Youngest on Top - Chapter 172

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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 172

The Attendant gazed at the Emperor with admiration in his eyes.
The Emperor shrugged his shoulders with arrogance.

“I am the Emperor, the Emperor. Do you think I rule the Empire for nothing?”

Even with his frivolous wink, there was nothing to do but marvel at him.

“As expected of Your Majesty!”
“If I hadn’t known it was a public subjugation from the start, why wouldn’t I have used Divine Beasts from the beginning?”
“I would have used Phantom Od long ago. The difficulty of subjugation changes entirely.”
“It was all for the dramatic reversal!”

It was all part of Saelika’s grand design.

“Now I shall remove Houston from the board.”

That was the reason Saelika met with Houston.
To eliminate Houston’s position—the loach that sat on the board, constantly watching for an opportunity to knock her off.

The Duke of Macondo moved his chess pieces while speaking in a sing-song voice.

“When the board’s master proves greater power, and the loach that disturbs the board dies—”
“The board grows larger.”

The Emperor received his words and grinned wickedly.

“Finally, the time has come to use the sacred relic I gave as a gift.”
“Ah! Then the statue you prepared beforehand is…now?”

The Attendant finally grasped the Emperor’s grand design and marveled.
The Emperor truly had anticipated everything.

The miraculous deity lost from the Artemian Temple…no, the plump statue.
Saelika had sent a signal that she would return that statue to its rightful place.
Through cotton candy.

‘To do that, Sacred Maiden Saelika must first reclaim the park grounds.’

The Emperor was saying that moment was now.
And the Attendant’s thoughts aligned with his.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for Sacred Maiden Saelika to meet Houston at this juncture.

“Your Majesty, you were confident from the start that Sacred Maiden Saelika would turn Houston’s trap against him and reclaim the land she’d lost.”
“That’s right. That girl needs to pull off at least that much. Otherwise, how could she ascend?”

The Attendant nodded.
Indeed, every puzzle piece fell perfectly into place.
From the moment she ate cotton candy in the park, Sacred Maiden Saelika had written out this entire plan and signed it for the Emperor!

‘Sacred Maiden Artemia wasn’t a brute force type—she was a strategist!’

* * *

At that very moment, Saelika was—.

Crunch!

Standing before a shattered marble table, her fist clenched.

“Old man. If you’re going to pull dirty tricks and ruin someone else’s business, you’ve got to pay the price. Got it?”

She stood on one leg, swinging the other casually.

“Y-you’re insane, what kind of thug are you…? Are you really a Sacred Maiden?!”

Houston cried out, his face drained of all color.

“I’m a Sacred Maiden, so that’s why I smash tables. This is the righteous fist of justice that Artemia herself permits.”
“No god would permit this kind of thug behavior!”

Even if Houston held no reverence for the goddess Artemia, this was simply unacceptable.
What god would permit such gangster-like conduct!

Saelika swung her leg casually over the table debris.

“Answer quickly. If you don’t, my righteous Honeybread will spew fire again. Next time, it won’t be this table that shatters—it’ll be you.”
“What…? I didn’t even go bankrupt! In fact, things went better, didn’t they?”

Saelika let out a small laugh.
It had gone incredibly well.
Incredibly was an understatement.

.
.

Right after returning to the island.
Saelika was taken aback.
She wasn’t the only one surprised.
The people of the Artemia Temple were equally bewildered.

The islanders stretched out in a long line, opening their arms to welcome the subjugation unit.
Fireworks burst overhead, flower petals scattered through the air.
A cute young girl even shyly handed Saelika a bouquet of flowers.

“What is this? Why are they doing this?”
“Is it because we finished the subjugation well? But to welcome us like this?”
“The Dantalian Desert isn’t even imperial territory, is it?”

The bewildered trainee priests soon straightened their shoulders and lifted the corners of their mouths.
Who would reject such unexpected hospitality?
They’d suffered in the desert… endured what could only be called hell itself.
Yet it felt worthwhile.

“Respect to the noble sacrifice shown by Artemia!!”
“We were moved by such lofty dedication, sparing no effort!!”

The children, who had been feeling proud, froze.

Noble sacrifice?
Lofty dedication, sparing no effort?

“…Did we actually do something like that?”

At Dmitri’s murmur, Saelika shook her head.

“I didn’t.”
“Right? We just desperately rolled through the desert to survive—.”
“It was a thrilling, free training journey with honey.”
“….”
“It was sweet.”

Dmitri tilted his head with a serious expression.
“Did the Protagonist’s honey go bad?”
he asked.
Edmund muttered from beside him.

“It wasn’t that—it was a hellish experience filled with screams.”
“Oh, exactly right!”

It was a dramatic moment when Dmitri and Edmund’s opinions aligned.
Delighted, Dmitri returned the compliment he’d heard before.

“A broken clock is right twice a day!”
“….”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it a compliment? It’s the same thing you said to me!”

I remembered it because it was such a fine saying.

“…Forget it.”

Edmund turned his head away.
In the meantime, Ilay, who had gone to gather information, returned.

“You’re back already?”
“Yeah, it was easy.”

It was no coincidence that Ilay had become one of the continent’s three greatest information guild masters before his regression.
Saelika soon learned the full story of the incident.

Houston.
All of this had stemmed from his scheme.

“So he basically gave us free advertising?”
“Wow, we should really give him an award. Isn’t he the greatest contributor to everything?”

Wasn’t Houston himself an arrangement by Sacred Maiden Artemia?
At this point, even such thoughts crossed my mind.

“I should go.”
“To tease him again?”
“Well, that too.”

It was time to move for something more important.
This was Sacred Maiden Artemia’s sign.

‘As Sacred Maiden Artemia once said, when your opponent makes a mistake, use it as an excuse and beat them like catching rats. Then blessings shall befall you.’

Enrik: She never said that!

‘Why not?’

—Sae, if you cannot stop beating other angels,
.
—then at least deliver righteous punishment when they are at fault.

She certainly said it that way.

Enrik: You’re twisting her sacred words! She just told you to at least have a reason when you beat them, since you were always fighting!
Enrik: There’s not a single day you don’t beat someone!

Enrik was distorting the precious and sacred words of our Sacred Maiden Artemia.

Kailros: My brother was just causing trouble to get my attention anyway.
Enrik: Am I really crazy?

‘Anyway! This is that moment.’

Enrik: So Sacred Maiden Artemia never said—

‘Should I beat Houston or not?’

Enrik: Why wouldn’t I go?
Enrik: Of course I should go!
Enrik: Hurry up!

Enrik was truly Enrik.

Kailros: “For once, I get to see my younger brother’s cute side.”

Kailros still had his head injury.

.
.

As a result, currently.
Saelika was causing trouble with her brothers’ support.

“The good results came because our children handled the tools well. Why are you trying to brush off your own blunders?”
“So you want me to hand over the park grounds?”

What Saelika was demanding in return.
It was the ancient land of Artemia that Parmanase had taken away.

Houston let out a scoffing laugh.

“Do you think I’d listen to that?”
“Yes.”

Saelika nodded and raised her fist.

“Ha! So all you can do is threaten with your fists?”
“Ah, that’s usually easiest for me, but not this time.”
“What?”
“It’s a quick method, but the aftermath is always difficult. I was simply upholding Sacred Maiden Artemia’s justice, yet somehow I ended up being blamed and punished for it.”

In the Heavenly Realm, it didn’t matter if I alone was blamed and hated.

“But I can’t do that here.”

Because it would tarnish not just Saelika, but the entire Temple of Artemia, and moreover, the name of Sacred Maiden Artemia herself.

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

“That’s why I prepared this.”
“What do you—.”

Snap!
Sacred Maiden Saelika flicked the finger she’d been holding up.
The moment she did, the door swung open.
And what appeared was—.

‘Journalists?!’

Journalists.
Carrying video recording artifacts and camera artifacts!

‘Why are journalists here….’

I’d expected at most Artemia’s Elders or Kaiser the Sacred Knight to appear.
Before Houston could even process the situation, questions poured down like a flood tide.

“Is it true that Parmanase proposed a public purge?”
“Usually the involved party proposes a public purge, so why did a third party like Parmanase step forward?”
“The Artemia Temple, being the involved party, claims they knew nothing about the public purge.”
“This was also Parmanase’s proposal, correct?”

This was interrogation masquerading as questions.

‘How dare these journalists spout such nonsense at me!!’

Houston suppressed the urge to roar at them immediately.

Click click click—.
The artifacts flashed with light, capturing this entire scene without mercy.
More precisely, Houston’s face contorted with bewilderment.

“There’s been much talk about your intentions. Give us an answer!”

In the end, Houston had no choice but to force a friendly smile and submit to the impromptu interview.

“Intentions, you say? I merely sought to prevent the Artemia Temple from being caught up in needless controversy—.”
“Needless controversy? The Artemia Temple faced no controversy whatsoever.”

Houston’s face contorted as he identified who had interrupted him.

“Alfonso, you!”
“Please answer me, Priest Houston.”

Alfonso, the man before him, pressed Houston without wavering.
Alfonso was a journalist with quite a deep history with Houston.
He was the one who had received from Houston the information that Artemia lacked the qualifications to participate in the branch division vote.
He was also the one who had attempted to break that story.

‘This is my chance to make up for that failure.’

During the branch vote, only Alfonso’s article had been published late.

‘I boasted so loudly about obtaining such an incredible scoop, yet I couldn’t even publish a single exclusive article!’

How much ridicule had he endured from the other journalists that day?
And the resentful glare from his junior colleague who had prepared the article based solely on his word—what of that?

It was all Houston’s fault for providing false information.

“Suspicions of backroom dealings—that you deliberately conducted a covert subjugation campaign to check the rapidly rising Artemia Temple! Please clarify these suspicions!”
“Such utter nonsense…!”

Houston clenched his fists as rage surged through him.
How much money had he fed to Alfonso?
And was it only Alfonso?
There wasn’t a single journalist here he hadn’t shared drinks with.

‘And yet he dares!’

It was then.

“Everyone, please don’t do this.”

Saelika stepped forward.

“Surely Priest Houston didn’t orchestrate some scheme to bring down the Artemia Temple?”
“Sacred Maiden.”
“As a priest devoted to the divine, he wouldn’t commit such a terrible act.”

Saelika pressed both hands to her chest.

“Parmanase isn’t an evil god. How could his servant harbor such sinister intentions?”

Grrr.
Houston ground his teeth.

‘That detestable wench!’

But only Houston thought such things.

“Sacred Maiden Saelika, you are truly….”
“How can you be so compassionate!”
“Even in such obvious circumstances, you shield the one who sought to harm the Sacred Maiden…!”

The journalists gazed at Saelika with moved expressions.

After all, Saelika was just a small child.
A tiny, delicate one at that, with an angelic appearance.
She bore no resemblance whatsoever to someone who had just moments ago stood on one leg, threatening while splitting a marble table.

“I’m not shielding him—I’m being sincere. Priest Houston doesn’t oppose Artemia. The proof is that he said he’d offer the land used for Parmanase Park.”
“Do you mean the land that was originally Artemia’s temple grounds?”
“Yes, he’s been mentioning that land for quite some time.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, I’ve heard of it too.”

Alfonso nodded.

“Priest Houston once said that if he traded that land with Artemia, the park might disappear.”

Back when no one knew the Emperor had gifted the land.
Houston had laid this groundwork beforehand for his media play.

‘I never thought it would come back to haunt me like this!’

Priest Houston clenched his teeth.
With this, the matter of the land was no longer a separate issue that had sprung up out of nowhere.

“Priest Houston, you’re returning that land to Sacred Maiden Artemia, aren’t you?”
“I am not—.”
“If you proposed a public subjugation in secret to the involved party to set a trap, why would you return the land without any compensation?”

At Saelika’s words, Priest Houston had no choice but to close his mouth.
The moment he denied it, he would be admitting he’d set the trap.

“Priest Houston, you must have believed that you should harbor no suspicion whatsoever for the sake of the Empire. I understand.”

Saelika defended Priest Houston.
Of course, not a single journalist took her words at face value.

‘Wow, so he’s trying to brush it off by giving land after his scheme to ruin her failed?’
‘And it’s land that originally belonged to Artemia anyway!’
‘To forgive him like that. What magnanimity, what magnanimity!’

I could see exactly what the journalists were thinking.

‘These despicable creatures.’

Priest Houston glared at them with cold eyes.
I had proposed the public subjugation to the Emperor with valid reasons, and the Emperor had approved it.
There was nothing problematic about this process.
By common sense, there was nothing Priest Houston and Parmanase should compensate Artemia for.

‘But if public opinion flows this way….’

I had no choice but to give it up.
The moment I didn’t, I would lose far more.
Who would have thought that ruffian of a woman could scheme something like this!

“…I simply hope that land will be put to good use by Sacred Maiden Artemia.”

In the end, Priest Houston made that declaration before the cameras.
The other party hadn’t even fallen into the trap, yet I was being robbed of my assets in reverse. It was infuriating.
But what was even more infuriating was—.

“Huh? Did that table break?”
“Could Priest Houston have threatened her?”
“Against a child, no less…”

The journalists looked at Houston as if he were the worst scoundrel in the world.
This was truly unfair.

* * *

“Master.”

At the sound of the voice calling him, Shuri did not lift his head.
Within his field of vision, a small child was walking past.
Long golden hair rippled in the breeze.
It was Sae.

“Why did you help us?”
“Didn’t you say to be cautious?”
“Yes, you said the little Sacred Maiden was a suspicious target.”

Shuri’s Subordinates snickered.

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