Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 72

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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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Chapter 72.
Island of the Survivors (14)
The woman gathered the boy’s hair in her hands and brought scissors to it. Snip, snip—dark blue strands fell to the white stone floor, scattering like the feathers of a black bird.
Hair that had grown long enough to cover my back. Yet I felt no particular attachment to it.
I had resolved to live from this moment onward for the sake of one person who would protect me, and the severed hair seemed to symbolize that very determination.
I felt lighter. It was as though a cord connecting me to my dark past had been severed.
Despoina grasped the staff with both hands and extended it toward me as she spoke.
“You are now a small Pilgrim—one who shall learn and live. Should you learn and live with excellence, you will be reborn as a true Pilgrim through the purification ceremony at fifteen years of age. Seek to understand the will of the Moon Queen, the ancient history, and the path your star reveals. There is surely a promise prepared here for you alone. And you are the one who must discover it.”
The crystal crescent moon affixed to the staff emitted a gentle light. With that, the ceremony concluded.
The gathered onlookers offered measured applause.
The crowd dispersed. Daphnen remained in place a moment longer, his thoughts turning to Despoina’s visit to his chamber the previous night.
She had brought a large silver tray and instructed him to place his hands upon it and close his eyes. Bewildered and without explanation—Nauplion was not present to inquire of—I obeyed.
Not understanding what was happening, I kept my eyes closed until Despoina declared it was done. When I opened them, a strange image had appeared on the tray.
I could not immediately discern what it was. It resembled an oil stain or water mark, but after studying it for some time, I recognized it as a half-collapsed well and scattered stones.
While I marveled at it, Despoina set the tray aside and spoke.
“Pay the image no mind. It is not yet something you are meant to understand. But I observed the light upon the tray shift while your eyes were closed. You do not yet wish to truly belong to this place.”
Was that truly the case? It was a matter I had not examined clearly.
“You came here for a special purpose, or perhaps for a special person. Yet I sense no deception or malice in your heart. Until you reach fifteen and determine your future, seek carefully what you might gain in this place. Whether your confusion can find healing.”
Despoina understood my confusion.
“Let us go.”
Nauplion approached and gave my shoulder a light tap.
Awakening from my thoughts, I saw a girl I seemed to recognize smiling brightly before me. Where had I seen her?
“Hello? I’m Liriope. You can call me Liri if you like. Your hair looks nice cut short, doesn’t it? Will you tell me your name ‘directly’ for the first time?”
Daphnen answered without thinking.
“Ah… I’m Daphnen. It’s nice to meet you.”
Beside me, Nauplion wore an expression of utter bewilderment. He seemed about to say something but thought better of it and remained silent.
Liriope laughed and continued.
“Nice to meet me? Really?”
Once again, I had spoken my true feelings without thinking.
“Well…”
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake. Yet Liriope simply made a snorting sound and spoke with an expression that said “you owe me now for overlooking that”.
“Hmm, you’re too honest for your own good. But since you’re handsome, I’ll let it slide.”
This time Daphnen truly lost for words, staring at Liriope with his mouth slightly agape.
Liriope suddenly laughed aloud and took a step back with a bound.
“Surprised? But I was only speaking the truth, so I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? And even if you were upset, you should forgive me. Why? Because I’m beautiful—very much so!”
“….”
I had never encountered anyone who spoke in such a manner. Even Rosnis, who was confident in her beauty and charm, had never stated it so boldly.
Yet it was not unpleasant. Liriope stuck out her tongue and curved her lips into a mischievous smile—far removed from Rosnis’s proud expression.
Rather, it resembled the impish delight of someone who deliberately says something shocking and enjoys the reaction. The content mattered little.
“Well then, this pretty lady shall take her leave. If you ever wish to see me again, submit a request a day in advance. Goodbye!”
Liriope touched her fingers to the corners of her eyes and flicked them away cheerfully before dashing off between the people.
The two men left behind stood speechless for a while, then after a moment, both ran their hands through their hair in unison. Nauplion muttered.
“Good grief, when did she become even more outrageous than Rosnis?”
Nauplion seemed to be thinking the same thing as Daphnen. Daphnen, now clearly looking up at his teacher, asked.
“Do you know her well, sir?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of person is she?”
“Are you interested?”
“Pardon?”
Nauplion’s face suddenly filled with mischief.
“Well, you see, before I left here, she said she would never marry anyone but me. But now it seems she’s taken an interest in you, so if you wish, I’m willing to step aside. Oh, such magnanimity, such generosity. Truly the bearing of an excellent teacher.”
“I’d believe it more if you said she was a lost daughter you’d found again.”
“How does she look anything like me?”
“You got along so well with Rosnis, didn’t you? I’m sure you’d suit her just as well.”
“Didn’t you get along with her? You played well with Rosnis too, didn’t you?”
“That was…”
I was about to say that I was in no position to choose between liking and disliking back then. Nauplion cut me off.
“Yes, that’s it. That’s exactly what I was going to say. I was the same.”
“Rosnis is pitiful.”
“Fool, we’re the ones to be pitied. Think about it carefully.”
Now that I thought about it, it did seem to be true.
Even so, the two of us continued exchanging jokes as we had been doing before, unaware of the eyes watching us.
No, actually Daphnen didn’t notice, but Nauplion had caught on long ago.
“Pardon me.”
Seeing the red-haired boy who had appeared before him, Daphnen tried to recall his name—one he had heard once when he was the Boy Who Knows Not Himself. But for some reason, that relatively simple name would not come to mind.
Fortunately, this boy seemed to have business with Nauplion, not Daphnen.
“Priest of the Sword, I have something I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind?”
“What is it?”
“It’s about that child.”
At that moment, Daphnen stopped trying to recall his name.
The instant he heard those words, he understood how the other person viewed him.
The name Daphnen had just been proclaimed before everyone by Priestess Despoina. And the people were attending the baptism ceremony to call him by his new name from now on.
There was only one reason not to use such a name deliberately.
To deliberately deny his existence.
“Is he truly your first disciple, Priest?”
“He is. What’s wrong with that?”
To Nauplion, who replied as casually as always, the red-haired boy, Hector, spoke boldly.
“There is something wrong.”
The two stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.
As Daphnen heard Nauplion’s voice that followed, his eyes widened slightly. It was because he had never known that he could speak in such a tone.
“Tell me plainly what has gone wrong. Convince me at once. I will not tolerate clumsy excuses.”
Contempt was embedded like bone in his curt voice. The fact that someone like Nauplion would be so displeased with a mere boy was something Daphnen had never witnessed before.
Yet Hector remained unperturbed.
“First, that child has not yet even learned the Moon Queen’s teachings. In other words, it is difficult to regard him as a proper Pilgrim. That point was also noted by the Priest of the Staff during the baptism ceremony. Currently, that child can be said to be almost the same as the outsiders we have been taught we must reject.”
Hector emphasized the word ‘outsiders,’ and continued speaking.
“Second, those of us who must unilaterally accept this situation know nothing about that child except that the Priest has personal acquaintance with him. It will take time merely to accept such a child as a member of our island—so how can he suddenly be elevated to such a significant position? Do we not know what past he has endured, what character he possesses, or even what sins he may have committed?”
At the word ‘sins,’ Nauplion’s lips curled inward. Yet Hector spoke to the end.
“Why bestow the position of first disciple upon such a child? Is that not a dismissal of island-born children of good bloodline, of Pilgrims’ children with transparent pasts beyond reproach?”
Daphnen heard Hector’s words but felt no emotion whatsoever.
What Hector said was true. My past was dark, my nature was poor, and I had even killed before. It was reasonable that the islanders felt uneasy. Who would not?
Yet Hector had merely spoken aloud what others would gnaw upon in silence. But why? Why did that truth feel so deeply unpleasant and unsettling?
Until that moment, Daphnen had not truly grasped how significant becoming Nauplion’s first disciple was. I understood it was a position worthy of envy, but was it reason enough to be hated and envied so intensely?
Then Nauplion opened his mouth. He made no effort to conceal his displeasure.
“So, you think I should have taken you as my disciple instead, given your fine bloodline? Let me be clear—you have no right to judge right and wrong regarding the Priesthood’s inherent authority. Since you’ve taken such pains to speak at length, I shall trouble myself with an explanation as well. Listen—I, who am speaking with you now, have lived on the Continent for many years. Surely I must have been tainted by continental customs, yes? Does that not make you uneasy? Is what you have said not equivalent to saying you suspect even me?”
Perhaps someone truly harbored such thoughts, but Nauplion himself drove the nail home with his own words, as if to say: what of it?
“And what responsibility or authority does the position of my disciple carry? It is merely that I felt inclined to take him in and teach him. Must a third party have any say in that? I have no interest in whom you meet or from whom you learn—so why do you attempt to debate such matters with me? Step aside. Listening to your words makes my head swim as though I suffer from a hangover. Do not trouble me again.”
Nauplion seized Daphnen’s hand and departed that place.
Hector remained standing a moment longer. Shortly after, he moved in the opposite direction alongside the boys who had gathered around him.
Among them was his younger brother Ekion, to whom he was enthusiastically expounding his plans.

“Listen, Boris.”
Nauplion and Daphnen sat upon the clover that carpeted the hillside in verdant green, idly sifting through the leaves.
Hearing that name suddenly, my heart felt as though pierced by a pin.
“It has a nostalgic ring to it.”
“Your name—there’s no need to change it.”
“Pardon?”
Nauplion grasped a handful of clover with his large hand and scattered it in all directions. Then he spoke.
“Do you know what your name means? Every name among the islanders carries meaning.”
“I’ve heard as much. What does the name Daphnen mean?”
“Daphnen means laurel.”
“Laurel?”

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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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