The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 6

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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 6
In the manga, Havi was in the same state as me—just awakening to her power.
At her side stood a mummy-like Fairy, desiccated as if pulled straight from a fiery furnace.
[Havi: I can feel a mysterious power!]
[Fairy: Congratulations! Havi, you’ve finally become a true Clavis! With that power, you can help people in need and defeat villains!]
[Havi: Wow! How do I use it?]
[Fairy: That power is Open-Close—the force of opening and closing. You can open bottle caps that won’t budge, and you can close the blood vessels of trash wearing iron masks, causing arrhythmias and…….]
Snap!
I shut the book quickly.
The Bleached Demon was looking at me with a satisfied expression.
“How’s that? Impressive, isn’t it?”
“…….”
A demon was a demon, after all.
* * *
The next morning.
“Wake up! Get up!”
The Bleached Demon banged on an iron pot lid with a ladle, jolting us awake.
“Gahhhhh!”
“Ugh! Aaaahhh!”
We stumbled awake in convulsive starts, gathering in the yard.
“You.”
Today, the Bleached Demon dressed in a bright blue silk shirt pointed at Modi again.
By this point, it was clear he had an ulterior motive.
“Standard.”
“Sir?”
“Standard!”
“St-standard……?”
Modi repeated the word uncertainly, as if following along by instinct.
“Everyone, spread your arms and line up! Side by side!”
So we arranged ourselves in rows, four across.
“Morning exercises! Begin!”
Following the Bleached Demon’s movements, we started a cheerful routine in time with a song about a man who had second thoughts at his ex-girlfriend’s wedding—a tune from the radio.
After finishing, the residents of Exilium curiously examined the radio that had just played the song.
“Demons sure have a lot of interesting things.”
“Maybe they’re magical artifacts.”
“How does it work?”
“Bleached Demon, can we touch this?”
“Don’t touch it recklessly! It’ll break!”
When the Bleached Demon shouted, the residents of Exilium laughed in delight.
“Humans—always looking for a crack to crawl through, aren’t they?”
Though he grumbled, the corners of the Bleached Demon’s mouth crept upward.
I pretended not to notice and spoke.
“I’d like to make a wish.”
“Ah, right. Good timing, actually. I need to get going soon anyway.”
The Bleached Demon fastened a watch—something like a smartwatch—around my wrist.
When I tapped the black screen with my finger, an upside-down five-pointed star appeared. It reminded me of that bright red eye I’d seen in Exilium.
“Come to think of it, the Long-haired Demon gave me a Winged Eyeball.”
“Ah, that thing?”
“Do you know what it is?”
“It’s a surveillance magical artifact made by the Demon Lord. Exilium is basically a playground for the Servant Demons under his care, so it’s used to watch over how the kids are doing.”
Incidentally, all the creatures living here are apparently snacks for the Servant Demons.
‘Man, even a dog’s got it better than this.’
I’d have to be born as a rich man’s dog in my next life. I was even prepared to accept neutering.
“This watch is a kind of free pass.”
“I see.”
“It means you won’t need to spit every time you summon me.”
Ack!
The Bleached Demon pressed my head lightly with his hand. It seemed he’d been holding a grudge about me spitting to summon him. How petty!
The various uses of the watch can be found in the book “Everything About Clavis in One Volume,” he said.
“So, little ant—what’s your wish?”
“Please make these things for me.”
I explained to the residents of Exilium, one by one, the items they’d ordered.
A large cart, various farming tools, a real sword, armor, a shield, seedlings for summer cultivation, and much else besides.
The Bleached Demon looked up from the paper, scanning the list.
“You want to earn money yourself? And venture outside?”
“Yes.”
“If that’s the case, why not just wish for—”
“If I keep relying only on wishes, eventually I won’t be able to do anything at all.”
……
“I’m not ready to go out just yet, so I need to try different things here and prepare myself. I can’t become someone who just takes and takes without doing anything, can I?”
“Social reintegration training, then.”
A massive hand tousled my hair roughly.
“Well done!”
The Bleached Demon broke into a radiant smile.
I kicked awkwardly at the ground, embarrassed.
Soon pale smoke and brilliant light began pouring forth from beneath the Bleached Demon’s feet.
It was truly time to say goodbye.
Before disappearing, the Bleached Demon told me about the Servant Demons butler he would soon send my way.
“He’s quite strong, so if you’d like to train, feel free to ask for his help.”
The Bleached Demon’s form grew increasingly transparent.
I asked hurriedly.
“When will the health examination results come through?”
“I’ll send them by mail in a week!”
“But we don’t have a mailbox!”
“Build one, then!”
And so I parted ways with the Bleached Demon.
Where the demon had vanished, all the items I’d wished for lay piled high.
* * *
In the morning, I chose one of the open fields, tilled the soil, and planted the seedlings.
Tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peas—all vegetables that could be harvested in summer.
And the residents of Exilium each chose an empty house to claim as their own.
At last they had complete private spaces where they could enjoy their own lives.
At first everyone felt awkward, but once they’d stepped inside their homes, they were overjoyed.
I decided to stay in the same house where I’d first lived with Libi, Ian, and Dalis.
A seven-year-old child and a woman in her condition needed a guardian.
‘The Bleached Demon only stayed one day, but the emptiness he left behind is huge.’
Hiding my wistfulness, I picked up a book and headed for the Playground.
In the Residential District there was a playground once meant for the children who had lived here. The Long-haired Demon had restored it beautifully.
“Oh my, where are you off to, young lady?”
“She’s our sweet neighbor!”
“Have you had lunch?”
Every time I passed, the residents of Exilium waved hello to me.
“I’m going to study!”
When I held up the book to show them, the adults smiled warmly and encouraged me to take my time.
My steps toward the playground grew lighter.
Seated on a bench half-shaded by tree branches, I examined the Summoning Watch on my wrist before opening the book.
“What kind of civilization do demons have, I wonder…….”
The watch was nearly identical to a smart watch made by a famous smartphone company.
I found the chapter labeled “Summoning Watch” in the book’s index and checked each entry one by one.
This time too, the protagonist Havi was consulting with the Fairy.
[Havi: Look at this! It’s a watch I received as a gift from a demon!]
[Fairy: Amazing, Havi! You’ve earned the trust of the demons! They say this watch is called “Chosen Trust”—it lets you summon a demon in any situation!]
[Havi: In any situation?]
[Fairy: If you register a Summoning Circle on the watch, you can summon a demon without even having to draw the circle.]
Beyond that, it had functions for time, calendar, phone calls, heart rate monitoring, step counting, music playback, and photo capture.
‘……It really is just a smart watch, isn’t it?’
I was delighted to see such advanced technology again after so long.
“Then, shall I try summoning someone?”
To save it to the watch and to summon the butler, I quickly drew a Summoning Circle with my shoe heel.
‘I hope a kind and impressive demon shows up. Since he’s a butler, he’s probably an older adult? They said he’s strong, so it would be nice if he could help train me too. And…….’
My foot came to a slow stop as I completed the inverted pentagram.
‘Could Ian train with me too?’
Among the things I’d requested from the Bleached Demon were a real sword and a shield.
It had been Ian’s request.
‘He said he was driven out by his comrades’ betrayal.’
He’d told me he watched the entire process of his fellow knights framing him and expelling him.
Despite having reason enough to despise knights for their treachery, Ian didn’t.
Instead, he seemed genuinely pleased to be training with the sword again.
Yet the bitter smile he’d worn stayed sharp in my memory.
In truth, everyone in Exilium wore that same expression whenever they examined the things they’d requested.
‘Sigh. How can the world be so unfair and petty?’
I held out my left wrist with the Summoning Watch and used the ‘photo’ function to capture and save the completed Summoning Circle.
“Let’s see, what’s next……”
To summon a demon with the watch, you had to shout ‘summon,’ apparently.
‘It’s like a magical girl’s incantation—kind of embarrassing.’
Still, I wanted to try it at least once, so I screwed up my courage and called out.
“Sum—summon!”
In that instant, a warm scent of earth bloomed around me.
It smelled like a summer morning after an all-night rain had cleared away to blue sky.
Above the Summoning Circle, which had begun to glow faintly, something shapeless shot skyward at tremendous speed, then landed lightly as a feather.
Soft wheat-colored hair scattered in the air.
“Hello!”
A male student in uniform, hood of his hoodie pulled down over his head, broke into a radiant smile.
“It is an honor to meet you, and even greater honor to serve you, Clavis!”
* * *
I’d once heard, somewhere or other—was it in a film?—that demons assume the most materially perfect form to enchant people. In any case.
Every demon that had appeared so far had been flawlessly beautiful.
This one was no exception.
An innocent, handsome face that inspired affection; a tall frame and sturdy build; easygoing manner of speech and a pleasant voice to match.
Precisely the stuff of every schoolgirl’s first love.
‘He looks like a middle schooler. Fifteen, maybe?’
I’d imagined a butler to be an older man, so this person’s arrival caught me slightly off guard.
“Y-you look so young……”
“That’s right! I’m that famous young-looking butler! I was chosen after competing against countless others! Ahem!”
The Uniform Demon thumped his chest energetically as he answered.
He was genuinely likable, the sort of demon who made good impressions naturally. My awkwardness melted away quickly, replaced by a warmth of welcome.
Unbidden, my younger brother from the previous world came to mind.
Once my most devoted follower, but as he grew, he became the first to curse and torment me.
‘If he’s celebrating now that someone like me is gone, then maybe it’s finally his turn to be happy.’
If my body still lived in that previous world, I prayed it would rot and die quickly. I never wanted to go back there.
‘I’m sorry to the original owner of this body….’
Even as I thought this, I tilted my head in confusion.
The Uniform Demon tilted his head right along with me, laughing.
‘Now that I think about it, the Bleached Demon seemed to know I came from another world. So did the Long-haired Demon.’
Did this Uniform Demon know too?
I asked, more out of curiosity.
“Do you know about Possession?”
“Of course!”
The Uniform Demon answered as though it were obvious.
“We demons commune with many worlds. There isn’t just one world, after all. So we’ve encountered those who are Possessed many times.”
“So…!”
“Yes!”
The Uniform Demon’s smile widened.
“Those who are Possessed are executed on sight!”

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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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