Youngest on Top - Chapter 28

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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 28

* * *

After finishing all the fruit Randel had peeled for me, I patted my full belly contentedly.
Seeing this, Randel chuckled softly.

“Well then, shall we take a walk now that you’ve finished?”
“Yes!”

Staying cooped up in the room was tedious, so I nodded eagerly.
My body had recovered enough to walk around the surrounding areas without difficulty.
Of course, I’d eaten pudding too!

‘I need to get out and gather information about the culprit.’

I couldn’t obtain any information by staying in the room all day.
I’d tried to fish for details from the adults while playing innocent.

“The culprit? You don’t need to worry about that! My goodness, look how thin you’ve become. Did the fear of the culprit keep you awake at night?”
“Our Sae shouldn’t think about such things and should focus on getting better, yes? It’s all the unreliable adults’ fault. We’ve made the child worry like this. Sniff, it’s all my fault!”
“Oh my, how frightened and scared our brave tiger must have been! Come now, let this magnificent Derrick hold you.”

I decided not to ask further.
Randel, the elders, and the High Priest would skillfully deflect any questions, so I deliberately asked the rather careless Mogen’s group and Derrick instead.

‘Right, I was tired.’

I held Randel’s hand and walked along briskly.
The passing adults greeted me warmly as they saw me.
Gawain was among them.

‘Shameless bastard. When did he try to hit me calling me lowborn, and now he’s completely changed his attitude?’

The arsonist is one thing, but that parasite needs to be eliminated quickly too.

‘But no matter how much I think about it, that name sounds familiar.’

Before I saw his face, I thought I might have glimpsed him coming and going around the temple.
But it was definitely our first meeting.
Then I wondered if I’d heard about him in conversations among the adults—.

“Well? The distance between Gawain and key figures like the elders or Randel is too vast. There wouldn’t really be any occasion for his name to come up.”
“Is that so?”
“A major corporation’s chairman wouldn’t mention a deputy manager from the logistics support team among dozens of departments.”
“…?”
“They wouldn’t work together, and it’s even more absurd for a deputy manager to seek out the chairman.”
“…?”

I didn’t understand the analogy, but I grasped what he meant.
There was no way his name would have been mentioned.

‘If Ilay judged it that way, then it must be true.’

I had no idea what kind of world Ilay lived in before his reincarnation.
But one thing was certain.

‘It must have been a world with incredibly fierce competition.’

He was quick at reading the atmosphere, and he understood power dynamics well.

‘He definitely had a fiery career in society.’

So then, where had I heard about Gawain?

‘Where… ah.’

I remembered.

“What’s wrong, Sae?”

Randel’s question made me realize my mistake.
I quickly pretended to chase after the butterfly in front of me.

“Butterfly, pretty!”

Randel found my behavior amusing and chuckled, “You’ll trip if you keep that up.”
I let out a cry and rushed forward, turning my back to Randel as I clenched my fists tightly.

‘That bastard was a traitor!’

“No matter what, Artemisia collapsed far too quickly. The moment he was expelled from Octagon, everything crumbled.”
“It did.”
“Someone took advantage of the chaos after Kaiser’s death and smuggled out a massive amount of sacred relics.”
“My goodness.”
“A man named Gawain, do you know him?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I’ve never even heard the name before. He’s just a common priest. That man took the sacred relics and went to Reyatan. Thanks to that, he secured a position there.”
“…”
“He’s one thing, but Reyatan is another. How could they just accept it like that? It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s quite amusing.”

This was a conversation I’d overheard at Parmanasus Temple before my return.

‘I thought he was just a corrupt priest taking bribes from the children’s parents, but he committed treason too?’

Then again, it wasn’t strange when I thought about it.
A parasite feeds off its host only as long as the host remains alive.
A vicious parasite waits until the host grows weak, then…

‘—it sucks out every last bit of marrow and moves on to a new host.’

Which brings me to the question.
Did Gawain commit this arson as well?

He seemed like the type to flee with the sacred relics the moment things went south, but committing arson at this particular moment was a different matter entirely.
Especially with no evidence whatsoever.

But.

‘My instincts have never been wrong.’

I trust my instincts.
Even back in the Celestial Realm, whenever I had a hunch, I’d act on it first.
Even when people protested, saying it was unfair, if I kept hitting them, they’d eventually say something like this.

“Ah, fine! I was wrong! I’ll tell you everything! I did it! I told you I did it! Please stop hitting me!”
“Huh, you did it?! Come here. Let me beat you some more.”
“What, what?! You didn’t know when you were hitting me?!”

‘Hmm, my instincts really are 99.9% reliable.’

But I couldn’t tell the adults that I suspected Gawain.
‘Because that bastard betrayed me before the regression.’ If I said that, all the trust I’d built up would crumble.
Besides, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone else was the culprit.

‘Then—.’

At that moment, something gently touched the bridge of my nose.
I blinked in surprise.

“Haha, Sae. You’ve become a flower.”

Randel laughed as he looked at me.
A butterfly perched delicately on my nose, fluttering its wings.

* * *

The night was pitch black.
Dmitri was alone outside.
He stood with his eyes closed, concentrating intently.
Despite the cool night breeze, sweat glistened on the boy’s forehead and the nape of his neck.

Soon a brilliant light burst forth from his hand.
It was intensely bright compared to the other trainee priests.
But.

“No!”

Dmitri cried out fiercely.

That night.
The building where Saelika had been trapped alone inside.
When that building crumbled and burst into flames.

‘…The power I felt that day, at that moment—it wasn’t this weak.’

It had been a force so tremendous I could scarcely believe I possessed it.
Ever since that day, I had continuously attempted to recreate that power, yet failed each time.

But Dmitri never surrendered.

‘Again. Let me try again.’

Dmitri steadied his mind and recalled that sensation from that day.
In truth, he didn’t want to remember.
That day—the shock of watching the building collapse, the helplessness, the rage, the despair.

…The possibility that he might lose that child forever—

‘Focus.’

Dmitri clenched his teeth.
And he dredged up the most agonizing memory.

Stronger.
I will become stronger.
Strong enough that I will never, ever let that small one bear such a burden alone again.

The image of Saelika being carried out in the High Priest’s arms surfaced in his mind.
Relief at her safety lasted only a moment.
That child’s exposed back….

‘Never again.’

Crack—blood seeped from his bitten lip.

“If you exhaust yourself like that, you won’t last long and will collapse from fatigue.”

Dmitri’s eyes opened at the sudden sound of a voice.
Ilay approached, shaking his head side to side.

“Stop thinking about it.”
“I want to, but what can I do when it’s right in front of my eyes? Cool your head.”
“What about you? You’re the one who’ll collapse from exhaustion doing this.”

Dmitri knew that Ilay researched sacred magic without even sleeping.
Even now, his complexion was so pallid that he looked like he’d collapse if poked.
He was only managing because he’d awakened his sacred power.

“This is nothing.”
“And I’m not pushing myself at all, by the way?”
“You look like you are.”
“Aren’t you the one who’d collapse if poked?”

Sparks flew between the two boys.

That was when it happened.

“If you have time to fight, use it for something more productive.”

Edmund, who had approached without notice, spoke arrogantly.
Dmitri was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh.

“What?”
“Tell me.”

The boy, who had never asked anyone for help before, spoke awkwardly.

“How to awaken sacred power. How do you do it?”
“…”
“I’ve been training alone trying to awaken it, but it’s not working.”

Edmund had never received instruction from Saelika.
He’d been absent the whole time.
So he was still training using the old, inefficient teaching methods.

“Huh, you want me to teach you? You? Since when? The most arrogant person in the world who never deigned to listen to anyone else’s instruction.”
“…I’m asking.”

Dmitri was startled by Edmund’s words.
That bastard was asking? He hadn’t bowed his head, but the mere use of the word “asking” was shocking.
Especially when he himself had just been mocking him.

Ilay, who had been quietly observing, opened his mouth.

“Why are you suddenly asking to be taught? You were always so relaxed anyway, thinking you’d return to your family.”

That was true.
As someone with no urgency, Edmund had always been at ease, thinking “I’ll awaken eventually.”
Rather than training in holy power, he often read the family texts he’d brought with him.

“Ah, falling behind? Your pride is so strong you can’t stand being left behind.”

Unlike before when the children hadn’t awakened, most of them had now awakened.

“That’s not it.”
“Then what? You’re not going back to your family?”

Dmitri looked at Ilay with some surprise.

Ilay was someone who always displayed an irritatingly detached attitude.
As if dealing with children far younger than himself, he never grew angry, never showed irritation, and always feigned artificial kindness.

‘For someone like that to show emotion and become so sensitive?’

Edmund bit his lip hard.

“That’s… not it.”

Snort.
As if to say it was indeed about pride, Ilay mocked Edmund.

For Ilay, who had nowhere to rely on but the temple, Edmund’s openly dismissive attitude had always been irritating.
But now, for him to suddenly ask to be taught because he didn’t like falling behind was beyond ridiculous—it was infuriating.

“I just don’t want to be helpless anymore.”

A pause.
Both Ilay and Dmitri turned to look at Edmund as those words spilled from his lips.
Because it was a thought that perfectly matched their own.

“That child told me to hold their hand and follow carefully through those flames. A child so much smaller than me.”

Edmund laughed bitterly.

“I was no help at all. No—I only got in the way.”

If I hadn’t been there, that child could have dodged the pillar of fire falling from above.

Hair igniting in an instant.
Crimson flames spreading down to their back.
Even in that situation—
“You idiot, what are you doing! I told you to run!”
—that child was shouting.

That sight was seared into my retinas, refusing to leave my vision.

“Every time I see that child’s shortened hair… I want to strangle my own useless neck.”

Edmund’s face was twisted in anguish.
Dmitri, who had been quietly observing him, shrugged his shoulders.

“Can’t be helped. The greatest person in the world is asking for help. Let me, Dmitri, teach you something.”

He grinned widely and tapped Edmund’s shoulder repeatedly.
And then—

“…Why are you cracking my joints while teaching me?”

Crack, crack—Dmitri, who had been cracking his knuckles, answered cheerfully.

“They say the lesson sticks better when there’s pain, right?”
“…”

Had he perhaps come looking for the wrong person?
Among the trainee priests, these two were the most skilled, which was why he’d sought them out.
Edmund regretted his decision too late.

“That’s because Sae stimulated the blood points and opened the pathway for you. If you do it, it’s useless.”

At Ilay’s words, Edmund turned to him in surprise.
He absolutely hadn’t seemed like he would help.

“First, concentrate your mind.”
“And believe.”

At Ilay and Dmitri’s words, Edmund asked.

“Believe in what?”

Ilay looked at Edmund as if he were vermin.

“What temple do you think you’re in right now?”
“Oh, right.”

And so the boys’ night deepened.
Somewhat haphazardly.

* * *

A few days later.
Roana searched for Edmund, peering about the Trainee Priest Quarters.
After wandering for quite some time, Roana found Edmund and broke into a bright smile.

“Ah, Edmund. Found you.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing much, just that book you wanted to read before. Father sent it to me. Want to come with me—.”
“I’m fine now.”
“Huh?”

Edmund turned his head to look at Roana.

“I want to focus on my training.”

He wanted to focus on his training.
Now that I thought about it, for the past few days I hadn’t been spending time with Roana and the group I’d originally been close to.
Instead, I’d been going around frequently with Ilay and Dmitri.
Roana knew where the three of us were going.

Saelika’s room.

‘And here I am, avoiding it like this…’

Roana spoke with deliberately bright cheerfulness.

“I’ve never seen Edmund like this before.”
“…I don’t want to let that guy sacrifice himself alone ever again.”

That guy?
Roana flinched and looked at Edmund.

He wasn’t even looking at Roana anymore.
I could tell from his distant gaze who he was thinking of.

“…I see.”

Roana clenched her fists tightly and left the spot.

‘What is this, really.’

Irritation naturally seeped into her footsteps.
As she walked along grumbling, someone called out to Roana.

“Roana.”
“Gawain?”

Gawain smiled warmly at Roana.

“I’m relieved to see you’re safe. I should have come looking for you sooner. You must have been quite frightened during the fire?”
“Well, I’m fine now.”
“Could you spare me some time alone?”
“What is it about?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit awkward to talk about here.”

Gawain spoke as though troubled.
When Roana tilted her head in confusion, he whispered helplessly.

“Why, it’s about that parentless commoner.”

—————
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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