Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 523

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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 293.
Beneath the Almond Tree (36)
“What is all this? Jam? Marmalade?”
“If you’re curious, taste it.”
With those words, Maximian reached toward Joshua’s nose with his fingertip, intending to smear the jam from his hair onto it. Joshua recoiled in alarm, then burst into laughter.
“I don’t need to taste it to know. It smells like lemon and honey! I think I smell orange too. It’s probably honey lemon jam, isn’t it?”
“And this honey lemon jam of yours—does it really not budge even when water touches it?”
“I’ve never tried applying it to clothes or hair, so I wouldn’t know.”
“So then, perhaps we should test it right now….”
As Maximian pushed his chair back to stand, Joshua fled into the crowd of students. Maximian tried to chase after him, but the jam—or marmalade—that had dripped from Boris’s feet stuck to his own, preventing pursuit. Joshua vanished from sight in moments. The three of them sat at the desk with their chins resting on their hands, exchanging dejected remarks.
“Why does this only happen to us?”
“Ugh, this stickiness is driving me mad.”
“Has some curse attached itself to our chamber?”
“I wish someone would tell us what’s going on.”
Then Joshua reappeared—but he wasn’t alone. Tichiel, led by Joshua’s hand, widened her eyes at the sight of the three of them. But she quickly covered her mouth, laughing, and shook her head.
“It’s really true. Wait just a moment. I’ll fix this for you.”
Lucian regarded the unfamiliar girl with puzzlement. He’d seen her during lessons, but they’d never spoken.
“How exactly will you manage that?”
Maximian spoke up.
“Take note of this—she’s the type who can accomplish anything she sets her mind to.”
Tichiel left with Joshua and returned some time later carrying a small medicine bottle. The liquid inside was neither black nor gray, but rather the color of stagnant water. Joshua, who followed her back, carried a large bucket brimming with water.
“Here’s how it works.”
Tichiel poured the murky liquid into the bucket. An unmistakably unpleasant odor spread in all directions. The students who had gathered to watch began quietly backing away. Lucian pinched his nose and spoke.
“It smells exactly like rotten celery.”
“Oh my, how did you know? There’s rotten celery in it.”
“….”
Tichiel casually mentioned the rotten celery and then plunged her hand into the bucket, stirring it. She seemed to be chanting something, and after a moment, she withdrew her hand.
“Done. So, who’s first?”
Maximian asked in alarm.
“Wait, what are you going to do with that water? Surely you don’t mean we have to drink it….”
“No, you don’t need to drink it. I’m going to splash it on you. Then it’ll disappear.”
As Tichiel lifted the bucket, Lucian jumped to his feet and backed away.
“No, I’m not interested. I’m already covered in jam, and I certainly don’t want to bathe in rotten celery water on top of that. At least jam smells pleasant.”
“It’s fine. You won’t smell the celery. And you won’t even get wet.”
“That’s absurd. How can you not get wet with so much water? I don’t believe it. I’m not doing it.”
Tichiel looked between Maximian and Lucian, then sighed and turned to Boris, who appeared relatively composed.
“Then will you go first?”
“….”
Maximian studied Boris’s expression, then squeezed his eyes shut and called out to Tichiel.
“Fine. All right. I’ll go first. If I don’t trust you, who will, you nagging teacher?”
Tichiel smiled slyly and gestured for Maximian to step forward. As he moved away from the desk, the students who had heard the tale of rotten salary scrambled backward in panic, and some even fled the lecture hall entirely.
“Ready?”
Maximian removed his glasses and covered his eyes with one hand as water was poured over him. A moment later, the students approached in astonishment.
“Wow, I can’t believe it.”
“It’s really gone?”
Not only had the jam vanished from Maximian’s hair, but his clothes remained dry and bore no odor. Tichiel giggled and gestured to Lucian.
“Come on, hurry over.”
After Lucian stepped forward first, and Boris eventually received the same dousing of rotten salary water, the jam disappeared without a trace. Boris spoke.
“Thank you. But how did you do that?”
Maximian, who kept touching his jam-free hair, replied.
“She’s actually a Mage. She’s not at the level of learning beginner magic with us.”
Lucian also spoke.
“Really, thank you so much! But there’s still jam on the floor—won’t we get stuck if we step on it?”
“It’s fine. There’s still water left, so we can clean it up with that.”
Upon hearing Tichiel’s words, Maximian said.
“Oh, I see. Tichiel, can you make more of this? If you have time later, could you help us out?”
“Is there jam in other places too?”
“The entire chamber—no, the whole villa is covered in jam. We need to clean it all up.”
Tichiel nodded.
“If we’re cleaning the whole villa, it’ll take some time to prepare the reagent. I’ll make it during lunch later.”
Lucian cheered loudly.
“We can clean the chamber too? Awesome, thank you! But we haven’t even introduced ourselves properly, have we? I’m Lucian Kaltz. This is my friend Boris Jineman.”
Tichiel lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and spoke.
“I’m Tichiel Juspian. It’s nice to meet you.”
As they exchanged greetings, Joshua slowly walked in and draped an arm over Maximian’s shoulder.
“So what exactly happened? How did the entire chamber end up covered in jam?”
“I have no idea. Maybe a jam spirit attached itself to the chamber.”
Joshua chuckled.
“I could figure out exactly what happened if I checked it out.”
Tichiel tilted her head thoughtfully as she heard this.
“It really does seem strange. This isn’t just ordinary jam. It was created by magic. It shouldn’t have appeared on its own unless someone deliberately cast a spell. At first it was like a solid jelly, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. Then it melted overnight and turned into this mess.”
“Was there any other strange incident besides the jelly?”
Lucian spoke.
“Someone stuck that jelly on the door handle the day before, so Boris had to tear the door open. Though we reattached it, of course.”
“It happened the day before too? Hmm… anything else?”
Maximian suddenly added.
“The nameplate on the door disappeared.”
He had said it without thinking it was the serious part. But Tichiel’s face showed genuine shock.
“Is that really true? When?”
“Well, it was just before I discovered the chamber was full of jelly last night, I think?”
“This is serious. So it was a Chamber War. I never would have guessed.”
All three boys were taken aback by the strange name they were hearing for the first time.
“A Chamber War? What on earth is that?”
“Well, you see….”
Just then, Joshua touched Tichiel’s arm and pointed behind her. Seeing that the Logic professor had already entered, Tichiel startled and quickly took her seat.
Shortly after class began, a note arrived. Joshua received it and passed it to Maximian, then to Lucian, and finally it came back to Boris. It was written in Tichiel’s characteristically neat handwriting.
A Chamber War is also called a Villa War—it’s a kind of conflict that villas within the dormitory wage against each other. The reasons vary widely, so there’s no single explanation. In any case, throughout the entire Nenyaple Dormitory, there are always one or two villas engaged in war each semester. It’s an unspoken rule that professors don’t interfere unless the situation becomes serious. Usually, war is declared by taking someone’s nameplate. So it seems someone has declared war on your villa.
Boris wrote something at the end of the note and passed it to Lucian.
How do you find out who the opponent is?
Lucian then added a line.
So we can attack them however we want?
Before Maximian, who had received the note from Lucian, passed it back to Tichiel through Joshua, he added one final question.
Does a Chamber War only end when one side wins?
The note that came back from Tichiel had answers written to each question.
Usually you find out because they come picking a fight during class.
Of course! You can do anything. Just no violence.
Sometimes they reach a dramatic compromise, and sometimes they hold a formal duel in front of witnesses or students to settle it. Rarely, professors have even served as witnesses.
8. Villa War
Finding yourself within yourself is extraordinarily difficult.
But finding yourself elsewhere is utterly impossible.
By the time lunch hour approached, rumors had already spread throughout the entire first-year class. The three from Acorn Villa had audaciously started a Chamber War just two days after enrollment.
Maximian cried out indignantly.
“We didn’t start this!”
While some of the rumors were distorted, the spread of gossip did have its advantages. By lunchtime, it was revealed that the opponent of Acorn Villa, caught up in the year 992’s first Villa War, was “Cream Tea Villa” from the South Tower Dormitory. Lucian spoke excitedly.
“That villa’s name alone is hilarious.”
However, by the end of lunch, information arrived that the opposing villa was composed of second and third-year students, which dampened Lucian’s spirits. While first-year students used villas among themselves, from second year onward, those who had passed the first November examination were considered true Nenyaple students and were assigned villas regardless of year. Close friends could even request to share the same villa. Such upper-year villas were primarily concentrated in the South Tower.
“One of them is apparently a third-year student who assists the Sword Master during sword training.”
Among Tichiel’s stories—from which she seemed to gather information from nowhere—there was little that was welcome. While Chamber Wars between upper-year and first-year students were rare, once started, the year difference apparently became little consideration. The typical progression involved both sides repeatedly trying to outwit each other through any means necessary, and it would not end naturally unless one side surrendered, reached a compromise, or held a formal duel with witnesses to determine victory and defeat.
Surrendering became the greatest humiliation, making one the object of ridicule from all, followed by losing in a duel, and then compromising. Therefore, cases where conflicts were resolved through compromise were also nearly nonexistent. Even if one side proposed it, the other side would almost certainly refuse.
“How can a prestigious Magic School boasting centuries of history maintain such an unseemly tradition?”
At Maximian’s complaint, Tichiel apologized unnecessarily and answered that “as you say, such rough games seem to have persisted because of how long-established it all is.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The rights to this book belong to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, you must obtain written consent from both parties.

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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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