Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 88

Chapter 88

"A first-aid kit?"

The young parents slowly opened the box.

Inside were disposable bandages, gauze, ointment, and various medicines.

The Salvation Priest explained the product with a benevolent smile.

"It's an emergency medical kit for treating sudden high fevers, stomachaches, or minor bruises at home."

"Ah!"

"It, it would certainly be convenient to have something like this."

The young parents' eyes changed as they looked at the kit.

If they'd had medicine at home, they wouldn't have had to rush to the temple in the middle of the night.

They could have given their child a fever reducer, monitored their condition until morning, and then gone to a doctor.

"Most households have similar supplies, but most people don't know exactly what to stock."

After finishing his explanation, the Salvation Priest finally attempted to charge for the treatment.

"Today's fee will be..."

The young parents snapped back to reality.

Temple treatment was typically more expensive than a doctor's visit.

Of course, during the recent herb crisis, treatment had been free due to the circumstances, but now that the situation had stabilized, they'd have to pay the regular price.

But.

"There is none."

"Pardon?"

"I-is that true?"

The young parents asked repeatedly in surprise.

"To be honest, you'd normally be expected to donate this much to the temple..."

When the Salvation Priest casually revealed the original price, the young parents gasped.

'Th-this much...'

'That's enough for five visits to the doctor.'

The higher-than-expected cost made them swallow dryly.

The Salvation Priest smiled understandingly.

"As priests who serve God and help people, we didn't think it was right either. So after much thought, we created this."

That was the first-aid kit.

"It's a product endorsed by the Deste Temple. We've personally verified the composition and efficacy of the medicines inside."

With just one kit, they could safely navigate emergency situations like this.

It could buy them time until they could reach a doctor.

The Salvation Priest's explanation was kind and concise. His calm voice, in particular, instilled a great deal of trust.

The young parents nodded several times as they listened.

"Also, if the medicine expires, we'll replace it with new ones for half the price."

"R-really?"

"For only half the price?"

The young parents were now beyond surprised—they were amazed.

"We'll dispose of expired medicine. We've recently made contact with a scholar conducting research on decomposing expired herbs into fertilizer."

The Salvation Priest paused, moistening his dry throat with suitably cooled tea.

"......"

He glanced at the young parents from behind his cup.

'Seems like it went well.'

The corner of the Salvation Priest's mouth, Chel do, lifted slightly inside the cup.

It seemed he'd laid the groundwork well enough.

"So what I'd like to ask of you is this."

The cup clinked against its saucer, making a pleasant sound.

"Please take the kit home and use it, then let us know your thoughts."

"Is, is that really enough?"

"It will be a great help."

Chel do delivered the final blow.

"The Deste Temple sincerely hopes this kit can save many people."

---

Ixelium Village.

Having shed its dark past as an exile camp, our village greeted a brilliant beginning, just as its name suggested.

"Another order came in!"

I waved the order form from the Deste Temple.

"Two hundred more first-aid kits!"

"Understood!"

With Libby's spirited response, the temporary home factory for manufacturing the kits sprang back into action.

It was a large-scale operation involving nearly all the villagers.

First, Aunt Elva, her fiancé Dr. Merdi, and the herbalist grandfather diligently prepared the medicines.

Then I placed small amounts of the medicine into glass bottles made through wishes to Verity and sealed them.

Next, the pre-packaged disposable bandages and gauze were carefully placed into square metal boxes alongside the medicine.

These two tasks were divided among the villagers.

'Thanks to Libby unnie's magic, mass-producing the medicine only took three days.'

With well-divided roles in the factory, the production speed of the first-aid kits was exceeding my expectations.

Three hundred were produced on the first day, and a thousand on the second.

Since then, we've been consistently producing two thousand per day.

This pace is maintained even with seven-hour workdays, including lunch and breaks.

'Is this why human civilization advanced so quickly...?'

As I was quietly marveling, Uncle Modi and Aunt Prellia came to report.

"Village chief, it seems we'll exceed ten thousand orders today."

"We need to produce a bit more. We're filtering out defective products as much as possible, but it's better to be safe."

"Village chief, we've narrowed down potential companies for the field-use kits. And here's the list of manufacturing plants you mentioned earlier."

"Ah, let's prioritize companies handling railway construction. And most of the plants are in the south, aren't they?"

Currently, most of the villagers are involved in producing the first-aid kits.

But this can't continue.

'Other territories have heard about the kits and are starting to place orders. We need to increase production even more.'

In other words, manual labor has its limits.

'We need mass-production machinery.'

Of course, I could just make wishes to Verity to supply materials, but that would hinder the village's growth.

So, this time, I plan to use the Ixel Trading Company to acquire a factory.

"Oh, come to think of it."

While reviewing the list of southern glass bottle factories, I remembered an important schedule.

"When is the Grand Duchess of Stria coming?"

"Next week."

"Everything is going smoothly so far."

Aunt Prellia answered with a confident smile.

"Thanks to the gold bars and jewels the Grand Duchess sent ahead as gifts, preparations are going well!"

Even Aunt Daliss stepped forward with courage.

Drawing on her experience as the former mistress of the Deste mansion, she offered valuable advice on how to best utilize the mansion.

'Aunt Daliss must have made a great resolve.'

The Deste mansion was a nightmare for her.

Her betraying husband, the horrific succession ceremony.

And the employees who died.

On her first day back at the mansion, Aunt Daliss had wept in anguish at the sight of the undead employees.

Especially when a maid she'd been particularly close to, unable to recognize her, asked, "Are you a guest?"—Daliss had been so sad she couldn't even make a sound.

"...Are the employees still okay?"

"Yes."

Uncle Modi answered quietly.

He too glanced at Aunt Daliss, swallowing his pity.

"Still, I think we should assign some guards just in case."

"We should send Ian oppa, right? Aunt Nema is still training to control her madness, so it's too risky..."

"But, Village Chief."

Uncle Modi asked cautiously.

"What about the knights?"

"The knights?"

"Th-the ones who came with Molle Livus..."

"Whoa."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"I completely forgot they were locked in the dungeon! Are they dead?"

"Fortunately, they're alive. I and Lord Verity didn't forget them."

According to Uncle Modi.

Three days after returning from the second trip to Deste, he'd gone to the mansion disguised as Molle Livus using magical tools and personally released them from the dungeon.

Thankfully, the knights were still unconscious at that point.

"Lord Verity said he gave them a sleeping draught."

"Sleeping draught?"

"A state that makes you appear dead. He speculated that the effect lasted longer because he gave them a slightly higher dose than usual."

"Wow, what a crazy demon."

"Wow, I prevented you from committing manslaughter with dolus eventualis, and this is the thanks I get."

At that moment, Verity, who happened to be passing by, grumbled that it was too much.

Uncle Modi continued.

"I told the knights they'd passed out from drinking. Since they weren't exactly diligent types, they didn't suspect anything."

After hearing the story, I noticed something strange.

"Then why haven't I ever seen them?"

I'd roamed the Deste mansion like it was my own home countless times, but I'd never once seen the knights.

Uncle Modi, who frequently went to the mansion for work, had never mentioned them either.

"Well..."

Uncle Modi said, looking sheepish.

"As I mentioned, they weren't exactly proper knights to begin with. After waking up, they've been leaving their posts and wandering outside the mansion as they please."

"Hmm."

Maybe I should have just left them in the dungeon?

"And with the Grand Duchess of Stria coming soon..."

"We need to get rid of them."

No choice.

I clicked my tongue and thought quickly.

'Speaking of which, there's a certain extra tagging along with the Grand Duchess, isn't there?'

Crown Prince Pereus.

No matter how selfish the Emperor is, he wouldn't just send the Crown Prince alone.

He'd definitely bring guards.

'And they'll be of considerable rank.'

I immediately called Ian.

While Ian, who had been diligently carrying materials, came over, I asked Aunt Prellia.

"Has the list of visiting guests arrived?"

"Yes. It arrived just last night. Here it is."

"Habi, you called?"

"Ian oppa, take a look at this list."

As Ian scanned the list, his eyes twitched slightly.

As expected.

"Any familiar names?"

"Besides the Grand Duchess and the Crown Prince?"

"Yeah."

"The entire knight unit. I recognize all the names."

"Who has the highest rank?"

"Knight Commander Rashid."

The head of the Imperial Knights.

'I've heard that name before.'

On the day we first visited the Deste Territory.

"Knight Commander Rashid seems to have found out something about the primeval forest."

The Chief Chamberlain had mentioned that name.

'When did he return to the capital?'

It seemed that with no progress in the forest search, they were winding things down.

"Hmm."

A smile spread across my face involuntarily.

"If we play this right..."

I might be able to bleed him dry right down to the marrow.

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