The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 119

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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 119
“Verity.”
I smirked for a moment, then my expression darkened at once.
“I’m not getting another Wish Voucher, am I?”
“I’ll speak to the Master about it.”
“Don’t just talk—make sure you secure my labor compensation properly.”
“Ugh……”
The Demon Butler groaned wordlessly, as if searching for something to say.
Having vented a little, I softened my expression and asked what was on my mind.
“Those ruffians we found while searching near the Orphanage—they’re the ones, right?”
“Most likely. They’re all dead, so we can’t confirm for certain.”
“……Demons can’t commit killing in the summoned world, can they?”
“They cannot. It’s a strict rule.”
The voice falling from above was heavy.
‘Even the Demon World has its share of failures.’
I absently toyed with the watch on my wrist.
‘At least I managed to summon Verity safely.’
In my haste, I’d left alone and abandoned Verity.
It wasn’t until I was driving the Shing-Shing Car that I realized the mistake, so I hurried into a deserted back alley and called Verity through the Summoning Circle registered on my watch.
‘I honestly didn’t think it would work.’
To think I could summon a Demon again in a different location.
‘An ever-available butler.’
Exceptional.
I stifled an emerging yawn and asked Verity a question.
“What about Ian and Kebelis?”
“Ian is hiding in the carriage for now. He wielded a sword in front of people, after all. And Kebelis is being questioned as a witness to the incident.”
“What about the Tea Party Society?”
That was really what I wanted to know.
‘That rumbling that shook the forest.’
I’d heard it before in the Primordial Forest.
‘Ppoppi and Chutchu.’
When I first met the two dogs, the forest had trembled just like that.
‘I suspected they weren’t ordinary dogs……’
Perhaps Ppoppi and Chutchu were beings that exceeded my imagination.
‘Their true forms must be as large as monsters.’
Beasts stronger than monsters themselves.
‘Divine beasts……’
Two wolves said to guard the side of the divine.
‘……Perhaps.’
It was an exaggerated guess, but it seemed plausible enough. Clavis wouldn’t keep an ordinary pet, after all.
As my thoughts settled, Verity spoke.
“The Tea Party Society fell into complete chaos. Two massive wolves suddenly emerged from the forest and attacked the Temple Ruins where the adults had gathered.”
“Oh my. How troublesome.”
I answered without much sincerity.
“Olive was delighted, saying the descended Divine Beast raged at those humans who defiled the Sacred Ground.”
“A very heretical inquisitor of him.”
I let out a weary sigh.
“What about Arun?”
“Successfully abducted.”
Verity and Olive were supposed to infiltrate the Sacred Ground with me to kidnap Arun.
‘It was Verity who suggested we bring Ppoppi and Chutchu along.’
This clear-eyed Demon Butler clearly knew what those dogs truly were.
“Olive should be driving the carriage to the Intmari residence now.”
“Let’s head there immediately—”
I paused mid-sentence.
‘Aidellos.’
I had much to ask the Crown Prince.
I had to know how he learned all of this, how much he knew about me.
But I couldn’t go to the Tea Party Society anymore.
“A Magical Tool broke.”
“Yes.”
My pink hair and blue eyes returned to their natural state.
I pulled the ring split in half from my pocket. It was the magical tool that had hidden my deep auburn hair and green eyes.
“I realized it at the bottom of the sea.”
“It seems to have overloaded.”
Verity picked up one of the broken ring fragments and spoke.
“Your power grows stronger with each passing day, so the magical tool couldn’t withstand it.”
“But I didn’t use any magic.”
“Clavis is always the exception.”
……
“That’s why I’m asking.”
Verity returned the ring fragment to me and asked a question.
“Would it be all right if I brought another demon here?”
* * *
At that same moment.
“Grandfather!”
Rosy wept freely in the arms of the head of the Comer Grand Merchant Guild.
“I was so scared! Waaah!”
“Are you hurt? Let me see, come here.”
“Are you all right, Grandfather? You’re not hurt?”
Even in her fright, Rosy checked on the guild master.
The guild master found his granddaughter admirable and pitiful all at once, and held her tight.
Where the children had been was shaken only by the tremor, but here at the Temple Ruins where the adults had gathered, something far more terrible had occurred.
Two enormous wolf demons had burst in.
The white and black-furred wolf demons trampled the Tea Party Society with their massive front paws, knocked people over, and threatened them with pointed fangs.
The organizer, Countess Reten, came dangerously close to death at the hands of the wolf demons.
The creatures circled around her, spinning slowly. As though deliberating on how best to kill her.
“A, ahhh……!”
The Countess, badly traumatized, had not yet come to her senses.
Looking at her dazed expression, there was a sorry presentiment that she would not recover easily.
“Grandfather.”
At the sound of his name, he pulled his mind back from his reverie.
Rosy glanced around and spoke.
“Um, um… I can’t see Annabel anywhere…….”
“Annabel?”
“The child you brought, Grandfather!”
The guild master only then remembered Hebenia’s existence.
‘Where did the young lady go?’
As he held Rosy’s hand firmly and glanced around, a blond boy in white priest’s robes approached.
“Prince Aidellos, Your Highness.”
Rosy whispered.
Though he already knew, the Comer guild master stroked Rosy’s head as though grateful for the information.
“I am Comer of the Okto Merchant Guild. I offer my deepest apologies, Your Highness, that circumstances have prevented me from extending proper courtesy.”
“Thank you for the courteous greeting. I’ve come to tell you about the child Annabel who came with you.”
The prince clasped his hands together before his abdomen apologetically.
“She appears to be quite seriously injured.”
“Do you mean Annabel? Where is she now?”
“I sent her off in a carriage just now. I’m truly sorry for making such a decision on my own.”
“Ah…….”
The guild master let out a quiet sigh.
In truth, he had looked around moments before, searching for his eldest son, Arun. But Arun was nowhere to be found.
‘He took her with him.’
So it seemed he had fled in secret from the crowd.
“Is Annabel your relation?”
The prince asked.
“Ah, yes. She’s the granddaughter of one of my closest confidants. It turned out his wife was my own cousin. Her hair is proof of it.”
“Would you tell her that I said it was a pleasure?”
“I shall.”
“I wish we could meet again, but from autumn onward, I must remain at the Imperial Palace.”
“I see.”
The Comer Grand Merchant Guild leader nodded as if he understood.
“The Annual Consecration took place in autumn, did it not?”
“Since the Holy King himself will be visiting, I’ve decided to lend my hand in preparing this ceremony as well.”
“You shall accomplish it brilliantly.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
With that, Prince Aidellos turned and departed.
The young prince entered the tent where the Crown Prince was resting.
After only a brief exchange—perhaps six or seven words between them—he emerged once more.
The young prince raised the tent flap with his own hands. No one from within reached out to help him.
Moreover, he offered a formal bow to the Crown Prince from outside the closed tent.
It was a scene that revealed just how dire the young prince’s position truly was.
……
Yet to the Comer Grand Merchant Guild leader, it appeared in a different light altogether.
The Crown Prince hid inside the tent under the guise of safety, but the prince had gone out to find and comfort each frightened person one by one.
On the surface it seemed like powerless, pious charity—but every move was so calculated, so politically astute, that not a single flaw could be found.
‘A formidable talent.’
Which was precisely why he was dangerous.
Had the prince possessed even the slightest base of support, today’s events would have proven an invaluable asset.
The merchant leader etched Prince Aidellos deeply into his mind.
“Grandfather……”
Then Rosy spoke.
“I don’t see Father either.”
* * *
My subspace currently contains a bomb.
‘I’ve somehow ended up with a weapon in hand.’
Since no one’s mentioned the bomb, I suppose I’m meant to keep it.
The moment Kebelis finished giving his statement, we used our ability to transport ourselves to the Kebelis Estate in Intmari.
What greeted us upon arrival was Olive, sitting atop a man dressed in excessive finery.
“Welcome.”
“Yes.”
“I still maintain that you are a saint, my lady.”
“I’ve already told you five times—a saint is a woman with children. Is the man you’re sitting on Arun Okto?”
“He is.”
Olive rose to his feet.
“Gack! Cough!”
Arun Okto was a man bedecked excessively in luxurious clothing and ornaments.
He was a reasonably handsome man, though Popina, who had returned to the village, was far more beautiful.
“Kebelis!”
Arun glared at Kebelis.
“I knew it would be you! So it was you after all!”
“Brother.”
“Did you covet the Okto Merchant Guild so much? Putting on a righteous facade while harboring such filthy schemes of betrayal behind my back……!”
“Why did you send the orphanage children to the research facility?”
Kebelis asked, his voice trembling.
“What, what……?”
Arun’s menacing expression crumbled like a sandcastle.
“The orphanage children……!”
Kebelis clenched his teeth and balled his fists tight.
“Why did you kill them?”
……
“Using the Okto Grand Merchant Guild to do it, no less!”

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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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