Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 594

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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 43.
The Velvet Invitation (7)
And they all knew it too—that Princess Charlotte was stronger than most members of Etoile, making an escort practically unnecessary. Moreover, this journey, with Count Schnibaldt having meticulously arranged the Princess’s itinerary and accommodations, was essentially a tour of Anomarad.
In the end, they decided to wait for reports from the attendants Count Schnibaldt had sent to shadow the Princess’s movements, but before even ten days had passed since the last report arrived, shocking news came flying in.
“Symbolion is an organization of Mages, isn’t it? If they decided to find one person, wouldn’t they do it quickly?”
“Mages don’t just look at a map and point, saying the person is here. They need something the person has carried for a long time, a place they’ve stayed, a strand of hair, or something like that. If the Princess left no such traces, they have no choice but to search like ordinary people asking around. The difference is that those people have teleportation, the ability to see into specific locations, short-range voice transmission, and things like that, so they’d be more efficient.”
Gustav’s frown deepened.
“Tch, hearing you say that makes me nervous. You’re saying we have to defeat such people and bring the Princess back. And in a foreign land at that. The Grand Duke doesn’t know about this, does he?”
Marie Louis pulled his head back, his mouth corners drooping as if he’d bitten into rotten fruit.
“What would happen if he did?”
“Right, what would happen? So then, how many people can we mobilize if we leave today? Joanne and I can go immediately, but Alisa and Luca are tied up with those fools, so we can’t pull them out within four days. If our Scout Division alone isn’t enough, I’ll have to speak to the Vice-Commander and ask him to spare a few people who can leave. But do I have to go tell him that? The Captain isn’t here either, so it’s just me.”
Crupard, the Scout Division Commander, was overseeing training for the troops stationed near Montagne, so it would take ten days just to relay information and receive orders. Though he held no official position, Gustav quickly accepted that he was currently the final responsible party for this matter. Etoile members were trained to handle every role as if they were a single unit by themselves, and waiting for someone’s orders with neck outstretched was not the Etoile way. This was precisely because they trusted the judgment of each individual Etoile member.
Marie Louis nodded.
“I’ll go with you. I have to take responsibility for not stopping the Princess. I need to submit my thesis by the end of this year, but it seems I’ll have plenty of time next year.”
“Won’t you lose your degree if you don’t submit it?”
“Oh, receiving it a year late won’t affect my life at all.”
“No, ask your Elder Brother to finish it for you. You’re from the Trainee Soldiers background—do you lack that much flexibility? Etoile should get things done by any means necessary. Lying prostrate with your neck outstretched admitting fault isn’t our way.”
As Gustav turned to leave, he suddenly stopped as if remembering something, then turned his body toward the cabinet.
“By the way, it seems someone anticipated this situation.”
He opened the cabinet, pulled out the letter box, removed a couple of bundles from the top and placed them on the table, then found a single letter from the bottom of the box and handed it to Marie Louis.
“Knight Castile left it before departing for the Keep.”
The envelope read: “Open this when the Princess is in danger.” Marie Louis looked at the envelope and spoke.
“This seems to be that time.”
“Doesn’t it?”
As he broke the seal and pulled out the letter, neat, round handwriting that tilted slightly to the left appeared.
If the members of the 3rd Detachment of Etoile are reading this, it means the Princess has acted independently, breaking through your devoted escort. And I believe there’s an eighty percent chance the Princess has gone to the Southern Region of Anomarad.
Gustav paused mid-reading and rolled his eyes, muttering.
“Wow, isn’t this like fortune-telling?”
First, the 3rd Detachment may want to investigate independently, but don’t. Whether you have sufficient personnel or not, you must report to Commander Allemand first, then cooperate with the Etoile members the Commander designates.
Second, there are four designated locations to serve as bases within Anomarad should the Princess be in danger. The primary base is the Marquis Moniz Territory, the secondary is Cabelez, the tertiary is Elzak, and the quaternary is Keltika. Search these places first, looking for marks the Princess has left, and if you cannot find them, follow the Noajilber Waterway and sweep through nearby villages. The investigation will require the help of a Mage, and bring something the Princess owns with you.
But to be honest, if the Princess has simply gone missing, it might not be a real disappearance. There’s a considerable possibility she’s hidden her tracks and cut off contact because she wanted to act freely.
Marie Louis was certain that Lorang had paused writing at this point, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed at his own bangs. It was a sight he’d witnessed once or twice over four years. He could almost hear what came next: “Princess, that’s rather problematic.”
In that case, the most likely places the Princess has gone are Nenyaple and Keltika. Nenyaple is not a place we can investigate, and in Keltika, search magic is meaningless, so seek Count Schnibaldt’s assistance. However, I’m certain the Princess will definitely visit one by one the most famous places in Keltika. The Central Square, the Royal Palace, the Grandorf Hotel… or perhaps Rose Valley.
But if you find no trace even after more than two weeks, difficult as it is, you must report to the Grand Duke at this point and switch to an open search deploying all of Etoile.
I will be there by that time, so I end this letter here. May fortune be with you all.
Laurent Castille
After finishing the letter, Gustav laughed briefly as if dumbfounded, then spoke.
“How does Knight Castille know the Princess so well?”
“He wasn’t appointed as the Princess’s knight for nothing.”
“That was fitting then. He stopped an assassination, after all. In any case, such an exceptional person had to go to the Keep of all places.”
“But I never expected that Sir Castile, who possesses such brilliant foresight, would become a wanted man in Symbolion.”
“If you knew that much, would you still be human?”
That evening, Marie Louis, two members of Etoile, Gustav and Joanne from the 3rd Detachment, departed for Anomarad with an unexpected companion sent by the Captain. This person was Nazerion Arnaud, a member of Etoile who had retired long ago due to injury.
The place that Tichiel, Boris, and Lucian had thought of as “Tastania” was not far away. After all, a village called Tastan still existed in the Arajon region. Moreover, if one considered it broadly, Nenyaple itself belonged to the Arajon region, so it took only about five days for the group to reach their target village. Getting there was simple enough, but they soon realized they had made a grave miscalculation.
“Tastania? That name doesn’t exist anymore. Wasn’t Arajon’s old name Tastania?”
“It’s not exactly the same, but it’s basically the same thing.”
Tastan was a completely rural village without a single inn, so after riding around pointlessly for two circuits, they had finally spotted some people mending livestock fences and asked them. However, the area that the local people considered to be Tastania was remarkably vast. It would take ten days even on horseback to cover the entire region, and they claimed all of it was Tastania. According to their account, even Nenyaple would fall within Tastania’s bounds.
Asking around using Joshua’s name also yielded little result. Joshua didn’t use his real name when performing in plays, and he frequently changed his identity. What name he might have used when staying at an inn or hiring people this time was beyond the three of them to guess. Perhaps Maximian might know.
“So how do we find him? We sent the carriage back, so should we at least borrow horses and search around? But would a village like this even have horses to rent?”
While Lucian tilted his head in confusion, Tichiel asked again with composure.
“Have you perhaps heard anything about someone setting up a stage or camp for theatrical performances nearby?”
“A theatrical camp? What’s that?”
For people who had never seen a play in a proper theater—only the traveling theater troupes that passed through rural villages—it was difficult to describe the appearance of an audition stage or camp that Joshua might have constructed. In fact, Tichiel had never seen one either. And the same was true for Boris and Lucian.
Boris said he hadn’t grown up in an environment where he would see such things, and Lucian said that despite finding such things entertaining, he had never taken an interest in plays. His first play ever was “Imperator,” which Joshua had staged with Nenyaple students last year. And Lucian’s review was “Well, there were some interesting parts, but honestly, I had no idea what it was about!”—which had slightly wounded Joshua’s pride.
Given this situation, the three of them managed to explain using gestures, hand movements, and drawings in the dirt, but it was unclear whether their explanation was accurate or whether the other person understood properly, and the reliability of the answer they received was equally questionable.
“I’ve never heard such a thing in my entire life!”
“….”
After the people dispersed and only the three remained, Lucian voiced his honest impression.
“We seem rather incompetent!”
The other two didn’t voice it aloud, but they felt the same way. Why had they thought they could find him so quickly just by name? Tichiel blinked blankly for a moment before muttering.
“I wish we’d brought something of Joshua’s with us….”
Boris asked.
“What would you do with a possession of his?”
“If I had something like that, I could locate a person within a range of several hundred paces or so. Of course, I’d need special reagents too, but since I brought the basic ones, I could have just gathered a few materials and added them. But since I didn’t think to bring something of his, I feel like I’m being too foolish.”
Boris shook his head.
“Don’t think like that. You’re blaming yourself for not thinking to break into someone’s room and steal something? We need to find a person, not an object.”
Tichiel was a mage and didn’t think in exactly the same way as Boris, but she understood he was trying to comfort her, so she simply offered a wry smile. However, Boris’s words hadn’t been meant in such a simple way.
“Whoever auditioned this time, there should be at least a few Nenyaple students among them, shouldn’t there?”
“Ah!”
Having grasped something, Tichiel rushed toward the villagers who were already moving away, without even waiting to explain.
“That’s right—have you perhaps seen people from Nenyaple? People wearing school uniforms, or people talking about magic—haven’t you seen anyone like that?”

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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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