The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 47

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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 47
“Oh! Oh, our sister!”
I couldn’t contain my joy and rushed over to throw my arms around Libi’s legs.
In my excitement, I tried to lift her up, but I couldn’t bear her weight and tumbled backward instead—then I scrambled up and embraced her again.
“Our sister did it!”
She succeeded in casting Magic on her own.
The adults celebrated as if it were their own achievement.
“Good heavens!”
“That’s incredible! Wow, congratulations!”
“Show us again! How did you do it?”
Libi, who had been standing stunned, finally came to her senses as the flood of well-wishes from the villagers washed over her.
She felt bashful at the sudden attention yet bursting with pride—a girl not yet twenty, brimming with energy and delight.
“It’s hard to explain with words…….”
Libi pondered for a long moment, unsure how to put it into words, and then conjured the yellow flame once more.
A collective gasp rose from the gathered villagers surrounding Libi.
“I was helping Popina with cooking. Suddenly, I felt something strange coursing through my body.”
As she searched for the source of that sensation, she naturally became aware of her heartbeat, the flex of her muscles, the thrum of blood in her veins.
And then, by chance.
“……I felt it.”
Something very pure and small.
A flow of energy that wrapped gently around her heart.
It was Mana.
The moment she recognized it, she could sense the flow of Mana clearly, and that’s how she succeeded in casting Magic.
‘This sister is a prodigy too.’
Her younger brother had become an Inquisitor at an unusually young age, so it seemed the siblings truly were cut from the same cloth.
“Hebeniah.”
As I continued to marvel, Libi smiled and said this to me:
“Now I can be more helpful.”
“……Sister, you’ve always been someone who helps.”
“I’m even more excited now!”
“…….”
Why were these villagers so genuinely kind?
An overwhelming surge of emotion rose in my chest; I calmed it slowly with a deep breath.
There are moments when joy brings tears instead of laughter—and I found myself at precisely that moment.
‘Not now.’
Not in front of everyone.
Especially not as the village chief.
Not on this joyful day.
‘What we need now is noise and merriment.’
The mood had grown quieter—not an uncomfortable silence, but an expectant one, waiting to see what would come next.
“……Today!”
I called out with all my strength.
“On this blessed occasion of Exilium Village’s first Harvest Festival, we have been granted such joyous tidings. How could I, as chief, sit idle?”
The village erupted into cheerful noise at once.
“Today is my treat! Korean Beef grilled over charcoal—as much as you’d like!”
“Yaaaaay!”
“……But what is Korean Beef?”
“Something delicious, surely.”
* * *
Korean Beef.
‘It’s the food I love and hate most of all.’
Until I turned twenty, I had never eaten Korean Beef even once.
In my household, Korean Beef was food that families ate together on joyful occasions. At least it was in my family, so I could never be part of those meals.
Even after I became independent, for a long time I never so much as glanced at Korean Beef.
“……You have such a delicate side to you, Miss.”
“I simply hadn’t grown up yet.”
Outside, the noise of celebration continued.
When I mentioned that I wanted grilled Korean Beef, Verity immediately set up an outdoor dining area for us.
“My goodness, the meat melts away with just one chew?”
“So there’s a way to grill it over charcoal—how fascinating…….”
“What oil was that again? Mix it with salt and dip it in—it’s absolutely heavenly…!”
The table glowed with hot charcoal and cast iron, fresh vegetables arranged in neat piles, and today’s star: premium Korean beef.
Along with fizzy drinks and alcohol.
“Alcohol!”
“It’s been years since I’ve had a drink…!”
The adults, especially those who’d enjoyed their drink in the secular world, wept at the aroma of alcohol they hadn’t touched in so long.
“Mom, these potatoes—did I dig these up?”
“Flora, sit still and eat properly.”
“Nula, Pania! Let’s race to see who can finish the corn fastest!”
“All right! This time I’m winning.”
“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion otherwise.”
The cheerful din of voices carried all the way into the Village Hall.
I leaned against the windowsill, watching the scene with an ache in my chest, and reached down to touch the warmth beneath my feet.
“You two go eat.”
Popi and Chuchu licked my hand instead of answering. The clever couple seemed to read my moods well.
It wasn’t only the dogs who’d noticed my state.
“You look so down.”
Verity gently brushed aside my bangs and asked.
“Homesickness, I suppose. This world is my real home, but Korea wasn’t all bad. I have good memories there too.”
I just never showed it.
‘They come back to me sometimes.’
Friends who’d worried with me through my difficult family troubles.
People who’d remained as good memories despite being only fleeting connections.
The path to my tiny studio apartment.
Ice cream and fish cakes I’d eaten while humming to myself.
‘And….’
Senior.
“I first ate Korean beef when Senior bought it for me.”
“Senior?”
“A university senior.”
“……A man?”
“……….”
“You—you really mean a man?”
Verity looked as if she’d been struck without warning.
“You eat meat with a man without a care in the world? One bite of that and you’re as good as married!”
“Is this demon insane……”
I ignored Verity’s scolding—she could nag as relentlessly as Ian—and savored the memory of Senior that had surfaced, tasting it fully for the first time in years.
“So you only ate imported beef?”
“Domestic ranchers would hate me.”
“They’d hate your family more.”
The following weekend arrived.
‘Senior’ took me to a Korean beef restaurant. He ordered the highest grade available and had me taste each cut one by one.
“Come with me from now on.”
“……Who’s paying for it?”
“It’s my investment in getting you hired as a househusband. I’ll cover it.”
“Just eat the imported stuff. There’s not much difference either way.”
“Yet you’re grabbing two pieces at a time? Take a one-minute break from the chopsticks.”
“Wow, stingy with your investment, aren’t you!”
Just remembering that day made the corners of my mouth rise.
‘There really was a big difference, though.’
The Korean beef truly was delicious.
‘I should have been honest about it.’
Fortunately, that lingering past didn’t haunt me for long.
“Miss, you’re only twenty-five—still a helpless baby! How could someone so tiny and weak possibly fall in love…!”
It was Verity’s fault for lecturing me until my ears bled.
Popi and Chuchu began growling in agreement—Verity was getting on their nerves too.
“So, what did you want to tell me?”
I might have complicated feelings about Korean beef, but not enough to skip eating something that delicious.
“Tell me quickly, then let’s go eat. Did you see earlier? Everyone gasped in wonder when I cut the meat with scissors.”
They’d praised my originality so much, saying I was no ordinary genius.
“Go on, teach them drinking games, perseverance and sweet vindication, how to make bomb shots…….”
“The Long-Haired Lord has sent word.”
“The Long-Haired Lord? The Bleached Demon Lord?”
“The Long-Haired Lord.”
“Oh.”
My eyes, which had been half-closed in indifference, snapped open at once.
That he—who’d taken extended leave to care for his pregnant Lady—would reach out first was unexpected.
‘What’s brought this on? What could it be…….’
Ah.
I quickly grasped why the Long-Haired Demon Lord was contacting me.
“A key to pass through the Ward…….”
“It just arrived. It was in the house mailbox.”
What Verity held out was a small Dog Collar with a bead attached to it.
“This goes on a dog…….”
“Grrrrrowl!”
“Woof! Woof!”
“……Once you put it on the Duke and Duchess’s necks, they’ll be able to move about freely whenever they wish.”
I fitted one collar around each of Popi and Chuchu’s necks.
For white Popi, a black one; for black Chuchu, white.
So the two puffs of fur became like little sweet dumplings.
“……How cute!”
I quickly took a photo of the two pups with my Watch.
“The Duke and Duchess are strong enough to suppress the spiritual pressure of demons that eat Monsters. Even without me or the young lady, they’ll be more than capable of protecting the village residents.”
“But what if Monsters get so scared of Popi and Chuchu that they don’t even show up? Then they won’t get any training.”
“What pointless worry.”
Verity laughed as if she’d heard a good joke.
Popi and Chuchu didn’t like that one bit and growled, biting at the air. I quickly wrapped my arms around them both securely.
“When they tangle with the young lady, the young lady always loses!”
“And against me?”
“I barely scrape by with a win. Though it bruises my pride.”
“Woof! Woof woof!”
“Grrrowl! Woof!”
Popi and Chuchu barked savagely, drool dripping from their mouths.
‘Wow, so they’re that strong?’
I looked at the two pups anew.
“And the Lord had one more thing to say.”
“What is it?”
“Young lady, you mentioned before that you wanted something you left behind in Korea?”
“I did…….”
But to get it, I would have to pay with one of my fingers, so I’d reluctantly given it up, though it pained me.
‘That’s why I had to completely revise the village welfare plan…….’
I wanted to bring the Magical Girl collection I’d gathered, but what I really wanted was my Tablet PC.
‘I was going to use it to run the theater.’
My plan had been to support the residents’ rich cultural life through various video streaming services on my tablet.
‘Ah, but I wonder if copyright will be an issue?’
It was around the time I’d belatedly realized an important problem.
“The Lord has proposed a condition.”
Verity said.
“If you do him a favor, he’ll bring you one item of your choosing, one at a time.”
“Really?”
“Of course, you have a choice. If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to, he said.”
“What kind of dangerous task is he trying to set me up for?”
“It’s a mix of danger and annoyance. If we’re talking ratios, danger is eight out of ten.”
“What—I’d rather just give him my finger…….”
He’s basically pushing me toward my own demise.
When I set my expression seriously, Verity cleared her throat with a cough.
“As you know, the Emperor has been summoning Demons and Angels indiscriminately and acting completely unhinged, yes?”
That much is true, I nodded.
“The Lord says that if you bring in those crazy Demons and turn them over to him, he’ll fetch the things you left behind in Korea for you.”
“One item per Demon?”
“It depends on their rank.”
“Their rank?”
“Think of it like a bounty system. A serial killer commands a higher bounty than a common pickpocket—same logic applies.”
Demons operated as a hierarchical society, which meant they’d pay more for taking down one of higher rank.
“I see.”
That much was clear enough.
But I didn’t have enough information to agree outright.
“The criteria still seems fuzzy, though. And what about guarantees for my safety? Has this been discussed with the Angel faction? From what I’m hearing, you’re just dumping your problems on me. The math doesn’t work in my favor.”
“Sigh—trust Clavis to see right through it.”
This one would squeeze blood from a stone.
Anticipating my reaction, Verity began rummaging through something and produced it.
The moment I saw it, I caught my breath.
“An advance payment, so to speak.”
…….
“This belongs to the young lady, doesn’t it?”
A hair ribbon adorned with a straw-shaped ornament.
Magical Girl Milk Shake merchandise.

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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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