Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 606

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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 58.
The Velvet Invitation (19)
“What… you really… why do you have that attitude?”
Espin covered her mouth with a napkin, glanced sideways, and then burst into laughter. Her large eyes narrowed into crescents.
“Ahahaha… are you angry? Oh, don’t be like that. I’m quite good at reforming people.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. There have been more than one or two people who tried to fix me, but none of them succeeded.”
I had never once considered this something to boast about, yet here I was saying such things. Espin continued to smile, her nose slightly wrinkled in amusement.
“I think I understand why. Those people loved you too much. They must have adored the way you looked in that ragged coat and moldy hat. But when people love too much, nothing gets accomplished.”
I had never entertained such a thought either. Espin looked me up and down again before continuing.
“I have no nostalgia or sentimentality for such fashion. If those people had seen you as you are now, I’m not sure whether their love would have cooled or reignited, but I much prefer this appearance. Especially the cravat color—you chose well. It brings out your hair color beautifully. The glasses are a bit old-fashioned in design, but they serve their purpose. And thinking about it now, I suppose I already helped you with something back then.”
“What did you do?”
“I made you part ways with that ragged coat. Didn’t you have some premonition at the time? That you’d be shaken loose like that coat from now on….”
I nearly jumped to my feet. Just then, Espin set down the napkin she’d been holding and spoke.
“Then shall I tell you who I am? I’m from Linberk in the central region. Do you know where that is? Anyway, my father keeps bees, but I absolutely despise bees, so I ended up serving Count Schnibaldt, who was supporting my father. Now I’m searching for revolvers on his orders. There’s some important person he wants to help who needs them, but I don’t know the details of that situation. Fortunately, I have some skill in handling Pshiki. So if I can just find Pshiki, there are many things I can do. I could cause a light commotion at a Tavern like before, and many other things.
But I’m not a detective. That’s why I became interested in you for finding those revolvers and went all the way to Nenyaple. You seemed quite clever from the rumors alone. Well, my opinion is split now.”
Speaking in such rapid succession meant that even if I tried to leave, I’d end up listening to everything, and of course various questions came to mind afterward. I knew this was all a clever tactic, but I decided to ask anyway.
“Who originally owned those revolvers?”
“The important person in question. Apparently, he sent them as gifts to friends and relatives at first. But it seems there was a reason to retrieve them. Some dangerous issue, I suppose? Anyway, when he made contact, those who had the gifts readily returned them, but as time passed, some were given to others, sold off, lost, or stolen, right? So I’m going around searching for those scattered pieces.”
“If that’s the case, how many do you actually need to find?”
“You just need to help me find five.”
I squinted one eye.
“A moment ago you made it sound like I only needed to find one revolver, but now it’s quietly grown to five?”
“Ah, five is a set. They were made by the same craftsman. Oh, this reminds me.”
She was skilled at changing the subject when things looked unfavorable. Espin pulled a small box about the size of her palm from her bag and placed it on the table.
“Do you remember this?”
It was an oak box with iris patterns carved into it. I recognized it immediately. When Espin opened the lid, a small palace made of gold appeared. I gazed at it without surprise and spoke.
“Why do you have this?”
“I bought it for a good price.”
It was a music box I had once found on a commission from a nobleman in a place called Belle Valley, where I’d been dragged along by friends. But it wasn’t as valuable as it appeared. It was gilded, not solid gold. Still, a 50-note music box produced a fairly pleasant sound and would have been worth keeping, but when I recovered it, it was broken and produced no sound at all. So I didn’t receive much compensation and handed it over. Yet looking at what Espin had opened, it appeared to be in perfect condition, and with fresh gilding, it looked completely new, didn’t it?
“Did you repair that?”
“Of course. I don’t just reform people… hehe, listen.”
Espin gently pushed a button on the right side of the music box. Clear music began to play. True to its 50-note capacity, the sound was rich enough to rival a single instrument. Grandmother, who had been resting in the Kitchen, came rushing out with an exclamation.
“Oh, how beautiful!”
The music filled the small Dining Hall for several minutes. Grandfather also came out wearing his apron and sat at a nearby table. It was a northern folk song called “The Little Red Bird,” a melody that stirred memories, and as I listened to its subtle resonance, I felt as though a very long story was finally coming to an end.
But with Espin, I had no shared memories to speak of—only a relationship of kill or be killed, so feeling strangely unsettled listening to this together, I scratched my nose and made an odd expression.
As the piece ended with a pianist-like flourish across the keys, the Elderly Couple applauded. Grandmother asked with a flushed face.
“What a wonderful gift! Surely you prepared this to propose to a beautiful lady, sir?”
Startled by the unexpected imagination, I turned back with an expression that said ‘what nonsense is this,’ while Espin rested her chin on her hand, smiled at Grandmother, and spoke.
“That’s not it.”
“Then surely you meant to convey the affection you’ve been harboring all this time….”
“Well, it might be something like that.”
Espin suddenly looked at Maximian and smiled brightly before speaking.
“Senior, would it be alright if I hired you?”
“….”
The Elderly Couple, completely misunderstanding her meaning, watched Maximian’s mouth with anticipation. To them, this was unmistakably a marriage proposal. But whether affirmative or negative, no answer came. Prolonging the silence meant the proposal had failed, and it was only long after the Elderly Couple disappeared into the Kitchen with an apologetic air that Maximian spoke quietly.
“If we’re going to hire each other or make any contract, we need to be honest with each other. We can’t have secrets—that won’t work, can it?”
Espin nodded listlessly, as if deflated.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“But what you said earlier. That story about beekeeping or whatever.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I don’t believe a word of it.”
“….”
I didn’t know what grounds he had for thinking that, but Maximian waited calmly for my response. Was he also the type with sharp intuition? But I didn’t think my story was sloppy enough to be seen through so easily like that….
Espin suddenly spread both arms wide and spoke rapidly.
“Fine, you caught me. It was all nonsense. The truth is, I’m a princess of the Magic Kingdom, and a wicked mage stole all my precious magic pistols from me. So I fell asleep, and when I woke up after a thousand years, the kingdom was gone and I ended up wandering alone through foreign lands like this. I can only become a princess again if I get them back. So help me out, would you?”
Maximian stared at Espin as she spoke, then crossed his arms, leaned back against his chair, and said:
“So you weren’t a prince after all.”
“Hey, are you seriously—”
“But even having lost your kingdom, you seem to have considerable means. Showering gifts on ships drifting down the River.”
“….”
Their eyes met. Testing, or as if confirming the truth. Espin glanced away for a moment, then shrugged, and finally looked into Maximian’s eyes and spoke.
“Now do you understand? I put in a lot of effort.”
Maximian’s expression was complicated. It wasn’t quite right to thank her, nor to be angry, nor to demand why she did it. There had been many awkward moments, but ultimately I was in the position of having received, so it was difficult to claim I’d been wronged. After starting and stopping several times, Maximian finally spoke.
“Hey, you… what would happen if you wrote your name on the gifts before sending them, or handed them over face to face?”
“I don’t know. Both of us are in a position where we’re hiding our identities and running away. It didn’t seem like a good idea.”
Since it wasn’t wrong, Maximian, at a loss for words, irritably rubbed his temples.
“Why do you just waste money on useless things?”
“Useless? Wasn’t the wool blanket warm? Wasn’t dinner delicious?”
Espin hadn’t planned this from the beginning. But when the Merchant Ship Service servant I’d hired on the first day with generous payment shared details about the other ship without being asked, it became so amusing that I kept doing it. Hearing how one person’s reputation changed moment by moment was also quite entertaining.
“Thanks to you, I’ve received so many misunderstandings that I’m losing my sense of self. A refined lady overflowing with wit and consideration?”
“I felt sorry seeing you trembling on that chair, so I sent a few gifts. Your interpretation is rather excessive. Pleasance, with your mysterious charm?”
Both of them smiled shamelessly while looking at each other, then quickly leaned back as if getting goosebumps. Soon Maximian spoke.
“Hey, I understand, but still… do you really think I’m worth going to such trouble for? I don’t have the means to get involved in Magic Kingdom affairs. I do attend Nenyaple, but I’m in my second year on probation and scheduled to be expelled soon.”
“That’s fine. I’m not counting on your magic. Use your deductive skills like you normally do.”
“But you said the mage who stole the pistols is a mage?”
“Oh, that’s fine. Apparently after sleeping for about a thousand years and waking up, he just became an ordinary human.”
“Then why don’t you just go ask him reasonably to return the pistols?”
“It doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t even have them now. Apparently he lost them all.”
“Hey, are you… rewriting the script backstage right now?”
In an effort to get through this illogical story, Maximian stuck his fingers into his own hair and rubbed his scalp before speaking.
“No matter how much I revise it, I can’t immerse myself in the story at all. Do you know why? I’m someone far removed from stages and scripts, but I’ve watched from the sidelines enough to sense what’s wrong. Failed scripts share a typical characteristic.”
Espin raised an eyebrow instead of asking why. Maximian concluded his thought.
“They underestimate the audience.”
“And who is the audience?”
“Me.”

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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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