The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 30

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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 30
‘She thought those children might also become victims of the Summoning Succession Ritual.’
Verity understood her meaning.
So Libi set out for the address the herbalist owner had given her. She’d packed cloaks for the children too, so all three would return safely.
“And Verity, arrest all the royal knights in the Manor and lock them in the Underground Prison. Check how the servants react, too.”
“Pex, help Verity from the side.”
After subduing the royal knights in the Manor and confining them to the Underground Prison, Verity was searching for information related to Demons alongside Pex.
“Hebenia really is something remarkable…….”
Pex muttered while rifling through documents.
Verity, who had been pulling out a book with no title, stopped and turned around.
Pex wore a rueful smile.
“It’s shameful to be grown and still receive only help from a child.”
“She’s rather special, isn’t she?”
“To her, we’re probably just baggage.”
“Thinking that way is what makes you true baggage.”
The contents of the book he’d opened to read wouldn’t stick in his mind.
‘Ah, really, what’s gotten into me.’
His meddling nature just kept expanding.
Verity snapped the book shut and turned to face Pex. A Watch on his wrist gleamed faintly.
“Since she’s not here, I’ll say it—she’s rather defective in character. Her thinking is quite cruel and rough. If she set her mind to it, she’d use murder like any other tool.”
“V-Verity……?”
Startled, Pex hurried to interject.
‘Wait, weren’t you fond of her?’
The blunt assessment—almost a tirade—left him reeling.
“You saw it yourself from the side, didn’t you? How the jailers died.”
“That was—Hebenia was trying to save us……!”
“Exactly!”
Verity snapped his fingers in emphasis. Pex flinched.
“As I said, she shows no mercy in her hands. Yes, the lost memories unsettle her, but her bloodline plays its part too.”
Everyone knew how difficult Clavis was.
And those who knew even a little about Clavis knew just how cold and merciless his people could be.
…….
Pex, who had once worked in Magitech Engineering, was one of them.
He had never told Hebenia, but in fact, he had worked experience at a subsidiary company owned by Clavis.
“So why does someone like her go out of her way to help others, and do something that brings her absolutely no benefit?”
Verity’s finger pointed to the answer. At the end of that finger stood Pex.
“Because you helped her first.”
…….
“You took pity on a child who had lost her memories.”
You gave her an extra piece of meat from the stew.
You offered her a warmer blanket.
When you found a pretty flower, you showed it to her first.
You always did her share of the chores for her.
To Hebenia, who held no good memories of family, the kindness freely given by the Exile Settlement family had become something far greater.
“But that’s only natural, isn’t it?”
Pex felt bewildered.
“Who would abandon a child who’s lost her family? Only someone…….”
“There are many such people.”
…….
“Fathers who sell their children for gambling money, mothers who discriminate against certain children for no reason—these creatures call themselves human and walk the earth.”
“That……is true, I suppose.”
“So don’t lose heart.”
Verity’s smile was gentle, yet somehow cold.
It was the sneer of one who knew too well the ugliness of mankind.
“You’re kind enough to show such care even while bearing false accusations and great sorrow. Thanks to that, you survived, and she learned human goodness.”
…….
“If you want to do something for her, then praise her.”
“Praise her?”
“The kind of praise children love. Scold her firmly when she doesn’t listen now and then. Like family.”
With those words, Verity returned his attention to searching through the materials.
Left behind, Pex felt as though a typhoon had swept through and passed—his heart unsettled, yet his mind oddly clear.
Perhaps that was why.
…….
A book entered his sharpened gaze.
“……Verity.”
Pex withdrew the book as if in a trance, murmuring his words.
“Should the Undead be classified as living creatures?”
“It depends on the circumstances. But why do you ask……?”
“Before I came to the Exile Settlement, there was a heated topic in this field.”
That year, the medical field as a whole had advanced greatly thanks to Magitech Engineering.
Various medical devices were invented, and surgical methods superior to Healing Magic were developed.
At a time when many people expected the field to progress even further.
An unforeseen subject emerged.
“The question of Body Modification came to the fore.”
“Body Modification?”
“The basic proposal was to modify and strengthen the human body using certain drugs, surgery, or magitech devices, then apply these enhancements to military purposes.”
…….
Verity’s hands stilled mid-motion.
In that instant, what came to mind was a Demon with grotesquely warped features, having gained immense power.
‘It used Alchemy with human sacrifice.’
Those victims became Undead and remained trapped in this Manor even now.
“Verity, this is merely my conjecture.”
Pex’s voice had grown firmer than before, granting him leave to disregard it.
“Body Modification became such a heated topic because a research facility was discovered using corpses as experimental subjects for modification.”
…….
“Their claim was that if you resurrected a recently deceased corpse and brought it back to life, you could create the perfect military weapon that felt no pain.”
On the surface it seemed like creating Undead, but what the facility truly pursued was an immortal army.
Soldiers who wore human faces and possessed human intellect, yet moved under their master’s perfect command—human weapons.
“In the end, the research facility was shut down. However, a rumor circulated at the time…….”
“A rumor?”
“A single research facility would have no reason to create immortal soldiers like that. So, well…….”
Pex’s eyes darted nervously up and down as he finished his thought.
“……Perhaps the Emperor himself gave the order in secret.”
And there was a reasonably sound basis for this.
“Imperial knights and Imperial Mages visited the research facility ostensibly to investigate, and the very next day a massive fire broke out. And the researchers…….”
“All died?”
Pex nodded at Verity’s words.
Verity buried his face in his hands and exhaled a long sigh.
‘Ah, my lord……!’
Why did you give me such a task!
I should have suspected from the moment you singled me out, ignoring all the other subordinates, choosing only the General.
“Are you……alright?”
“Sob sob, it’s a sad life being a working man…….”
“You’ve certainly endured much, Verity.”
It was then that Pex, moved by sympathy, sought to console Verity.
Knock, knock.
Both men’s shoulders jerked, and they slowly turned their heads toward the closed door.
Knock, knock.
The sound squeezed their hearts once more.
* * *
“Light! There’s light coming from the Well!”
The one shouting was Saker and Cherdo.
“……What?”
And the one hearing it was none other than Saikup, the chief priest.
While the other priests were occupied with the throng of worshippers and patients flowing in, leaving them not a moment’s respite, Saikup sat alone in the largest rest room, sipping tea and reading.
“Are you whining about being tired?”
Saikup set down his teacup with deliberate force.
“No one here has it easy. Stop complaining and get back to your posts at once…….”
“Look at this!”
Saker abruptly rolled up his sleeve.
“My scar is gone!”
Saker had borne a long scar on his right arm—a wound from childhood play that had left its mark.
It was such a prominent blemish that none of the other priests were unaware of it, and Saikup was no exception.
“What, how is that…….”
“It was while we were catching our breath for a moment.”
Cherdo explained to Saikup, whose eyes had widened in astonishment.
“A feather came and tapped, tap-tap, against the windowpane.”
Drawn along as if entranced by the curious sight, we soon found ourselves in the Garden, where we discovered a glowing well.
“When we drew water from that well and drank it, Saker’s scar disappeared. It seems the well water has become Holy Water.”
“We must tell the other priests at once so that the patients……!”
“Wait, wait a moment!”
Saikup raised a hand to stop them both.
“Do not be hasty.”
He sought to persuade the two priests with the most measured and composed tone he could muster.
“We cannot be certain yet. Moreover, Holy Water requires verification and confirmation from the Central Headquarters.”
“Then would you contact the Central Headquarters for us, Chief Priest Saikup?”
Cherdo made the request.
“Since you come from the capital nobility, we trust you can reach them swiftly.”
“Of course.”
Saikup felt a wave of relief wash over him.
‘Give away something so precious to these worthless people for nothing?’
That was absolutely out of the question.
Saikup began plotting how to use the Holy Water to secure a transfer to the Central Headquarters.
“First, let us examine the well itself.”
The three priests made their way to the Garden.
The well still glowed with light. Even Saikup, who had harbored doubts about whether the others were telling the truth, found himself unable to deny it when confronted with the well’s radiant golden luminescence.
“Look inside.”
Saker had conveniently hung a ladle from the pulley to make inspection easier.
“The feather that guided us here fell into the well. We believe it is the feather of an angel that descended that day.”
“A feather?”
“We suspect it may be the feather that the Prince left in our care.”
“…….”
Saikup leaned his head down toward the well’s depths.
The darkness within was illuminated by the golden glow of the water.
And there, a beautiful woman’s face could be seen.
With hair long and white as fresh snow, her elegant and delicate features resembled a saint from scripture itself.
“…….”
Saikup’s expression became vacant, like a boy fallen into first love.
His mouth hung slack, and his unfocused eyes soon clouded over with filthy desire.
“Bastard.”
That was when it happened.
“You’re dead to Ian now.”
“……!”
Thwack.
The force of a shove to his back sent Saikup’s feet flying into the air.
As he plummeted into the well, the last thing Saikup’s eyes registered was a young girl casually wiping a nosebleed away with the back of her hand.
“…….”
Cherdo loosened the basket attached to the pulley and let it fall.
Only then did a sound emerge from within the well.
Splash.

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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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