Youngest on Top - Chapter 117

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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 117

Martina continued with a subtle smile.

“Your skills are decent, and you’re much better than the children right now, aren’t you?”
“But you still can’t transform your sacred power, can you?”
“That’s true for now. But once this Assembly ends, things will be different.”

Heidrun looked at Martina with a puzzled expression.

“When more believers gather, my power will grow stronger.”

Martina laughed with confidence.
Heidrun gazed at her with an unreadable expression for a moment, then turned away.

“…We should move for now.”

He was right.
They had only bought time by sending the children away—they hadn’t defeated the Death Knight.

* * *

Martina and Heidrun wandered through the mountain paths.
Avoiding skeleton soldiers to keep from drawing the Death Knight’s attention proved far more exhausting than they’d anticipated.

“We need a safe place to rest until the adults come to rescue us.”

After searching, the two discovered a cave.

“There’s a cave!”
“Wait. I sense a presence… Let me check first.”

Heidrun approached cautiously.
If undead suddenly emerged, it would be disastrous.
But as he drew closer to the cave, he felt an aura completely different from what he’d expected.

Warm breath.
The murmur of quiet conversation.
Crackle, crackle—the sound of the campfire consuming wood.

‘Definitely not undead.’

But who in the world was doing this on a corrupted mountain?
Heidrun poked his head into the cave and froze.

‘Saelika?’

Her golden hair, bathed in the firelight, gleamed with a reddish hue.
Heidrun momentarily forgot to speak, simply gazing at her.

Then, those vibrant sky-blue eyes turned toward him.
Her cheeks were flushed a rosy pink as she looked at him.
Perhaps it was the glow of the campfire, but still, there was something about it…

“Oh? Saelika?”

At the voice from behind, Heidrun snapped back to awareness.
Martina, who had approached without notice, broke into a bright smile.

“Wow, I’m so glad we found you. A Death Knight suddenly appeared on our side and gave us such a fright… Did one show up on yours too? Is that why you were driven all the way out here? I was absolutely startled—.”

Martina spoke in a familiar tone and strode into the cave.
As if what had happened on the platform before departure had never occurred.

Heidrun silently followed her.

The moment he entered the cave, warmth enveloped his body, which had been frozen with tension, melting it into comfort.
It was a sensation that soothed not just his body, but his exhausted and sharpened mind as well.

Heidrun, who had unconsciously exhaled in relief, suddenly paused.

‘…Just by entering a cave with a fire lit, it becomes like this?’

Something felt off.
It wasn’t merely tension dissipating—it felt as though his very mental fortitude was being restored.

‘This feels almost like a sanctuary… No, that can’t be right.’

No matter how talented Saelika was as a Sacred Maiden, she was still human—and humans had their limits.
Creating a sanctuary was still beyond her reach.
Moreover, Saelika was even younger than the other Sacred Maidens.

When someone emerged from a state of tension into a safe place, their mind naturally relaxed.
That must be why she had such thoughts.

Heidrun approached Saelika.

“I’m relieved you’re safe. I was worried about whether you were alright, Sacred Maiden.”
“Were you?”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes.”
“You can return my clothes whenever you’d like.”

Heidrun smiled. It was a smile that looked remarkably charming.
Saelika smiled back in return and offered him a potion.

“It’s in return for yesterday’s clothes. Thanks to you, I didn’t catch a cold.”
“I didn’t help you expecting anything in return.”
“If you had encountered a Death Knight, it would have been truly terrible. It’s good to recover your strength even a little.”

Martina watched Saelika and scoffed inwardly.

‘Hmph, Heidrun has no interest whatsoever in a fake like you.’

Lending her his coat last night, this attitude now—it was all an act.
And there she was, shyly offering him a potion, completely oblivious.

It was pathetic.
Other Sacred Maidens would also lower their guard when Heidrun approached them like this, eagerly offering their help.

‘Do they really think that will make him their priest?’

Heidrun only had eyes for me.
No matter how many times she saw it, it was amusing.

“The Sacred Maiden truly possesses a compassionate heart.”

Heidrun’s voice carried an unmistakable warmth.
His gaze refused to leave Saelika.

“Please, don’t mention it. Do take it.”
“Thank you.”

As Saelika extended the potion, Heidrun’s hand briefly intertwined with hers.
His fingers withdrew slowly from her grasp.
As though reluctant to part.

‘…There’s no need to overact quite so much.’

Martina’s eyes twitched slightly.
His acting had improved so much that even knowing the truth, it was easy to be fooled.

“Here, Martina—take this potion as well. With the Death Knight still outside, you need to recover your strength quickly.”
“Thanks.”

Martina accepted the potion Saelika offered.
Her holy power was nearly depleted, making it difficult to cast healing magic.
A stamina recovery potion would be invaluable.

‘Once my body recovers, I can turn this situation to my advantage.’

I must win this match without fail.
With strength, one can sway public opinion; without it, one must simply endure.

Martina clenched her teeth, recalling the jeers and mockery she had suffered on that platform.

‘I’ll repay every bit of humiliation that arrogant fool caused me.’

Martina drained the potion in one gulp.
Saelika seemed utterly smitten with Heidrun anyway, so leaving him to her care seemed reasonable enough.

‘Then I shall—.’

Martina approached Dmitri, Ilay, and Edmund with a bright smile.

“I was really disappointed earlier, Dmitri. How could you pretend not to know me like that?”
“No, I genuinely don’t know what you mean?”
“Come on, you don’t need to worry about Saelika’s feelings. Look at her now. She’s having such a great time playing with just Heidrun, ignoring you boys entirely, isn’t she?”

The three young boys’ expressions stiffened slightly.
Seeing this, Martina broke into a triumphant smile.

“Though Saelika is being a bit much herself. She doesn’t even care about her own trainee priests and only focuses on Heidrun like that—.”

Thump!

“…?”

At the sudden sound, Martina turned her head in confusion.
Heidrun lay collapsed, his limbs rigid and stiff.

“What—why, why is he like that?”

Could he have been afflicted by undead on the way here?
Just as a startled Martina was about to jump to her feet—

Thump!
Suddenly her limbs went numb, and Martina collapsed in the exact position she’d been trying to rise from.

With her face pressed into the dirt, Martina finally understood what was happening.

“No—surely! The potion I just drank?!”

What she’d been told was a stamina recovery potion was actually a deadly paralytic poison!

“How vicious! A Sacred Maiden who claims to follow the will of the gods deceiving another temple’s Sacred Maiden and poisoning her?!”
“Deceiving? I never said it was a stamina recovery potion.”

That was true.
Saelika had only suggested that recovering stamina would be good, but she had never once said “stamina recovery potion.”

“And it’s not really poison anyway. It’s just a curse.”
“A curse?!”

It was an even bigger problem.
What Sacred Maiden in her right mind would curse her opponent in a match?!

There were quite a few Sacred Maidens who poisoned their opponents, but cursing was crossing a real line.

“Don’t worry. It’s just a curse that temporarily restricts the movement of your limbs.”
“You…!”
“Once you’re lying there unable to do anything, your stamina will naturally recover. Isn’t that nice?”

Her smiling face was so pure that not a trace of malice could be found in it.
Martina ground her teeth.

‘How dare she pull off such a scheme…!’

Though she hated to admit it, Saelika had completely seen through her plan to strike from behind the moment her stamina recovered.
Saelika had anticipated everything and stayed one step ahead.

“…How did you figure it out?”
“Figure out what?”
“Everyone else lets their guard down when Heidrun acts like that. Where did you pick up on the act?”

Saelika blinked and looked down at Martina.
Then she covered her mouth with an “Oh!”
Her face showed genuine surprise.

“You mean it was a beauty trap?!”

Saelika turned to look at Heidrun.
His expression was complicated in some way.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea. I just thought you were someone unnecessarily meddlesome.”
“….”
“….”

Martina and Heidrun’s expressions darkened.
Saelika appeared to have absolutely no interest in Heidrun whatsoever.

“Ha! Using seduction on Protagonist? That’s hilarious. My Protagonist only thinks someone is impressive if they’re at least on my level.”
“I doubt that. Sae has never thought you were impressive. She came to see me, so maybe she thinks I’m handsome at best.”
“Surprisingly, this one has refined tastes. You both lack dignity. She’d only acknowledge someone with the grace of a high noble.”

At Dmitri, Ilay, and Edmund’s words, Martina fell silent.
Looking at the three men’s faces, I could tell that Saelika had judged seduction as ‘unnecessary meddling.’

“…If you didn’t even understand acting, how did you figure out our scheme in the first place?”
“I didn’t.”

Saelika stared blankly at Martina.
She genuinely seemed not to have known.

‘So she just cast a curse first and figured it out later?’

Martina was at a loss for words.
Seeing Martina’s flustered expression, Saelika became even more bewildered.

“So you thought I’d help you the moment I saw you?”
“W-well…. Still, I came after fighting the Death Knight—.”
“Am I insane? Why would I help you?”
“….”

Martina forgot what to say.

‘So she really thought I’d help.’

Saelika was dumbfounded.

‘Why would I trust the Sacred Maiden of that liar Molorestia?’

Ever since being in the heavens, Molorestia and her angels below were wretched.

“The Sacred Maiden broke the holy relic! We didn’t do anything!”
“No, I really didn’t break that! Enrik! You believe me, right?”
“…Who broke that statue over there?”
“That was me, but I really didn’t break the holy relic.”
“And the fence that got destroyed?”
“…That was me too, but—”
“You didn’t ruin the flower bed, did you? It only blooms once every hundred years, and Artemia was looking forward to drinking flower tea from it this year.”
“….”
“Youngest, you need to answer Enrik.”
“I did that, but I really didn’t break the holy relic! I swear! And those guys started it first—.”
“We only got hit by Saelika! We weren’t doing anything, and she suddenly picked a fight with us!”

Molorestia’s angels maliciously displayed their injured wings, playing the victim.
In the end, Saelika’s brothers fell for their lies.

“Saelika, come here!”
“Huh? She’s running away—catch her!”
“Ugh! She never gets caught without a fight!”

Enrik: …Even so, you shouldn’t run away like that.
Enrik: Do you know how much trouble we went through catching you back then?

‘Is that something an angel who fell for a lie should say?’

Enrik: ….

Ilay pulled out a map from Heidrun’s arms.

“I thought so. The core of the contamination is marked here.”
“Good. Let’s purify it and head back.”
“What about them?”
“Well….”

Saelika looked at Martina.

“If you leave us like this, we might actually die! If a Death Knight shows up…!”
“Hmm—.”
“We could die to skeletons too! How are we supposed to fight with our limbs paralyzed! You’d be in trouble if I died too, wouldn’t you?”
“I wouldn’t really be in trouble…. Molorestia Temple organized this Assembly, right? With Death Knights appearing, an unfortunate accident could happen.”

Martina grew desperate.
Saelika was the type to curse first and ask questions later—a vicious character through and through.
She might truly let me die without a second thought.

“P-please! I don’t want to die like this!”

Saelika smiled wickedly.

“Then why don’t you explain what you all plotted? Every last detail.”

* * *

I had worried about the Death Knight’s appearance, but the core of corruption was indeed in its early stages.
Purifying an early-stage core was not difficult.

‘So the Death Knight appeared completely out of nowhere. The abnormally dense miasma was also an anomaly.’

I would need to investigate this.

As the core was purified, the miasma surrounding Mount Nanukia began to disperse as well.
Saelika scattered her holy power to help the miasma purify more rapidly.

The portal that had been cut off by the miasma began to activate again.
Martina approached Saelika, still rubbing her tingling limbs.

“It was rough, but… thank you anyway.”
“….”
“I mean it. Either way, I’m alive because of you.”

As Martina finished speaking, light flooded her vision.
The portal had activated.

Moments later.
As the light faded, Martina opened her eyes.

The landscape before her was exactly as it had been before departure.
The plaza filled with gathered people.

Before anyone could say anything, Martina hastily opened her mouth.

“Everyone, please save our trainee priests…!”

Tears clung pitifully to Martina’s eyes.

“A Death Knight appeared, and Saelika used our trainee priests as bait!”
“…!”
“I tried to stop her, but she cursed me so I couldn’t move, and I had no choice but….”

Martina lowered her head with a heavy sigh.

‘If they examine my body now, traces of the curse will remain.’

It was the most concrete evidence of all.

“I believed Saelika’s words about joining forces together, and I paid the price with a curse…!”
“….”
“No, I don’t mind that I was cursed, but why did our trainee priests have to become sacrifices?!”

The moment Martina lifted her head with tears streaming down her face.

“Wow…. I really didn’t expect this from you, Martina.”
“This is the worst.”
“…?!”

Martina’s eyes snapped open wide.

“How….”

How were Molloresta’s trainee priests, the ones she’d used as bait, here?!

Without realizing it, Martina looked toward Saelika.
Saelika let out a soft laugh.

‘Fooled again?’

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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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