[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 51: The Missing Children (1)
Two weeks had passed since the group set out on their journey.
They entered the Lonely Ridge at the edge of the north.
Clip-clop!
Hamel and Lena rode slowly at the rear of the group.
Lena, who had initially struggled to keep up with the journey, was now able to conduct magic lectures on horseback.
As promised, she was explaining dragon language to Hamel.
"Priest, do you know the difference between signifier and signified?"
"I don't know."
Hamel shook his head, and Lena took out a coin from her pocket and asked,
"Do you know what this is?"
"It's a coin."
"That's correct. But it's also incorrect."
"...?"
Hamel tilted his head in confusion.
Lena rolled the coin between her fingers and said,n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"If you show this to someone who doesn't know about currency and ask them, you'll get a different answer. They might say it's copper or a circle."
"I see."
Hamel slowly nodded.
Even if they were looking at the same object, it would be interpreted differently depending on the observer.
"Here, this coin is the signifier, and your answer is the signified."
Lena tossed the coin to Hamel.
As Hamel caught it, Lena nodded and continued,
"Language is the same. The word 'sun' means nothing by itself. But people agreed to call the bright light in the sky the 'sun'."
Hamel raised his head, shielding his eyes with his hand.
He saw the sun shining down on them.
It was dazzling and warm.
Lena watched Hamel quietly and then asked,
"For you, the sun might be something dazzling and warm that's hard to look at directly, but someone else might think of the sunrise or sunset when they hear the word 'sun'."
"I understand."
Hamel nodded.
The 'signifier' was the surface.
The material aspect that could be perceived and conveyed to others.
It could be a sound or a written symbol.
On the other hand, the 'signified' was the essential concept that the signifier carries.
It held countless meanings depending on the observer.
In other words, it implied the observer's subjective and arbitrary interpretation.
Hamel explained his understanding to Lena.
Lena's eyes widened slightly, and she replied,
"I'm surprised. If the professors had heard that, they would have hired you as a teaching assistant on the spot."
She clapped her hands calmly.
Then she continued,
"But you've missed something. If, as you explained, the signified is just the surface and everyone interprets it differently, then it can't function as language."
"..."
Now that she mentioned it, he realized she was right.
If that were the case, conversation itself would be impossible.
When Hamel didn't answer, Lena pointed at the coin in his hand and said,
"The sun is round. This is the same in any country, for any person. That's why people draw a circle when asked to draw the sun."
In ancient hieroglyphs,
On the flags symbolizing families,
In the doodles of a five-year-old child,
And even in the works of artists, the sun is drawn as a circle.
"That is the commonality and a kind of convention that the signified holds. Therefore, the signified is subjective, but it also has a universal quality. Do you understand?"
"...It's a bit difficult."
Hamel groaned softly.
He understood it intellectually, but he had no idea how to apply this theory to dragon language.
"There's no need to rush. This is just the foundation of linguistics."
Lena cleared her throat as she continued.
She seemed quite tired, having spoken so much, which was rare for her.
Hamel tossed a water bag to Lena.
Lena hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head and took a sip.
"Thank you. Ah."
She returned the water bag and tilted her head, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Come to think of it, didn't you say you had something to ask me?"
After rescuing Lena and the children from the Ancient Tree Forest, Hamel had wanted to ask Lena something.
As he tried to hand it to the man, the man shook his head vigorously.
"No, I've been saving this to eat with my family when they return."
"But... Alright. I'll be back soon."
Hamel hesitated, then nodded and stood up.
Seeing the man's desperation, he wanted to find his family quickly.
Hamel mounted his horse and hurried towards the forest.
As he entered the shade of the trees, a chilling coldness grazed his cheek.
An unknown anxiety gripped him, and Hamel urged his horse forward.
***
Spring had not yet fully arrived in the north, so the path into the mountains was still covered in snow.
Concerned about the horse losing its footing, the group decided to dismount and continue on foot.
As they were walking, Hamel, who was leading the way, suddenly raised his hand.
"Let's stop."
The group stopped in their tracks.
There were tracks.
Bird footprints were scattered across the snow.
Only on the path.
Hamel, sensing something, started to brush away the snow covering the ground.
Soon, he found a frozen piece of bread.
"This is..."
"A piece of bread. It seems we're on the right track."
Daniel nodded and looked around.
The bread was undoubtedly a sign of human presence.
And the bird tracks continued along the path.
This meant that someone had deliberately walked along the path and dropped pieces of bread.
"What does it mean?"
"Well, unless it's an idiot who wants to share bread with birds when his family is starving, it must be a sign."
"Is that so?"
Hamel nodded at Ono's blunt reply.
A sign that someone wanted them to be found.
Or perhaps a trail left in case they got lost.
Because the trail led away from the path and deep into the forest.
"Let's follow it."
Hamel started to follow the trail.
Soon, the trail disappeared.
It wasn't surprising, as there were patches of ground without snow.
Hamel gave up on obtaining visual information.
Then all that remained was smell and sound.
Hamel slowly inhaled.
The smell of damp earth and trees.
Unfortunately, there were no other distinct smells.
But Hamel didn't stop.
He continued to distinguish the various scents mixed in the air.
Quite some time passed, and his nose started to sting from the cold air.
Ono shook his head and said,
"Shouldn't we give up and just search the surroundings..."
"Just a moment."
Hamel interrupted Ono.
The direction of the wind had changed.
An unfamiliar scent was mixed in with the familiar smells.
It was definitely the smell of burning firewood.
"I found it. This way."
Hamel started walking, following the scent.
Ono muttered, looking at Hamel as if he were a monster,
"Is that a hunting dog or a priest?"
"I guess not all exorcists are like that."
"He's clearly the weird one. It's true that there are many eccentrics among exorcists, but..."
Ono, with a disgusted expression at Daniel's question, started to follow Hamel.
Soon,
As if to prove Hamel right, an old mansion appeared in the distance.
"There's a house in a place like this?"
"..."
Just as Ono frowned at the suspicious sight,
—Creak
The door of the mansion opened, and an old woman appeared.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]