The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 75

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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 75
Olive revealed everything the miracle that Hebenia had shown him.
Especially regarding the Spatial Movement he had experienced firsthand—he delivered his account with almost academic rigor, laying out the logic as methodically as a scholar presenting at a symposium.
And when his words had finished.
“Ah.”
The Saint King managed only that single utterance.
“Um, er, ah….”
“Your Majesty?”
“Ah, well, at any rate, I’m relieved the young lady of the Clavis Family is unharmed.”
He cleared his throat with a soft rumble.
“To visit such a heavy punishment as Guilt by Association upon one so young is a grave injustice. What crime had that innocent girl committed? If anyone deserves condemnation, it’s those wretched men of that household….”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“It grieves me deeply. My eyes blur with tears thinking of what that young lady must have endured. In any case, I have never trusted that family from the old days.”
The Saint King exhaled slowly, composing his expression.
“So the young lady of the Clavis Family is a Saint….”
“And there is one more thing I must report.”
“What is that?”
“All twelve prisoners held in the Exilium penal settlement are believed to have survived, including the Saint herself.”
“Ah, if the young lady of the Clavis Family survived, such a thing is certainly possible.”
“Furthermore, their families and acquaintances have now joined them. We believe the Saint used her power to transport them into the Primordial Forest.”
“I see.”
The Saint King nodded several times, then spoke with cold precision.
“However, we currently have no means of exploring the Primordial Forest.”
The Primordial Forest still forbade entry to outsiders.
Moreover, the single passage that had opened once each month on the night of the full moon—that too had now vanished.
“All we can do is pray for their safety and well-being.”
“There may be a way for me to make contact with them.”
“Yes?”
The Saint King was startled once more.
Olive explained the method of contact he had discovered.
“The young lady of the Clavis Family appears to have a close connection to the Deste Sacred Shrine.”
Olive withdrew something from his pocket.
A white jade ring engraved with two winged wolves.
A ring symbolizing a Salvation Priest of the Deste Sacred Shrine—something Hebenia had dropped from her pocket while fevered and delirious, which Olive had picked up.
“I intend to coerce the Salvation Priest of the Deste Sacred Shrine.”
“Olive, the Interrogator?”
“…I will ask politely and seek their cooperation.”
* * *
After Olive had left the room.
“…Your Majesty.”
The door to the adjacent chamber opened, and a young man with a gentle countenance entered carefully.
Copper-toned skin and long black hair braided down his back.
Densely set lower lashes descended slowly over eyes of faded color, then rose again.
The Saint King, seated at his desk, was carefully reading letters he had drawn from a drawer.
Fine stationery favored by the nobility—letters of inquiry sent regularly by his adopted daughter.
“She was alive.”
Weathered hands traced the letters gently.
As if discerning the filial devotion of the daughter who had sent them.
“Havi was truly alive all this time.”
“Did I not tell you so?”
“Still, only by seeing with my own eyes does this old worry finally ease.”
“I understand.”
The young man withdrew a handkerchief from his breast and offered it to the Saint King.
The Saint King took it gracefully and wiped his wet eyes.
“I despise the Clavis Family with all my heart.”
“Those are not words befitting Your Majesty to speak.”
“I am aware. And yet I truly, profoundly hate them. They have always stolen away those most precious to me.”
Priests devoted to the State Religion could not marry.
However, they could form families through adoption or the bonds of sworn siblinghood.
The Saint King had such sworn siblings—those who had grown up at his side from childhood.
When he learned to fend for himself, he adopted children and raised them as his own.
And for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, both his sister and his daughter caught the eyes of men from the Clavis Family.
“But they lived happily, I know. There were no better matches for them anywhere.”
Yet when his nephew—his sister’s son—carried off the daughter he’d raised with such care, he nearly tore off his priest’s robes and fought him then and there.
‘Clavis. This cursed den of vipers.’
Despite having his heart shattered twice in such fashion.
The Saint King had no choice but to surrender.
The Clavis Family held his final weakness in their hands.
“Grandpa!”
“King Grandpa!”
Hebenia Clavis.
A lovely princess who was the spitting image of her mother.
The moment the Saint King saw his granddaughter, he fell utterly in love.
Her tongue stumbled over his name, so she called him “King Grandfather” instead, and each time she did, the scowl that crossed the Clavis Family head’s face was the finest medicine for his weary soul.
The little granddaughter had captured his heart entirely.
Of course, the Saint King loved his first grandson Pertel as well, but as the boy grew into a typical Clavis male, he’d learned to keep his distance.
“As for the Deste Sacred Shrine…….”
“It’s where the first Angel Descent occurred.”
As the Saint King explained, a frown creased the man’s smooth brow.
“My, my—the Saint King’s own secretary frowning at the mere mention of an Angel?”
“Hmm.”
The young man quickly composed his expression.
“Angels simply aren’t to my taste.”
“Ha, and I wonder if this descent, too, was the work of our princess.”
“That would be my guess. Olive the Interrogator doesn’t know Clavis’s true abilities, so she seems to have misunderstood.”
“Well, our princess could be a Saint herself and I’d think nothing strange of it.”
The Saint King withdrew a White Jade Ring from his drawer.
It was identical to the one Olive had shown him.
“……Very well, then. I must keep my promise and move forward with this.”
He pressed it into the man’s hands and made a silent wish.
“Havi, too, will have a Demon by her side to watch over her. Please deliver this to him.”
“And we’ll keep Your Majesty’s involvement hidden, yes?”
“I beseech you.”
The man smiled at the Saint King’s courteous request.
“Shall I also inquire after your granddaughter’s wellbeing?”
“I knew I’d taken a liking to you for good reason.”
With those words, the Demon in priest’s robes vanished in the blink of an eye.
The Saint King, who had sent him off with such ease, steadied his emotions once more and returned to the administrative duties he’d set aside.
* * *
“Did you know my mother is the Saint King’s daughter, Verity?”
“Pardon?”
Ah, so she didn’t know.
Currently, Verity and I were alone, inspecting the village.
We were there to check how the newly arrived residents were adjusting, and to gather input for the second round of supply distribution.
‘How admirable—a woman personally taking to her feet to oversee public welfare and administration.’
I was the very model of an ideal politician.
‘……Though it’s getting further and further from being a magical girl.’
In any case, while I had Verity alone, I told her about the mother I’d met in my dreams.
When I told her how I’d wept in my mother’s arms, Verity gently stroked my hair.
“And you mentioned meeting your older brother before, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Pertel Clavis.”
“It seems that once your abilities reach a certain threshold, you meet your family members in dreams. What sort of trick is being used here, I wonder.”
“Hehe, so that means I have two more to go? My father and grandfather?”
“You also have a grandmother, you know.”
“Really?”
Only now did I take inventory of my family composition.
Grandparents, parents. An older brother.
And two puppies.
‘What a typical large family of the wealthy.’
As I continued this train of thought alone, Verity circled back to the topic I’d raised earlier—my mother’s father, the Saint King.
“Still, the State Religion priests in this country are forbidden from marrying, aren’t they…?”
Then, as if answering her own question, she said, “Ah,” to herself.
“She must be an adopted daughter.”
“You mean he adopted her?”
“The current Saint King has quite a few children he’s raised through adoption. It’s adoption in name, but in practice it’s part of his discipline—he grows these children through patronage and education.”
“Wow, so I’d have a lot of uncles and aunts then.”
“In any case, the Saint King is the young lady’s grandfather.”
Verity tilted her head, visibly startled.
“In a way, she really is a saint. Being the Saint King’s granddaughter.”
“Ugh, this is exactly what I wanted!”
The life of a wealthy merchant’s daughter, squandering power and riches without restraint!
‘…Hmm, but is the Saint King really a good person?’
No blood relation, so should I trust him so easily?
Yet the mother I saw in my dream had advised me to seek out Grandfather Saint King in times of hardship.
‘Hmm.’
But now that I’ve equipped myself with caution, I decided not to blindly believe even advice from my mother.
‘You have to test a stone bridge until it breaks.’
Because only a strong stone bridge stands without breaking.
A weak stone bridge is better off breaking sooner.
Besides, there’s Olive—a misery comedy sidekick—firmly planted in the Sacred Shrine, so it’s better not to get close for now.
‘Right, just as planned, use the Sacred Shrine to set the Emperor and me at odds, and in that gap, properly secure the Deste estate.’
Beep-beep-beep.
Just then, a loud bell chimed from Verity’s pocket.
“Just a moment. I have a call.”
Click.
“Hello? Secretary?”
Secretary?
‘What? The secretary of some lord-class Demons?’
Verity bowed respectfully as she took the call.
Judging by her manner, it seemed the secretary of either the bleached-hair Demon or the long-haired Demon was calling.
“Yes, ah, so it was there. Thank you for telling me. Yes, ah, then I’ll do it that way.”
Please come in!
Verity ended the call, her body bent like the shape of the Korean letter ㄱ, and spoke to me.
“Young lady, what about the ring that Saker gave you?”
“Huh?”
Oh no.
I felt all the blood drain from my face.
I hastily patted my pockets. It was obvious the ring wouldn’t be in the clothes I was currently wearing.
“What do I—!”
“Fortunately, I found the ring.”
“Phew, thank goodness….”
“Good grief, how many times have I told you to keep valuables in a bag with an Extradimensional Pocket? These days you don’t listen to a word I say.”
“Come on, since Verity found it, all’s well.”
“Don’t try to smooth things over with cuteness.”
“Fine, fine.”
“I wasn’t telling you to kneel.”
Since things had come to this, I continued my inspection while hitching a ride on Verity’s back.
“Hehe, this is fun!”
“Only Clavis would fool around with a Demon like this.”
Though she grumbled, her voice was full of laughter, so I forgot my twenty-five years and indulged in a bit more whining.
The Demon butler accepted all of this irresponsible young lady’s spoiled behavior.
* * *
With the fourteen new arrivals, Exilium’s population had grown to thirty residents in total.
After returning to the village, Hebenia spent a week focusing intensively on its management.
First, she arranged housing for the new residents and conducted in-depth conversations with them, providing whatever they needed.
She also provided employment.
Some found work at the village’s key community facilities, others cultivated the communal garden plots, and still others opened shops in the market.
The twelve original residents also began earnest economic activity.
“I’ll invest the initial capital and materials, so everyone do your best.”
Thanks to Village Chief Hebenia’s active support, Exilium finally had the conditions for money to flow.
“Now, all that remains is…….”
One thing alone.
“A merchant company to sell the goods the residents make out into the wider market.”
The establishment of a trading house—that was it.

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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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