Youngest on Top - Chapter 112

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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 112

“Dmitri!”

Martina’s face brightened as she welcomed Dmitri with open arms.

“It’s been forever! Wow~ you’ve really grown so much!”

Martina approached Dmitri and placed her hand intimately on his shoulder.

“Though you were always tall and well-built! But I won’t lose to you either!”

Martina made a light fist toward Dmitri.
Then she noticed the person standing beside Dmitri and widened her eyes in recognition.

“Ah, so you’re Ilay? I can tell right away!”

Despite meeting for the first time, Martina grasped Ilay’s hand without hesitation.

“If you’re Dmitri’s friend, then you’re my friend too! Let’s get along from now on!”

Martina’s face was radiant as she laughed cheerfully, without a shadow of doubt.
Still holding Ilay’s hand, Martina linked her other arm through Dmitri’s.

“I’m so happy to have more people to befriend!”
“Who are you?”

A voice devoid of warmth fell like cold water.
Martina looked at Dmitri in bewilderment.

“Huh?”
“Who are you to act so familiar with me?”

Dmitri’s eyes looking down at Martina were sharp and cold.
Martina’s lips stiffened slightly.
Soon she smiled and spoke playfully.

“You don’t recognize me? Well, everyone says I’ve changed so much! I’ve grown taller, my face is different now.”
“So?”
“Come on, why are you being so stiff? I’m Martina. Don’t you remember?”
“I have no idea.”

Dmitri regarded Martina with a cool gaze.
His face, now beginning to show the features of a young man, emanated an oppressive presence even in its expressionless state.

A prominent nose bridge and deeply set eyes.
A jawline sculpted with meticulous precision.
The unique atmosphere created by his three-dimensional features cast in shadow.

It was no wonder the female devotees kept dropping their handkerchiefs in front of Dmitri.

“W-we used to play together a lot when we were younger. We were on the same side during our war games, remember…”
“There’s only one thing I know about you.”
“…?”
“That you dared to pick a fight with our Honeybread.”

His teal eyes fixed sharply upon Martina.
Martina forced a smile.

“W-what are you talking about? Pick a fight? I was only concerned about Saelika—”
“Our Sae isn’t the kind of person who needs your concern.”

A soft voice cut through her words with quiet clarity.
Ilay struck Martina’s hand away with an audible snap.

“Ow!”
“Whether you’re Dmitri’s friend or not, I have no intention of being friendly with you.”

Ilay smiled quietly.
It was a smile sweet enough to make onlookers sigh, yet it carried the chill of an impenetrable wall.
Even Martina, who had been so casual, flinched at that barrier.

“Honeybread!”

Dmitri immediately approached Saelika.
He didn’t spare Martina a single glance.

“Phew— I can finally breathe. I really thought I was going to die.”
“Was the battle that grueling?”

Saelika asked while accepting Dmitri as he leaned against me.

“No, it wasn’t the battle. I thought I’d die from missing our Honeybread so much!”

Dmitri stretched out Saelika’s cheek playfully.

“Don’t bother Sae.”
“You just got back and you’re already doing this? Did you wash your hands?”

Ilay and Edmund rushed over to stop Dmitri.

“Are you alright, Sae? Let me see. That brute’s hands are always so rough.”
“Hmph, his bearing and attitude toward the Sacred Maiden are completely wrong. Such lack of courtesy.”
“What’s wrong with my hands?!”

Dmitri cried out indignantly at their words.

Martina watched the scene with her lips pressed tightly together.
Saelika had done nothing but sit quietly, yet she was instantly surrounded by three men.

‘What’s so great about being a docile doll like those other girls!’

The boys seemed to prefer girls who were rough-around-the-edges, friendly, and free-spirited like her…!

“What are you staring at?”

Dmitri asked in a cold voice.
It was completely different from the expression he’d worn moments before when he was pouting at Saelika.

Martina clenched her fists tightly.

“Wow, are those guys funny or something?”
“Martina welcomed them so warmly—why are they acting like that?”
“They should show some gratitude when someone welcomes them.”

The trainee priests of Molorestia looked bewildered and took Martina’s side.

“But honestly… she really is beautiful. Even more so than in photographs.”
“I thought the same thing when I saw Edmund yesterday, but Dmitri and Ilay are no joke either.”
“When the three of them are together, they really shine. Is this what they call the bouquet effect?”
“Did you see Ilay’s expression just now? Wow, he looks at people like they’re made of sugar. Guilty as charged.”
“I’m jealous….”

Honestly, having even one man like that would make temple life enjoyable.
But there are three of them, not just one.

And that’s not all.
The children sighed as they recalled the appearances of Randel and Sirius from yesterday.
If they had trained under such an Elder and Priest, they could have learned with far greater enthusiasm.

Martina glared at Saelika upon seeing the children whispering among themselves.
It was Martina, not Saelika, who should be receiving everyone’s envy and jealousy.

It had always been that way.
The men preferred her straightforward nature to women who put on airs or played coy!

“Haha, I guess Dmitri doesn’t remember me. I was happy to see him again though.”

Martina laughed sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

“Not only does he not remember, but it seems like he dislikes me for some reason.”
“Martina….”
“Hmm, we barely even talked, so why would he dislike me? Maybe he was offended by how I greeted him.”
“Who dislikes someone just because they greeted them?”
“Didn’t that Sacred Maiden sow discord? That’s why he dislikes me.”
“Right. I saw yesterday that she’s cunning. She supposedly called Heidrun out in the dead of night and seduced him?”
“What?”
“Wow, she’s really too much. Sowing discord and trying to steal another temple’s leader….”

Martina grew flustered by the heated atmosphere and tried to stop the Trainee Priests.

“Everyone, stop. Heidrun was just being kind. He simply took off his outer robe because Saelika looked cold.”
“He took off his outer robe?!”
“Ha! She wasn’t cold—she was just pretending to be.”
“Martina, you can’t assume all the children are as straightforward as you are.”
“There’s always that one girl who deliberately acts frail to appeal to the men.”

The trainee priests of Molorestia steeled their resolve.

“Let’s show that pretentious weakling what we’re made of in today’s match!”

[Trainee priests from each temple, please enter.]

Right on cue, the announcement echoed through the magical apparatus.

* * *

[The trainee priests of Molorestia are entering.]

It was the long-awaited entrance.
The tightly packed crowd erupted in cheers, welcoming the trainee priests.

“Woooooo!!”
“This is the match to determine the greatest temple in the east!”
“We believe in you, Molorestia! Show us why you’ve been number one all this time!”
“Artemisia has been number one for hundreds of years for a reason! Let’s reclaim the throne!”

That was when it happened.

“But can Artemisia really win?”
“Of course!”
“Haven’t you heard? The two strongest trainee priests from Artemisia aren’t participating.”
“What?”
“Dmitri and Ilay aren’t participating, I heard?”
“They’re not participating in an Octagon match?”
“Why hasn’t this news spread until now?”
“There’s talk that Artemisia pulled strings yesterday to gain an advantage in the betting.”
“How underhanded…!”

Similar conversations were spreading simultaneously throughout the plaza.

“I bet a fortune on Artemisia’s victory without knowing any of this!”
“Isn’t this fraud? How petty of Artemisia!”
“We trusted them, and they resort to such dirty tactics?”

The spread of rumors and shifting atmosphere was remarkably swift.

[The Trainee Priests of Artemisia enter.]

Led by Saelika, the Trainee Priests of Artemisia began to file into the plaza.

“Booooo!!”
“Fraudsters! Fraudsters!”
“Give my money back!”
“Take Saelika’s face off the display board right now!”

Jeers reverberated through the plaza.
It was entirely different from when the Trainee Priests of Molorestia had appeared.

* * *

The Priests of Molorestia in the VIP section sneered as they spoke.

“Well, it seems the people have finally gotten wind of the news.”
“It’s certainly a situation that could be misunderstood. Or perhaps it’s not a misunderstanding at all?”
“The most important thing for a temple is the people’s trust, and yet Artemisia is….”

Sirius let out a soft chuckle.

“How curious.”
“What’s curious about it?”
“The reactions are rising as if it were orchestrated.”
“Are you suggesting we stationed agitators everywhere to spread rumors?!”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Sirius glanced meaningfully toward the platform.

“There’s always a cause behind rumors spreading.”
“Rumors? Isn’t it a fact that Ilay and Dmitri are absent?”
“Look properly before you speak.”

At those words, the Priests of Molorestia turned their gaze toward the platform.

“That, that is…!”

Dmitri and Ilay stood confidently on either side of Saelika.
The dignitaries wore expressions of bewilderment.

“Did you not say that the two of them could not attend?”
“Sae is such a kindhearted child that she must have spoken of the worst-case scenario.”

Randel answered with a composed smile.

“Dmitri and Ilay were naturally scheduled to complete all their affairs before the gathering and return to the temple.”
“However, their work took longer than expected, and their schedule fell behind.”
“For Sae, it would have been easy to say that Dmitri and Ilay would return before the competition.”
“Had that been the case, far more of you would have wagered on Artemisia’s victory.”

Yet with the schedule disrupted, the likelihood of them returning before the competition was greater.

“You wagered on Artemisia’s victory believing the two would attend, so how bewildered you must feel if they were not here.”

The dignitaries marveled at the words of the Artemisia Temple priests.

“Such profound consideration….”
“Despite her youth, she possesses such depth of character and consideration for others.”
“In truth, had it not been for Moriseus, the Artemisia Temple and Saelika would have shown a stark difference on the scoreboard.”

Moriseus was a young man whose hair had been advanced by receiving Saelika’s blessing.

A temple’s power ultimately flows from its believers.
Thus, gaining advantage in the wagers was equally important.
People flock to the temple that appears more powerful.

And naturally, one comes to support the temple upon which they have wagered.
When this repeats, believers develop a deep sense of belonging to the temple.

“She prioritized the sense of betrayal we would feel in the worst situation over immediate gain.”
“We have done nothing for her, yet the Sacred Maiden Saelika alone upheld her faith.”

At the dignitaries’ words, Vilpredo, the High Priest of Molorestia, clenched his teeth.

‘How is that upholding faith!’

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like nothing more than an honest admission that I hadn’t expected them to actually come.

And that was the truth.
Saelika herself hadn’t known that the two of them would arrive at precisely the right moment, just before the match began.

Yet Randel, smiling with his gentle and handsome face, appeared as though he could resolve all the world’s troubles.
His words were the way, the truth, and the life itself.
The people nodded their heads as if enchanted.

‘Just conversing with him feels so full of blessings, so of course what he says must be right.’

“It is regrettable. Had I known the two of them would appear, I would have made a different choice….”
“From now on, I should make my choices knowing that Sacred Maiden Saelika is humble and values others’ losses more than her own gains.”
“I already knew that. I too once misunderstood Sacred Maiden Saelika.”

Morius spoke with pride.

“Indeed. It seems your choice of Artemisia Temple and Sacred Maiden Saelika was not without reason.”
“But something does seem odd.”

Morius spoke, looking down at the spectators.

“Even if we had matters to attend to at yesterday’s evening party, how did the spectators not find out about their absence?”
“Weren’t there few people attending yesterday’s evening party? Naturally, rumors could spread.”

At the Molloresta Priest’s words, Sirius wore a cold smile.

“How curious that the rumors spread all at once, right before the Artemisia Trainee Priests’ entrance.”
“That is—.”
“Isn’t that a timing where people can’t help but be swept along without questioning?”
“…!”

The dignitaries’ gazes grew strange.

* * *

“Wait!”

The spectators who had been jeering came to a halt.

“Look! That radiant, pristine silver hair! There’s no mistaking it! There’s only one person in this world with such beautiful silver hair!”
“It’s Priest Ilay!”

Those who caught sight of Ilay’s face let out delighted shrieks of “Kyaaaaaaa!!”

“That blazing crimson hair and those commanding, masculine features!”
“Isn’t that Priest Dmitri?!”
“Are you sure? Didn’t you say both of them weren’t competing today?”
“Do you really think there are two people in this world with faces like that?”
“…!”

Realization dawned on the crowd’s faces.

There was no mistaking it.
Not with looks like those.

“But why did the rumor spread that both of them wouldn’t be attending?”
“I don’t know! I just passed it along!”
“Where did you hear that news?”

Naturally, all eyes turned toward those who had spread the rumor.

“No, I mean, that was just—.”
“Don’t dodge the question. Speak plainly!”
“I’m not dodging! I just happened to overhear while passing by….”
“You overheard someone calling Artemia a fraud?”
“That Artemia lied to get her face on the scoreboard!”
“Answer me directly! Where did you hear this?”
“I, I, that was—.”

The pale-faced rumor-spreaders glanced furtively toward the VIP section.
The interrogating crowd didn’t miss that glance.

“Who were you just looking at?”
“Why did you look at the Molorestia Priests?”
“Did the Molorestia Priests order you to spread those rumors?”
“No, I really did just overhear it in passing—.”

The rumor-spreaders denied it, but no one believed them.

“How cowardly of Molorestia to resort to such tactics!”
“Despicable, Molorestia!”
“Wait. It’s strange that they’d tell such an easily exposed lie so quickly.”

The people who had paused exchanged glances with one another.

“Could it be that Molorestia schemed to prevent those two from attending?”
“Now that you mention it, only those two have different clothing!”
“And their garments look worn, as if they’ve just finished something major!”

It was simply because I had rushed here directly after the battle.
But no one knew that.

“Such a vicious and treacherous plot!”
“Molorestia has no right to be in the Octagon!!”

The crowd hurled jeers toward Molorestia.

“Artemisia, win this!”
“Artemisia is the temple that truly represents our Eastern region!”

Hearing the voices of the crowd, Martina clenched her fists tightly.

‘What, what is this? What’s happening?’

—————
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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