Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 2

Chapter 2

"Kyaa!"

Something grabbed my ankle. At the same time, I dropped all the twigs I'd been holding.

Only when I heard the clatter of branches scattering on the ground did my scattered wits return.

'A-a demon...?'

I wanted to deny it, but my current situation was so surreal that I couldn't think of any reason to refute it.

Gathering my courage, I turned around and immediately met the demon's eyes.

It seemed he had been watching me all along.

And for some reason, he didn't look very pleased.

"You really are the spitting image of her."

"Pardon?"

"So why did you run?"

"Well..."

Wasn't it obvious that anyone would run?

A naked man suddenly appears out of nowhere.

And he claims to be a wish-granting demon. In stories like this, they always take your soul as payment, so you have to be on guard.

"B-because I was scared."

But instead of being honest, I gave a vague excuse that a child might make.

The demon let out a scoff of amusement.

Then he turned the tables and made me a proposal.

"Don't you want to leave this place?"

The demon tempted me in a deep, smooth voice.

"If you wish it, you can leave right now."

"Outside, you mean?"

"Yes."

It was an offer that made my eyes widen.

But for me, it came with the sad confirmation that I could never return to my original life.

'If you wanted to tempt me, you should have offered to send me back to where I came from, not outside the exile camp.'

If he couldn't do that, why would I give up this exile life that was far happier than my old one?

'Besides, what would happen to everyone else if I disappeared?'

Even though I was brought here by implication, I was still a criminal who had nearly killed the Crown Princess. If such a heinous criminal disappeared, the remaining prisoners would face unfair treatment and suspicion.

'Especially since the guards' attitudes have been...'

Lately, the guards' behavior had changed ominously.

The guards who had always shown little interest in the prisoners had started picking fights over every little thing.

Then yesterday, it finally escalated.

A guard tried to molest a female prisoner.

The victim, a lifetime prisoner who had killed her husband, was mentally unstable and couldn't even resist properly.

Ian tried to stop it and was brutally beaten by the guard. As a prisoner, he couldn't fight back and could only endure it silently.

'Maybe we should all just...'

But what came out of my mouth was something else.

"Please give me some ointment good for bruises."

As soon as I finished speaking, a small jar dropped at my feet with a thud.

I bent down, picked it up, and checked its contents. A sticky white solid with a foul smell was inside.

'...I'm so terrible.'

I had kept my mouth shut out of fear that the prisoners might not give me a second glance if I helped them escape the exile camp.

"Mix it with water and apply it to the affected area. The bruising will take time, but the pain will fade quickly."

The demon said, sweeping his wet hair back with one hand.

The scent of soap mixed with the warm steam tickled my nose.

I felt ashamed of my shabby appearance and my morals that were even worse than a demon's.

"What's the price? My life?"

"Your saliva."

"......"

"......Don't look so horrified."

It's just how the system works, the demon said indifferently.

Then he casually dropped a bombshell of a mutter.

"Anyway, you're all going to die."

"...Pardon?"

"You're all going to die."

You and the other prisoners.

"All of you are going to die."

---

The ointment the demon gave me worked wonders.

As soon as I mixed it with water and applied it to Ian's bruises, he marveled that the pain had vanished.

I shared the remaining ointment with the adults who had joint pain from the hard labor.

"But where did you get this?"

"I found it."

"...You didn't steal it, did you?"

Ian seemed to suspect I'd swiped it from the guards' barracks.

"Ian oppa. I don't have that kind of skill."

"Well, that's true."

"Don't give up on your suspicions so quickly."

When I grumbled that I was offended, Ian grinned with his swollen face.

The medicine worked so well that the swelling began to go down noticeably soon after. The other adults were also delighted that their joint pain had disappeared.

But the more they rejoiced, the more my conscience ached.

I had gotten this ointment instead of helping everyone escape the exile camp. Because of that, they were all going to die here.

I couldn't even smile back at their kindness as they thanked me, unaware of the truth.

'But, will we really die?'

Honestly, it was so out of the blue that I found it hard to believe.

Yet, as if mocking my foolish denial, the exile camp began to be swept by an increasingly hostile current.

The guards' tyranny grew more severe by the day.

Eventually, all the adults except me had been beaten by a guard at least once. The ointment I'd gotten from the demon ran out in no time.

At that point, the adults pleaded with me earnestly.

Don't even go near the guards. If it looks like they're going to hit you, run to the adults without fail.

"Ah!"

But I didn't care about any of that—I lunged at the guard.

I bit the arm of the guard who was about to punch my fellow prisoner Libby.

"Ah! Aaah!"

"Mmmph!"

I clamped down with all my jaw strength, determined to tear off a chunk of flesh.

"Y-you crazy bitch...!"

The guard, half out of his mind, punched me in the face. I was thrown to the ground and rolled across the dirt.

"Hebenia!"

Libby, who had been knocked down by the guard, rushed to help me up.

"B-blood...!"

Libby pressed her trembling hand to my nose to stop the stream of blood flowing from it.

But I didn't even feel the pain—I just glared at the guard in front of me as if I wanted to kill him.

Ironically, the guard looked like he was in big trouble as he stared at my injured face.

Other guards hurried over and dragged away the one who had hit me.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!"

"These bastards! I told you to be reasonable...!"

"Labor is suspended for today! Everyone, go back to the village!"

The guards declared this and fled to their barracks at the entrance of the village.

As soon as the guards disappeared, Libby shouted at me.

"Did you forget what we told you? We said don't go near the guards! Look at this! Your little nose is bleeding this much..."

"I'm fine, this is nothing..."

"Nothing?! And it's not just about you! Because of you, the adults almost got into a real fight with the guards!"

Only then did I notice the adults who had been behind us all along, glaring at the guards with fierce eyes.

'Oh.'

Gripping their pickaxes tightly, they looked fearsome, but just like the magical girls, they were incredibly dependable.

Of course, I had to endure an earful from them as well.

The pain that came belatedly made me wince.

Then Ian squinted one eye in disbelief.

"Aish, you fearless little thing...!"

What's so funny?

Ian said I'd aged him ten years and lightly squeezed my reddened nose. Even though the bleeding had stopped, he was still holding it just in case.

[Don't look for a reason to help others.]

My exile family had endured their own suffering quietly, but the moment I got hurt, they confronted the guards. Even at their own risk.

The worn-out pickaxes they held were far more magnificent and beautiful than the three-hundred-thousand-won magic wand I had bought.

'Just like a magical girl...'

Like them.

Maybe I could become like the girls I'd only ever admired, the ones I'd resigned myself to never becoming.

That hope slowly began to dispel my dark cowardice.

[Even if not now, hope will surely save you!]

---

The full moon rose large and bright, as if watching everything.

In the Exilium exile camp, there were only people. Horses, cattle, even small birds couldn't survive here and would die.

That's why the guards had to pull the wagons themselves to transport the goods.

"We should make the prisoners do this..."

"And if they escape, are you going to take responsibility?"

The guards were loading black ores onto the wagons. They covered their entire bodies to prevent the ores from touching their skin.

These ores, mined by the prisoners' labor, were the 'final shipment.'

Starting today, the Exilium exile camp would be temporarily closed.

"Why is it closing?"

"Orders came from above that we no longer need to mine the ores."

"Above means..."

"His Majesty the Emperor, of course."

"Hey, it's no use explaining to him. He's only been here two months. Anyway, he's got good luck."

"Whereas this bastard is going to get royally screwed when he gets out."

"Shut up, you fucker."

On the arm of the guard who spat the curse, a small, blueish bite mark was visible.

"His Majesty the Emperor has commanded that after all prisoners are disposed of, Hebenia Clavis is to be brought to the palace without a single scratch."

The head guard glared at him with cold eyes.

"Remember that there are other exile camps besides this one that need labor."

The guard's face flushed with anger. But he couldn't argue that he was being treated unfairly.

Because there was a precedent.

A few years ago, there was an incident where a guard assaulted a prisoner.

For that, the guard was sentenced to a heavy penalty for disobeying the imperial command and sent to another exile camp as a prisoner.

And the Emperor had even dispatched a royal physician to the exile camp to treat the injured prisoner.

"...This is ridiculous."

One of the guards heading toward the prisoners' village muttered.

"All these people here are just tools brought in on false charges by the Emperor's orders anyway."

"Huh?"

The youngest guard's eyes widened in shock.

"...Wait, you mean they were framed and brought here just to mine ores?"

Despite his incredulous question, no answer came.

"Th-then, can't we just leave them alone? It's pitiful enough that they were framed, and if we disappear, they'll starve to death anyway..."

"No."

The guard with the second-longest tenure after the head guard replied dryly.

A dagger was in his hand.

The same was true for the other guards.

"Since there's no more need to mine ores, it's only right to dispose of them all. No reason to leave them alive and create future problems."

A fierce wind blew, shaking the primeval forest. The sound of branches and leaves clashing weighed heavily on the exile camp.

Leaving the hesitant youngest behind, the guards split up and entered the designated old huts.

And a moment later.

"The prisoners are gone!"

The guards' faces turned blue in the moonlight as they came out of the huts.

---

[The prisoners are gone!]

[Find them! Search every corner of the exile camp immediately!]

[They've kidnapped Clavis...!]

Pop.

A small finger poked a winged eyeball.

The guards' voices disappeared.

An eyeball with an inverted five-pointed star drawn on it fluttered its wings on both sides and slipped into Hebenia's hair.

"Fools, I was the one who kidnapped them?"

Hebenia smirked and turned around.

"Right?"

There stood the prisoners with grim expressions.

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