The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 4

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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 4
* * *
After the storm of tears had passed.
“Hebenia, are you hungry?”
“I’ve made a stew.”
“Look at you, pale as a ghost. Come on, eat something and get your strength back.”
Embarrassed that I’d cried in front of them, the adults quickly ushered me downstairs to the Dining Hall, hoisting me up as they went.
The moment I sat down at the table, a bowl of Cream Stew appeared before me.
Brimming with meat and vegetables, it stirred my appetite just to look at it.
“Wow, this is really delicious……!”
At my exclamation, Popina shrugged his shoulders with satisfaction.
This bald-headed man handled the cooking at Exile, and he’d been sent here on a murder charge stemming from food safety law violations.
According to him, he’d been quite a famous chef.
After we finished eating, we moved out to the Garden.
The moment I stepped outside, my eyes went wide.
‘Did a rich person live here?’
The instant I sat down on the Garden grass, my backside—accustomed to hard floors for two months—flinched at the touch of something so soft.
It wasn’t just me; everyone reacted the same way, which struck me as a little funny.
Modi, the oldest of the Exile Group, stepped forward.
His crime was assault and battery and illegal organization and operation of a group.
“Before we discuss what to do next, I’d like to extend our gratitude to Hebenia once more.”
“Come on, everyone—a round of applause for our hero!”
Ian grinned and hoisted me up again.
Another wave of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted.
I placed a hand over my heart and playfully bowed my head again and again.
“But why us, I wonder?”
Nema, who’d been arrested on a False Charge of selling counterfeit goods, spoke up.
“What the guards said keeps bothering me.”
“They were definitely planning to make us mine ore…….”
“But just for that?”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
We decided to check if we had anything in common.
But among the twelve of us in total, we found no common thread that bound us together.
“We can puzzle over that later.”
Modi took the lead again.
“For now, what matters is figuring out what comes next.”
Everyone nodded at Modi’s words.
I did too.
‘He’s right.’
We—the Exile Group, wrongfully imprisoned here—had regained our freedom.
But it was only half a freedom.
We were still trapped in the Primeval Forest teeming with Monsters, and we’d become dead people before we could even clear our names.
‘If I’d known we were innocent, I’d have wished for escape…….’
Had I made a mistake with my wish?
Anxiety gnawed at me as I worried I might have blundered.
“Still, we’re breathing easier thanks to you, Hebenia.”
Libi, standing beside me, pressed a hand to her chest.
“Hebenia, you haven’t seen yet, have you? The Demon filled the Warehouse with provisions—clothes, shoes, fabric, everything!”
“Enough to live on for the rest of our lives.”
Ian’s quip about the almost manic generosity drew laughter from everyone.
‘They look more at ease now…….’
Only then did I notice how much more settled they all seemed than before.
“It’s a real blessing. We’re not ready to face the world yet anyway.”
“That’s true. Who would believe us if we claimed we were falsely charged?”
“Well, truth be told, I didn’t believe you were innocent either. I apologize for being so late to see it.”
“It’s all right. Everyone probably felt the same way.”
“Everyone except me, you mean. The rest of you are all dangerous criminals.”
I listened quietly to what the adults were saying.
‘I see.’
For reasons I didn’t understand, the Emperor had falsely charged innocent people and locked them away at Exile, all for ore.
Then he said we’d outlived our usefulness and tried to kill us on the spot.
‘For now, staying here and planning for the future seems safest.’
My judgment wasn’t wrong.
It had helped the Exile Group.
“Then, shall we?”
I raised my hand to request the floor.
“Let’s live well here.”
That was the best goal and plan we could manage in this place right now.
* * *
“Should we take a look around first?”
Following Ian’s suggestion, we decided to explore our new home.
The village was vast.
By my reckoning, it took a full hour of walking just to reach the forest’s edge.
“This looks like the Residential District.”
“Did nobility live here? Look at how big these buildings are.”
“No, it’s a commoner’s Residential District. Too small for a manor.”
“And yet, to think it was this grand……”
I could vividly sense just how prosperous a great city Exilium had once been.
We visited the Warehouse too, and sure enough, there wasn’t just food—clothes and all manner of necessities were stacked high, just as Libi had said.
‘Demon……!’
I’d thought him just a fastidious pretty boy with eccentric tastes, but he was actually this compassionate!
‘From now on, I’ll address him with respect—truly show him my reverence.’
“Still, not a single animal anywhere.”
Libi looked up at the blue sky with a wistful expression.
“I’m actually starting to miss the sound of birds.”
Because of the Monsters inhabiting the Primeval Forest, this new home, like the Exile, had not a single ant to be seen.
That’s why this clean, peaceful landscape felt faintly eerie.
Then it happened.
A beast’s roar echoed from outside the Warehouse.
Libi and I locked eyes and rushed toward the sound.
In a weedy Clearing, the adults were bustling about excitedly.
As I drew closer, I saw Elba kneeling on the ground, rummaging through the weeds—she’d once served time for violating pharmacy laws.
‘Goodness, her eyes have gone half-wild……!’
As I stood frozen in shock, Ian approached and explained.
“She found an incredibly rare medicinal herb.”
“A medicinal herb?”
“Not just any rare herb!”
Elba suddenly sprang to her feet and cried out in a loud voice.
“It’s Dulchevias—an extremely rare medicinal herb!”
She was so excited that her eyes were bloodshot.
I examined the herb closely.
It was a plant distinguished by heart-shaped leaves. Drawing near and sniffing at it, I caught a sweet, honey-like fragrance.
“It shows remarkable efficacy for detoxification, hemostasis, inflammation relief—in short, nearly every ailment. That’s why its nickname is the Cure-All.”
What’s more, artificial cultivation is impossible.
Even naturally, it appears only once or twice a year, and the scholarly community had already accepted it as extinct—it hasn’t been sighted in decades.
Yet here it was, growing wild like a weed right before our eyes, in abundance.
‘That means……!’
My eyes went wide with astonishment, just like Elba’s.
“Is it expensive? Is this expensive?”
“A single stem could easily support a family of four for twenty days!”
And that wasn’t all the Dulchevias either.
Rare and precious herbs and mushrooms were growing naturally throughout every corner of the Residential District.
“How can this be……!”
I couldn’t contain my amazement.
“We can’t sell any of this that’s worth money!”
I beat the ground in lamentation alongside Elba.
This was certainly a situation worthy of a beast’s roar.
* * *
Elba confidently declared that the medicinal materials and mushrooms she’d discovered today were worth at least several hundred million Ribs.
And yet what good was it?
‘I can’t seem to grasp the concept.’
Still, having picked up one fact—that the currency here was called the Rib—I consoled myself that it wasn’t all bad.
“Right.”
Just then, Libi called me over.
“The Demon said that once you woke up, you should summon him.”
“He did?”
“I just remembered. I hope waiting for him didn’t upset him.”
“He’s not the type to get angry over something like this. Besides, I’ve only just woken up myself.”
“I suppose that’s true, but…”
Libi trailed off with an awkward laugh.
‘Are they scared?’
Looking closer, I realized the others seemed quite afraid of the Demon.
He’d been kind enough to help us; I wished they weren’t so frightened of him.
Still, one had to account for every possibility, so we decided to make a few preparations in case the Demon was angry.
I returned to the building where we’d first stayed and picked up a small stone, then drew a Summoning Circle outside the house.
An inverted star, and a circle.
The finishing touch, once again, was saliva.
“Ptooey.”
“What—why are you spitting?”
“It’s the price for Summoning.”
“What?”
The adults stirred, shocked.
“A demon taking a seven-year-old’s spit as payment…”
“Of course he’s a demon. The things he desires are truly vile.”
Meanwhile, the moment my saliva touched the Summoning Circle, it burst with brilliant light.
‘Huh?’
Did it do that before?
Bewildered by the different response, pale smoke suddenly began billowing out of the circle in thick, undulating waves.
At the same time, a grand and majestic opera surged forward as background music.
Bang!
With a deafening boom and flashing light bouncing off polished shoes, a figure tore through the smoke.
‘Oh no, did calling him late actually make him mad?’
That didn’t seem like the Demon I knew.
But given the circumstances, I quickly gestured to the others behind me.
“The Demon!”
“The Demon!”
“We believe!”
“We hold faith!”
We dropped to our knees and pressed ourselves flat against the ground, shouting and praising like deranged demon worshippers.
When there was still no response, I lifted my head and cracked one eye open.
“…”
“…”
A gaudy red silk shirt with a crude floral pattern, paired with loose black trousers.
A thick gold chain around his neck, and between unbuttoned shirt-flaps, an angel tattoo.
A harsh, savage expression, a heavy and solid frame.
Garishly bleached straw-colored hair, unkempt and matted.
Lastly, eyes like a worn sun—fierce and piercing.
A demon radiating fin-de-siècle gangster aesthetics looked down at us as though we were mad.
I looked up at the demon with the same expression.
‘A demon with an angel tattoo?’
Did that even make sense?
* * *
To distinguish this newly summoned demon from the one called before, we temporarily nicknamed him the “Bleached Demon.”
The first thing the Bleached Demon did was scold us.
“A few years in Exile and you’ve all lost your minds? These fools worshipping demons like they don’t know what the world has to fear!”
Being scolded by a demon for demon worship—how was that supposed to work?
“If you’ve got time to waste on this nonsense, love your neighbors more and take better care of yourselves! Look at your bodies! You’re nothing but bones, for crying out loud!”
Yet his words weren’t wrong, so we simply crouched down and listened to his harsh reprimand in silence.
‘It’s like being lectured about living righteously by a murderer.’

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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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