The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 2

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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 2
“Gah!”
Something seized my ankle. At the same moment, the branches I’d been holding tumbled from my arms.
The sound of twigs scattering across the ground jolted me back to awareness—as if I’d been sleepwalking without realizing it.
‘A Demon, then…?’
I couldn’t bring myself to deny it. The situation was too far removed from reality for denial to take root.
I gathered my courage and turned around, only to find myself staring directly into the Demon’s eyes.
It seemed the Demon had been watching me all along.
And for reasons I couldn’t fathom, it didn’t look pleased.
“You certainly take after them.”
“I’m sorry?”
“So—why did you run?”
“Well…”
Wasn’t this the sort of situation where running was only sensible?
A naked man appears out of nowhere.
A wish-granting Demon, no less. Everyone knows how these tales go—the price is always a soul. Wariness is warranted.
“I-it frightened me,” I stammered.
But rather than speak honestly, I hedged with something a child might say.
The Demon let out a scoffing laugh.
Then it turned the tables and made a counter-offer.
“Don’t you want to leave this place?”
The Demon coaxed me in a voice deep and smooth.
“If you wish it, we can leave right now.”
“Out? Just like that?”
“Yes.”
The proposal was stunning enough to steal my breath—but for me, it was a cruel confirmation that I could never return home.
‘If you wanted to tempt me, you should have offered to take me back to where I came from, not just beyond the exile site.’
If you couldn’t offer that, there was no reason to abandon my life here—a life that was happier by far.
‘And what would become of the others if I vanished?’
I was brought here under Guilt by Association, but I’m still a convict—one who nearly murdered the Imperial Princess. If a criminal as dangerous as I were to disappear, the remaining prisoners would face unjust treatment and suspicion.
‘Especially given how the guards have been lately…’
For the past few days, the guards’ demeanor had taken a sinister turn.
They, who had never paid the prisoners much mind, now picked fights at every opportunity, baiting confrontation.
Yesterday, matters came to a head.
A guard tried to lay hands on a female prisoner.
The victim was a life-sentenced woman whose mind had fractured—unable to resist, utterly defenseless.
And Iian tried to stop him. For his trouble, he was beaten savagely by the guard. As a prisoner, he could only endure in silence, unable to fight back.
‘I should have just let them all—’
But the words that actually left my mouth were different.
“Could you give me some Ointment for the bruises?”
Before I’d finished speaking, a small jar dropped at my feet with a soft thunk.
I bent down, picked it up, and examined the contents. Inside lay a tacky white paste that reeked of something foul.
‘I’m such a coward.’
I kept quiet because I was afraid—afraid that once the prisoners left the exile site, they’d never spare me another glance.
“Mix it with water and apply it to the affected area. The bruises will take time to fade, but the pain will ease quickly.”
The Demon swept back its wet hair with one hand as it spoke.
The scent of soap mingled with warm steam tickled my nose.
I felt ashamed—of my own filthy state, of my moral weakness before a being like this.
“What’s the price? My life?”
“Your saliva.”
“…”
“…Stop making that face about it.”
It was how the System worked, the Demon muttered dismissively.
Then it unleashed a bombshell of a statement.
“All of you will die anyway.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You’ll all be dead.”
You and the prisoners both.
“All of you will perish.”
* * *
The ointment the Demon gave me truly worked wonders.
The moment I mixed some of it with water and applied it to the wound, Iian marveled at how the pain vanished.
I divided the remaining ointment among the adults in the Forced Labor detail who’d developed arthritis.
“But where did you get this?”
“I found it.”
“……You didn’t steal it, did you?”
Iian seemed to suspect I’d stolen it from the guards’ quarters.
“Iian. I don’t have that kind of skill.”
“Well, that’s true enough.”
“But don’t be so quick to suspect me next time.”
When I complained that his suspicion hurt, Iian laughed with his puffy face, a soft chuckle.
Whether the ointment’s potency was strong or time simply passed, but soon the swelling began to noticeably subside. The other adults also rejoiced that their joint pain had vanished.
Yet the more they benefited, the more my conscience ached.
This ointment was what I’d received instead of escaping the Exile Site with everyone. Because of that choice, they would all die here.
Unable to match their gratitude, I couldn’t even smile back at their kindness while they remained ignorant of the truth.
‘But will we really die?’
Honestly, it had been such an absurd claim that I’d struggled to believe it from the start.
Yet as if mocking my foolish denial, a sinister current began to flow through the Exile Site.
The guards’ abuse grew worse with each passing day.
Eventually, everyone except me had been beaten by a guard at least once. The ointment I’d received from the Demon ran out in no time.
By then, the adults had given me stern warnings.
Not to go near the guards under any circumstances. If one looked like he might hit me, I should run straight to them without hesitation.
“Aagh!”
But I charged at a guard as if I didn’t care about their warnings.
I bit the arm of a guard who was about to swing his fist at Ribi, my fellow prisoner.
“Aagh! Aaaagh!”
“Uuuugh!”
I clenched my jaw with the resolve to tear flesh from bone.
“Y-you crazy bitch……!”
The guard, his eyes half-rolled back in fury, drove his fist into my face. I flew backward and rolled across the ground.
“Hebenia!”
Ribi, who’d been knocked down by the guard, rushed to help me up in a panic.
“Blood, there’s blood……!”
With trembling hands, Ribi stemmed the nosebleed flowing from my nose.
But I barely felt the pain, my eyes fixed on the guard before me with murderous intent.
Ironically, the guard looked at his wounded hand with an expression of despair.
Other guards came rushing over and dragged away the one who’d hit me.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
“You bastards! I told you to take it easy……!”
“Today’s Forced Labor is suspended! Everyone back to the Village!”
The guards made their declaration and fled like cowards to the barracks set up at the Village entrance.
The moment the guards disappeared, Ribi shouted at me.
“Did you forget what we told you? We said don’t go near the guards! Look at this! So much blood from such a small nose…….”
“It’s fine, this much isn’t——”
“Fine my foot! And it’s not just your safety I’m worried about! Because of you, the adults almost got into a real fight with the guards.”
Only then did I notice the adults standing behind us the whole time, their eyes blazing as they glared at the guards.
‘Oh.’
Gripping their Pickaxes tightly, they looked genuinely menacing, yet somehow as trustworthy as magical girls.
Of course, I had to endure an enormous amount of scolding from them as well.
The pain caught up with me belatedly, and I winced.
Then Iian squinted one eye in utter disbelief.
“Sheesh, you fearless thing……!”
What was there to laugh about.
Iian said I’d aged him ten years because of me, then gently but firmly pinched my reddened nose to stop the bleeding. Even though it had already clotted, he was making sure.
[Don’t look for reasons when helping someone.]
The exiles had endured in silence when it happened to them, but the moment I was hurt, they stood up against the guards without hesitation. Even at the risk of danger.
The worn Pickaxes they held were so much more beautiful and worthy than the three-million-won Magic Wand I’d bought.
‘Like magical girls…….’
Just like them.
I’d only admired from afar, certain I could never become like the girls I’d given up on, but perhaps I could be like them after all.
Such hope had gradually illuminated my shadowed cowardice, pushing it away.
[Even if not now, hope will surely save you!]
* * *
The full moon hung heavy in the sky, as if watching over everything.
At Exilium Exile Site, there were only humans. Horses, cattle, even small birds could not survive here—they all died.
Because of this, the guards themselves had to haul the carts and transport the cargo.
“Why don’t we just make the prisoners do it?”
“And if they escape? You’ll take the blame?”
The guards were loading dark ore into the cargo carts, their entire bodies shielded so the ore would not touch their skin.
These were the deposits the prisoners had mined through forced labor—the final shipment.
As of today, Exilium Exile Site was being temporarily closed.
“Why is it being closed?”
“Word came down from above that there’s no more need to mine ore.”
“From above, you mean…?”
“The Emperor himself, of course.”
“Look, no point explaining to him anyway—he’s only been here two months. Anyway, luck favors some.”
“Meanwhile, this bastard’s going to be shattered once he gets out.”
“Shut your mouth, damn it.”
The guard who spat out the curse had small bite marks blooming purple on his arm.
“His Imperial Majesty has ordered that all prisoners be disposed of, and Hebenia Clavis be brought to the palace without a single wound.”
The Guard Captain fixed him with a cold stare.
“Remember—there are other exile sites that require forced labor.”
The chastened guard flushed, his face reddening. But he could not protest his innocence.
Because precedent existed.
Years ago, there had been an incident where a guard assaulted a prisoner.
For this, the guard was sentenced to Imperial Command Disobedience—a serious crime—and sent as a prisoner to another exile site.
And the Emperor even dispatched physicians from the Imperial Palace to treat the wounded prisoner.
“This is ridiculous.”
One of the guards heading toward the village where the prisoners lived muttered under his breath.
“All these wretches here are just tools—brought in under false accusation by the Emperor’s command.”
“What?”
The youngest guard’s eyes widened in shock.
“You’re saying… they were brought here under false accusation just to mine ore?”
Despite his incredulous question, no answer came back.
“Then… then couldn’t we just leave them alone? They’re already pitiful—falsely accused—and if we disappear, they’ll just starve to death anyway…”
“No.”
The guard with the longest tenure after the Guard Captain spoke curtly.
A short sword hung at his side.
The same was true for the other guards.
“Since ore no longer needs to be mined, disposal is the right course. There’s no reason to keep them alive and invite future trouble.”
A wind so fierce it shook the primordial forest swept through. The sound of branches and leaves colliding pressed heavily upon the exile site.
Leaving the hesitant youngest guard behind, the others divided up and entered the dilapidated huts as planned.
And shortly after.
“The prisoners have vanished!”
The faces of the guards emerging from the huts were drained pale in the moonlight.
* * *
[The prisoners have vanished!]
[Search! Comb through the exile site at once!]
[They must have kidnapped Clavis…!]
Tap—.
A small finger brushed against a winged eyeball.
The guards’ voices cut off.
The inverted pentagram star drawn on the eyeball fluttered its twin wings and slipped into Hebenia’s hair.
“Idiots—I’m the one who did the kidnapping.”
Hebenia, laughing scornfully, turned to look behind her.
“Right?”
There stood the prisoners, their expressions grim and unwavering.

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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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