The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 32

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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 32
‘I’ll just close my eyes for a bit and wake up once we arrive.’
Perhaps it was the good mood, but despite my body’s exhaustion, my mind grew steadily clearer.
Just then, the swaying of the carriage began to diminish. We must be arriving at the Mansion soon.
‘That fast? Does she use the Space-Folding Technique?’
Thinking as much, I opened my eyes slowly—and the bright sunlight stung.
‘My body feels recovered. My Ability really is growing stronger…….’
I sat up with quiet satisfaction, but suddenly my body tilted sharply to the side. The arm supporting my torso had gone limp.
“Huh?”
I blinked in confusion at what was happening.
The door swung open with a bang, and several adults filed in.
“Oh, the young lady’s finally awake.”
“Hebenia, did you sleep well?”
“Ha, our village chief really did sleep soundly.”
Pex chuckled good-naturedly, pointing out the drool at the corner of my mouth.
I reflexively wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. The moisture smeared onto my skin.
Verity, who had pulled a chair up beside the bed, spoke.
“Goodness, using your Ability so recklessly—how does your body hold up? You’ve slept nearly a full day. It’s remarkable you haven’t developed bedsores.”
“What?”
“You slept for a whole day. Look at the Watch.”
Verity held up the Watch on her left wrist to show me.
“What?”
The time now was seven in the morning.
The date had changed to the next day.
* * *
“Just so you know, I’m the one who woke you,” Libi said, feeding me a spoonful of soft stew.
The creamy broth and tender carrot were quite pleasant.
Most notably, there were two strips of Bacon in my bowl today.
“But you just wouldn’t wake up. Your complexion looked so poor that I laid you down in bed, and you kept sleeping and sleeping.”
“You pushed your Ability beyond its limits, so your body grew exhausted. Still, seeing how well you eat now, I think we can be reassured,” Verity said.
With a wistful expression, Verity cut the Bacon into bite-sized pieces.
“Please eat plenty today…….”
Clearly, Libi had given her a talking-to.
Once a hearty breakfast had finished,
Libi went off to care for the young siblings she’d brought yesterday, saying she’d be in the next room since the children had just woken. Verity, Pex, and I exchanged what we’d learned the day before.
When I told them what happened at the Temple, Verity grew delighted, saying a Priestess had high utility value. Pex sighed with concern, saying the Temple’s circumstances must be difficult.
Then it was Verity’s turn to report.
First, all the Imperial Knights had been knocked unconscious and locked in the Underground Prison.
I didn’t want to know what method was used, and the mention that they wouldn’t wake until tomorrow made me uneasy, so I let it pass.
“The Undead servants here—they all look like Experimental Subjects,” Verity said.
“Experimental Subjects?”
The moment I heard those words, I recalled my past suspicions about what sort of experiment the Emperor was planning.
“Yesterday Verity and I observed them in various ways,” Pex said.
“They all repeated certain actions in a regular pattern.”
“Actions?”
“It seems to be a Behavior Pattern implanted when they were turned into Undead. Their experience working in this Mansion when alive probably played a role too.”
“Yesterday, Verity and I were searching for documents in the Office when they knocked on the door, saying it was mealtime,” Pex added.
It had been behavior meant to attend to Mole Rebus.
‘……This sickens me.’
Killing living people and turning them into puppets that obey commands.
How could anyone even conceive of such a thing? And even if they did, I couldn’t fathom the ruthlessness required to actually carry it out.
‘The sense of superiority makes me hate it all the more…….’
Everyone but me is beneath contempt.
So it’s no problem to treat them however one wishes.
‘To my eyes, that way of thinking is far more barbaric.’
At least the Undead servants retained no cognitive function, which was some small mercy.
“Right—when they saw Pex and me, they called us ‘my lord,'” Verity said.

“So they can’t identify people.”
I felt sorry for the dead, but I couldn’t deny the relief that flooded through me.
This meant I could safely assign a replacement for Mole Rebus’s vacancy.
But then Pex proposed something entirely unexpected.
“Would it be alright if we took one of the hired workers back to our village?”
“I’m sorry?”
My shock must have shown, because Pex hurried to explain himself.
“I want to analyze the Curse Formula and techniques bound to their bodies. If I can unravel those, I can offer them true rest.”
“No, that’s not the problem—”
I’d never doubted his intentions.
‘The elders in our village are people who chose to bear false accusations in silence.’
My worry lay elsewhere.
“What if the hired workers have a location-tracking function embedded in them? If they leave a certain radius, their enemies could be notified, or worse, they could explode—”
“Ah, so you were concerned about that too, Hebenia.”
Pex accepted my concern without resistance. He admitted it had troubled him as well.
“If we can confirm it’s safe, there’s no reason not to bring them.”
Pex nodded at my words.
“But if Demonic Magic has been layered on top of everything else, I can’t possibly analyze it alone. It’ll take considerable time.”
“Within a year, then—”
“Absolutely not.”
……
I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
‘I’d hoped it could be finished before the Chief Attendant returns.’
I’d thought a year was plenty, but now a year felt far too short.
My confidence that I could seize the Deste Territory within that time suddenly felt shameful.
‘Even if I did seize it—’
Would the people here truly be safe?
Would the Emperor simply allow it?
Could I even protect them?
My wariness of the Emperor cut sharply through my complacency.
I realized with painful clarity how hollow my dreams were, how powerless I truly was.
“……Hmm.”
Watching my face, Verity’s mouth curved into a slight smile.
“Most people would be despairing in a situation like this.”
……
“So why does our village chief look so nastily scheming instead?”
“Just curse me out. Go ahead.”
I grumbled even as my fingers traced my own features.
One corner of my mouth was twisted upward.
‘I really do look viciously cunning.’
But I couldn’t help it.
‘It’s thrilling.’
If we actually managed to seize the Deste Territory from this seemingly hopeless position, how exhilarating would that be?
‘I never knew I had this competitive fire in me—!’
The Emperor probably believed he was controlling this situation.
‘Then I’ll just turn it back on him.’
There’s nothing we can’t do.
‘……This is even more thrilling than a revolution.’
* * *
Before heading back to the village.
We observed the Undead hired workers one more time, carefully.
We walked past them as they busily went about their cleaning, making casual conversation.
Each time, the workers responded with a polite smile and greeted us, then selected one of three fixed sentences to answer with.
“I shall fetch the Baron.”
“Have you made an appointment?”
“I shall show you to the Office.”
And at mealtimes, they would knock—tap-tap—on the Office door and say, “It is time for your meal.”
When Pex, already inside, said he would eat, they would escort him to the Dining Hall.
“……They seem so alive.”
Watching them, an uneasy weight settled in my chest.
It was pitiful enough that they’d been killed unjustly, but to be exploited even in death—their situation stirred something in me.
Verity reached over and gently patted my head.
“As you can see, the employees simply repeat the injected behavioral patterns, as I explained.”
“But what if they somehow showed what they’ve seen to the Emperor or the Chief Attendant? Wireless communications, surveillance camera functions, things like that…….”
“If that were the case, I would have detected it already.”
……
“Miss, despite appearances, I’m a demon recognized by the lords.”
“Magic isn’t my strong suit, or so I claimed.”
In any case, I’d confirmed that we could leave the Undead employees unattended without worry.
After that, I exchanged proper greetings with the young siblings Libi had been keeping.
A boy with an impressively mature bearing introduced himself first.
“I’m Pania, eight years old. And this is my little sister, Nulla.”
“Five years old…….”
Nulla held out her small hand, revealing her age.
“I’m Hebenia. I’m seven years old, and I’m the mayor of Exilium Village.”
“Mayor? You?”
Pania squinted one eye, his skepticism plain.
“Unfortunately, it’s quite real.”
Verity stepped in to corroborate.
The word “unfortunately” had rubbed me slightly the wrong way, but I had no intention of wearing out my mouth proving that I was indeed the mayor.
‘Because I’ll show you directly.’
But before that.
I asked Pania and Nulla one last question.
“You’re not going to regret coming with us, are you?”
“We didn’t really have a choice in the first place, did we?”
Pania pointed to Libi.
“She threatened to destroy our parents’ grave if we didn’t go with her. This woman was completely out of her mind.”
“Don’t question my sincerity in wanting to save you both.”
Libi apologized and winked with one eye.
Pania shuddered with an “ugh” sound. Somehow I had the feeling he and Ian would get along well.
“……The medicine merchant grandfather said we hurt him because of us.”
“It wasn’t because of you.”
I pointed out the misinformation clearly and corrected it.
“It was the bad adults who made the mistake.”
“Those knights, right?”
“Yes.”
“Still, I’m sorry to grandfather. If I just hadn’t gotten sick, he wouldn’t have had to go through that.”
Pania’s blue eyes glistened slightly with guilt.
“So this time, I’m going to help grandfather.”
But instead of crying, this resolute boy quietly steeled his resolve.
“After our parents passed, grandfather always took care of us. He even asked us to live with him first.”
“You’re going to live with him?”
“He suggested it several times, but I turned him down. I felt apologetic to our parents who’d passed away. But now…….”
Pania glanced at Nulla beside him. The moment their eyes met, Nulla broke into a wide grin.
“……I’m going to live with him.”
Pania, having exchanged smiling glances with his little sister, looked me directly in the eye.
“It’s a safe place, right?”
“Even the Empire can’t touch it carelessly.”
“I’ll trust you for now.”
“Such audacity from someone so small.”
That was precisely why I liked him.
‘You need that kind of spirit to survive in our village.’
Because I was going to mold everyone my way.
‘You’re no exception either, boy.’
I was smirking to myself when I noticed wariness flicker across Pania’s gaze as he watched me.
“Something’s weird about her…….”
“Well, well, this new resident has good instincts.”
Verity lightly tapped Pania’s shoulder.
“This strange and adorable young lady will be the mayor you’ll have to contend with from now on.”

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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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