The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 5

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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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Episode 5
I’d been listening to the Bleached Demon’s earnest sermon for quite some time.
‘Ah…….’
What should I eat for lunch?
I was in the middle of activating a technique I’d often used during my office days, half-paying attention to something else entirely.
“……You little bastards!”
Bang!
The Bleached Demon suddenly bellowed and brought his fist—veins bulging—down hard on a desk.
There hadn’t been a desk before; the moment he swung his fist, one materialized with a soft pop.
“You!”
“Y-yes……?”
The demon suddenly snatched the wrist of one of us. The innocent wrist belonged to Modi.
The Bleached Demon made a backless chair pop into existence and seated Modi in it. Then he perched himself on top of the desk.
“Ah, Demon……?”
“Quiet. Don’t move.”
“Yes?”
“Look at me.”
“……Yes?”
The Bleached Demon cupped Modi’s face in both hands, tilted his head closer.
‘What?’
Wait, what?
Question marks bloomed across everyone’s faces.
‘W-wait, could it be……!’
My vision suddenly went dark with anticipation. Libi had covered my eyes with her hand.
I quickly pried her fingers apart to reclaim my line of sight.
In that moment, Libi cried out:
“The demon’s kissing Modi!”
The adults scrambled backward in a flurry.
Trapped Modi wrapped both arms around his own chest, wailing, ‘Honey, I’m sorry……!’
“You idiots!”
The Bleached Demon shrieked and something materialized in his hand—something silver and gleaming, made of metal.
We all held our breath in unison.
It looked as though the demon was about to bind Modi with Handcuffs and commit some irreversible transgression.
But then.
“Now, take a deep breath.”
“S-something’s touching my chest……!”
“Hush. Crying weakens your body.”
The Bleached Demon examined Modi’s chest and back with the Stethoscope.
Then he scribbled frantically on an examination form laid out on the desk.
“Next!”
…….
…….
And so the health screening began.
* * *
A cute Cat-Shaped Bandage stuck to the inside of my elbow.
The Bleached Demon had placed it where he’d drawn blood.
“Not bad for such a little thing—didn’t even cry.”
He’d even popped a candy into my mouth. My body trembled at the sweetness, which I hadn’t tasted in ages. It was strawberry milk flavor—wonderfully sweet.
‘It tastes good, but what in the world is happening?’
I’d Summoned the Long-Haired Demon, but a different one had appeared instead.
He’d lectured me not to worship demons, then given me a health screening.
‘The demons must all be good people.’
The situation had spiraled unexpectedly, but it wasn’t bad, so I decided to accept it gracefully.
“Habi.”
Ian approached, having finished his blood draw moments before. He also had a candy in his mouth and was pressing the inside of his elbow with his hand, just like me.
“Are the demons always this kind?”
“Apparently.”
“That’s how you fall into heresy.”
“The Bleached Demon will lecture you if he hears that.”
“I’m not the only one thinking it, am I?”
That was the truth.
Ian was relatively well-mannered about it.
Libi, on the other hand, had gone on rattling about how “I really ought to convert—shouldn’t I build a temple to worship this demon right now?”—until the Bleached Demon caught her and scolded her soundly.
“But I understand the sentiment.”
“Yeah, me too.”
The Bleached Demon examined our family members with meticulous care.
The people of Exile Land, especially the middle-aged ones, finally unburdened themselves of the health problems they’d been holding in all this time.
“Oh dear, whenever it rains my knees start aching something awful.”
“Even though that old wound healed up, it still itches me from time to time.”
“When I lie down and then get up, the room spins.”
My heart clenched at the sight of them—not a single part of them untouched by ailment.
Once the final examination was done.
“You little wretches…!”
The Bleached Demon glared at us again.
“Not a single one of you has a body without something wrong with it! How is this possible, huh? Even if life in Exile Land isn’t easy…”
Then suddenly he covered his eyes with one hand and bowed his head deeply. His shoulders heaved intermittently.
“Small and pretty things, why do you have to live like this…”
“…”
“…”
We all turned to look at Modi in perfect unison, as if we’d agreed beforehand.
I gladly became the messenger of his affection.
“The Bleached Demon says you’re small and pretty.”
“My dear, even if I were to become this demon’s second wife right here, my true heart belongs only to you…!”
Modi squeezed his eyes shut in resignation.
“How many times do I have to say it’s not like that!”
The Bleached Demon rebutted with glistening tears brimming in his eyes.
“And I am a chaste bachelor!”
Modi’s chances of becoming the Bleached Demon’s main spouse only increased.
* * *
Once the health examination was finished, the sun was already setting in gentle hues.
The vermillion tinting the blue sky was rather beautiful.
The adults went to prepare dinner, while the Bleached Demon told me he had something to say and asked me to come along—so we took a walk through the Residential District.
Despite having very long legs, the Bleached Demon adjusted his pace to match mine. Truly a good person—or rather, a good demon.
The Bleached Demon spoke.
“I heard from the Lord.”
I quickly realized that “the Lord” was the Long-Haired Demon I’d summoned at the very beginning.
“I summoned you while thinking of him—so why did you come instead?”
“You just called me the Bleached Demon? Bold of you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know your name.”
“Just call me that.”
I nodded, and the Bleached Demon continued where he’d left off.
“The Lord is in a situation where he can’t appear easily right now.”
Is he very busy?
“He’s been running around constantly, taking care of his pregnant wife.”
He must be quite occupied.
“What’s the cost for the health examination? Will my blood work? Can you take the sample you drew earlier?”
“That was something I wanted to do for my own reasons, so don’t worry about it. And after I run tests on your blood, I’ll dispose of it properly as medical waste.”
“You could use it if you wanted.”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
The Bleached Demon stopped walking, turned to face me, and crouched down in front of me.
Up close, the Bleached Demon looked like a cruel deity made beautiful.
His worn-gold eyes gleamed like the sunset. So demons are handsome for this reason—to entrance people.
“Little ant.”
This demon also calls me an ant.
“The power contained in your blood is far greater and more precious than we anticipated.”
“R-really?”
“Which means the debt wasn’t settled in full. You paid far too much.”
“…”
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes…”
“True enough. You’re drowning in ignorance.”
The Bleached Demon picked up a nearby branch and scratched something into the dirt.
“Demon summoning is like hiring a detective agency. You know what those are, right?”
“I mean… they do contract killings and stuff……”
“……What the hell have you been watching, growing up?”
I’d grown up on images of domestic violence and the sensational underbelly of modern society, but this time I wisely kept my mouth shut.
Two circles had been drawn on the ground.
“When a summoner calls a demon, they have to pay two prices.”
An arrow extending from the left circle pointed toward the right one.
“The first is the transportation fee.”
“Transportation fee?”
“Demons cross dimensions to reach the world where the summoner is, so naturally there’s a corresponding cost, isn’t there? The saliva you spit out when summoning is that payment.”
“But… is it okay if I spit?”
“Of course it’s okay.”
If I were any other human, my salivary glands would’ve burst from the effort.
I absently poked at my salivary gland with the tip of my tongue.
Then another arrow extended toward the right circle.
The second price required for summoning.
“The request fee.”
The Bleached Demon emphasized how crucial this was, jabbing repeatedly at the words he’d written with his branch.
“When a demon grants a wish, the summoner pays a corresponding price in exchange. Then we demons convert that payment into resources to maintain the world.”
Ah, like those fantasy movies I’d seen before.
I found myself newly curious about the demons’ world.
Judging by the clothes they wore and the furniture they used, they seemed to possess a civilization equal to or surpassing the one I’d lived in.
“But……”
I ventured to ask carefully.
“All I paid was a nosebleed.”
When I first made a wish to the Long-Haired Demon.
I’d rubbed the dried blood staining my clothes all over the summoning circle as payment.
Remembering how the Long-Haired Demon had gazed at me with that complicated expression, I found it hard to believe the price I’d paid was so enormous.
The Bleached Demon spoke up.
“To put it simply—you’re an ant who handed us a gold ingot and asked us to run an errand.”
“Wow…!”
My nosebleed was worth that much?
“Impressive, right?”
“Yes!”
“Not impressed at all, you brat!”
“Eeek!”
I let out an aggrieved shriek like a newborn penguin chick getting smacked by an adult penguin.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused us?”
“How could I possibly know! This was my first time summoning a demon!”
“The power contained in your blood exceeds what all of us demons earned by working nonstop for a whole year.”
“Huh, so I really am impressive?”
“Thanks to you, everyone’s pulling all-nighters!”
According to the Bleached Demon, the Long-Haired Demon had thrown quite the celebration yesterday—something that hadn’t happened in nearly centuries.
Yet even then, he’d only managed to use a tenth of the power contained in my blood, let alone half.
So the demons were working overtime just storing my power.
“That’s why I’m going to make you a proposal.”
“A proposal, you say?”
“We’re going to station a demon butler here to fulfill your wishes on demand.”
“That’s a bit……”
I hesitated.
“I’m not good with meeting new people……”
“But you just chatted away with me, someone you’re meeting for the first time.”
The Bleached Demon found that amusing and gave my forehead a light tap.
Then he proceeded to explain the basic information related to demon summoning in careful detail.
“State your wishes as specifically and meticulously as possible. If your request is vague, the demon’s imagination gets applied however it pleases.”
“I see.”
Listening to the Bleached Demon’s explanation was as entertaining and fascinating as reading a fantasy novel.
As I focused intently, a new curiosity suddenly seized me—I wanted to know more about my own power.
“Could you teach me about my power? The Long-Haired Demon called it ‘Opening and Closing,’ but I don’t really understand it yet.”
“Simple questions, I’ll answer simply. But if it’s a wish—I’ll grant it perfectly.”
“It’s a wish!”
I asked for fundamental information about the power I possessed, along with its potential for growth and how to apply it.
The Bleached Demon then handed me a book.
Complete Clavis in One Volume
I flinched at the cover.
The cover looked like a girl’s manga—eyes sparkling and luminous, taking up half the girl’s face—and it struck me as oddly familiar.
“It looks like a children’s educational manga.”
“For someone who knows nothing yet, that’s exactly right.”
He had a point.
I flipped through the book lightly, skimming the contents.
‘Ah.’
There.
I’d found exactly the section about the power I’d been most curious about.
The protagonist in the educational manga was a young girl like me—chestnut-brown hair and green eyes.
The girl’s name was Habi.
‘Wow, that’s almost the same as my original name.’

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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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