Youngest on Top - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10

* * *

The Trainee Priests lined up before the Front Plaza of the Main Hall appeared remarkably composed for their age.
The adults gazed at the children with warm eyes, welcoming their return.
And they introduced me.

“Since you’re the youngest to join us late, I trust you’ll all teach him well.”
“Yes, don’t worry. We’ll take good care of him.”

The red-haired boy standing at the front bowed respectfully.
Then he lifted his head and smiled at me.
It was a remarkably vibrant smile.

‘It seems he’s the leader of the Trainee Priests.’

His height surpassed his peers, and his frame possessed a supple yet sturdy build.
Though his smile appeared cheerful and mischievous, there was something reassuringly trustworthy about it.

‘…This is different from the rumors I heard about Ilay.’

I had heard that Ilay possessed pristine silver hair like an untouched snowfield and honey-gold eyes sweet enough to melt.
A demon who wore a gentle, honeyed expression while pushing people into the mire without blinking an eye.

‘I see. It was just a baseless thought.’

Seeing another child acting as the leader, it seemed this was merely someone who shared the same name.
If it were ‘that Ilay,’ the Trainee Priests would have been under his control long ago.

After the return ceremony concluded, I came back to the Trainee Priest Quarters with the children.
At last, we were alone without the adults.

I surveyed the Trainee Priests around me.
These children were essentially the future of the Temple.
They were also the closest people I would live alongside from now on.

‘From what I saw earlier, they all followed order well and had good manners—they looked quite priestly.’

“Hey.”

Hey?

It was the red-haired boy speaking—the one who’d been so well-mannered in front of the Priesthood.

“Why are you staring with your eyes so wide open like that?”
“Huh?”
“You look like dough that’s been kneaded too much. As dumb as you look, apparently. Can’t you understand the situation?”

The boy let out a snort of laughter.
His head tilted mockingly, his mouth twisted into an even crueler smirk.
And his gaze—utterly contemptuous, looking down on me completely.

‘So this is completely different from how he acts in front of the adults?’

The other Trainee Priests were also looking at me and snickering.
A few of them approached me and spoke with deliberate malice.

“You forced your way through a door that was already closed, and you don’t even have the sense to notice?”
“You can’t even read the room.”
“Did you sneak in through the back like a coward while we weren’t around?”

When I didn’t respond, the children glared at me.

“You’re not going to answer?”
“H-hi—”
“Don’t cry. There’s not a single person here who’ll coddle you just because you’re crying.”
“H-hiccup…”

I let out a long, heavy sigh.
The children who’d been laughing so cruelly flinched.

“What, you’re sighing?”

They thought I was panicking,

“S-so scary. Wahhhhh!”

—it seemed they thought I could make the same sounds, but that was a foolish notion.

I had experienced every hardship imaginable in my previous life.
This level of ostracism barely tickled me.
Rather….

‘They’re not hitting me. These kids are gentle?’

Compared to those Parmanase brutes, this was an extraordinarily mild response, and I found it rather pleasant.
Truly, Artemisia’s Trainees.
Pure-hearted.

As I smiled contentedly, the children flinched.

“What, what is it? Why are you smiling?”
“Are you insane?”

The children stared at the red-haired boy with bewildered expressions.

‘So that one really is the leader.’

“Dmitri….”

The children looked at the red-haired boy, Dmitri, as if asking what to do.
Dmitri, who had been wearing a dumbfounded expression while looking at me, suddenly shifted his face.
Then he walked past the children and approached me.

“You, who entered the Temple without even a confirmation ceremony.”
“….”
“Don’t mistake yourself—just because you’ve earned some favor from the adults doesn’t mean we’ll treat you the same way.”

Dmitri spoke in warning.
As befitted a leader, there was an undeniable pressure to his words.
The children, thinking I would now be frightened, began giggling again.
But I….

“Randel said to get along nicely.”
“What?”
“So won’t Sae cut me some slack just once?”

The children’s expressions shifted back to bewilderment.

* * *

I stepped out of the Trainee Priest Quarters and began walking.

‘I should pick some pretty flowers and bring them to Randel.’

It was a bribe.
I wanted to casually ask him about Ilay.

‘Though it’s probably just a coincidence with the same name…’

Still, there was a one-in-a-million chance it could be something more.
It was better to check these things once and be done with it, rather than have regrets later.

I was heading toward the Rear Garden to find flowers.
A spiteful voice called out from behind me.

“Stop right there.”

I turned my head and saw a familiar face.
The red-haired boy who led the Trainee Priests.
It was Dmitri.

He strode toward me with heavy steps and spoke.

“What makes you think you can act so cocky?”

He warned me with his tone.

‘Ah, so the leader himself has stepped in because I didn’t show fear.’

“Sae, nobody trusts you.”
“Then you shouldn’t act so arrogant. Isn’t that right, you filthy line-cutter?”

Thunk.
Dmitri poked my forehead with his index finger.
Even that was enough to make my scrawny body wobble like a roly-poly toy.
I nearly toppled over.

‘This is real.’

I frowned and spoke.

“Don’t. Sae, don’t treat me like a boy.”

Dmitri smirked as if amused, his lips curling upward.
Then he poked my head once more.
Thunk.

“Why? Going to tell the adults?”

And again, another thunk.

He’d flicked my forehead three times now.
I stared directly at Dmitri.

‘This is an opening move, isn’t it?’

And I’d been patient long enough.
Randel had told me to get along well with the children, and I’m a pacifist who loves conversation over violence, but…

‘Wouldn’t my fist and this child’s face getting closer together also be a form of friendly interaction?’

I made a decision for the sake of peace.
And I calmly surveyed my surroundings.
Dmitri, misinterpreting my actions, grinned wickedly.

“There’s no adult here to help you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. So don’t cause any more trouble—.”

Well, that works out perfectly.
The adults won’t be helping me—

‘You mutt! You damned mutt!’

I clenched my plump fists tightly.

“Sae said it. She said she won’t acknowledge him as a man.”

I’ve been through every trial imaginable.
Forgiving once shows magnanimity, but forgiving twice makes you a fool.

‘I suppose there’s no helping it then, Artemisia.’

This lost little lamb deserves a righteous uppercut of light and justice.
I let out a deep sigh and rolled up my sleeves with determination.

“Did Dmitri start it first?”
“What?”

I raised my plump, puffy fist like a morning bun, swift and ready.
Of course, infused with sacred power.
Holy light gathered at my knuckles.
And then….

“Aaaagh!”
“Ow!”
“Aaaaagh!”

The sky was clear and bright.
The sun shone pleasantly, and the tree shade was refreshing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Stop— ow!”

Perfect weather for a workout, really.

“How is this kid so strong— aaaagh! Ow! It hurts, it hurts! Stop!”

The mutt’s yelps kept perfect rhythm too.

* * *

Thud!
Dmitri was shoved backward by Saelika’s fist and crashed into a wooden pillar.
Saelika dusted off her hands and spoke.

“Sae, just overlook it this once, okay? Do you understand?”
“….”
“I’m asking if you understand, Sae.”
“Yeah, I understand….”
“Good. Now go apply some medicine.”

With those words, Saelika turned her back and left.
Dmitri stared blankly at her small figure as it disappeared in quick steps.

‘What kind of person is she?’

Even sprawled out like this, the thought crossed my mind.

Small and soft-looking, like a honey bun, yet possessing incredible strength.
And the precision of her strikes, the timing of her attacks and retreats….

‘It’s almost art… No, what am I thinking…!’

I must be losing my mind.

Dmitri had lived his entire life as a leader among his peers.
From birth, he had never lost to anyone his age.

Yet this small girl was someone he simply could not defeat.
If I dodged right, her fist came straight at my face. If I dodged left, she pivoted and struck my back.
As if she could read the thoughts inside my head…!

‘Just like Derrick….’

Like the Derrick I admired, she grasped the flow of combat with precision and targeted the vulnerable points.
Truly, a masterful display of violence….

‘…No, that’s not it!’

Dmitri shook his head vigorously, trying to clear the fog from his mind.
He’d taken so many blows that he was barely conscious.

That’s when it happened.

“Captain?”

A sound echoed from behind him—footsteps approaching.
His subordinates, or rather, his fellow Trainee Priests, had arrived.

Dmitri flinched and quickly scrambled to his feet.
Every inch of his battered body screamed in pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

The Trainee Priests rushed over, demanding answers.

“What happened?”

They scanned their surroundings with eager faces.
Saelika was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d that brat go?”
“Where else? She probably ran away crying!”

Another Trainee Priest’s eyes gleamed as he shouted.
Dmitri looked confused and questioned him.

“Huh?”
“The captain beat her down so badly she ran off to the adults, right?!”
“…”
“Right? You won, Captain?”

Saelika was nowhere in sight, but she’d struck his vital points with devastating precision.
It meant he was in excruciating pain, yet appeared perfectly fine on the surface.

The Trainee Priests stared at Dmitri with hopeful expressions.
Not one of them doubted for a moment that he could lose to someone as soft and delicate as Saelika.

Who was Dmitri?
The strongest among Artemisia’s Trainees!
Even the adults marveled at his combat sense.

Dmitri swallowed hard and looked at the children.

‘If I say I lost to such a small girl….’

“What? You lost to Honey?”
“Seriously, Dmitri’s not all that.”
“Losing to Honey… you must’ve gone soft?”

‘I can’t let them think I went soft!’

When Dmitri didn’t respond, the children’s expressions grew suspicious.

“…Did you actually lose?”
“No way, right?”

Dmitri flinched at the words.

“Lose? What are you talking about!”

I simply got beaten down, that’s all!

The children laughed with expressions of “I knew it!” and guffawed.

“That’s what I thought! The little brat got cocky and got what was coming to her!”
“Our leader is the best!”
“You idiots. How could our leader lose? He’s the man that even Derrick praised for having the finest combat sense!”

The finest combat sense….
Dmitri swallowed dryly as he recalled Saelika from moments ago.

“Back off or it’ll hurt more. Just back off.”

And that crackling fist.

‘Isn’t that what the finest combat sense really is…? But where did she learn something like that?’

He said he came through the back entrance.
Yet his skills surpassed those of the other Trainee Priests.
The way he defeated me—no, pummeled me—suggested he was vastly superior.
And beyond that….

“Strong people protect weak people. Not hit them.”
“Then why did you hit me!”
“Dmitri is strong person. This is match.”

They say the strong recognize the strong.
Among the Trainee Priests, there was no one worthy of being called a proper opponent. But that one was different.

‘Damn it, what am I thinking!’

Dmitri shook his head vigorously.
That guy is a fool.
Just a slightly stronger fool.

* * *

The next day.
No one came to pick a fight with me today.
No one even spoke to me.

….

I watched the children playing and joking with each other blankly.

‘…Not envious at all.’

I turned my back on the laughing children.
First, I need to find Ilay.
Randel seemed busy since the Trainee Priests had returned.
There’s been no chance to ask him about Ilay.

“Hey.”

As I approached, the children who had been laughing and playing suddenly looked at me with sharp expressions.

“What?”
“Who is Ilay?”
“Why are you asking me? Am I your friend? He’s not here.”

When I asked the children about Ilay, they answered with considerable irritation.
I clenched my fists for a moment but held back, acting magnanimous.

“Then where is Ilay?”
“Probably alone in the garden again. He dislikes noise.”
“I see…”

The child waved their hand dismissively.
I headed toward the location they had indicated.
After exiting into the garden and passing the gazebo, I spotted a shadow between the shrubs.

“Ilay?”

At my call, the child leaning against the base of a tree slowly lifted his head from his book.

‘Huh…?’

Silver hair gleaming as pristine as an untrodden snowfield.
In striking contrast, eyes of a rich, honeyed amber that seemed to draw one in deeply.
His youthful face, despite its bewildered expression, appeared gentle and kind.

The appearance and aura matched perfectly with the rumors of ‘Ilay’ I had heard.

Yet what captured my attention was something else entirely.

‘That guy—.’
“What’s the matter?”

Ilay, whose eyes met mine, smiled softly and spoke.

“You’re Sae, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“I’m Ilay. I was too busy yesterday to greet you properly. Welcome to Artemisia Temple. I look forward to working with you.”

He rose from his seat and extended his hand toward me.
I gazed quietly at that hand.

“My arm hurts.”

Ilay smiled with a slight furrow of his brow.
It was an expression that imposed no burden on the other person—rather, one that naturally invited favor.

It was the moment I stretched out my arm to grasp his hand in return.

“Ack?!”

Suddenly, someone yanked me backward from behind.
My already precarious three-head-tall body tilted backward.
An unkind grip caught me as I stumbled.

“What are you doing?”

A gruff voice.
It was Dmitri.

—————
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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