Youngest on Top - Chapter 19

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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 19

* * *

The next morning.
I finished breakfast and returned to the dormitory.
For the past few days, I had sensed something peculiar.

‘It doesn’t seem like I’m imagining things….’

As I expected, the dormitory was completely empty.
Since the dining hall and training room were quite far from the dormitory, the children had no reason to return.

‘This is the perfect time for me to investigate various places.’

I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness.
My divine power had grown significantly since I first returned.
I hadn’t been idling away my time, after all!

‘Below… the underground?’

Before long, something caught my senses.
Something different from the temple’s many sacred relics and divine magic.

The door leading to the underground was locked, but that posed no real problem for me.

I placed my hand on the door.
The pattern carved into the door began to glow with golden light.

[Superior divine power confirmed.]
[Unlocking the seal.]

Indeed, a sacred tool of Artemisia.
Unlike the disrespectful relics of Parmanase, this one truly obeys commands.

Divine power emanated from various corners of the underground, but they were all traces of the building’s consecration.
There was nothing particularly special.

The strange energy I sensed was deeper within.
Only after turning several corners could I discern its true nature.

“Aki? (Alkius?)”

A small wolf covered in radiant divine light.
Alkius, whom I had summoned, lay sleeping.

“Why is Aki here? (Why is Alkius here?)”

I had assumed the Priesthood would be caring for him tenderly.

I approached Alkius and extended my hand.
The moment my palm touched the warm divine light.

A tremor.
Alkius’s eyelid quivered slightly.

“…!”

It was no illusion.
I could see his eyes moving beneath the closed lids.

‘His consciousness is awake!’

Unable to move a single finger, he was desperately struggling to regain consciousness.

I pressed my nose close against the divine light.
Though Alkius’s movements had ceased, I could sense how hard he was fighting.

“Aki, you’re suffering. (Alkius, you’re in pain.)”

Thanks to the divine power the High Priest supplied, he had barely managed to regain consciousness.
This process alone must have been agonizing, and now trapped in a vegetative state unable to move his body—how much torment must he endure.

“I’m sorry. I pulled you out. (I’m sorry. I summoned you.)”

Because I, unworthy as I am, summoned him, he now suffers like this.
Now I understood why Alkius was here.

Was I drawn to her?

In my weakened state, the moment consciousness returned, I instinctively sought out the familiar soul and moved toward her.
Holy water can move by will alone, after all.
Even if the Priesthood found me and relocated me again, I would have continued moving.

I had put Alkius through such suffering, yet in all of it, I was the only thing he could rely on.

“….”

I clenched my fists tightly.

“I’ll definitely find the Saint for you. Just wait a little longer.”

* * *

It was just as I emerged from the Underground.

“Why are you coming out from there?”

A sharp voice.
The young woman who had confronted me on the stairs last night stood with her arms crossed.

“What’s wrong with me?”

I blinked innocently and tilted my head in confusion.
In moments like this, the best approach was to drop the act entirely.

“That’s the Underground. Why did you go down there? It’s locked anyway.”

Fortunately, she hadn’t seen me coming from inside.
I raised both hands up cheerfully.

“I was playing exploration with Sae!”
“What?”
“Going to the very top and the very bottom!”

The child’s expression twisted as if she’d seen something repulsive.

“What is this fool talking about.”

The child left those words behind and spun around, disappearing into the distance.

* * *

“Boss! Why are you just now arriving! I just felt a spark!”

The moment I entered the Training Room, I heard a voice calling out to me.
They were Dmitri’s subordinates.
It seemed they had arrived early before training time and were already practicing.

“Look! Check this out!”

One of the children began to pray before me.

“Revered Artemia! Meat, meat! I desire it! Meat!”

Simple words, yet I could sense an enormous yearning and determination behind them.

‘Well, meat is irresistible, after all.’

I nodded in agreement.
That was when it happened.

“Sigh, truly ignorant.”

I turned at the voice to see that same young woman from before.
Why does she keep hovering around me and meddling like this?

“If divine power awakened that easily, every dog and cow would have done it by now. How pathetic.”

It was the moment she scoffed.

Uuuuuung—!

A low resonance rang out as a brilliant light burst forth from the meat-lover’s hands.
It was a small and faint light, but unmistakably divine power.

“Me, me! I awakened! Boss!”

A child rushed over to me in excitement.
The moment my concentration wavered, the light extinguished.
Yet the child kept grinning from ear to ear, clearly delighted.

“Captain! I awakened too! Look at this! …Huh? Why isn’t it working?”

The child who had run to Dmitri to boast froze in confusion, staring down at his own hands.

“Making a fuss over something that happened once? You need to reach this level!”

Divine power bloomed from Dmitri’s body.
His growth was truly remarkable for someone who had only recently awakened.
His natural physical abilities were exceptional as well.

‘A fine fighter… no, he’ll make a fine Priest.’

Generally, those without suspicion or overthinking—the simpler ones—believe most easily.
In that sense, Dmitri and his subordinates possessed optimal conditions.

‘If they ever start thinking “Can it really work like this?” it would all fall apart.’

I turned to face the young woman who had been picking a fight.
Her earlier arrogance had vanished—she now sat with her lips firmly sealed.

“What were you saying just now?”

The girl’s face flushed crimson.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You seem to think you taught them, but it was just coincidence.”
“No, it wasn’t? Honeybun taught them and that’s how it happened?”

One of the subordinates interjected, playfully tugging my hair into two pigtails.

“Oh, is that so? How fortunate to receive instruction from a commoner.”
“This one’s name is Honeybun. Not a commoner. And since you’re addressing the Boss, call them Boss.”
“…My name is Sae. (My name is Sae.)”

With a sullen expression, Dmitri chuckled and poked my cheeks repeatedly.

I had no time to waste on small fry.
Capturing the leader would be far more certain.

“Where’s Eddie?”

The child’s face contorted.

“What’s it to you where he is?!”

The child threw a tantrum and stormed out of the Training Room.

“Where’s he going? Class is about to start.”

Dmitri muttered.

Right.
I’d been sitting quietly myself, worried the instructor might arrive.

* * *

Roana left the Trainee Priest Quarters and headed straight for the Western Temple.

‘That arrogant commoner…!’

It infuriated her that outside the Temple, this person wouldn’t dare lift their head in her presence, yet here they showed no fear whatsoever.
Not only fearless, but they even talked back with such audacity!

‘How dare they call Edmund by a nickname!’

When she herself couldn’t even do that…!

She couldn’t possibly sit still.
Being late to training didn’t matter much.
She could simply say Gawain had summoned her.

Roana entered the Study located in one corner of the West Wing.

“Gawain.”
“Oh, Roana!”

The man inside the study, who had been folding paper airplanes, greeted Roana warmly.

“So, how was your volunteer service?”
“Well, it wasn’t bad.”
“I personally selected this volunteer site. The sea there is truly beautiful, isn’t it? I hope it gave you a nice change of pace.”

Gawain was practically wringing his hands together.
Roana smiled faintly.
After dealing with that arrogant commoner, seeing him cater to her like this was quite satisfying.

“Thanks to you, I rested well. Edmund seemed fine too. Though with his refined tastes, he probably wasn’t entirely satisfied.”
“Right, he’s the young master of House Raphael—I wonder how many luxuries he’s been accustomed to since childhood.”
“The food here is tasteless, the rules are endless. I have no idea where the donation my father made went.”
“Indeed. Come, sit here.”

Gawain dramatically spread a lace handkerchief across the sofa.

“What are you doing! Miss Roana has arrived! Hurry and attend to her!”
“Yes, sir!”

At Gawain’s command, the priests in the study scrambled into action.
Soon, an array of desserts was placed before Roana.

Macarons and chocolate fudge, financiers and cannelés.
All were premium desserts rarely seen in this place.

Roana took a bite of a macaron, then set it down with a sharp clink.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
“Sigh, no. What could I possibly expect from such an impoverished temple?”

Roana crossed her arms and legs.

“But there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Just tell me what it is.”
“That girl, you know. The one who snuck into the Temple through the back entrance.”
“You mean Saelika.”
“Yes, I saw her coming out of the Dormitory Basement just a moment ago.”

Gawain asked with a puzzled expression.

“The Dormitory Basement? But surely everything down there is locked. Did she unlock it and go inside?”
“I’m not entirely sure about that.”

Roana twisted her hair irritably.

“Regardless, she came up from the basement, didn’t she?!”
“That’s quite a problem! Why is she wandering around so carelessly?”

Gawain quickly agreed with Roana’s words.

‘…There’s nothing really wrong with it, though.’

What was the problem with a trainee priest walking around the Trainee Priest Quarters?
All the places she shouldn’t enter were locked anyway.
From Roana’s reaction, she wasn’t reporting what she’d actually seen.
It seemed the girl had gotten curious and gone downstairs, but since it was locked, she simply came back up.

But what did it matter whether Saelika felt wronged or not?
Pleasing Roana was far more important than worrying about some orphan.

“Sigh, the atmosphere among the trainee priests has been so poor lately.”
“Is someone causing trouble?”
“Well, with a girl who didn’t even take the entrance exam and snuck in through the back, the children can’t help but be unsettled, can they?”
“That’s true enough.”
“We qualified and passed the exam, but someone just waltzed in without any real reason.”

Roana sighed deeply and looked at Gawain.

“I’m just so worried, you see.”
“…”
“About Artemeia’s future— you should think about the future too, shouldn’t you? And everyone else here.”

Roana glanced around at Gawain and the other priests, then smiled smugly.
Roana Tryshane.
She was a direct descendant of the prestigious Tryshane family.

“I disliked that child from the very beginning.”
“It made no sense to accept her into the Temple in the first place.”
“She’s a runaway from the Orphanage with unknown origins.”

At the priests’ words, Roana’s eyes widened and she pressed her hand to her lips.

“Oh my, so that’s what it was.”
“So that’s what it was?”
“Children without proper upbringing are naturally crude, after all.”
“Did this one with unknown origins perhaps treat you roughly?”

Roana exhaled deeply.

“Sigh, I really didn’t want to mention this because it feels like tattling.”
“Tattling? Understanding what happens among the Trainee Priests is important. Please, tell us.”
“Then… shall I tell you?”

Roana opened her mouth as if she had no choice.

“Actually, last night… she blocked my path to my room. She asked if I was a noble and said I couldn’t enter.”
“What do you mean…”
“She said that someone of noble status shouldn’t associate with her, and to look elsewhere. She was being sarcastic.”
“Ha! The inferiority complex of commoners is something else, isn’t it?”
“When I tried to go in, she forcibly pushed me and I even fell down the stairs…”
“What?!”

Seeing the priests grow agitated, Roana smiled.

‘It’s not a lie, is it? That’s what happened last night.’

Only one thing had changed.
The perpetrator and the victim.

‘Actually, I’m the real victim. The stress of living with such a filthy commoner…’

“Ha! I knew it! I had a feeling about this!”
“They should never have accepted that child into the Temple from the start.”
“Even the Elders don’t seem to favor her, do they?”

Roana’s eyes sparkled with delight.

“Really?”
“Yes, I’m not sure why, but they disliked her from the beginning.”
“Since she’s turned out so defective, they must have seen it coming.”

The Priesthood nodded in agreement.

‘What? I thought I was favored by the Priesthood… but I’ve been despised by the Elders?’

So that’s why Edmund said he couldn’t help me.
Roana let out a soft laugh.

‘It was nothing after all.’

“Sigh, to suffer such injustice simply because of a noble title…”
“Rather than being revered!”
“To think someone so young could be so wicked—it seems one’s nature cannot escape one’s birth.”
“I’m afraid of what might happen when I return to the Trainee Priest Quarters. What if she takes revenge on me again?”

Gawain understood Roana’s meaning perfectly.

“Don’t worry! I’ll make that filthy commoner grovel before you.”
“Really?”
“She’ll pay the price for daring to lay a hand on the precious young lady of House Traishen!”

Roana held Gawain back.

“Gawain, you shouldn’t say such things in the Temple.”

Yet the corners of her mouth curled upward with satisfaction.

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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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