Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 97

Chapter 97

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Crash!

As soon as he closed the door, Crown Prince Pereus threw everything within reach.

"Ugh! Ughh!"

His unquenched anger escaped as grotesque groans through his clenched teeth. The neatly arranged room was quickly reduced to a mess.

"Your Highness, please calm down."

Knight Commander Rashid said, standing guard by the door.

"Shut up!"

Crash! An expensive ceramic pot shattered at Rashid's feet.

A shard pierced his pants, and red blood slowly soaked through the fabric.

"Cotton candy? A cotton candy machine?"

Pereus let out a scoff of disbelief.

"You used a demon's power just to malfunction that one thing!"

"We didn't expect the Inquisitor to show up."

"Don't make excuses! It's pathetic!"

"......"

"Damn it, nothing goes right!"

"There's still an opportunity."

"What opportunity? Another cotton candy machine?"

"Head Priest Saikeuf has disappeared."

Knight Commander Rashid had been wandering outside the mansion for the past few days.

Officially, he was monitoring the primeval forest, but in reality, he was searching for Head Priest Saikeuf.

"Head Priest Saikeuf is..."

"Actually, that's..."

The priests at the Deste Temple were all tight-lipped.

Suspicious, Rashid cornered a red-haired Salvation Priest and interrogated him.

"Eek! H-he disappeared a few days ago!"

The frightened priest spilled even what wasn't asked.

"After the angel's descent, a feather believed to be a relic was found..."

"A feather?"

"It was being kept for appraisal at the central headquarters, but it vanished a few days ago. On the same day Head Priest Saikeuf disappeared!"

"......"

"It's true! A holy knight dispatched from the central headquarters will be arriving soon..."

That knight was likely the Inquisitor.

"The Deste Territory became a holy land after the angel's descent. The temple's growing influence isn't good for us."

"So?"

"We need to give the knights a reason to be stationed here."

Having calmed down, the Crown Prince listened.

"Use Head Priest Saikeuf?"

"Precisely—he should kill someone."

"Hmm."

The Crown Prince's lips, which had been tightly pressed, finally relaxed.

He picked up a brass pair of scissors that had fallen to the floor during his rampage.

"Molle Livus?"

Knight Commander Rashid nodded.

"With a priest killing a noble, there's ample reason to dispatch the imperial knights. Moreover, this..."

"Will put enough pressure on the Magical Engineering Academy."

It was a plan he liked.

But deciding that wasn't enough, Crown Prince Pereus proposed another victim.

"Kill the Grand Duchess too. That will have a bigger impact."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm getting tired of her."

The old woman's wary eyes.

Her cautiousness, never showing an opening.

"The Duke of Stria will cherish me more once his bloodline is reduced."

"I'll prepare the plan."

"Don't fail this time."

Crown Prince Pereus lightly swung the scissors in his hand.

"By the way."

Curiosity flickered in the Crown Prince's blue eyes.

"All the employees here are undead, right?"

"Yes."

"Can I kill one?"

"It should be fine."

"Then bring that one."

The Crown Prince said.

"The one who shielded Beni."

"......"

"I need to shred his face with these scissors to get rid of my remaining frustration."

---

[...need to shred his face with these scissors to get rid of my remaining frustration.]

A suffocating silence fell over the dungeon.

"......"

"......"

Ian and Pex, who had been wiretapping the conversation between the Crown Prince and the Knight Commander, quickly threw off their headsets.

Both were pale.

"Tch."

Verity, on the other hand, just frowned as if he'd seen a naughty child's prank.

"It happens sometimes."

He muttered casually.

"There are those who are born particularly twisted."

"Does everyone like that end up like the Crown Prince?"

Pex asked in a trembling voice. Verity shook his head.

"Twisted people can be straightened out. That's why children learn rules and order. It takes more effort, but sometimes such people end up saving the world."

With that, the conversation paused.

"What happens now?"

Ian asked, almost to himself.

"The Grand Duchess knows this place is a den of undead, and the Crown Prince wants to kill her."

"And Lord Verity is going to be shredded with scissors too...!"

Ugh, Pex wrapped his arms around himself, grimacing.

'The Empress must be weeping in hell!'

Most of the support for the Crown Prince came from pity for the late Empress.

And this is what that child turned out to be?

It would have been better if the Royal Consort's son became Emperor.

"Please take care of Sir Modi instead of me."

Verity crossed his arms, deep in thought.

Watching him, Ian cautiously asked.

"Is something bothering you?"

"How the Emperor summons demons keeps bothering me."

The incident at the Magical Engineering Academy.

The malfunctioning cotton candy machine was caused by a demon's ability.

'Stagnation.'

The phenomenon where fluids or similar things stop flowing.

He recalled seeing a demon with this ability on the list sent from the company.

"How does he summon them?"

Demon summoning itself is close to a miracle.

It requires immense luck, talent, and effort—all three in equal measure.

And the price paid for the summoning is also enormous.

"The void stones are certainly involved, but..."

"Void stones?"

Ian and Pex tilted their heads at the unfamiliar word.

"Ah, it's the name of the ore you mined in the exile camp. It's an empty stone inside, with the ability to absorb mana or divine power."

"So that's what we were mining."

"Then did they use them to summon demons?"

Pex muttered, thinking aloud.

"If it absorbs mana and divine power, couldn't it absorb other things too?"

"Like spiritual energy or life force?"

"Yeah. Spiritual energy hasn't been proven, but life force is possible..."

Thud!

"Ugh! Eek!"

Pinned against the wall, Pex trembled as he looked at Verity, who had him trapped in his arms.

"Wh-what is this force!"

"Brother Pex, don't blush..."

"It's because I'm startled! Startled...!"

"What did you just say?"

Verity asked in a rare, surprised voice.

Startled in turn, Pex repeated what he'd said.

"Abs-sorption..."

"......"

"So, life force or spiritual energy too..."

His speech slowed.

"Gasp."

Horrified, Pex covered his mouth with both hands.

Taking a step back from Pex, Verity turned to Ian.

Ian, meeting his eyes, also looked shocked.

"We've finally found it."

Verity let out an unpleasant laugh.

[In the case of corpses treated with special drugs, the efficacy of void stones increases...]

The research Hebenia had found, and Poppy and Chuchu had emphasized.

'The void stone's efficacy was this.'

The purpose of the void stones.

Undead research.

Creating possessors.

The price for demon summoning.

"Void stones filled with life force."

It was a combination of words reeking of blood.

Pex forced strength into his trembling body. His scientific mind instinctively began calculating.

'A single high-grade magic stone filled with mana can power a train across the Empire.'

Magic stones are precious.

As precious as they are powerful.

Then how much life force could a void stone, the raw material for magic stones, hold?

How many lives would need to be taken for that?

And how many did the Emperor possess?

"...Ugh."

In the end, Pex couldn't hold back the nausea and rushed out of the cell to vomit.

---

When Hebenia had just woken up.

"Beni, it's Auntie. Are you awake?"

Prellia entered with a warm smile.

"Oh, my cute Beni!"

Hugging Hebenia tightly like a childish aunt, Prellia whispered.

"Lord Verity is looking for you."

"Where is he?"

"In the dungeon. And the Crown Prince is looking for Lord Verity."

"Why?"

"You'll see when you get there."

With Prellia's help, Hebenia fixed her tangled hair, washed her face briefly, and changed clothes.

Click—.

Using her ability, she connected the door to the dungeon.

"Everyone looks..."

Hebenia was surprised at the tired expressions of those waiting for her.

"Did something happen while I was asleep?"

"My Lady..."

Verity stepped forward and reported briefly.

"The Inquisitor told the Grand Duchess about the undead, and the Crown Prince plans to kill the Grand Duchess and frame Head Priest Saikeuf for it."

"Oh."

It was startling, but.

Hebenia shrugged lightly, as if she'd expected it.

'This far, it's going according to plan...'

One request she'd left with Verity before falling asleep at the academy.

"Tell Olive that the Deste mansion is a den of undead."

"He'll react strongly."

"That's why we need to tell him."

She'd set this plan in motion, trusting entirely in Olive's skill and temperament.

'The Deste Temple didn't notice the undead.'

Even the demon Verity sometimes roamed the territory undetected.

At most, they'd barely sensed the demon's power that had put the territory to sleep months ago.

So if anyone could detect the undead filling the Deste mansion, it would be Olive, the youngest Inquisitor ever appointed.

'And he won't stay still.'

That stubbornness that had mistaken Hebenia for a saintess and tried to take her to the central headquarters was the core of this plan.

However.

"...Did the Crown Prince really say he'd kill his own grandmother?"

Even the great Hebenia was stunned by that.

And that wasn't the only shocking news.

"He said he'd shred me with scissors."

"Huh? You, Verity? Why?"

"He probably thinks it's okay because I'm undead."

"Wow, what a crazy bastard."

"And he seems to have taken a liking to you. He specifically pointed you out. I guess he didn't like you being held by someone else."

"Oh dear, didn't he learn his lesson?"

He doesn't know his place.

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