The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 20

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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 20
Popina, for his part, seemed quite satisfied with his aptitude.
“I made quite the hobby of it back in my younger days. I loved Astrology, and every night before bed I’d copy poetry while enjoying the scent of wildflowers I’d picked that morning…….”
I decided to summon the Bleached Demon, the one responsible for all this confusion, to get some answers.
‘I’ll call him here and ask what’s going on, and why I’m the only one without an aptitude.’
I stretched out my left hand, the one wearing the Watch.
“Summoning!”
“She really does love doing things like that,” Ian murmured.
“She’s still a kid. This is the age for it,” Livi added.
“I should make her a Magical Girl Transformation outfit,” Verity said.
Behind me, I heard Ian, Livi, and Verity snickering.
I had no shame about my interests and held my ground confidently.
“Two sets each — one for me and one for Flora!”
“She’s too embarrassed to wear one alone, it seems,” Verity teased.
“Already exploiting your little sister like a true older sibling,” Livi laughed.
As the adults continued their teasing, the Summoning circle activated.
An inverted crimson pentagram rising from the earth. Grandiose classical music and brilliant light, wisps of pale smoke.
The scent of incense drifting from a temple.
‘Huh? Incense?’
Out of nowhere?
Before I could even process the strange fragrance, the Bleached Demon appeared.
Dressed in stiff, baggy monk’s robes.
Wooden prayer beads wound in layers around his neck clicked softly.
Realizing my bewildered stare, the Bleached Demon flushed awkwardly and rushed to explain.
“The Temple here is famous for its cats! When you do a Temple stay, the monks throw cats into your room!”
No wonder his posture had been so awkward — he’d been petting a cat sprawled out on the floor.
I felt a twinge of guilt for disturbing his heaven.
* * *
“Blast, I was supposed to be off today……,” the Bleached Demon grumbled.
But he promptly changed his clothes and explained what “aptitude” meant, according to the Health Checkup Report.
The 108 Beaded Necklace around his neck swayed with each word he spoke.
“It’s literally a career recommendation based on your potential and aptitude. You’ll adapt far faster than others and perform well.”
“I see……,” everyone murmured.
The Exiled Settlement residents nodded in understanding.
Then a hand shot up from the lowest spot. It was Hebenia.
“Hebenia, you may speak.”
“Why don’t I have an aptitude?”
“You’re Clavius.”
……
“Don’t you dare widen your eyes like that.”
……
“I’m not telling you to close them stubbornly either.”
While Hebenia endured the Bleached Demon’s sharp scolding, the Exiled Settlement residents tried to make sense of what they’d just heard.
Everyone looked thoroughly confused.
‘That makes sense.’
Verity, standing slightly apart and observing, nodded slowly to herself.
‘I was surprised too.’
For someone who had lived thousands of years, this situation was genuinely strange.
‘All of these Transcendents gathered in one place.’
Transcendents.
Beings who surpass or escape any limit or standard.
‘They’re still ordinary humans for now, but considering Ian’s growth rate, they’ll all break through their limits within ten years at most.’
Currently, Ian had taken one step into the realm of Transcendence.
‘That’s what makes it so odd.’
It was as if someone had deliberately gathered them together.
‘Could it be…….’
With that suspicion rising, my gaze found Hebenia.
Somewhere in the meantime, Hebenia had sprawled flat on the dirt floor and was whimpering to the Bleached Demon.
“It’s not that I want to become a Magical Girl, it’s just that I feel left out, and…….”
“Hey, Hebenia, how old are you to be wishing for things like that.
“I mean, what does age have to do with anything when someone enjoys this sort of thing…….”
“You’ve learned enough already, haven’t you?”
The Bleached Demon let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Magical Girl Transformation is run by lunatics who violate workplace safety laws, labor standards, child protection — the whole lot — without even paying stipends. It’s a tax evasion nightmare, a breeding ground for illegality.”
“…….”
“And during transformation, they strip completely naked in front of everyone. Then they fight in skirts so short their backsides are constantly exposed. It’s pure exploitation material, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“Every battle, those girls’ glutes and hamstrings are on display. Hebenia, you really think that’s normal? Do you?”
“No, no, don’t taint my dreams and fantasies!”
I only watched family-friendly content!
“…….”
Verity felt foolish for having been so serious just moments before.
‘Well, it’s clear the young lady truly knows nothing about any of this.’
From everything she’d observed, Hebenia appeared to have no connection whatsoever to the entire affair.
If anything, she was a victim herself.
‘The precious young mistress of the Clavius Family, enduring such hardship in another world…….’
Verity recalled the conversation she’d had with Hebenia in the Primordial Forest not long ago.
Though Verity had lived countless years, this demon’s heart still ached whenever she learned that such a young creature had suffered.
“Fine, fine, I get it!”
Just then, the Bleached Demon suddenly shouted.
“Go fetch your Health Checkup Report, Hebenia!”
“You’re going to write down Magical Girl, right? Tell me I have some hidden Aptitude too! And don’t spout more nonsense like you did before!”
“Where does this shamelessness come from!”
“Well, I’d guess it runs in the Clavius Family — though I barely remember them.”
“……You really are just like them.”
Verity suppressed a laugh that threatened to burst forth.
‘That she is.’
Despite her painful past, she had an oddly cheerful spirit.
‘She’s the spitting image of her grandfather.’
The head of the Clavius Family.
That distinctive brazenness and irritating sharp tongue — pure bloodline through and through.
Meanwhile, the Bleached Demon rapidly scribbled something in the remarks section of Hebenia’s Health Checkup Report.
“There.”
[Village Chief]
At those two mere words, Hebenia — moments ago swollen with anticipation — drained of all color like a corpse.
“But… Village Chief is cool too, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s a symbol of power.”
“Our Hebenia gets to be the leader of the whole village!”
While the residents of the Exiled Settlement comforted the disappointed Hebenia and chattered about their own Aptitudes.
The Bleached Demon beckoned Verity over with a curl of his finger.
“That imposter you reverse-summoned — we started interrogating her yesterday.”
“Who’s conducting the interrogation?”
“The Pervert.”
Verity’s eyes widened.
“The Pervert Lord himself?”
There are four Lords in the Demon Realm.
While the structure differs somewhat from human kingdoms’ nobility, these four Lords nonetheless rule the Demon Realm and maintain its order.
One of these great Lords is personally handling the interrogation.
All four Lords are powerful and cruel, but the Pervert operates differently. Even the other Lords refuse to cross him. They fear him utterly.
Verity felt a flicker of pity for the demon who’d impersonated the Temple. That demon would endure endless cycles of death throughout the interrogation.
‘Still, given how grave the matter is, there’s no helping it.’
A summoned demon must obey numerous laws.
Among them, illegal Summoning Succession Ceremonies, unlawful body enhancement, and murder were capital crimes.
‘She won’t be granted an easy death.’
Verity asked.
“Did the Pervert Lord perhaps also write the Health Checkup Report?”
“I was busy, so I borrowed some hands.”
“It certainly had that middle-school-angst sensibility to it.”
“Never mind that.”
The Bleached Demon posed a question.
“You’ve contacted them?”
“Angel, you mean? Yes. The young lady summoned him at the Divine Temple. I’ve met the Commander as well.”
“How many times?”
“Second time. The one who forgets how to wear pants.”
“Ugh, is he still like that?”
The Bleached Demon’s sigh settled heavily between them.
“Verity, write up a report and send it by end of week.”
“Pardon?”
“What’s with that startled look? You think you’re on vacation here?”
“……I half thought I was.”
Because Verity found her conversations with Hebenia genuinely pleasant, and the peace peculiar to the Exiled Settlement suited her far too well.
“This won’t do. Get that report to me by tomorrow.”
Now Verity too had gone pale as a corpse.
* * *
Everyone else had found some magnificent aptitude, but I alone had been tossed the “Village Chief” that the Bleached Demon discarded like scraps—as if it were garbage he was done with.
It was heartbreaking.
But I couldn’t let myself dwell on it forever.
“A village chief governs the village and collects taxes to build wealth, so it’s not entirely terrible—I finally forced myself to admit that much and accept it.”
“You think like a villain.”
Ian, sharing breakfast with me, let out a hollow laugh.
“As someone in charge, I should look after all the villagers and guide the community in a good direction.”
“Isn’t Hebenia already doing that?”
Livi set a spoonful of boiled peas on my plate with a small smile.
“Thanks to Hebenia, we were able to confirm our innocence for certain, and now we can live as ordinary people again. We have a proper home, good food, and a chance to—to carry out a Rebellion Against Throne.”
“Speaking of which.”
Ian poked at his sausage with his fork, hesitating.
“That… are you really going to…?”
“A Rebellion Against Throne?”
When Livi pressed him directly, Ian’s face fell.
“Yes. A Rebellion Against Throne. Are you actually going through with it?”
“Wouldn’t it happen eventually?”
“But a Rebellion Against Throne will spill blood no matter what. They won’t just sit and take it.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Livi—could you kill someone?”
“I… no.”
Livi’s shoulders drooped, and she shook her head.
Ian exhaled a long, deliberate sigh, as if to say “see?”
‘As I thought.’
I chewed on the peas while listening intently to the two of them.
The day it was revealed that my exiled family possessed tremendous latent power,
I had proposed that we attempt a Rebellion Against Throne together, and I had been certain they would accept without hesitation.
But my expectations proved entirely wrong.
Not one of them accepted.
It wasn’t that they had forgiven the Imperial Court. My family was certainly angry, wounded.
Yet separate from their anger, they were terrified of mustering the resolve to stand against the power of an emperor.
‘Most people don’t stab back just because someone stabbed them with a knife.’
A Rebellion Against Throne was an impractical prospect for people simply trying to reclaim their everyday lives.
‘All right, I’ll set the Rebellion Against Throne aside for now.’
Later, once my family grew stronger and awakened to their power, perhaps—but for now, healing the wounds they had suffered came first.
‘Helping my family eat well and live well!’
That was the Village Chief’s true duty.
So I drew up a list of tasks the Village Chief would need to undertake.
“Is the first one to build a village meeting hall?”
Verity asked.

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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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