The Celestial Maiden’s Young Master in Another World - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 7. Record-Breaking Rookie
Beside the white flames, there fluttered creatures that resembled winged insects—if you could call them that.
Round, plump bodies studded with bead-like eyes darted through the air on flickering wings that shimmered like flames themselves.
‘Eli! What are those things?!’
-Oh! Those guys!
‘You know them?’
-We have them at our place too!
At our place?
-I told you before, remember? When you were just learning to walk, I said there was something amazing in the Garden and that we should go see it. I was talking about these!
…Was I?
Before I could even walk—I’d barely opened my eyes by then. The memory was hazy.
‘What exactly are they?’
-I’m not sure. But they feel similar to Dokkaebi.
Dokkaebi? No, wait. The moment she said it, something clicked into place.
‘They must be Spirits. Or maybe Fairies.’
Whether Dokkaebi, Spirits, or Fairies—they were all beings deeply attuned to nature.
But could other people not see these creatures? Curious, I asked Eli about it, and her answer took me by surprise.
-Spirit Sight doesn’t open so easily. On Earth, there were occasionally people whose Spirit Sight awakened, but here there seems to be almost none.
‘Is that so?’
-Yeah. Probably because they possess Holy Power. It seems the other powers can’t awaken because they’re overwhelmed by Holy Power.
So having a special power already meant that even Spirit Sight remained out of reach.
‘Then no one else can see them?’
An uneasy feeling settled over me.
Something told me this would end in chaos.
“Agh! No! Why won’t they stay still!”
“Eeek? Flame! Wait! Don’t run away!”
The relatively defenseless ones had become their targets.
The creatures began darting about, dodging every attempt to catch them, delighting in the teasing.
They even opened the Cage’s door, letting the flames escape.
‘A complete mess.’
Whatever they were doing, it was identical to Dokkaebi mischief.
At this point, I could predict with certainty: the Baptism Ceremony was going to become utter pandemonium.
I should probably… do something about this.
‘Eli. You said they’re similar to Dokkaebi, right? So if I catch them the way I used to catch Dokkaebi, I can use them too?’
-Yeah. That should work.
Good. Let’s catch them.
In the past, when I was short-handed, I’d occasionally catch Dokkaebi and press them into service.
Only in emergencies, of course.
Since it amounted to forcing them to work, I couldn’t use this method very often.
‘But it was useful when things got desperate.’
Dokkaebi came in so many varieties that the ways to use them were virtually limitless.
Fortunately, a bit of candy was usually enough to smooth things over.
If these Spirits or Fairies had the same fundamental nature as Dokkaebi, catching and using them should be possible.
‘First, I’ll catch them and tell them to stop playing around.’
Once I had them, there’d be a use for them eventually.
If I was going to take on Demons and Inferim, it was good to have as many tools on hand as possible.
The contract made through the Holy Flame with Elisian still held.
But since my parents’ overprotectiveness had set in after that spy-game incident, I hadn’t encountered a single Demon or Inferim even once.
As a result, both my Holy Power and Eli’s Divine Power remained pitiful.
‘And I can’t use Parma’s Bottle anymore.’
At five years old, I couldn’t very well carry around a comfort bottle.
The carefully crafted Parma’s Bottle had expired without ever being properly used.
My weapon now was a Fountain Pen.
‘It’s only a temporary measure.’
Given what happened at the Naming Ceremony, I carried it for self-defense anyway. Since I was studying at home these days, it didn’t stand out much.
After the Baptism Ceremony was over, my parents would craft me a proper weapon, so there was no real concern.
In any case, with my current inadequate armament, I needed the help of Spirits.
‘Then let me start gathering bait.’
I began snatching up Holy Flame and tossing it into the Cage indiscriminately.
Those pebble-like creatures clearly had a taste for the Holy Flame.
“Is it this one? Or this? It has to be this, right?”
“This is definitely Holy Flame!”
The children wavered, but I had no need to.
‘Just toss in whatever I can see flowing—easy enough.’
With Divine Power visible to my eyes, I might as well have been using a cheat code.
As the Cage filled to bursting with Holy Flame, the little pebbles—or whatever they were—finally started to notice.
-Hey! Look at that one! What a greedy thing!
-I’m gonna crack this Cage open~!
Sensing the attention was on me, they began clustering closer.
Creeping near, I caught the small hand reaching for the Cage’s door before it could turn the latch.
-Eeek?!
-Yipe! Caught me!
“You lot. Quite the troublemakers, aren’t you?”
I forced out the gentlest smile I could manage.
***
In the old days, when I needed to command a Dokkaebi, there were endless preparations—ritual garb, sword formations, the works.
But now? Eli stands right in front of me. Which means—
-Yap yap!
-Kyaah!
-Eek!
One flick of Eli’s forehead-flick was enough to settle these little demons.
The ones who’d felt that sting held their foreheads, tears welling at the corners of their eyes.
As expected, cowards the lot of them.
The very magic that summons a Dokkaebi works by calling it forth and frightening it into obedience.
So why not scare these creatures, bind them, and work them the same way?
-Whimper… ow ow….
-Why’d you hit me!! …ma’am?
Exactly. With natures close to the Dokkaebi’s own, these too were meek of spirit.
Glancing sideways to confirm the reflection wasn’t showing my face, I lowered my voice.
“You keep bullying the other little ones like that, and I’ll give you a hundred forehead-flicks, understood?”
-Yipe!
-Eeeek!
At the mention of forehead-flicks, their faces went pale.
“But if you help me out, I won’t flick you, and I’ll give you something delicious.”
-Something delicious?
-Delicious stuff!
In an instant, the tiny things had latched themselves to me.
-Then I’ll do it!
-I’ll help!
How could anything be this simple?
I couldn’t fathom why Dokkaebi and these creatures alike were so obsessed with food.
Shaking my head, I gave Eli’s back a gentle push forward. Divine Power gathered at her fingertips, glowing.
Eli traced characters directly onto the foreheads of the struggling round creatures.
The character was simple: the stroke for “bind”—which means both to tie and to make a promise, a Hanja with dual meaning.
Perfect for binding these free-spirited beings.
-Now, if you don’t listen, you get flicks. If you listen well, you get sweet honey.
-Yay! Honey!
-Sounds so yummy!
‘They didn’t seem to hear the flick part?’
As the contract sealed, a subtle power rippled outward.
‘So they’re completely bound now?’
-Not permanently. They’re natural spirits, free-born, so I can’t force them too hard.
-The contract only holds because they accepted the condition about the delicious food.
‘Simple creatures.’
Forgetting their mischief entirely, the simple things began scurrying about in earnest, gathering real Holy Flame.
I hadn’t even asked, but seeing the Holy Flames piling into my Cage, they instinctively understood.
-There’s this one too?
They raced to snatch up every Holy Flame, cramming them into the Cage with crackling haste.
‘Hey. I’ve got a question for you.’
-What is it?
-What’s this? What’s going on?
They crowded around the Holy Flame, clutching it. Kind of adorable, actually.
‘What are you lot? Spirits? Fairies?’
-Spirits!
-We’re spirits! Fire spirits!
‘Ah, I see.’
So they were fire spirits, which explained their attraction to the flame.
Come to think of it, their wings did look like flickering fire.
The tiny spirits spun in circles, gathering up the Holy Flames and bringing them to me.
‘They’re doing the work almost too well.’
The Cage looked ready to burst.
As I was forcibly stuffing them in, Lumiel suddenly appeared beside me.
“Hey! You can’t just cram them all in like that!”
“I’m not cramming them in mindlessly.”
“Ugh, come on! So you’re telling me all of these are really Holy Flames?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“That’s right.”
I saw no reason to engage seriously with the kid’s complaint, so I answered flatly. The little thing’s face reddened by degrees.
“Hey, you look like a tomato.”
“W-what!”
“An ugly tomato.”
“Y-you!! That’s it!”
“Actually, wait—the Cage door just opened. One of the Holy Flames got away.”
“What?! Ah!! Dammit!! I worked so hard to collect all of them!!”
Lumiel glared at me, fuming.
I shrugged. So what. It wasn’t me who opened it.
The real culprit was someone else.
The little spirits in Lumiel’s Cage, snickering away. Seeing an opening while she was arguing with me, they’d seized their chance.
I found it rather amusing.
“Stop laughing at me!”
“Heh—wait, I’m not laughing.”
“Yeah you are! Don’t come crying to me later when your score drops because you’ve mixed in a bunch of fake Holy Flames!”
Then she stared hard at my Cage.
‘What’s she looking for?’
But her expression grew stranger and stranger.
“Um, uh… wait. Something’s… off, isn’t it?”
‘Oh?’
Seems the kid had decent instincts after all.
-This one’s Divine Power is extremely pure.
‘Classic Ludersk, then.’
The little thing spoke like some gold-haired mage from who-knows-where with impeccable technique but no manners. But she clearly had the ability to back it up.
After all, a family that had produced a Cardinal would hardly have weak Divine Power.
“Ahem! A-anyway! Don’t get cocky!”
Lumiel huffed indignantly and walked away.
‘Entertaining little thing.’
I wondered if she’d still be like this when she got to the academy.
Smirk.
I took another Holy Flame from a spirit, placed it in the Cage, and turned away.
***
Meanwhile.
“Incredible! Rian is pushing Holy Flames into the Cage without hesitation!”
Daniel, the Bishop overseeing the proceedings, shouted in excitement.
“How is he sorting through them so fast?!”
He continued to exclaim in disbelief. And for good reason—in all the Baptism Ceremonies he’d observed, this was the first candidate who could distinguish Holy Flames with such speed.
“Everyone, this looks easy, doesn’t it? But this only happens with Rian!”
As Daniel gestured, the other screens showed the other children.
They all stood before two white flames, deliberating carefully as they sorted Holy Flames into the Cage with measured movements.
Whoosh, whoosh—movements utterly different from the rapid, flowing pace of Rian’s hands.
“Unbelievable. Only Rian is going that fast!”
“What if he’s just throwing things in at random?”
The spectator stands stirred with murmurs.
“Of course! Whether Rian can actually distinguish the Holy Flame or not won’t be clear until the results come in. But there’s one thing we can see!”
“Namely, his quick judgment and execution! Rian has a natural gift for it!”
It was true. Rian’s movements gave the spectators a refreshing sense of clarity.
“Don’t you feel that exhilarating sense of flow? Haha! I’ve been conducting the Baptism Ceremony since the year before last, and I’ve truly never seen speed like this!”
His tempo alone deserved praise.
The Baptism Ceremony was an event enjoyed by all imperial citizens, but often the children were still too young to deliver dramatic moments. When that happened, the national spectacle grew tedious.
‘Never seen the atmosphere this good from the very start.’
It was thanks to Rian.
‘The boy is exceptionally clever. Must be the Ludersk bloodline.’
This Baptism Ceremony was his debut. To survive as a clergyman going forward, making a good impression here would be invaluable.
Naturally, strong performance would help earn Rookie status, but even without that title, there were many ways to be remembered by the imperial people.
Being on screen frequently was one such way.
‘He probably devised his strategy the moment he saw the mission.’
It was an unspoken rule that families preparing for the Baptism Ceremony kept its contents secret. Every expression of surprise from the children became content.
Rian had moved the instant he received the mission. It meant he’d executed this strategy purely by his own judgment.
Naturally, Daniel didn’t believe every Holy Flame Rian had placed was genuine.
‘The more he puts in, the higher the ratio of real Holy Flames becomes, at least.’
If luck was on his side, maybe he wouldn’t even drop into negative points?
Daniel felt indifferent about Rian’s score.
‘Well, if there’s no certainty, finding a breakthrough from another angle is also a sound strategy.’
Of course, Rian was perceiving and judging everything correctly, but Daniel had no way of knowing that.
However, there was someone who did know Rian was placing only ‘genuine’ flames.
“H-ha! H-honey! Our Rian! Rian!”
Rairlake’s eyes went wide as saucers watching Rian’s image on screen.
“Be quiet, will you? I can’t concentrate.”
Iliard’s voice, chiding from beside him, was trembling too.
Rairlake and Iliard, who had watched Rian grow up, naturally believed he would be capable of distinguishing Divine Power from Holy Power.
At his Naming Ceremony, he’d made direct contact with the Holy Flame, and it had even protected him.
Beyond that, he’d even destroyed a Demon by throwing a bottle emanating Divine Power!
‘Could it really be that all of them are genuine? Really?’
‘If all those are real Holy Flames, this would be a Record-Breaking achievement…!’
Because the camera feed wasn’t fixed solely on Rian, the exact number of Holy Flames in the Cage couldn’t be counted precisely.
Yet they felt it intuitively. Never before had a candidate filled the Cage so completely!
Then.
Ding—
The midpoint standings appeared on the aerial panel.
1st place 45 Rian Ludersk
2nd place 25 Lionel Rondoa
3rd place 21 Corin Dalopeś
4th place 12 Biera Trivell
4th place 12 Hosana Rinu
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.
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10th place 7 Lumiel Ludersk
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.
.
Both husband and wife’s eyes flew wide open.
‘A Record-Breaking achievement!’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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