The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 109

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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 109
‘If there’s a demon, it means the Imperial Court was involved in kidnapping the children.’
Damn these bastards.
‘But the fact that men from here found the orphanage…….’
The adults who fled with the children were likely good people.
‘It’s something to be grateful for, at least, but it’s too early to relax.’
And there’s a demon inside that place.
‘All the demons we’ve fought so far have been strong. Especially their abilities—every one of them was a threat.’
Rushing in recklessly could get us seriously hurt.
‘And I can’t just catch it openly in front of Olive.’
The demon I capture has to be handed over to the demon realm through Verity’s power.
But showing that to that stubborn heretic inquisitor is still too dangerous.
‘Can’t be helped.’
For now, I’ll have to let it go.
‘Sigh, when am I going to get my hands on that Tablet…….’
Frustrating, but there’s nothing for it.
There were other priorities more important than those trash.
“Ppoppi, Chutchu.”
I held out a single shoe I’d picked up from the orphanage earlier to the dogs.
Finding the missing children was the top priority.
* * *
That afternoon.
We gathered at our lodgings and shared what we’d learned.
It turned out that Tomari Territory had come dangerously close to disaster in late spring with an outbreak of Barongnaamu Illness.
They barely managed to contain it by scrounging up herbal medicines from the market, and thanks to the Dulchebia Medicine that the Deste Temple had secretly provided, but the medicine prices were still being set high.
“Even the nearby nobles can’t afford it, apparently.”
Ian shook his head as he spoke.
“What about Modi?”
“The factory is in good condition across the board. Tomorrow I’m planning to visit once more with Pex, make the advance payment, and then proceed with the contract.”
“Havi, what about you and the others?”
“We…….”
The orphanage, now abandoned.
The missing children.
Three new guests who came to the Village Hall.
And finally, a strange tunnel.
Since Olive was present, we left out the demon talk, but Verity’s mouth flapped open and she quietly told us, ‘There was a demon too!’
Everyone in the room’s eyes narrowed at once.
“The good news is we figured out which way the children ran.”
“Where?”
Ian asked.
“Toward Intomari Territory.”
“What?”
Modi’s eyes went wide.
He let out a rueful sigh and shook his head weakly.
“That’s thirty minutes away by tram…….”
“The dogs remember the scent, so we’re planning to track them down first thing tomorrow.”
“Are you bringing them back to the village when you find them?”
“Well, shouldn’t we?”
That’s what I said, but honestly, I wasn’t thrilled about it.
‘We need working adults…….’
Of course, children would become valuable labor in the future, but a newborn village desperately needed adults who could work right now.
I decided to worry about that later.
“And we’re also going to look into the foundation that sponsors the orphanage.”
“The territory’s been quiet despite the orphanage falling into that state, which means someone must have been suppressing the rumors from spreading.”
Olive, continuing my thought, pulled something out.
“This is a list of merchants who donate to the foundation.”
“Oh, you’re quite thorough in your preparations?”
I checked the names on the list one by one.
‘There are so many merchants in Tomari Territory. True to form for a place with the third-largest trading port in the empire…….’
Huh?
My eyes stopped on one entry as I scanned the list.
‘What… what is this?’
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Thanks to the Magic Hat Verity gave me, I hadn’t shed a single bead of sweat even while finding the orphanage or walking through the forest.
“Miss, what’s wrong? Do you need to use the restroom?”
Keeping my gaze fixed on the list, I pinched the impertinent demon butler’s side with my toes.
‘This is really bad… really bad…!’
I lifted only my eyes slightly.
And I saw it.
“……”
The alluring young master, sweating just as profusely as I was.
“Popina.
“……”
“When I heard Se Sol’s divorce counseling session, your real name is Popina Okto, isn’t it?”
The Okto Merchant House.
Popina, the youngest son of a wealthy merchant family.
“The Okto Merchant House—isn’t that one of the empire’s most distinguished trading companies? Not just in Tomari Territory, but throughout the entire southern region……”
Gasp.
Cold sweat began to bead on the face of Modi, who’d shut his mouth in panic.
Ian too. And Verity.
Even Olive.
Everyone had caught on now.
“The Okto Merchant House is on the list.”
It was possible that the enemy we needed to eliminate was family to one of our residents.
‘I always knew a situation like this would come someday….’
Frelia’s bandit gang.
The bandit group that my father, Clavis, secretly helped create all had one thing in common.
They all believed to the end in the innocence of the exiled families.
‘Of course, there are exceptions like Se Sol.’
Still, we’d carefully selected only those who wouldn’t betray us.
‘I thought back then that I only needed to keep my eye on Ian’s family….’
I never imagined Popina would get involved.
That was when it happened.
“…Yes.”
Popina bit his lip as if steeling himself, then slowly removed his wig.
We quickly turned our heads away.
“Huck, heh-heh…!”
Modi covered his mouth with his fist, his shoulders shaking.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Ian punched the wall and turned away entirely.
“Heavens, why must you test us so……”
“Heavens, grant me the patience to bear this suffering……”
Verity lifted his gaze as if in prayer, while Olive did the opposite, bowing his head and seeking divine aid over and over.
‘Popina!’
What were you thinking, removing your wig at such a serious moment!
And of all things, his voluntary baldness was weeping sweat like tears—as if to show how painfully heavy this moment was.
Popina spoke.
“Yes, I am the youngest son of the Okto Merchant House.”
“Sir……”
“But I cut ties with them long ago. When I stood in court with false accusations against me, my father and the Okto Merchant House sent a letter disowning me.”
“I’m sorry for making you recall such painful memories, sir……”
“No. It was decided from the moment I ran away.”
Regrettably, the more I heard Popina’s story, the more likely it seemed that the Okto Merchant House had joined hands with the Emperor.
The fact that they chose the merchant house over their own son suggested character of no ordinary kind.
The room fell silent in an instant.
A heavy silence descended. No one dared speak carelessly in such a moment.
‘What do I do? Should I tell him we’ll spare his family as a consolation prize during the regime change?’
In the meantime.
“Hey, you there.”
Modi, having regained his composure, spoke.
“I heard it from Intomari Territory—apparently, Popina is staying there at the moment.”
“Intomari Territory?”
“That’s right.”
When things came to this, there was no choice but to move forward.
‘We’ll have to go there together tomorrow.’
It was harsh on Modi, but unavoidable.
To approach the Okto Merchant House at all, we needed someone with connections—someone who knew more about that place.
* * *
Intomari Territory had a completely different atmosphere from Tomari, which lay directly below it.
Unlike Tomari—a bustling tourist destination—the higher Intomari Territory was relatively tranquil and serene.
Of course, Intomari still had plenty of people.
“Tomari and Intomari were originally one, apparently.”
Ian, dressed in the uniform of an escort knight, read aloud from a small pamphlet he’d bought at a souvenir shop.
“A hundred years ago, the count who inherited Tomari Territory divorced his wife and gave her half the territory as alimony.”
“Wow, I wish my ex-husband had been that kind of person.”
“……you shouldn’t just say things like that.”
“Our young lady—well, Havi—is known for having the sharpest tongue, after all, isn’t she?”
For the record, we were all disguised as an entourage for a spoiled young lady.
My role was a charming, slightly eccentric little noblewoman from some aristocratic family.
Ahead of me walked two chihuahuas in harnesses, escorting me with dignified airs.
And my “older brother” this time was Verity again.
“In fact, it was a sham divorce,” Olive said, filling in the historical backstory.
The Devibart Empire had once had a law prohibiting the establishment of factories above a certain size in regions adjacent to the sea.
The count of Tomari at that time wrestled with how to develop his territory, and struck upon the radical idea of dividing his vast lands in half and developing each independently.
“In reality, the couple remarried, and currently the Intomari Territory is being managed by the Tomari Count’s family.”
“Ugh, that’s boring.”
I pouted my lips.
“At least one of them should have been blinded by greed and stabbed the other in the back. That would’ve been fun.”
“Young lady, they don’t divorce and remarry just to entertain you.”
“Next time, I’d appreciate it if you’d consider my preferences too.”
“…….”
“We’ve arrived.”
Modi pointed to a large building—our destination.
“Wow.”
The sheer scale of the grand commercial building took my breath away.
‘And this is just a branch office, not even the main headquarters…….’
Above the entrance hung a brilliant red sign reading “Okto.”
On either side of the door, flags painted with red octopuses fluttered in the breeze.
“Hey, boiled octopus.”
“Just an octopus.”
Popina, wearing a long crimson wig that shimmered and flowed, flicked his hair coyly behind his ear.
“The octopus is the most intelligent and nimble creature of the sea, and it has many legs. The Okto Merchant House means to prosper like the octopus, you see…….”
Bang!
At that moment.
The doors of the Okto Merchant House swung open with a bang loud enough to shake them off their hinges.
We quickly slipped into an alley beside the building, peering out with only our faces visible, watching the situation unfold.
Between the wide-open double doors, someone strode out with angry, forceful steps.
It was a strikingly handsome man.
‘Pink hair…….’
From inside the building came a loud shout—the voice of an old man, hoarse from years of smoking.
The young, beautiful man paid no attention to the shouting echoing behind him.
Though his face, too, was deeply furrowed with rage.
Yet something about his profile seemed familiar.
“Big brother……?”
Popina’s voice fell from directly above my head.
Ah.
Oh no, not again.
I couldn’t tell anymore whether I’d come here to search for orphans or to snoop into Popina’s family affairs.
‘Though I have to admit, the latter is far more entertaining.’

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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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