The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 67

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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 67
‘Heretic Inquisitors?’
Ian, who had been carefully avoiding the shards of glass falling around his head and back, flinched for the first time.
‘Libi’s younger brother was affiliated with them……’
Then his eyes met Verity’s.
The two held a conversation with nothing but a glance.
It couldn’t be, right?
No way.
The Chamberlain spoke.
“My, the youngest recruit has arrived.”
Ian and Verity both shut their eyes tight as if all were lost.
‘The youngest Heretic Inquisitor—that’s Libi’s brother!’
The saying went: when visiting, tigers appear at the sound of your name.
As if reading the unspoken dismay in Ian and Verity’s hearts, the Chamberlain greeted the youngest Heretic Inquisitor with warmth.
“You must be Olive, then?”
“…….”
“Ah, I learned your name purely out of personal admiration. You see, I have a fondness for talent. I have even secretly imagined a sparring match between you and Ian one day.”
“The name of a royal knight exiled for embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty.”
A great axe came down with a crash, sweeping the Chamberlain’s sword aside.
The Chamberlain withdrew without resistance, lowering his blade to show his unwillingness to fight, yet Olive the Heretic Inquisitor remained in an attacking stance.
The Chamberlain’s mouth drooped, tinged with melancholy.
“We have no reason to fight.”
“Explain your purpose for being here.”
“But what brings you to this place, Olive?”
“Don’t answer a question with a question.”
“I received a report of suspicious activity at this Research Facility, long since closed. Yet when I arrived, every researcher lay dead, and the laboratories had been ransacked as though by common thieves.”
The Chamberlain answered readily, then asked again.
“And what business brings our Heretic Inquisitor to this place? Will you answer now?”
“A divine revelation has come down.”
The Chamberlain’s eyes widened.
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor noticed that he was feigning surprise, but chose not to remark on it.
“An Archangel descended upon the Central Holy Temple and granted a revelation to the Holy King: that a wicked faction in this place commits sins beyond forgiveness.”
“A remarkably specific revelation—like the whispers of a spy.”
“Hundreds witnessed the descent. If you doubt, you need only—”
“I don’t doubt.”
His answer harbored no attempt to conceal his amusement.
“I am devout. A faithful Holy King is surely worthy of an Archangel’s revelation.”
“…….”
“The realm is indeed blessed. First an Angel appears in the Deste Estate, and now an Archangel at the Central Holy Temple.”
The Chamberlain slowly sheathed his sword with a soft rasp.
“Though I hear a house has vanished entire.”
“…….”
“Rather amusing, is it not?”
“……”
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor, axe raised throughout, held her muscular arms perfectly steady, not a tremor to be seen.
“Mind yourself.”
“Ah, a slip.”
The Chamberlain smiled thinly.
“I had forgotten that the Holy King and Clavis’s patriarch were intimate friends in their younger days.”
“It was a warning: do not entangle the Main Church with a clan that has been annihilated.”
“Well, I do find the annihilation of Clavis rather lamentable.”
The Chamberlain passed beside Olive the Heretic Inquisitor as if brushing past a shadow.
“As I said.”
“…….”
“I cherish talent.”
“…….”
“And so, thinking of Ian alone, my heart grows ever heavier……”
“Your Highness the Princess!”
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor cried out as though seized by sudden urgency.
“Is Your Highness the Princess recovering well?”
“Yes.”
The Chamberlain was already climbing the stairs and did not look back.
“It happens the Holy King has made a full recovery today.”
* * *
Even after the Chamberlain had gone, the Heretic Inquisitor Olive stood rooted in place for a long while.
Beyond the stairwell came sounds of bustling activity.
The holy knights who had come with the Heretic Inquisitor Olive were searching the Research Facility.
Because of this, Ian, Verity, and Nema found themselves trapped in the research room with nothing to do but wait.
‘Please, just go……!’
Ian squeezed his eyes shut and pleaded silently.
But his prayer went unanswered.
“Come out now.”
From beyond the shattered window overhead, its glass scattered to pieces, came a voice that sounded indifferent yet carried an unmistakable threat, calling out those in hiding.
“I suggest you come out while I’m still being reasonable.”
“……Woof! Woof!”
“Stop barking and come out.”
“Sigh, that’s not working…….”
“Of course it won’t!”
“Verity…….”
Ian and Nema shot reproachful glances at Verity.
In the end, the three of them emerged without further resistance.
‘That woman…….’
Ian studied the Heretic Inquisitor Olive carefully.
Had Hebenia been awake, she surely would have said, ‘She’s traded her youth for strength, it seems. Well, one can’t have everything.’ That was the sort of thought the sight of her would provoke.
For Olive bore an expression of exhaustion and weariness that seemed incongruous with her age.
Her eyes were hollow, her lips drawn thin and colorless.
‘Sixteen years old, she said?’
For her age, she looked remarkably worn. Libi seemed more youthful by comparison. Yet looking closely, one could still catch glimpses of her actual youth beneath the surface.
‘But how did she know we were here?’
We were wearing the Stealth Cloak.
The answer came swiftly enough.
“Just as Your Majesty foretold.”
In the Divine Revelation the Holy King had received from the Archangel, there had been a command to aid these four people—such was Olive’s explanation.
At those words, Ian turned his gaze toward the collapsed Hebenia.
“To think that angel who can’t even put on pants alone…….”
“She contacted me the day before.”
So that contact had been orchestrated to move the Holy King to issue a public Divine Revelation and dispatch the holy knights.
‘Foolish girl.’
Ian’s expression grew complex as he looked down at the collapsed Hebenia.
She showed no concern for her own body’s exhaustion, yet she was so meticulous in ensuring the safety of the village people.
“Hebenia…….”
Nema, struck by the same realization, felt tears welling up.
‘My lady.’
Verity gazed at Hebenia, whom she held in her arms, with a warm smile.
‘She made a wish intending to exasperate an angel and pit the Holy King against the Emperor in her stead, but these kindhearted villagers have simply misunderstood things on their own.’
In any case, her luck was quite remarkable.
But since this was no moment for amusement, Verity quickly composed her expression into one of sorrow and gravity.
“Thank you for your help. We should be on our way then…….”
Bang!
A massive axe fell directly in front of Verity.
“His Majesty the Holy King has commanded that I escort you personally to the Central Holy Temple.”
“B-but we have a patient?”
Verity gestured subtly toward Hebenia, whose breathing was labored and uneven.
“Among the holy knights, there are those skilled in Healing Magic. We shall bring her there and treat her. Now come along.”
Though the words spoke of escorting, the tone held not a shred of courtesy—it was a threat of arrest pure and simple.
* * *
“This is strange…….”
A holy knight with striking green hair muttered to himself.
He was a holy knight who had endured the Trials of the Angel and earned the qualifications of a Savior Priest. Even if his healing abilities were not exceptional, he could easily cure a child’s fever.
Yet this was something else entirely.
“Healing Magic isn’t working…….”
The various wounds on her body gradually improved, but the fever refused to break.
The Holy Knight wasn’t the only one shocked.
“The fever won’t go down?”
“What do we do……!”
The hearts of Ian and Nema, who had been quietly relieved, sank suddenly.
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor was equally flustered.
This would disrupt the plan to escort them to the Central Holy Temple. The Holy King had ordered them to treat these people with utmost respect, and she had to follow through on that without fail.
‘The Holy King’s wishes must always be obeyed.’
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor had to climb higher still.
Only then could she save her sister……!
“……Listen.”
Verity, who had been silently observing the entire situation, made a suggestion.
“There’s a Savior Priest with connections at the Deste Temple. I’ve heard rumors recently that a miracle occurred there. What if we went there first?”
“A miracle? No, that’s impossible in the first place. It takes a full day by train to reach the Deste Estate. If anything, the Central Holy Temple…….”
“……is even farther.”
The Antema Estate, where they stood, lay to the northeast in compass terms.
But the Central Holy Temple, the heart of the state religion, was to the west.
The Deste Estate was to the north.
Stripped of the distance excuse, Olive the Heretic Inquisitor unconsciously furrowed her brow.
Ian saw Libi’s face overlaid on his.
Siblings did share many features, after all.
“The child could be in greater danger during the journey. A Holy Knight with Savior qualifications would be better.”
“Then let’s go together.”
“…….”
“Inquisitor.”
Verity dropped her gaze, eyes heavy with sorrow.
“My sister harbors a secret that cannot be spoken.”
“Tell me what it is. Then I can help.”
“I can’t.”
With that, she glanced sidelong at the Holy Knights, then whipped her head away.
“Please, try to understand us……!”
Even as she pleaded earnestly, her lowered eyes desperately signaled to Ian and Nema behind her.
Catching on, Ian and Nema quickly dropped to one knee.
“We beg you.”
“We beg you.”
“…….”
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor deliberated.
In truth, she had a rough sense of what secret they were hiding.
‘The wounds on her body have healed, but the fever won’t break.’
The Archangel’s Divine Revelation.
A Research Facility shrouded in Imperial conspiracy.
The testimony of the six victims they’d rescued earlier.
The depravity of the Chamberlain who craved talent.
The desperate resolve of those guarding their secret.
Weighing it all together…….
‘There’s no doubt.’
Olive the Heretic Inquisitor reached a single conclusion.
‘That child possesses the Saint’s Aptitude.’
* * *
“W-will this really be alright……?”
Antema Station.
Inside the station platform before dawn had broken, Nema touched the Gingoa on her wrist and spoke in a lowered voice.
The Gingoa Verity had given her had shrunk to bracelet size, making it easy to carry like this. Knowing scissors were stored inside, touching it somehow calmed her nerves.
Though the current situation was hardly one she could pass off calmly.
“The Deste Estate is where Havi wants to establish a base, and we’re bringing a Heretic Inquisitor there…….”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Verity answered casually, as if it were nothing special.
“We just knock her out the moment we arrive.”
“And she’s Libi’s sister……!”
“It doesn’t matter that he’s not my blood brother. I can explain the situation to Libi later and apologize separately.”
“Ugh…….”
Nema felt the urge to cry.

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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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