The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 107

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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 107
“…….”
“…….”
Olive fell silent, and I pretended to see nothing as I sent the dogs back to the Village.
“I’ll call you when the train leaves…….”
Then I shut the door quickly.
“Young mistress.”
Olive asked in a voice that trembled slightly.
“What was that just now?”
“Well, we’re in pursuit of the highest tier of human desire…….”
“Wasn’t Ian among the group that was dancing earlier?”
“Ian’s the youngest in that group too…….”
“Surely your sister isn’t like that as well?”
“Fortunately, your sister chose to live that way of her own accord.”
“…….”
Either moved by news that her sister was doing well, Olive slumped her shoulders and let out a heavy sigh.
I tapped Olive’s leg without much sincerity.
“Come on, let’s head to the first-class cabin!”
“Our purpose is to go to the Southern Region…….”
“Same difference!”
* * *
“Ugh, it’s so hot…….”
After Hebenia had enjoyed two nights and three days of train travel, the scorching summer heat and thick humidity of the Southern Region proved quite taxing.
The adults who followed her down also furrowed their brows at the oppressive, stifling warmth that rushed at them.
“Miss, come here and put on this hat. There’s a Magical Tool on it that creates a cool breeze, so it won’t be as hot.”
While Verity looked after Hebenia.
“Olive, where do we go from here?”
Ian, whose hair had been dyed black with a Magical Tool, asked.
Olive pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket.
“There’s an inn reserved at the Central Headquarters. We’ll rest there briefly, tend to any repairs, and then head to the Orphanage.”
“By the way, this is quite a large city as well.”
Thanks to the hat, Hebenia finally had enough energy to look around her surroundings.
The verdant leaves of palm trees unfazed by the intense heat.
Brilliant, towering tropical flowers.
It was a landscape befitting a summer resort.
“That’s how it has to be.”
Olive fluttered his collar as he spoke.
“Temari is famous as a resort destination, but it’s also home to the Empire’s third-largest trading port. This city developed fundamentally through commerce.”
“I see.”
Hebenia nodded thoughtfully, listening intently.
‘So that’s why there are so many factories in the nearby Intmari Territory. They bring in goods imported here and transport them to the factories in Intmari.’
Olive continued.
“Moreover, this city is home to the famous Sacred Shrine of Divine Beasts.”
“The Sacred Shrine of Divine Beasts?”
“It’s a historical site managed by the Central Headquarters.”
According to legend, it is where two divine wolves once made their den—the Divine Beasts who stand vigil at the god’s side.
“After these two Divine Beasts settled here and remained for a hundred days, there is a legend that beasts began to inhabit the land and waters.”
“So they all descended from here.”
“…….”
“If they’re the mother and father of all beasts, they must have been quite active. Their stamina was incredible. Our Ppoppi and Chutchu don’t fall short when it comes to breeding…….”
“……Let’s move to the inn.”
After arriving at the lodgings that followed Olive and resting briefly.
Click—.
“Popina! Modi! I’ve arrived in the Southern Region…….”
“Ha! Ha!”
“My feelings for you, village chief, I cannot stop……!”
“Stop that this instant and come out here!”
Hebenia used her ability to pull Modi and Popina out.
“Wait, what on earth is that outfit……?”
“We had performance costumes tailored.”
“So? Take note of the sort of men Hebenia usually fancies…….”
“Stop that! Don’t talk like that while swinging your hips so brazenly!”
The village chief’s patience had worn thin at clothing entirely unsuitable for all ages.
In the end, they could only move to their lodgings after changing into ordinary clothes.
Verity glanced over at Ian with a quiet question.
“Will you be wearing something like that too, sir?”
“…….”
“You certainly work hard at your social duties.”
“Ugh…….”
Ian could only wipe away his tears with his sleeve.
Next came Ppoppi and Chutchu’s turn.
The dogs slipped quickly to their lodgings while Modi and Popina went to change clothes.
The clever couple did not bark. Instead, their hindquarters swayed wildly, their tails wagging so hard they seemed ready to fall off.
But even that vigorous tail soon…….
“You’ve been waiting, haven’t you? Come on, let’s put on your Harness.”
When the chest strap went on, it drooped limp.
Hebenia handed Modi a Magical Tool that altered appearance and spoke.
“The Intmari Territory is thirty minutes away if you take the External Tram from here. Look around the factory, then contact me later. You’re wearing a Watch, right?”
“Yes, I have it on.”
The moment Modi established himself as standing in relation to Hebenia and the village chief and secretary, he switched his speech to formal politeness.
When he slipped the Ring-Shaped Magical Tool onto his finger, Modi’s appearance changed to that of a man in his fifties.
“Here, take the money too. And then for self-defense tools—a Saw, a Jungle Knife, a Crowbar…….”
“Miss, Modi is going on a business trip, not committing some bloody crime.”
“By the way, when did you even prepare all this?”
“While you were sleeping.”
After Modi departed first.
Hebenia’s group also moved toward the Plaza.
“Master Popina, how is the soup recreation coming along?”
“Truth be told, it’s not going particularly well.”
Popina, wearing a Wig, glanced around at street vendors as he answered.
When his expression turned slightly troubled, the people around him stirred, their faces flushing.
“There are so many chemical ingredients in the food. I’m managing only with help from Elba and Pex.”
Popina spoke frankly.
“I won’t be able to perfectly recreate the Ramyeon soup. There are so many ingredients I’ve never heard of in my life. For instance, things like ‘Soy Sauce’ and ‘Roasted Seasoning Mix’……”
Popina grumbled that he couldn’t even figure out what ingredients the Roasted Seasoning Mix was made from.
Once a renowned chef, his pride was wounded by the fact that there existed ingredients he didn’t know.
Hebenia glanced over at Verity.
Verity shook her head slowly. Seeing this, Hebenia’s lips drooped slightly.
‘As I thought. It doesn’t exist.’
Soy Sauce as a condiment did not exist in this world, Empire included.
So even if they obtained Soy Sauce through Verity, later when they needed to produce it in large quantities, they would face the problem of having to depend on a Demon every time.
“There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Yet Hebenia did not view this as entirely unfortunate.
“Who knows? Maybe a condiment even more delicious than Ramyeon will be born?”
“You think so?”
“What could our village’s greatest chef not accomplish!”
At those words, Popina’s face brightened.
At the same time, excited cheers erupted from the crowd around them.
“Oh my, that woman over there seems to have fainted?”
“It happens all the time. They fall so hard for me that I worry their remaining life might become unbearable…….”
“When you say it like that, sir, it really does sound different.”
“Now that I think about it, Sesol, who has a marriage contract with Master Popina, is truly remarkable.”
Hebenia’s group parted ways with Popina here.
“Sir, here’s a Subspace Bag and money for shopping. If you can get a receipt, please do—we’ll need it for accounting purposes.”
“But will he be alright going alone…….”
Verity pointed to where a crowd had already gathered to catch sight of Popina.
In the end, Ian agreed to escort Popina.
‘Now that I see him like this, Master Popina really does look like a handsome young nobleman.’
Hebenia suddenly recalled his past—how, before coming to his place of Exile, he had married Sesol to escape his family’s pressure to wed.
‘A young man from quite a wealthy merchant house, if I remember correctly?’
And so the remaining two people, two dogs, and one demon boarded the Internal Tram heading west.
To the place where the abducted children had been held.
* * *
‘Wow…….’
Upon arriving at the Orphanage, I was gripped by a strange sense of recognition.
‘This is exactly what those abandoned houses look like in horror films, isn’t it?’
Weeds grown wild and untended, a metal gate groaning with an eerie screech from loose hinges, a building mottled as if covered in mold, and shattered windows.
A textbook abandoned structure.
What drove the point home was the children’s shoes scattered everywhere.
Olive picked up one of them.
Verity found a long stick and gently poked at another shoe nearby.
“They’re all different sizes. Could they belong to the children who lived here?”
“…….”
“What are you thinking, miss?”
“I think they ran away.”
“The perpetrators?”
“The children.”
And in quite a hurry, at that.
At my words, Verity and Olive’s eyes narrowed.
I pointed to the windows with broken glass.
“The broken windows are concentrated in one particular spot.”
“Someone who knew the layout of the Orphanage broke them, then.”
I nodded at Verity’s remark.
Then Olive asked.
“Why do you suspect they ran away? The kidnappers or someone else involved could have taken the children.”
“The door and the walls.”
Unlike the shattered glass, the door was pristine.
And dark streaks stained the base of the building’s exterior wall.
I’d thought it was mold at first, but there were countless objects piled near the wall identical to the stick Verity had picked up earlier.
“It looks like they tried to burn the Orphanage down.”
“The Antemma Research Institute…….”
Olive clicked his tongue and gritted his teeth.
I moved toward the broken window to confirm my suspicion.
“Geez, why is the window so high……!”
Just as I was raising myself up on my toes to look inside, my body suddenly lifted into the air.
Turning around, I saw Olive holding me.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. Though it seems your observation was correct, miss.”
A somber light flickered in Olive’s green eyes.
“There are many beds.”
“Looks like it was the children’s bedroom.”
“Here too.”
Verity spoke from beside him, having checked the adjacent room.
Below his feet, Ppoppi and Chutchu had their noses to the floor, sniffing intently.
“As you guessed, miss, they must have realized the children were gone from the bedroom when they tried to set the fire. So they immediately put it out and…….”
“Arf!”
Just then, Ppoppi discovered a matchbox in the weeds.
“…… opened the door and went inside.”
The interior of the building was thick with dust.
Every door along the corridor stood wide open.
And in each room, every drawer and box gaped open as well.
Picture frames lay broken on the floor, and in several spots, floorboards had been pried up.
“Once they confirmed the children were really gone, they ransacked the place. Looking for hidden belongings, perhaps?”
“Was this Orphanage run by the government?”
Olive shook his head at my question.
“It was operated by a private foundation.”
“A private foundation?”

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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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