Youngest on Top - Chapter 18

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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 18

“If Edmund had been here today, they wouldn’t have gotten away with it so easily.”
“Edmund left this morning with the Priests for volunteer work. They deliberately picked this time when Edmund wasn’t around to pull something like this.”
“How cowardly!”
“Just wait! When Edmund comes back, everything will change!”

The children huffed indignantly and clenched their fists tight.

* * *

“Honeybun! No matter how much I pray, I can’t feel that whooshing sensation!”
“I can’t memorize the prayer no matter how hard I try. It’s too long.”

Why did they keep calling me Honeybun?
It was all Dmitri’s fault.

But honestly, their enthusiasm wasn’t a bad thing.
Seeing them ask with bright eyes even while sporting bumps on their heads was rather endearing.

‘Artemia, it seems the faith you inscribed directly upon their bodies has borne fruit.’

Of course, not all the children were like this.
The Trainee Priests divided into three distinct groups.

1. Children who followed me completely.
They asked questions actively and trained diligently, just as I’d seen moments ago.
These were mostly the children who had previously followed Dmitri.

2. Children who jumped on the bandwagon.
This group was by far the largest.
They were heavily influenced by Dmitri and Ilay’s actions and words.
I’d made the right call winning those two over first.

3. Finally, children who despised me but reluctantly followed out of fear of immediate punishment.
Since they were such a small minority, time would resolve that problem.
They couldn’t ignore the eyes of the other children anyway—.

‘Even a jagged stone becomes smooth if you keep striking it, doesn’t it?’

I was prepared to sacrifice myself entirely to help these children become smooth and refined.

The children urged me on as I lost myself in thought.

“Um? Honey, how do you pray so that it goes whoosh! Boom boom! and you feel it?”
“I’m telling you I can’t memorize it!”

Well, if you keep at it, you eventually memorize anything.
I recalled the time when I was an angel and taught children from other families.

But that wasn’t the problem with these children.

“Why do we have to memorize it?”
“Well, through prayer we must awaken divine power….”
“What’s prayer?”
“It’s communicating with Artemisia.”
“I see. But why pray using someone else’s words?”

The children’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Say what you want to say.”

Prayer is one’s own desire.
You must speak what you yearn for most desperately.

“For example—”

I closed my eyes calmly with a reverent heart to pray.

“I want to beat up Reyatan!”

Uuuuuuung—!

“I can beat him up now, but I want to do it even more fiercely and even more enthusiastically!”

Divine light gathered in fists as plump and round as freshly baked bread.
It was the very essence of a sacred aura.
A power that naturally inspired reverence in all who beheld it.

If only it hadn’t been an answer to a prayer asking for the strength to beat someone up.

“…Should we really be teaching something like that?”

Ilay, who had been watching, muttered with an exasperated expression.
Instead of a saint’s prayer, I was teaching a prayer for the desire to beat people.
Was this a temple or a gangster’s den?

“Why not? It’s completely awesome?”

Dmitri asked as if he didn’t see the problem.

“…It’s my fault for asking you.”

Ilay sighed.
Was I the only sane one here?

* * *

Several days later, in the evening.

“What’s this? Why is the atmosphere so strange?”

The Trainee Priests who had been away on service returned.
They immediately noticed that the atmosphere in the Trainee Priest Quarters was different from usual.

First, what they saw was different.
People walked around clutching their waists, and those lying down groaned in pain as if—

‘A convalescent home?’

How had things changed so much in just a few days?
That wasn’t all.

“Boss, here’s your water!”
“Boss, should I clear the dishes for you?”
“Boss! Let me carry you to your room! Don’t walk!”

‘…Why are these idiots acting like this all of a sudden?’

These fools who once called Dmitri their leader and followed him.
Now they were treating a small child as their boss and showering him with reverence.

‘These idiots only ever followed brute strength, didn’t they? So what changed?’

The one they served was the youngest and smallest in the temple—the weakest by any measure.

“Edmund!”

Just then, a group of children rushed toward the returning Trainee Priests.
Their faces lit up as if they’d found their savior.

And for good reason.
Leading the returning Trainee Priests was someone special.

Edmund Raphael.
A direct heir of the Raphael family, one of the great noble houses of the East, he was a boy who reigned like a king among all the children gathered here.

The children rushed to cling to Edmund, but a hand stopped them.

“Edmund is tired right now. Back off.”
“Roana….”

Roana stepped forward and crossed her arms.

“What happened at the temple? Why is that upstart causing trouble?”
“That’s because that filthy thing used filthy methods—!”
“It’s been insane! While Edmund was away, that upstart completely turned the temple upside down!”

The children poured out all their accumulated grievances.

“So that presumptuous upstart is using Dmitri and Ilay as his backing? Just because he awakened divine power in record time?”

The children who had been tattling to Roana nodded eagerly in agreement.

“Mm-hmm!”

Roana’s brow furrowed.

“Edmund despises insubordination more than anything.”

Sure enough, a faint crease had formed between Edmund’s otherwise pristine brows.
He held hierarchy in the highest regard.

Roana swept her hair back and spoke as if explaining something obvious.

“Ha! As the youngest, you should be serving your seniors with respect, not committing insubordination just because you’ve awakened divine power.”
“But… they’re stronger than expected.”
“Way stronger, actually.”

At the children’s words, Roana let out a scoff.
What could someone do with freshly awakened divine power?
At best, they could conjure a faint glow like a firefly.
They wouldn’t even be capable of casting the simplest divine magic yet.

‘They must have been intimidated because the child has such a strong presence.’

I had known from the moment they stood up to Dmitri with wide eyes that this was no ordinary child.

“Regardless. A parentless commoner like that is no match for our Edmund.”
“Right! Before Edmund’s dignity, such a commoner wouldn’t dare show their face!”

At Roana’s words, the children who had gone out on service duty puffed up with pride.
Even the tattling children nodded with brightened faces.

“Exactly! That’s why they deliberately committed insubordination while Edmund was away!”
“Now we can rest easy!”

Everyone gazed at Edmund with hopeful eyes.

“How bothersome.”

Edmund’s eyes narrowed.

“But we can’t just leave insubordination unpunished either.”
“That’s Edmund for you!”

Roana laughed brightly and clapped her hands.

* * *

That night.

‘Ah, I should have handled it better, but then Beckman arrived…’

Because Beckman came after dinner, I couldn’t make my rounds disciplining the children that evening.
I smacked my lips in disappointment as I headed toward my room.

My room was in a different wing from Dmitri and Ilay’s, so the path was quiet.
Just as I was about to climb the stairs, someone pressed firmly against my forehead.
Preventing me from going any further.

“Where do you think you’re going? Coming through the back entrance like that.”

Huh?
What kind of child commits such mischief after I’ve guided them onto the righteous path with my fists of justice?

A young woman stood before me with her arms crossed, looking down arrogantly.
Behind her, other children were lined up as well.
They were all children who had been away from the temple these past few days for volunteer work.

“You can’t use this corridor.”
“Why?”
“Your rank doesn’t match.”
“Huh?”
“Right. You’re a commoner, aren’t you? Plus an orphan. I thought maybe you came from a great house when you first arrived, but that’s clearly not the case.”

The young woman before me looked refined at first glance—unmistakably a noble lady.

‘Well, most of the trainee priests here are probably from noble families.’

Even if I were a distant branch, there was a high likelihood I carried noble blood.

Just as mage families produced children with talent for magic, and knight families produced children with talent for swordsmanship.
Noble families were largely connected to mythology, so they produced many children with talent for the divine.

The inheritance of talent through bloodline.
That was the fundamental reason this world valued bloodline and ancestry.
Of course, mythology was an ancient tale, and there were always exceptions.

‘Is this girl a direct descendant of some great noble house?’

“So what family are you from?”

At my question, the young woman’s expression hardened.

“Why are you asking? The High Priest forbade us from revealing our families.”

I didn’t know that.
It wasn’t like that at Parmanasus Temple.
In fact, people received special treatment depending on their families.

“Are you planning to tattle to the adults if I tell you? How childish.”
“Look at you scheming when you didn’t even take the entrance exam to get in here.”
“This is why commoners—”
“Wow!”

At my sudden exclamation, the children froze and stared at me.

“Are you all nobles?”

Before they could respond, I pressed both hands to my mouth and widened my eyes.

“I’ve never seen a noble before!”
“….”
“How fascinating! So nobles spend all their time blocking commoners!”
“What are you saying, you fool—”
“I need to ask the Priests about this!”

The young woman at the front, along with the other children, went rigid.
Still wanting to look good in front of the adults, I see?
Hmph!

That’s when it happened.
A boy who had been quietly observing from the back stepped forward.
His face was familiar to me.

‘Surely… it was Edmund?’

I remembered him as a child who had built considerable influence among the Trainee Priests.

Edmund let out a soft chuckle and spoke.

“Ask them.”
“Huh?”
“Ask the Temple Priests. Is it a noble’s job to keep out commoners?”
“…”
“You won’t ask anyway, will you?”

Edmund suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me close.
He whispered into my ear as we drew near.

“The adults don’t like you, you know.”

I flinched.
My body stiffened without my realizing it.

How did he know?
He couldn’t have properly seen me together with the high-ranking Temple Priests of elder rank.

“Act up a little while they’re watching you.”

Edmund released my arm and spoke.
An arrogant smile played across his face.

Did he think I’d be frightened?
I blinked my eyes innocently.

“Are you looking out for me?”

Edmund’s eyes narrowed.

“Then can I pass through?”
“What—.”
“I have to sleep outside. Randel and Derrick told me not to get sick.”

Not all of the Priesthood disliked me.
Of course, I hadn’t given it much thought.

I tilted my head slightly, pretending not to understand.

“But here’s the thing. I have to pass through here to get to my room.”
“….”
“You all sleep too.”
“Ha.”

Edmund let out an irritated laugh.

“You really don’t know your place, commoner.”

His finger jabbed at my head.
Unlike Dmitri, there was clear force behind it.

“Ow!”

I tumbled backward and landed hard on my rear.
It was fortunate I hadn’t reached the stairs yet—otherwise I would have rolled down them.

‘…So my righteous morning punch must ignite once again today, Artemia?’

Just as I was thinking that.
A long shadow fell over my head.

Looking up, Edmund loomed over me, his face close.
His lips curved into a crooked smile.

“It suits you well. Crawling on the ground like that.”
“….”
“Remember this height. This is the difference between you and me. In my presence, you’ll grovel like this.”

I gazed up at Edmund quietly.
Edmund seemed to come from a different background than the other boys behind him—clearly from a great noble house.

‘A true great noble house with mythology.’

For a child, he carried himself with considerable dignity.

‘But I am mythology itself!’

His words wouldn’t work on me.
I sprang to my feet.
Then I brushed the dust off my rear and knees with vigor.

“Thanks for moving, Eddie!”

And I climbed the stairs with confidence.

The children on the stairs, apparently unprepared for this, made sounds of surprise but didn’t try to stop me.
Only after I passed them and walked down the corridor did I hear an outraged voice.

“What, what is this?!”
“Wow, the kid’s got guts.”
“Guts? The brat’s lost his mind! How dare a commoner!”

Edmund’s voice wasn’t among them.
That one irritates me the most.

‘If they’re already obsessed with hierarchy at such a young age, what will become of this temple’s future?’

Tsk, tsk!

I’d have to give those brats special instruction tomorrow.

* * *

“What if that commoner actually reports us to the priests?”
“He gets special treatment despite being a commoner. The adults come and watch over him.”
“He didn’t seem scared at all though.”

After Saelika left.
The children gathered in the lounge instead of returning to their rooms.
Roana, observing the children whispering anxiously, turned her head and asked Edmund.

“Hey? Edmund. What do you think?”

Edmund, who had been lying stretched out on the sofa and quietly staring at his own hands until then, lifted his head.
He twisted his lips with his characteristic arrogant and composed demeanor.

“You got scared over some tattling?”
“No!”
“That’s impossible!”

At Edmund’s words, the children bounced up excitedly.
Edmund chuckled softly.

“We were simply trying to teach that arrogant brat his place. What’s wrong with that?”
“R, right!”
“And if he does report us, so what?”
“B, but the priests—”
“We’ll just fall out of favor. Either way, we only came to the temple to cultivate divine power for a time, didn’t we?”
“….”
“We’re all going back to our families eventually anyway.”

That was true.
The children who associated with Edmund all came from reasonably prestigious noble families.
Moreover, their standing within their own families was not poor.

They planned to return to their families without undergoing the coming-of-age ceremony when they reached adulthood.
The divine power they had awakened here would prove quite useful after all.

In other words, they had no particular attachment or sense of belonging to the Artemisia Temple.

“…That’s true.”
“Right. Artemisia is falling apart anyway.”
“Unlike the other temples, there’s no way they’ll have our backs after we leave.”

The boys’ expressions brightened.
Edmund knew exactly how to handle them.

“Tattling is a bad thing, so it wouldn’t hurt to teach that little brat a lesson about it too.”

A picture-perfect smile crossed Edmund’s lips.

“So he won’t do such wicked things again.”
“That’s Edmund for you!”

Roana clapped her hands together and flashed a bright smile at Edmund.

“Any kid that gets in Edmund’s way, I’ll take care of them.”

—————
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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