Youngest on Top - Chapter 113

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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 113

Everyone below was jeering at me as they stared.
I had never experienced anything like this in my entire life.

“Using such dirty tactics to undermine Artemisia’s strength!”
“What did you do to our Dmitri?”
“Our Ilay’s face should be protected as a world treasure!!”

Martina’s face had gone pale.

‘I never did such a thing!’

I had never plotted to prevent Ilay and Dmitri from attending the gathering.

‘Why must I suffer these unjust accusations?’

Then, Saelika came into view, basking in the crowd’s favor.
Martina rushed toward Saelika, shouting.

“It was you!”
“What?”
“You did this! You deliberately made it seem like Dmitri and Ilay weren’t attending, leaked information to me, and tried to pin this on me like this!”
“What are you talking about? I never did that. You were the one who asked me about Dmitri and Ilay first.”
“You deliberately led me to—”
“Martina.”

At Heidrun’s call, Martina flinched.
Only then did the countless people gathered below the platform come into focus.
The gazes directed at me were far more contemptuous than before.

‘She deliberately orchestrated this to make me lose my composure in front of everyone!’

Tens of thousands of people condemning me all at once, causing me to lose my reason…!
What a vicious scheme this was!

“It seems Martina is flustered. Allow me to apologize on her behalf.”
“It’s fine.”

Even now, Saelika was pretending not to accept Heidrun’s apology.

‘This is exactly why I hate two-faced hypocrites!’

People as straightforward and blunt as me always end up at a disadvantage!

And that cunning, scheming hypocrite Saelika was….

‘What’s this?’

She was feeling somewhat flustered.

* * *

I understood that Molloresta had planted agitators among the crowd to manipulate public opinion.
Fortunately, the atmosphere completely shifted when Dmitri and Ilay arrived just before the match began.

‘But there’s no way the atmosphere would reverse this quickly under normal circumstances.’

Of course, since Molloresta had forcibly manipulated public opinion, there would inevitably be backlash.
However, this wasn’t normal.

‘Someone on our side must have released agitators too.’

Someone who had anticipated or discovered in advance that Molloresta would act this way.

“Did Ilay do it?”

When I whispered to Ilay, he shrugged.

“I just arrived. I didn’t even have time to change clothes. How could I orchestrate something like this?”
“…It’s definitely not Dmitri.”
“Absolutely not.”

Ilay chuckled softly and whispered to me.

“But I did send a message last night saying I’d arrive today. Edmund received it.”
“Edmund?”
“Noble houses are naturally skilled at playing dirty tricks.”

Edmund, standing beside me, furrowed his brow.

“How vulgar. A method to keep one’s hands clean of blood, they say.”

So it was Edi’s scheme all along.

That explained why he seemed so busy at yesterday’s evening party.
He wasn’t even beside me when Martina picked a fight with me.
Given Edmund’s nature, there was no way he’d sit idle.

Enrik: Lucky for you someone’s thinking with their head instead of you.
Enrik: You’re the type to use brawn rather than brains.
Enrik: Honestly, I was worried you’d actually beat up that annoying Sacred Maiden of Molloresta.

Enrik told me to rough up Martina yesterday?

I ignored Enrik’s words, but I couldn’t help seeing certain phrases.
Mainly,

Enrik: Should we just kill her?
Enrik: Just one hit. Please, just one solid hit!
Enrik: If you cause trouble when we return to the Heavenly Realm later, I’ll turn a blind eye once.
Enrik: You use violence just fine normally—why are you holding back now?!
Enrik: Fine, fine. What if you accidentally poke her eye out?

—That sort of thing.

Enrik: When did I?
Enrik: Got proof?
Enrik: Unlike you, a walking disaster, I’d never cause such trouble.

A typical guilty angel’s response.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.

In the Heavenly Realm, wasn’t it because I caused all the trouble first that the other brothers behaved themselves?

Perhaps they simply had no need to cause trouble since I’d satisfied that urge for them.

I regarded Enrik’s message window with suspicious eyes.
Enrik was casually saying something else as though nothing had happened.

Enrik: Ahem! From now on, why don’t you use your head a bit too?

‘Why should I?’

Enrik: What do you mean why?

‘People exist to be used, after all.’

Enrik: …Suddenly?

‘I already have someone to think for me instead. Why should I bother using my own head?’

Enrik: ….

Seeing that he’d fallen silent, it seemed Enrik was impressed by my superior logic.
Indeed, with reasoning this sound, I must have a sharp mind after all.
I simply haven’t been using it, that’s all.

“Well done, Eddie!”

At my praise, Edmund turned his head away arrogantly.

“Hmph, I wasn’t particularly assisting you.”

…That’s called support, not assistance.

For some reason, all our trainee priests seem peculiar.
Except for me.

‘If we resembled our Artemia, we couldn’t possibly be peculiar.’

Perhaps I haven’t fully inherited her nature yet since I’m still a trainee priest?

[Trainee priests from each temple, please proceed through the portal installed on the platform.]

The announcement system, which had been focused on calming the excited crowd, finally said something different.
The match was beginning.

* * *

“Calm yourself, Martina.”
“Do I look calm to you? Did you hear what people were saying about me!”
“It won’t change anything anyway. Once we show everyone that we’re far stronger than Artemisia, they’ll eventually take our side.”
“…”
“You know the details of the match too, don’t you?”

At Heidrun’s words, Martina, who had been fuming, took a deep breath.
As if to say well done, Heidrun patted her back.

“Everything is being broadcast one by one. There’s no benefit in showing a poor performance here.”

Heidrun was right.
Though we had moved through a portal and distanced ourselves from the crowd, the images were still being transmitted through magical artifacts.

“…You’re right, nothing will change.”

The match’s premise was simple.
Not long ago, Nanuquia Mountain had been contaminated by a sinister aura.
As a result, undead had been appearing and threatening the nearby villages.
The goal was to eliminate these undead.

Since the trainee priests had grown, they would now compete through actual combat, unlike before.
The crowd could enjoy it, and it would practically help the people as well—a perfect arrangement.

“Nanuquia Mountain is our backyard.”

True to those words, Nanuquia Mountain lay within a stone’s throw of the Molloresta Temple, even among the vast eastern territories.
The trainee priests of Molloresta had trained by traversing Nanuquia Mountain since childhood.

“But what about the Artemisia trainee priests?”

An unfamiliar mountain.
Undead creatures lurching out from between trees and rocks.
And on top of that—.

“Even traps.”
“The Artemisia followers will be overwhelmed just responding to everything.”
“In the end, victory will be ours.”

Martina nodded firmly.
Now was the time to focus on the competition.
To settle things with that phony Saelika and show the foolish masses who the true Sacred Maiden really was!

* * *

As the blinding light faded, a verdant mountain spread before my eyes.
We had traveled through the portal to Mount Nuukia.

“Where are the Molloresta priests positioned?”

At my question, Ilay shrugged his shoulders.

“Probably on the opposite side? We didn’t disclose where each side would start.”
“But the Molloresta bastards will know where we’re starting from.”

The trainee priests of Artemisia and Molloresta had traveled through portals to points A and B at the foot of Mount Nuukia respectively.
At that time, the locations of points A and B were not revealed to the other side.

However, it was the Molloresta Temple, which hosted the gathering, that chose points A and B.
They would naturally have heard the details from the adults.

“Those bastards who tried to play dirty with the media wouldn’t come out fairly.”
“They deliberately chose a difficult route and gave it to us.”
“Be careful. There might be traps.”

My children moved forward cautiously yet swiftly.
Seeing them work so competently on their own filled me with satisfaction.

‘It was worth raising them strong.’

“Skeletons ahead!”
“They’re approaching from the seven o’clock direction too!”

The children quickly shifted into combat stance.

“Be careful! Don’t get hit even once!”
“The moment you get hit, I’m making the youngest do extra training!”
“Everyone, stay strong! Don’t make any mistakes! Otherwise, I’ll be punished along with all of you under collective responsibility!”
“….”

I felt somewhat uneasy.
Shouldn’t we be worried about getting injured if we get hit?

But soon that became the least of our concerns.

“Skeleton legion incoming from the four o’clock direction!”
“Legion? They’ve formed a legion?”
“Wait, hold on! Look ahead…!”

Skeletons were bursting forth from the dense forest all around us.
And they had already occupied the high ground.
If we retreated, a skeleton legion was closing in from behind as well.

‘How are there so many undead in a mountain that’s only recently been corrupted?’

Something felt wrong.

Enrik: Youngest.

The moment Enrik’s message appeared, I felt a peculiar aura suffused with bone-chilling cold.
A power incomparably stronger than any skeleton soldier.
I slowly lifted my head.

“A Death Knight…?”

An entity that should never have been here was present.

* * *

“A Death Knight?! Isn’t that a Death Knight!”

The people watching through the crystal viewing stone erupted into chaos.

“Why in the world is there a Death Knight there!”

Sirius immediately confronted Vilpredo, the High Priest of Molloresta.
Since Molloresta had hosted the gathering, the responsibility fell upon him.

“That, well… We also… During the preliminary survey, there were definitely only Skeleton Soldiers!”
“Yes, and their numbers weren’t nearly this many!”

It had been perfectly ordinary.
The corruption of Nanuquia Mountain was a recent occurrence.
In regions recently corrupted, the undead that appear are primarily Skeleton Soldiers.

Skeleton Soldiers were the most basic monsters among the undead.
Trainee Priests of this age could handle them without much difficulty.
Moreover, since the corruption hadn’t progressed severely, their numbers shouldn’t be great, so there was no significant danger.

Subjugating regions in the early stages of corruption was a standard event in the gathering’s competitions.

“Are you calling that an explanation? The Skeleton Soldiers are so numerous they form legions!”
“And Death Knights have appeared!”
“How exactly did Molloresta manage this gathering?!”
“Did you deliberately manipulate the numbers?!”

The Artemisia priests protested vehemently.
Not only the dignitaries but the spectators as well murmured and cast suspicious glances at the Molloresta priests.
All their eyes were filled with suspicion.

“Absolutely not! We would never—.”
“Wait, hold on!”

Moricius, who had been watching the crystal viewing stone, cried out sharply.

“There’s… there’s not just one Death Knight!”

At those words, everyone’s gaze turned back to the viewing stone.

Black armor covering from head to toe.
Crimson eyes gleaming from within the helmet that obscured the entire face.
With each exhaled breath, dark miasma stained the air.
Even the colossal warhorse it rode emanated the aura of death, casting shadows upon the ground it trampled.
Truly the visage of a Death Knight.

Standing before them was a small girl with flowing golden hair.

The moment the Death Knight swung a greatsword larger than the child’s body,

“…!”

The crystal viewing stone lost its light all at once.

“What is this…?”
“What’s happening!”
“S-Sae is…!”

Amid the chaos, Randel rose from his seat immediately.
Whether this was Molloresta’s scheme or not was no longer the important question.

“I must go there.”
“Randel!”
“My daughter!”

A fierce flame ignited in eyes that had always been gentle and green.
A fire that burned intensely yet remained infinitely cold.

The Molloresta Elder blocking Randel’s path flinched and bit back.

“My daughter is there. So while I’m asking nicely—.”

Randel smiled thinly.
It was his usual smile, but stained with rage, it looked far more dangerous.

“Open the portal. Only two Death Knights have appeared so far. There may be more.”
“….”
“If anything happens to my daughter, I’ll kill every last one of you.”
“…!”

The Molloresta Elder should have protested such words, but he couldn’t speak at all.
He was completely overwhelmed by Randel’s pressure.

“If this is truly an unexpected accident, shouldn’t we open the portal and rescue the children as Randel suggests?”

Sirius spoke to Vilpredo with a cold expression.

“The High Priest must be concerned as well? That is, unless the Death Knight happens to spare only Molloresta’s trainee priests.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Vilpredo.
Feeling their stares, Vilpredo nodded with a rigid expression.

“Open the portal.”

At Vilpredo’s command, the Molloresta priests prepared to activate the portal installed on the platform.

“This is truly an unforeseen situation for us as well. Let us combine our efforts and rescue the children with haste.”
“….”
“Even during our preliminary survey last week, it appeared no different from any other early-stage contamination zone.”
“We can discuss that later.”

Sirius cut off Vilpredo’s words coldly.

“This is a grave matter!”

A priest who had been activating the portal on the platform came rushing over in panic.

“We cannot detect the signal from the portal installed on Mount Nanuquia!”
“What?!”
“It appears to have been corrupted by miasma, or in the worst case, deliberately destroyed by someone.”
“…!”
“T-traveling from here to the mountain on foot would take considerable time. By then, already….”

Crash!
A crack spiderwebbed across the wall beside Randel with a thunderous sound.

“…Already? Speak again.”

The Molloresta priests looked toward Sirius Elder in alarm.
When a subordinate priest acted this way, Sirius, as the one in charge, should have restrained him.
But.

“If anything happens to our child, Artemisia is prepared to break the covenant.”
“…!”
“That means we’re considering war!”

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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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