Youngest on Top - Chapter 222

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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 222

“….”

Saelika seemed unable to respond immediately to Wiridian’s sudden shift in demeanor.

Wiridian remained on his knees, waiting for her.
He did not reach for her hand first, nor did he rush her.
Only his gaze burned with fervent longing.

Drawn by that gaze, Saelika extended her hand slightly.
Wiridian grasped her pale, delicate hand firmly.
As if to say he would never let go again, not ever.

Their gazes met and intertwined.
The Sacred Maidens, sensing an atmosphere too sacred to breach, fell silent and simply watched the scene unfold.

It was the crisp sound of applause that broke the moment.
Clap, clap, clap!
All eyes turned toward the source of the sound.
Amelia smiled brightly.

“It seems the victor of this trial is Saelika. Congratulations, Saelika!”

Amelia, having offered her congratulations, withdrew something from her bosom with an awkward expression.

“Um, but what about this? Should I return it?”

What Amelia had produced was none other than the Core of Corruption.
Of course, it was not the genuine Core of Corruption.
Since we had destroyed the Core of Corruption within the space composed of the elves’ consciousness and emerged from it.
It was a kind of spoil of war.

And typically, spoils of war—

‘Fall into the hands of the victor.’

In other words, it was proof of victory.

“Wait a moment.”

As expected.
The Sacred Maidens stepped forward with expressions of incomprehension.

“Why is Saelika the winner?”
“Isn’t the person who obtained the Corruption Core the victor?”
“By any measure, Amelia is the winner. To suddenly declare Saelika the victor without any reason whatsoever….”
“We could accept a fair result. But we cannot acknowledge a result that appears to be outright fraud.”

The atmosphere heated instantly.
Amelia stepped forward with a bitter smile.

“Everyone, please calm down. The mood was so pleasant, and I regret bringing this up. That wasn’t my intention.”
“No, you raised an important point. We can’t have doubts about who the victor is, can we?”
“Doubts? I believe whoever is declared the winner must have sufficient reason for it. Isn’t that right?”

Amelia smiled at Wiridian.
It was a pure smile, devoid of any hidden meaning.

Yet Keiacsen’s face hardened as if troubled by that smile.

‘…If we don’t provide a logically clear explanation, the other Sacred Maidens will rise in revolt.’

The problem was….

‘We don’t know the clear reason ourselves.’

* * *

Moments earlier.
Around the time Amelia destroyed the Core.
The Elves discussed with grave expressions.

“What in the world is happening? The monsters are far stronger than what we constructed, and the Elves aren’t even using the weapons from hundreds of years ago….”
“More than that, wasn’t the Corruption Core strange? There should only be one, so why….”
“More importantly, we need to decide the winner soon. What do you all think?”

At Keiacsen’s summary, the Elves fell silent for a moment.
Then, one by one, they began to speak.

“Amelia was an exemplary Sacred Maiden, following all the proper forms.”
“Yes, she embodied the image befitting the master of the World Tree, as we had envisioned.”

The sight of her protecting the Young Elf while fighting resolutely at the forefront until the very end.
How could one not admire such a thing?

“It was Amelia who destroyed the core of the Corruption.”
“From the beginning, we had decided to make the one who destroys the core of the Corruption the victor….”

Reasons for making Amelia the victor poured out endlessly.
Yet no one actually spoke the words that Amelia should be the victor.
Not from anyone’s mouth.

‘How strange.’

Keiacsen thought, watching the Elves with uncomfortable expressions keeping their mouths shut.

‘What’s even stranger is that I myself don’t want to join hands with Amelia.’

There were so many reasons to join hands with Amelia.
Or rather, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to take Amelia’s hand—.

‘I want to take Saelika’s hand.’

One of the silent Elves opened his mouth.

“Saelika… couldn’t we also say that Saelika destroyed the core of the Corruption?”

Saelika’s name was mentioned.
As if they all shared the same thought.

“…Strictly speaking, she did not destroy it directly.”
“Saelika did not step forward like Amelia did.”
“However—.”

I relentlessly whipped the Young Elf.
If I were to stand with her, I would put countless Elves on the front lines.
There would certainly be sacrifices.

But.

“The Young Elf who couldn’t even properly stand against a single Monster. I made that Young Elf destroy the core of corruption with her own hands.”
“….”
“….”

As if recalling that moment, the Elves’ faces grew lost in thought.

Saelika did not destroy the core of corruption herself.
Instead, she gave the Young Elf a future.
So that the Young Elf would overcome despair on her own.
So that she would fight and seize her own life.

“To live is to fight and endure.”

Keiacsen murmured softly.

“It is an ancient maxim of our Elves.”

The words once spoken by an angel had been passed down through generations.

“Whether I sensed the power dwelling in the World Tree from Amelia’s sacred force or whatever else—I cannot say.”
“….”
“Perhaps Amelia is the master of the World Tree we have waited for so long. But.”
“….”
“The person I wish to stand with is one who keeps us alive.”

Keiacsen gazed at Wiridian.

“What do you think, Wiridian?”

Until then, Wiridian had maintained only silence.
As if he had never shed tears, his face remained as dry and parched as always.

Keiacsen and the other Elves still did not know why Wiridian had wept.

‘It’s probably because of Amelia.’
‘Since it was a space centered on Wiridian’s consciousness, Amelia’s power must have felt even more vivid.’
‘If he sensed the World Tree in that power, I understand why Wiridian shed tears.’

The Elves gazed at Wiridian with anxious eyes without realizing it.
The King had entrusted all authority to Wiridian.
In other words, regardless of what opinions they held, they had no choice but to follow Wiridian’s decision.
Moreover, the justification for victory belonged to Amelia.

However, what actually came from Wiridian’s mouth was something completely unexpected.

“She rolled around incredibly well.”
“…Pardon?”
“She rolled so relentlessly that I thought she’d die from rolling before the monsters could even get to her.”
“Ah, haha….”

The Elves who recalled Saelika rolling the Young Elf left and right let out awkward laughter.
She really did roll incredibly well.
As if she’d eaten nothing but rolling people her whole life.

“…She rolled in a truly horrifying manner.”

Wiridian muttered as if speaking to himself.
‘
So who exactly is the victor’
Keiacsen, who was about to ask, hesitated.
Wiridian wore a gentle smile unlike anything seen before.

‘No, rather than gentle, it’s more… soft? Ugh, calling Wiridian soft.’

Even thinking it gave him chills.
But it was true.

‘Looking again, still soft… Ugh.’

The impact was extraordinary.

“Um, Wiridian?”

An Elf with an expression as if witnessing something unsightly carefully called out to Wiridian.
Wiridian’s face, which had been soft and pliant, instantly hardened like a brittle twig.

“Let’s go. The Sacred Maidens must be waiting.”

Wiridian abruptly rose from his seat.

‘When exactly did he start caring about the Sacred Maidens waiting?’

Keiacsen thought this but kept it to himself.
He had a sense of which single Sacred Maiden Wiridian cared about.
And the victor as well.

* * *

Keiacsen sighed as he searched his memories.

‘Simply wanting to be together with Saelika isn’t exactly clear evidence.’

However, there was no more certain reason for the Elves to take Saelika’s hand.
The problem was that the Sacred Maidens wouldn’t accept it.

“Of course the one who destroyed the core of corruption is the victor. You said it was a test. This kind of unfairness—.”
“Why do you assume only the Sacred Maiden Amelia destroyed the core of corruption?”
“…?!”

At Wiridian’s words, the Sacred Maidens looked at Saelika with startled expressions.

“But, but there’s nothing in Saelika’s hands.”
“Because she didn’t destroy it directly.”
“…?”

The Sacred Maidens looked at Wiridian with confused faces.

“Saelika didn’t destroy it herself but instead helped the Young Elf destroy the core of corruption.”
“….”

The Sacred Maidens faltered at this newly revealed fact.
Amelia nodded slowly.

“Ah, I see. So the answer was to support from the sidelines rather than directly purify the corruption myself.”
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I also assisted the Elves… Of course, I didn’t discover the core of the corruption, but if I had more time—”
“Saelika drove the Young Elf forward with relentless harshness.”

Wiridian cut off the Sacred Maidens’ words.

“She grew angry when he dropped his sword, cursed him when his footwork was sloppy.”
“…?”
“Even as he bled from his wounds, she pushed him forward without ceasing.”
“…”
“Hundreds of years ago, when the Demon King Behemoth invaded these lands, that was the time for such methods.”

Wiridian’s eyes grew distant and grave.

“It was a time when we could not overcome without training unto death itself.”
“…”
“The Sacred Maiden who will face calamity alongside us is one who understands such circumstances.”
“…”
“Not one who hides us behind her and presumes she can resolve everything alone.”
“…!”

Amelia’s eyes grew cold and sharp.

“Do you wish for the Grand Sacred Maiden to lock you away in a back room and fight alone?”
“…!”

The Sacred Maidens who had been arguing fell silent at her words.

“That’s Saelika for you. She’s tough even on her allies. That’s what makes her so charming.”

As Dolores murmured this, Nelije’s expression grew complicated.

‘So what is it, then? She liked how she performed?’

Despite all that lengthy talk, wasn’t the conclusion just that?

‘Well, I’m on Saelika’s side anyway, so it worked out well.’

Still, there was something oddly unsettling about it all.

‘He enjoys rolling around? And suddenly kneeling like that. Are Elves perhaps inclined toward such… physical tendencies?’

Perhaps it was because I had learned of the Elves’ preferences—knowledge I would have been better off not knowing.

* * *
“Please come this way, Saelika.”
“….”
“Is your head not aching? Though there would be no physical fatigue within the mental realm, your spirit must be far more exhausted.”
“….”
“Would you rest here?”

I stared at Wiridian with an incredulous expression.
This man, who had never once bowed his head in the manner befitting an arrogant High Elf, was proving impossible to adjust to.
Most of all—

“Your lap? You want me to lie on your lap?!”

Why was he pointing to his own knees and suggesting I rest there?

It was then.

“…Should you not consider your own age? A High Elf would have lived for centuries.”
“Seducing a girl far younger than yourself.”
“How shameless.”

Kaiser, Admiral Ekellan… and even Perardin Noishurael Duke.
Randel smiled warmly and gestured to me.

“Sae, come here instead. That senile, filthy Elf over there is not worth your time.”
“…!”

Such words coming from Randel’s mouth!
With such an age gap, asking me to use his lap as a pillow was indeed too much.

‘I’m the one with more years anyway.’

Rather, this old woman should be the one offering a lap pillow to young Wiridian—that would be the right thing to do.
My conscience demands it….

Anakin: Are you insane?!!???!
Enrik: How dare you call yourself old when you were just born by angel standards!!! You literally just came into existence!!!!
Anakin: A lap pillow? Never speak such nonsense again.
Anakin: To say something so horrifying. Why is your mouth always so foul?

…A lap pillow isn’t even a curse word, so why would anyone call my language crude?

Kailros: My younger sibling, I still remember how delighted the entire celestial realm would become whenever I offered you a lap pillow.
Enrik: …Don’t tell me that “lap pillow” you’re talking about is when the youngest would lie across your knees and hit you as a baby.
Kailros: Ah yes, my younger sibling’s booming voice from back then is still so vivid in my memory.
Enrik: …So it really did happen.

I was too distracted by the message windows flooding my vision.
But right now, the message windows weren’t the problem.

“Ha. This is why humans are so foolish. You make strange judgments by your own standards.”
“I am the only one who can offer my daughter a lap pillow.”
“Isn’t it only Serge’s father?”
“Both of you, come to your senses.”
“You’re not even our Sae’s father—why are you interfering?”

The adults had seized my arms and were pulling me toward their respective sides.

“Aaahhh! Stop! I’m being torn apart!”

That was when it happened.
Trainee Priests came running toward us from far away.

“Sae!”
“Help me out!”
“Is it really true? That Honeybread manipulated someone other than us?”
“Nelije said you used the Elves to win!”
“That’s not right, is it? The youngest only manipulates us, right?”
“Foolish priests. Saelika has agreed to stand with us Elves from now on.”
“What?! Honeybread is the one I manipulate!!”

Now even the children had joined in, pulling me along.

Sigh.
Was joining hands with the Elves really the right decision?
Suddenly I was filled with regret.

Sweat dripped from my eyes as I endured the searing pain that felt like my body was being torn apart, when I sensed a gaze upon me.
Turning my head, I found Amelia staring intently at me.

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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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