Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 113

Chapter 113

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Kommer Octo, chairman of the Octo Trading Company, was a man of considerable presence.

His silver-white hair was always neatly groomed, and he wore quite expensive rings on his fingers.

He didn't particularly enjoy luxury, but he knew that displaying a certain amount of wealth prevented others from acting rashly.

This alone allowed him to filter people out.

Whether or not they could be bought with money.

"......"

As he rode in the carriage toward the mansion of his second son, Ceblis, who had recently become independent, Kommer endlessly fidgeted with his rings.

His blue eyes, looking down at the rings, were filled with deep regret.

Arriving at the mansion, he told the coachman to wait, as he would be out shortly.

"Ceblis."

With a voice hoarse from years of smoking, he called his son's name and opened the mansion's door.

"Damn it, get out here! As I thought, I was—!"

But the one who answered his call wasn't his son—it was a silver gun barrel.

The seasoned merchant quietly raised his hands.

'I can block it with the magical tool I have.'

He planned to stab his opponent with the poison needle hidden in his ring, then quickly escape in his carriage.

But instead of acting recklessly, Kommer calmly asked about his greatest concern.

"Is Ceblis safe?"

"He's sleeping soundly. He's not dead. Neither are the others."

"What do you want? Who sent you?"

"Your youngest son."

"...What?"

As Kommer was taken aback, Verity, holding the gun, said.

"The person I serve wishes to meet you."

"......"

"Follow me."

Verity extended his other hand, not holding the gun.

"Please take off the ring and give it to me."

"......"

"Surely you don't think I'm here alone?"

"I suppose not."

Kommer obediently removed his ring and placed it in Verity's hand.

Verity smiled and pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor.

They arrived at the study.

"......"

Kommer frowned.

"Hello?"

Because the intruder who had taken over the owner's desk was just a seven-year-old girl.

The child smiled brightly and introduced herself.

"My name is Hebenia Clavis."

"What...?"

Kommer's eyes widened.

"Now that you know who I am, your life is in my hands."

"......"

"But I'm a kind village chief, so I have no intention of fighting you. I just want to ask you a few questions and make a proposal."

"Is my youngest alive?"

"Hmm, I was going to ask first."

Hebenia grumbled, but smiled and answered readily.

"He's dead."

"......"

Kommer's sturdy frame flinched noticeably. The color drained from his face.

"...Please, have a seat first."

Hebenia pointed to the sofa in front of the desk. Her demeanor was as natural as if she were the owner.

Kommer obediently sat down.

Hebenia asked.

"Six years ago, when Uncle Pofina was imprisoned..."

"No!"

Before she could finish the question, Kommer slammed his fist on the armrest and roared.

"It wasn't me! It wasn't!"

"What wasn't?"

"The letter disowning my youngest from the family—it wasn't me!"

"......"

"How, how could I ever do that to my youngest...!"

Unable to finish, Kommer covered his eyes with one hand, stifling his sobs.

But even the hands of a self-made mogul who had built a trading company couldn't hide the grief of losing a child.

Tears continued to fall through the gaps in his thick fingers.

"He was the last child my wife risked her life to bear..."

His wife, who had confidently said she'd deliver the fourth soon, never got up again.

"Honey, I'm sorry..."

"If you close your eyes like this, I'll hate you forever."

"Then, instead, take care of our youngest..."

"......"

"Even if you hate me, please give my share of love to our youngest..."

And so his wife left him with the youngest child he was destined to love forever.

As if fate would have it, the youngest looked just like his mother. Even if he didn't want to love him, he couldn't help it. It was like a curse.

"I always lived by hearing news of that child."

"......"

"I secretly went to the restaurant where he worked. I even disguised myself and ate there once. His cooking skills were good—he must have inherited that from me. In my youth, I also earned my start in business through cooking."

That's why he opposed his youngest's dream of becoming a chef.

Because he knew how hard it was.

"When I heard he'd committed murder..."

"You didn't believe it."

At Hebenia's words, Kommer nodded.

"I had someone watching over him. I clearly had witnesses and evidence to prove his innocence, but..."

"Someone interfered."

"......"

"And that someone was your other children."

Kommer could only clench his fists in response.

Hebenia quietly looked at Verity.

Verity, who had lowered his gun, slowly stepped back and pushed aside the heavy bookshelf.

Kommer trembled, as if facing a terrible nightmare.

"The letter, they said, bore my seal."

"......"

"'Pofina has no relation to the Octo family. Whatever judgment he receives, he will humbly accept'...!"

When he learned that.

Kommer felt as if he had lost another child.

"Ugh, nngh...!"

The old man had gotten down from the sofa and collapsed to his knees, prostrate on the floor. His broad, sturdy back shook pitifully.

Hebenia rose from the desk chair and stood before him.

Then she turned around.

Someone walked slowly out of the hidden passage behind the bookshelf that Verity had pushed aside.

Hebenia smiled wryly and reached out her hand.

Someone took that hand.

Hebenia guided that hand to Kommer's shoulder, then stepped aside.

Even in his sorrow, the perceptive Kommer noticed something strange.

That the hand on his shoulder was too large to be a child's.

And a familiar scent reached his nose.

The aroma of delicious food—the same scent that always came from his youngest, who used to secretly practice cooking.

Kommer quickly looked up.

"......"

"Why."

Pofina said, tears streaming down his face.

"Why did you love me so much that I couldn't even hate you with peace of mind?"

"......"

"Why didn't you tell me your true feelings..."

"My, my youngest..."

"If you had, I wouldn't have spent all those unjust years resenting you...!"

"Ah, ah! My youngest! Pofina!"

The iron-willed man, respected by all as the head of the trading company.

"My youngest! Ah, ah! My youngest...!"

He cried until his voice was hoarse, calling out for his youngest like a madman.

Pofina also sobbed, pouring out all his pent-up sorrow. Kommer held his sobbing son in a crushing embrace.

Sniff.

Hebenia, watching this, wiped her tears.

"Ugh, I think I got a needle in my eye..."

"I've never heard such a deadly idiom in my life. Just cry honestly. No need to hide it."

Verity wiped Hebenia's runny nose with a handkerchief.

---

I wanted to let Uncle Pofina and Chairman Kommer's tearful reunion continue.

"Waaah, hwaaah...!"

"My Lady, I can't hear you over the crying."

"Huuu! Waaaah!"

"My Lady says she understands the sadness, but let's continue the conversation we didn't finish earlier."

Given the situation.

I sat back at the desk with swollen eyes.

I drank the cold water Verity handed me and calmed my excited heart.

"Hic."

"My Lady really does do it all, doesn't she?"

"So, sniff, what you're saying is, it wasn't you who abandoned Uncle Pofina?"

"Yes..."

Chairman Kommer held a glass half-filled with cold water.

After crying his fill, his eyes were now as sharp as a bird of prey's talons.

"My eldest and second child misused my seal."

"Brother Arun and Sister Kanna..."

Pofina muttered sadly.

"Don't even call them that!"

The chairman shouted, trembling with rage.

"How, how can merchants who deal with people betray their own family! Abandoning both human and natural bonds!"

"Then the succession..."

"I've decided to leave it to your second brother, Ceblis."

"Father."

"Those two are no longer human."

Chairman Kommer said coldly.

"Do you remember what a merchant must never betray?"

"People, you said."

"Yes."

A merchant doesn't sell things.

They deal with people.

"You became a chef, but you never forgot that. You always cooked with people in mind. You put my teachings into practice better than anyone."

"Father..."

"Let's stop the sentimentality there."

I quickly interjected.

Otherwise, we'd be drowning in tears again.

I tried to hold back the stinging in my eyes and said.

"So what about Arun and Kanna? Those two children..."

"They are no longer my children."

"...What did those two gain in exchange for selling their sibling?"

"They became imperial merchants."

They became merchants who supply goods to the imperial family.

'Ah, I see.'

The herbs the Emperor had bought.

The carriage that took the missing orphanage children.

'The Octo Trading Company's distribution network was involved here!'

"Chairman Kommer!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, I quickly suggested.

"Hand over the Octo Trading Company to those problem children immediately and step down!"

"Pardon? What nonsense..."

"And run a new trading company instead."

I asked Chairman Kommer to take over the management of the Ixel Trading Company.

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