Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 30

Chapter 30

'My Lady thought those children might also become victims of the succession ceremony.'

Verity agreed.

So Libby headed to the address the herbalist had given her. She'd also packed cloaks for the children, so all three would return safely.

"And Verity, capture all the imperial knights in the mansion and lock them in the dungeon. Also, check how the undead employees react."

"Uncle Pex, help Verity."

After knocking out the imperial knights in the mansion and locking them in the dungeon, Verity and Pex were searching for information related to demons.

"Hebenia is truly amazing..."

Pex muttered as he shuffled through documents.

Verity, who had been pulling out an untitled book, paused and turned around.

Pex wore a self-deprecating smile.

"As an adult, it's embarrassing to only receive help from a child."

"My Lady is special."

"To Hebenia, we must be a burden."

"Thinking that way is the real burden."

The book he'd opened to read didn't register in his eyes.

'Oh dear, I'm getting nosy again.'

Verity closed the book with a thump and turned to Pex. The watch on his wrist glowed faintly.

"Speaking in her absence, my Lady has a rather flawed personality. Her thinking is quite cruel and rough. If she wanted, she'd use murder as a means without hesitation."

"L-Lord Verity...?"

Flustered, Pex quickly interjected.

'Didn't he care about Hebenia?'

The blunt assessment, almost a verbal assault, made him dizzy.

"Sir Pex, you've seen it too—how the guards died."

"Th-that was to save us..."

"Exactly!"

Verity snapped his fingers in emphasis. Startled, Pex flinched.

"As I said, my Lady shows no mercy. Partly because she's anxious without her memories, but her bloodline also plays a role."

Everyone knows how eccentric the Clavis are.

And those who know even a little about them know how ruthless and cruel they can be.

"......"

Pex, a former magical tool developer, was one of those people.

He hadn't told Hebenia, but he had actually worked at a Clavis-affiliated subsidiary.

"Why would such a lady go out of her way to help others—doing things that, frankly, give her no personal benefit?"

Verity's finger pointed to the answer. At the tip of his finger was Pex.

"Because you all helped her first."

"......"

"You pitied the child who had lost her memories."

You gave her an extra piece of meat in her stew.

You gave her a warmer blanket.

When you found pretty flowers, you showed them to her first.

You often did her share of the labor.

To Hebenia, who had no good memories of family, the kindness freely given by the exile family meant more than that.

"But that's only natural."

Pex was bewildered.

"Who would abandon a child who lost her family? Anyone who would..."

"There are many."

"......"

"Fathers who sell their children because they don't have gambling money, mothers who discriminate against one child for no reason—they exist, claiming to be human."

"......That, is true."

"So don't feel inferior."

Verity's eye-smile was kind, yet oddly cold.

It was the cynicism of one who knew human ugliness all too well.

"You all were kind enough to show such warmth even while suffering under false charges. Because of that, you survived, and my Lady learned human kindness."

"......"

"But if you want to do something for my Lady, praise her."

"Praise?"

"The kind of praise children like. Sometimes scold her firmly when she doesn't listen. Like a family."

With that, Verity focused on searching the materials again.

Left behind, Pex felt like the day after a typhoon. His heart was unsettled, but his head felt strangely clear.

Perhaps that was why.

"......"

His now-sharp eyes caught sight of a book.

"...Lord Verity."

Pex pulled out the book as if possessed and muttered.

"Should undead be considered living beings?"

"It depends on the situation. But why..."

"Before I came to the exile camp, there was a hot topic in this industry."

That year, thanks to magical engineering, the medical field had greatly advanced.

Various medical devices were invented, and surgical techniques superior to healing magic were developed.

Many expected the medical field to advance further.

Then, an unexpected topic emerged.

"The issue of human body modification came up."

"Body modification?"

"The main idea was to enhance the human body through specific drugs, surgery, or magical tools for military applications."

"......"

Verity's hands stopped moving.

What came to mind was the demon whose appearance had grotesquely transformed after gaining immense power.

'Using forbidden magic that sacrifices humans.'

Those victims had become undead and were now trapped in this mansion.

"Lord Verity, this is just my guess."

Pex's voice was stiffer than before, suggesting he could take it or leave it.

"The reason body modification was such a hot topic was because a laboratory was caught using corpses as test subjects."

"......"

"That lab claimed that by reviving recently dead corpses, they could create perfect military weapons that felt no pain."

It sounded like creating undead, but what the lab sought was an immortal army.

Human weapons that looked like people, had human-like intelligence, but moved under the master's complete control.

"Eventually, the lab was shut down. But at the time, a rumor spread..."

"A rumor?"

"There's no reason for a single lab to create such undying soldiers. So, that..."

Pex's eyes shifted nervously, and he finished his thought.

"...wasn't it secretly ordered by the Emperor?"

And there was a plausible reason.

"The day after imperial knights and mages visited the lab for an investigation, a massive fire broke out. And the researchers..."

"All died?"

At Verity's words, Pex nodded.

Burying his face in his hands, Verity let out a long sigh.

'Oh, my Lord...!'

Why did you give me this kind of work!

He should have suspected when the Lord, instead of other subordinates, pointed to him, a General.

"A-are you okay...?"

"Sob sob, office workers cry because they're miserable..."

"You've been through a lot too, Lord Verity."

Just as Pex was consoling Verity out of pity.

Knock, knock.

The two men flinched and slowly turned their heads toward the closed door.

Knock, knock.

The sound squeezed their hearts once more.

---

"From the well! Light is coming from the well!"

Those who shouted were Priests Saker and Chel do.

"...What?"

And the one who heard it was Head Priest Nughata Saikeuf alone.

While the other priests were busy dealing with a flood of believers and patients, Head Priest Saikeuf was alone in the largest break room, sipping tea and reading.

"Are you pretending to be tired?"

Head Priest Saikeuf set his teacup down rather forcefully.

"No one here is not tired. Stop making excuses and get back to your posts..."

"L-look at this!"

Priest Saker abruptly rolled up his sleeve.

"My scar is gone!"

Priest Saker had a long scar on his right arm, from an injury sustained when he was young.

It was so large that every priest knew about it. Head Priest Saikeuf was no exception.

"H-how..."

"We were taking a short breather."

Priest Chel do explained to the wide-eyed Head Priest.

"A feather tapped on the window."

Drawn by the wondrous sight, they followed it and found themselves in the garden, where they discovered the well glowing.

"After drinking the well water, Priest Saker's scar disappeared. It seems the well water has become 'holy water.'"

"We must tell the other priests and give it to the patients...!"

"W-wait!"

Head Priest Saikeuf stopped them.

"Don't be hasty."

He tried to persuade the two priests in a rational, calm tone.

"It's not confirmed yet. Moreover, 'holy water' requires verification and approval from the central headquarters."

"Then please contact them, Head Priest Saikeuf."

Priest Chel do requested.

"As a noble from the capital, I trust you can make the arrangements quickly."

"Of course."

Head Priest Saikeuf sighed in relief.

'Give this precious thing away for free to those worthless people?'

He couldn't allow that.

Head Priest Saikeuf planned to use the holy water to transfer to the central headquarters.

"Let's check the well first."

The three priests headed to the garden.

The well was still glowing. Even Head Priest Saikeuf, who had doubted their words, had to believe it upon seeing the golden brilliance.

"Look inside."

Priest Saker hung the ladle on the pulley for easy viewing.

"The feather that guided us here fell inside. It must be the feather of the angel that descended that day."

"A feather?"

"We suspect it might be the feather His Highness the Crown Prince left here."

"......"

Head Priest Saikeuf leaned over the well.

The dark well was now lit up by golden water.

Inside, he saw the image of a beautiful woman.

Long, flowing white hair, a neat and delicate face—like a saintess from the scriptures.

"......"

Head Priest Saikeuf wore a foolish expression, like a boy in first love.

His mouth hung open, and his unfocused eyes soon clouded with dirty desire.

"Crazy bastard."

Just then.

"You're dead to Ian oppa now."

"......!"

Thud.

Pushed from behind, Head Priest Saikeuf's feet left the ground.

The last thing that entered his eyes as he fell into the well was a little girl nonchalantly wiping her nosebleed with the back of her hand.

"......"

Priest Chel do let down the basket attached to the pulley.

Only then did a sound come from within the well.

Plop.

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