The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 112

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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 112
‘I really need to teach these people some manners.’
I was still mulling over what fine and precious thing to give the villagers
when I heard murmuring from behind me.
I turned to see children emerging from the basement, licking their lips as they watched Popina cook.
Though they hadn’t entirely lowered their guard against us strangers.
Judging by their cocky demeanor, they’d probably grow into worthy trees one day.
The tallest boy among them spoke up.
“You’re not trying to poison it, are you?”
“Want me to, if that’s your preference?”
“Miss.”
Verity gave me a meaningful look.
I let out a sigh and stepped forward to face the children.
And I apologized.
“I’m sorry for scaring you. And for hurting the good person who saved you. That was clearly our fault.”
I owned my mistakes right away.
‘I learned that from Magical Girl Milk Shake.’
Since Magical Girl Milk Shake featured as many magical girls as there were ingredients in a milkshake, conflicts between characters were frequent.
And every time, our Magic Milky would always say this.
“If you don’t say it, how will they know?”
With that one short, powerful sentence, Magic Milky always mediated conflicts and dispelled unnecessary misunderstandings.
“But I hope you’ll trust us anyway.”
I said.
“We came here to help you. Do you know Chlore and Lira?”
Chlore and Lira.
They were the names of the young sisters we’d rescued from the Antem Research Institute.
“C-Chlore? Lira?”
“They’re okay? They’re doing well?”
“They’re our family! We lived together at the same Orphanage!”
“We heard they were going to be adopted by that mister…….”
The children forgot their wariness of me entirely and poured out their worries.
I shook my head.
“Bad people kidnapped them and took them somewhere dangerous.”
The children looked frightened at my words.
“Fortunately, the Paladin here rescued them. They’re safe now, aren’t they?”
“We are protecting both children at the Central Cathedral. They are healthy and well cared for, so you need not worry.”
Olive spoke in a gentle, kind tone—a rare thing, and it seemed he was being considerate to the children.
‘But I’m a child too…….’
Why had he never spoken to me that way?
Regardless of my grievance, the children finally relaxed, their bodies going limp with relief.
But the older ones seemed to understand that this was still not a situation to truly be at ease about.
They simply held it together without showing it in front of their younger siblings.
‘Ah, they’ve already grown up.’
I recalled how many snacks I’d hidden away in my subspace.
‘And I collected them all without Verity knowing…….’
But what could I do?
For the children who would become the Village’s new residents, I resolved as their Village Chief to freely give everything I possessed.
* * *
Popina’s stew was still delicious,
and the snacks I’d hoarded away like a squirrel storing acorns did something to lift the children’s gloom, at least a little.
“You’ve been hiding this much all along?”
I received a scolding from Verity.
“I haven’t really been hiding it. And I haven’t eaten any.”
“You’ve been secretly stashing away an amount that ten children could share and still have left over—doing it alone, on the sly. That’s the problem. Once you have something, you’ll definitely end up eating it.”
“Whimper…….”
To be honest, I felt unfairly treated, but I understood Verity’s genuine concern for my health.
So I rebelled in my own small way by sticking up my middle finger.
“……At the very least, make some effort to hide it properly.”
“I don’t want to.”
After that, we also gathered information from the children.
Had anyone suspicious ever come looking for the Orphanage?
“Or was there something odd when people came to adopt?”
Unfortunately, the children’s answers echoed Edul’s response.
Then.
“Um, um…….”
A girl with her hair divided and braided on both sides raised her hand tentatively. Her expression was dignified and guileless.
“There was something strange, actually.”
“What was it?”
“The director of the Orphanage changed last spring.”
Last spring.
‘That’s when I was sent to my place of exile…….’
The Orphanage director had changed around the same time Clavis had been exterminated.
“There seemed to be a lot more adoptions after that.”
“Oh, that’s true.”
“Right. Normally we’d have maybe three or four a year at most.”
The older children who had spent a long time at the Orphanage nodded in agreement.
“I almost got adopted too.”
The girl continued speaking.
“But I came down with a terrible cold right before I was supposed to go. I lay in bed for days, and by the time I recovered and got back on my feet…….”
Another child had been adopted in her place.
She said she was deeply disappointed when she heard, but inwardly, she felt relieved.
Because she had never once seen the parents who claimed to want to adopt her.
“I hope that child is……all right.”
…….
I couldn’t answer her.
This wasn’t something I could comfort her over with empty reassurances that they’d be fine, that they were all safe.
The corpses I’d seen at the Antemma Research Institute, and all those bones.
‘They’re dead, surely.’
Even if some were alive, they wouldn’t be whole.
And besides, there wasn’t just one Antemma Research Institute. The medicinal herbs we’d found there were laughably small compared to the quantities the Imperial Court had been purchasing.
‘They either stored the rest somewhere else, or distributed it to other research facilities.’
There were more victims.
The weak, the powerless, the young.
Clap—!
I clapped my hands hard, making a loud sound.
The increasingly heavy atmosphere vanished in an instant.
The startled children and Edul looked at me, and I deliberately flashed a grin.
“So here’s the thing!”
Maybe now was the perfect time for this.
“Would you all like to live in our Village?”
“Village?”
“Izelium Village. It means the most magnificent, beautiful, and radiant village in the world.”
I pulled a book from the Subspace.
It was a Photo Album decorated with all the pictures I’d taken so far.
They were photographs printed in advance for later use when creating promotional materials for residents moving to the Village, but it seemed good to test that idea here first.
I handed the Photo Album to Popina.
“Here—our Village’s charming Popina will explain everything. Sir, would you introduce the Village to these promising newcomers?”
“W-well……!”
Popina, who had seemed flustered, soon broke into a vigorous smile.
“Come gather round now. First, let me show you the meeting hall our Village is proud of.”
“Wow!”
“The drawing is incredible!”
“That’s a photograph, made with a Magical Tool…….”
The children marveled at the photographs, so vivid they seemed to have cut landscapes directly from the world.
Thanks to that, they listened with genuine interest to Popina’s introduction of the Village.
Perhaps they’d grown bored during their confinement, because they were absorbed in this new stimulus.
And among those pictures was Olive.
The moment Olive saw Libi in the photographs, his eyes lit up. Even if he had a clichéd big-brother complex, his concern for his sister was genuine.
I stepped back and watched the scene with quiet satisfaction.
“Miss.”
Verity pulled me aside quietly and led me out into the hallway.
Then she asked me.
“Miss, you were quite angry earlier, weren’t you?”
“Earlier?”
“When you first asked Edul about it.”
“Oh, you mean when I asked if you’d grabbed anything when running away from the Orphanage?”
I scowled deeply.
Thinking about it again, the fury bubbled up inside me all over again.
“Is the Emperor actually insane? If he’s going to run an experiment, he should do it on his own body! Why is he putting innocent people through this—and children no less!”
“……….”
“If I ever meet that Emperor, I swear I’ll leave a bruise on his face by any means necessary. Better yet, I’ll rip out his hip socket like pulling a chicken leg and jam it into his useless head like a goddamn antenna—!”
“……….”
After huffing indignantly for a while, I looked at Verity.
Whether it was my imagination or not, her gaze felt strangely complex.
“……Should we skip the hip socket part?”
“No, well. That bastard deserves whatever happens to him anyway.”
“And no anesthetic!”
“Right, anesthetic would be wasted on him.”
Verity tapped my head lightly.
I frowned.
“What? Why are you doing that all of a sudden?”
“Just because. I can feel you growing stronger little by little.”
“What good is strength……?”
Even if I have the power to help someone, there are far more people I’ve failed to save.
Of course, this way of thinking gnaws at me—it’s essentially overestimating myself.
And I have no obligation to save everyone.
‘But there’s nothing I can do about the discomfort in my heart.’
At least there’s one saving grace.
“What’s this place?”
“It’s the library—a place with lots and lots of books. Anyone can come here to read them or borrow them.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
“And this is the gymnasium, where you can exercise. There’s even a swimming pool underground, so you can play in the water too.”
“A gymnasium! I want to live in the gymnasium!”
“Edul, let’s move to Izelium Village!”
Through the doorway came the bright, energetic voices of the children.
‘At least I managed to protect them.’
Popina’s voice too seemed to have regained its vigor.
‘This is enough for now.’
Seeing the villagers happy like this, I felt I was truly becoming a proper village chief.
* * *
Verity could not simply watch over Hebenia, who took the villagers’ happiness as her own joy.
‘This is a problem.’
That fury Hebenia had displayed just moments ago.
‘Is she losing control over her strength?’
Hebenia was growing stronger at a pace that exceeded Verity’s expectations.
But she had been diligently training to control her abilities, so no major issues had emerged yet.
‘Then it’s not a matter of raw power.’
Emotion.
She usually kept her feelings in check well, but Hebenia would occasionally display very deep anger.
It was likely rooted in the domestic violence she had suffered during her time hiding in Korea. Even though she seemed composed, deep wounds remained.
‘Especially situations where the weak are unfairly mistreated—those she cannot abide.’
Her feelings were understandable enough.
‘But if she keeps raging like this every time……’
She might end up seriously hurting an innocent person.
Edul had only survived because Verity intervened partway through; he might have actually collapsed otherwise.
The others in the room had also felt considerable fear emanating from Hebenia just then.
They had only endured it because they possessed Transcendent Aptitude and were naturally strong Heretic Inquisitors.
‘I need to gradually introduce different training methods for her.’
It was at that moment.
“Yelp!”
Ppoppi, who had been wandering the corridor behind Hebenia, barked toward the front entrance.
“Well, well.”
Verity, having sensed the presence, spoke up.
“Someone’s coming, isn’t it? I can hear a carriage.”
From the sound of the wheels rolling, it appeared to be quite an expensive, high-quality carriage.
Verity caught the sound of footsteps descending from the carriage.
“Heavy footsteps, quick ones. I’m picking up an impatient temperament.”
“That’s the typical gait of a middle-aged man.”
“Seems to be the head of the Octo Grand Merchant Association.”

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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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