Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 10

Chapter 10

Hebenia asked the herbalist.

"New brother-in-law, this herb is really expensive, right?"

"It's a legendary herb rumored to be extinct. This one's worth whatever price you name."

The herbalist put on his glasses, which hung from a cord around his neck, and flicked his abacus.

"So this is the price."

"...Aren't we the sellers supposed to name the price?"

Hebenia frowned at the abacus.

"Beri—I mean, little brother, how much is this?"

"Two million liv. That's way too cheap."

"Goodbye, new brother-in-law."

"W-wait! Wait just a moment!"

The herbalist urgently stopped the three of them from leaving.

"Then five hundred! Five hundred for three stems!"

"Why are you setting the price like you're doing us a favor again?"

"Please, I beg you! The truth is, my wife has a chronic illness! I desperately need Dulcevia, so please take pity on this old man..."

"You're married, and you were trying to marry my brother?"

"That's fine! My wife died twenty years ago."

"......"

Thanks to his desperate efforts, even dragging his dead wife into it, the herbalist purchased three stems of Dulcevia for five million liv.

Ian and Verity carefully counted the five million liv handed over by the herbalist right then and there. It was because Ian couldn't trust the old man at all.

Meanwhile, Hebenia casually looked around the interior of the herbalist's shop.

"Do you store your herbs separately?"

There wasn't a single herb in sight. If not for the faint, lingering bitter aroma, you wouldn't even know this was a herbalist's shop.

"Half of the herbs have been sent up to the capital, that's why."

The herbalist handed Hebenia a candy made from boiled licorice and said.

"Th-that thing..."

The herbalist closed his eyes and muttered.

"The Crown Princess."

Hebenia's hand, which had been about to unwrap the candy, stopped.

Ian and Verity, who had been counting the money, also stopped and turned around.

"She almost died this time, they say. The Clavis caused an incident—though who'd believe that. Anyway, the imperial family has been buying up herbs from all over the country to treat the ailing Crown Princess..."

The herbalist sneered that it was only good for the Emperor.

"Since he's gotten rid of the Clavis, who were his eternal regret."

---

The five million liv earned from selling three stems of Dulcevia was the exile family's first income.

After leaving the herbalist's shop, we bought various items with that money and returned to the inn.

From daily necessities to fabric, stationery, books, jewelry, and ornaments.

All of it was gifts for the exile family.

"It reminds me of when I bought gifts for my mother and siblings with my first paycheck."

"Sir Ian, you're a rare diligent young man these days. Admirable—I'll give you a bottle of holy water as a gift."

"I-I'll pass on that. Holy water is a bit much..."

"Verity, what about me?"

"My Lady, you already bought two magical girl toys."

"Ugh, seriously. Who'd want to be seven with this treatment."

"Make up your mind whether you're twenty-five or seven."

All the items we bought went into Verity's subspace pocket. It was fascinating how the volume didn't increase even as he stuffed things into the cloak.

'Could I do that too?'

After we finished organizing.

We sorted through the information we'd gathered while shopping.

First, I spoke.

"The Emperor seems to be even more ridden with inferiority complex than I expected."

The knights we'd met outside the primeval forest, the herbalist grandfather, and the other people of the Deste territory all said the same thing.

The Emperor was jealous of the Clavis.

The situation was quite peculiar.

'The Clavis took the blame, but the Emperor gets the criticism...'

But this alone showed which way public sentiment leaned.

'Poor Crown Princess.'

No one worried about the Crown Princess, the victim.

Not even Ian.

'Of course, it's highly likely the attempted assassination of the Crown Princess was also a false charge. She might not have actually been hurt. Still, it's a bit much that no one's worried about her when she's involved in such a major incident.'

Then Ian spoke.

"If the herb supply becomes unstable, people will suffer immediate damage. That herbalist barely had any herbs either."

"But the Crown Princess was badly hurt."

When I showed my displeasure, Ian said this.

"The Crown Princess has always been frail."

She'd been weak since childhood and had never been able to go outside.

So she'd apparently had many life-threatening moments.

"I once served under orders to always carry a black cloak and white ribbon for two months because the Crown Princess could die at any time. There were indeed many crises."

"......"

"If the Crown Princess is in critical condition and they suddenly start buying up herbs? That doesn't make sense. There's never been a case like that."

"R-really..."

It certainly was strange.

No matter how sick she was, would one person really need half the herbs grown nationwide?

'...Could it be related to the ores we mined in the exile camp?'

The unidentified ores.

And the herbs the imperial family was hoarding.

'It sounds like materials for an experiment.'

Just as I was trying to piece together a theory, Verity brought up another topic.

"Come to think of it, there were a lot of armed knights in the square."

"That's because of Exilium. They're on guard since that disaster happened in the primeval forest. This is the closest place to the exile camp."

"That might not be the only reason."

I spread out the newspaper I'd bought from a stand.

"Look here."

And I pointed to the large article on the front page.

"The Crown Prince is visiting the Deste territory. It says it's to reinforce the defensive magic spells protecting the territory and nearby villages."

Come to think of it, I could read the script here fluently?

I was slightly surprised by this strange phenomenon, but since it wasn't urgent, I decided to move on.

"Then there might be imperial knights here too..."

"Ian oppa, be careful."

I was genuinely worried.

"If you get caught, I'll abandon you."

My happy exile life.

"At least say you'll help me, even if it's a lie."

"I can't do that. I have adults I'm responsible for."

"Such a sharp seven-year-old."

Now that the topic had come up, we looked through the newspaper thoroughly.

Most of the articles were about the giant monster that appeared in Exilium, and predictions on how the imperial family would handle it.

There was also an editorial mentioning the herb problem. It didn't directly criticize the imperial family's actions, but it cautiously mentioned negative predictions that this situation would become dangerous.

There was also an article analyzing the impact of the Clavis's destruction on the empire, but Verity muttered, "What a waste of time..." and we skipped it.

None of the articles expressed concern for the prisoners in the exile camp.

'Well, of course.'

We were heinous criminals.

There were even several articles saying the prisoners had received divine punishment and died.

'To the outside world, we're all dead.'

It was what I'd wished for, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Then.

While reading the newspaper, we noticed something strange.

"Oppa, it's not there, right?"

"Yeah."

There was no information at all about the ores we'd mined.

'The knights we saw outside the forest didn't seem to know about the ores either.'

It seemed the imperial family had not only controlled information but completely blocked any knowledge about the ores themselves. The ores we'd mined might as well be nonexistent in this world.

'Should I have kept one or two guards alive? They might have had useful information.'

I clicked my tongue in regret.

'Just what are those ores...'

I unconsciously looked at Verity. Our eyes met, and Verity just smiled wordlessly. It was an annoyingly knowing smile.

'So you do know something?'

But he didn't seem inclined to tell me.

'Hmph, I'll just wish for it later and find out.'

With the information I'd gathered, I roughly grasped the current situation.

'The Emperor is a suspicious loser, the Crown Princess is pitiful, the Crown Prince is here, and the Clavis are off the table for now.'

Herb prices were likely to keep rising for a while.

'I feel like we sold to that herbalist grandfather way too cheaply...'

Still, we got important information, so I decided to let it slide.

Now there was only one goal left.

Aunt Daliss's former in-laws' home.

The Deste mansion.

"We're going, right?"

It was a suggestion with the object omitted, but Ian and Verity nodded without hesitation.

---

The Deste territory was small, but as the birthplace of magical engineering, it was a city where bright lights stayed on late into the night.

But the Deste mansion we arrived at had not a single light, exuding a dangerous atmosphere like a haunted house.

Click—.

Thanks to that, we managed to infiltrate the mansion safely without being detected.

The mansion's exterior was quaint and old-fashioned, like a small castle from a fairy tale. There was even a pointed spire where a princess captured by a villain might be imprisoned.

'Two things to check.'

One: to confirm that Aunt Daliss's daughter was safe. If she existed, the goal was to check how she was doing.

Two: to investigate the circumstances of Aunt Daliss's crime.

'Aunt Daliss is the only one among our family who was caught in the act.'

There was a strong sense that she'd been dealt with hastily.

'If there was a reason they needed to hurry and get rid of her, what was it?'

Just figuring this out would help us determine the direction we should take.

The interior of the mansion could be somewhat seen by the moonlight coming through the windows. Overall, it was a clean and tidy place.

But an eerily cold air circulated throughout.

'Anyway...'

I looked around the inside of the mansion.

'There's not a single person here.'

Even an ordinary company has security or night staff, but the Deste mansion had no such signs of life.

Just then, I spotted a place where light was seeping out from under a door.

Ian, staring quietly at the other side of the door, slowly spoke.

"...One person. Seems to be asleep."

"How can you tell without seeing?"

"Th-that's true?"

Even Ian seemed surprised at his own words. He had an expression that said, 'How do I know that for sure?'

"There's definitely only one person. And they're asleep."

Fortunately, Verity confirmed it.

I turned the doorknob, and the door slowly slid open.

The first thing that caught my eye was the bed. Someone was lying on it.

As I got closer, I saw it was a man of ordinary appearance, estimated to be in his thirties.

His white hair was strangely familiar.

'Who is it?'

As I wondered silently, Verity spoke beside me.

"It's the Viscount of Deste."

Ian and I looked at Verity in surprise.

"Huh? Aunt Daliss's ex-husband?"

"How do you know that, Verity?"

"There was a portrait in the hallway earlier. The hair color is different, but he looks exactly the same, so I recognized him. So he's alive after all. Even I find this a bit unexpected and perplexing..."

What Verity found unexpected wasn't the Viscount of Deste's survival.

"This man has made a contract with a demon."

Ian and my eyes went wide as saucers.

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