Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 14

Chapter 14

At Hebenia's cursing, a horrified Ian quickly covered Flora's ears.

Whether he did or not, Hebenia continued speaking to Verity.

"Besides, Verity is a strong demon with a strong sense of law and order."

"......"

"Are you planning to take him alive?"

"......Did I say I had to?"

Verity asked back, startled.

Hebenia shook her head.

"You didn't have to say it—it's obvious. That demon is a criminal who committed a taboo. You can't just kill him; you need to interrogate him."

"......"

"And while you're at it, you probably want to torment him legally too."

"......Hahaha!"

The corner of Verity's mouth, which had been silent, lifted high like a child who'd received a wonderful gift.

"So finish it quickly."

"As you command, my Lady."

Verity bowed like a dapper gentleman and promised.

The temple's location was confirmed by sight. In the Deste territory, shrouded in silence and darkness, the only place shining was the temple.

"My Lady."

As Hebenia headed for the temple, Verity spoke.

"Once you enter the temple, make a summoning."

"Summon? Who?"

"Just summon. They'll come out on their own."

Verity said, unable to hide his reluctant expression.

Left alone, the school-uniform demon watched their backs until they disappeared into the temple.

Demons have good eyesight. After confirming that the three humans had safely infiltrated the temple, he finally let out a light sigh of relief.

'They're the most diligent humans I've seen in a long time.'

Truly admirable humans, whom he wanted to teach more and give more to.

The affectionate smile he wore as he thought of them, unfortunately, had to be wiped away now.

"......Are you coming out now?"

Left alone, Verity said as he took off his school jacket.

The thick winter jacket that fell to the ground scattered like dust and disappeared.

"You've been watching all along."

"Good instincts."

In the middle of the empty street, the demon with the similar name appeared.

Verity's eyes narrowed.

'He's changed again already.'

The demon's appearance had noticeably transformed.

One of the two horns on his head had swollen abnormally. One of his yellow eyes had turned blood red, and his muscles had bulged, making his body twice as large.

Now he looked more like a monster than a demon.

'As expected...'

Verity clicked his tongue lightly.

'He didn't just do the succession ceremony.'

Because young Flora was there, he hadn't said it in detail, but the summoning circle drawn in the Deste mansion's entrance hall wasn't just for a simple succession ceremony.

'There were too many bodies for it to be just payment. So it was doping after all.'

A ritual that sacrifices innocent lives to strengthen a demon's power.

Naturally, this too was a taboo, just like the succession ceremony.

'This is an incident I've received no reports about.'

Verity rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows and thought.

Where did this guy in front of him learn that forbidden ritual?

That ritual had been designated a taboo long ago, and the Grand Lord had directly blocked all information about it.

In other words, there was no way to find out about it in the demon world.

"......Haah."

Verity dropped his head and let out a long sigh.

"I thought I was finally getting some easy work. I really took this as a vacation, you know...!"

"Consider yourself unlucky."

The demon, now a monster, grinned. Saliva dripped from the fangs that extended past his lips.

"Killing my own kind isn't a hobby, but since you've seen it, there's no helping it. Your death will be the cornerstone of our great revolution."

"Oh dear, they say you have to be in chuunibyou to be lucky with it."

"You speak recklessly because you know nothing and have no fear."

The demon stretched out his right hand, and long, steel-sharp claws grew from his fingertips.

"Heh."

The demon licked his claws with a forked tongue like a snake.

"Oh wow, hey, that's a bit..."

Verity wrinkled his nose.

He wanted to tell him to please stop acting so lethal and pretending to have such great power.

But for now, he held back and continued listening to the fool's words.

"Demons these days have no guts. What's with all this order, discipline, and treaties, sealing away their great power and just serving as humans' errand boys?"

"......"

"Humans aren't beings to live alongside—they're resources we can freely use and take from."

"Hmm..."

"Every time a human summons a demon, they act so triumphant, as if they've achieved a great success in life. That pathetic sight is so miserable and..."

"Oh, I am ground, self-introduction..."

Ah, crap.

Verity quickly shut his mouth.

He couldn't help but let out an interjection in the end.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Don't mind me, keep talking..."

"Die!"

The demon swung his hand, and crescent-shaped red energy blades flew out.

The circular energy, like iron shackles, left rough marks on the ground as it raced toward Verity.

Clang—!

The red energy shattered like glass.

Through the broken fragments, the demon's flustered face was clearly visible.

"Wh-how...!"

"How, you ask?"

Thud.

Roll, roll.

The demon's vision suddenly dropped. And then it rolled around.

"Haah, do I have to teach even these basics? This is why young demons these days are a problem."

The demon's vision, rolling without pause, finally stopped.

The demon blinked rapidly, unable to understand what had happened.

Why was his body lying so far away, and why couldn't he see his head?

'Ah...'

The head was him.

The severed head was him.

Realizing that, the demon slowly looked up at the being now stepping on his head.

"Haven't you been taught not to judge your opponent's power by appearance alone? This is why demons these days aren't even considered demons anymore—criticized for being weaker than humans."

Verity chuckled as he looked down at the demon staring up at him with dazed eyes.

"You have absolutely no luck."

A spear had appeared in Verity's hand.

"Of all names to impersonate..."

A long spear with a blade like a sword.

"You had to impersonate me and get caught."

The golden tassel on the spear.

The symbol of one of the great Archdemons, the General who protects the four Lords, fluttered in the windless darkness.

"This is going to hurt a bit."

Verity loosened the tie he'd been fidgeting with.

At that moment.

"Gugh!"

An impact like a massive meteor falling from the sky crushed the demon.

In fact, the ground where the two demons stood caved in, creating a huge crack as if a meteor had actually struck.

Even as the impostor demon coughed up blood in agony, he struggled to lift his head and look up at Verity.

Half of him wanted to deny reality, the other half was a masochistic desire to see for himself the inevitable future that awaited him.

Verity smiled sweetly.

"For dealing with a small fry like you, this body of mine is a bit too precious and busy."

Verity formed a hand seal with his other hand, the one not holding the spear.

Slowly, he turned over the hand that had formed a circle by touching his thumb and ring finger.

Realizing what that meant, the impostor demon hurriedly shouted.

"I, I'll tell you everything! Everything I know...!"

"The inverted seal."

—Skreeee.

An unpleasant metallic sound rose from the ground.

"Reverse summoning."

The dark red light extending from Verity's feet crossed the ground, drawing a large rectangle.

Soon, a long vertical line was drawn in the center of the rectangle.

It quickly became a giant iron door lying on its side.

The iron door slowly opened with a hideous creaking of hinges.

A deep darkness where you couldn't see an inch ahead was revealed.

Horrifying screams, heat that felt like it would melt flesh, and mocking laughter reveling in someone else's pain covered the sleeping city.

Soon, giant iron chains extending from the doorframe bound the demon's severed head and body and dragged them inside.

"P-please, spare me! No! Just kill...!"

Thud.

The demon's wail was cut off with the heartless closing of the door.

All that remained were the steel-like claws that had broken off as the demon desperately scraped the ground to survive.

Kikik, kikikik.

And the mocking laughter that lingered like an auditory hallucination.

---

The temple we'd infiltrated was in a state of chaos.

"This reaction is...!"

"I sense an evil aura!"

"Hurry and form an investigation team! The priests will split into groups...!"

Due to the recent incident where the primeval forest's barrier was released, causing a terrible loss of life, the priests and imperial knights were bustling about.

In the meantime, I, Ian, and Flora went deeper into the temple.

"Hebenia..."

Ian, following behind me, asked cautiously.

"Do you actually know where you're going?"

"To be honest, I'm just going."

"You fearless thing."

"But for some reason, I feel like I should go this way."

The moment I stepped into the temple, I was seized by a strange feeling.

Something like an invisible hand was guiding me in a certain direction.

As if the poles of two magnets were attracting each other.

The place we arrived at was a dead-end corridor.

It felt like we had reached the very center of the temple.

In this place, lit only by the flickering of crude torches on the wall, there was a small, old wooden door.

"I suppose."

Ian muttered like a transcendent sage.

"Compared to everything we've been through, this isn't even strange."

Ian, who had been staring intently beyond the door, turned to me.

"I can sense a presence. One person."

"......"

"And this is the place?"

"Yeah."

Though confused, my answer was firm.

"Well, if that's the case."

Ian nodded.

"As long as it's not His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Why specifically the Crown Prince? Aren't the imperial knights more of a problem?"

"We can knock out or defeat the knights, but we can't do that to His Highness the Crown Prince. Besides, I have a past of teaching him swordsmanship."

"Aha, so you, a commoner, were the Crown Prince's swordsmanship teacher—and the noble-born knights resented that and betrayed you."

"...I hadn't thought that far."

"It's an unnecessary worry. Would His Highness really be in such a shabby place?"

In this crisis, there was no way a precious royal would be left in a place like this dungeon, was my argument.

"Right?"

Ian smiled and agreed.

He shouldn't have.

"...Sir Ian?"

The Crown Prince was there.

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