The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 36

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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 36
“Hiiii……!”
Modi gasped, taken aback by my sheer forcefulness.
“What? You dare refuse my proposal?”
“N-no, of course I’ll train! I absolutely will!”
“Then what’s wrong? Why are you whimpering so pitifully…….”
“I-I have a wife!”
…….
“A wife to whom I’ve sworn eternal love — I can’t betray her! How could I possibly do such a thing with a little girl like you, Hebenia……!”
What is this feeling?
I should be happy that Modi is proving to be a perfectly normal, decent man.
‘And yet I’m oddly irritated.’
Probably because Ian and Verity are standing behind me, doubled over with laughter.
I pinched both of them sharply in the ribs before turning back to Modi.
“Your wife’s name is Frelia, then? It’s a lovely name.”
“Y-yes, it is.”
Modi’s expression softened considerably.
“I’ve always called her Frelia — my delicate little mimosa — and she used to call me Modi…….”
…….
Even as I absorbed this unnecessary information, a new concern bloomed in my chest.
Modi had been the longest-held prisoner in the place of exile. He’d spent eight long years wrongfully confined.
‘Eight years, and the husband sent to exile…….’
I suspected his wife had already remarried and built a new life by now.
But Modi looked so genuinely happy reminiscing about his beloved that I couldn’t bring myself to say so.
Ian and Verity kept their hands on my ribs, vigorously shaking their heads. Don’t you dare voice what you’re thinking, they were saying.
‘I know.’
And surely every other resident harbored the same unspoken dread.
‘People like Ribi have already resigned themselves to never seeing their loved ones again.’
In the end, my plan to immediately send Modi into the Primordial Forest and awaken his aptitude through rough handling was postponed.
‘Can’t be helped.’
I’d just have to start tomorrow.
* * *
The next morning.
I taught our new residents Pania and Nulla the village traditions.
“Every morning, our village gathers like this to do calisthenics.”
“……This counts as a tradition?”
Ian, loosening up his body, let out a hearty laugh.
“It’s been an event since the village was founded, so it’s absolutely a longstanding tradition.”
“Fair point — this kind of thing does build solidarity.”
Today, Verity stepped forward to lead the calisthenics.
For music, we either listened to whatever came through the Radio that the School Uniform Demon had left behind, or I’d request a specific song from Verity.
‘Is the radio frequency calibrated to Korean broadcasts?’
Suddenly I was curious about how the radio actually worked.
‘Wait — if that’s the case, does that mean I could retrieve my belongings from Korea?’
Reminding myself to ask Verity about it later, I threw myself into the routine, dancing earnestly to the melancholy lyrics of some woman pining after a man who’d left.
“Whew, our village chief has quite the stamina this early in the morning.”
“By the way, why is she holding her pinky to her mouth?”
“It’s funny and cute, so why not? I’m telling you, it’s hilarious to watch.”
“……You haven’t been drinking, have you?”
The moment calisthenics ended, I rushed over to Verity.
“Oh, miss. That routine was really funny…….”
“Can I retrieve things from where I used to live?”
At my abrupt question, Ian’s eyes widened rapidly.
“It’s an unexpected question, but yes.”
Hearing it was possible, I clenched my fist with satisfaction.
“However, the cost would be quite steep.”
“Psh, a few drops of my blood should be enough…….”
“For example, one book would cost you a finger.”
“……What?”
I froze solid, my arms still crossed and my expression still smugly confident.
Verity’s face suddenly loomed into view before my eyes. The demon’s smile was absolutely nauseating.
“The place where Miss stayed didn’t receive Summoning Permission from the demon realm, so it requires a great deal of effort.”
“There’s… there’s such a thing?”
“Do you remember the Multidimensional Alliance I mentioned before?”
I nodded slowly.
‘It was the day I first met Verity.’
Back then, I’d thought I was possessing a child’s body. So I’d tried to confirm by asking, and ended up learning several facts—including about the Multidimensional Alliance that way.
“The world Miss stayed in doesn’t belong to the Alliance. For your reference, demon summoning is only possible to worlds within the Alliance that have received permission.”
…….
“So to bring something back, you have to pay more than the standard price. Though since Miss is from the Clavis Family, you could settle it with a finger snap…….”
“Wait, wait a moment!”
There was a glaring contradiction in what Verity had just said.
“Then what about that song that played during the morning exercise earlier?”
That was definitely a Korean song.
The morning exercise songs that had been playing on the Radio until now were all Korean pop songs or classical pieces I’d been fond of back in Korea.
That wasn’t all.
The Sound Equipment installed in the Village Community Hall had a karaoke function, and every backing track recorded there was released by TX or Gold X Media.
And then there’s my beloved Shing-Shing Car.
Even some of the Fairy Tale Books I’d unwrapped to give to Flora.
Hadn’t I already brought back so much from there?
Ugh…….
At my objection, Verity made a groaning sound.
Then she darted her eyes back and forth, giving me a meaningful look.
‘What’s with her?’
Is she hinting at something?
I was recoiling with distaste when I suddenly gasped.
This situation where Verity was rejecting my request.
Her evasive attitude when answering my question.
“Unfortunately, there’s a prior wish.”
“A prior wish?”
“It’s a wish stipulating that if Miss were to ask for information like that—in other words, if you wished to know the Emperor’s true intentions—she must refuse. Quite underhanded and nasty, isn’t it?”
Good grief.
“Again?”
The Clavis Family head is popping up here too?
‘No, with a presence like that, just come out yourself right now……!’
The way that grandfather kept appearing whenever I’d nearly forgotten about him left me utterly speechless.
“I should tell you in advance.”
Verity spoke in a hesitant voice as if gauging my reaction. Not that she had any real reason to be cautious.
“I really don’t know much at all. I was deployed the moment I received orders from the School Uniform Demon.”
Yet Verity went ahead and told me that very ‘little’ she did know.
“If Miss were to request anything, I should help as much as possible, but if it were a material wish—for example, if you asked for some object—I was told to provide it from what they’ve prepared…….”
“They’ve prepared?”
“You know how it is.”
The Clavis Family.
In other words, not just the Radio and Sound Equipment, but the Fairy Tale Books and Shing-Shing Car included—everything I’d ever wanted was Korean-made.
“But.”
Verity continued.
The wish that the Clavis Family head had placed didn’t end there.
“If by chance Miss should wish for something you’d left behind in your original home, he ordered me to charge a much higher price than usual.”
“What?”
“Ha ha, rather nasty, isn’t it?”
“Damn that old bastard!”
“I myself fully agree with that sentiment.”
Verity said this with obvious delight as she watched me seethe with indignation.
“So, I have a proposal for you and the villagers regarding this matter. May I bring it up as an agenda item at the next Village Assembly?”
I tilted my head as I looked at Verity making her polite request.
“Of course. You’re a resident of our village, after all.”
…….
“Or are you trying to sneak tax evasion past me? I’m planning to collect taxes from you too later.”
“……I would’ve been moved for quite some time if you hadn’t said that.”
Verity flashed a hollow smile, then teased me by saying I was a spitting image of Clavis.
Now that I knew it was an insult, I promptly jabbed her in the ribs with my finger.
* * *
The next day.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Agh! A-ahhh! Please, save me!”
“Swing it! Swing faster and land at least one blow!”
“Kyaaahhh!”
“Don’t stop your arm! Swing the club at the same time!”
While the village adults concentrated on their training to beat the demons alongside Verity.
I was at some distance away, digging soil from the Primordial Forest with a spade and filling it into burlap sacks.
At the same time, I kept turning over yesterday’s conversation with Verity in my mind.
‘I was too excited yesterday to realize it, but essentially Clavis had prepared Korean things for me in advance.’
For the youngest left alone.
For me alone.
“……Hehe.”
Stupidly grinning, I quickly pressed both hands over my mouth.
‘What am I smiling about!’
My pride wouldn’t allow itself to soften over such a small kindness.
‘Still, Korea isn’t part of that Multidimensional Alliance thing, so getting something from there would require an enormous price, they said……’
Even as I couldn’t yet accept Clavis, two conflicting urges clashed endlessly within me—my desire to defend those who’d paid such a great cost for my sake.
‘I’m really such an easy person, aren’t I.’
In any case, I didn’t deny the fact that I’d felt genuine affection for Clavis for the first time.
“H-hey, Hebenia!”
“Put up a Protective Barrier quick! Grahhhh!”
“Oh my.”
Pulled from my reverie, I quickly cast a Protective Barrier around the adults.
A wolf-shaped demon came charging, dripping white saliva, and opened its massive jaws to bite at the barrier.
But my barrier no longer shattered so easily against that kind of bite force.
“Why do you call on the young lady for help like this,” Verity grumbled disapprovingly, standing with the adults.
“You should be training with the resolve to land at least one more blow no matter what!”
“Unnngh…….”
“Mmmmgh…….”
Four people were participating in this training session.
The Executor Following the Absolute, Modi.
The Bloodied Berserker, Nema.
The Consoling Bard, Organ.
The Fate-Reading Seer, Dayf.
Among them, the person Verity paid the closest attention to was Nema, the Bloodied Berserker, who had a physical aptitude.
“What did you do back in the secular world, Nema? Beat up people who wouldn’t listen? Your club technique is quite impressive.”
“Well, I was just a regular clothing shop worker…….”
Nema herself seemed burdened by the attention.
She still harbored doubts about her aptitude being classified as a Berserker.
“Miss!”
Then Verity called out, waving her arm.
I, who had been watching the training from a distance, hurried over.
“Let’s head back soon. We’re running up to the promised noon hour.”
“Yes.”
At those words, the adults pressed their hands together in prayer and shed tears of joy.
“Other people endured this grueling training for five whole days…….”
Modi, using his club as a cane, rose to his feet with difficulty and muttered bleakly.
The others seemed equally anxious about the training that lay ahead.
This training session had only lasted two hours.
Partly because there were no outings scheduled, and partly due to Verity’s suggestion that she wanted to plan the residents’ training more systematically.
“I’m about to start doing things properly myself.”
“Doing what?”
“Training.”
“Ugh.”
I let out a sigh.

Adults in their pathetic social lives, unable to surrender openly to despair, forcing their mouths upward into smiles.

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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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