The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 58

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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 58
A notice board glimpsed at the station.
A Rhombus-shaped Lock emblazoned large upon the train.
The day I first visited the Deste Territory.
“That represents the Clavis Subsidiaries. The key is Clavis’s symbol, you see. So all their related businesses and foundations are marked with a lock.”
A fact Ian had explained to me.
“But Clavis officially underwent Family Destruction, yet the subsidiaries seem to be running quite smoothly, don’t they?”
I was certain I’d read an article in the papers saying the Imperial Court would absorb Clavis’s assets.
A month had already passed since I saw that article.
I’d kept checking the newspapers steadily after that, but not once did I see a story about Clavis’s assets being seized.
“It’s closer to wild speculation, but…….”
I ventured the thought carefully.
“What if Clavis saw all of this coming?”
“Saw it coming…….”
One of Ian’s eyebrows arched upward.
Then his expression suddenly darkened, as though anger had flashed across his face, before he met my gaze and just as quickly smoothed his features.
“No, that’s a bit too…….”
“Hebennia, surely that’s reading too much into it, isn’t it?”
Nema, too, swiftly dismissed my theory. Yet she seemed flustered, searching my face for signs of distress.
I understood why both of them reacted that way.
‘If what I just said is true…….’
It would mean Clavis accepted Family Destruction knowing full well how the Empire would crumble in their wake.
And they vanished, leaving only me behind in that mire.
Before I spoke, I’d thought this was too much of a leap myself.
But the moment the words left my mouth, I felt an odd certainty that this eccentric house was capable of exactly that.
Was it blood that made such certainty possible?
It was Verity, who had been silent until now, who finally spoke.
“No, if it’s Clavis, they’re more than mad enough for it…….”
The distaste on her face suggested she was taking my conjecture seriously.
“Though even they couldn’t be twisted enough to go that far…….”
“Verity!”
“It’s all right, Ian.”
I stopped Ian from reproaching Verity.
“We all know Clavis is mad. And honestly, I’d rather this impossible theory turn out to be true.”
Because only then would the Empire’s stability make sense.
So people wouldn’t die despite the shortage of medicinal herbs.
So the family’s assets wouldn’t be confiscated by the Imperial Court.
So the subsidiaries could operate without interference from anyone else.
To protect both the house and the nation from the Emperor’s corruption.
‘They went through Family Destruction after laying down a minimum line of defense.’
After hearing my theory, Ian and Nema wore expressions of reluctant acknowledgment.
“If that’s the case, it would be a relief, at least…….”
“Though why go to such lengths with such inefficient, roundabout methods…….”
At last the two of them conceded my point.
Yet they still couldn’t fathom Clavis’s eccentricity.
‘I comprehend it fully.’
Only Verity, chin resting on her arm propped against the window frame, remained lost in thought, muttering something to herself.
‘Verity being unusually serious.’
Verity often wore that vacant, distant stare—usually when she hit a wall writing a report for the company.
‘I suppose all office workers are like that.’
But Verity’s reverie stretched far longer than expected, and the rest of us—Ian, Nema, and I—were beginning to grow bored.
“Want to play cards?”
In the end, the three of us played five rounds of Thief Caught with the Trump Cards we’d brought, and two rounds of a board game.
In between, we ate the lunch boxes Popina had packed because we were hungry, and even went to the lavatory car to brush our teeth.
Through it all, Verity hadn’t budged an inch.
“She’s ridiculous, that demon…….”
What in the world was she thinking about so hard?
I even waved my hand in front of her face, but she didn’t so much as twitch.
“Ian, try poking her with your sword once.”
“You’re really Clavis blood through and through, aren’t you?”
“It seems you’re mulling over something important, so I shan’t disturb you.”
That was when it happened.
“Miss!”
“Ugh, goodness. You scared me half to death.”
Caught off guard, I clutched at my chest as my heart lurched, trying to steady myself.
“You startled me!”
“It appears your conjecture was correct, Miss.”
“You sat perfectly still for three hours just to say that?”
I was grateful that she’d taken my scatterbrained guess seriously, but the sight of Verity’s spine and pelvis twisted at that odd angle worried me deeply.
“So you’ve actually figured out some evidence to back up my hunch?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. So I’ve got a bit of detective in me after all, eh…….”
“I fear I shall be unable to help this time, Miss.”
I tilted my head, puzzled.
“You said that already.”
Before the second village assembly.
Verity and I had struck a bargain.
At her proposal, if I brought her demons connected to the Emperor, she would retrieve my belongings from Korea.
At that time, Verity had said she wouldn’t be of much help.
“But you and the village folk must be the ones to fight the demons.”
Yes, something like that.
In return, she promised to always protect me when danger came.
‘But this turn of events…….’
A sinister premonition suddenly gripped me.
Reading my thoughts, Verity slowly closed and opened her eyes.
“I may not be able to help at all, Miss.”
…….
“If we assume your conjecture is correct, it seems Clavis has imposed a Trial upon you, Miss.”
“A Trial?”
The unexpected word struck me like a trial itself.
* * *
Trial.
The moment that word fell from her lips.
Ian surprisingly recalled a conversation with the head of House Clavis, whom she had met by chance during her Imperial Guard days.
“To waste my noble footsteps in such a squalid place, only to see you here of all places——that angers me far more.”
The broken past linked itself together again.
“If this too is a Trial…….”
…….
“Whether it is yours, or that of my youngest…….”
…….
“Well, both, I suppose.”
The memory broke off abruptly, just like before.
‘This is——what in the world——!’
It was a strange recollection.
Some fragment of memory that had sunk into the depths without her knowing now surfaced, as though it had been waiting for this very moment.
It was Hebennia’s irritated voice that yanked Ian back to reality.
“A Trial? What Trial? To me?”
Hebennia let out a succession of exasperated breaths, as if utterly flabbergasted.
“You’re telling me House Clavis gives a seven-year-old girl a Trial instead of wealth and power?”
What a mad family!
Ian understood Hebennia’s indignation perfectly.
She was at a loss for a moment because of that strange memory, but inside she was thinking the same thing——’Clavis really isn’t just ordinarily insane.’
‘It seems Verity believes Clavis engineered all of this, orchestrating events to unfold precisely as they have…….’
Even so, she couldn’t make sense of it.
‘Hebennia is Clavis’s cherished princess.’
Seven years ago.
Ian vividly remembered the day Hebennia was born.
On that day, to commemorate the birth of his youngest daughter, Clavis threw open his storehouses and distributed countless gifts to the people of the Empire.
The Clavis Subsidiaries held special discount periods, and sweets and confections filled the hands of children running through the streets.
This stood in sharp contrast to the Imperial Court’s quiet response when the Imperial Princess had been born mere months before, and Hebennia naturally became the most honored princess in the Empire.
‘A princess of a different kind now…….’
That’s what the mouth of fear had become.
“Ah, forget it. Not doing it. I’m not doing it.”
Hebennia, sprawled on the floor like a drunk uncle, laughed with her belly exposed and her upper garment thrown open.
“Turn the carriage around! Let’s go home! It’s our property anyway! If the owner’s daughter says no, the employees shouldn’t make her do it!”
Her loud shriek carried the thoughtlessness of a common drunkard.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The adults’ eyes naturally drifted toward Hebennia’s rounded belly.
“……Did you really gain weight in your stomach?”
“I did think Hebennia’s cheeks seemed softer recently…….”
“Miss, what have you been sneaking off to eat again?”
“…….”
Faced with the barrage of questions, Hebennia hastily pulled her upper garment down to cover her belly.
“Th-that’s not the important thing, you know? Right now I’m performing unpaid labor that amounts to child abuse—show some pity for……!”
“But Miss, it’s not work you can’t manage.”
“Don’t say it’s not your responsibility. How am I supposed to beat a Demon? I’m so weak that even using a little more power makes blood pour from my nose!”
“You’re not the weakest among us, are you?”
“The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems. Does Clavis have some grudge against me? If he’s going to be executed, at least we should go together—why am I the only one left out……!”
Out poured the cheapest vocabulary imaginable.
‘Every word she’s saying is painfully true…….’
Ian found himself understanding Clavis far less than the Emperor.
The Emperor’s motives, at least, could be dimly guessed at—self-interest, twisted intentions, inferiority complex toward Clavis, and so on.
‘But why would Clavis do something so utterly inefficient…….’
Simply because he was eccentric?
In that moment, Ian found himself recalling the word “Trial” once more.
‘Trial…….’
An old story suddenly came to mind.
It originated from ancient mythology recorded in scripture, and in common speech it’s called “The Three Trials of the Savior.”
A world in chaos.
The Divine gives three trials to those who follow the faith.
When all would collapse under the trials, only one person overcomes the adversity.
The Divine calls him the Savior, and with the power he received from the Divine, he saves the world and restores peace.
‘That’s why priests who use Healing Magic are called Salvation Priests.’
Ian found himself smoothing back Hebennia’s disheveled bangs with gentle fingers as she straightened in her seat.
Hebennia’s lips pouted.
“I have such terrible luck with family…….”
“Since you’re doing a good deed anyway, might as well enjoy it.”
“Hmph.”
“And where did you sneak off to eat snacks?”
“…….”
Growl.
Hebennia quickly shut her eyes and pretended to sleep.

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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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