Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 96

Chapter 96

Olive's face, which I hadn't seen in a while, was full of discontent.

"Are you alright?"

Still, he asked about my well-being first. Olive was fundamentally a good person.

'Though he's a perverted brother obsessed with his sister.'

But he's not my brother, so it's fine.

I smiled and nodded.

"I'm fine. What about you, Sir Olive?"

"This is nothing."

Indeed, Olive had just displayed that much raw strength without a hint of fatigue.

'Did he receive enhancement from divine magic?'

Just then.

Bang! The magical tool that had been launched into the sky exploded with a roar.

I quickly put up a barrier to prevent the debris from scattering in all directions.

The tool safely crashed to the ground, and I dropped the barrier.

The debris from the explosion finally scattered messily across the ground. A sweet, caramelized scent spread through the air.

"It seems it was a cotton candy-making magical tool."

Verity said, holding me up.

The students who had been testing the tool ran over to us, pale-faced.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"We're so sorry! It was our carelessness..."

"It's fine. But why did the tool suddenly explode?"

I asked, fighting off the drowsiness.

The oldest-looking male student stepped forward with a troubled expression.

"First, let me apologize again. And thank you to the holy knight for helping prevent any major damage."

After apologizing once more, the student continued.

"We'd need to examine the broken tool to know the exact cause, but for now, it seems to be a circuit malfunction."

"A magic circuit?"

At Verity's question, the student nodded.

"The flow of mana stopped at the center of the circuit, and heat began to build up at that point."

"But mana—no, the mana current—is supposed to flow. Can it actually stop?"

This time, I asked.

The student's eyes sparkled.

'Oh, that's the look of a professor who's found a promising graduate student!'

He seemed surprised that a seven-year-old could explain the characteristics of mana in magical engineering terms.

"I've read books on magical engineering. Was I wrong?"

"No, you're right. You know the difference between mana and mana current. Have you considered coming to the academy? By the time you're old enough, I might be a professor."

This guy has big dreams.

Before I could respond, still speechless.

"So."

Olive redirected the conversation back on track.

"You're saying something impossible happened?"

"Th-that's right."

"......"

"A phenomenon where mana suddenly stops and accumulates is, in fact, impossible naturally. It goes against the physical laws discovered so far..."

"Then someone interfered?"

"Th-there's no way!"

The student and other academy students denied it, turning pale.

"That magical tool's only function is to create shapes based on input values!"

"Of course, it requires precise design, but its operating principle follows the most basic physical laws."

"Why would anyone..."

"But."

Olive cut in, glancing coldly at the broken tool.

"At the moment of explosion, it becomes a weapon with immense destructive power."

"......"

The students fell silent.

Olive let out a light breath and said.

"In other words, it's not your fault."

"...The investigation won't take long."

The student said in a stiff voice. He finally seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

"Will you come back tomorrow? May I have your name?"

"Inquisitor Olive of the Central Headquarters."

Olive showed the red jade ring engraved with a red hound.

"An, Inquisitor?"

The students murmured in surprise at the ring.

"Why would an Inquisitor be here..."

"I came on the orders of His Holiness the Holy King. I have a letter to deliver to the Director of the Magical Engineering Academy, but..."

The Inquisitor slowly pulled the axe he'd planted in the ground.

"It seems."

His olive-colored eyes, slowly closing and opening, flickered darkly.

"I must carry out my mission."

Held in Verity's arms, struggling to stay awake as I watched it all, I quietly suppressed a smile.

'Yes, as expected, you noticed.'

The flow of mana—the mana current—is meant to flow.

And according to this world's physical laws, it never stops.

"A phenomenon where mana suddenly stops and accumulates is, in fact, impossible naturally. It goes against the physical laws discovered so far..."

The cause of this impossible phenomenon.

The perpetrator of the accident.

'A demon.'

Among the imperial knights watching us, there was a demon with the ability to halt the flow of mana.

"Oh, our Lady."

Verity glanced at a carriage approaching from afar.

"Looks like you'll be getting all your Korean belongings."

"You confirmed the knights' faces?"

"Of course."

The Crown Prince, stepping out of the carriage and looking at us.

And beside him, Knight Commander Rashid's distorted face.

'You little things.'

I will not forgive you, even if you feel sorry.

'Your plan to pressure the academy after hurting me has gone down the drain.'

And through this, I will make you and the imperial family pay.

I will grab your ankles someday.

But every time you fall and look down, you'll see that it was your past selves holding your ankles.

"Verity, I'm going to sleep now. I can't hold on any longer..."

"I'll say you fainted from shock."

"And..."

I left one last request with Verity.

"Goodnight, my Lady."

And fell asleep.

---

The Grand Duchess of Stria thought she'd made the right decision in coming to Deste.

'Meeting that child, Beni, was truly a blessing.'

A kind smile, sharp actions, and a gentle heart. Plus, a passion for magical engineering.

She was such a lovely girl that it made her wonder if her dead daughter had been reborn.

Even Crown Prince Pereus seemed like a fairly ordinary child when he was with Beni.

Whenever she saw them together, her old heart worried first, but she sincerely hoped this peace would continue.

Of course, the Grand Duchess wasn't foolish enough to confuse reality with her fantasies. She just wanted to cherish her connection with Beni.

"Molle Livus is not a decent man."

"Of course."

Her personal maid answered, as if she'd been waiting.

"Misa is too innocent for her own good."

"Hehe, you seem to have become close with Misa."

"At first, I thought she was a sly fox, but she's a good person. Her only flaw is having no eye for men."

"I'm thinking of taking her back to the capital."

"I'm all for it!"

"Of course, that depends on whether the two of them agree..."

Just then.

The sound of a carriage stopping came from outside the window.

"It seems His Highness has arrived."

Thinking the same as her maid, the Grand Duchess went downstairs. She instructed the maid to prepare snacks for the children.

"Shall I call the other maids?"

"No, Kara, prepare them yourself."

"Oh, the children here are also diligent and kind. Though they're a bit slow to understand..."

"Still, it's best if you prepare them."

"Hehe, understood."

"His Highness likes sweets, so prepare warm milk with lightly burnt caramel and jam cookies."

"You know His Highness's tastes well."

"He's my grandson."

No matter how frightening and uncomfortable, Pereus was her only grandchild.

She couldn't hate the child her daughter had given her life to bear.

"And Beni seems to like bread, so prepare small rolls with a thin layer of cream and jam."

"Her chubby cheeks shaking whenever she eats are so cute, aren't they?"

"Hehe, keep that a secret from her."

"Of course."

But the snacks the Grand Duchess and her maid had so carefully prepared were all for naught.

The Grand Duchess, who had gone out to greet them, was startled.

Crown Prince Pereus was in a visibly foul mood, and Beni was asleep in the arms of a young attendant.

"Your Highness, are you alr..."

"......"

The Crown Prince walked past the Grand Duchess without a word.

"Grand Duchess."

Startled, she snapped to attention at the voice.

The young attendant carrying Beni bowed his head slightly and explained.

"There was an accident at the Magical Engineering Academy."

"An accident?"

"During the tour, a magical tool exploded."

"Was, was anyone hurt...!"

"Fortunately, an Inquisitor was at the scene, so no one was injured. His Highness the Crown Prince wasn't there, and Miss Beni only fainted from the shock."

The attendant's calm explanation made the Grand Duchess sigh in relief.

Then she noticed something strange.

'An Inquisitor...?'

The Holy King's direct unit.

God's hounds, who judge those who deceive people with false doctrines and throw the world into chaos—why were they here?

"Grand Duchess."

The attendant said.

"The Inquisitor is standing in front of the mansion."

"He saved His Highness and Beni—why haven't you let him in?"

"He refuses to enter."

"What?"

"Forgive me, but could you try to persuade him?"

"...I'll try."

Something was wrong.

And it was frightening.

The Grand Duchess was confused by the situation, but she felt certain that the answer to this confusion lay just outside the mansion.

Stepping outside, she saw a holy knight in white, standing far from the entrance, tall and imposing.

'So young.'

She noticed that Olive was a boy not yet twenty.

But the murderous intent radiating from his eyes was that of a killer who'd roamed battlefields for decades.

The Grand Duchess made the sign of the cross and approached him.

"May God be with you. Inquisitor, I'm truly grateful for what happened today..."

"What kind of place is this?"

Olive said in an enraged voice.

"It's like dousing the stench of rotting meat with perfume."

As if breathing itself was a trial, Olive frowned, covering his nose with the back of his hand.

"A sad immortality that defies nature, a contaminated land where even the impure flee. A wicked grave that mocks death itself."

Glaring at the mansion, Olive warned the Grand Duchess.

"Run away."

"......"

"The place you've set foot in is a den of undead."

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