Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 581

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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 33.
The Noble Daughter and the Detective (33)
I studied, took exams, conducted experiments, developed new medicines, cultivated dozens of different types of potted plants, kept records in the Herbalism Professor’s Greenhouse, borrowed the second-most books from the Library, created an Animal Care Club to tend to creatures wandering the Forest Border, helped friends facing failing grades with their assignments, and even provided private tutoring when matters seemed dire.
Even this alone transcended what could be called a human schedule, yet there were additional commitments I couldn’t reveal to others. The most astonishing part was that I had created all of these tasks because I wanted to. When someone asked if I was managing alright, this was my answer.
“It’s all so interesting—what can I do?”
Even for someone like me, who knew nothing of surrender, there was one thing I couldn’t accomplish.
That morning, I sat alone in the Dining Hall flipping through my spell notebook while eating breakfast, but soon grew bored. The person who was supposed to arrive at the Dining Hall for the second time that day was still stumbling around in the washroom.
With no one around, should I try having a conversation through voice magic?
On the back of the spell notebook I always carried, a magic circle the size of my palm was drawn. It was sketched with nettle ink extracted at midnight when the autumn equinox began. Properly, it should have been drawn with the blood of a blue-haired dove, but I had no intention of tormenting innocent birds. So I had distilled an already-prepared reagent through 122 successive distillations to extract the essence, conducted experiments by substituting 87 different materials, and ultimately succeeded in creating an alternative reagent. As a result, the magic circle’s duration extended dramatically—roughly two months. And the material costs skyrocketed fifty-fold.
The fact that I didn’t find such effort bothersome at all, and that I could use valuable materials freely, both exemplified what my friends called “being true to Tichiel.” And Juspian would have been proud of such attempts by his daughter. Major magical discoveries were born from such exclusive stubbornness, he would say. Of course, that was true. Which was why there were so many mad people among mages….
“Maximian? Are you awake?”
…And I was using the magic circle I had created this way to torment one person.
“….”
No answer came. As expected, I raised my voice slightly.
“Are you still sleeping? Wake up already. It’s 7:30 in the morning. The Dining Hall is completely empty.”
Since it was empty, I certainly wasn’t suggesting we go on a date.
“If no one eats, all the prepared food will go to waste. At least you come quickly.”
Maximian was the type of person who should be called upon last for such matters, yet I always called him first. Because the voice magic was connected to him.
“Maximian! Hello? Are you listening? If you eat breakfast, you can start the day with energy.”
It had been three years since Maximian claimed he preferred morning sleep to breakfast and that it improved his daily condition by about five thousand times.
“Mm…. Sigh.”
Normally, Maximian was the type who wouldn’t wake even if someone dragged him out of bed and shoved him underneath it when he decided it was time to sleep. Yet when he heard my soft, gentle voice, his sleep would mysteriously vanish. Not just his sleep either—his sanity and will to live also seemed to disappear, which was problematic.
“…What did you say?”
“Wow, you finally woke up? Come eat breakfast. The pancakes are delicious.”
If someone else had said such things in such a voice, I would have severed a thousand-year bond.
“…Wait. No, don’t wait. I clearly said don’t wait.”
Maximian hastily corrected himself, worried I might actually not eat and just wait. While taking such appropriate measures, the last of his drowsiness dissipated, and he sat up groggily. Checking the clock, it was 7:40. Wow, exams were over and yet he was being woken at this hour—this guy really had a conscience the size of a peanut shell….
Though honestly, he’d never woken up early even during exam period.
Shortly after, throwing on whatever clothes were at hand and stepping into the Living Room, I found all the other doors closed. In other words, my three roommates—who were a hundred, three hundred, even a thousand times more diligent than Maximian—were still asleep. The Dining Hall was empty, so why? Was Maximian Lipkne the first to wake up on such a day?
This was all because yesterday’s alcohol was insufficient! The alcohol shortage was Juspian’s fault! Waking up was his daughter’s fault! I really wanted to curse them both, but unfortunately I hadn’t learned magic for that! Why were they both conspiring to teach me magic?!
A year and a half ago, despite seven hours of tutoring, Maximian had failed his first exam, which he felt somewhat sorry about, so he had agreed to the short-range voice magic I proposed. Now he cursed himself for that agreement—though cursing himself didn’t actually require magic.
Back then, he had only recently enrolled at the Magic Academy and didn’t know any better. Who could have predicted he would fail seven times in succession after that? And who could have known I would maintain that voice magic, using reagents fifty times more expensive than standard ones, faithfully every two months until now?
Suppressing such inner turmoil, Maximian slowly crossed the Campus toward the Dining Hall. He didn’t yet realize that I had sent him an angel’s whisper to save him.
In the place Maximian left behind, Acorn Villa fell silent. The silence was broken dozens of minutes later. Three people came rushing with loud footsteps and pounded on the Villa’s door. When there was no answer, they kicked at it repeatedly.
“Hey, Acorn Villa! Come out right now! We have evidence, so don’t even think about playing innocent!”
The only person who wouldn’t wake to such commotion was Maximian. But the twist was that Maximian had already woken and left.
“What? Who is it? What’s going on?”
Lucian Kaltz rushed into the Living Room first, his blonde hair pressed down neatly on one side. He moved to open the door immediately but then realized he was still in his pajamas and paused briefly. Though not for long. What did it matter?
His curiosity outweighed the time it would take to change clothes, and I couldn’t resist my curiosity. Immediately pressing himself against the door, Lucian asked.
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, the sound of another kick against the door echoed through the corridor.
“Open this door!”
“Why?”
“Just open it!”
Lucian Kaltz stepped back from the door and crossed his arms.
“I’ll need a reason to open it.”
Another kick landed against the door, and then a woman’s voice spoke.
“Hey, you’re Lucian Kaltz, aren’t you? I can tell by how you talk. Get someone else out here.”
“Why? What’s wrong with me?”
“What would I even say to you!”
“If you have nothing to say, you can just leave.”
It seemed Lucian had picked up some of his roommate’s sarcastic manner of speaking. Yet the intent behind the same words was different. For Lucian, every word meant exactly what it said. But the person listening didn’t see it that way.
“Hey! What’s with that tone from a second-year student!”
“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m still in my first year.”
As the misaligned conversation continued, the other two bedrooms remained silent. When the innocent door was kicked once more, Lucian grabbed the handle and immediately noticed it was loose and rattling. It had been fine just yesterday.
The commotion came from outside the door. Suddenly, a series of startled gasps rang out, followed by screams.
“Ugh!”
“What, what is it!”
When Lucian pressed his ear against the door out of curiosity, a familiar voice spoke from outside.
“Seniors, what brings you here?”
There was no response. Instead, Lucian inside the room’s eyes widened as he cried out.
“Wait, Boris? When did you go out there?”
Since his friend didn’t answer, Lucian was consumed with curiosity. So he mentally erased the problem of being in pajamas and opened the door. It was precisely this kind of boldness that allowed Lucian to never miss the spectacles of his school life.
In the corridor stood one senior pressed against the wall in terror, another sitting down after stumbling, and a third senior who had been about to cast a magical contract when Lucian opened the door, causing him to lose his balance and nearly tumble into the villa. Lucian quickly stepped aside and looked at Boris standing across from him with a bewildered expression.
“What’s going on with everyone?”
Boris Jineman had his long, dark blue hair tangled from sleep loosely tied up, and wore his school uniform shirt casually over his everyday clothes. A thin cloth bandage was wrapped around his wrist. Except for the uniform shirt, he looked like he was about to do a light workout before breakfast, so Lucian couldn’t understand why the seniors were so shocked.
And Boris didn’t seem to know either. While Boris rarely showed much expression, Lucian could detect the subtle differences. There was no threat or anger in Boris’s face right now. He was simply bewildered.
All five of them stood awkwardly, unable to speak first, staring at each other. Maximian was exactly the person needed in moments like this—the only one who could have woken up late but still explained the situation to them perfectly with just a glance. In other words, Boris had heard the sound of the door being kicked just as he was about to exercise after waking up, and without ruling out the one percent possibility of facing a dangerous opponent, he had escaped through the window. While Lucian was arguing, someone had noticed Boris’s presence in the corridor and screamed in surprise, and the rest had panicked and fallen due to their preconceptions about Boris.
But without Maximian, the situation remained a mystery. If one had to guess, it seemed Boris’s extremely polarized reputation had played a role. The Boris that his friends saw and the Boris that everyone else saw were practically different people, but since he had so few friends, most of the student body fell into the “everyone else” category. And “everyone else” was afraid of him.
According to rumors, Boris was a cold and merciless warrior who could, once he drew his sword, corner all of Nenyaple’s first and second-year students into a single room of the villa. Someone claimed he could even corner the third-years, but the third-years had vehemently opposed this, so judgment was still pending.

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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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