The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 108

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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 108
Olive explained.
“It’s a Foundation funded by donations from wealthy merchants who use Tremari as their base.”
“So the Foundation is under suspicion too?”
That was when it happened.
Ppoppi and Chutchu, who had been sniffing around the building, perked up their ears.
Then they looked toward the outside of the building.
At the same moment, Verity pulled me into an embrace and pressed my body against the wall near the window.
Olive crouched low and drew out thin iron needles she’d concealed in her sleeves.
I gathered the dogs and asked.
“Can you kill someone with those?”
“You could kill someone, but you won’t.”
“But they’re coming at us like they mean to kill.”
Verity gestured to Ppoppi and Chutchu, nestled in my arms.
Both were smart enough not to make a sound, but they were baring their fangs and radiating deadly fury.
I’d never seen them this angry before.
“Verity.”
I spoke quietly.
“I want to test something.”
“What?”
“A new way to use my ability.”
Verity’s eyes widened as she picked up the sharpest splinter from the broken floorboards.
“Right now? Not back in the Village?”
“Because……”
Snap.
The moment I snapped my fingers.
“Ahhhhh! Argh!”
Someone’s agonized scream tore through the air.
In that instant, Olive threw an iron needle through the broken window.
Verity also threw the splinter she’d been holding.
Though I couldn’t see it, I soon heard the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground. I closed my eyes and prayed.
‘May you be reborn as a good person in your next life and clear your karma.’
I’d witnessed murder several times at the Antemma Research Institute, so it didn’t frighten me, but a corner of my heart felt deeply uncomfortable.
Ppoppi and Chutchu rushed outside.
Following them out, I found the peacock couple zealously gnawing on the scalp and nape of the one man still breathing.
I gasped and quickly pulled them apart.
“Damn it! Snap! Stop!”
“Grrrrr!”
“Yelp! Yelp-yelp!”
Even after I separated them, the peacock couple growled without shame.
Verity examined the three fallen men.
“Two are unconscious……”
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing……”
I’d been completely certain they were dead.
‘I gave them a premature funeral blessing.’
Since they all seemed like the type who wouldn’t live out their natural years anyway, I decided to count it as praying for their souls ahead of time.
The surprising part was that the man who bled the most was actually the one hit by my attack.
“Ughh, uhhh……!”
The short-haired man lay on the ground, clutching his bleeding foot.
“Ah.”
Verity let out a small laugh and looked at me.
Then she pulled out a syringe from her Subspace pocket and handed it to me.
“You copied him, didn’t you.”
“An ability like this is hard to practice with in the Village.”
I took the syringe and injected it into the fallen man’s forearm.
The moment the drug was administered, the man’s eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.
Olive furrowed her brow and asked.
“Is it a proper sedative?”
“I have no idea, either.”
“…….”
“Well, see, Ppoppi’s only seven years old, so even if she commits a crime, she won’t face any punishment. Medical law violations won’t stick either.”
“You’re forgetting you were exiled for guilt by association?”
“Oh, right.”
I quickly hid the syringe filled with the drug inside my Subspace.
‘Well, anyway!’
This ability was something I’d fought against back at the Antemma Research Institute…….
‘……Oh, what was that thing’s name again?’
In any case, I’d copied the Demon’s “Storage” ability that had cornered me.
A technique to open a Subspace right beneath an enemy’s feet and draw out a weapon to attack.
‘Ugh, thinking about it again gives me goosebumps.’
As my ability grew stronger, my Subspace volume expanded bit by bit.
Just a few days ago, I’d measured it at a whopping 50×50.
125 liters.
Using a 2-liter bottle as a standard, that’s 62.5 bottles.
I stretched the Subspace I’d always kept in a cubic shape into a long strip.
If you lined up 62.5 bottles end to end, it comes to roughly 6 meters.
I spread that expanded Subspace across the path I’d traveled.
The moment I sensed someone passing over it, I pulled out the sword I’d brought from the village.
‘I’m literally dying of exhaustion…….’
I yawned so wide my mouth nearly split. Tears had already welled up in my eyes.
Expanding my Subspace to detect others seemed to require considerable energy.
‘But since I’ve gained a Detection Ability…….’
The unexpected gain was enough to chase away all my drowsiness.
I let out a long yawn as I asked Verity.
“Why do you think they came here?”
“If the lady’s guess is correct, they likely came searching for the missing children. Or else they came to retrieve something hidden at the orphanage.”
“The children probably didn’t run away on their own.”
Olive spoke while gazing at the building.
“There must have been an adult involved.”
“You’re right—it would be difficult for children to flee without leaving any trace on their own.”
“But it would have to be a good adult…….”
The words slipped out without thinking.
The fact that no trace remained when they fled meant they’d undergone professional training.
Whatever it was.
‘Just let them be alive.’
I hated seeing children suffer more than anything.
* * *
We decided to remove the three unconscious ones.
“How should we dispose of them? Cut them up?”
“You keep suggesting such things—no wonder Ian worries about your character.”
“That brother has nothing to worry about. My character’s already completely ruined anyway.”
“Please don’t say such things. Humans can always be reformed.”
After the discussion, we decided to put all three in the Village Hall.
By fortunate timing, the basement jail was now empty, as we’d given Molle Rebus and the Syckfp Chief Priest to the Holy Knights as free gifts after their long stay.
I first contacted Frelia, who was acting as the village head, then used my ability to head straight for the Village Hall’s basement.
“My, this person has injured their leg?”
“They were so careless they didn’t even notice the sword lying on the ground.”
“Should we call Elba and Merdi?”
“Let them know the one with the injured leg has been anesthetized, but the other two haven’t been. And tell them all three tried to kill us.”
Our business finished, we returned to the Intmari Territory.
“Now, to figure out where these people came from…….”
“Miss Clavis.”
That’s when Olive called out to me.
“Isn’t Merdi the one who was part of the bandit gang that hijacked the train back then?”
“That’s right.”
Merdi was someone Elba knew, and he’d trusted her innocence all the way to the end.
After hardships, the two had reunited and begun a romantic relationship on the premise of marriage, exchanging their hearts with each other.
‘So I was remembering his name after all.’
Honestly, that’s what surprised me more.
“Are they all doing well?”
“I hope they are.”
As the village chief, I’ve been helping them quite a bit, but whether they’re truly thriving is something only they can know.
“I’m doing a lot to help them live well.”
“You’re quite an admirable chief, Miss.”
Verity offered the praise.
I just kicked at the ground sheepishly, too embarrassed to meet her eyes.
…….
Olive watched me in silence for a long moment.
The stern gaze she always fixed on me—like a sullen teenager perpetually displeased with the world—had softened for the first time.
‘She’s thinking of her sister.’
Olive had seen Izelium Village twice today: once when I brought the uncles, and again when I brought the dogs.
That was intentional on my part.
‘I had to show her where her sister lives, didn’t I?’
Then she’d have some peace of mind.
And it seemed to work.
“Now, it’s time for our duke and duchess pair.”
I held out a glove I’d taken from the man locked away earlier.
Ppoppi and Chutchu sniffed eagerly at the glove.
“Woof!”
“Woof woof!”
Both of them fixed their gaze in a particular direction.
There was a forest that way.
Verity observed the sun’s position in the sky.
“Northwest, then.”
“A bit further in from here lies the Intmari Territory.”
“Maybe we’ll run into Modi on the way.”
We moved northwest, guided by the dogs’ lead.
It took about thirty minutes.
Around the time the sound of snapping twigs underfoot grew tedious.
“……A tunnel?”
A burrow appeared before us.
It was deliberately dug into the earth. The thick timber framing the entrance wasn’t old at all. It hadn’t been made long ago.
…….
Verity knelt on one knee in front of it, placed her hand on the ground, and closed her eyes tightly.
And when she opened them again.
“Congratulations, Miss.”
“What? Out of the blue?”
“You’ll be able to earn a Delivery Service Voucher.”
…….
…….
Verity, whose eyes met mine, quickly turned away her head.
And understandably so.
“You’re counting it as 0.5 instead of a full wish token?”
“Well, the system judged it as something I nearly caught myself…….”
“But I threw it into the Primordial Forest together with Aig, so it’s basically my catch!”
“The thing is, it’s not me making that judgment…….”
“Seriously, for a moment there I thought I’d wandered back to Korea. Can’t believe I’m dealing with this absurdity again.”
“That’s just how life is, Miss. If everything went your way, would it even be fun?”
“It would absolutely be fun. I always used cheat codes when I played games, even on the hardest difficulty.”
The demon I’d caught during the Undead incident.
Because the judgment came down that half the credit for catching it belonged to Verity, I’d ended up splitting one wish token in half.
‘So this time I have to catch one myself!’
I need three wish tokens to get my hands on the Tablet PC.
“A Delivery Service Voucher?”
Olive, ignorant of our circumstances, tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s that?”
“The reason I’m enduring this absurd child labor.”
“You really do say the most disheartening things, Miss.”
Brushing off Verity’s whining with ease, I quickly grasped what the situation meant.

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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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