Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 514

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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 284.
Beneath the Almond Tree (27)
Hispanie’s eyes widened with suspicion.
“Still just a boy? What special quality does he possess that you would harbor such expectations so early?”
“I am someone who witnessed the Republic’s failure in all its details. How much better it would have been if the Republic Government had only people like Dansburg! But there were hasty individuals who believed all reforms must happen at once, improvident people who chased after the most visible problems, those swayed by self-interest desperate to use whatever privileges they’d briefly obtained, people consumed by personal vengeance who focused only on trampling others, those intoxicated with superiority who saw the masses as ignorant people needing enlightenment—all tangled together. The chaos of such people biting and tearing at a government that was merely a child, demanding what they wanted, surfaced more than three years after the Republic’s founding and continued until its collapse. What were they lacking? I concluded it was the absence of education that would serve as soil. So I left the government early and traveled the entire Continent, meeting young people.”
“I’ve heard that the young people you trained play important roles in the Exile Council. Surely Rosencrantz is one such talent.”
“Yes. Rosencrantz is a brilliant young man with unwavering resolve. He has strong will to establish a republic and exceptional ability to apply what he’s studied to reality. He possesses charm that draws people, and keen judgment as well. I have not met another of his caliber at that age. However, if those were the only reasons, I would not have placed such significant expectations on him. In the process of teaching him, I discovered a character almost completely free of the vices that leaders easily fall into.”
“That sounds somewhat unrealistic.”
“I imagine it does.”
Giscar turned his gaze toward the fireplace.
“Rosencrantz did not grow up like other boys. He experienced far too much that a child should never endure. When I met him, he had already nearly excluded his own happiness from his life. I had to awaken him to the value of such things. The beauty of nature, the joy of simple living, the worth of art, peace and rest for himself.”
Giscar smiled bitterly.
“But I nearly failed.”
“Then this young man lives without considering such things?”
“Rosencrantz concerns himself only with the Republic, humanity, camaraderie, and his sister. He knows nothing of the beauty of roses, the fragrance of fine wine, the pleasure of delicious food. I find that aspect of him unspeakably tragic.”
Hispanie tilted his head in thought before asking.
“Is it not simply that he never had the opportunity to experience such things?”
“No. From what I can tell, in his past—which he does not even share with me—he experienced such things sufficiently. But something so painful accompanied those experiences that he could not enjoy them. As a result, he places no value on any form of indulgence, and regards even his own body as merely a tool to be easily broken if necessity demands it.”
Hispanie spoke after a long pause.
“If that is true, it is a great tragedy. All the more so if you have come to value this boy precisely because of such lamentable damage to his humanity.”
Giscar shook his head vigorously.
“That is not so. No, the judgment of damage is likely accurate. I intend to continue helping Rosencrantz escape the shadows of his past and feel the world’s beauty. But the reason I have come to trust his future is because of his integrity—which sprouted by miraculous probability while tens of thousands who lived similarly fell into corruption or ruin.”
Hispanie frowned and asked again.
“Integrity?”
It was not a word that seemed to suit a boy. Yet Giscar’s demeanor was quite serious.
“From age nine, Rosencrantz had to wander the streets alone with his sister. His younger sister was a child who closed her mouth from great shock in early childhood. She could not even control her body properly, let alone speak, so he had to feed her. From that point, he began living for his sister, abandoning himself. That altruism, once begun, grew into a republic for countless people. If I may speak frankly—something I cannot easily say within the organization—many people devote themselves to the Friends of the People because of personal vengeance. I have seen many cases where no amount of theoretical study can dilute such motivations. But Rosencrantz was different. When people suffer unreasonable hardship, it is natural to direct anger outward at the world. He instead turned his anger inward, carving himself away with severity. This is tragedy, but simultaneously miracle.”
Hispanie tilted his head to one side, lost in thought. Tragedy and miracle—all the more so because he is still a boy. A boy’s form is not eternal. Yet even if it lasts only a moment, it is not meaningless.
“He applies his standard of rejecting human pleasure only to himself. To everyone else—even foolish comrades, their greed, selfishness, and mistakes—he extends forgiveness and settles the deficit with himself. At first, I wondered if such behavior was merely unnatural pretense. But I have never witnessed a single exception. And this very incident proved that his past actions were not pretense. He exchanged his own life for the lives of his comrade and sister. And that choice was foreordained. When the Exile Council ordered him to participate in a plan that might result in killing the Young Duke, I heard what he said to his comrade as he accepted it as an executive. That he should not be forgiven for attempting to sacrifice an innocent Young Duke, that he therefore could never rest, could never escape. That his own life, which would receive another’s, would be equally mortgaged.”
This was the content of the letter Yenie sent after this incident occurred. There were countless other words written besides.
“I know those words were sincere. Perhaps that is why even now I cannot stop thinking that he may regard his suffering as payment for thinking of the Young Duke, and has abandoned life as though it were inevitable.”
Giscar’s voice momentarily faltered. He now knew what Brian and Anna had done. Thinking of it this way, the beginning of everything was Giscar himself, who failed to filter out the spy. Even he had been saved by this boy’s sacrifice. When such thoughts came, he could hardly bear it. The irrationality, the unfairness existing in their organization meant to save people, in this world. The appearance of the world like the gaping maw of a monster that must first offer the noble as sacrifice.
Giscar closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and steadied his voice.
“He places himself on a strict balance scale. If it tips, before blaming the other hanging from it, he would cut off his own arm and set it down. I have often reproached him for this, but… nonetheless, I can only admire such an attitude.”
Hispanie knew the circumstances of Langier Rosencrantz’s arrest. So he understood to some degree what Giscar meant by such words.
Because Hispanie was not an idealist, he did not believe it truly possible to disregard one’s own value while respecting others’ happiness. Yet it was a fact that when this boy faced the moment of choice, he exchanged his own life for another’s. If action weighs more than ten thousand words, would that not suffice?
Or conversely, was it not more dangerous that one with such uncompromising justice attempted to harm the Young Duke?
Alternatively, if one assumes trust in Giscar’s judgment, does not the very fact that he would never forget such a debt give it special value?
Thoughts without answers crossed his mind. It was not a matter of goodwill or compassion, for Joshua’s safety hung in the balance of this decision. Hispanie ultimately rubbed his brow and shook his head.
“I do not believe you would lie to me. Yet I find it difficult to readily accept that the person you speak of is a boy. Even if Dansburg were such a person, I would not have believed easily.”
“I have not lived as that child has, so how can I claim to know everything? I do not know what a nine-year-old child must do to keep himself and his ailing sister alive. I will not ask hereafter. The very thought of dredging up those days pains me to imagine how it would wound his heart. Therefore, even if he does not preserve this integrity forever, the fact that he overcame his past through his own strength and became as he is now—how miraculous that is.”
When Giscar finished speaking, the two men fell silent for a while. After some time had passed, Hispanie added fresh wood to the fireplace. The logs he had placed earlier had already turned to flames.
To find the answer now, there was no choice but to share thoughts with the other party. He had determined that this was someone worth doing so with. Hispanie asked directly.
“If, as you say, Rosencrantz is the material to lead the Republic excellently, would his existence be of help to my objectives?”
Giscar brushed his hair back and answered.
“That answer would require speculation. You have not yet revealed what your objectives are.”
Hispanie laughed.
“Do you wish to hear the answer from my own lips?”
“If you believe that I have spoken everything honestly, then yes.”
Hispanie’s gaze turned to the tea that had already grown cold. But he did not deliberate for long.
“The accord forged between Richard I of Anomarad and Duke Icabon von Arnim lost its vitality with the death of Elbant III. Before long, something new must be born.”
“It would be ideal if such a thing were to be accomplished by the hands of the second Demonic Duke in history.”
Hispanie smiled broadly.
“You speak as though you have peered into my mind. Very well. I desire it. I wish to make the next age the era of Demonic Joshua. I have been preparing for it carefully and methodically for a long time. Yet you ask me to find someone to become the head of the new Republic—do you believe these two things can coexist?”
“I would not have come here if I did not believe so. In the next age, there will be no Holy Kingdom Anomarad created by warlords. In its place will stand the Republic and the realm of Duke Arnim. When the age of our young people arrives.”
Hispanie deliberately wore a crooked smile.
“If it were possible, you would wish only the Republic to exist, would you not?”
Giscardo laughed as well.
“I will not lie. Of course, that is true. In that regard, you are the same. But what must not be forgotten is that your enemy is the same. And we must not overlook the fact that this enemy is very strong for either of you to face alone. Even if we had grown strong enough to confront it, if we do not choose coexistence, it would be easy for us to fall one after another.”
“When Arnim shakes Anomarad to its foundations, the Republic will seize the opportunity to advance, and even if the Republic is thus established, the fallen Royalist Faction will not remain idle either. You seem to wish to say such things. That is correct. If three parties engage in mutual conflict, you only give opportunity to the common enemy of both. But even if one side resolves to cooperate, if the other does not truly think the same in their heart, it merely means exposing your back. What can I use to confirm your sincerity?”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The publishing rights to this book belong 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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