began living independently, it would become Joshua himself—an exact duplicate. The very problem that even the Ganapolian Mages had never solved would resurface.
The problem was that no one knew which of the two the order would judge as the fake and destroy. Would the order truly regard them as separate beings merely because their memories had diverged? No one could say.
Yet in any case, that was only relevant if a method existed.
“You said earlier that the connection cannot be severed unless one of the original or the Puppet is destroyed—so who do you think might be capable of discovering a method that even you consider impossible?”
“You know as well as I do.”
Juspian’s eyes narrowed.
“Maximian told me you’ve met them. The Mage who founded your house and established the Icabon Archipelago. Your family deliberately erased all records of them, which is why even your descendants don’t know much about them. If you could summon that Mage who inherited Ganapoli Magic, surely they would not be ignorant of the secrets of puppet craft. So tell me—if that Mage revealed the method to you, would you wager your life on a fifty-fifty gamble?”
Joshua shook his head.
“I cannot. I have not yet solved the problem they gave me, so I cannot return to them. Besides, they are not a Ghost.”
“Not a Ghost? Then what you met was….”
“Yes. They were alive.”
Juspian’s expression turned astonished. Joshua continued.
“Anarose Tikarum.”
The moment I spoke that name, the turbulent emotions I had felt standing before her came rushing back.
“I heard they are the greatest Mage to have appeared since the Towers of Ganapoli fell, and the one who came closest to the magic of Ganapoli in its prime. That is what Kelsneety Valmiad, who was a Sworn Brother of Icabon von Arnim and stood beside them, told me.”
Juspian fell into thought, tapping his fingertips together.
“Yes. There were things Maximian did not tell you. If what you say is true, how many centuries has that Mage lived? After Ganapoli fell, no Mage has ever lived so long, and even in the records of Ganapoli’s era, there were only a handful.”
“To be precise, they could not die.”
Joshua furrowed his brow, as if enduring pain.
“They confined themselves to a place called the Tomb and devoted their power and life to sealing it. Without rest, without death, for centuries they have protected Sunset Island, the Sea, the Islands, and the entire world. Sleeping and waking in endless cycles, they chose centuries of nothing but isolation and suffering. They remain in their youthful form even now, but their spirit and heart have become hollow. They are not one to abandon their duty, so centuries more will pass in the same manner.”
“Then what they guard is….”
“That spear. Buried in the Tomb, but the moment it emerges, it will destroy the world—one of the four cursed weapons that destroyed Ganapoli, the Bleeding Spear.”
Suddenly Juspian burst out in fury.
“Your family deliberately erased all records of such a being? You kept even me ignorant of their name? You wretches who know nothing—not the slightest thread—of the path they chose, of how utterly tragic it is! Consider yourselves fortunate that I do not slaughter every last one of you in this moment!”
Joshua made no reply and bowed his head. His hair fell forward, obscuring his face.
After a moment, a resonance rose from beneath the Pond. Ripples slowly ascended and spread outward at measured intervals. As Juspian extended his hand, a translucent object was drawn up from the center of the ripples. Long and sharp—the form of a spear.
The color drained from Joshua’s face. Soon the translucent spear hovered horizontally between the two of them. Juspian did not touch it. He manipulated it with mere gestures from a distance of about two spans. A faint luminescence clung to the spear, illuminating both their faces—or more precisely, the area around their eyes.
“How is it? Does it match what you remember?”
Joshua slowly nodded.
“It is nearly the same. Except it was a broken spear.”
Juspian also nodded.
“Of course. The other parts were destroyed along with Gitisi. But this world, far more fragile than the great Ganapoli of old, will not be able to withstand even a broken spear. If that seal were to shatter….”
“It did happen.”
Juspian’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“Someone brought in a broken fragment of that spear, and the seal was temporarily broken. The cursed weapons, even as fragments, must never meet or be joined together.”
“I know. So what happened? Fortunately the world did not perish? Can the seal be restored?”
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.

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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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