The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 35

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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 35
* * *
‘The Village Chief never catches a break.’
Right back and straight into work.
I pressed down on the accelerator of the Zing Zing Car, and the shabby pinwheel decorating the front spun rapidly.
‘Flora made this.’
A cheerful hum escaped unbidden.
My first stop was Elba’s house.
“Could you make some Medicine of Truth? I’d like to offer it to guests.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t know how to make it…….”
“Are you hesitant because of the side effects? Then you don’t have to make it. It’s not urgent.”
“I don’t have the ingredients.”
When the Discolored Demon visited, I managed to procure the equipment by asking, but we lack the medicinal herbs and other materials necessary for producing the Medicine of Truth.
“And what’s a few side effects anyway? You’re going to use it on that scoundrel Rebus or whatever his name is.”
“That’s the plan for now, yes.”
“Hmph, that’s the wretch who pinned that false charge on our Ian!”
Elba, who’d been bristling indignantly, seemed to notice me watching and glanced over belatedly.
“You won’t tell him I said that, will you? Ian worries enough about your moral education as it is.”
“Hehe! I’ll keep it secret!”
I noted down the herbs and materials I needed.
‘Hmm, should I take this chance to arrange a second supply run? Now that I have a way to reach Deste Estate directly…….’
The wheels of the Zing Zing Car rolled slowly toward the next destination.
‘We really ought to establish a revenue stream for our village soon, don’t we?’
I’d have to give up the rare medicinal herb I’d been lucky enough to find—it pained me.
‘Elba wanted the same, and circumstances have forced our hand. Instead, I’ll have to look for something else that turns a profit.’
Mulling it over alone would yield nothing, so I decided to bring it up at the next village meeting.
My second destination was home.
“You have something for me?”
Libi looked up from the Basic Grimoire she’d been reading at the estate, her eyes widening with curiosity.
“Is it like a surprise gift?”
“Well, it might be a pointless thing, but…….”
I glanced around our empty room unnecessarily.
Then I spoke in a low voice.
“Your brother seems to be safe.”
“……!”
I gently took Libi’s stiffened hand.
“I asked the priests yesterday—whether we could get hold of the Holy Knight Corps roster. They gave me the one compiled this year.”
“Ah…….”
“Your brother’s name is Olive, right?”
I’d heard it enough times to remember.
“Your brother had Holy Power from childhood. And his body was strong too—the Holy Knight Corps was offering him a position from when he was small.”
“He was a Holy Knight aspirant, and he was supposed to receive his ordination soon.”
“If he hadn’t been expelled because of me, he would surely have become a Holy Knight…….”
I handed the roster that Saker had given me to Libi.
“Look—he’s here.”
[Holy Knight Corps Red Hunting Dogs Unit – Olive]
Libi’s hands trembled as she gripped the list.
I pretended not to see the tears dropping onto the roster.
“I also asked if any aspirants had been expelled recently. Fortunately, nothing like that happened in the past few years. So it really must be your brother…….”
Before I could even finish, Libi pulled me into a sudden embrace.
“…….”
Libi murmured something in a choked voice, but her voice was so thick with tears that I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Rather than ask clumsily, I opened my short arms wide and held her in return.
“It really is wonderful, isn’t it?”
“Sob, sniffle…….”
“Next time, let’s go meet your brother. Since he’s become a Holy Knight, I can ask the priests we’ve gotten close to…….”
“No, that’s……fine.”
Libi slowly pulled away from me and roughly wiped her soaked face with the back of her hand.
“Right now, I can’t see him.”
“Huh? W-why……?”
I didn’t understand.
“Don’t you want to see her? Even I get curious about family I don’t remember, wanting to catch a glimpse of her face sometimes…….”
“The Red Hunting Dogs Unit, though.”
“What about it?”
“The Red Hunting Dogs are the symbol of the Heretic Inquisitors.”
“H-Heretics……?”
Heresy meant pseudo-religions that cause harm to people.
“……Ah.”
I stared at Libi without closing my mouth. When our eyes met, Libi smiled faintly.
“My aptitude is being a Great Mage blessed by demons, after all.”
“Sister, that’s…….”
“And I’m living with the help of the demons too.”
“If we’re going to be picky about things like that, Clavis would’ve been wiped out ages ago.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“Right? So there’s no need to worry…….”
“Still, you never know. It’s not bad to be prepared just in case. That doesn’t mean I won’t see her at all. If the chance comes, I really do want to meet her.”
“Sister Libi…….”
“So for now, it’s enough just knowing she’s alive.”
There was no dishonesty in Libi’s faint smile of reassurance.
“…….”
The gift I’d prepared to make Libi happy had instead left her in an awkward position.
I felt nothing but sorry for having done something foolish.
* * *
“Oh, that’s not the young lady’s fault.”
Back at the Village Hall, I told Verity and Ian what had just happened.
For what it’s worth, the three of us were currently reviewing the village report that Modi had prepared and organized during my absence.
And Modi had stepped out to retrieve some documents he’d prepared separately for me.
“And Libi isn’t saying she won’t meet her brother at all. She’s probably made her decision after thinking through several things.”
“What several things?”
“Hebeniah, have you forgotten?”
Ian said.
“We may have been framed, but we’re still considered violent criminals.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
I recalled the fact I’d forgotten.
“If it becomes known that a felon’s younger sibling is a Holy Knight—and one directly under the Holy King, no less—serving as a Heretic Inquisitor, how much damage would she suffer.”
Faced with Ian’s cold observation, my shoulders slumped.
“Either way, Libi’s younger brother is no ordinary person.”
“Not even twenty years old, and already a Heretic Inquisitor…….”
The exchange between Verity and Ian carried weight.
‘The Heretic Inquisitors aren’t just a group that catches and punishes pseudo-religions, are they?’
Ian, noticing my doubt, explained.
“Like I said before, the Heretic Inquisitors are a unit directly under the Holy King.”
“The Holy King?”
“The Holy King refers to the leader of this nation’s state religion. Since they move under the Holy King’s direct orders, the Heretic Inquisitors hold considerable power.”
“Wow, you really know a lot!”
“Well, I was a knight once, after all.”
He understood the various armed groups that existed in the Empire to some degree.
“Heretic Inquisitors are selected only from Holy Knights with outstanding records.”
“So they only pick experienced officers?”
“Which makes Libi’s younger brother quite remarkable.”
Verity’s eyes gleamed like a deviant coveting talent.
“Libi is eighteen now, correct? If her brother is younger than that and still became a Heretic Inquisitor, he’s no ordinary talent.”
“Extraordinary. I’d love to cross blades with him once.”
“Good grief, and Heretic Inquisitors are such vicious breed.”
I listened in silence to the conversation the two were having.
‘So basically, Libi’s younger brother is a prodigy?’
Like Verity, I found myself coveting that younger brother.
‘If only he’d become one of us.’
Then Libi could live with far less burden than now.
We could plant an informant in the Sacred Shrine—no, in the Central Sacred Shrine where the Holy King himself resides.
It might prove quite useful in standing against the Emperor.
‘The Sacred Shrine hasn’t been all bad so far.’
Just the two priests I’ve recently grown close to—Saker and Cherdo—they’re conscientious men.
‘The Shrine seemed troubled by the Emperor’s tyranny too. Enemy of my enemy is my ally, so if I can make good use of this situation, that would be ideal.’
Knock, knock.
That was when it happened.
“Hebeniah, are you in?”
“Modi!”
Modi stepped through the door with one arm laden with a thick stack of documents.
‘…What?’
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
‘How much is all that?’
I was only gone for a week? And he produced this much? Without a computer or keyboard? By hand alone?
While I was still reeling, Modi began explaining the documents he’d brought.
“This is an educational schedule reflecting the villagers’ opinions, compiled from the suggestion box two days ago.”
“The one where everyone learns each other’s hobbies and talents, right?”
“Exactly, Ian. I’ve drafted a rough schedule of days and times first, then confirmed it with the villagers. I even sketched out an idea for your swordsmanship lessons….”
Beyond that were proposals for village welfare facility locations, guidance documents for village facility management, housing solutions accounting for future population growth, and much more.
‘Wow, it’s perfect…!’
He’d even drafted plans for pet protection.
“Wow, Modi, that’s amazing!”
“Did you really do all this by yourself?”
Verity and Ian showered him with praise.
Modi’s face flushed under the torrent of compliments, and he wore an embarrassed expression.
His repeated tugging at his nape made him look far younger than usual.
“I’d done similar work outside the village, you see.”
“Now that you mention it, you said you worked at a government office?”
“Well, I did….”
“If this is the quality of your work, shouldn’t you be the Village Chief instead?”
At those words, I flinched.
“My dignity as Village Chief…!”
“You never had any to begin with?”
I pinched Verity’s side sharply and twisted.
‘The Discolored Demon forced this title on me, but I still took pride in it…!’
My pride was wounded.
But I was twenty-five years old, and I’d lived a life far too tumultuous to be shaken by something like this.
‘Running the village alone is naturally impossible. I need the help of adults. Especially experienced professionals like this!’
With his skill level, he’d also perform excellently in the role of Deste Estate’s lord.
‘He’ll do far better than that wretch Rebus ever could.’
Precisely for this reason.
“Modi!”
“Uh, yes?”
“You know I love you fiercely, don’t you?”
“W-well, how would I not…?”
As Modi tried to slip backward, I caught him with no hesitation and pinned him against the wall.
I wrapped both my arms around him so he couldn’t escape.
“What kind of sight is this….”
Ian muttered sadly, as if witnessing a fever dream on an exhausting day, but I ignored him cleanly.
“If you don’t understand my love, I’ll carve it into your very body starting now.”
“That means throwing Modi straight into the Primordial Forest and rolling him around. It can also be interpreted as urgently awakening his true talents so he becomes useful to me.”
The demon butler Verity translated my confession without a shred of romance.

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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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