The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief in Exile - Chapter 83

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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 83
* * *
The Mado Engineering Academy.
The ivory tower of knowledge that the Devitat Empire prides itself upon.
‘The history here is actually quite fascinating.’
Having returned to the village of Exsilium, I was absorbed in reading Understanding Clavis in One Volume at the library.
The Mado Engineering Academy was documented in Part Two: The Empire.
To put it simply, the Mado Engineering Academy was a factory-style research institute founded by “eccentrics” who’d been expelled from the Magic Tower.
At that time, the Magic Tower was quite conservative, with a deeply entrenched bias that only Traditional Magic, preserved from ancient times, could be considered legitimate.
It was the younger mages who rebelled against this.
‘They wanted to graft folk techniques onto Traditional Magic to create an entirely new discipline. That was the genesis of modern Mado Engineering.’
But the conservative Magic Tower disapproved of their efforts, and ultimately drove them out—a permanent expulsion.
Then a certain figure appeared and led those exiled mages to the Northern Border.
That person gave them land and buildings to settle on, and supported them wholeheartedly.
That was the origin of the Mado Engineering Academy, and it marked the beginning of what would later be called the Enlightenment of the Exiled, a golden age of Mado Engineering.
‘The figure who lent his aid then was Clavis.’
An ancestor I had to go back roughly seven generations to reach.
‘Still, Clavis’s hand seems to be in everything.’
Every time I read the book, I’m struck by the same realization: the history of the Devitat Empire is, in essence, the history of Clavis.
The book Understanding Clavis in One Volume, given to me by the Bleached Demon, is divided into three major sections.
Part One: Theory presents knowledge across various fields in an encyclopedic format, while Part Two: The Empire contains records of major organizations in Devitat, a registry of noble houses, and the history of the Royal Family.
Part Three: Clavis, by contrast, is thinner than the appendix.
This is because Parts One and Two themselves constitute the history of Clavis’s life and work—there was no need to elaborate further.
‘Just from reading the text, I can see how extraordinary Clavis was.’
The countless discoveries and innovations documented in Part One were all made by Clavis himself, or by people whom Clavis had patronized.
In Part Two, the foundations of every significant organization trace back to Clavis, and there wasn’t a single noble house that hadn’t benefited from his support.
‘If that’s the case, shouldn’t Clavis have been the Emperor?’
He literally had everything except the throne itself.
‘I’m actually starting to understand why the Emperor harbored an inferiority complex toward Clavis.’
Of course, that doesn’t excuse whatever crimes he’s committed, but I suppose some mitigation might be warranted.
Perhaps enough mercy to administer anesthesia when extracting the hip joint raw?
‘If this is all true, though…….’
Since the Mado Engineering Academy was founded because of Clavis, if I play my cards right, I might gain an ally to counterbalance the Royal Family.
“All finished?”
“Daief.”
As I gathered my books to leave, Daief, who’d been stationed at the librarian’s desk, called out to me.
She was one of our village’s taciturn trio and held the aptitude of a fortune-teller who devours destiny itself—she’d been exiled here under the outrageous charge of distributing seditious materials.
“How’s the work? Is being a librarian treating you well?”
“I feel as though I wore this false accusation just to reach this moment.”
Daief smiled with genuine warmth, and the small beauty mark at the corner of her lip rose slightly.
“The library doesn’t have many visitors yet, so there’s nothing too demanding.”
“You won’t be saying that once the village population grows, you know.”
“I’m hoping that day comes soon.”
Daief carefully handed me a sheet of paper.
On the pristine white paper was a pencil sketch of me, absorbed in my reading.
“Wow!”
An exclamation escaped me before I could help it.
I quickly closed my mouth and glanced around. Fortunately, I was the only one in the reading room today.
“Is this me?”
“Your reading posture was so magnificent, I simply had to sketch it.”
“It’s so beautiful! I knew I was pretty, but to this extent……!”
“Aha.”
“Thank you so much!”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
I left the library with Daief’s warm farewell following me out.
“Poppy! Chuchu!”
Outside, the dogs who’d been digging in the nearby dirt came bounding over. I quickly showed them the sketch I’d been given.
“Look, look at this! What do you think?”
The two dogs’ tail-wagging quickened as they gazed at the drawing.
“Pretty cool, right? I’m going to frame this and hang it up.”
“Yelp!”
“Yelp! Yelp!”
“You want me to draw you too?”
I carefully rolled up the sketch and tucked it into my Subspace Pouch before climbing onto the Shing-Shing Car. The dogs positioned themselves on either side of me.
As I urged the horse forward, Poppy and Chuchu matched my pace, their fur streaming in the wind.
I spoke to the pair of them.
“Stria is supposed to visit the Deste Estate with the Crown Prince.”
Whether it was my imagination or not, Poppy’s ears perked up more noticeably than usual.
“There are only two Ducal Ranks in the Empire.”
“Yelp.”
“That’s right—and one of them belongs to our dear Lord Poppy.”
Dignity radiated from Poppy’s every step.
“And Chuchu is his one and only spouse.”
Chuchu’s black tail stood proudly erect.
“As for the Crown Prince—honestly, I don’t much care either way. But there’s something about that boy I just can’t take. Would it be so terrible if he didn’t come?”
“Yelp-yelp!”
“Grrr!”
At the mention of the Crown Prince, the dogs bared their fangs for the first time in ages.
Watching this with interest, I found myself remembering something.
‘That’s right! I didn’t like the Crown Prince!’
On that day when I’d seen my brother in a dream, young me had certainly said this.
“But that insufferable brat’s coming too! And if he bothers Aedellos again, I’m slapping him the moment we meet! Grandfather always said you have to discipline them from the start!”
The “insufferable brat” mentioned then was indeed the Crown Prince.
Given that I still didn’t warm to him even now, with no memories of those days, it seemed I’d never had fond recollections of him in the first place.
‘Now that I’m twenty-five, I can at least understand the boy’s position.’
His birth mother had died.
And then Father’s mistress waltzed right in, playing the part of a mother.
Plus half-siblings on top of that.
‘Of course, Prince Aedellos did nothing wrong, but the Crown Prince is still just a child—he wouldn’t have the capacity to hate someone while carefully weighing such circumstances.’
In the end, the Emperor was the true culprit, but who would dare point a finger at the supreme ruler of the realm?
It must be even harder for the Crown Prince.
‘So in the end, only an innocent prince becomes the scapegoat.’
That’s why young me had disliked the Crown Prince.
Being a child myself, I must have found his warped attitude utterly detestable.
“Hmm, but how should I treat the Countess properly?”
I wondered if it would be enough to leave everything to Aunt Frelia.
‘Even aside from this matter, wouldn’t it be good for me as Village Chief to learn about etiquette and related customs?’
Lost in thought, I slowed the Shing-Shing Car slightly.
Poppy and Chuchu took the opportunity to surge ahead, but once they noticed I was falling behind, they wheeled back around with a soft bark.
“…….”
I gazed at the pair of them quietly.
‘I see…….’
They’re nobility too, after all.
* * *
That evening.
I recounted to Verity what had happened at the Deste Estate and instructed her on how to prepare to receive Countess Stria with proper honor.
Ian and Livy were present for this conversation.
“That girl’s destined to make waves no matter what she does.”
Livy couldn’t help but marvel.
“Make sure this doesn’t reach Countess Stria’s ears.”
Ian gave a stern warning.
So what did Verity say in response?
She promptly praised me.
“Truly, without a shred of exaggeration—that young lady makes me double over with laughter at least once a day. You are the source of my joy.”
“Ugh, another failure to stay discreet. This isn’t a talent that can be hidden away.”
“But there have been only two moments when I genuinely thought the young lady had lost her mind.”
“What, only two?”
“Once was when she asked me to twist her arms behind her back because she wanted to experience torture. That’s something people will be talking about for years.”
“Oh.”
I clamped my mouth shut.
“And the second thing that’s been getting to me is what you just said. I’m actually looking forward to more of it in the future.”
“Hmph.”
I let out an exaggerated snort on purpose.
A method of preparation befitting the proper reception of Duchess Stria.
My proposal was to observe Poppy and Chuchu’s daily habits, then prepare based on what the Duke and Duchess preferred.
Of course, there was sound reasoning behind it.
“You know who has the most delicate and particular palate in our village? Poppy and Chuchu.”
The ducal pair truly possessed refined tastes.
First, they would never repeat a dish for more than a week.
Moreover, they always enjoyed food with a light, balanced flavor—lean toward the middle of taste. The moment something came out too salty, too sweet, or overly bland, they’d flip the bowl.
As for texture, they preferred everything soft, so I had to be careful every time I cooked meat. That’s why they favored sous vide above all else.
Especially when grilling vegetables like zucchini—if grill marks appeared, they’d push the plate away with their snout as if to say I could have it.
Yet if the food leaned too healthy, they’d be displeased, so I had to balance nutrition with taste carefully.
And the sauce always had to be bright and tart, made from seasonal fruit.
“…….”
At my explanation, Verity nodded endlessly, her expression that of someone struck by sudden revelation.
“Certainly, those two have the palate of an eighty-year-old.”
“Woof! Woof-woof!”
“Arf-arf! Woof!”
Poppy and Chuchu, thoroughly offended, lunged at Verity.
I grabbed both dogs by the scruff, their eyes rolling back in indignation.
“I wonder if Duchess Stria is that age too?”
“Younger than that. Maybe in her sixties at most?”
“Sixty-five.”
Our eyes turned toward Ian.
Caught off guard by the sudden attention, Ian wore an awkward smile before composing himself and recounting a sorrowful tale.
“I’ve mentioned before that I once oversaw Prince Aedellos’s swordsmanship training, haven’t I?”
Back then, the training grounds had coincided with Crown Prince Perseus’s, by chance.
I was about to leave hastily.
“I’d appreciate that. My mood is rather foul today.”
“Grandmother’s sixty-third birthday will be a sorrowful occasion this year as well.”
“She’ll be mourning my late mother on that day.”
The birthday of Duchess Stria.
That day was the death anniversary of her only daughter.
And the day Duchess Stria had promised to visit the Deste Estate was that same date.

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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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