Youngest on Top - Chapter 33

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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 33

There were, however, two problems.

The first was the children—Edmund, Roana, and others—who had fallen behind in their training due to their volunteer work.
Unlike the other children whose abilities had improved dramatically through resonance, their growth was inevitably slower.

‘But… Edmund’s condition is better than I expected?’

It wasn’t comparable to those who had experienced resonance, but it was still remarkable.

“Did Eddie awaken early? Or something like that?”
“Ah, well, we helped him out a bit. He asked for our assistance, you see. Now he understands the greatness of this Dmitri.”

It was unexpected.
Edmund had never shown much interest in the temple.

But what was even more surprising was something else entirely.

“Artemia! I believe in youuuuu!”

Roana was rolling about more enthusiastically than anyone else, shouting her faith.
Her hair, which she usually kept immaculately groomed, was now disheveled, and her clothes were in disarray.
I never would have imagined Roana could be this passionate.

* * *

Roana lay sprawled on the floor, breathing heavily.
Rolling people around like this under the guise of inscribing faith upon their bodies—what a method.
The problem was that it actually seemed to be working.

‘It’s a crude approach.’

No, the problem wasn’t that it was crude—wasn’t this brainwashing?

Just then, Edmund dropped down beside her with a thud.

“You didn’t hate sweating, did you?”
“I did.”

Roana fell silent for a moment before speaking.

“Edmund, you said it before. You didn’t want to let Sae sacrifice herself alone ever again.”
“…”
“I felt the same way. I thought I wanted to change, wondered if I could change.”
“…”
“But I just kept thinking without taking action. When it was shoved right in front of my face like that, I felt so ashamed and embarrassed.”
“So that’s why your expression looked so bad back then.”

At Edmund’s words, Roana turned her head to look at him.

“What, you knew?”
“Yeah. But you seemed to be struggling with it in your own way, so I pretended not to notice.”
“I got irritated for no reason. Like you were the only one thinking about Sae. I was thinking about her too. In my own way.”

Roana grumbled.

“Just wait. When I awaken, I’ll be stronger than you.”
“That’ll be tough.”

Edmund chuckled. It was his usual arrogant smile.

That’s when it happened.

“Huff, pant. You two aren’t struggling?”
“I saw Edmund training separately before. Roana, you were studying formulas all night?”
“Don’t train separately like that.”

The children who were always close with them came over and plopped down beside them.

“We were always together from the start. Let’s do it together.”
“W-well, Edmund, you might think we just followed you one-sidedly.”

The children spoke with embarrassed expressions.
Edmund nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, I thought as much.”

Even knowing that was simply his nature, the children’s shoulders drooped.

“But then again, my mind might change.”

At those words, the children’s heads snapped up instantly.
None of them spoke, but their eyes gleamed with hope.

Watching from a distance, Saelika let out a soft chuckle.

‘Well, there’s nothing to worry about then.’

The children’s greatest weakness was their complete lack of interest in temple life itself.
Anyone could see they carried themselves like those ready to leave.

But with that kind of determination, they could catch up regardless.
Of course, their actions would need to match that resolve.

‘I can take responsibility for those actions.’

I’d need to drive them more efficiently—no, more trustingly.

That left only one remaining problem.

‘Time is far too tight.’

This was an absolute matter of training volume, something no amount of pushing the children could solve.

‘Then I’ll simply use another method.’

I could postpone the assembly itself.
Of course, there were obstacles to overcome for that.

* * *

I knocked softly on the High Priest’s study door.
The door opened not long after.

“Sae? Did you come to see the High Priest?”
“Yes.”

As I toddled toward the High Priest, he lifted me up and settled me on his lap.
As I’d expected, the Study was in the midst of a meeting.

“What’s the matter?”

The High Priest asked.
I couldn’t just blurt out a request to postpone the council meeting.
That would be presumptuous.

‘I should flatter him a bit.’

The better the mood, the easier it would be to speak.

“I missed you, Daddy…”
“It’s only been a few days since you returned to the Trainee Priest Quarters.”
“But I feel lonely. Until yesterday, your room was right next to mine.”

The corners of the High Priest’s mouth lifted slightly.
He didn’t say much, but he didn’t seem displeased.

“Then shall we finish what we were discussing?”

Fortunately, the meeting continued without him telling me to leave because he was busy.

“We’ve received a response from Reyatan. They expressed deep regret over the fire incident and hope that Artemisia will handle the aftermath well.”
“How brazen of them, after committing arson!”
“And the council meeting?”

The Priest answered Sirius’s question.

“They said they fully understand if the council meeting is postponed and not to worry about it.”

Oh?
I lifted my head sharply.

‘So we were the ones who proposed postponing the council meeting first.’

There’s no need for me to bring it up intentionally then.
Still, it’s beneficial to postpone the assembly in various ways.
I’m handling this well, as expected.
It’s no coincidence that I’m in the Octagon despite being the second generation without a Saint.

“I didn’t expect you to agree so readily. That’s surprising.”
“Well, they’re not the type to refuse if they saw the burn marks and mocked them instead.”
“They’re not ones to miss the opportunity while the children are shaken from experiencing something grave.”

Sirius opened his mouth at the priests’ words.

“They’re keeping their heads down because they have sins to hide.”
“Those people don’t seem like they’d feel guilt though.”
“It’s not guilt—it’s fear that their crimes will be exposed.”

Everyone’s faces showed understanding at the High Priest’s words.

“They’re worried about what would happen if we held the assembly without saying anything and presented evidence at that very moment.”

From the flow of conversation, it seemed they hadn’t reported Reyatan for the arson incident.
It was the obvious decision.
Even if we protested, Reyatan would deny it and turn the tables on us instead—it was predictable.

Since Reyatan is pressing hard, we’re creating a false accusation to frame him.
He’ll claim we’re trying to pin our crimes on him out of fear of losing our Octagon positions, and so on.

‘We don’t have solid evidence.’

Only Gawain’s testimony.
Gawain is an insider of Artemisia, but there was no material evidence that he was colluding with Reyatan.

“If there’s evidence, it’s a trap. If there’s no evidence, we still need to avoid stirring up trouble.”
“No matter how much he denies it, if we press him on the arson incident, it will create noise.”
“For Reyatan, who’s eyeing the Octagon position, it’s something he’d want to avoid. His evaluation would drop.”

The priests’ faces twisted.
They were enraged by this cowardly behavior—trying to burn children to death for their own gain, yet unwilling to take even the slightest risk themselves.

I raised my hand high and shouted.

“Wow! A meeting in the middle of the day? How exciting!”

The priests’ gazes turned toward me in unison.

“The trainee priests are struggling right now. If they had to face Reyatan, it would have been even harder on them.”

A lie.
Our cheeky little ones were actually boasting that at this level, they could crush Reyatan.
Of course, if they lost, it would be difficult. If they lost.

“Sae…”
“Sae is right. The children need time to heal their wounded bodies and hearts.”
“Isn’t this the result we wanted anyway? If Reyatan agreed for whatever reason, we should be delighted!”

Good. The adults had brightened up.
This was the perfect timing to bring up another matter.

“You know, I read about it in the scriptures. There’s a wonderful divine beast. It’s called the Phoenix.”
“Yes, when its time comes, it bursts into flames and is reborn from the ashes.”
“Artemisia Temple is a Phoenix too. The dormitory burned down, but it will be rebuilt!”

I fluttered my hands like wings in childish fashion.

“Make it even grander!”

The priests smiled as they looked at me.

“Yes, we should rebuild it even more magnificently.”
“Since the children’s bedrooms aren’t lacking, we could build something else instead.”

The priests began their discussion with noticeably brighter spirits.
I added my words subtly.

“Randel, can you take Sae somewhere later?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I almost got hurt earlier—”
“What?”
“You’re injured? Let me see.”
“Are you alright?”

The adults asked urgently, and I felt awkward.

“I didn’t fall. I almost fell, though.”
“Right. Be careful.”

The High Priest pressed down firmly on my head.

“When Sae discovered the treasure last time, we did repair the deteriorated sections, but it seems there’s still more work needed.”
“We only did the bare minimum, after all.”

We couldn’t just spend money freely just because it had come in.
But now an opportunity had presented itself that wouldn’t come again.

‘I’m going to use this chance to fix everything before those Reyatan bastards arrive. Make it shine!’

I still remembered that bald pervert priest mocking the dilapidated building.

“This is ridiculous. It’s not antique—it’s just decrepit.”
“It’s like a mirror reflecting Artemisia’s current state. Old things are destined to be discarded.”

They were cackling and carrying on with each other.
If the High Priest had been there, they wouldn’t have dared say such things.

“But rebuilding a completely burned building would cost quite a bit of money….”
“However, the children’s safety is important, so perhaps we should do comprehensive repairs while we’re at it….”

No.
We don’t need to use our money.

I recalled the conversation I’d had with Ilay.

“Do you think the fire insurance is still active?”
“Insurance?”
“Yeah. Not just Artemisia, but pretty much all temple buildings have insurance. The insurance companies push it pretty hard.”
“Why?”
“All temple buildings are consecrated, right? Because of that, accidents rarely happen.”
“Then why would they need insurance?”
“That’s exactly why they push it even harder. From the insurance company’s perspective, it’s pure profit. They sell it at dirt-cheap prices with all sorts of promotions attached.”
“So they’re selling unnecessary insurance?”
“I was shocked too. There are people like that here as well. If you go to Earth, these are the types who’d sell refrigerators in the Arctic.”

Regardless, thanks to that zealous insurance employee pushing unnecessary coverage on customers, we benefited greatly.
Because that rare accident actually happened to us.
I clenched my fists tightly.

‘I need to collect that insurance payout!’

And Devon didn’t disappoint my expectations as he opened his mouth.
Though he appeared to be a simple-minded fool, he was actually an Elder overseeing the entire finance department.

“Do you remember when I previously mentioned canceling the insurance to cut unnecessary expenses?”

…What?
They canceled it?!

“Yes. But we didn’t actually cancel it.”

Phew, they didn’t.
For a moment, I felt like I’d traveled between heaven and hell.

“When I said we’d cancel it, the insurance company used all sorts of reasons—that we were a long-standing customer, that it was Artemia’s temple and we should trust and follow them—and offered to defer the cancellation instead.”
“Right, so we deferred it. It wasn’t a bad deal for us.”
“Thanks to that, we’ll reap the benefits now. This is something I really need to thank them for properly.”

Devon chuckled with amusement.

I understood why the insurance company made such a proposal.
Once a temple canceled their policy, they wouldn’t sign up again.
They probably thought they could defer payment and collect everything at once later when the situation improved.
Then they could continue collecting premiums month after month.
Even if Artemisia Temple went bankrupt and they couldn’t recover a single coin, they calculated there’d be no loss.

‘After all, they never thought they’d actually have to pay out insurance claims to the temple.’

Well, well, what do we have here?
They planned to siphon money from the temple, but instead they got siphoned themselves.

I laughed like Devon did, with a quiet chuckle.
Then I dropped the act and tilted my head innocently.

“Insurance company? (Insurance company?)”
“Yes, insurance is something you prepare for in case of danger….”

I let the explanation go in one ear and out the other, interjecting with an appropriate “Wow!” here and there.

“Insurance company people! Want to see them!”
“But it might be boring….”

Though I said that, it would be awkward to bring a child to a place where they were discussing money matters.
Just as I was contemplating how to convince them.

“Of course, if our little blessing wants to see them, then we should let her.”
“Elder Devon?”
“Shh. It’s not just anyone—it’s our little blessing. Our blessing.”
“Huh?”
“Our little blessing!”
….

…Could I really trust Devon?
He was an Elder who managed finances, of all things.
I found myself thinking that the rational Sirius should have been put in charge of finances instead.

* * *

The insurance employees arrived at the temple the very next day.

‘He must have been quite desperate. Then again, he probably never thought the insurance company would pay out a single coin.’

The insurance employees greeted me with friendly laughter and smiles.
But their sharp eyes were calculating every angle to pay out as little as possible.
Then I spotted someone standing at the very back, and my eyes went wide.

‘Wait, that man…?’

The man whose gaze met mine muttered in surprise.

“Does someone so young serve as a trainee priest here?”
“He’s our temple’s blessing.”

Devon introduced me with obvious pride.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been polite, but I was too distracted now.

‘Wow, I’m meeting Gerald here of all places?’

Unlike the senior official leading the group, he was playing the role of a new employee, acting naive from the back, but I was certain.

Gerald Delc.
Owner of one of the continent’s three greatest merchant guilds.
A magnate with a golden spring that never runs dry, no matter how much is drawn from it.
Even nobility bows before his wealth.

In other words,

‘A money source!’

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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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