Youngest on Top - Chapter 15

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

Chapter 15

I couldn’t fathom what I was witnessing.
Even Combat Priests didn’t fight with such savage brutality.

And yet.

“Wait, I’m sorry… I was wrong!”
“Did you say something? Speak up!”
“I was wrong! I was wrong!”
“Please forgive me! Have mercy…!”

Ilay, who had been quietly observing the scene, murmured softly.

“…After all, she’s no angel.”

No matter how I looked at it, she was no angel.

“—Unless she were.”

His quiet words were swallowed by the men’s screams and the sound of impacts, barely reaching even his own ears.
A faint smile played across his face as he gazed at Saelika.
A smile so subtle that even she would fail to notice it.

* * *

Saelika stood with her hands planted firmly on her hips, her belly thrust out proudly.
Before the child, the men with swollen faces knelt with both hands raised in surrender.

“We surrender!”

Saelika’s eyes flashed sharply as she declared loudly.

“Children! Must not be hit!”
“Children! Must not be hit!”

The men screamed with their throats raw.
With each syllable they cried out, the struck areas throbbed, and the taste of blood filled their split mouths.
But they were desperate.
If they didn’t want to be hit again, they had to shout with all their might, even if their lips tore or their tongues bled.

Had the child, who looked barely born, grown accustomed to striking?
She knew exactly where and how to hit for maximum efficiency of pain.
Far better than the professional thugs themselves.

‘That technique isn’t something learned through intellect.’

It was instinct honed through countless experiences of beating others.

‘Just how many people has she beaten?’

(Presumably) the child who treated assault like daily sustenance shouted.

“Love peace!”
“Love peace!”
“Your voice is too quiet!”
“Love peace!”
“Violence is bad!”
“Violence is bad!”

Saelika’s brow twitched.

Violence?
The potbellied men with missing teeth and swollen faces, lumped together like potatoes, speaking with slurred tongues—it irritated her.

One of the potato-faced men widened his eyes and pointed at himself, tilting his head in confusion.
His eyes gleamed with unnecessary brightness.

“Um, um… have we done something wrong…?”

Smack!

“Why…”

Potato crumpled to the ground after being struck across the face, crying out as if deeply wronged.
Tears clung pitifully to his cheeks as he gazed up at Saelika.

“I don’t like how I look.”

Ilay instinctively touched his own face.
He was relieved that Saelika seemed pleased with his appearance.

* * *

The men promised they would never torment the children again.
They also swore to collect the debt from Ilay’s father.
Since it was a mutual agreement rather than coercion, I believed they would keep their word.

Ilay seemed to despise his father—an alcoholic gambler.
It was understandable; the man had abandoned his sickly son and hidden away, burdening his children with his debts.

“Whether that bastard lives or dies doesn’t concern me. Actually, it would be better if he died and stopped being a burden.”

If that’s how Ilay felt, it wasn’t my place to judge.

‘So this is how Ilay ended up drifting into the Underworld.’

The pieces were falling into place.
After his brother’s death, Ilay would have had no reason to remain at the Temple.
Unable to bear the debt, he must have joined the organization these men belonged to.

But had he then consumed that entire organization and carved out his own territory?
He was truly a remarkable talent in every way.

Ilay, who had laid Teodor down, spoke to me.

“Let’s go now. If we stay any longer, we’ll be discovered.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Angel, will you come again?”
“Why is she coming here again?”

Teodor asked a question, and I struck the wall.

“Brother, don’t be cruel to the angel.”
“What?”
“You have a worse personality than you think.”

My younger brother knew my true nature well.

Ilay looked shocked, as if he hadn’t expected to hear such words from his precious younger brother.

“Right. Ilay, do better from now on.”

Ilay stared at me with a bewildered expression.
Teodor soon fell asleep.
He must have been exhausted in his injured state after experiencing so much in a single night.

We quietly stepped outside the house so as not to wake the child.

“Teodor, he should be a little better now.”

I wished I could heal him completely, but it was beyond my current strength.

“…Thank you.”
“It’s only a little. He’s not fully healed.”
“I know that’s difficult work. My divine power didn’t help him improve at all.”

So that’s why Ilay trained so hard.

‘This one has quite a lot of troubles too.’

Tap, tap.
For a moment, only the sound of us walking side by side could be heard.

The night breeze brushed against my hair.
It was a bit cold.

After a long silence, Ilay carefully opened his mouth.

“What happened today…”
“Don’t tell anyone.”

I felt Ilay’s gaze upon me.
A look that weighed whether I would truly speak or remain silent.
It wasn’t that he distrusted me specifically—Ilay simply seemed incapable of trusting others by nature.
He believed no one would offer kindness without profit or reason.

In that case, it would be better if I asked instead.

“Ilay, I heard you were nobility. But you weren’t, were you?”

As expected, Ilay’s demeanor relaxed considerably as he answered.

“I falsified my status when I entered the Temple.”
“Why?”
“To become High Priest.”
“High Priest?”
“Most of the Priests are nobility. The higher you climb, the harder it is for commoners.”

So he had forged his identity as the third son of a minor baron from a remote province.

‘Still, if that family produced a Priest of the Octagon, their standing would rise.’

It must have been a mutually beneficial arrangement.

“Is that why you couldn’t tell the Priests about Teodor?”
“Yes. I’ve been living quite exemplarily at the Temple. If they knew I deceived them from the start, who knows what would happen?”
“…”
“In the worst case, I’d be expelled, and even if things went well, I could never become High Priest.”

I gazed quietly at Ilay.

“Is that all?”

Ilay had no answer.

“The Artemisia Temple is poor. It’s poor.”
“….”
“You didn’t want to burden them, did you?”
“….”
“I didn’t even tell the bad ones that I was a trainee priest of the Artemisia Temple.”
“….”
“If they found out about the Temple and came demanding money, that would be terrible. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”

If the Priesthood had known, they would have naturally moved to protect Ilay and Teodor.
Ilay knew that, so he said nothing and endured it alone.
Suffering in silence like that.
And Ilay is still just a child.

“You’re kind.”
“What…!”
You’re really kind.

I rose onto my tiptoes and pulled Ilay toward me, patting his head.

“You’re kind, you’re kind.”

Ilay’s lips, which had seemed about to say something, pressed firmly shut.
With his head bowed, his bangs obscured his expression, and I couldn’t see what face he was making.

Ilay, who had remained stiffly still for a moment, swatted my hand away.

“It’s not like that. I only did it because it would interfere with my becoming High Priest.”
“Sure, sure.”

I laughed with a giggle.
Ilay felt much closer to me now than he usually did, despite always being kind.
Ilay began walking ahead of me with his brow furrowed.

“Let’s go together!”

I hurried after Ilay.
The difference in our leg lengths alone made it difficult, and his pace was quick.
No matter how hard I trudged along, the distance between us kept growing.

Ilay didn’t look back.
But gradually, his pace began to slow.
Little by little, little by little.
Until I caught up to him completely.

* * *

Tap, tap, tap.
The faint sound of footsteps behind him.
That trivial noise kept nagging at him, and his head kept wanting to turn back.
Ilay forced himself to look ahead as he walked.

“….”

Thank you.
Those simple words lodged in his throat like a thorn, refusing to come out.

It wasn’t difficult to smile convincingly and say thank you.
In fact, it was quite easy.
He’d thought it was a profitable exchange—gaining favor with something so trivial.

But.
For some reason, now….

“Ilay is so good.”
“Ilay is amazing.”
“Ilay won’t give up. That’s not weakness. That’s true strength.”

“….”

“Teodor, look here. Come on.”
“Don’t hit Ilay! You cruel ones!”

Ilay’s jaw clenched tightly.

“Ilay is cool.”
“Cool, so cool.”

Slowly, gradually, his lips parted.

“…I love you.”

A voice as faint as starlight glimmering from a distant place on a quiet night.
Ilay’s cheeks flushed slightly.
His gaze wandered to some distant point.
Shame prevented him from turning around.

The child gave no response.
He’d spoken so quietly it was barely audible, yet he couldn’t bear the uncertainty of not knowing if she’d heard.

What was the child thinking right now?
What expression did she wear?
What light shone in her eyes?

The moment Ilay finally turned around.

“…!”

The child’s body swayed.
Ilay, startled, steadied her small frame.

“Sae?”
“Mmm… I’m sleepy….”

The child blinked slowly and rubbed her eyes.

Ilay suddenly became aware of the time.
Children needed plenty of sleep.
By all rights, she should have been fast asleep by now.
Especially after expending so much sacred power—it was remarkable she hadn’t collapsed already.

“…There’s no helping it.”

This truly was unavoidable.
Ilay knelt and offered his back.
Saelika stared at his back hesitantly.
Her expression uncertain, as if she didn’t know what to do.
Or perhaps unsure whether she was truly permitted this.

As if someone had offered their back to this child for the first time.

“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Get on, quickly.”

Saelika hesitated for a moment before carefully placing her hands on Ilay’s shoulders.
She had been chasing after him annoyingly and acting as she pleased—so why was she hesitating now?

Displeased by this, Ilay suddenly stood up.
Her small, startled arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Ilay’s mouth.

Ilay began to walk.
After a few steps, his back trembled softly.

“Hehe.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because Mommy and Daddy and big brother used to carry me like this.”
“….”

Had she only watched other children being carried by their families?

“Daddy carried me. Mommy too.”

A weight far lighter than Teodor’s—feather-light.
It was hard to believe this delicate child had fearlessly charged at those rough brigands.
Though I hated to admit it, that was rather… admirable.

Somewhere along the way, she had fallen asleep, resting her full weight against my back.
Warm.
I carefully adjusted the child’s position and continued walking.
Behind the two figures now cast as one shadow, moonlight followed.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Temple, Ilay realized a significant problem.
The loan sharks had caused considerable delay.
Though the sun had not yet risen, the Temple’s morning came early.
At this rate, he might encounter the Priests performing dawn prayers.

‘I would be fine, but….’

Ilay had built a reputation, but Saelika’s situation was different.
The other children thought she received special treatment from the adults, but that wasn’t what Ilay observed.

Of course, there were Priests who cherished and favored this child particularly.
On the other hand, there were Priests who watched the child with unusual wariness.
Especially the High Priests of elder rank.

‘And the fact that she possesses divine power….’

Just moments ago, Saelika had definitely wielded divine power.
And with remarkable skill at that.

Yet none of the Clergy knew this child possessed divine power.

‘I knew she was a child with many secrets.’

In any case, having fallen out of favor with the High Priests, if it were discovered that she had snuck out of the Temple, she could face excommunication.
Ilay entered the Temple through the usual gap he always used.

‘All I can do is proceed carefully, watching my surroundings—.’
“What? Why are you carrying her?”
“…!”

Startled by the sudden voice, Ilay turned his head.
Dmitri stood there with a sullen expression.

“Why are you here?”
“It’s my choice.”

Dmitri had been waiting for Saelika, who had followed Ilay out.
He simply couldn’t sleep.

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell Ilay that directly—my pride wouldn’t allow it.

“Give her to me now.”

Ilay ignored the hand Dmitri extended and kept walking.

“You don’t even like carrying people anyway. I’ll do it.”
“Be quiet. Do you want to wake the Priests?”

Dmitri grumbled but held his tongue.
However, it wasn’t long before he started complaining again.

“Why are you the one carrying her, anyway? She asked me for help sneaking out and coming back. She asked me, not you.”

Of course, Saelika’s request hadn’t been for him to wait around like this the entire time.
She’d simply asked him to make an excuse if anyone came looking for her at night.

“Keep quiet and watch your surroundings properly. If we get caught, it’ll be troublesome.”

Thanks to Dmitri keeping watch, the three of us arrived safely at the Trainee Priest Quarters.

Ilay laid Saelika on the bed and tucked the blanket up to her neck.
Dmitri, watching the scene with displeasure, let out a scoff.

“Hmph, regardless, it’s me she respects and follows more. She said I was the coolest.”

It was a ridiculous thing to say.
Ilay didn’t think it was worth responding to.

Yet something felt odd.
I should have let it go in one ear and out the other, but somehow it irritated me.

“…Isn’t that just what you think?”

In the end, I couldn’t help but say something.

“What?”

Dmitri raised one eyebrow.
Ilay smiled silently in response.
That reaction only irritated Dmitri further.

“Want to throw down?”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Ha!”

Dmitri was clenching his fists when—

“Mm, what are you two doing?”

Sae rubbed her eyes and looked at the two of them.

“This bastard’s picking a fight—”
“Sae, you’re awake? Go back to sleep. You must be exhausted.”

Unlike the growling Dmitri, Ilay immediately changed his demeanor.
He smiled gently and carefully tucked the blanket around her again.
That wasn’t enough—he even sat at the bedside and patted her belly soothingly.

“Hah…”

Dmitri exhaled in disbelief.
He’d known for a while that this snake was deceitful and two-faced, but he never expected him to be this petty.

‘What on earth happened to make that serpent act like this?’

Ilay had always been kind to Sae, but today was different somehow.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but his instincts were telling him something.
That this wasn’t his usual pretense.

Dmitri was seized by an uneasy premonition.
A dark foreboding that Ilay would become even more irritating going forward.

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