The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 71

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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 71
[Frelia, Frelia…?]
The faint crackling from the Watch wasn’t a sign of poor reception or distance—Modi’s wife was somewhere in the Primordial Forest.
[Are you truly Frelia?]
[Calm down, sir! And Frelia was real? All this time I thought you were just imagining things…!]
[Frelia! Please answer! Frelia—!]
“…M-Modi? Modi?”
The bandit leader, Frelia, clamped her trembling hands over her mouth.
Her eyes, wide with disbelief, grew wet in an instant.
Moving slowly, she came before Hevenia, then sank to her knees like a child rescued from despair, seizing Hevenia’s left hand.
“Modi…”
[Frelia! Frelia, Frelia!]
“Waaah, Moooodi…!”
Frelia pulled Hevenia’s left hand to her forehead and wept, her whole body shaking.
“He was real. He actually existed.”
“Right.”
Ian and Nema exchanged a quiet glance.
During his exile, Modi had told him he had a beloved wife.
But the townspeople had dismissed her as a phantom—a delusion born from years of isolation and confinement.
“We were about to be married.”
“The wedding dress she wore was truly beautiful.”
“And we’d already decided on names for our children…”
But how could he call her his wife when they’d never married?
How could he name children who didn’t yet exist, as if they were already born?
His tales of his wife—inconsistent, contradictory—earned him sympathy but never credence.
And yet.
“My love, Modi, Modi. I’ve made so many offerings to see you again. Now we can truly build a home together.”
[W-wait, offerings? Did you shoot someone again?]
“I want to show you my small, beautiful revolver. I named this dear child Bes—Bescro. That name we chose together, the one we swore to use for our firstborn, regardless of gender…”]
[You remembered! You actually remembered it!]
“How could I forget? It was the rope that kept me from giving up on life. I carved that name onto the skin of my offerings—with a knife, every single time…”]
[Y-you destroyed the evidence, didn’t you?]
In this telephone reunion after eight years, Ian and Nema finally understood.
‘They were simply an incomprehensible pair in love.’
Moreover, listening more carefully, it seemed Frelia had committed enough crimes to deserve exile without complaint.
[Frelia, I have always—!]
“Sir, I’ll call you back later. Let me hang up for now.”
Click.
Modi’s confession of love ended with that hollow severing.
The poignant reunion of the couple had been brought to an appropriate close.
Only then did Frelia come to her senses and hurriedly wiped away her tear-stained face.
With the venom washed from her eyes by tears, her appearance recalled the girl she’d been eight years ago—dreaming of a happy future with the man she loved.
Frelia spoke in a trembling voice.
“Who are you, miss?”
“I’m the village chief.”
“V-village chief…?”
“I’m the one who will protect and look after you all from now on.”
“…”
“But… could I sit down while we talk…?”
I feel dizzy.
Hevenia murmured, her face drained of color, her legs trembling like those of a newborn fawn.
The bandits quickly escorted Hevenia to the highest seat of the sofa.
Hevenia heaved a sigh and continued speaking.
“Thank you, Doctor Merdi.”
The physician’s eyes widened so sharply his glasses nearly cracked.
“H-how did you know my name—!”
“Desaturated gray hair, serpent-like yellow eyes, rough tongue but a kind heart.”
“!”
“Elba told me. She said you were the only one who visited her in prison and believed in her when she was falsely accused.”
“…”
“Fortunately, her heart was genuine.”
“Wait—Elba is……!”
“She’s alive.”
“Ah, ah……!”
The physician covered his eyes with the hand not holding the IV line. It was a futile gesture—his lips twisted so grotesquely they were plain for all to see.
Hevenia went on, rattling off the names of the other bandits with practiced ease.
“Silver hair, scar across the face—that would be Makkin.”
“Surely not Pex……!”
“I always hoped you were doing well with your family. To meet you here like this… Pex would be sorry if he knew.”
“That fool……!”
Makkin’s nose twitched as he sniffled.
“Black hair, round and otter-like face, cute impression—that matches the description exactly. You must be Bione.”
“Is Neif alive? Truly?”
Bione, the smallest of the bandits, called out her friend’s name through a flood of tears.
“Hose, Organ composed a song thinking of a friend. I suspect it might be about you.”
“We lived in the same orphanage. We were like brothers…….”
The bandit named Hose nodded quietly in acceptance.
“And Redem, you look just like Eig.”
“……You made it through.”
Redem, Eig’s older brother and a farmer in the village of Exilium, felt the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
“Eig always worried about his family. Especially…….”
“Mother’s dementia has worsened considerably.”
“Ah…….”
“But she still calls for the youngest son’s name and searches for him.”
The bandits’ parlor became a sea of tears in an instant.
These were no ordinary bandits.
They were the families, friends, and lovers of prisoners wrongfully sent to the exile of Exilium.
Because they knew their innocence better than anyone, they had sharpened their blades against the Imperial Court and prepared for rebellion.
Of course, this revelation was already shocking enough.
“You memorized all of that?”
What truly astounded Ian was something else entirely.
“Every detail about the residents’ families, friends, acquaintances—their personal information, all of it?”
“Yes.”
Hevenia nodded, conceding the point without resistance.
Ian, amazed once more, couldn’t close his mouth, while Nema felt a surge of emotion at the way Hevenia spoke of this extraordinary feat as though it were nothing.
“I’m the village chief, after all.”
Her fever hadn’t fully broken; her body felt waterlogged and heavy, so her voice came out unusually low.
But because of that, the true meaning behind her words came through perfectly clear.
“I can’t abandon my responsibilities just because I’m young. I’m the chief, so I have to serve the people of this village…….”
Hevenia had made a promise to the villagers.
“I can’t promise to clear your names, but I will do my best to bring your families, friends, lovers, and acquaintances to this village!”
The adults all thought the same thing.
It would be impossible.
Their hearts were grateful, but they firmly believed those people would never accept them, branded as they were with the stigma of heinous crime.
It was a kind of resignation.
Being alive at all was miracle enough; the adults had even made a secret pact at night to just live well among themselves.
“Hello there.”
“Home visit, we are!”
But the seven-year-old chief didn’t know any of that.
“Who would you like to have brought—I mean, brought to the village?”
She simply visited each house and listened to their stories.
And she memorized every single one.
“You’re quite the remarkable chief.”
Verity spoke quietly, offering a single observation.
As the hidden effort of the young chief came to light, the quiet silence of the moved parlor shattered.
The Demon had spoken with genuine sincerity.
“I am truly honored to serve you.”
“Hehe…….”
It’s nothing, really.
Hevenia, who had been putting on airs, blushed at her own shyness.
* * *
‘……This is embarrassing, really.’
I felt a pang of conscience.
The adults thought I’d performed some sort of miracle, but all I’d done was remember their stories without forgetting them.
‘How could I have known those bandits I happened to meet were the families of the villagers themselves?’
Yet the eyes of the adults around me were brimming with gratitude and admiration.
‘Well, there’s nothing for it.’
At this point, I might as well enjoy it.
“As the village chief, I must naturally work toward the development of the village and the comfortable daily lives of its residents. That is what it means to be the chief—the servants’ master and the village’s ruler…….”
“Yes?”
“The residents are the masters, and I’m the village’s ruler.”
In any case, I’d earned considerable trust from the bandit group.
“Would you like to relocate to Exilium?”
“Yes!”
I’d secured future tax revenue.
While the new arrivals packed their belongings, I sprawled across the bed, indulging in laziness.
“Your fever is dropping steadily.”
A round bandage had been placed on the inside of my right forearm after I’d finished the IV drip.
Verity had drawn a little puppy on the bandage for me.
“Oh, the line went outside the edge.”
“Then like this…….”
“Yuck! Don’t wipe it off with your saliva!”
Verity giggled and wiped away the ink with an alcohol swab.
“I’m grateful you came through safely.”
“It’s not something to be grateful about.”
I still had to endure this accursed ordeal two more times.
Thinking ahead, my head was already starting to throb.
‘Damn it, like it’s shortening my life.’
Who said that ordeals make a person stronger?
Whoever spouted such nonsense must have lived such a smooth life that their greatest trial was probably nothing worse than stepping on a thorn.
‘……But the results are good, so it’ll do.’
At least I’d made it through the ordeal without incident, and my abilities had grown stronger.
On top of that, hadn’t I also found the families and acquaintances of the villagers?
‘Better to enjoy it than fume uselessly.’
But there was one thing.
“…….”
Something that weighed on my mind.
“…….”
“…….”
My gaze met that of the young inquisitor leaning against the doorframe, watching me all this while.
‘Olive, that was it.’
I recognized him at first glance.
Libi’s younger brother.
Olive had her exact features, but his atmosphere was completely different.
If Libi was like the warm, rich soil of spring, this one was the frozen earth of permafrost. His manner of speaking was crisp as a winter wind.
“You’re Libi’s brother, aren’t you?”
“…….”
“Or are you not?”
“Was it Lady Clavis?”
“Why? Surprised I didn’t die?”
“You must come with me to the Central Headquarters.”
“I’d rather not.”
I recalled our earlier exchange and clicked my tongue.
“These young people these days have no sense at all.”
“If you’re referring to your conversation with Lord Olive just now, the lady was at fault eight times out of ten.”
“I was only at fault twice?”
“No, ma’am. You were at fault eight times.”

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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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