The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 25

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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 25
Empty Stones cannot be mined by just anyone.
If ordinary people or beasts draw near, their Mana seeps into the stone and taints it.
Mana, which every human carries. And Aura and Holy Power, newly constructed through the application of Mana.
Only when all three of these energies are absent can pure Empty Stone be extracted.
‘And that’s also the condition for being a Transcendent.’
With this, it became all the more certain that all twelve prisoners brought to the Exilium Exile were Transcendents.
And from here, the real problem began.
‘How were they found, and who gathered them here?’
Even for Beriti, who had lived an exalted life, Transcendents were rare beings. He had met only a handful across several centuries.
The first suspect.
‘The Emperor?’
Before coming here, Beriti had conducted his own investigation into the Emperor.
‘He didn’t possess the capability to orchestrate something like this…….’
That was what confused him. The knowledge to identify Transcendents was not something a mere human king could ever hope to uncover.
But considering what had happened at the Deste Estate, he could no longer underestimate the Emperor.
Having sent word to the demon and celestial realms, new information would soon arrive.
Beriti then recalled the second suspect.
‘Clavis. Those damnable wretches.’
Under normal circumstances, he would have suspected them at once. Especially the Clavis family head—that eccentric was twisted enough to orchestrate something like this and still have energy left over.
But he could not do so now.
The Clavis family head was renowned for his deep affection toward his family.
That elderly man had evacuated his youngest granddaughter to another dimension, while the precious princess of Clavis had to endure her suffering alone.
In other words, a crisis grave enough to force such a decision upon Clavis had occurred.
Beriti’s gaze fell upon Hebeniya.
Hebeniya, who had been earnestly fiddling with a Pink Wooden Club, pulled a Notebook from her bag and began sketching something.
When he glanced over, she was drawing a charming Magic Wand.
Sensing his eyes, Hebeniya quickly shielded the Notebook with her body.
“I was, um, just trying it out.”
“I didn’t say anything, did I?”
“Liking magical girls at my age is a bit childish, isn’t it?”
“There’s no shame in what you love. You’re a wonderful twenty-five-year-old who makes her own money.”
“That may be true, but…….”
Still murmuring, Hebeniya opened the Notebook flat again and showed what she had drawn.
“This is from an animated movie I saw when I was little. All my friends had these, but I was the only one who didn’t…….”
Hebeniya Clavis.
The princess of Clavis, who should have played with every expensive and precious thing in the world as toys, still longed for one cheap plaything she never had.
‘Could her obsession with magical girls stem from that?’
The fervent way Hebeniya adored magical girls struck Beriti as if she were healing a wound from her childhood.
“Young lady…….”
Beriti’s voice grew slightly thick.
‘Ah, I’ve grown fond of her after all.’
It would have been strange not to grow fond of her.
Beriti had come to genuinely cherish Hebeniya and the village people—she never resorted to tricks, always worked hard, and never hesitated to help others.
“Would you like me to make you a Magic Wand?”
“No, no, it’s fine. I can just order one from the villagers.”
“For world peace, I shall gift you one at once. A pink sparkling moonlight aura love-love strawberry sweet heart evolution staff befitting the chief’s authority……!”
……
“Ow! Ow! Please don’t pinch me with your toes!”
* * *
The first crossing of the Primordial Forest with Ian had taken four days one way, and the second crossing with Flora had taken two days.
This time, it took five days.
[Well, can’t be helped.]
Ian’s voice came from the Clock, full of sympathy.
[Beriti’s training is so effective precisely because it’s so grueling. Besides, Libi, Elba, and Pex have zero combat experience.]
“If you ask me, five days is still fast.”
[Ha, fair point.]
With a final wish for a safe return, he ended the call with Ian.
“How are the village people doing?”
Libi, who had been organizing her Sleeping Bag beside him, asked in a subdued voice.
The training had worn her down—the dark shadows beneath her eyes had sunk all the way to her chin.
“They say they’re doing fine without us.”
“Ugh, I hate myself for not being able to genuinely celebrate that……!”
Elba and Pex, overhearing our conversation, let out a hollow, mirthless laugh.
“It’s all right, Libi.”
“Soon enough, they’ll know the same suffering we do.”
“Elba, Pex—when I return to the village, I’m going to tell them the training was more bearable than I expected.”
Libi’s lips twisted into a malicious grin.
‘The poison’s rising. Good.’
The poison had taken hold so completely that now, without me having to say a word, they were bringing up revolution on their own, cursing the Emperor unprompted.
“I’ll kill that bastard Emperor who put me through this suffering……!”
“Libi’s so soft-hearted. Me? I’m going to tear his limbs off.”
“I will torture him until blood flows from every opening in his body.”
Whether beating monsters with a club actually counted as training, I wasn’t sure, but the malice had certainly taken root—and that pleased me.
Today.
We were finally leaving the Primordial Forest.
“But…”
I went over to Beriti and asked quietly.
“This is actually training, right?”
“Five days have already passed. Isn’t it a bit late to be asking that now?”
“I suppose I do have some doubts.”
This training was fundamentally different from the last one.
It was simply beating monsters with a club.
That was all.
And the wooden club Beriti had given them wasn’t even lethal.
Their weak, inexperienced strikes only provoked the monsters’ fury.
Each time, I had to put up a barrier, and Beriti always delivered the finishing blow.
“There’s one fact you overlooked.”
Beriti explained as she packed their supplies into a Dimensional Storage Pocket sewn into her cloak.
“These participants, including Libi, are complete novices with no real combat experience.”
…
“Most people lose consciousness or freeze up just at the sight of a beast—they can’t even run. So the first challenge these people must overcome is……”
“Getting used to fear?”
“You already knew.”
“I was just confirming.”
Beriti smiled slightly and then went over to Pex to show him how to wear the perception-concealing cloak.
‘Right—most people would be terrified.’
Fear is an instinctive protective response in humans. I’d read somewhere that it was one of the survival mechanisms honed through eons of evolution.
Libi, Elba, Pex—
Even Ian.
When we first began training in the Primordial Forest, they were all afraid.
I, on the other hand, was not.
I was startled to see the beasts, but I didn’t fear them the way they did.
‘Back in Korea, being fearless was actually an advantage. It’s what let me survive that godsforsaken family.’
But things were different now.
The Emperor had his eye on me, and danger could strike at any moment.
‘How can I develop a true sense of urgency?’
I’d found another task as important as learning to enjoy my life.
“Hebeniya! Time to get moving!”
“Oh, yeah!”
At Libi’s call, I hurried to join the group.
‘Well, it’ll sort itself out as we go.’
I decided to set the problem aside for now.
And this decision was the right one.
Exactly one hour later.
I experienced a genuine sense of urgency for the first time at the Deste Estate.
* * *
“My goodness……!”
“I, I haven’t seen this many people in ages……”
“Stay close to my side, please.”
“May we come along with you?”
We had forgotten how to speak the moment we arrived at the Deste Estate.
There were so many people that it felt like we’d stepped into an ocean made of human bodies.
To avoid the crush of the crowd—so dense we could barely lift a foot—we quickly ducked into a side street.
“Beriti, did you see the line earlier?”
What we’d seen before wasn’t mere crowding; it was a queue stretching far into the distance.
Following the procession, we traced it to a building we recognized at its end.
“It was heading toward the Temple, wasn’t it?”
“It seems to be because of the wish the young lady made before.”
“A divine descent? An angel’s descent?”
Elba’s expression darkened.
“The thing you mentioned hearing about in the Primordial Forest?”
The day before, I’d given the group a brief account of the incident that had occurred during our first visit to the Deste Estate.
So they already knew that an angel had descended.
“Elba, do you have a suspicion about this?”
At Pex’s question, Elba nodded.
“It appears the herb supply issue has become quite severe.”
“So they’ve resorted to relying on religion.”
Beriti clicked her tongue softly.
“Now that you mention it……”
Libi, who had been watching the people queued toward the Temple, spoke.
“There seem to be many people who look sick.”
“The young lady’s wish has dealt the Emperor a blow. The Balance of Divine Law has tipped toward the Church.”
I quickly assessed the situation.
‘The herb supply problem has become worse than we anticipated.’
I glanced up at Elba. Her complexion was deathly pale, as though she might collapse at any moment.
‘She came to Exilium Exile under a false charge of violating pharmaceutical law.’
Given her resolve to save people through Dulchebia, it seemed she had witnessed someone’s death or suffering related to the false accusation against her.
“Elba.”
When I took her hand, Elba flinched.
“We came here to stop this.”
“……”
“It will be all right. Won’t it?”
“……Y-yes.”
Elba drew several deep breaths in quick succession. I watched as her trembling hand gradually steadied.
“There’s an Herb Merchant Owner I’ve made connections with.”
Though I’d only met him once, I judged that old grandfather to be trustworthy.
‘He spent considerable money to purchase Dulchebia and secure herbs, and he didn’t seem particularly fond of the Emperor.’
So he would likely be dissatisfied with the current situation as well.
‘If all goes well, we might be able to sell the medicine we’ve made……!’
Crash!
Standing before the Herb Merchant’s shop, which we’d approached brimming with hope, I and my companions froze like statues.
“……”
Beriti stretched out her arm and hid me behind her. The demon butler always tried to shield me like this whenever something dreadful seemed about to unfold.
But it was far too late.
Display cases and shards of glass, broken baskets and withered herb scraps—the herb shop had been reduced to wreckage.
And before it lay the Herb Merchant Owner, collapsed on the ground.
“Oh my goodness……!”
At the sharp cry that escaped my lips, the others turned to look at me.
Flustered, I blurted out without thinking.
“That grandfather and Ian have a political engagement……”
Because of the herbs.

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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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