The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 3

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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 3
* * *
A few days earlier,
on the day I’d taken a beating from the guards.
Hebenia made a wish to the Demon.
“Please keep me and the prisoners alive.”
“You want to be let out?”
The Demon, summoned during my bath once again, asked for clarification.
“No. We’ll stay here.”
“I don’t follow. If you stay here, you’ll surely die…….”
“The prisoners matter to me, but they are violent offenders who committed serious crimes.”
They must serve out their remaining sentences here on Exile Island and atone for what they’ve done.
“I want to spend an eternal, happy, and joyful exile with you.”
…….
“What I meant was that we should apologize to the victims and live together in repentance. I myself am technically an attempted perpetrator of regicide, though I ended up here through Guilt by Association.”
And so.
Hebenia came up with an idea.
“I’ve heard this Exile Island used to be an enormous city, long ago.”
“Yes. It was quite a substantial territory.”
The Demon, grasping my intent, let a thin smile cross his lips.
As expected.
“We’re going to venture into that place where man-eating monsters swarm. To where people once gathered and lived, back when this was a great domain.”
“You want me to find you a new dwelling place here?”
“Yes.”
“Then at least you won’t die immediately.”
“But that alone won’t be enough.”
“No. It won’t be enough.”
If the prisoners suddenly disappeared, the Empire would certainly send people to search for them.
“So we need to die once.”
“How?”
…….
Hebenia, who had been speaking without hesitation, faltered for the first time.
“I see it as Self-Defense.”
…….
“And strictly speaking, it’s an accident.”
I’m not the one killing them, after all.
* * *
There had never been chaos like this.
“There! They’re heading for the exit!”
“They’re trying to escape! Seize them at once!”
“Damn it, if we’re caught, we’re all dead!”
The prisoners and I ran like madmen, the guards’ roars piercing the air behind us like arrows.
‘As if you weren’t planning to kill us anyway!’
Besides, it turned out every single one of the prisoners was innocent.
‘No wonder they were so kind for violent offenders!’
Every time they insisted on their innocence, I’d written it off as the brazen callousness typical of criminals. The weight of knowing they’d told the truth gnawed at me.
“Hah!”
“Move! Get out of the way if you don’t want to get hurt!”
My fellow exiles, swinging pickaxes we’d grabbed from the Mine Labor Camp, drove back the guards at the entrance and created distance.
Even in this chaos, they took care not to harm anyone.
And so we made it outside the settlement.
Beyond the settlement lay a narrow footpath that gleamed like a yellow carpet beneath the pouring moonlight.
But on either side of the path stretched a dense Primeval Forest that was, in truth, a hell teeming with monsters.
In the thick darkness that blanketed the woods, I could distinctly feel something watching us.
Man-eating monsters, as they were called.
For the first time, my fellow exiles—who had not yielded to the guards—faltered.
“Keep running!”
At my cry, they gathered themselves and ran on.
But unlike them, I was falling farther and farther behind.
My calves throbbed with pain, and my mouth filled with the taste of blood. Even breathing had become agony.
‘Damn it, is a seven-year-old body really this weak?’
That brief stumble became an opening.
For the guards.
“Ah!”
Someone seized my hair from behind and yanked hard.
My head struck the ground with a dull throb. Through the pain, my blurring vision caught a guard pressing a blade to my throat.
The fleeing prisoners’ footsteps stopped at once.
“Yes, yes. That’s better.”
“Ugh……!”
The guard pinning me down tightened his grip.
“You wouldn’t want anything to happen to this precious young lady, would you?”
“You bastard! Let go!”
I thrashed my legs, unable to contain my rage.
“You lock up innocent people! And that’s not enough—you try to kill them! Then you take a child hostage and threaten them—what kind of monsters are you……!”
Smack—!
My vision lurched to the side.
My cheek burned. At the same moment, the guard’s hold on my throat tightened. Through my dimming sight, I could see bite marks on his arm.
‘Pathetic wretch.’
So bitter about getting bitten by me that he had to throw another punch!
‘Coward. Only brave enough to fight a little girl.’
The guard was shouting something. Come here at once. Otherwise he’d hurt me.
At that, the prisoners began surrendering.
To save me.
Even though they knew they’d be killed the moment they returned.
‘……Idiots.’
I moved my limp arm slowly.
My hand brushed against something.
“You see, the reason the man-eating monsters can’t enter here…….”
“……is because there’s a barrier.”
The barrier Ian had taught me.
The barrier tried to repel my touch the moment my hand made contact. But I forced my hand upward, gripping it tight.
‘Please……!’
I bit my lip hard.
I heard more guards from the village rushing in, screaming to kill everyone.
But I didn’t hear the sound of the exiles escaping.
That made me panic.
‘Please……!’
My bitten lip split, drawing blood.
“……Open, damn it all!”
The moment my hand, clenching the barrier, turned.
Click—.
The sound of a lock opening filled the Primeval Forest.
“So, Ant—you know how to open and close things?”
“What?”
“Hmm, not yet, perhaps?”
“What are you even…….”
“Then this is a fine opportunity for you to awaken to it.”
“Please, stop speaking in riddles.”
The day I summoned the Demon for the second time.
When I wished aloud to save my fellow exiles, the long-haired Demon appeared in the bathtub as always—and revealed a secret to me.
“You’re saying……I have magical girl powers……?”
“Not quite magical girl. It’s a power any member of Clavis possesses.”
“What is it? How do I use it? What kind of power is it?”
“Open/Close.”
“Open-Close?”
“……Opening and closing things.”
Opening and closing.
“……Cough!”
Something hot rushed up my throat. I shoved away the guard crushing me and vomited what was rising in my mouth.
Bright red blood fell in drops to the ground.
“Hack! Cough!”
The world spun before her eyes, her head throbbing in rhythm with her pulse. A high-pitched ringing screamed in her ears. Her entire body went limp, as though she might collapse at any moment.
‘I’m dying.’
Yet she forced her trembling legs to bear her weight and pushed herself upright.
She had to check if everyone on Exile Island was safe.
But the moment she took a step, her strength drained away again, and the spinning vision began to darken entirely.
Just before consciousness slipped away, she glimpsed figures rushing toward her, calling out her name.
‘Thank goodness.’
She felt genuine relief knowing they were unharmed.
Strong arms caught her falling body.
“What a mess.”
The familiar scent of soap was the last thing she registered before everything went black.
* * *
The Demon looked down at Hebenia cradled in his arms and clicked his tongue.
‘……That was unexpected.’
Who would have thought a seven-year-old who’d only awakened her power days ago could dismantle every Barrier in the Primeval Forest.
‘No wonder she coughed blood and collapsed.’
What Hebenia had accomplished was far beyond what should be possible for a child at her stage of development.
If the Demon hadn’t reinstated the Barriers immediately, hundreds of Man-Eating Monsters would have poured forth—a catastrophe of unspeakable magnitude.
It was then.
“Um, um……!”
The Demon glanced sideways at the brown-haired woman approaching him.
Libi trembled visibly as she gathered courage and extended her arms.
“Hebenia is hurt…….”
“…….”
“She’s lost so much blood, so she needs rest…….”
“That’s why, then.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
The Demon, who had been muttering to himself, carefully transferred Hebenia into Libi’s waiting arms.
Libi bowed deeply in thanks, then hurried back to the other prisoners.
“Hebenia!”
“She’s breathing, isn’t she? Tell me she’s breathing!”
“Look at all this blood from such a tiny thing!”
“She’s alive. Don’t worry.”
The prisoners visibly relaxed at the Demon’s words.
Several of them rose and approached him.
“We’ve heard that summoning a Demon comes with a Price.”
“Hebenia is still so young. Please, let us pay it instead…….”
“That you’re alive right now.”
The Demon cut them off abruptly.
“Is the same reason the girl made her Wish.”
“Sir?”
“The Price is already settled. When she wakes, tell her to summon me once more.”
The Demon snapped his fingers, and from where it had been hidden in Hebenia’s hair, the Winged Eyeball shot free.
The Eyeball conjured a hemispherical Barrier that enveloped the prisoners, then began to drift forward.
“Follow it. It will guide you to your new home.”
With that, half of Hebenia’s Wish had been granted.
‘What remains…….’
The Demon turned back to find Guards crawling and trembling like insects seized by terror.
“N-no, no……!”
“Aaahhhhh!”
The Demon did not stop them as they fled past him, racing out of the Primeval Forest.
Crunch—!
A Monster that burst from the forest consumed one Guard’s head whole.
Screams of those facing death and the roars of starving Monsters tangled together, echoing far beyond the forest’s edge.
“How unfortunate.”
Thump, roll-roll.
The Demon caught the sound of something once human rolling across the ground.
He also heard the scream of the Imperial Knight waiting outside the forest as he recognized what that something was.
“An accident, purely an accident.”
The Demon did not offer prayers for the dead.
* * *
“…….”
I gazed blankly at the clear sunlight streaming through the window.
“A glass window…….”
Sunlight pouring through glass panes.
Soft quilts and a plush bed covering my body.
Even a Lace Nightgown instead of the grimy Prisoner Uniform.
These were luxuries we’d never seen on Exile Island.
‘My wish came true.’
We’d escaped safely to a secure place.
The moment I exhaled in relief, the closed door opened and Libi stepped inside.
“Li, Libi……?”
“Hebenia!”
Libi, who had been as grimy as I was, had transformed into someone barely recognizable. Had she always been this beautiful?
While I stammered in shock, Libi slipped back out.
Soon, with a thunderous crash, the family from Exile Island came bursting through the doorway.
I was startled again by how clean and well-groomed they’d all become.
“Oh child, do you know how much we worried?”
“We thought you were truly dead…….”
“Summoning a Demon without fear! We didn’t know what Price you’d have to pay!”
Even in this moment, they thought only of me.
‘……They’re alive.’
My family—the ones who nearly died at the hands of the guards—were alive.
Only then did the tension finally drain from my body, replaced by overwhelming relief.
“Hehe, huh…….”
The foolish laughter bubbling from my lips soon turned to tears.
Tangled sobs erupted, twisted between laughter and crying.
At twenty-five years old, I felt ashamed of myself and hurriedly wiped my eyes with my sleeve…….
“…….”
“…….”
But I wasn’t alone.
The family had begun crying too.
“Waaah! Oof!”
“Sob, sniffle……!”
“Darling……!”
Relief that we’d survived, the bitter sting of a false accusation, perhaps the dread that we might never leave this place—
All of it tangled together into an ocean of tears.
“Hebenia.”
Ian clasped my hand as if in prayer.
“Thank you. Truly, so much……!”
Unable to finish, Ian could only make choking sounds.
It was the kind of heartbreaking cry that moves the listener to tears.
“Yeah…….”
I sniffled and pressed my forehead against Ian’s hand.
“I’m grateful too, so grateful……!”
With my words of gratitude for letting me live, we wept openly for a long time.
On Exile Island, we’d never had the privilege to cry freely without restraint—now we indulged in it fully.

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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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