Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 552

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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 4.
The Princess and the Detective (4)
At the sound of Lorang’s cry, Charlotte snapped back to attention. She’d thought she was merely pondering, but that wasn’t the case. The shortage of information had driven her into conjecture. She’d heard countless times that advancing more than two steps ahead in actual combat was perilously reckless, yet this was Charlotte’s most frequent mistake—slipping into deduction without realizing it.
Lorang bounded forward in front of Charlotte, extending his left hand toward the peculiar flock of birds that had struck the upper wall of the entrance and were now rebounding. A white radiance bloomed outward in crystalline patterns, solidifying into a barrier. Beyond its translucent surface, the birds collided and scattered endlessly. It was Lorang’s specialty—the Crystal Barrier. Though Etoile members were not Mages, they were trained to master one practical magical technique that the Mages had compressed into usable form.
Charlotte spun around. On the opposite side of the crystal barrier, birds that hadn’t yet passed gathered in a dense circle. The other trainees had already vanished from sight. In other words, the two of them were now isolated between two separate flocks.
The moment Charlotte grasped the situation, she cried out.
“I apologize!”
“No need for apologies! Ready—we break through!”
She still didn’t know what the birds were, but sometimes swift action trumped conjecture. Fortunately, many birds were trapped beyond the crystal barrier, leaving relatively few ahead of them. Lorang and Charlotte naturally assumed the same stance—Etoile’s basic position number one. Since Lorang was left-handed and Charlotte right-handed, they formed a perfect mirror image. Immediately after, they drew their blades and charged forward.
Lorang noticed that Charlotte’s draw was slightly faster than his own and flinched. Though the trainees’ issued swords were somewhat lighter, Charlotte was a trainee who had never even attempted the final trial?
Lorang took the right, Charlotte the left—a pairing that seemed deliberately matched, and their coordination was indeed flawless. Despite never having trained together, they made identical judgments: kicking off the wall, leaping upward, choosing the sparse gaps between enemies, and striking downward with their blades. Remarkably, they naturally adopted a syncopated rhythm, even avoiding the possibility of their blades tangling. It was a level of instinct that made it hard to believe the opponent was merely a trainee. This was the sort of thing that couldn’t be coordinated even with prior instruction.
Lorang was inwardly amazed but showed nothing, instead shouting.
“Go ahead!”
“Why should I!”
As their blades swept past, the birds scattered in panic, dispersing chaotically in all directions. The fact that they were trying to escape suggested they weren’t mere magical constructs. Both had their collars and hair singed slightly, but since the objective was to break through, that was sufficient. Having passed the danger zone, they landed nearly simultaneously and turned. Without even looking at Charlotte, Lorang barked sharply.
“I said go! It’s dangerous!”
“I’m your escort!”
“That’s not what I—that’s not what I meant!”
He’d also discovered that the princess was no ordinary stubborn person. Lorang abandoned the verbal sparring and stepped forward, bringing his blade down toward an approaching bird. Etoile’s swords were imbued with magical power. If these birds were magical creations, it would definitely be effective.
A crackling sound.
The wings ignited. They’d been burning before, but now they turned white, as if scorched by sunlight. Then they shrank to the size of a grape and fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Charlotte stood back-to-back with him, covering the opposite side. Her trainee’s sword lacked magical power, after all. It seemed reckless at first glance, but she demonstrated sound judgment nonetheless.
“Back.”
“I’ll give the signal.”
They retreated one step at a time. As Charlotte advanced, she called out the number of steps she’d secured.
“Three!”
Lorang swiftly tracked the chaotic movements of the birds, now fluttering like pebbles, and slashed while stepping backward three paces. Two! Lorang muttered with a wry smile.
“Taking orders from a trainee, of all things.”
He understood it was the natural division of labor with only two of them, but he’d never done this with a trainee before. He’d never even imagined such a thing would happen. The corner drew gradually closer, and the birds fell to the ground one by one. Charlotte called out one final time.
“Two! Next we go left!”
Lorang also remembered the space beside the corner. Crupard and the other trainees would be there. Three! As Lorang slid left while stepping backward, Charlotte followed close behind.
2. Escort
Crupard pondered what could have caused this situation. Three possibilities came to mind.
First, of course, was treason. With the succession unclear, someone could plausibly have kidnapped or killed the princess to elevate a relative of the Grand Duke and seize the succession. In Orlanne, where court intrigue ran deep, there were no shortage of candidates capable of such an act.
Naturally, Etoile’s operational schedule was not made public. Moreover, the moment the heir disappeared, the commander and everyone else recognized the critical danger to the princess’s safety and maintained strict secrecy regarding her whereabouts. Yet three months had passed, and he couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that someone persistent had uncovered information about her coming here.
That much made sense, but when he considered that this was the Island of Apples, his head tilted in confusion again. The Island of Apples was merely a place famous for dark legends, the sort of location that frequently appeared in folklore collections. With a population of barely a hundred, the notion that rural folk here—whom even the Orlie court wouldn’t believe if told they had wings—would be drawn into treason seemed not just implausible but extraordinarily complicated.
Even if one tried to connect it to Montagne, the Montagne rebellion itself was more than fifty years past. The Island of Apples, though part of the Montagne Region, had not participated in that rebellion. It was probably because they couldn’t communicate. The language spoken only by the Island people was called the “Island dialect,” but it wasn’t actually a dialect—it was an entirely different language. However, since no one bothered to learn it, its true nature remained unknown, and it was simply called by that name.
People said the Island people spoke differently because they came from beyond the sea, but Crupard knew better. He himself was from Montagne. In the Montagne Region bordering the Island of Apples, there were quite a few words and place names similar to the Island dialect. The older ones especially. This meant that in the past, Island people had been scattered throughout the Montagne Region as well. Gradually, their numbers dwindled, and they crossed to the Island, becoming isolated.
The second possibility was that this was simply a misunderstanding born from tangled circumstances. But as time passed, that likelihood faded. If the guides’ disappearance upon opening the door and the sudden influx of unfamiliar entities were merely a mistake, someone should have come running by now to apologize or manage the situation. But no one had appeared.
The third was….
Just then, Lorang and Charlotte entered through the entrance. Crupard pushed his thoughts aside and gestured toward Lorang.
“Did you do well with the escort?”
When both Lorang and Charlotte turned to look at Crupard simultaneously, he burst into laughter. Lorang’s expression darkened.
“How could I have done well? This is quite troublesome—please clarify what you mean right away.”
“Clarify what? You’re saying it would be better if Etoile escorted the trainee instead?”
Lorang couldn’t respond immediately, his lips only twitching, but surprisingly Charlotte pressed her lips together and smiled faintly. Lorang, catching this at once, turned to look at her.
“You knew and still did this?”
“I was merely following the Captain’s orders.”
“Stop tormenting me. No, really—this is like making one person walk a tightrope in midair. I want to live a long life. I can’t stand gallows.”
At the mention of gallows, Charlotte suddenly lifted her head and looked at Lorang. Her gaze was less serious than solemn, and for a moment he didn’t know what expression to wear. Then, turning her eyes back to Crupard, Charlotte spoke.
“Captain. Whatever happens to me here today occurred in the course of carrying out my mission. It is no one’s fault.”
Crupard replied unhurriedly.
“When has that ever not been the case?”
“Thank you.”
Charlotte looked at Lorang again. Her small lips pressed together stubbornly, then parted.
“I will protect you without fail, so please don’t worry.”
“I said there’s no need for protection, didn’t I?”
“That remains to be seen.”
Lorang’s eyebrows rose. Though his counterpart was technically a trainee, she was actually a noblewoman, so he’d been moderating his responses accordingly—but this was too much.
“Trainee Charlotte. That statement amounts to saying you don’t trust me. Isn’t that so?”

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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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